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Swatch of Essie’s Love Every Minute

This ultra feminine manicure is a swatch of Love Every Minute by Essie.  The polish applies a bit streaky, but I reached a desired opacity after three coats. I recommend a good top coat to smooth out the finish. essie-love-every-minute What do you think of this look? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Swatch of Essie’s Fashion Playground

Say hello to this plucky pistachio shimmer beauty that is Essie’s Fashion Playground!

To get a desired opacity, I applied three coats. In natural light, this pretty color shines with a subtle glimmer infused in the lacquer.

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What do you think of this polish? Let me know in the comments below!

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Color Changing Nail Polish

A little thermal energy can transform your entire manicure. In a blink of an eye watch these nails change. Yeah, science!

This is Papaya to Mango, a thermal nail polish I got from Simply Spoiled Beauty. The nail polish changes color by playing with differnt temperatures.

The polish has a smooth, matte-like finish and has a quick dry time. I’m wearing two thin layers of it with no top coat. The unintentional ombre effect you get while the polish is on idle is definitely a bonus.

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Here’s a look at the Purple to Pink transition.

You don’t always need water to see the magic happen, the polish also changes with body temperature. I’m wearing two coats of Purple to Pink and paired with a high shine top coat.

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What do you think about color changing polish? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Green Nails for St. Patrick’s Day

Go neon and through some glitter on it to attract the luckiest of leprechauns this St. Patrick’s Day.

I am wearing Essie’s Share Your $$ Maker ($8.50) and paired it with Wonderous Star by OPI ($6.75).

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Turns out I got fan in Beauty High! The beauty pub featured these babies and said I made them “Green with envy.”

What do you think of this look? Let me know in the comments below!

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Pokemon Nail Art

With the recent release of Pokemon on Netflix, many 90s kids are reliving their childhood as they follow Ash Ketchum on his adventure to be the greatest Pokemon master. I proudly admit I can bust out the entire Pokerap, no problem.

To continue my walk down memory lane, I created two manicures inspired by one of my favorite cartoons.

1. Ash wants to “Catch them all,” but I will stick these cuties. Bonus points to those of you that remembers the Squirtle Squad.

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2. Grass, fire, water and electric, the core energy type of Pokemon will forever be the best.

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Here’s a Vine video showing a time lapse of the making of the Pokemon energy  symbols manicure. 

Are you a fan of Pokemon? Share in the comments below!

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Nails of the Day: Negative Space Glitter Manicure

Glitter and negative space designs are two of my favorite things. I figured it’s time I combined the two again. Here are today’s nails of the day:

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I layered two coats of Essie’s Dive Bar ($8.50) on my nails and used a Q-tip dipped in polish remover to create a negative space line on the mysterious black blue nails. I filled in the negative space with Elf Cosmetics’ Midnight Mystery ($2) and applied three coats of the glitter polish on the accent.

What do you think of this look? Let me know in the comments below! 

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Plunging V Chevron Nail Art Tutorial

Happy Mani Monday! I’m kicking off the week with a pop of color and a simple design.

If you want to do the same, you’ll need to first pick two awesome nail polishes. I used Essie’s The Girls Are Out ($8.50) and NYC  Nail Polish Skyline Blue ($1). You’ll also need some striping tape, scissors and don’t forget your favorite base and top coat.

Here’s how to create an easy-to-do deep V chevron manicure:

1. Use the scissors to cut out at least 20 small pieces of striping tape.

2. Prep your nails with a base coat and let it dry.  Apply two coats of one polish (I used pink) on the accent nail and paint  the rest of the nails another color (I used blue).

3. Once the base color is completely dried and  hardened, apply two pieces of tape to create an inverted pyramid shape starting from the cuticle.

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4. Paint inside the triangle using the opposite color of the base polish. Quickly and carefully remove the tape while the polish is still wet. When the design is dry, seal it on with a layer of top coat.

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What do you think of this look? Let me know in the comments below!

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Gridz Nails Inspired by Synthmode

A buddy of mine, Marco Barcena, recently launched Synthmode– a digital portal to all things tech, visual and audio production related.

Among the cool features on the site is the Gridz gallery filled with minimalist abstract art pieces. Naturally, when I saw a couple of the designs I was inclined to replicate a look on my nails.

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Grid-05 as seen on Synthmode.com.

To recreate a design inspired by a Grid I used a Essie’s Blanc ($8.50) as a base color and black striper polish to execute the dynamic shapes.

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What do you think of this look? Let me know in the comments below!

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Valentine’s Day Nail Art Inspired by Tom Bachik

Happy Valentine’s Day! When Zooey Deschanel graced the Golden Globes red carpet in a vintage and lux daisy manicure back in January, I knew right away I wanted to recreate the look. Fast forward to February 14 and I figured there was no better time than now to do it.

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Zooey Deschanel’s daisy manicure as seen at the 2014 Golden Globes red carpet. Photo credit: Instagram, @tombachik.

I wanted to give the spectacular manicure originally executed by celebrity manicurist, Tom Bachik, my own twist. To give the look a little Valentine’s Day flair, I used pink, white and purple polishes and a couple light pink pearl studs. I paired the design with cute negative space ribbon nail art on the middle finger, a heart-filled accent nail and was very generous with rhinestones. A whole lot of love went into this flirty and romantic look, can you feel it?

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What do you think of this manicure? Let me know in the comments below!

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