NOTD: Vintage Rose

This manicure is inspired by an instagram pic taken by @juliahengel.

This is quite easy to do:

•  Make a blob of color in a roughly circular shape as the base for a rose {don't be afraid to lay it on thick} I used red and white.
• Then add a lighter {or darker} color in a swirling motion to create a petal effect. I used pink.
•  Finally add green in short brush strokes around the roses for leaves! It doesn't have to be perfect.
• Top with a good top coat :)

Hope you enjoyed this manicure!

Products Used:
Avon: Illusion, French Tip White, Real Red, Viva Pink, Noir Emerald, Licorice.

ELF haul

If you follow me on twitter {roxypie89} you saw that I tweeted about EyesLipsFace.com and their birthday sale where their whole studio line was 50% off. Knowing that I cannot pass up such a great deal for already affordable makeup I went to work researching swatches of various things I knew I wanted. Here is the end result of my purchase:
 

 Beware: The colors on the website are nothing like the actual colors of the products. I HIGHLY recommend looking up swatches {I like tellmiluv's ELF youtube videos} of all of the things you are interested in to avoid disappointments.

 The packaging is plastic, but very chic for the price.

 Cream Blush L to R: Seductress, Vixen. I chose their most pigmented ones as I have medium skintone.

Seductress: a dark reddish pink with orange                Vixen: a dusty rose color with micro shimmer.  undertones and micro shimmer.                                     

•  Even on me, these colors are extremely pigmented. Seductress only needs a tiny bit to create a flushed look. Vixen takes more to build up to an even color. The consistency is like velvety playdough- very entertaining!
• There is quite a bit of product so the packaging comes with a moisture plug which is nice considering these might just last forever.

Gold cream eyeliner: This is pretty 

chunky considering it is an eyeliner, 

takessome effort to apply, just ok. I

wouldn't recommend this color. But

the Black cream eyeliner is the best!!!

Bronzed cream eyeshadow: I am 

surprised at how creamy this is! 

Definitely more brown than bronze. 

It has a great metallic sheen and some 

micro glitters.

Lip Liner & Blending Brush- Fushia. This is perfect, I already have a red one, but needed one in fuchsia to go with my Chanel L'Exuberante lipstick. Perfect match. {I must post a tiny lipstick collection soon} This liner comes with a flat rounded blending brush and I have to say it is pretty good quality!

Products Mentioned:

ELF: Cream blush- Seductress, Vixen | Cream eyeliner- Gold | Cream eyeshadow- Bronzed | Lip Liner- Fuchsia.

NOTD: Cherry Blossoms

This Japanese cherry blossom manicure is really simple to create, and so pretty!

                    Step#1: 3 coats of polish.                     Step#2: Paint 1 line diagonally {imperfect is good}

                                                                                               then add smaller ones stemming from it.                                                       

    Step#4: Add 3 dots to form flowers,       Step#5: Add a pink center to each flower, follow with top 

                  randomly spaced.                                     coat.

Products Used:
Essie- Absolutely Shore | CM Nail Art- black, white, heavenly pink.

NOTD: Tory Burch Inspired

Today's nails are inspired by this Tory Burch tank:

Do you see the resemblance? :)

Products Mentioned:

Tory Burch Samantha Tank {$125 here} | NOTD: Avon- Orange Creamsicle, Illusion | 

Black Poppy-{unnamed} grey with holo glitter sold at pacsun | NYC- Sidewalkers {270}. 

NOTD: Chanel April + Matte

Today, I used my all-time favorite color to create this matte manicure after seeing this one {but black seemed to dark for all this summery heat}

• After applying 2 coats of April I used Essie's Matte About You as a top coat, 
• Then I used Konad m73 to stamp this flower pattern on my nails using April. 
• The effect is subtle, but very pretty!

Products used:
Chanel- April | Essie Matte About You | Konad plate m73.

Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

The Lush Cuticle Butter- looks and has the consistency of butter {yes :) I have totally squished butter between my fingers}. It smells very lemony {slightly artificial smelling, but pleasant} and is very rich on the skin. It does take a while to sink in, but I do feel a difference in softness after applying it. At $16, it has a year long shelf-life and I would repurchase it again as I can, and will use it to help any other dry area {feet, elbows, knees etc...}.

Products Mentioned:

Lush Cuticle butter here.

NOTD: Avon french tip white | OPI-Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs.

NOTD: m&m manicure

The food continues with this M&M manicure :)

• I used 2 coats of green, blue, red, and 3 coats of yellow and orange.
• The m's were free-handed using a small thin brush and white polish.

yum! {again}

Products Used:

Avon: Sweet Mint, Blue Escape, Tangtastic, Sunshine, Orange Creamsicle | CM Nail Art White. 

NOTD: Strawberry Fields {again}

This idea came to me while browsing the thousands of pictures on instagram {follow me @roxypie89}

and what better polish to use than one named just for the things I wanted to paint- strawberries!

Again, this polish takes 2 coats to be opaque and streak-free which is great because it is a fav of mine!

• For the leaves I mixed the two green polishes to create 3 different variations of green and painted them on from darkest to lightest decreasing my brush strokes for each color.
• I finished it off with dots of gold to represent the seeds using the smallest dotting tool I have.
•  {a toothpick can work just fine for this part}

yum!

Products Used:

China Glaze- Strawberry Fields | Avon- Sweet Mint, Noir Emerald | Revlon- Gold Get 'Em.

NOTD: Tiffany Manicure

This is another manicure that I had been dying to try, but I just couldn't free-hand the bow right and stamping just wasn't cutting it. So, I order some adorable bows from eBay and waited 2 long weeks for them to arrive before attempting it again.

I'm sure most of you guys have heard of, seen, or own China Glaze's For Audrey. It is the perfect Tiffany blue color and goes on opaque and even after 2 coats.

• After applying 2 coats of color, I used my CM nail art to draw horizontal lines across the nail- these represent the ribbon on the iconic tiffany box.
• On the accent nail I added a vertical line and placed a bow in the center using a thick layer of top coat to secure it in place.
• That's it! :)

I did notice that one of the bows is defective but for the $1.69, well worth it.

Products used: 

China Glaze- For Audrey | CM Nail Art White | Bows via eBay {$1.69} gogo_newlife123 or direct link to product here.

NOTD: China Glaze Strawberry Fields

On today's nails I have China Glaze- Strawberry Fields. This polish is a really pretty summery pink color with micro gold glitter that creates a beautiful sheen in natural light. I wasn't able to capture this in pictures, but went along with the color scheme and added an ombre effect with gold glitter!

• I applied 2 coats of strawberry fields, the polish is completely opaque and streak free at this point. 
• Then I applied a first coat of glitter {make sure the brush has as little polish as possible} to 3/4 of the nail.
• I applied another coat of glitter to the top 1/2 of the nail {this coat can have a little more polish than the first}
• I finished it off with a final coat of polish to the tips only. 

This might be my favorite pink polish after Chanel's April.

Hope you have a great week!

Products used:
 China Glaze- Strawberry Fields, Blonde Bombshell.

NOTD: French Tip With a Twist

 I have been dying to try this tape manicure out since I saw something similar floating around on Pinterest. But my impatience got the best of me twice... Until now!

These are my fool-proof steps to getting good Tape manicures:

Step#3: cut at an angle. Use the
triangles you cut off as a guide
for the rest. 

Step#1: Cut square pieces 

of tape. Clear or glossy will

work fine.

Step#2: Fold the tape in half
with the sticky sides facing out.

Step#4: Before applying the
tape make sure the polish is
completely dry. {I applied a
coat of Seche Vite, this
actually makes tape manis
a lot easier!} 

     

       Step#5: Position the tape in the
       middle of you nail, make sure all
      the edges are fully taped down.

Step#6: Paint over the tips & peel 

off after about 1 minute. {At this 

point if some lines were not 

perfect I used a thin brush to

correct them} Apply a top coat!

 Polish Review: The pink polish is quite opaque and took 2 coats to be streak free and pretty much even. The black took only one coat, but 2 coats would create an even opaque nail if worn on its own. I find that all of my Avon polishes tend to last 3-4 days without any chipping and minor wear to the tips when I use a base coat (OPI ridge filler) and a top coat (Seche Vite).

Don't mind my kitty in the background :)

Products Used: Tape, Avon- Black Licorice, Pastel Pink. Seche Vite Top Coat, CM Nail Art Black.