I live in Texas. And the weather down here is pretty confusing.

Such as it being cold for two days, then warm the next two days, then cold again the next three days. It's just a vicious fluctuating weather cycle. Which is how I got my inspiration for my nails! In honor of the cold weather.

NOW, before anyone says, "But Texas is one of the warmest states-" and something along the lines of trying to live up North where the real cold is... No. Just no. I had a friend at work explain to me that the cold from up North is dry. In Texas, we've always got wind chills. 9 times out of 10 we do. There was a day or two with dry cold.. It was wonderful.

Anywayssssssssssssssssssssssss..

Side note: I don't like to use dotting tools when I'm using my Stripe Rites because the Stripe Rites dry so incredibly fast while the dots are still wet and smudge when I drag top coat over them. So I dotted with my Stripe Rite.

Alsoooooooooo.... My thumb nail is shorter than the others because it broke two weeks or so ago.. She's making a slow recovery. What's even sadder though is that my other thumb nail is also broken (on both sides even) and as well as my dominant hand's ring finger nail. Yup. Right under that little penguin is a split. ;(

For this mani I used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• China Glaze 'Kinetic Candy'
• Zoya 'Maisie'
• Stripe Rite: White, Black, Orange
• Seche` Vite

Pastels are the "it" thing right now, right?

Therefore, I decided to finally do some cotton candy nails. Sad to say, I don't take pictures during my process often so no one will know my gradient process. Not that anyone currrrrs. But I do take pictures of my process and graduating steps on Instagram.

Follow my Instagram @mrs_longbone !

These were crazy time consuming though. I wanted to make sure that they were super blended together! Here is the end product!

What I used for this mani:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• Julep 'Eileen' 
• China Glaze 'Sweet Hook'
• China Glaze 'Kinetic Candy'
• Zoya 'Shelby'
• China Glaze 'Fairy Dust'
• Seche` Vite

<3

My mommy wanted snowflakes.

My mom was whining about how I hadn't painted her nails yet. Mainly because our schedules are opposite and I work when she's at home and vice versa for her. One magical night happened, where I wasn't working and wasn't with my boyfriend, and didn't need to paint my own nails. So I had time to paint hers.

It took about four hours... Mainly because I took a loooooooooooooooooooooooong break because I got sick in my stomach after laying down the base color on all her nails. It was so agonizingly painful. The noises rumbling from my stomach could be heard from afar. They even startled her because they were so loud. I guess it's really gross to get sick in the stomach while painting someone's nails.. If it makes anyone feel better I washed my hands twice.... ( ._.)"""

After that was all said and done, I drew on her snowflakes (which took a while because she wouldn't stop being itchy and moving) and added the jewels.. And walaaah! :D

What I used for this mani:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• Zoya 'Song'
• Sally Girl 'Way to Disco'
• Stripe Rite: White
• Some nail jewel
• Seche` Vite

She wore this for like.. Three days. It chipped and then before I could even think about repairing it for her, she had already picked off 6 out of 10 nails' polish. She had the audacity to ask me to fix it for her. PSHHHH. Not after purposefully picking them all off! >:C

Woweeez. Happy Belated New Years.

So I'm pretty lazy... I never uploaded these on time. Typical me.

Anyways, I did these fun guys for New Years. Some pretty fireworks and 2013 written across the nails. On my right hand, the 2013 went from my pinky to my index finger. Obviously! Or it would have been some horrible 3102 backwards. eglooG was no help in my copy pasta. herp.

What I used for this mani:

• China Glaze strong Adhesion Base Coat
• China Glaze 'Liquid Leather'
• Julep 'Dendrie' (Underneath Santa's Magic)
• Finger Paints 'Santa's Magic'
• Stripe Rite: Red, White, Yellow, Green, Pink, Magenta, Silver, Gold
• Sally Girl 'Way to Disco' (I think...)
• Seche` Vite

Oh yeah!!! My thumb nail broke that night, so I hid her with my head down low. Heart broken. Literally, I thought I felt my heart shatter the moment the nail broke off. It had already been broken for some time.. I was just hoping it would last until the tear grew out. All the while, my right hand's thumb is suffering the same fate (but broken in two places on both sides, one higher than the other). As of today, (January 7th) the higher up tear was near growing out pretty close to the top. When I was painting my nails, I reached down to grab another make-up wedge piece and the tear snagged onto something and ripped off. So I had to file it shorter. But it isn't as short as my left hand's thumb. Oh well. ;c 

I decked the FREAKING halls.

So everyone is doing Christmas lights on their nails so it only makes sense that I decorate my nails with Christmas lights as well. But I wanted to use thread for the best/precise Christmas lighting string. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh lawdy lawdy lawdy I completely underestimated it. I thought it would be easy.. But nooooooooooo no no no it was not. Well, it wasn't too difficult. And when I painted my dominant hand, I was able to get a close enough comparison that I'm very proud of.

To start off, I used OPI's 'Don't Pretzel My Buttons' as a base for the glitter because:

1. Glitter sucks to take off by itself.
2. I was afraid the glitter wouldn't be strong enough to cover the nail by itself.

Oh! Also, both of my thumbs are broken and I'm in a terrible state of denial. I refuse to accept the fact that my nails are broken.

What I used for this mani:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• OPI 'Don't Pretzel My Buttons'
• China Glaze 'I'm Not Lion'
• Stripe Rite: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Black, Metallic-ish White, White
• Sally Hansen (Gold striper that I don't remember the name of and am too lazy to check)
• Sephora 'It's Real 18k Gold'
• Black thread
• Red jewels
• Seche` Vite

Santa and his Reindeer. And his twin brother..

I forgot to upload this when I had done them about two weeks ago.. My dad keeps playing WarZ on the MAC where I upload all my stuff. Impatiently now, I'm just on the other laptop.

Anyways, I did these for my friend Victor's little sister, who was 7 years old. Oh my goodness, her nails were sooooo tiny. But I did it! I made it possible. Even though after a while she began to get restless.. She wanted to keep petting my kitty cat who sheds sweaters. And she kept pinching her nails.. Like.. Pressing them on her thumbs so the tips would mess up and I'd have to go fix them up again........

dfghjk

Okay.

Also, her thumbs have Rudolph(s) on them.

For this mani I used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• Essie 'Blanc'
• Markwins 21 (No name, but it is the brown of the reindeer)
• OPI 'Don't Pretzel My Buttons'
• Stripe Rite: Red, White, Black, and Pink
• Seche` Vite

A snowman, indie glitter, and minty goodness.

The title speaks for itself. This manicure is made out of holiday spirit and candy canes. It was inspired by a design I saw on Tumblr. Actually, the original design was Christmas glitter and a snowman accent nail. I just decided to give it my own minty flare.

And as a side note, for the few people keeping track of me, my dad just said that I could go and get my license to be a nail technician and skip a semester of college. I'm very excited.
Oh yeah.
I don't want to go to college, but I am because I'm being forced.
That's why I'm so excited because I actually get to do something that helps me pursue a dream. <3

But before I give anyone a heart attack, yes, I'll go back. And perhaps I should change gears and aim towards a business major. But right now I really would like to get my license so I can work at a nail salon and actually get my artistic ability known and out in the world.

I just want everyone to know that this glitter from Candy Lacquer is absolutely LOVELY. <3 <3 <3

For this mani I used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• Essie 'Blanc'
• Candy Lacquer 'Deck the Halls'
• China Glaze 'Liquid Leather'
• Stripe Rite: Red, Orange, Black, and White
• Seche` Vite