Will You Be My Mani-tine?

A Valentine mani.

No holiday passes CBXB by without the need to paint my nails gaudily accordingly.  So here’s my stab at melting hearts with my mani this week.

I used a trio of colors to achieve my look:

Salon Perfect in Silver Plated, Sally Hansen in White On and Orly in Star Spangled.

After applying one swipe of base coat, I painted two coats of White On and let it dry a few minutes.

Then, I put a thick coat of Orly’s Star Spangled on the tips of my talons.

To take the gaudiness up a notch, I applied a thin line of Silver Plated in between the red and white hues. Followed by one swipe of my all-time favorite Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat.

Then I did what any grown woman does after painting her nails.  I started matching my nails to Valentine’s decor.

Be mine.

And why stop at decor, when you can color coordinate your mani to the wine you’ll be guzzling?

The cork in this bottle reads “Who wears the pants? I wear the pants.” No one tell Teddy!

Now I just need to get a matching wine glass (or two – you know, one for each manicured hand).

CBXB

Blood Dripped Digits

What better way to commence my favorite week of October than by upping my mani ante with a little blood splatter masterpiece?

Not your ordinary apple.

I got a tad ambitious in my manicure adventures but with a glass (or four) of wine, I found my inner confidence beaming through.

To achieve this look, you’ll need a clear, nude or white color of polish, a toothpick and your choice of a red hue.

Terrifying trio.

After applying Seche Vite base coat, I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White Out.

Hopefully you’re better at staying in bounds than me. Wine makes my lines blur. Where’s Robin Thicke when you need him?

To create the blood drips, I dipped a toothpick into a bottle of Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Rapid Red and started with a single drop in the middle of a fingernail (be careful how much polish is on the end of your toothpick or you’ll have a large glob instead of a small drop – I’m speaking from experience).  Once you’ve dripped in your desired nail locale, use the toothpick to drag the red to the tip of your nail.

Dip baby dip.

After I had my drips appropriately placed, I added little dots of red for a splattered effect. Then, I did one thin swipe of red along the top of my fingernail (still with the toothpick) to tie everything together.

Dripping digits.

Wait about 15 minutes before applying a top coat (I’m in love with Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat), as the red globs need more time to dry and will smear if you don’t wait long enough (again, speaking from impatient experience).

While my talons have gotten a few raised eyebrows already today, a woman at the grocery check out line asked me why I painted my nails the way I did (because I F’ing wanted to, Lady – is what I wanted to say but refrained) this morning.

Devilishly delightful.

I responded with,”the devil made me do it.”

*Insert evil, cackling witch laugh here.*

CBXB

Fairy God-Mani

You know I take being a (fairy) Godmother very seriously. And it took great consideration to decide how to paint my nails for my niece and nephew’s baptism this past weekend.

Matching a mani to a god-daughter’s outfit.

I decided to go with a bright pink base (for little diva B) accompanied by gray tips (for the all boy B).

Perfect accessory for camo pants and a baby belly, don’t you think?

After applying a base, I painted two coats of Orly’s Oh Cabana Boy and let dry for about three minutes. Then I used one swipe of Orly’s fabulously sparkly Rock Solid on the tips, followed by Seche Vite top coat for completion.

Mani-Twins

Little diva B was so engaged with my mani, she couldn’t let go of my finger (well, actually she got grabby with my bling bling diamond pinky ring – who can blame her?!).

A lover of all things sparkly already! Following in Godmother CBXB’s footsteps…look out.

It’s never too early to learn that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right?

She’s learning from a pro.

CBXB

Bear by the Mani-tail

So this manicure won’t truly help you catch a bear but I did find that my kit cat Teddy Bear’s tail made for a nice contrast in showing off my latest creation…

Whatever you do, don’t pull.

After applying a base coat, I covered my nails with a swipe of Sally Hansen’s White On.  Once semi-dry, I tipped the ends of my claws in OPI’s DS Radiance (this is apparently considered a ‘designer’ polish and runs about $11 – mine was a gift. So any silver will do!) and used Milani Nail Art in Black Sketch to complete the mini masterpiece.  The grand finale was a coat of Seche Vite’s Dry Fast Top Nail Coat (best ever in my amateur book) to make this mani last almost a week.

Triple Threat

Then I enjoyed using my painted talons as a matching accessory to my wine glasses.

Perfect mates, yes?

CBXB