Hey everyone! Today's challenge called for a neutral color manicure using an untried polish. I couldn't decide on just one pretty neutral so I picked two!
I started off with a base of Deborah Lippmann Putty in Your Hands. It was two easy coats and it's just so beautiful. The perfect neutral color. I had that on for a while, but I'm not one to wear just one color at time, so I had to spice it up!
I chose another neutral, Deborah Lippmann Naked, and gradiented it on top Putty in Your Hands. Once that was done, I put a white flower sticker on my accent nail! It's very subtle and delicate. As an aside, those mini Deborah Lippmann bottles are really hard to hold. They're so little!

Hey everyone! Today's challenge calls for a technique that is new to me. I recently discovered syrup nails and wanted to try them out. For those of you who haven't heard of this technique, all you need to get started is a jelly polish. You start off by painting one coat over the whole nail, and then you add a second layer slightly higher than where you started. You repeat this process until the jelly color is almost gradiented from a light to dark color, with only one coat of jelly polish present by the cuticle line and something like five or six towards the tips. (I have no idea if that explanation made any sense)!
This picture makes me really sad. Firstly, you can hardly even tell that the syrup effect is going on. In real life it's subtle but definitely there. Here it just looks like I fail at painting a cuticle line! The other reason I'm disappointed is that the color in the picture isn't true to the polish. This is Zoya Paloma, a plum colored jelly. My camera kept capturing it as way more red than it actually is. I tried to play around with the colors, but I couldn't get it to look right. Sorry! I think I'm gonna try this technique with Cirque Tibetan Nights...

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

How's everyone's weekend going so far? Today is my mother's 50th birthday, so we're going out of town to celebrate. Hopefully I can get a manicure up for tomorrow's N31DC, but if not you know the reason why! For today's challenge I grabbed three random untrieds and couldn't think of anything but space when I saw the blue, ivory and gray next to one another!
I am obsessed with skittle manicures. I started off by painting on three coats of Essie Man Squeeze. It's a really pretty off-white/blue duochrome polish, but it's so sheer! After that,  I painted the index finger with two coats of China Glaze Cosmic Dust from the new Hologlam collection. These are such a letdown. So streaky and not that holographic... For the middle finger, I applied two coats of Cirque Tibetan Nights. That was definitely my favorite of the three untrieds. Tibetan nights is a bright blue jelly with light blue and silver bar glitter. I usually detest bar glitter, but the pieces in this polish are cut in half and are just the right size! How this remained untried before today, I just don't know. For the ring finger, I used the PUEEN24 stamping plate to add stars using Cosmic Dust. Finally, I used a sponge to gradient Tibetan Nights over Man Squeeze on the pinky finger.

Hey everyone! I can't believe I'm already halfway through the challenge. For today's manicure, I had to consult a color wheel to find out which colors were directly opposite of one another. I ended up choosing teal and orange-red. I wasn't sure how to combine these two colors, and unfortunately I think I did it in the worst way imaginable...
I started off with a base of Butter London Jaffa. Then I used a sponge to dab on Illamasqua Muse and create this gradient. I can't say I'm a big fan of how these colors meld into each other, but that's likely because they are in fact color opposites! Does this remind anyone else of a rocket popsicle?

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

Hey everyone! Today's Untried Nail Polish Challenge calls for two unused colors. In typical Masha fashion, I grabbed two random colors that seemed appealing and got to work! I ended up grabbing a peach cream and a foil polish that seemed to have orange/red particles so I thought it might match okay.
The silver foil is OPI Designer De Better. The orange peachy color is China Glaze Peachy Keen. For the accent nail, I added polka dots with Designer De Better and a dotting tool. It's really hard to see since Designer De Better is a bit sheer, but I'm still happy with the way it came out!

Hey everyone! Sorry again for the late post. I decided that I'm going to stop posting every third day (the days I'm not doing the challenges) because it's just too much work trying to do swatch posts in between two challenges. I may make an exception for if I get something super pretty that I just need to show you all, but otherwise that'll be the new plan. That way I can post these in a more timely manner.

Yesterday's challenge called for watercolor nails, and I wanted to try Naomi's lovely tutorial. I've tried watercolor nails before using acrylic paint (you can see that attempt here)! This time, I used nail polish and and diffused it using acetone.
The reason I didn't show you the index finger in the picture above is because I completely smeared it. See? Ugh, so much fail. :(

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

Hey everyone! The first day of the Untried Polish Challenge created by Jonochi from Just Add Polish calls for using one polish that I have never used before. I had a hard time picking just one, I have so many pretty looking untrieds! I ended up settling for this lovely lavender and gold shimmer from Cirque.

Hey everyone! Sorry for posting late again, it has been a somewhat hectic week! This challenge called for a stamping manicure, and since approximately half of my manicures already involve stamping this isn't really a new technique to me. To mix it up, I used a Winstonia stamping plate. I've never used one before, but I was quite happy with how it turned out.
The blue base is Essie Butler Please. This bright blue is super gorgeous. However, it chips really quickly. I don't typically wear a manicure for more than 24 hours and this one managed to chip several times within that time interval. The stamping plate used was W111 and Konad Special Polish in Black.
In addition to the N31DC, I'll be starting a new challenge tomorrow! I'm really excited to use at least a few of my untried polishes! I'll post more information tomorrow along with the first manicure for the challenge.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

Hey everyone! I'd like to congratulate the winner of the OPI DS Sapphire Giveaway, Gini! Thanks to all of you for sticking with the blog and entering the giveaway! Today's challenge asks for a manicure that can cheer you up. My favorite nail polish color to wear is gray, and one of my favorite (and one of the easiest!) nail art techniques is the gradient. I combined the two for these nails.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the super late post. I had some friends come into town and I wanted to maximize the amount of time I spent with them and never got around to posting these. I'll catch up tomorrow, I promise!
I started off with a base of China Glaze Recycle. then I put three pieces of striping tape in parallel in the middle of my nails. Next I painted OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls over the nail and tape. Then I pulled the striping tape off and had some gray stripes!

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

Hey everyone! Today I've got a collection of pretty holos to show you all! These polishes were given to me by the lovely Amanda from Designer Nail Accents.  Check out her blog if you get a chance! This collection consists of scattered holographic jellies. I love holos and jellies, I'm not sure how this combination hasn't been thought of before. Or maybe it has and I just haven't noticed...But anyway, these swatches were all done with one coat of regular clear base coat and one coat of top coat. All photos were taken in direct sunlight. I'll go in rainbow order.
Fast and Furious. Two coats. This is a bright cherry red holographic jelly. Out of all seven of these polishes, this one was the most opaque and easiest to apply.
Pop of Orange. Three coats. This one is bright orange, which isn't really my cup of tea but if you like orange I bet you'd be a fan of this one! After three coats you can see a little bit of visible nail line, but in person it's really quite faint. The formula was a bit thick, but still good.
Team Midas. Six coats. This yellow-gold polish is really sheer. I would definitely suggest some white or yellow undies for this one. With my pale skin this makes me look jaundiced, but on darker skin tones I could see it looking nice. The color is unique though. I can't say I own any yellow holos!

Poseidon's Pool Party. Three coats. This teal holographic is my favorite from the collection! Again you can see a little bit of visible nail line in the picture, but it's very faint in person. The formula was good, and the color is just beautiful!
Julia.  Four coats on the index and middle nails, three on the ring and pinky. This bright blue holo is named after Amanda's sister, aww! What I really like about this polish is how drastically it changes colors between coats. With four coats it looks dark blue, but with just three it's this really bright, vibrant blue color. It's almost like having two polishes in one! The formula on this one was also good, but the polish is a bit sheer.
Royally Confused. Three coats. This plum holographic is truly gorgeous! In addition to being a lovely shade of plum and holographic, it also has a soft blue duochrome. It's like a jelly duochrome version of DS Extravagance. The formula was a bit on the thick side, but totally manageable.
Frost. Three coats. Ahh, I am such a sucker for these sheer light shades! This reminds me a lot of the OPI NYC Ballet polishes (which I absolutely adore) in both color and finish. Except it also has holographic particles! Needless to say, I love this one. The formula was good.

Overall, I really liked these polishes! They're not super in-your-face holos like the Color Club Halo Hues are, but if you're going for something a little more subtle you'll love these. Plus, Amanda has come up with some really unique colors for holographic polishes. My picks from the collection are Poseidon's Pool Party, Julia, Royally Confused, and Frost! You can find these on the Designer Nail Accents Etsy Shop where they retail for $8. The first few shoppers can use the coupon code "POLISH" to get 10% off your entire order. Thanks for reading!

*These were sent for review. To see my disclosure policy, please click here.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the super late post, it's been a busy day! I'm gonna keep it short cause I need to go to bed!
This is two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Once that dried, I used red acrylic paint and flicked a paint brush a few inches away from my nails to create the blood splatter effect. I know it's not very original, but it's a cool manicure (especially for us Dexter fans :D).


Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

Hey everyone! I'd like to give a big thank you to everyone who checked out my Etsy Shop! I can't believe how well the first day went, I'm already almost out of stock! I've been wanting to try out this manicure for a while. A little over a month ago, I replayed Persona 4 Golden and fell in love with Persona 4 all over again. So, here's my homage to one of the greatest role playing games ever made!

To start, I painted my index and ring finger nails with China Glaze Recycle and my middle and pinky nails with Color Club Almost Famous. Once those had dried, I stamped using the BM-322 plate and Konad Special Polish in Black to create the design found on Yasogami High's uniforms. For the P4 logo, I used a homemade decal. Finally, I gradiented Almost Famous and Julep Blake on the pinkie nail using a make up sponge. You may be wondering why that first picture looks so bizarre. Make sure that before you print your decal, you mirror it. I may have accidentally had my logo on backwards and had to take pictures using a mirror...*facepalm.*

Thanks for reading and don't forget to enter the OPI DS Sapphire Giveaway running until TONIGHT, April 10th at 12:00 am EST!

Hey everyone! Just a quick reminder than my Etsy shop is now open! You can find it here or you can click on the "shop" tab above.
The Downton Abbey inspired collection is now in stock! You can check out swatches here!

Hello everyone! Sorry again for the late post, there's just so much going on with my polish's launch tomorrow! Driven by an uncertainty of what geometric nails are supposed to be and a desire to use my new PUEEN plates, I went with a variety of shapes.
The base light blue color is Lost in Lacquer Matthew's Blues (shameless self promotion, I know). Once that was dry, I gradiented A England Order of the Garter and JLB Deep Sea over PUEEN stamping plates 08, 11, 16, and 20. I think the gradient would have looked better with three colors so that color change didn't look as abrupt, but I still love it.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the gorgeous nails of the wonderful ladies participating in this challenge along with me!

Hey everyone! The reason my posts haven't been as frequent as they usually are is because I've just put the finishing touches on my first nail polish collection! These colors are inspired by the ladies of Downton Abbey's Crawley family, in addition to a bonus shade inspired by my favorite character. When creating these, I attempted to incorporate colors and finishes that not only represented the characters, but also colors that I could see the characters wearing. That is, you know...if they lived during a time when nail polish was commonly worn! Warning, some of the names and descriptions contain spoilers, so please be wary.
Bloody Mary. Two coats. Named both for its color and the fate of Lady Mary's lovers, this regal red and copper duochrome is accented with a slight red shimmer fitting of her feisty personality.
Edith Alone. Two coats. After a string of romantic misfortunes, Lady Edith still dreams of the day when she finds her companion. The white and pink undertones of this silver polish are symbolic of her status as a maiden and are contrasted by the holographic particles, which mark the hope for a more romantic future.
A Hint of Sybil. Three coats. This chocolate brown shade contains a blue flakie shimmer which represents Lady Sybil's uniquely lively attitude and borrows some inspiration from her (in)famously feminist frock.
Countess Cora. Three coats. Lady Grantham is generally far less dramatic than her young daughters, both in character and fashion. This dark plum jelly contains a classic golden shimmer fitting of a mother's maturity.
Vintage Violet. Three coats. One definition of vintage describes someone who is characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal. What better way to pay homage to these great qualities of the Dowager Countess of Grantham than to wear this emerald green jelly packed with violet shimmer?
Matthew's Blues. Two coats. Admittedly not someone who who would ever wear nail polish, this bonus shade is dedicated to Matthew Crawley's memory. This blue based duochrome is inspired by Matthew's stunning blue eyes and the feeling of blue that overcomes his family (and me) when they think of his untimely death.

These will be available on my Etsy shop starting Monday April 8th at noon MDT. I'll post a link to the shop on the top of my page when it's up and ready to go. These come in full size 15mL bottles and can be purchased for $9 per bottle. All of my polishes are 3-free and cruelty free. I have very limited stock, so be sure to get them while you can! A huge thanks to Raine for helping me with names, labels, photographs, sanity, etc.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to enter the OPI DS Sapphire Giveaway running until April 10th, 12:00 am EST!