Zoya Kristen + Throwback Mani!

Hey, hi, hello! I hope you're all having a rockin' awesome day. I personally had a really strange day, but that's alright. I got to sit down and do my nails again, so that made up for a lot of things.

So here I am, with a polish that's already been on If Nails Make You Happy twice, but has never had its own post! Which, being one that I love, love, love, seemed a little unfair. It feels like the perfect wintry color, if you're looking to update your nail polish wardrobe for the cold months ahead...it's Zoya Kristen!

Zoya Kristen

Yes, I realize that that's a lot of pictures of the same hand with the same nail polish. But can we stop for a second and take a look at how much Kristen changes color? Every single picture is, I promise, Kristen (even though one of them may look suspiciously like her fraternal twin Megan). And there's no photo editing at all. Kristen is magically somehow whited-out gray, blue, dusty periwinkle-blue, and whatever other colors you want to throw in there at once. I can't even seem to figure out what lighting makes Kristen turn what colors.

Be warned, though, Kristen's application is kind of tricky. She's perfectly opaque and smooth and everything in just two coats...if you're VERY careful. Like Megan, Kristen is thinner and a little runny. There always seems to be a bigger drop of polish on the brush than you'll think there is - I don't usually use the lip of my bottle to wipe too much polish off of the brush, but with Kristen, I had to make sure I did. I've read reviews that said Kristen has a long dry time, but I didn't seem to have a problem with that.

But if the beautiful blue Kristen (alliteration is my favorite literary device) isn't enough for you all alone, which,  this time around, it wasn't for me, there's a lot you can do to spice it up! My VERY FIRST If Nails Make You Happy post had this manicure...and I wanted to revisit it again!

Zoya Kristen with nails inc. Maida Vale

With nails inc. glitter polish Maida Vale "dripping" from my cuticles (ew, gross image? sorry...), I thought that the Kristen combo kind of looked like glittery icicles! (Admittedly, I've never seen a real icicle though.)

Any other twists on Kristen you can think of? Let me know in the comments :)

Stay happy!

Universe Nails Tutorial!

I promised it a while back, and here it is! My step-by-step tutorial for universe nails (which everyone else calls galaxy nails, but I already established look like the universe instead of a galaxy).

What you'll need:

Black creme polish
White creme polish
2 universe-ish colors (really, you can choose any that you want...)
Silver glitter polish (optional)
Plastic wrap
Patience

1. Black. Any black creme will do - I used a drug store brand that I've had for a while. It's getting DREADFULLY goopy, which made application a challenge, but the nice thing about universe nails is that you don't really have to worry about neat application. 

Wet 'n' Wild Black

2. Bits of plastic wrap. While you're waiting for your black to dry (even if you use a fast-dry topcoat over them, you're going to want to wait until they're COMPLETELY dry), get yourself four small pieces of plastic wrap - probably at least two inches long on each side. Bunch the saran wrap pieces up. (Sorry I don't have any pictures...but I think you should be able to figure out how to bunch up a piece of plastic wrap...)

3. Plastic wrap white. Again, I'm sorry I didn't think to take pictures of the plastic wrap process itself! Put a drop of white polish (I used Zoya Purity) on a paper or plastic plate. Dip one of your plastic wrap pieces in the drop of polish, then lightly dab it across your nail in a random kind-of-linear pattern.

You'll probably get some on your fingers and cuticles around your nails - don't worry about that. You can clean it up later!

4. Plastic wrap your first color. Put a drop of your first universe-ish color on the plastic or paper plate, then dip a new piece of plastic wrap in it. Dab it onto your nail, in the same way you did with your white, but use the white as a guideline for where to apply the new color. I used Zoya Gwin here!

See how it follows the white but isn't directly on the white?

5. Plastic wrap your second color. Use the same technique as in step 4 with your other universe-ish color. I used Zoya Trinity for my nails.

If you want, at this point you can dab a silvery or gold foil-ish polish over the white to give a sparkly look...but I kind of forgot to do that last night. (Last time, I used OPI Designer...de Better!) It's not a super noticeable addition, but it does add to the universe-ish look.

6. Glitter! You don't have to do this step either if you're not really into glitter, but you can add stars to your universe by using a silver glitter polish coat over everything. Last time I used NYC Starry Silver Glitter, this time I thought I'd try nails inc. Burlington Arcade.

Wait a minute or so, and then brush on a topcoat!

Once your nails are COMPLETELY dry, it's time to clean up. A lot of people use cotton swabs dipped in acetone remover, but honestly, I just use it as an excuse to take an extra hot shower and rub off all the excess nail polish there. Yeah...I'm not kidding.

The final product?

And if that feels like too much work for you, you can always get a starry sky feeling from just doing a layer of glitter over your black creme! 

(I just put a coat of Burlington Arcade over black on my right hand...I was too tired from Black Friday to do another hand of universe nails...)

Burlington Arcade is part of nails inc.'s collection of Nail Jewelry polishes - I think it also comes in blue, green, and pink - and as far as I know, you can only get nails inc. at Sephora in the United States. It's a cool glitter that's different, and if you're looking for something to make your nails look more holiday-ish as we get closer to Christmas (EEK! YESSSSS!!!), then Nail Jewelry might be something you check out!

Let me know if you try out universe nails yourself - post pics on the blog's Facebook wall so I can see them!

Stay happy :)))

China Glaze Optical Illusion

...yes...I'm back!

While you were all eating Turkey (unless you don't celebrate Thanksgiving...then this is just kind of an awkward moment), my nails were busy recovering from a tragedy that befell them about a week ago! If you're not excited, I've got enough excitement about my nails being back in pretty shape to make up for both of us.

But you don't want to hear about that.

So instead of stories about my Thanksgiving and such, I have swatches of China Glaze's full-coverage glitter Optical Illusion for you!

China Glaze Optical Illusion

Optical Illusion was from a set of glitters that were supposed to be duochrome...apparently we're supposed to see purples and yellows in the mix somewhere, but I just don't get that duochrome feeling. Whatever. I still REALLY like glitters, and Optical Illusion fit the bill. It was perfectly opaque in two coats (yay!), but it had the gritty finish glitter always does (not yay). And it obviously needed foil removal, but that's alright...I've been hearing about a special basecoat that allows you to just PEEL OFF your glitter nail polish when you're done with it, which I think I simply MUST get my hands on soon.

Stay happy!

Miss Me?

FEAR NOT! I'll be back soon! I know you've been anxiously awaiting my next post, probably dying at the edge of your seat, and I'm sorry to have been denying you the wonderful feeling that comes from reading about my nails. I had a little bit of a nail crisis...which is still growing out...but it's almost all resolved by now! Get ready for some exciting posts coming up. Hint #1: more magnetic colors. Hint #2: more glitter. Hint #3: more summer brights.

But for now...even if there's nothing new here to read...

Stay happy!