Guest Post: Mustaches by Christina (The Bubbly Brunette)

Today I have another guest post from Christina at The Bubbly Brunette.  This time she did some super cute mustache nails!  Check them out:

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 Hi everyone! I’m Christina and I’m the bubbly brunette!

I applied three coats of L’Oreal Macaroon Me Madly. Using Revlon Knockout, I made two large dots in the center of my nail, and two smaller dots on either side. Then I connected the dots using a small curve.

I love this look; it’s such a cute and easy way to add a little quirkiness to your nails!

Thanks for featuring me again, Stephanie!

-Christina at thebubblybrunette

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Thanks so much for doing another guest post Christina! 

If you liked this post, please make sure to like it or leave a comment!

And you should definitely check out Christina’s blog, The Bubbly Brunette, for more of her awesome nail art and swatches! She is a relatively new blogger, and has already built up an impressive blog (including a must-see list of polish dupes).

Interested in writing a guest post for The Polish Squirrel?  Check out all the details here!  (You don’t have to be a blogger.)

Buzzfeed!

I just wanted to write a quick post to share one of my proudest blogging moments: my nail art was featured on Buzzfeed.com!!!  I’m still giddy (but that might also be because of the massive amounts of coffee I downed today).

This afternoon, I was at work, and randomly decided to check my email on my phone, which I rarely do.  An awesome reader named Alyssa (who is totally getting some nail mail from me now) had emailed me to let me know that my Boston mani was featured in Buzzfeed’s article, ”14 Manicures with Boston-themed Nail Art.”  As I’ve become completely addicted to Buzzfeed over the past few weeks, I had a total fangirl moment at my desk (thankfully everyone who sits near me was out at lunch), and it was honestly a struggle for me not to go around showing everyone right that second (even though I instantly tweeted and instagrammed it).  It was kind of a shock, in a completely amazing way.  And even though I had a migraine and was in the middle of a thirteen-hour workday, I couldn’t stop smiling.  And to top it all off, not only were my nails featured on Buzzfeed, they were the first ones listed in a post about nail art for Boston, my favorite place in the world.  After everything that has happened this past week, personally and as someone who counts Boston as a second-home, this could not have been more perfect.  Best thing ever!

Anyway, here is a picture of the nails that ended up on Buzzfeed:

Check them out on Buzzfeed and in my original post.

P.S. This totally calls for some new Boston nails, don’t you think?  Hopefully I will get them done this week

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone (and happy Sunday to my non-Easter-celebrating readers)!  I wanted to do something easter egg-esque this year, and thought it was a great opportunity to do an obnoxiously springy pastel mani.  Hope you like it!

I used China Glaze Lemon Fizz, OPI Do You Lilac it?, Essie Boxer Shorts, Essie Mint Candy Apple, and Essie Where’s my Chauffeur?.  I tried to paint patterns reminiscent of old-school easter eggs.  I really like how it turned out!  I think my favorite nails are the index and pinkie.

This whole color combo has me really excited for more spring nails.  I’ve been really busy with work (and computer problems) lately, but I have some great posts and even some tutorials planned.  And I will try to get back into monthly hauls and maybe favorites in April!

More Bunting

I am seriously obsessed with bunting nails.  No, really.  They’re so easy and cute and you can literally use any colors and they end up magically looking amazing together.  LOVE.  I do think I like my original bunting nails better, but I do really like how these turned out.  Completely different colors and a completely different feel.  I think they really show the versatility of a design like this.

I used Orly Boho Bonnet for the base.  It’s a little bit sheer and almost jelly-like, so I needed three coats.  For the bunting, I used OPI I Saw… You Saw… We Saw… Warsaw, OPI A Roll in the Hague, China Glaze Spontaneous, and China Glaze Starboard.  I like how it’s almost, but not quite primary colors.

I’m planning on making a tutorial on these soon, I promise!  And you’ll probably be seeing several versions of this in the next few months.  I can’t get enough!

Pastel Flowers

When I want to do nail art but I’m lacking inspiration, the first place I turn is Mr. Candiipants.  She is always original and is amazing at my two favorite nail designs: geometric and floral.  These are her signature “bottle brush floral” nails, meaning they’re made with nothing but the brush that comes in the bottle.  They’re ridiculously simple, and don’t take long at all to do.

For these, I used OPI My Vampire is Buff (one of Candice’s favorite polishes) as the base.  It was a bit sheer and patchy, so it took three careful coats.  I really love the color (it’s similar to Zoya Jacqueline).  The flowers were made with butter LONDON Mollycoddled, butter LONDON Sprog, Nails Inc. Baker Street, and OPI You’re Such a Budapest, with OPI Eurso Euro in the centers.

Check out this tutorial if you’re interested in learning how to do these.  I think I still need a little bit of practice to perfect this look, but I can already see this being my go-to nail design for spring and summer.

 

Bunting

My computer is finally back up and running, so I can finally post again! It may take me a while to get everything organized again, since I had to get a new hard drive and lost all my blog files and pictures (and fonts, hence the new watermark).  So I’m starting from scratch.  Good news is, while my computer was being fixed, the only thing I had to combat boredom was doing my nails, so I have quite a few posts that will be going up soon.  I thought I’d start with my favorite, because I couldn’t wait to show you guys!

I’ve seen bunting nails in quite a few places already, so these are by no means original, but I still love them.

I used some new (to me) polishes to create this mani.  The base is butter LONDON Tea with the Queen, which is now one of my favorite nude polishes.  Love it!  For the bunting, I used, China Glaze Surreal Appeal, China Glaze Def Defying, OPI Can’t Find my Czechbook, and Nails Inc. Baker Street.

I think these turned out really cute!  Definitely a fun way to subtly do colorful nails.  I think this might become a staple “I don’t know what to do, but I want to do something” mani for me.

I will actually be posting another version of these soon; I loved them so much I had to do them in different colors.  I’m also considering these for a tutorial if anyone is interested.  They’re actually really easy, so you could probably figure it out yourselves, but I thought it’d be nice to start off tutorials with something simple (my video skills need practice).  Let me know what you guys think!  And thanks again for putting up with the technical difficulties this past week!

 

Bows and Glitter

This week, I will be showing you some nail art looks using the new China Glaze Avant Garden collection.  I picked up all of them except Budding Romance, and thought I’d do something beyond just swatches.  So let me know if there are any specific combinations/designs you’d like to see!

For this look, I used two of my favorite colors: Tart-y for the Party (pastel purple) and Sunday Funday (bright blue). I wasn’t planning on using these two together, but I love it.  I actually wore Tart-y for the Party for a day before adding the stamping and glitter.  I stamped Sunday Funday using Gals plate GA36 (from the Fairy set) on my index and ring fingers.  It stamped surprisingly well, though I imagine it wouldn’t work as well over darker colors.

On my ring finger, I did a gradient using Glitzology As You Wish.  It is predominantly purple, so I thought it would look great over Tart-y with the Party.  Then I noticed that the blue (circle!) glitter matched Sunday Funday pretty well, so it inspired the whole combo.  It’s something a little different for me, but I like it.

What do you think of this?  Is it too much?

I already have a few looks planned, but I’m open to suggestions: what polishes would you like to see from the China Glaze Avant Garden collection?  And if you’ve picked up any of them, what are your favorites?

 

Black Tips

I was a huge french manicure fan when I was in middle and high school.  I will admit to getting white-tipped acrylics a few times (never again!) and would often get simple french tips on the rare occasions I went for a manicure.  But it’s been years since I’ve had french tips on my nails, and I’m honestly just not that into them.  But I saw a picture of black tips from a Spring 2013 fashion show (don’t remember which) and they stuck in my mind.  They’re still simple and classic and just as clean-looking as white tips, but a lot more modern.

I used Sinful Colors Black on Black for the tips, topped with an allover coat of Seche Vite. (I did try adding a coat of OPI My Pointe Exactly – a light gray jelly – to see how it would look and hated it.)

Definitely an interesting way to wear black nail polish without really wearing black nail polish.  I’m still not completely in love with these, but I like them a lot more than I thought I would.

Be honest: would you wear black tips?  Do you prefer classic white tips, brightly colored ones, or are you just not into them at all?

Lace

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and I’ve been trying to think of some holiday-appropriate designs that I would actually like.  I’m not a very “girly” girl.  I don’t like hearts, pink, sparkles, or lots of chocolate.  So Valentine’s Day is just not a holiday I’m really that into.  But I thought I’d challenge myself, and ended up coming up with these.  I love that the lace is noticeable, but it’s also really subtle and delicate. I think these would look awesome in black and white!

I used Essie She’s Picture Perfect for the base, and Sally Hansen White on to paint the lace.  Some fingers turned out better than others, but I still really love them.  And yes, I know this is super girly, but it’s my kind of girly.  Soft and delicate, but not really frilly or cloying.

I will try to do a few more Valentine’s-but-not-really designs in the next few days, perhaps even a reincarnation of these lace nails.

Triangle Tribal

Lately I’ve been loving nail designs centered around triangles (especially those by Mr. Candiipants and Chelsea Gets Nailed).  I never realized how versatile they could be.  Depending on how you arrange them, triangles can be classic, graphic, tribal, or any even Christmas trees.  I tried out a few different designs here, tied together with a simple color palette, and they turned out kind of tribal-y.  I can’t decide which one is my favorite!

I used Nicole by OPI I Sea You and Raise You and Essie No Place Like Chrome.  The triangles were all freehanded using two different sized brushes.  I’ve discovered that I am way too impatient to use tape, especially when it involves several different steps (like these would have) and cutting small pieces.

What do you think of these?  I really want to try the design on my middle finger again, maybe with a gradient as the base.