NOTD: Gold French Tips

Hello fellow platypi (platypuses?)! So I've had... well, not much sleep the last couple weeks, and along with the side effect of turning into a zombie, I'm lacking motivation to do anything other than sleep. I couldn't muster the energy to come up with a good tutorial (sorry!) so I decided to do my first nail-of-the-day post. Here goes nothing!

So today I used China Glaze's For Audrey with a french tip in Orly Luxe.

I've got a pretty funny story about For Audrey. Ever since I've immersed myself in the nail polish world, I've heard all about For Audrey. Everywhere. Seems like everyone who's ever painted their nails owns and loves this color. "What's the big deal?" Silly me thought. And then I needed a new white polish, so I got the China Glaze ombre set that conveniently contained For Audrey. "Oh I'll just try it out once but I don't think I'll like it." Hehe. And then guess who used it in her last two tutorials and now this post. Thiiss girrll! Ah, well.

And then there's Luxe, AKA my favorite gold nail polish ever. I don't really have a reason why I love it so much. But I just do.

(Oh, yeah! Today I learned how annoying it is to do a french tip over a solid color. It's easy peasy on bare nails because all you have to do is follow the line your nail makes, but with a color under you just have to guess when your nail meets the skin. I'm rambling, aren't I?)

I topped everything with Seche Vite, and had myself some spiffy french tips! I really enjoyed these just because I focus so much on nail art that I never take a break to do something more simple. I'm also a sucker for a good blue and gold combo.

That's all for now! What'd you guys think of this design? I'm happy with how they turned out, even if they're not as intricate and time-consuming as some other designs I've done. If you liked this post, help me out by following here, on Facebook, and Twitter! Thanks for reading!

One-Year Blogiversary!

Hello to all my amazing loyal followers! So, as you probably guessed from the title, it's my one year blogiversary (well, actually, it was yesterday, but oh well). I really had no idea what to do, which is why this is being posted at 11:00 PM one day late. I decided to try and sum up my most memorable parts of the year for you all. Here goes nothing!

The post I'm most proud of: Oh, goodness, definitely my Phanpy nails. I know that they're definitely not my best design, but I really loved them. I spent hours trying to figure out how I could possibly pull this one off, and I was really nervous about how they'd turn out. I didn't want to turn my favorite pokemon into a really screwed up attempt at nail art. The fact that they were recognizable as a Phanpy (or at least as an elephant) equals an A in my book. This was the first time I decided to be brave and attempt something completely out of my comfort zone, and no matter how they look, I couldn't have been more proud of these.

My most embarrassing post: My first post. Yupp. I can't really describe why I'm so embarrassed by it. But wow. I thought I was so cool back then, lol! Looking back, though... ehh, oh well. We all have to start somewhere, right?

The most fun post I've ever done: My bubbling cauldron nails. Without a doubt. I still have people who come up to me and when they mention my nail art, they tell me how they love this design. From months ago. Hehe, that always makes me feel good about myself. But honestly, these were unbelievably fun to do. Even more fun then creating the design was watching friends' (and even some strangers') reactions to them. I had a  bunch of "cool nails." Probably even more "ewws" (which, yes, I take as a compliment, hehe). Someone even asked to touch them (yeah, that was pretty awkward). I'm so sad I was only able to wear these for Halloween season. *sigh*

The post I want to re-do: I'd choose these flowers. I think I had the basic concept, but there's so much more I could do with them. I could have really cleaned them up and made them less... sloppy. The polka dots, an afterthought, also didn't turn out as well as they could have. Maybe I'll try them again soon and do a tutorial to go along. Hmm, I like that idea...

What I think I've improved the most on: My photography. I mean, just look at my first photo. I obviously had no idea what I was doing. Terrible lighting, only one finger in the entire photo... arg. Too embarrassing. I've really figured out what hand positions show off the nail designs best. My lighting's improved even more. I've gone from using natural light (which is extremely unpredictable) with a tan wall as a background to a fancy white light and a light box. It's fun to look back at my older photos and see how much I've improved.

From this...

... to this!

My favorite part about blogging: The people. Okay, I know that sounds cheesy. But the nail polish community is probably one of the most supportive, kind groups of people you'll ever meet. I know we have fair share of drama, but in the bigger picture, the nail polish community is full of amazing, wonderfully talented  people who I'm glad to know.

And that's it! I feel like I didn't actually write much in this post, so if you guys have any questions about me, nail polish, or... well, just about anything, let me know in the comments,  on Facebook, or Twitter,  or at polishedplatypus@gmail.com. And then I want to take a moment to thank all of you for helping my blog be what it is today. You guys are the best readers in the world. Here's to another fun year of blogging!

- Muffin

Butterflies

Happy spring, everyone! Well, I know spring started weeks ago, but it FINALLY started feeling like spring this week here in Illinois! Today I have a (who would have guessed) spring related design for you all, suggested by Ruth M. on Facebook. I guess I'll just jump into the post and show you my tutorial for today: butterflies!

You'll need:

- Base coat

- Light blue polish

- White polish

- Dotting tool

- Black polish

- Purple polish

- Black striper

- Top coat

Use your handy dandy base coat, and then paint your nails a light blue. And yes, I've used For Audrey for the past three posts... what? It makes a pretty sky color.

And eek, sorry for my cuticles! They are going to receive some well-needed TLC this week to make them nice and pretty for my next tutorial!

China Glaze - For Audrey

Use a dotting tool and white polish to dot on little clouds on all but your ring finger. It's easier to look at the picture than to listen to me try to explain it. Try making the dots light to get that see-through, puffy cloud look.

China Glaze - White on White

Now we'll move to the butterfly on the accent nail. To make the top wings, use a dotting tool and black  polish to make the shape I have in the picture. I'm not really sure how to describe it. Are they two triangles? Maybe? They're more pointed at the top and square on the bottom.

Sally Hansen - Black Heart

 For the bottom halves of the wings, just make two large dots.

Let this dry a bit and then go over with your butterfly color (I chose purple), leaving a small outline of black. You might want to use two coats of the purple, or whatever color you used, so that it stands out over the black.

Essie - Play Date

make two lines separating the two wing halves. It might be easier doing this step after the next one - I'm not sure why I did them in that order.

Art Deco Striper - Black

Using a black striper, draw a thick line between the two wings.

Grab your dotting tool and black polish again to make the head.
(To anyone looking super close, yeah, I did make a little mistake that I had to try and cover up with blue polish again. It's pretty noticeable here, but it's pretty invisible after the top coat).

With a small dotting tool, dot on two tiny eyes in white.

And... here comes the hard part. If you don't have a VERY steady hand, I wouldn't recommend trying this - Actually, I would just leave off the head in general. I had loads of trouble with this step. Keeping your hand as steady as possible, use a black striper to add two curly antennae. It works best if you rotate your hand while doing short strokes at a time.

That's it! Finish off your design with a top coat.

And there you have it! Thanks again to Ruth on Facebook for the fun idea. If you guys enjoyed this post, help me out by following here, 'liking' on Facebook, and following on Twitter. Thanks for reading!

- Muffin