My Favorite Things Nail Art Challenge Day 8: Hearts/Love

Sorry for the posting delay. My little man was really sick yesterday, so I had to wait on doing the manicure. We are now at day 8 of the nail art challenge by Ooh La La Polish. Wow, we are almost done. I must say I am glad I chose this as my first challenge. I have had so much fun doing this, and I am going to hate to see it end. Today's focus is on hearts and/or love. I decided to do a fun and bright combination of the two themes. I am just not in a "pink love" mood right now. I need fun and playful and I think this was just what the doctor ordered! I used China Glaze Lemon Fizz as the base color. It took three careful coats to obtain a streak free and full covered nail.  As much as I love that color, it is a bit of a pain in the arse to apply! For the word and hearts I used my acrylic paints. I topped it with my beloved Seche Vite for a beautiful shine! What do you think?

I'm Back! Floam by Nail-Venturous

Hello all. Sorry for the small hiatus. I went on a trip with my husband for our 6 year anniversary. We had a great time in New Orleans!! The beignets and Cafe Au Laits at Cafe Du Monde were grand, Jambalaya at Coop's Place was delicious, and The GIANT cheeseburger and drink,Neptune's Monsoon, were amazing at Port of Call! I did not take pic's of my anniversary manicure since it didn't turn out quite right, but I did take pic's of one of my newest polishes, Floam by Amy at I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous. I have gotten so many compliments in the past three days, it's just amazing. This is one of the coolest polishes I own. It is so different and unique that I am glad I grabbed this up while I had the chance. I have noticed a trend in the nail polish community that a certain color can be hyped up to the point of disappointment when you get it. This is not one of those colors. I have truly enjoyed this polish, and it wasn't even holographic!! This is a matte neon blue and yellow-green glitter in a clear base. This polish has depth, character, and a great name. I used two coats of Floam with one coat of Gelous and one coat of Seche Vite. It still feels a bit bumpy, but not gritty. So here are my pics of New Orleans and Floam. Enjoy!

First, Floam pictures. I figured you would want to see the nail polish first.

Isn't this polish stunning? 

Close up. You can click on the picture for more detail. You will see what I mean about depth.

It even looks cool in the bottle.

I purchased Floam at Ninja Polish for $9.00 with shipping.

 Now on to the New Orleans pictures! 

Yummy!! Beignets and Cafe Au Lait at Cafe Du Monde!

I told you the burger was huge at Port of Call!

Mmmmmm... chicken. We had a great time on the Swamp Tour at Cajun Pride.

This was at one of the cemeteries in New Orleans in the Garden District. It was amazing to see how old some of them were!

My First Water Marble Nail Art!

I did my first water marble nail art. I think it was quite successful for a first try. It took a while to get the technique down, but once I had it, it was a lot of fun. I first made the mistake of using some cheap-o polishes I had bought just for this. They were way too gloopy. So I busted out my old trusty China Glaze and had instant magic. I followed the advice of others and used room temperature filtered water, taped my nails off with scotch tape, and used a toothpick to create the marble effect. I first tried to use my dotting tool but the point wasn't fine enough. I used the China Glaze colors, Secret Peri-wink-le, Starboard, and Lemon Fizz. I had a base of 2 coats of Wet n Wild French White. I wish I had done step by step photos but I was really concentrating on doing this right. Next time I will give instructions. I will definitely be doing this technique again. Oh, I received a TON of compliments on this manicure including patients, checkout clerks, and I even made one doctor speechless (which is quite a feat)!

So each nail looked completely different. I tried a different "swirl" every time to see what came out the best.

So here are the lovely colors I used. L-R Secret Peri-wink-le, Lemon Fizz, Starboard

You can see my error, during application, on my ring finger. I started to take my finger out of the water before making sure ALL of the excess polish was off of the surface.

I just thought this looked pretty. :)

I apologize for the cuticles and tip wear, well, just general manicure damage. I had worked a bunch at the hospital, and the wear and tear on my hands does do a number despite tons of moisturizer. So for a first attempt I think it turned out quite well. What do you think. What are your experiences trying out water marbling.