Laid-Back 31 Day Challenge: Black & White

Welcome to Day 1 of Crumpet's Nail Tarts Laid Back 31 Day Challenge! I'm super excited about this nail art challenge because it goes through May, so I will have nail art to post regularly - yay! Let's get to it, shall we?

Day 1 of this Challenge is Black & White. I wanted to use my favorite pattern for this - Houndstooth! I love this look so much, it's a real eye-catcher! For this look I used Julep Eileen for the base white used Bundle Monster Plate BM-322 and Konad special black stamping polish.

 

Here's what is coming up this challenge:

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! It runs through Feb 24th, so get your entries in :)

Til next time!
-Kara

New Years Eve Nails!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to 2013, fellow polish junkies! This year is going to be fabulous, I can feel it! I'm cooking up something special that will be released in a week or two, so you'll want to stay tuned for that. I'm also on Day 1 of a 6 week nail polish No-Buy, so wish me luck!

In the meantime, I wanted to show you my new years eve nails!

This is my "Ball Dropping at Midnight" inspired mani. Simple, but sparkly, and fun!

This mani was made using Zoya Storm on all but the ring finger. If you don't own Storm, go out and get it. Today. It's amazing! Black creme base packed with holographic microglitters. Perfect for a night sky or galaxy mani. The ring finger is China Glaze White on White covered in 3 coats of Revlon Stunning.

 

Here's a close-up of Zoya Storm. Seriously. Go get it.

Did you do a festive New Years mani?
Til next time!
-Kara

Challenge Day 2: Polka Dots

Welcome to Day 2 of the November 10-Day Challenge! Today's challenge is Polka Dots. I had a hard time with this one because I actually did polka dots for Day 1, and I wanted to do something different! I had about 4 polishes set aside ready to do a purple/gray "dotticure" when A tells me "You know who has polka dots, mommy? A ladybug!" She's right! Ladybugs DO have polka dots! So in honor of my brilliant 3 year old (I'm only slightly biased), I give you...

...Ladybugs

Ladybug Nails

This is a super simple mani - I started with 2 coats of Nicole by OPI Kourt is Red-y For a Pedi. When that was completely dry,  I taped off my tips and painted those black with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out. I then removed the strips and when that was dry, using the same black polish, used my striping brush for the lines, and my dotting tool for the polka dots, then topped it all off with Seche Vite. Easy!

So there you have it, thank to A, Ladybug Polka Dot Nails!

I hope you like my Day 2 Submission. Stay tuned throughout the month of November for future submissions, in the meantime, check out what the other ladies did!

-Kara 

EDIT: Just want to add, make sure you've entered the GIVEAWAY, only one week left til the big day!

Galaxy Nails!

Hi there! I hope everyone is doing well tonight. I'm still recovering from Halloween! Between staying up late Trick or Treating and all the sugar in their little systems, the girls' schedules have been way off, and things are just now starting to get back to normal. Well, as normal as things ever are around here.


I love today's mani. I just received Elixir Lacquers Kind of Connery on loan from a friend. If you're not familiar, this is silver, green, and blue micro glitter and pale blue, silver, and white hex glitter in a blue jelly base. Put this over black, and, viola! Instant Galaxy Nails!

I used 1 coat of China Glaze Liquid Leather and 2 coats of Kind of Connery. Look at all that glitter! I love the blue micro glitter in this polish, it's absolutely gorgeous. Kind of Connery is super easy to work with, it required no "fishing" for glitter, and there was no "strategic glitter placement" like most glitters require (in my experience). I topped it with a thick coat of Gelous, and 1 coat of Seche Vite.

Ready for the photo bomb?

 It's so pretty!

Elixir Lacquers Kind of Connery

Here's a close-up so you can see the blue/green micro glitter in there. Gorgeous!

 And here's a bottle shot for you.

I love this polish. Love. I'll be sad to part with it, but will definitely be purchasing this for myself at some point. Next time I want to try it over blue!

If you'd like to buy Kind of Connery, or check out the other Elixir Lacquers creations, head on pver tp their shop. Their products are all 3-Free and cruelty free. They retail for $10.

What do you think? Will you be trying the instant galaxy mani?

-Kara