Tee's Birthday Collab

 Purchased By Me / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Woohoo! Happy Birthday Tee! I hope you have a special time with your loved ones.

So guys, if you didn't already know, today is Tee's birthday. To celebrate, Dianna brought some of us ladies together to do some recreations of Tee's wonderful manis. Check out the collage Dianna put together, it came out great!

Collage by Dianna:

I decided to recreate the mani I've linked here. I thought I had very similar polishes to the ones she used, so I really excited to give it a try. Unfortunately, my polishes were more on the pastel/sheer side. They were pretty much similar in color, but they weren't opaque enough to achieve the same look. Anyways, I just hope she likes my recreation. By the way, if you don't follow her you definitely should because she always does amazing manis.

Okay, so I started off by painting my ring finger and pinky white as my gradient base. My index and middle finger were a simple blue. When the white polish dried, I added a coat of top coat since I was going to be using nail vinyls. Once dry, I added the vinyl as well as some clean-up product around my fingers. Then, I proceeded to apply polish to the sponge and dabbed it on my nail to create my gradient. Once I was mostly happy with it, I removed the vinyl while the polish was still wet. I let my nails dry and then added top coat to all my nails.

Close-Ups:

Overall, the mani came out alright. I just wish I had known my polishes weren't as opaque so I could've picked another mani. Anyways, don't forget to wish Tee a Happy Birthday. If you'd like to see everyone else's recreations, look under the hashtag #ItsTeesBday on Instagram.

Well thank you for stopping by, I hope you all liked the mani. Until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
White: Sinful Colors "Snow Me White"
Blue: Sinful Colors "Keira Blu"
Pink: Sinful Colors "Cherry Blossom"
Teal: Sinful Colors "Sky Tree"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Vinyls: Twinkled T Almaz Stencils

*Twinkled T Almaz Stencils were a giveaway prize. Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

Creative Cuticles Nail Polish: Second Spring Duo

 Press Sample / Giveaway Prize 

Hi guys! I'm so excited because today I'll be showing you the new Second Spring Duo by Creative Cuticles Nail Polish. The duo consists of a crelly and a micro glitter, it will be available for purchase on October 21st at around 7am or 8am EST. So set a reminder if you don't want to miss out.

Okay, now let's get to the swatches.

First up is Every Leaf is a Flower, a pretty and classy nude crelly with blue/green/purple/bronze flakies. It was actually described as a jelly, but seemed more like a crelly to me. The formula was great and it didn't take long to dry. My swatches show 3 coats plus top coat/matte top coat.

3 coats plus top coat/matte top coat on ring finger:

Glossy Close-Up:

Matte Close-Up:

Next we have Pumpkin Spice, a super sparkly and gorgeous full coverage brown/holo copper micro glitter. It reminded me of a shiny penny when I was wearing it, hehe. So, the formula on this one was pretty good as well and dried quite quickly. When brushing on the polish, I noticed that it covered my nail evenly and didn't leave many bald spots. I applied the micro glitter layer by layer, but I'd recommend sponging it on for faster application. It really depends on what you prefer though. My swatches show 3 coats plus top coat/matte top coat, although I would've been okay with 2 coats. Again, it depends on the look you're going for, I just wanted to make sure it was fully opaque.

3 coats plus top coat/matte top coat on ring finger:

Glossy Close-Up:

Matte Close-Up:

Aren't they beautiful? They're just perfect for Fall.

Oh, and I decided to do a mani using the duo. It was a simple but very cute mani in my opinion, although it did look much better in real life.

Close-Up:

Well I hope you guys enjoyed the swatches and review of the duo. Once again, the Second Spring Duo will be available for purchase on October 21st in Kayla's shop at around 7am or 8am EST. The polishes will be listed individually, but if you purchase both you can get a discount using the code AUTUMN. I've listed her shop and social media accounts below in case you'd like to follow her and stay up to date with her releases/sales/etc.

Creative Cuticles Nail Polish (Kayla): Shop - Instagram - Facebook - Facebook Group

Thank you for stopping by and until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Matte Top Coat: Wet N Wild "Matte Top Coat"
Single Chevron Vinyls: Unknown

*Creative Cuticles Nail Polish "Second Spring Duo" was a Press Sample. Single Chevron Vinyls were a giveaway prize; Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

First Day of Fall Mani

 Purchased By Me / Press Sample 

Hi guys! Today I'm showing you the mani I did to welcome Fall. Some of you may have seen a short video I posted on Instagram, well here are the official pictures. I hope you guys love this mani as much as I did.

Close-Ups:

I started off with a beige background on my index, middle finger and pinky. My sister actually let me borrow the beige polish, and now I think I have to get it myself because it's a great color, so beautiful. Anyways, on my ring finger I sponged on a glitter polish. Going back to my other nails, I chose to use a leaf image from Born Pretty Store plate BP-19 (item #17264). I picked up the image and filled in the leaves with some gorgeous fall colored holo polishes. Once I finished painting them in, I let them dry a bit and then went ahead and stamped the image on my nail. I did this for all of the beige nails. I actually did both of my hands like this which I rarely do, I just loved it so much. The last thing to do was top coat. These took me quite a while to finish, but the end result was definitely worth it.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Beige: Revlon "Bare Bones"
Golden Yellow Holo: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Burnt Orange Holo: Fancy Gloss "Pumpkin Spice"
Dark Red Holo: Fancy Gloss "Red Velvet Mocha"
Glitter Polish: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "#15 Sept./Oct. 2015"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Black Stamping Polish: Born Pretty Store item #18135
Leaves Theme Stamping Plate: Born Pretty Store item #17264

*Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"; Born Pretty Store Black Stamping Polish and Leaves Theme Stamping Plate were Press Samples.

The Polished Bookworms: March 2016

 Purchased By Me / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Hi guys, I hope you're all doing well. Today I have another TPB mani to share with you. The book chosen for March was The Utterly Uninteresting & Unadventurous Tales of Fred, The Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes. I was inspired by Krystal dressing up like a devil for the high school reunion. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the book like I thought I would. I'm not sure if it was because I listened to the audiobook instead of reading it myself, but my library didn't have a copy of it. Fred was a bit annoying though, lol, but that's just my opinion. Well, anyways let's get to the mani.

I started off with black as my base color on my index and pinky, a reddish-black jelly on my ring finger, and a red glitter polish on my middle finger. Afterwards, I began to paint a devil tail on my pinky, first with white acrylic paint and then with red. I did the same thing for the pitchfork, the only problem was that the middle part was supposed to be longer than the sides but I forgot and noticed after I had already top coated. So yeah, lol. With black paint I outlined my ring nail and added criss-cross lines, then added the lips charm. For my glitter nail, I just sponged on the red glitter all over the nail and added one coat of the black/gray glitter, plus a rhinestone to add a bit more to the look.

Close-Up:

So what do you think? I wasn't happy with this mani, but I hope you guys like it.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Black: Wet N Wild "Black Creme"
Red Glitter: Wet N Wild "Make Them Boys Go Loco"
Silver/Gray Glitter: Wet N Wild "Black Metal Magic"
Reddish-Black Jelly: Wet N Wild "Under Your Spell"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Lips Charm: Simply Charmed Nail Art Pucker Up Charm
Rhinestone: Born Pretty Store item #21303

*Wet N Wild "Make Them Boys Go Loco" and Simply Charmed Nail Art Pucker Up Charm were giveaway prizes; Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

A Weekly Dose of Rainbows: Rainbow Mermaid

 Purchased By Me / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Happy Thursday guys! So today's theme for A Weekly Dose of Rainbows was one I definitely couldn't pass up. Rainbow Mermaid! I think I could've done a better mani, but I still like how it came out.

I started off with a dark blue-green as my base color for my index, middle and pinky; and on my ring finger I went with an amazing glitter filled blue jelly polish. Since I was going to use vinyls, I added a layer of top coat on my index and middle finger and let it dry completely. Once dry, I added the vinyl and then a coat of Avalon 2.0 over that. Then I took off the vinyl while the polish was still wet. I decided to sponge on some flakies on my pinky, and I added some loose glitter on top while the polish was still tacky. When everything dried I added the final layer of top coat, and then completed the look by placing the studs and rhinestones on my nails. I was very excited to finally use some of the beach-y studs I had on hand.

Close-Ups:

So what do you guys think? I really hope you like it. Remember you can use my code ANNYW10 for 10% off your Born Pretty Store purchase.

Well thanks for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Dark Blue-Green: Sinful Colors "Calypso"
Green Jelly: Supernatural Lacquer "Avalon 2.0"
Blue Jelly: Reverie Nail Lacquer "Tide Pools"
Green Flakies: KB Shimmer "She's Beyond Kelp"
Blue Flakies: KB Shimmer "Moody Hues"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Vinyls: Twinkled T Mermaid Stencils
Starfish Charm: Simply Charmed Nail Art Gilded Starfish
Seahorse Charm: Born Pretty Store item #22145
Rhinestones: Born Pretty Store item #21303

*Twinkled T Mermaid Stencils; Simply Charmed Nail Art Gilded Starfish; and KB Shimmer's "She's Beyond Kelp" and "Moody Hues" were giveaway prizes. Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

A Weekly Dose of Rainbows: Rainbow Chevron

 Purchased By Me / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Happy Thursday guys, I hope you're all doing well. Today's theme for A Weekly Dose of Rainbows is Rainbow Chevron. I hope you like what I came up with.

I started off with a white base, and while that dried I prepared my acrylic paints. I watered down the 4 different paints quite a bit, when the white polish was dry I began to apply the paints in random patterns with a brush. I did swirl them around a bit so they would mix and it gave it a pretty cool look. Once the paint dried I added a layer of top coat because I was going to use vinyls. I applied the vinyls and sponged on black polish over them, then I removed the vinyls off while the polish was still wet. I let my nails dry for a bit before applying the last layer of top coat. Unfortunately, I don't think I waited enough because I smeared the polish a bit.

Close-Ups:

I like how the design came out, and it was fun to do. If you decide to give this look a try, remember to use my hashtag on Instagram so I can see it, it's #annypolishandpaint.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
White: Sinful Colors "Snow Me White"
Black: Wet N Wild "Black Creme"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Vinyls: Unknown

*Vinyls were a giveaway prize; Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

The Polished Bookworms: February 2016

 Purchased By Me / Gift / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Hi guys, I'm back with a TPB post. I actually finished the book this time, so hooray! Lol. Anyways, we read Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter. I have to say that it was kind of difficult to get through the book because it was pretty violent and graphic. That being the case, I decided to base my mani off the book cover.

I started off with a white base, then followed with a gradient which was done with acrylic paints. I added a layer of top coat over the gradient so I could stamp on my nails. The bubbles and water wave images came from 2 different Bundle Monster plates from their Sun Kissed Collection. I stamped on the water waves with a blue polish first, but it blended into my gradient so I used white so they'd stand out. To make the necklace on my ring finger I picked up an image from a Born Pretty Store plate and took parts of the image away with some tape, then I put top coat over the image on the stamper to create a decal. The heart locket took me a while to make, I took some heart studs and "glued" them together by putting a strip of tea bag to connect them, and sealing it in with top coat. Afterwards, I just painted it with the gold polish and added a final layer of top coat to protect the charm.

I'm so happy with how the mani turned out, especially since I created the little charm myself. It definitely looked much better in real life, but I still hope you liked it.

Close-Up:

Locket Close-Up:

Well thank you so much for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
White: Sinful Colors "Snow Me White"
Gold: Elf Nail Polish "Pot of Gold"
Blue: Lavish Polish "Hydrangeas"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Bubbles Plate: Bundle Monster BM-505
Waves Plate: Bundle Monster BM-509
Necklace Chain Plate: Born Pretty Store item: #17267
Heart Studs: Born Pretty Store item: #7277

*Lavish Polish "Hydrangeas" and Bundle Monster plates were giveaway prizes; Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

An InLinkz Link-up

Melody's Birthday Collab

 Purchased By Me / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Happy Sunday guys! Yesterday was Melody's Birthday (owner of Envy Lacquer), and to celebrate, some ladies from our Facebook group decided to put a collab together. Thanks to Tina who suggested we do this, Jessika for organizing everything, and Kristy for putting together the collage. Check it out, it came out great!

Collage by Kristy:

I was going to do a mani using Envy Lacquer polishes, but then decided to do a fun girly mani based off a cute cupcake charm I just had to use. It was a birthday mani after all, hehe. I painted my index and pinky a bright pink (which freaked out my camera a bit), my ring finger a lilac color, and I used a glitter jelly polish on my middle finger. The jelly polish had pink and lilac which went with the other polishes, but it also had some teal which is one of Melody's favorite colors. So, on my pink nails I added some dots with white acrylic paint, and then filled the dots in with the lilac polish to tie the whole look together. Afterwards, I just added the charm to my ring finger and top coated when everything was dry.

Solo Shot:

I actually like how it came out, and I hope Melody did too. I hope you had a Happy Birthday Melody, you deserve that and more.

Close-Up of "Cuppy Cake" charm:

If you'd like to see the rest of the manis, just go through the #HappyHappyBirthdayMelody hashtag on Instagram. Again, thanks to the lovely ladies who made this happen.

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. Thanks for stopping by, and until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Pink: Wet N Wild "Dreamy Poppy"
Lilac: Lavish Polish "Wisteria"
Glitter Jelly: Reverie Nail Lacquer "Fairy Pools" (LE)
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Charm: Simply Charmed "Cuppy Cake"

*Lavish Polish "Wisteria", Reverie Nail Lacquer "Fairy Pools" were giveaway prizes; Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

Once Upon a Winter Midnight

 Purchased By Me / Press Sample 

Hi guys! Today I have a swatch and some easy nail art with nail stickers. So let's get to it.

This is Once Upon A Winter Midnight, a Limited Edition polish by MDJ Creations. I purchased this beauty during Melissa's Black Friday sale, and I'm so glad I did. It's a dark navy blue jelly polish with white and silver holo glitter. The glitter mix contains snowflake, moon, diamond, circle and hex glitters. Since this polish has a lot of large glitter, I flipped the bottle upside down for some time. I applied 2 coats with no problem, and I didn't really have to fish for the glitter. The pictures show 2 coats plus top coat.

Holding MDJ Creations' "Once Upon A Winter Midnight":

I just love the glitter mix. Don't you?

Close-Up:

For the nail art part, I just decided to place some Christmas nail stickers over my swatch. I got the stickers at the 99 cents only store during their holiday clearance sale. I was hoping they would be good, but unfortunately, they didn't stick on too well.

The stickers do look adorable, but I did struggle with keeping them down on my nail. Even after I added the top coat, they kept lifting, so I had to hold them in place with my orange wood stick until the top coat dried.

Well I hope you guys liked the swatch and mani. I know the holidays have been over for some time already, but I wanted to try these nail stickers out.

Thank you so much for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Polishes Used:
MDJ Creations "Once Upon A Winter Midnight" (LE)
Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"

*Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

A Weekly Dose of Rainbows: Rainbow Love

 Purchased By Me / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Hi guys, I hope your Saturday is going better than mine. I'm sick, and I feel horrible. Thursday's theme for A Weekly Dose of Rainbows was Rainbow Love, I was supposed to post this yesterday at the latest, but I wasn't able to so I apologize. So, I did this mani pretty quickly while on the couch, which was kind of difficult. Lol. But here's what I came up with, I hope you like it.

I started with a white crelly from Stardust Polish (now Stardust Beauty) on my index finger, ring finger and pinky. On my middle finger I used a bright and pretty textured polish from Sinful Colors. When each nail was opaque I top coated because I'd be using a nail vinyl. I placed the nail vinyl on my ring finger and applied the textured polish over it. Remember to remove the vinyl right away before the polish dries. To kind of tie the look together, I added 3 dots down my index and pinky as well. Once everything dried, I top coated.

Close-Ups:

It was a very simple mani, but I hope you guys liked it. Thanks for stopping by, may you have a wonderful weekend and until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Crelly: Stardust Polish "I Love You Gnome Matter What"
Pink Texture: Sinful Colors "Ruby Mine"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Vinyls: Twinkled T Hearts Stencil

*Twinkled T vinyls were a giveaway prize; Stardust Polish "I Love You Gnome Matter What" and Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" were Press Samples.

A Weekly Dose of Rainbows: Rainbow Tribal

 Purchased By Me / Giveaway Prize / Press Sample 

Happy Thursday guys, today I bring you another colorful mani. This week's theme for A Weekly Dose of Rainbows was Rainbow Tribal, so I decided to do a rainbow gradient under the tribal design. Not only did I use the rainbow colors to do the gradient, but they're holo, which adds another beautiful rainbow. Check it out.

I started off with a coat of my "yellow" sandy polish and let that dry. Then, I proceeded to apply my colors on the sponge and dabbed it on my nails, 2 coats on each nail. Since I was going to use vinyls, I added some top coat and waited a while until it was fully dry. Afterwards, I applied the vinyls and then sponged on black polish over them. One by one I did this on my nails, and I removed the vinyls right away when the polish was still wet. All that was left to do was finish with top coat after the black polish dried.

Close-Ups:

So what do you think? I pretty much fell in love with the gradient alone, but the tribal was still pretty cool. The only thing that I messed up was the placement of the vinyl on my middle finger, it came out all crooked which kinda messed up the mani for me. Other than that I was really pleased with the design. Oh, and my sister wanted to see these matte, so you get to see them too.

Close-Ups:

Well I hope you guys liked this mani. Thank you for stopping by, and until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Red: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Carol"
Orange: Fancy Gloss "Pumpkin Spice"
Yellow: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Green: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Holly"
Blue: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Aria"
Purple: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Cheyenne"
Black: Wet N Wild "Black Creme"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Matte Top Coat: Wet N Wild "Matte Top Coat"
Vinyls: Twinkled T Tribal Stencil

*Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample; Twinkled T vinyls and Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Carol", "Holly", "Aria" were giveaway prizes.

The Polished Bookworms: December 2015

 Purchased By Me / Gift / Press Sample 

Happy Monday guys, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Today I have a TPB mani for December's book, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I was unable to read this book so I decided to base my mani on the colors of the book cover instead. I was also inspired by @polishandbeyond on Instagram. She did a beautiful mani that I just had to recreate, but of course, I used different colors to match the book cover. Let's take a look.

I used a dark blue on my index and pinky, gold on my ring finger, and white on my middle finger. Since I was going to add dots, I top coated the white and blue nails so the colors wouldn't run or mix. I used a dotting tool to do the blue dots, and a toothpick to add the gold dots. It worked out perfectly. I let that dry completely, and then added my final top coat. I love how it turned out, it's a simple but beautiful look.

Close-Ups:

With the Book:

Well I hope you guys liked this mani. By the way, we already have the TPB book line up for February-June 2016. You can still join the group if you'd like, the links are below.

The Polished Bookworms: Instagram - Facebook Group - Facebook Page

Like always, thanks for stopping by and until next time.

-Ana

Polishes Used:

White: Sinful Colors "Snow Me White"

Blue: Elf Nail Polish "Skinny Jeans"

Gold: Elf Nail Polish "Pot of Gold"

Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"

*Love, Angeline "Topped With Love" was a Press Sample.

An InLinkz Link-up