Candy Kisses

My sister has been pestering me to do a peppermint mani....however I think those are horribly overdone....SO I decided to use another holiday candy.....

The chocolate color is done with Revlon "Hot for Chocolate" 

Hope you enjoyed, and Merry Christmas! XD

Snow and Presents

It was said by someone somewhere (I have no clue where...I think I heard it in a movie, but you know how quotes travel) that when you make a mistake while painting, you should make them into birds. It's actually an excellent idea! If you take this to be a general rule, then you can conclude that paintings withs lots of birds in them are made by the most klutzy painters. Of course this is rather unjust, but I'm having fun with the theory. Take, for instance, those who decide to dedicate the entire painting to birds. What does this say about them?

Anyway, that all to say: a mistake is only a mistake if the artist says it is.

Done with Rimmel London French Tip painter and Glosser

Incidentally....I HAVE DISCOVERED THE FRENCH MANICURE FOR THE SHORT FINGERNAIL!!!!!!!!!

The snow makes it elegant but not shortening...

As for the ring finger decoration...well that's my bird. It started out as a snowflake. Then it became a star. And last (but definitely most important) it became a present bow. Evidently a Hanukkah present bow. This is what happens when you decide to paint your nails at 10:00 at night, my friends....XD

I hope you enjoyed!

Katniss Hair!

I think a universal rule is this: either you can braid your own hair, or you can braid other people's hair. I can't braid my own hair to save my life. But I can do a pretty good braid for someone else.

Whenever my sister comes to visit, I like to style her hair, and this time I decided to attempt the sweeping french braid, otherwise known as the "Katniss" braid. 

I think it turned out pretty well, don't you think?

All I did was start a french braid on the side of her head and bring it around to the other side (as seen in the first pic)

Then I started another, shorter french braid that met the first right behind her ear.

I secured each with a clear elastic and braided the rest of the way down.

XD

Hope you enjoyed!

The Beginning of the Christmas Nails

My sisters came to visit this weekend, so I got the chance to do some french manicures! XD

Unfortunately the quality isn't very good because I didn't have a whole lot of time, but they're content, and that's all that matters. 

Mario Nails!

When I first painted these nails I showed them to my sister and asked "What are these little red and green things?"

And what did she say?

"EASTER EGGS!!!!!!!!"

-_-

So I showed them to her fiance. And what did he say?

"Mushrooms!"

The second answer would be the correct one. 

Rather than making a complicated (and probably utterly pointless) effort at painting Yoshi or even Mario himself, I decided to zero in on the mushrooms, with rather great success, if I dare say so myself!

There's no polish used list because I'm too lazy today. XD 

Enjoy! 

Pearl Sparkles

So I tried to paint my nails 3 times this week. And each time was a horrific flop. I either ruined the design or messed up the paint doing housecleaning. 

So this time I decided to go simple and foolproof. XD

Polishes Used: 

Revlon "Pure Pearl"

Funky Fingers "Stage Dive" 

So I was thinking....winter wedding colors? They're nice and icy, and for those of you that like sparkle....;)

Yes? No?

Anyway I hope you enjoyed!

The One All About TopCoat

So I thought I'd bring you my complete guide to the wonders and horrors of topcoat! This is not an EXHAUSTIVE guide seeing as I'm finite and thus I haven't tried every single topcoat that exists...but i have tried a few of them....

Sally Hansen "Dries Instantly" 

Okay, I like this topcoat, but it isn't my favorite. You see, the only function it performs is being fast drying. That's it. I have found other topcoats that not only dry fast, but also protect well.

Revlon "Extra Life No Chip"

This topcoat works well - it prevents chips excellently and (basically) does everything it advertises. However it takes FOREVER to dry, so if you want your nails to look nice and don't want to sit still for 2 hours....this is not your best bet.

Sally Hansen "No Chip"

This topcoat. Is a lie. Not only has this topcoat FAILED to keep my nails from chipping, but it in fact cracks the nail polish causing chips faster than if I hadn't worn top coat at all! I strongly advise against it. 

Ulta "X-Dry"

I don't really know what "X-Dry" means. I just know that this topcoat takes an annoyingly long time to dry and doesn't really protect your nails.

inm "OutTheDoor"

This. Is. My ABSOLUTE favorite topcoat EVER! It dries super fast, and it protects like nobody's business. My nails hardly ever chip, and, (most importantly) with 2 or 3 coats of this stuff, your rhinestones will not come off!

Orly "Glosser" 

My last post featured Glosser, and I think it's pretty cool! It's uber shiny - much shinier than regular topcoat. It also protects reasonably well. This is a good buy.

Orly "Matte Top"

This is also a good buy. It works well - it makes your nails look matte. However, it doesn't' protect well. It makes the polish soft and it can easily dent and rub off. However my opinion is that it's worth it for the look. 

So that's! I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for visiting! 

(That is) Mahogany!!!

Okay. I think I deserve a little bit of applause for lame and corny Hunger Games jokes, right? Right?

I went to Ulta the other day in search of a new bottle of French Tip painter (can you guess why?) and I happened to discover a display of tiny, weird colored bottles with awesome names like "Cuticle Oil" and "2 Second Dry"

After some serious consideration, I came away with a little bottle of topcoat labeled "Glosser" which the employees told me worked REALLY well.

And I agree. I agree wholeheartedly. 

Polishes Used:

Revlon "Raven Red"

Rimmel London "French White Tip PRO"

Orly "Glosser"

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed!

Matte and Perhaps a Bit Japanese?

As you can tell, I like black nails. Why, you ask? I like colors that pop - so neons etc. However, black goes with just about everything! I can use any color combination with the same base! 

Colors used:

Wet and Wild 'Wild Shine' "Black Creme"

Funky Fingers "Pop Artist"

Rimmel London "French White Tip PRO"

Orly "Matte Top" 

I love the affect of matte polish. It's unassuming and quiet, but it's so unusual that it somehow manages to grab attention while turning it away. Weird. But cool, right? 

As for the little black spot at the edge of the fan shape, I just used a paint dot on this particular design. In  previous versions though, I've used a rhinestone. To make it pop I'd use black, but any other color would work.

It's kind of hard to find tiny rhinestones, so I went online. Amazon sold me a great rhinestone wheel for about 4 bucks (minus shipping). 

So I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for visiting. :)

Portal Nails!

Okay. It might be kind of early on in the history of my blog to be telling secrets, but I'm going to share one anyway.

I'm a geek. And I'm proud of it. XD 

And of course my geekiness will shine through in my nail designs. So here's for all my fellow geeks out there:

PORTAL NAILS!!!!!!! WOOHOOO

**applause**

Polishes Used:

Revlon Colorstay "Stiletto"

Funky Fingers "Volts"

Funky Fingers "Atomic Poppy"

Funky Fingers "Gesso"

Ah yes. The infamous Test Chamber 7 in Portal 2....I remember that achievement...

:)

It took me 3 or 4 tries to get the Aperture Science Innovations logo right....but FINALLY I have more or less succeeded.

Quick tip!

Expensive nail polish, while nice and beautiful, is not necessary! If your budget is tight (like mine) just go to Five Below and pick up 3 polishes for 5 dollars. That's why I have so many Funky Fingers and Fresh Paint brand polishes. They're pretty, they work well (with several coats, naturally) and they're cheap. Perfect!

However when it comes to topcoats....spare no expense. XD 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed!   

Bows

I'm a musician so I have to cut my nails very short. The unfortunate result is that I can't do many french manicures. The general rule is: if your nails are short, stick to a solid color. The french tip is beautiful, but it makes your nails look a lot shorter than they actually are, leaving us short-nailed people looking like we have unnatural fingers.

My sisters, on the other hand, are not plagued by similar constraints, so on the occasions that they have time for manicures, I almost always do them french style.

Polishes used: 

Rimmel London "French White Tip PRO"

Fresh Paint "Lucky"

Polishes used:

Rimmel London "French White Tip PRO"

Wet n Wild Megalast "Wet Cement"

To make the bow I painted a thin line on the plane that I wanted to make the bow. Then I painted two tiny triangles using a small tipped marbling tool. Last but not least, I added the dot.

I hope you enjoy these designs! :)

Thanks for visiting 

Classy Black

Believe it or not, this design came from an idea I saw on pinterest a few days ago.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/464152305317128639/

They're hardly similar, but after chewing on the pinterest design for a few days this is what I ended up doing. 

Polishes used:

Revlon Colorstay "Stiletto" 

Rimmel London "French White Tip PRO"

Funky Fingers "Platinum Record"

I prefer to use these as a nice touch to a little black dress. Combine with some gold jewelry and black boots. Of course you can do the design with any color scheme you so desire. 

Alternatively: make them seasonal to Halloween. Perhaps make the triangles orange?

Hope you enjoyed! :)

First Post!

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to the Philosophy of Nails,

I've been doing nail designs for a few years now, and I've amassed a very large quantity of special designs. I think it's time I started sharing them with you, so enjoy! :) I hope this blog will encourage you and be helpful to you!

Thanks for visiting my blog