Purple Mosaic

This purple mosaic is one of my favorite designs I've made this year so far.  Striping tape makes this complicated design pretty simple!  

The base color on the mosaic nails is Spoiled Daddy's Credit Card.  The blurple shade is Revlon Impulsive and the lilac is Essie Play Date.

I created the mosaic design by laying striping tape in various angles.  Then I filled in the spaces with Play Date and Impulsive.  Be sure to carefully remove the striping tape to avoid smudging. 

I used a thin brush dipped in Daddy's Credit Card to correct any minor errors. 

I have seen the mosaic design from several nail connoisseurs, but I am loving this one.  I love, love, love purple!   These shades are two of my favorite and they contrast each other very nicely. 

Have you ever done a mosaic?  We would love to see it!

XoXo Vicky

Nail Addicted Sisters

Valentine's Day Mani Mania

Happy Valentine's Day!!! 

This Valentine's Day I was inspired to create more than one look. I chose pinks as my primary colors because I despise red nail polish. I know, I know, don't hate me! If I had time I think I would have done another one. I just can't get enough of all the hearts and LOVE!!

This mani is so girly and fun! My new favorite purchase is this bright pink from Color Club, Wicker Park.  I'll definitely be wearing this a lot this Spring/Summer!

I free handed the heart using negative space. This is a technique I'll never get tired of. For the other nail I used striping tape and a dotting tool to create the heart. This spectacular silver holo is Digital Nails Supernova. WOW!

So stinkin' cute! 

The second mani I created is a little different and much easier to execute.  Some glitter bombs and stamps are all you need. 

The magenta polish is Polish Me Silly Aloha Baby!. This is has a fantastic formula and is gorgeous. I stamped using Color Club Wicker Park. 

Now for the glitter bombs! The all pink pinky is LAV Lacquer Pink Matter.  This has only two coats for opacity.  The heart glitter bomb is Picture Polish Frosting by Cosmetic Cupcake. This is the only polish I have that has hearts it in so I knew I had to use it! So fun!!

What could be easier than stamping? It's not always perfect and does take some practice, but they are always fun and unique!

I hope you all have a special Valentine's Day filled with polish and chocolate!

XOXO

Nail Addicted Sisters

~Erika

Softening the Bad Things

Today's post is a personal one. If you are a fan of Lucky 13 Lacquer or blogger extraordinaire, Accio Lacquer, you may be familiar with Softening the Bad Things. 

You can see Lucky 13 Lacquer's full post here that explains her whole process for making this polish.  To give you an idea, this is an excerpt from that post:

My goal with Softening the Bad Things is twofold: first, to remind those who suffer from depression that every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant. My second goal is to work toward a country and a world where mental illnesses such as depression have less of a social stigma. People are not scorned and shunned by others for having a physical illness which they had no choice in developing so why should those with mental illness be any different? Which is why, with the help of the wonderful people listed at the end of this post, we've been able to raise $250 to be donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocate group for those suffering from, you guessed it: mental illness.

When I first saw this polish, it wasn't its sparkly beauty that drew me to it. It was the message and the thought of wearing it and what it would mean to me in that moment. And knowing that a portion of the money I spent was going to a good cause was an amazing feeling.

I was able to get a bottle from the second release of the polish (also reformulated). I bought this all the way back in Sept. '13 and it has been sitting on my rack waiting patiently. 

Onto the heavy stuff... I have been suffering from severe chronic migraines for the past 3 years. They have been increasing in intensity and frequency over that time, since my son was born in February 2011. In the past 6 months I can average 8-10 migraines per month. That's 2-3 A WEEK! With a toddler running around and a house to take care of, my life can sometimes be unbearable. I won't go into details, but when things are really bad and the migraines just keep coming and coming with no relief....my mind goes into such a state of depression that it's hard to come out of before the next migraine hits. Anyone with a chronic illness knows what it's like to feel like shit ALL the time. No matter what you do, it's hard to stay positive and happy, especially if there is pain involved.

I have been to many doctors, tried all types of meds and treatments, even botox. Nothing has worked. No relief.  Last summer I decided to try a totally different route when dealing with my health. I starting seeing a holistic nutritionist who helped me eat better and had me taking a bunch of supplements to support different organs, including my brain. I stopped drinking soda, eating/drinking any kind of artificial sugars and went totally gluten free.

Unfortunately, after 6 months, I didn't see ANY improvement.  Also, my doctor suspected I had Lymes Disease. On I went, trying to push forward to find an answer because I knew I couldn't continue to live like this. I found a Holistic MD in NYC that treated hundreds of people with LD.  With his new treatment of FDA approved holistic remedies, my migraines have significantly decreased. In the month of March I had 5 migraines and had a 2 week span with not one migraine. That is HUGE progress for me. The last time I went that long without a migraine was Feb. 2013!!! 

So now that I am feeling a bit better and feel like there may be an end in sight for my chronic illness, I had to wear this polish. It might seem weird to others outside the polish world, but doing my nails and sharing them with you and making friends with other bloggers and indie makers has been one of things that I have been able to do that makes me happy. I wear this particular polish that has so much meaning to Jess, the maker, and to me the wearer, that it makes me cry to wear it. I think of all the bad times and dream of all the good times to come. Wearing this polish gives me hope and makes me feel a little bit more whole again. I know everything is going to be okay. Finally! 

I want to thank my family and husband, and the few friends for being there to help WHENEVER I need it. For watching my amazing little boy when I have to go to all my doctors appointments. For being supportive of my choices in medical help, even though you were skeptical. Chronic illnesses affect everyone around you and it's not easy, ever. 

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XOXO Nail Addicted Sisters

~Erika

Just another mani Monday

Ohhh Mondays, why are you so dreadful?  Nothing like some fun nail art to brighten your Monday...

The colors featured in this mani are Essie No Baggage Please and Zoya Dove.  I painted my nails with No Baggage Please first and used striping tape to create the Dove triangles.  Finally, I used a dash of silver glitter on the accent nail.

I'm loving this color combo!  And I cannot get enough of striping tape, the design possibilities are endless!  I have many more stripng tape ideas up my sleeve for future manis.  What's your favorite use of striping tape?

Springy Color Block Mani

Essie's Tart Deco and Long Stem Roses come together beautifully in this color block mani.  The base color is Sephora by OPI Chamomile-ion to One, a pale pink with gold shimmer.  Tart Deco is a great coral color, not as orange as it looks in the pictures.  Long Stem Roses is one of my favorite pink-reds from Essie. 

Creating this look was very easy.  I used striping tape to make the Long Stem Roses section first and let it dry before painting the Tart Deco section.

I'm really happy with how this came out.  The colors are perfect for spring!

This is a fun design that I will definitely come back to in the future.  What other color combos do you think would look nice with this design?

The Endless Possibilities of Striping Tape

This mani is an example of one of the thousands of ways you can you striping tape.  It can be tedious to apply, but the results are never disappointing.  Straight lines and fun designs, what more could you ask for?  I started with two coats of Essie Sand Tropez.  Once dry, I applied the striping tape and painted over the tape with Color Club Lavendarling.  Carefully remove the tape and voila!! 

Don't forget to enter our awesome giveaway HERE and you can win some striping tape and create a cool design like this!

Fun With Studs

Sister #2 here, all of my posts will be in blue.  You can probably already tell us apart by our different hands :)

This week I decided I wanted to incorporate silver studs in my mani.  These studs can be found on most nail art websites for pretty cheap.  Here is what I came up with:

It took some time and patience but the end result was way worth it.  I started by painting the entire nail with two coats of  Cheers by Revlon, it's a peachy pink that works for any season.  After I let that dry I used nail tape to form the line in the middle.  When you're using nail tape it's best to do it one nail at a time, at least for me.  I painted between the tape with Smokin Hot by Essie, a purplish grey color.

Then I used an orangewood stick to place 3 of the silver studs along each line. They stick really well even if the polish has dried.  Finish off with some top coat and voila!  It's a fun mani that has been getting a lot of attention so far.  I see a lot more studs in my future and who doesn't love a good stud?