Broken Glass Manicure

Hi guys! So today I have for you something that I've wanted to do for a very long time, ever since I saw a picture of it on Pintrest. 

It's a broken glass manicure:

I started out with a coat of Julep Nail Therapy (bought it in the secret store as part of the Nail 911 kit). Then over that I put a coat of ORLY Bonder. 

Next for every nail I used Color Club Beyond, a black holo. Color club holos are the best, I don't own any others because I don't need them with this collection. This is how it started out: 

I think it's cool to have the holo peeking out in the background. I tried to capture the effect with flash, because I do my nails at night and the sun has gone MIA around here lately. 

The polish I used for stamping is No Placd Like Chrome by Essie, which actually worked pretty well. 

When I got my new Mash plates I was really excited to see that there are, not one, but two broken glass images. I have no idea why, because they look exactly the same to me. I used both of them just to make my life easier. They're on image plates 57 and 72 from the newest collection. 

You're probably wondering what that hot mess is on my ring finger. That's Crystal by Julep. It's a diamond reflective top coat, and it's just diamond shapes in a clear base. Some if the diamonds don't show up on camera for some reason. I thought this was going to look a lot better than it actually does. Not sure what I could have done to make it look better. It's really thick on my nail so I'm not expecting it to last too long. 

I topped it off with HG Girl Glisten and Glow. I've literally heard nothing but good things about this top coat, and I have yet to find my go-to. Now, you'd think that I would buy a little bottle to try it out, considering that I've never used it before and that I don't know if I'll like it. But no. This is what I bought. 

The biggest, bling-yest bottle I could find. This is on the website for $35.95, and altogether it was about $42 or something with shipping. Really? I paid $42 for a top coat? The funny thing is, I have the Out the Door top coat in the exact same size, and I paid $5.49. 

I mean, the HK girl is supposed to be better, so I'm hoping it helps my mani live for at least a few days. It's thicker than most top coats I've used, but I like that. I'll see how I feel about it in my next couple of mani. 

As always, thanks for reading!

xoxo, 

Belle

Halloween Costume Nail Art

Hi guys! So you would think that the manicure I actually wear on Halloween would be Halloween-themed, but I decided to match it with my costume. I'm going as a female gangster. 

Here it is: 

The base color is Space Cadet by Glitter Guilty, made specifically for me for my first Glitter Guilty Pleasures Box. 

When I first got this color I wasn't thrilled with it. It's pink crelly base with holographic orange microglitter, magenta and white circle glitters, and white bar glitters. This was my first indie polish ever, and the glitter was all in the middle of the bottle, so didn't really get any out on my first try. This time, I had the bottle upside down on my rack for the past week, and I thought that the polish was really pretty when you put it all together. It works as a great girly or "Barbie" color. 

Dollar signs were made with Mash Image Plate M32, and the diamond were from Bundle Monster BM09. I stamped with green and black Konad stamping polish. Since I wanted to green to show up on the pink, I stamped each dollar sign twice. 

Just have to hope that I can get through 5 hours of work without peeling/cracking/chipping! 

Happy Halloween, enjoy and stay safe! 

EDIT:

Here's a picture of the full costume :) 

xoxo,

Belle

Welcome and First Post

Hi guys! Welcome to Belle and Arielle* Nail Art Blog. Arielle and I are two best friends who have a serious passion for/addiction to nail art. We will be sharing our own manicures, reviewing products, etc. We are doing this out of our love for nail art, and nothing more. We hope that we can help to inspire others, as well as help to feed their nail art addiction. Being a nail art addict doesn't hurt anyone/thing, except maybe your wallet.

So I'm just going to jump in with my first post. This is my manicure that I have on right now:

I was inspired by the fact that it is almost fall, and I couldn't be more excited for my favorite season (please excuse the lack of clean-up on the accent nail). I wanted to do an accent nail, but I didn't want to do black, because it's not THAT close to halloween yet, and I also didn't want to do just plain white, so this is what I came up with.

And here is the arsenal of things I used to achieve this look:

From left to right:

1. Start with one coat of ORLY Bonder. Many beauty bloggers recommend this, and for good reason. It really helps the nail polish to stick to the nail to help prevent chipping/peeling. A few downsides of this product are that it does not protect against nail staining and/or breakage. However, for me it does what it's supposed to do, which is why it is an essential piece of my mani arsenal.

2. Apply one coat of Gelous Advanced Nail Gel Coat. This is pretty thick because it is supposed to make your nails like a gel, without having to expose them to UV light.

3. Apply two (thin) coats of Clubbin til Sunrise by OPI

4. Apply another coat of Gelous

5. Apply one coat of Northern Lights Top Coat by Out the Door. This was for the glitter. OTD top coats dry in 45 seconds. This top coat is made with fine glitters that tend to fall to the bottom, so you need to shake up the bottle. It creates a gorgeous sparkle effect that looks rediculous in the sun. Since this IS a top coat, you can stop here. But...

6. Apply one coat of Essie No Chips Ahead Top Coat. I work in a bakery-cafe, and I always have my hands in water and am cleaning/peeling/scraping things. Therefore, I really need nail products that prevent chipping as best as possible. I' ve accepted the fact that I cannot wear a manicure for more than a week, and this is the best combination of products that I have come across so far. It lasts almost a week without chipping, with minor touch-ups on tips needed to maintain the look. I did this on thursday night, and it's still going strong. *Warning: This is NOT a fast-drying top coat.

For accent nail:

Instead of step 3, apply two coats of My Boyfriend Scales walls by OPI. I waited about 10 minutes for it to dry (I don't have patience), but I suggest waiting at least 10-30 minutes if you're going to stamp. This is because, even if the nail is dry, you can still bend/smudge/smoosh the polish when you go to stamp, and then you have to start all over again. I may or may not have put on a coat of Seche Vite just on the accent nail to help the drying process.

The polish i used to stamp with is just called Black by Kleancolor. I used these polishes to stamp because, in my experience, these aren't really good quality polishes (they chip within a day) and they're kind of thick (which is good for stamping)  

The plate I used is Mash 38. The only stamping plates I have are Mash and Bundle Monster. I got BM first and I thought I was an idiot because it took me like a half hour to get one stamp on my nail. After I got the Mash plates, it only took my one try. I feel that the Mash plates are better quality and the designs are etched a little deeper than BM. But that's just my experience.

Finally, I used a Konad brand stamper and scraper. A lot of people use an old credit card instead of a scraper, but mine works fine, so I just use that. Finish with steps 4-6.

I hope you enjoyed the first post! If you have any questions about products/pricing, or if you like what you see, please leave a comment!

xoxo,
Belle <3



















*not our real names.