Mint Leopard Nail Tutorial (Freehand)

Tags

julep, milani, nail art, nail polish, nails, NOTD, polish, revlon, tutorial, video, youtube

TIP: Make sure to dry thoroughly between each coat :]

This is my first time doing a design freehand.. You can’t tell by the camera zoom but my hand was literally shaking while doing the leopard designs… haha 😀

Stamping is my jam and I will *never* let it go. Freehand designs won’t happen as often as stamping because I’m not confident in my skills, but I really hope you like this look! ❤

❤ Materials:
Revlon Minted (Mint)
Sally Hansen Iced Coffee (Tan)
Julep Jane (Copper glitter)
Julep Ginger (Shimmery brown)
Dotting Tool (I found mine on Ebay!)
CND Stickey Base Coat
Seche Vite Topcoat
Milani Nail Art Nail Lacquer, Black Sketch 703

♥ E&I

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NOTD: My Attempt at Lynderella’s Gotta Love Brains featuring Revlon Whimsical

Tags

Beauty, deborah lippmann, franken polish, lynnderella, Manicure, nails, NOTD, revlon

What I used:

• 1 coat of CND Sticky Base
• 1 coat of China Glaze Pelican Gray
• 2 coats of Revlon Whimsical
• 1 light spotting coat of Milani Jewel FX Silver
• 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat

I was inspired by this Lynderella polish, “Gotta Love Brains”:

{via Pinterest}

If you are unfamiliar with “franken” polishes, they are simply non-commercial, DIY-type polishes that usually feature crazy amounts of glitter.  They are (generally) difficult to obtain because of demand.  I’ve stalked the online nail shop Llarowe for quite some time to see if I could snag a bottle, but they sell out so quickly that I never get the chance to.  And on top of that, each bottle is $15.  Yes, you read that right.  It’s just $3 short of a Deborah Lippman polish at Nordstrom.

Anyhoo, my attempt at a similar color combo isn’t nearly as pretty as the Gotta Love Brains polish itself (sigh), but I think its interesting in its own way.  The China Glaze Pelican Gray looks a bit blue in the nail photo, sorry about that…But the shade is true to the bottle.  Next time I think I’ll use a true baby blue as a base instead of the gray.

Revlon Whimsical is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann’s “Glitter in the Air” polish.   I got it for $5 at ULTA, since I couldn’t find it at any other drug store in my are (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Target.)  I wish the glitter was a bit more concentrated, and more like their other chunky glitter polishes, but oh well what can you expect for $5!

♥ E&I

NOTD: Valentine’s Day Ombre

Tags

essie, nail polish, nails, NOTD, revlon, valentines

Are ombre nails still in style anymore?  I remember seeing this Pinterest pin a while back but I didn’t partake in this trend until now.  Generally I do a gradient effect down a single nail so this is an interesting change.

I wanted to use a light spring-inspired color but ended up with too many choices… so I decided to try out the ombre look instead.  Instead of a magenta-themed pink I decided to go with pink with a hint of coral and orange.

This is also the very first time I’ve used a red polish on my nails!  It’s quite bold.

These colors remind me of sweet tart candy hearts! 😀  My absolute favorite color here is on the ring finger:  Revlon’s Tropical Temptation.  I think it’s discontinued now but I got another bottle as a backup during a 75% off CVS sale.

What I used:

• OPI Chip Skip
• CND Stickey Base coat
• Revlon Pretty in Papaya
• Revlon Tropical Temptation
• Essie Haute as Hello
• Essie Van D’Go
• Revlon Peach Smoothie
• Seche Vite Topcoat

Using Revlon and Essie together affirms my love for Revlon… the brush, and the quality of the polish is so great!! The Essie’s took a bit of time to blend out the streaks.

A nail tip:  If you’re doing an ombre nail style and you don’t think your colors match well, try layering a sheer tinted polish over an opaque one.  When a certain nail seems out of place, that will help unify the gradient effect across the hand.

Happy-almost-Valentines day!  Do you have plans?  Since Valentine’s day falls on a Tuesday and I work swingshift, I won’t be going out.  That weekend though we’ll have a nice little dinner.  Nothing too fancy though.  How about you?

♥ E&I

NOTD: Revlon Starry Pink

Tags

glitter, nail polish, nails, NOTD, revlon

1 coat of CND Sticky Basecoat
1 coat of Essie French Affair
1 coat of Revlon Starry Pink
1 coat of Seche Vite Topcoat

Revlon’s Starry Pink is a sheer, milky pink with chunky & small silver glitters. You definitely need a base color with this because its so sheer.. and since I used Essie French Affair with it, it looks quite pinky-purple here. Thank you to Steph from DSK Jewelry for introducing it to me. 🙂

For a photo of Starry Pink by itself, go here.

♥ E&I

NOTD: Revlon Peach Smoothie

Tags

Manicure, nails, NOTD, review, revlon

I bought this during my Revlon nailpolish spree at CVS and I’m glad I bought it! This polish was one of my last picks out of the 6 I needed to buy and I’m very happy with it! It has a nice neutral peach color with subtle gold shimmer… unfortunately the shimmer didn’t show up in the photo though. I used 3 coats here.

[ Remember Crayola crayons and colored pencils in the “Peach” color? I, like most kids I’m sure, used this as a flesh color in drawings and this “Peach” looks really nice and subtle on the nails. Super random, comment, I know 🙂 ]

This is one of Revlon’s new scented polishes and although the peach scent isn’t the best I’ve ever smelled, I’d rather smell this than the chemical scent of topcoat! My boyfriend Justin even commented on it, because he usually can smell my Seche Vite whenever I change nail colors.

I’ve had this polish on for at least 3 days now and the scent is faint but it’s definitely there. (I have had the Mango polish on my toes for a week but I’m not limber enough to comment on that one. haha.)

I’d recommend this if you’re looking to find an opaque, nude nail that doesn’t wash your skin out. The scent is long-lasting even with a pungent topcoat like Seche Vite! Fun and not noxious 😉

Rating: 4/5

♥ E&I