It's My Birthday!

So yeah, I was planning on doing another Sherlock-themed manicure this week, but then I remembered- today's my birthday! Hooray! So enjoy this quick little post on my birthday manicure. 

Here I've got a gradient of China Glaze - White on White and OPI - Sparrow Me the Drama, with the '17' written with an Art Deco Striper in black. Yeah, I'm 17 now! Geesh. I feel old. Wow. 

Anyyywayy, the candles are OPI - Cajun Shrimp, E.L.F. - Purple Pleaser, and Mary Kay - Pink Bamboo, and the flames are Sally Hansen - Sun Kissed and Sally Hansen - Lightening.

Bonus: A (semi) accurate portrayal of the typical celebration of my birthdays. I'm not a party girl in any way, so anything with large groups of people usually ends up with a grumpy Allie hiding in the corner. Instead of a party tonight, I'm quietly celebrating out at Biaggi's (ah, who else would die for their bread) with my family. That's the best way to celebrate, in my opinion! 

Oh, does anyone have any unusual birthday traditions? I was born during the half time of the 1997 Superbowl, and although they've changed the date so it will never line up on my birthday again, my parents always it as celebrate my "second birthday" and spoil me with my favorite foods. Ahh, the joy of birthdays!

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments what you thought about this manicure, or what strange birthday traditions you have. Next week I will (for sure, this time) be back with another LynBDesigns Sherlock polish, to mark the end of the show's third season. See you all then!

Summer Dragonflies

Today I'll be showing you how to easily recreate a common sighting on a summer evening- the dragonfly. It's placed over a sunset above water. I hope you like it!

You will need:

- Base Coat

- Makeup sponge

- Pink polish

- Yellow polish

- Orange polish

- Red polish

- blue polish

- black polish

- dotting tool

- various-sized beads

Paint your nails with a base coat and cover that with one coat of pink. It doesn't have to be perfect because most of it will be covered by the other colors. Sponge on the yellow polish, leaving only a small portion of pink showing near the base of the nail.

OPI - Sparrow Me the Drama; Sally Hansen - Lightening

Now sponge on the orange polish, leaving a little of the yellow showing.

Sally Hansen - Sun Kissed

Repeat the process with the red polish.

OPI - Cajun Shrimp

Use a dotting tool to paint on the blue polish, making it in the shape of waves.

Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away!

Use your dotting tool and the black polish to create the dragonfly's wings.

Sally Hansen - Black Heart

Place a drop of top coat in the middle of the wings and  place the larger bead.

Use one smaller bead for the head and two for the body, using the top coat to act as the glue again.

And there you have it! Just cover with a top coat to protect the design. The beads will easily come off when soaked in acetone.

I hope you enjoyed this designs! Please leave your comments below and on Facebook!

Green Leaves

Happy monday! I happened to come across some new nail polish this weekend, and I decided to use it in a design. I hope you like it!

You will need:

- Base coat

- A light green nail polish (I used Essie's Navigate Her, one of my new finds)

- Makeup sponges/art sponge brush/etc.

- A dark green nail polish (Here is China Glaze's Agro, one of the colors in the Hunger Games themed line)

- A yellow nail polish

- Black striper

- Top coat

First, paint on a base coat to protect your nails. Next, paint two coats of the lighter green.

Take the sponge and dab a bit of the darker green polish onto it. Using the sponge, lightly press nail polish onto the top one third of each nail. Place more polish onto the sponge as necessary.

Your nails should end up looking somewhat like this. This method is naturally messy, so save the cleanup of your cuticles and skin for the very end. 

Using the same sponging method, dab on the yellow nail polish onto the top third of each nail. Your fingers should now look like this. 

Using the black striper, draw a line straight down the center of each nail.

Next, use the striper to paint diagonal lines branching out from the center line. 

Cover your nails with a clear coat and use a cotton swab and nail polish remover to clean up any unwanted polish.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Please post your questions and comments below- I'd love to hear what you think!

- Muffin

Pink and Gold Gradient

This is one of my favorite designs! It's great for beginners and pros alike and works for both parties and a day in the office. These colors can easily be changed to make endless designs.

Start off with a base coat to protect your nails.

Then, paint on the main color. I chose a subtle pink.

Let that dry for a bit, because it will be easy to ruin your nails with the gradient if it's not dry.
Once the first color has dried, start with the gradient. I settled on a lovely shade of gold (specifically, China Glaze's Harvest Moon). Take a sponge brush or whatever you prefer to use, paint a little of the gold nail polish onto one corner, and dab it onto your nail. Do this for about half or 2/3 of the nail at the top on each nail.

Once you've finished the first round on each nail, go at it again, this time using the brush to sponge on more gold on the top half of the first gradient. The nail will go from a pink to a light gold to an almost solid gold.

When you're satisfied with the nail, cover it with a top coat to protect the design.

Annnndd you're finished! Only the thumb is shown here, but make sure you've completed all of the nails.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Post your questions and comments below and don't forget to email me (muffinnails@gmail.com) to chat or make suggestions!

Catch ya later!

-Muffin