Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you're having a wonderful time with your family or friends!
I'm having my own way to express my joy over this cozy and cheerful holiday - I've been waiting for months to do this Three Kings Christmas mani :)

The awesome shapes of camel riders are stamped using Messy Mansion's Christimas plate MM01.

I saw this design in summer and had to order the plate IMMEDIATELY. Then I've waited patiently month after month for the right day to recreate it. Finally!!! :) I'm being a total copycat here, but c'mon, isn't it just awesome!?!

I used dark blue and two gold glitter polishes to create the glittery background. I didn't have my camera with me so it was really difficult to capture the amazing sparkle of the China Glaze's I'm Not A Lion.
I love this mani - it is so festive and glittered perfectly in the candle light :)

Base color: my trusty blue Midnight Cami by Essie

Glitter: China Glaze I'm Not A Lion and some big gold glitter by Essence called Gold Fever
Top Coat: Northern Lights over the top ("sky")-part of the nail and a coat of Seche Vite

Enjoy the second Christmas day and prepare yourself for the New Year Paa-haarty!!! :)

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Galaxy Nails Tutorial

My galaxy mani was really popular with my friends and colleagues and I was asked more then once how I did it and if it takes very long to create such a manicure. It's pretty easy I'd say, and it takes maybe some 15-20 minutes max. if you already have your base color dry.

The colorful clouds are created by sponging first some white and than three different colors over the dark blue nails. I prefer to use tweezers and small pieces of  makeup sponge, but you can do it any way it's comfortable for you.

This is what I used: Makeup sponge & tweezers Dark blue: Essie's Midningt Cami Black: A-England's Camelot White: no-name old white polish Bright blue: China Glaze Towel Boy Toy Purple: Essence Break Through Neon Pink: China Glaze Pool Party For the stars I used Northern Lights Top Coat I got from US on Ebay. I can imagine China Glaze Fairy Dust would create the same effect, if applied sparingly.

Make sure your base color (dark blue) is dry before you start sponging and then sponge away!

Sponge on some black on the outer corners to create more depth in the skies.
Apply the glitter top coat around the nebula. Cover with top coat. You're done! :)

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31DC2013, Day 19: Galaxies

Galaxies is the next topic of the 31 Day Challenge. I've never done such a mani before, but there are so many tutorials on youtube, that you can spend days watching them :) One of my favorites is this one, done by a fantastic Pauline from Blogenbeaute blog.
There are also thousands of galaxy nails pics on Google. While looking at some really fantastic examples of nail art, I decided that I liked a mani more if there was not so much "stuff" on the nails. Where you could see the starry skies and don't get drown in all the nebulas :) I also decided that I don't like these white dots, which represent the stars. Equipped with this theoretical knowledge, I set to work.

So please welcome my first galaxy mani!

I'm so totally in love with this design, I'll probably wear it until it starts chipping. Doing these astral clouds was so much fun! I totally get it now why so many manis look overloaded with nebulas - I had to force myself to stop "nebulating" on my middle finger :D

Base color: navy blue Essie's Midningt Cami and just a little of the black A-England's Camelot to create some depth in the skies

Nebulas: no-name white, China Glaze Towel Boy Toy (bright blue), Essence Break Through (purple), China Glaze Pool Party (neon pink)
Stars: Northern Lights Top Coat I got from US on Ebay

Do you like the color combination?  I would try a slightly darker blue color next time and maybe create clouds with lighter, more transparent edges. Wouldn't it look better..?

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31DC2013, Day 18: Half Moons a.k.a. Ruffian

I saw this black mani and decided to create rather the crescent moon than the red half moon design for the 31 Day Challenge.

CND for Ruffian Fall 2010

This style is also called Ruffian, since it was created first by CND artists for the Ruffian Fashion Show in 2010. As for me, it looks much more elegant AND modern compared to the classic retro half moon mani. But for a 50-ies dress, I'd probably go for red half moons :). Dior 2010

It is VERY easy to do and no special tools are needed. Check out for example this tutorial on Youtube. I thought it would be difficult to achieve the clean line without any clean up, but it was much easier than I thought!  I'll definitely do this style again.
Do you see my poor broken pinkie? I didn't just break the nail, I flipped it completely over. It doesn't hurt anymore, but looks terrible. Hopefully, it will heal soon...But nobody died of a lost nail until now, right? ;)

Base Color: two coats of pale gold by p2, 900 Next Exit Party
Second layer: one thick coat of shimmering pink by Yh Beja, Color 10,  bought in South America Read More......

31DC2013, Day 17: Glitter with "I Heart You" by Glimmer by Erica

I did some serious thinking about how to create a glitter mani I could wear to work. So the 31 Day Challenge is not just about the nail art, but how to make it wearable as well :)
I decided to use the beautiful indie glitter polish by Glimmer by Erica I got on Etsy and wore the baby blue and then pink silk blouses to work. It was fun to be a bit more girly for a change :)
(Sorry for the dark pic, I'll get better, I promise!)

Base Color: China Glaze Go-Go Pink and Essie Bikini So Teeny
Glitter: pink and blue glitter top coat called "I Heart You" by Glimmer by Erica Read More......

31DC2013: Day 16, Tribal Print

The next topic of the 31 day challenge  (which every one else has finished in September ;) )  is tribal nails. There are so many really cool designs, but my favorites are all kinds of Aztec patterns.  Since I'm still really bad with free handing, I decided to use acrylic paint for lines and then just fill the spaces with neon pink nail polish.
It was really hard to draw the thin lines until I found a solution and used a toothpick instead of the brush! It's almost cheating ;), but hey, we all have to start somewhere! :)

Base color: white Cult Nails Tempest
Tribal patterns: googled for Aztec patterns and free handed with a toothpick and black acrylic paint
Neon Accents: China Glaze Pool Party Read More......