Mani Thursday. {Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.}

Do you all follow Emily's blog? Cupcakes and Cashmere? If not - you should. Girl has insane style. 

Anyways, she posted the above video last week and I knew that I needed to try that with my nails soon - it's so simple and yet so fresh and different!

So I thought I'd do it and link up for Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. Thursday with Katie and Steph. Kinda perfect, huh??

I chose to go with a Tiffany blue shade {China Glaze - For Audrey} and a deep mint shade {Sally Hansen - Mint Sprint}. 

First paint your nails with two coats of the lighter shade. When that layer is completely dry take the darker shade and carefully paint only half of your nail. I only did one coat of the mint - it goes on pretty opaque.

I didn't love this. It was easy enough - but I think I would have liked it better if the colors were more contrasting. 

Once my nails were dry and ready for top coat - it dawned on me... GLITTER! Glitter fixes everything, right? 

I had bought this little pot of nail art glitter at Meijer a few years ago and never really used it - it's really pretty, but the glitter is a bit coarse and I don't love that feeling. However, I thought I'd give it another try... 

I painted a little stripe of top coat on the mint color and dipped each finger into the pot of glitter... 

I ended up with a slight ombre glitter effect. Which looks really fun in real life but doesn't translate too well on camera... I took WAYYYYYY too many pictures to end up with only two that looked semi okay. 

But just as I had hoped - the glitter saved my manicure. So it's true... glitter does save everything. 

So... lesson learned... not every nail art idea works out exactly how you envision it - but lucky for me, it's just paint and will come off in a couple of days and onto the next nail project!

p.s. Don't you just LOVEEEEE the For Audrey color?! It's one of my absolute favorite polishes. 

p.s.s. Don't forget to "like" me on Facebook - there may be some cowl deal coming at ya soon!

Happy Thursday, pretties!

Black Hearts. {Manicure}

I tend to ignore Valentine's Day for the most part... it's a silly holiday - and very easy to become slightly bitter when you're single. However, I try to not go the bitter route and just see it as an excuse to love pink, red, and hearts even more.

Is this not the cutest Valentine's Day card?

Oh, and the conversation hearts. BEST PART! {yellow is my favorite - feel free to send me a bag full! ;)}

This is a bucket of fun... we used this for Valentine's Day Mini Sessions {no, it's not full of candy hearts... its full of paper then a layer of candy!}

But the absolute best part... an excuse to give yourself a fun manicure. Not that I ever need an excuse for that.

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tools:

Red polish - I used OPI: Girls Just Want to Play {my favorite red polish}

Bright pink polish - China Glaze: Flip Flop Fantasy

Black polish - L.A. Girls: Blackout

Masking tape

Scissors

I painted my nails all red with one pink accent nail on each hand. I then let those dry completely. Then I tore off a piece of masking tape and folded it in half lightly then cut a heart out of it - ya know, like we were taught how to do in elementary school. Then very carefully peeled the tape apart and VOILA! there was a cute little heart.

I placed it on the nail I wanted to have a heart on. Make sure it's completely stuck around the heart to ensure that it doesn't bleed. Then paint that black heart! Let completely dry - slowly peel the tape off and slap on a coat of top coat and you have yourself a pretty little Valentine's Day manicure. 

Fun, right?

Oh and as I special Valentine's Day gift to you all.. I have one of these pretties... {the pink cowl}

Up for grabs. $20 - free shipping and ships ASAP. There's only one available - so act fast! Go here to get yours now!

I'm linking up with Katie and Steph for Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. 

Happy Valentine's Day, lovers!