Nail Art: FingerFood's Theme Buffet - Inspired by Music - La Vie en Rose

Wow. It:s hard to believe that it:s been over a month since I posted here! Well, I'm back from my unexpected hiatus, hopefully for good now, with a post for the Theme Buffet!

The theme for this week was "Inspired by Music," and even though I'm not a pink person, Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" popped into my head. I figured a soft pink-hued look topped with roses would work well. How do you think it turned out?

Nail Art: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #25 - Seasons

I don't know about you, but I really feel like I'm lacking in inspiration for my manicures lately. Some days, I'm just perfectly content to wear a solid color and not do nail art. When I do nail art, it tends to be on the simple side.

The theme for this week's Theme Buffet was one that I suggested: Seasons.  I wanted to do something grand and elaborate.... but just didn't have the motivation or inspiration. Instead, I put together this simple but classy number using colors to represent the different seasons

Nail Art: Happy Memorial Day!

For most people, this is simply the last Monday of May. To Americans, today is Memorial Day - officially meant to remember those who died in service of the country, but unofficially the start of the summer season and a reason for people to get together, have barbecues and otherwise enjoy the long weekend and the (generally) good weather. Here in the Philadelphia Area, it's also the beginning of shore season, and thousands of familys flock to the Jersey Shore for their first time at the beach after a brutal, cold and snow winter.

Nail Art: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #20 - Galaxy Nails

First off, I have to say that it's nice to be back and doing nail art and posting. I had to take a week off from the Theme Buffet (Sorry, Scarlett!) but I'm back!

I have to say that this week's manicure features the largest number of polishes that I've ever used in a single manicure. The sad thing is that when you look at it, you would never realize that!

The theme for this week was galaxies, and I hope that you like what I threw together!

Swatches and Reviews: Butter London - Blagger

Wow... well that was a bit of an unexpected hiatus. I didn't mean to go silent the past week and a half or two weeks, but sometimes real life has this way of just happening. I was so busy that half the time I didn't even paint my nails! (gasp! I know!)

So, starting today, I'm going to try to play catch up and get through this backlog of posts, starting with this one.

Now, I don't know why, but I have an inordinate number of blue nail polishes in my collection. I just find myself magnetically drawn to blue nail polish. When I found today's polish as part of a Butter London 50% off  sale almost 6 months ago, it was almost a given that it would wind up in my cart. This beautiful cobalt blue is Blagger from Butter London, and oh how I love it!

Nail Art: MoYou London Challenge Day 4 - Fantasy (Mermaid Nails)

If you do nail stamping, it's most likely that you know of MoYou London and their absolutely AMAZING array of stamping plates. Seriously, these things are works of art in and of themselves!

Well, in honor of reaching 10K followers on Instagram, MoYou London is hosting a challenge/contest!

Today's post is my first attempt at the challenge. The theme for May 4th was "Fantasy." I was planning on doing a mermaid-inspired manicure, so it worked out perfectly for this theme!

Nail Art: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #15 - Fishtail

The prompt for this week's Theme Buffet was "fishtail," and I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive when I first saw the theme. If you're not aware, "fishtail" refers to the technique/design that creates a braid-like effect on the nail. (well, I guess you could have gone with LITERAL fish tails, too, as some clever people did!)

This was my first time trying to do the fishtail braid technique,  and overall, I suppose it didn't come out that bad! Read more to see how I put this look together.

Reviews and Swatches: Butter London - Cuppa

I just can't bring myself to remove the nail art currently on my fingers to swatch a new Budget Friendly polish, so I'm reaching into my pile of swatched-but-not-yet-posted nail polish photos to bring you today's post.

I used this polish as the base for my apple manicure last week, and it's a beauty of a neutral and surprised me with how easy it went on and how good it looked. So, for today's swatch, let's take a look at Cuppa, a creamy pale beige/tan from Butter London.

Nail Art: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #14 - Delicious - Apples

The theme for this week's FingerFood's Theme Buffet was "Delicious,"  and I was stuck all week on what I should do. The problem really wasn't a lack of ideas.... but too many! There's so many ways you can fulfill the "delicious" theme. I had started off thinking I might do a coffee-inspired theme....but the beautiful, warm weather here inspired me to do something a bit more "fresh" feeling.

I hope you enjoy the crisp and refreshing look of this apple-themed manicure!

Nail Art: Tri Polish Tuesday - Pastel Mosaic / Lattice (Pink, Yellow, Blue)

Look at this! It's two weeks in a row that I'm actually posting my Tri Polish Tuesday nail art actually on a Tuesday! (Well, it's just BARELY Tuesday, here. I really need to get ahead of these posts and try to schedule them for earlier in the day)

This is the second pink, yellow and blue look of the month, and I obviously went with a much softer look than I did last week. The nail art design that I came up with this week is a sort of pastel mosaic/lattice design (complete with bonus fuzz in the paint on my ring finger)

Nail Art: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #13 - Monochrome - Deep Blue Sea

So, March ended and we reached the end of our first set of Theme Buffet themes. The group put together a new list of themes to last us through the end of June, and the first of those themes begins today!

There was actually a bit of a mixup and we wound up with TWO themes - Monochrome and Mother's Day (apparently it's Mother's Day earlier in the UK. Never knew that!). Since Mother's Day here in the US isn't until May, I decided to go with the monochrome theme.

Nail Art: Tri Polish Tuesday - Bold Stripes (Pink, Yellow, Blue)

Well, it's April 1st. April Fools Day. I would warn all of you to take anything you read or see online today with a grain of salt.  You never know who might be making a fool of you!

It's a new month, though, which also means there's a new set of colors for the Tri Polish Challenge. The colors for April are Pink, Yellow and Blue. I threw together this simple, bold, striped look that would be easy for anyone to try!

Nail Art: Tri Polish Tuesday - Pastel Plaid

I want to apologize for my posting schedule these  two weeks. I've missed half of my usual weekly features and haven't had the chance to visit friends' blogs or comment on things I've seen out there. being busy + missing my camera battery charger = no new posts ;_;

That said, I found myself with a few extra moments in which I could make another attempt at the Tri Polish Challenge this week. Two out of four weeks this month isn't bad, right? Enjoy my attempts at putting together a green, blue and purple pastel plaid look... even if it is a day late for the Tuesday challenge...

NOTD: Interview Nails... and a question

If you didn't know, I've been searching for work for...a while now. The job market may have improved out there, but it's still difficult getting a job. The process tends to be longer and more arduous than it was when I last did this years ago, and I find myself with layer after layer of interviews and screenings.

One of those things that goes hand-in-hand with applying for jobs is interviewing for said jobs. This also usually means toning down the bright nailpolish colors a bit. Interviewing forces me to go through my selections of taupes and beiges and nudes and other "safe" colors.

I took this photo while on the train on the way to an interview yesterday. (The houndstooth pattern was the dress I had on). These were my INOTD - Interview Nails of the Day - featuring Butter London's Yummy Mummy. I LOVE the way this polish looks against my skintone.

I'm curious... What nail polishes do you / would you wear in a corporate office or to a job interview?

Reviews and Swatches: Butter London - No More Waity Katie

I was trying to figure out what purple colors I have that I could use for the next Tri-Polish Challenge entry, when I remembered that I had picked up this polish during one of the Butter London Last Order clearance sales.

No More Waity, Katie is definitely a strange polish: strange color, strange formula, strange choice for a polish meant to commemorate the Royal Wedding.

But despite that all, somehow I actually like it.

Nail Art: Tri Polish Tuesday Challenge - Lovely Spring Gradients NOTD

It's Tuesday. It's also the first week of March, which means...

1. It's Tri Polish Tuesday!
2. It's time for a new set of Tri Polish colors!

So what color-filled goodness does March bring? In the spirit of Spring (oh, PLEASE say spring is coming soon!), we're going to be doing Green, Blue and Purple!

Last week, I had to skip out on the challenge. but I was eager to give it a try again this week.

NOTD: Chevron Nail Art in Blue, Yellow and Black

I know that I've mentioned before that I like actually doing something with my nails once I swatch a color. After painting my nails with Sinful Colors - Ocean Side  last week, I loved the color too much to take it off.

I wasn't in the mood to do stamping or anything too involved, so tried to think of what kind of design I could do. What I came up with was this look - a blue, yellow and black chevron-tipped design <3

NOTD: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #8 - Cute - Doraemon Nail Art

Let me introduce you to Doraemon. Doraemon (ドラえもん) is a character beloved by generations of Japanese children and a Japanese cultural icon. He's a time-traveling, earless robot cat and the main character for the manga and anime series of the same name. He has a fourth-dimensional pocket on his stomach and possesses a door that can take you anywhere. He loves dorayaki and has all kinds of adventures with fifth-grader Nobita.

He's also star of the nail art I decided to do for this week's FingerFood Theme Buffet challenge.

NOTD: Blue Birds

I have a whole bunch of untried polishes in my steadily-growing collection that I have been meaning to try out. Since I was in the mood to wear blue (even though it has a tendency to stain) I grabbed two polishes and put together this blue bird look.

Not only did I get to wear a polish that may be have become one of my favorite blues EVER, but I also got the chance to try out the MoYou London plates that had JUST come in the mail!

NOTD: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #7 - Abstract

 Welcome to the seventh installment of Finger Food's Theme Buffet. The challenge theme for this week was "Abstract," which leaves us nail artists with all kinds of avenues to explore.

Some people made their own abstract works of art or abstract designs. Others recreated famous paintings by abstract artists like Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg.

 I was one of those that decided to recreate an abstract painting. In my case, I chose one of the Homage to the Square series of paintings by Josef Albers.