It's Easter Beagle Snoopy Nail Art, Charlie Brown!

Hi everyone!

Today I have a quick post on my animated spin on a classic Easter egg mani.

I don't know about you all, but whenever a holiday rolls around, there's a Charlie Brown special on television. 

When Easter season arrives, instead of the Easter Bunny I think of the Easter Beagle...which is basically Snoopy galavanting around, stealing everyone's eggs and redistributing them on Easter Sunday.

From left to right: Avon Nail Experts Gel Strength Base Coat, CG Dance Baby, CG With Love, Loreal Broozy Bruch, Julep Sally, Essie Action, Nicole by OPI Ladies in the Limelight, Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat, CG White on White, SH Hard as Nails Black Heart.

Starting with Avon's Gel Strength Base Coat, I layered two coats of China Glaze White On White as my base color, and added a layer of Nicole by OPI Ladies in the Limelight for my ring finger.

I used a small nail art brush and small dotting tool to paint the patterns of the eggs on my thumb, ring and pinky finger. To create a more cartoon-like appearence, I outlined the eggs with SH Black Heart and took an angled brush dipped in polish remover to create negative space along the tips and finish the egg shape.

Snoopy was freehanded using SH Black Heart with an added layer of CG White on White to erase any sketchy strokes.

I ended up changing my mind on the background for Snoopy. Instead on white, I layered thinned coats on Julep Sally, Nicole by OPI Ladies in the Limelight, and Essie Action until a smooth vignette was visible.

I finished the look with Julep's Freedom Polymer Top Coat. However, I think I've run it into the ground. Instead of creating the glossy finish it used to, in the past few days all of my mani attempts and come out smudgy, foggy, or rubbery.

Despite my topcoat woes, this look definitely makes me smile. And it gave me an excuse to watch cartoons.

What are you wearing for Easter Sunday? 

Comment below and Show me your Easter "egg-spired" nails on Facebook or Twitter.

Happy hump-day! (Is it just me or is that horrible phrase?)

-Melody

Amateur Manicures: Dabbling in Dotting

Happy Monday!

Excited to begin posting on a regular schedule. But first, at look at what I've been wearing lately.

Left

I began with two coats of Colorblast by Orly's Tempting Tea Rose. It's supposed to be an off white with the slightest pink undertones, but I have yet to notice it. I used Loreal's "Jet Set to Paris" for the two darkest rows of dots. The lighter turquoise blue is Loreal's "Club Prive," but came off a lot more green in photos. The light mint is Julep's Susie, and at the last minute I added Sally for a subtle contrast.

Right

Showing off one of my favorite from the China Glaze Avant Garden collection, I used Passion for Petals as my base and both and small and large dotting tool to creating the vertical rows with Julep's Sally. To finish it off I took Passion for Petals once more and placed dots right over the larger ones in the center to create an outline effect.

Both looks were topped off using Julep's Freedom Polymer Top Coat.

Now even though many have demonstrated how to create your own dotting tool, I wanted to have multiple sizes at my disposal. Investing in dotting tools will cost you about as much as that soda you thought about picking up while filling up your gas tank. I turned to eBay and grabbed a set for less than two dollars and free shipping. The catch? For that price most products come from China which means shipping can take up to a month. I've had mine for almost a year and they've held up completely, even when the cats decide to "borrow" them.

What's your favorite dotted manicure? Have you tried one yourself? 

Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by and sticking around!