Happy Independence Day! 4th of July Nail Art

Happy Independence everyone!

The weather is icky and I'm busy packing.

Even though I can't join in on barbecues, bonfires and fireworks I thought I'd still get in on the nail art festivities!

I got up early to work on my 4th of July nails, and let me tell you it took me over 6 hours!

I changed my look about four times before settling on something simple.

My thumb is is a two layer base of Sinful Colors "Snow Me White" with a simple glitter gradient of Julep "Fireworks."

My index finger is one layer of China Glaze "Adventure Red-y" with a large silver star from my Born Pretty Store Stud Wheel.

My pinky finger in two layers of La Girl 3D Holo "Brilliant Blue" with another large stoar from BPS.

Now the glitter placement on my middle finger took incredibly long.

Before I began, I painted two coats of LA Girl 3D Holo "Brilliant Blue".
Not having any glequins around, I reached for My Pink Dreams "Casa Blanca" and individually fished and placed each hex glitter until I reached exactly 50 to imitate the stars on the American Flag.

I sware, it had to have taken over an hour as I kept losing count. Haha!

My ringer didn't take as long.
I began with a two layer base of Sinful Colors "Snow Me White" and then placed 6 evenly spaced pieces of nail tape over the nail.
I then painted over the gaps with LA Girl 3D Holo "Sparkle Ruby" and removed the tape to reveal 13 stripes in total matching the stripes on the American Flag once again.

Overall it's a simple, wearable option for any patriotic outfit.
I had more intricate, over the top designs half finished...but sometimes less is more.

What do you think of the 4th of July look?
Did your nails show your patriotic spirit today?

Let me know in the comments below and send me your 4th of July nails on Facebook or Twitter!

And don't forget to give this look some love on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest!

---

I apologize for being short of words this week.

I officially begin moving into my new place tomorrow.
I tried so hard to post regularly, but I know I've been bad and disappeared for one, to up to four days at a time.

After this weekend, things will be back to normal. 

I promise!

Meanwhile, I've reached over 500 followers on Instagram,
almost 1000 on Tumblr,

and approaching 500 on Facebook!

I cannot thank you all enough for your support.
Once I'm officially moved and settled, I'll be scooping up prizes for a huge giveaway to thank you.

You all are truly lovely and amazing.

Thanks for reading, be safe, and have fun tonight!

-Melody

L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Review Part Four: Overall Value and Recap

Hi everyone!

So I have had to change my original plan for the last part of my review of the L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Kit. Originally I had a couple of more simple nail art tutorials with the kit to show you, but unfortunately I ended up running out of polish to work with!

They were mini bottles after all, so I should have seen it coming.

Instead, I want to recap the entire kit as a whole and re-evaluate the value and effectiveness of the product now that I've used it to its full potential.

So let's take a final look at the product.

The Contents

I showed you in the first part of the review the contents and individual colors for the Nail Art kit in "Flashy." To see my initial thoughts and more swatches of the individual colors, you can jump over here.

The kit included four mini bottles of bright neon colors, a small nail art brush, chevron nail stickers, and a full instruction sheet to help you get started.

The Colors

For  the most part, I really liked the colors both individually and how they coordinate as a set.

The pink was a real stand out as a bright barbie like neon shade. Feedback from my initial look at these colors proved that I wasn't alone in saying that this is a color you NEED in a full size for summer.

The orange was just as a bright and easy to work with, so if you're into orange polishes and looking for a good neon citrusy hue, I'd spring for this one full size as well. It looks great on toes!

If you read my thoughts on the yellow, then you already know this is a hit or miss. On one hand it's hard to work with, takes a lot of building and isn't very flattering for some. It's actually the first color I ran out of since it took so many layers to get it opaque each time. On the other hand this is a pretty common problem with bright yellow polishes across the board, so L.A. Girl really isn't to blame here. The formula takes getting used to. If you have the patience and a good top coat, you can make this color work in the end...it just won't be easy.

The blue has an incredible formula and is a great basic go-to for nail art. As a stand-alone color it's not anything special, but not something you'd regret having in your stash.

The Tools

The Brush

The picture above shows the brush before I began using it. I was scared at first  at how on earth I could create any nail art look with the bristles that spread out, but a couple of dips into nail polish remover and then shaping the tip fixed it. As many nail art brushes as I have around, I think I'm really going to be using this one often for small line work. I've used and abused it over the past week, and it's still like new. It's surpisingly durable, making it reliable for both beginners and more experienced nail art enthusiasts.

The Stickers

The nail stickers I was unfortunately unable to show you in action before the polishes ran out, but it's not to say I didn't attempt to use them. Unfortunately, they are too big to create  an actual chevron pattern. The size allows for only one strip to be applied per nail. It can still create a cute look, but it's still not the look they were advertised to achieve. 

I attempted to cut them down to make them thinner, but then I had to deal with crooked edges. In the end it would be easier to achieve the actual pattern using the brush than trying to use the stickers. They can be effective when used to create a single chevron stripe accent or even to achieve regular stripes if you cut them in half at the corner.

The Nail Art

The kit advertises that you can creative a total of atleast five different nail art looks:

Tiger/Zebra Stripes
Leopard/Cheetah Spots
Chevron Stripes
Polka Dots
(No Water) Swirl Marble

I demonstrated two of them for you, while making attempts to create the other three.

Overall, the colors in the Flashy kit in particular make creating these looks a bit harder than they should have been due to the semi-sheer formula of all but the blue. 

I recommend using the lighter shades as your base and utilizing the blue as the main detail color when possible as it is the only fully opaque shade.

The tiger/zebra and cheetah/leopard looks create the best result from the materials used. 

To see the full tutorial of these looks, just click the images below.

   

But what about the three remaining looks?

I already explained the trouble with the chevron stickers, but the other two looks only  require the brush.

I was unable to show the polka dots, but that's pretty self explanatory  

Now, I prefer the precision of a dotting tool for but that's now to say that the look couldn't be achieved with the brush. The trick is being able to pick up a generous amount of polish on the tip of the brush and hold it completely upright when dotting on the nail. The dots are small but were surprisingly perfectly round.

The swirl marble is really not a look a favored in the first place, but I still gave it a shot. 

It looks a little messy in my opinion, but I  actually found it to be easier to do by mixing the orange, pink, and yellow shades. The thin formula actually works to their advantage in this case as they blend together in a much more pleasant manner.

The Value

Even after actually running out of a couple of the colors, I still stand by my initials impressions of this kit and think it's a GREAT value. 

For the small price of $5 you're getting 4 mini polishes, a sheet of 24 chevron shaped nail stickers, and a  multipurpose nail brush. For the average user this kit will last longer than it did for me. You have to take into consideration that I had to swatch multiple times due to photography problems (neons are a pain to photograph!), and experiment with the same look until I achieved the best results to show you. So I went through the polishes much quicker than I should have. 

And let's not forget that the brush is something you can use for a very long time, so it's a minuscule price for an important nail investment.

Final Thoughts

After working with this, and only this kit for the past week or so I thought I'd get really sick of it, but I really didn't. It was nice to have exactly what I needed all in one kit and I was still able to create multiple looks to keep me from getting too bored. 

The Flashy kit is actually probably my least favorite of the color options available for a couple of reasons:

1. The formula for nail art polishes really needs to be opaque, and three out of the four were not.
2. There needs to be more contrast in the colors in my opinion.

Now, I stumbled upon a  preview of one of the other color options in "Fabulous." Brianna over at BreezyTheNailPolishLover displayed a skittle mani here of each of the looks created with her kit, and you can see how much better that color combo worked. You can also get a glimpse of just how big those chevron stickers are.

After seeing both her kit and mine, overall I would definitely recommend picking this up if you see it around. Even if it's just to test the colors, you're definitely getting your money's worth. I don't think it matters if you're a beginner or an expert. It's a great little kit for polished lovelies of all skill levels.

So that's  it! 

I know this was long and you're asking yourself why I spent so many days concentrating on this one product. 

I felt it was important to really break it down and focus on each aspect of the kit.

I give it a thumbs up, but do you?
Let me know your thoughts and whether or not you'd  give the kit a try in the comments below!

To see all the L.A. Girl line has to offer, visit their website at lagirlusa.com and give them some love on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

-Melody

*The products in this post were provided for my honest review. Any material provided does not influence my opinions in any way. Gotta keep it real!

L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Review Part Three: DIY Leopard / Cheetah Spots Tutorial

Hi everyone!

Today I have another fun tutorial created entirely with the L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Kit.

For more information on the contents, pricing, and availability of the nail art kit, along with swatches of the individual colors included, you can jump over here to read the first part of the  review.

Now on to the design!

DIY Leopard/Cheetah Nails

What you'll need:

For this look we're going to use the pink, yellow, and blue polish from L.A. DIY Nail Art Kit in Flashy, along with a small nail art brush which is provided in the package.

The following products are not included, but I also recommend a base and top coat, along with a small angled brush for any needed cleanup.

For this design I used Avon's Nail Experts Gel Strength Base Coat and L.A. Girl's Top Coat.

The small angled brush is an old EcoTools angled eyeliner brush.

The Steps

Step 1. 

Start with clean, bare nails. You can skip the base coat if you don't have one, but it is highly recommended to add a clear base to protect your natural nail before polishing. 

 Step 2. 

Apply two to three coats of the pink polish, giving each layer enough time to dry to prevent dragging and streaking.

1.2.

Step 3.

Drip a dot onto a piece of paper or other palette. Take the small nail art brush and dip the end into the dot. 

With the brush, create large splotches all over the nail. Remember that the shapes are about to outlined, so do not worry about perfect edges. Just make sure there is enough of a gap in between each splotch.

3.

Step 4.

Add another dot to your paper/palette, this time with the blue polish.

After dipping the small nail art brush into the polish, begin to outline the splotches. The best way to achieve the leopard spot is to dab on the color in a letter "C"-like line across half of the shape. You do not want to entirely outline the shape, so leave a gap in the outlines. Repeat the "C-line" on the side of the shape.

4.

Once you're finished give the design 15-20 minutes to dry, add your topcoat, and your done!

It's really not as time-intensive as it looks. 

While I personally prefer a dotting tool as opposed to a brush for this type of design, the L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Kit gives beginners an all-in-one opportunity to try this design for themselves.

The colors in the Flashy kit are a great summer take on the classic leopard mani, and bring back memories of good ole' LISA FRANK!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and let me know in the comments below if you try it yourself!

Don't forget to give this look some love on Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest,

and keep up with The Manicured Amateur on Facebook, Twitter and Bloglovin' for the final set of tutorials using the L.A. Girl Nail Art Kit.

And if you haven't already, check out my DIY Guide to Zebra/Tiger Stripe Inspired Nails by clicking the image below!

Thanks for reading!

-Melody

*The L.A. Girl Nail Art Kit was provided for my honest review. Any material provided does not influence my opinions in any way. Gotta keep it real!

L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Kit Review Part Two: DIY Tiger / Zebra Stripes Tutorial

Hi everyone!

Today I have a fun and funky nail art design created entirely with the L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Kit.

For more information on the contents, pricing, and availability of the nail art kit, along with swatches of the individual colors included, you can jump over here to read the first part of the  review.

Now on to the design!

DIY Zebra/Tiger Stripe Nail Art

What you'll need:

For this look we're going to use the blue and orange polish from L.A. DIY Nail Art Kit in Flashy, along with a small nail art brush which is provided in the package.

The following products are not included, but I also recommend a base and top coat, along with a small angled brush for any needed cleanup.

For this design I used Avon's Nail Experts Gel Strength Base Coat and L.A. Girl's Top Coat.

The small angled brush is an old EcoTools angled eyeliner brush.

The Steps

Step 1. 

Start with clean, bare nails. You can skip the base coat if you don't have one, but it is highly recommended to add a clear base to protect your natural nail before polishing. 

 Step 2. 
Apply two to three coats of the orange polish, giving each layer enough time to dry to prevent dragging and streaking.

1. 2.

 Step 3.
Drip a dot onto a piece of paper or other palette. Take the small nail art brush and dip the end into the dot.

Draw a curvy line onto your nail by starting at the outside and drawing inward in a wispy motion.

                                                                                    Step 4. 
                                    Draw another line on the other side, slanting the line in the other direction. 

3.    4.     

Step 5. 

Begin to fill in the rest of you nail with the same technique. I recommend working from the center outward to prevent any unwanted gaps. 

Try not to overthink the design. It's okay for the lines to be bumpy and uneven. If fact, it looks more realistic!

Step 6. 

Once you are happy with your design, give the stripes at least 15 to 20 minutes to dry depending on how thick you applied them. 

If needed, clean up around your nail using a Q-tip or what I recommend - a small angled brush, which is more precise for cleaning around the cuticle area. 

Add your favorite top coat, and enjoy! 

5.  6.

That's it!
It's actually a really quick design that even a first time nail artist can do.
It doesn't require extreme precision and the color combinations are endless.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and let me know in the comments below if you try it yourself!

Don't forget to give this look some love on Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest,
and keep up with The Manicured Amateur on Facebook, Twitter and Bloglovin' because there are more L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Tutorials coming your way.

Thanks for reading!

-Melody


*The L.A. Girl Nail Art Kit was provided for my honest review. Any material provided does not influence my opinions in any way. Gotta keep it real!

L.A. Girl 4 Piece Nail Polish DIY Nail Art Kit Review Part One (Swatches and Review)

Hi everyone!

Today begins a very special multi-post event here at the Manicured Amateur. The lovely ladies over at Beauty21 Cosmetics (who make L.A. Girl and L.A. Colors Polishes) were generous enough to send me the new DIY Nail Art Kit to review for you all.

This brand has a special place in my heart, as one of the first reviews I ever did was on their DIY Ombre Sets that were a Valentine's Day gift from my boyfriend. If you're interested in those sets and seeing the early days of the amateur, you can read the full review here.

Not only do I have individual swatches for you all, but am I going to have fully illustrated tutorials on how to create five basic nail art looks that can be achieved with this kit alone.

Before we get to that, let's take a look at the kit and the colors included.

The Kit

The L.A. Girl DIY Nail Art Kit is an all-in-one product that contains four mini (4.5mL/0.15 fl.oz.) polishes, a small nail art brush, chevron nail stickers and instructions to create a total of five different nail art looks.

There are four different versions of the nail art kit available but the one I have for you today is the "Flashy" set, a collection a four neon colors. 

The names are not printed anywhere, but I have an educated guess as to their full size matches from the "Brites" Collection:

Pink - Heatwave. Could possibly be Flare Up, but Heatwave has warmer undertones.

Orange - Electrocute. Could possibly be Fierce Rays, but FR seems a bit darker.

Yellow - Glow

Blue - Flash Freeze

Pricing and Availability

The DIY Nail Art Kit is currently not available for purchase on the L.A. Girl website but it is available for just $5.00 on cherryculture.com, along with the other three sets. For what you get I think this is a great price.

I have not seen this in stores as of yet, but if you have let me know so I can pass it along!

The Colors

Flash Freeze (?) is a bright blue creme.

L.A. Girl "Flash Freeze" - lightbox

This is the only one out of the four that has a completely opaque formula. It fully covers the nail in just one coat, and is just the perfect consistency. It's a very basic color, but for how easy it is to work with it's not bad to have around.

L.A. Girl "Flash Freeze" - lightbox

Note: If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, then you already know I had a lot of trouble taking pictures this week.

Before I show you the rest, I have to apologize for including very different swatches of the same polishes. I originally photographed all of these outside, but it was and will be overcast for the next week. The end result left me with ghostly hands and the blue couldn't even be captured, so I delayed posting until I could retake the photos with my new lightbox. 

The results are very different, but necessary for you to see the transformation from indoor to outdoor lighting conditions.

Glow (?) is neon, highlighter yellow semi-sheer creme.

L.A. Girl "Glow" - lightbox

Like most other bright yellow polishes, application of this one is troublesome. It's not quite the consistency  of a jelly, but it is definitely difficult to build up. 

The formula is sheer enough that streaks and unevenness cannot be avoided. On the first coat it will literally look as if you colored your nails with a highlighter (and let's admit it, who didn't try it at least once as a child.). To reach full opacity it takes three to four coats, but even then the nail line still peeks through. It still applies streaky up until the last layer, but top coat will smooth most everything out.

On the plus side it dries extremely fast, so the layering doesn't take too much extra effort. It's still not a color I would prefer to wear alone, but it can definitely serves its purpose in specific nail art looks.

L.A. Girl "Glow" - lightbox

In the overcast shot you can easily see the green undertones.

L.A. Girl "Glow" - overcast

Electrocute (or Fierce Rays?) is a bright neon orange semi-sheer creme.

L.A. Girl "Heat Wave" - lightbox

When I say neon, I mean it. My camera nearly exploded try to take a picture of this color. It's much brighter in real life, but this was all that even my Nikon could handle. The formula is much improved from Glow. It applies evenly, but will still require three coats for full coverage. The nail line will still be a tad visible, but just barely. 

I actually quite liked this one as is. It's funny how my opinion of orange polishes has taken a 180 degree turn. This is basic and bright, and will be making frequent appearances on my toes come summer!

L.A. Girl "Electrocute" - lightbox

I did have better look capturing the the neon effect in the overcast weather.

Heatwave (or Flare Up?) is hot hot hot, might-as-well-be-on-fire, neon pink semi-sheer creme.

L.A. Girl "Heatwave" - lightbox

My camera literally quit on this one. The shutter speed got slower and slower, and the auto focus eventually gave up. It's the truest shade to a hot Barbie pink if I've ever seen one. It looks so plastic it still amazes me.

This shade only needed two coats to achieve the same results as Glow and Electrocute. The nail line just barely shines through in direct lighting.

L.A. Girl "Heatwave" - lightbox

In the overcast shot you really can see what I mean by plastic. It's crazy.

L.A. Girl "Heatwave" - overcast

BAM! Even in the dreary weather it's still this bright. Mind blown.

Overall

I've said it before and I'll say it again. L.A. Girl is an underrated brand in my opinion. They have been doing some great things lately, as we have seen with the 3D Effect holographic polishes (one of which I reviewed here). I only wish they were more widely accessible. I know you can find them in Rite-Aid and other drugstores, but availability is really hit-or miss. The Ombre sets were actually the first I saw of the brand outside of the dollar store.

The shades in this particular kit may be pretty basic, but they sure do pack a punch for the price. If you wanted to purchase these full-size, I'd definitely recommend the pink and orange as staple neons to add to your stash. The yellow needs some improvement, but it's a pattern I've noticed with similar shades from different brands, so I'm not sure what the solution is. The blue doesn't wow me either, but if you need a backup basic blue, give it a shot!

What do you think of these shades? 

Do you love or hate the neon look on your nails?

Let me know in the comments below, and don't forget to check out the looks can be created with these mini marvels by clicking each image below!

   

And to see all the L.A. Girl line has to offer, visit their website at lagirlusa.com and give them some love on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

-Melody

*The products in this post were provided for my honest review. Any material provided does not influence my opinions in any way. Gotta keep it real!

L.A. Girl 3D Effects Hologram Nail Polish: Brilliant Blue

Hi everyone!

I have a short post today as I need to get back to getting things organized around the house.

I wanted to share with you the L.A. Girl 3D Effects Hologram Nail Polish in Brilliant Blue.

I had originally planned to wait until I purchased the rest of the collection at the end of the week, but I just couldn't wait!

I'll stumbled upon this beauty at Rite-Aid along with the others for $4.99 each, and they were already flying off the shelves!

I hope I can scoop up the others by this weekend so I can do a full review.

In the meantime, you can view the entire collection at lagirlusa.com.

Brilliant Blue is deep, dark blue scattered holo. 

The actual hologram effect is pretty subtle, but either way is out of this world.

 The formula is really interesting. It's a bit thick, but almost applies like a jelly. It's like you can see the 3D aspect as you apply it. It looks as if the glitter is raised above the base. I know it sounds crazy, but get it and you'll know exactly what I mean.

All of these photos were taken with two coats, without top coat after two days of wear. Can you believe it? I still can't. I never wear a polish this long but it's just been so good to me.

Dare I compare it to Picture Polish Cosmos? Why not.? 

Consider it the cheap cousin, and I'm dying to meet the rest of the family.

Have you seen the L.A. Girl 3D Effects at your local Rite-Aid?
Will you be picking any of them up?

Let me know in the comments below or share you love for holos on my Facebook or Twitter page.

Thanks for reading!

-Melody