It's Not Even Winter Yet...

Well hello!

Happy December! And August, September, October, and November, for that matter...yes, it's been that long since I've posted! I know. It's been a long, hard four months without my nails.

Anyway, seeing as Christmas is right around the corner and I've been hearing all about snow and how cold it is from all of my friends who live in places where it actually gets cold (not that it doesn't get cold in San Diego), I thought it was time to start the Christmas/winter nails!

However, it's not even winter yet.

No, really. I even Googled it.

But that's alright. It doesn't have to be winter for winter nails, does it? So without further ado...

SNOWMAN NAILS!

And because who doesn't like taking pictures of their own nails when they think their nails are superduperadorable (okay, maybe it's just me)...

If you're curious (because I know you must be!), the colors I used were:

Zoya Rocky (blue)

China Glaze White on White (white...obviously)

Pure Ice Black Out (black...also obviously)

Zoya Jancyn (orange)

China Glaze Salsa (Red)

And because who doesn't love matching nails to random household objects...

Imagine my excitement when I realized I had a hair bow that matched my nails almost exactly! (Hint: it's a lot of excitement.) 

Hopefully this won't be the last of my winter/holiday themed nails - there's just so much more that could be done between Christmas AND New Year's decorations!

Stay tuned, stay warm, and...

Stay happy!

Just Another 4th of July Manicure!

WELL, HELLO THERE!

Yes, it's been awhile! No, my nails didn't fall off or anything. I actually have no excuse this time...but anyways!

Happy 4th of July! Even if you're not from America. 'Cause it's July 4th there too...and I hope yours is happy! Here are my Independence Day nails...

(I don't know why I felt compelled to include that last blurry picture. But I liked it!)

For my (starless...sorry!) flag, I used Zoya Purity (white) and then taped my nails and painted China Glaze Ruby Pumps (red) over that; the blue is China Glaze Dorothy Who?, one of my current favorite glitter polishes.

Have no fear...I'll be back blogging regularly soon!

Stay happy :)))

P.S. Also...sorry about the phone camera quality! These were the only pics I had time to get in before I rushed off to swim practice and my nails chipped :(

Stars Over the Bay!

HELLO!

Sorry it's been SO long since my last post - but I have some great news. Now that it'...drumroll please...SUMMER, I'll be posting with a lot more frequency. Hopefully nails that look a lot better. As my school year came to a close, I was absolutely swamped with school work and studying, and I got sick, and...well, we don't really care about what kept me from posting but the important part is that I'm back!

Anyway, here's the nails that I did for the night of my high school graduation. Sorry there's only one picture (and that it's super-great cell phone quality), but that's all I got before they chipped at practice the next day! 

For Grad Night, we took a yacht around the San Francisco bay...so this was supposed to be the sky above us. I started with a black-to-blue gradient using a Sinful Colors black, Zoya Natty, and Zoya Yummy, then dotted some white on and added nails inc. Electric Lane Holographic Topcoat.

If you follow me on INSTAGRAM (yes...I finally did it) you may have seen a picture of my pre-cleanup gradient. It was a mess! Curious? That's your cue to follow @ifnailsmakeyouhappy on Instagram. Like. Pronto. Help me out guys. I'm still trying to figure out the whole hashtag business.

Anyways! So that's my nails for now. Follow me on Instagram. Blah, blah. Have a delightful day.

Stay happy!!

Tropical Gradient Nails!

Hello hello! Words cannot describe how excited I am about today's manicure. Like, for realsies. Any avid followers of my blog may have noticed that there's a few major nail trends that I tend to avoid - water marbling, stamping, dramatic taping - because even though the rest of the nail blogging community says they're "easy" and "mess-free" and "fun"...well, I find them to be extremely challenging, disastrously messy, and no fun at all.

One such manicuring technique has been, to this point, gradient nails! I've never used the right sponges. Or the right colors. Or the right anything. But...at long last...I think I've finally gotten the hang of it!

So, without further ado, here are my tropical-colored gradient nails!

Aren't they fun!? I spent the greater part of my day just looking at them...(mostly because it was oddly dreary outside today, and my nails were significantly happier-looking). As for colors, I used...

Ciate Loop the Loop (yellow)

Orly Green Apple (green)

Julep Sasha (coral-orange)

I'd do something silly like promise to make a sponge gradient tutorial for you all, but Sammy at The Nailasaurus already has basically the greatest tutorial of all time up on her blog HERE. In fact, it's the tutorial that I followed to figure out how gradient nails work!

...Instead, I decided to do something silly like pick a household object that went along with my tropical theme and take a picture with that, then edit it all artsy-like. 

Hehe...yeah. Any guesses as to what it is? Try me in the comments!

Stay happy :D

Julep Maya (Swatches!)

Well hello there! 

Today's polish is one that isn't exactly "me" - but I'll leave the judging up to you, I guess. Another from Oprah's favorites, here's Julep Maya...

Maya is a pearly cross between champagne and seashell with a frosty finish. Heh...I'm still working on describing my colors right, if you can't tell. Anyway, I have incredibly mixed feelings about Maya.

One one hand, I think Maya is a really interesting color! Most of my nail polishes are the bright, pop-out-ish colors that most people only sport on their toes during the summer, and Maya seems a little...tame. Nonetheless, I like the way she looks on my nails. Now...my mom did say it looked "old-lady-ish" (her words, not mine!), and I don't know if I'd call Oprah an old lady, but she's definitely not young any more.

On the other hand, Maya's finish is something else. I don't usually work with pearly finishes or frosts, and if you can't tell by the SUPER-visible brush strokes, I'm not very good with them, either. They kind of confuse me, and I had to do an extra coat to cover up some really ugly brush strokes (pictured is three; Maya was opaque at two).

But, I mean, to each his (or her!) own, right? Overall, I think I like Maya; I'm just not going to be wearing her every single day of my life. How do you like her?

Stay happy!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes! It's my birthday!

...a little narcissistic, no? But I guess that's to be expected from someone who blogs about their own nails, right? Oh, well.

My sister surprised me with the most AMAZING nail polish birthday present ever: the Oprah's Favorite Things Nail Color Jewelry Box by Julep! It's a super pretty white box with velvet lining and TWELVE Julep polishes in it ("A 12-polish set of Oprah's hand-picked favorites"!). Which is absolutely perfect, considering right now I'm at least kind of obsessed with Julep products.

Anyway. Here's what my birthday manicure was GOING to be - just a plain creme, because I thought I'd give myself time in my day to do real-people fun things, not just paint my nails:

This is Julep Carrie, a delightfully soft pastel pink. Yes - delightfully. I don't know why that doesn't seem like a word that should ever describe a nail polish, but I just went there. Carrie was perfectly self-evening and everything in just two coats!

After I'd been sitting around for a couple minutes, I realized that I had to do something at least a little more exciting for birthday nails, so I grabbed a dotting tool and got to work using Julep Lauren...

Just FYI, if you're ever dotting with a neon, be aware that you will have to work SUPER quickly! Something about the way neons dry all fast and matte and stuff make them harder to dot with.

So that was going to be it for my birthday nails, but then I had a ridiculous accident with a broken shower tile that left me rather immobile. (An accident? In the shower? Only me. I know. It actually takes talent to be as uncoordinated as I am.) I couldn't swim, but I showed up to the pool anyways to help my coach out a little bit.

Well, I ended up sitting at a desk beside the pool for the better part of two hours, and if you've ever tried to watch a swim practice, you know that swimming is a downright boring sport to observe. I stole two of my coach's Sharpie pens and went at my nails:

(This is after a few hand-washings - the green and red started to fade off.)

It was supposed to look floral-ish...which I guess it sort of did...but nobody could really tell what was going on with my nails unless I shoved them in their faces saying, "LOOK AT MY NAILS THEY HAVE FLOWERS!" At which point most people would just smile and say, "Sure they do, Natalie."

So...yeah. That was my birthday. Maybe soon I'll try the "floral" thing again (and maybe I'll actually use real nail polish this time!). What do you think of the look?

Stay happy!

Focus on French: Glitter Gradients

Hello there!

Sorry it's been awhile - it's been one of those weeks where I can't seem to find time to do anything, yet I feel incredibly busy. Anyway, I'm back with part 2 of my fun with French tips: glitter gradients!

These might not actually count as French tips, but done right, I think they can have the same effect, if not an even nicer one. To go with the whole French theme, I started with a nude-ish base and used gold glitter on top.

This look is SUPER simple to get, and I think it comes off as pretty classy. But maybe that's just me. Anyway, I used Zoya Kennedy as my nude and e.l.f. Golden Goddess as my glitter. Here's Kennedy alone:

Glitter gradients - yes or no?

Stay happy!

Focus on French - Part 1

Good morning! Unless it's not morning where you are. Then good afternoon, night, or whatever.

Anyways, I'm not sure what's going on in the rest of the world, but in America, it's Prom season! Teenage girls all over the country - myself included - have been rushing to their malls and boutiques and sketchy online stores in search of the perfect dress; ankles are breaking as girls try on twenty-inch heels; hair salons and beauty parlors are swamped...and nail salons, too, are finding themselves in the prime of their existence right about now.

I, as you probably all can imagine, am completely composed and have all of my Prom-related business in order. I just ordered two dresses online because I can't decide which, have a hair appointment booked for the day of the event that's actually during a swim meet, and I have no idea how I'm going to do my nails.

There's not much I can do for the first two major issues, but at least I can work on the nail situation! Which is why I'm going to do a series of posts for the next few weeks - not just for myself, but for anyone else who's seriously contemplating how their manicures are going to look on that special night - on the always-classy style that matches literally everything: French nails!

So here's French-with-a-twist style 1:

It's just a basic French tip, with some white dots...and pretty unfortunate-looking stars. (Yeah, they're supposed to be stars.) I think some time I'll re-do this mani, but just with a bigger dot or something instead of the wannabe star. Either way, I think I do still like this look!

(Side note...let's all take a moment to silently applaud how much my French tip skills have improved over the last few months...okay thanks.)

And here's French-with-a-twist style 2:

After doing a regular French tip, I used plastic wrap to dab more white down my nails, making a kind-of gradient. I didn't originally intend for the gradient to be this sharp, but I think I actually like it - it makes the French thing more obvious. After it dried, I brushed a thin coat of nails inc. Electric Lane Holographic Topcoat over just the part with white, but because there wasn't much sun out the day I did these nails, I couldn't get a really good, holographic-y picture that showed the glitter.

Sorry about the slightly blurry pictures for this second style - if you couldn't guess, this is my right hand. And, sadly enough, it's gotten to the point where I can paint my right hand completely competently, but I still do a rather pathetic job photographing it. Oh well - I think the effect I was going for with this French mani was fairly obvious, right?

So that's my first set of French-inspired nails that might be suitable for Prom. Any other ideas? I'll be following up with several more French tip elaborations...provided I can think of some.

Stay happy!

Zoya Blu (Swatches and Review)

Happy belated Earth Day!

...let me follow that up by saying, unapologetically, that I am not a huge eco-friendly, tree-hugging, plant-worshipping person. That being said, it doesn't mean I don't have a huge appreciation for our world in general. I mean, without it, I wouldn't have my nail polish, right?

But, thankfully, Zoya cares a little more about the world than I do. Every Earth Day, they do a promo where you can get any of their regular-price polishes (so basically any of them except the textured ones) for HALF OFF, if you send back that same number of old nail polish bottles from any other brands that you're done with. They dispose of the nail polish in an environmentally-safe way, and you get high-quality nail polish for half price! This year's promo code is ZOYAEARTH2013.

Anyways, that in mind, I thought I'd swatch one of my new FAVORITES from Zoya! A little while back, I featured Zoya Neely, one of their spring cremes that just so happened to be a pale green that I fell in love with. I must admit, my heart's almost been stolen by Neely's sister, Zoya Blu, also from the Spring 2013 Lovey Collection. So here, for all of your viewing pleasure, is Blu!

AAAAAH. Seriously. I feel like I'm cheating on my ex-favorite light blue, Zoya Kristen (even though some people have tried to tell me Blu and Kristen are virtually the same). Let me tell you that they're definitely NOT: Kristen is more greyed out and can appear a lot whiter in certain lights; Blu is brighter and has a much better formula. Not that I'm just going to push Kristen to the back of my shelf and never touch her again; she's still a beauty that will certainly be feeling the love in the future.

But anyways. Back to Blu - what's the deal with that name, anyway? Zoya claims that their nail polishes are named after real women. I have yet to meet a woman named Blu, but maybe that's just me. No offense to you, if you're named Blu.

ANYWAY. Blu is obviously gorgeous; I think I'm just about obsessed with the Lovely Collection. Like Neely, she was perfectly opaque and smooth in two coats. She's almost TOO perfect for spring, but I feel like she has a brightness that makes her summer-appropriate, too. Thank goodness.

How do you like Blu? And are you going to go for the Zoya Earth Day Promo? (Last year, I ended up buying 13 new Zoyas! It's hard to say no once you start filling your online shopping cart...)

Stay happy!

I'm Going to College!!

Yes! It's true! And now it's official - today I submitted my SIR (that's the electronic form that you fill out to accept a college's offer of admission...I think) to the University of California, San Diego (which is actually, very misleadingly, in La Jolla)! Yay!

So, of course, I have UCSD nails to celebrate! (I actually did these a few weeks ago...but thought I should wait until it was official to post them...)

If we're wondering what on earth is on my thumb, that's a triton. 'Cause that's the UCSD mascot. So clever and creative, aren't I? I'm a Triton! Hehe...

If you can't guess, my new school colors are...yellow and blue! I used Zoya Pippa, Natty, and Purity for my UCSD mani, and they actually turned out looking more like the school colors than I thought they would!

So...yeah! That's my big news of the day. Go Tritons!!

And, of course...

Stay happy :)))

Zoya Neely

OHMYGOODNESS. I have the most gorgeous polish today for you guys. Like, I kid you not. It's gorgeous. I'm in love. Literally.

Ta-DAAAA! Here's Zoya Neely, a beautifully delicate light green creme:

Neely is part of Zoya's Spring 2013 collection, SO appropriately called "Lovely". She maintains the same green color no matter what lighting, but as you might be able to tell from my shade picture (the last one), Neely looks a little darker when not in direct light.

Formula-wise, Neely was just about wonderful. She was definitely streaky in the first coat, but smoothed out for the most part in two even coats. If you've got a shaky hand or tend to paint your nails unevenly, you might need to go back a third time - I had to do three coats on my right thumb (yes, only my right thumb...don't judge), but overall, Neely has pretty good coverage for such a light color. Ignore the streaky spot in the middle of my ring finger - that wasn't Neely's fault; it was mine for putting my topcoat on too soon! (On that note, if you use Julep Freedom polymer topcoat, you should take care to note that it's probably a good plan to wait until your polish is on the drier side before applying...)

So that's my nails today. I didn't even think to add any designs or toppers or anything...I'm just so in love with this color! Neely is just SO PERFECT for spring that I'm almost sad it's summery enough outside to wear super bright colors again!

(Okay, who am I kidding, I'm dying to break out my neons and not be glared at in public.)

Stay happy!!

Julep Sasha

Hello there! 

Sorry the posts haven't been as frequent lately, but I've been SUPER busy - hopefully I'll be back to posting regularly soon! For now, though, I have some pics of Julep Sasha for you:

Sasha is a salmon-pink-coral...sometimes orange-peach....one of those color changers, if you know what I mean! Because of that, she was kind of a pain to photograph - but I tried my best! Sasha's REALLY similar to butter LONDON Trout Pout, so if you've got one, then I don't see the need to spend $14 on the other. The Julep formula is a lot better than butter LONDON's, though, at least in my opinion.

Stay happy!

Pink Lemonade Gradient...ish

Hey guys! 

So I don't know how many of you saw, but Zoya recently had a promo with new "Color Cuties" (mini bottles of summery shades that came in matching boxes!) where you could buy 12 for $3 each AND get free shipping - needless to say, my friends and I got right on that.

I ended up with Lo, Pippa, Audrina, Neely, and Blu. I've never had a yellow polish before, so I definitely wanted to use Pippa when I saw her...and then I saw Lo and thought that she, combined with Pippa, looked like pink lemonade! Here's what happened:

Lo is a little pinker in person...and neon-er. But the manicure isn't any more lemonade-looking in person...a lot of people actually told me that it looked like my nails were supposed to be candy corn! Oh well...I tried.

(Side note...anybody notice that the disease in which I call all of my nail polishes "she" and "her" came back pretty strong in this post?)

Stay happy!

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

If you've been following my blog from the beginning, you probably know that I enjoy...mermaids. Or at least nails that make me think of mermaids. Today I've got the ultimate mermaid polish - Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream!

(That's right...I liked how my pictures turned out so much this time I made them EXTRA large!)

Mermaid's Dream is a metallic light green with small blue hex glitter and gold, green, and silver holographic microglitters. I think. In some lights, it looks REALLY green, and sometimes it looks more tealish-blue-leaning. (Hence I left the last picture looking bluer than the others...)

Formula-wise, Mermaid's Dream applied BEAUTIFULLY. Like. I cannot begin to explain...the first coat looked a little patchy, but I did two for the pictures, and I think that was perfect! I now understand why Deborah Lippmann polishes go for $14...although I'm not altogether sure that I'd always go for the fourteen bucks before finding a dupe. The bottles that the Lippmanns come in, though, almost make up for the price difference...I absolutely LOVE the square look!

As you can probably see in the pictures, though, Mermaid's Dream dried really gritty and, even after a coat of regular topcoat and then one of Seche Vite, wasn't perfectly smooth. Maybe it's part of the whole trend with textured polishes becoming a thing, but I'm not sure I'm a fan.

Here's the closest I could get to a macro shot of the bottle, just for anyone who's curious (you can really see the gold microglitter here!):

I'd say if you've got the extra $14 sitting around, go buy a Lippmann polish right now. The bottle is adorable and incredibly sturdy, the polish is super smooth and awesome...and I basically feel like a total princess because I'm wearing "luxury" nail polish. But hey, if breaking the bank for a bottle of nail polish isn't exactly your thing, I'm sure there's a similar polish out there.

Stay happy!