Newport Nails

I'm pretty behind on posting because I recently spent a night in Newport, RI and wasn't around my computer until late, and then had a crazy busy day the next day, then I've been at work. That's ok, though, because I did my Summer Neon Crackle again. I spent the night out in Newport with my boyfriend, and when I went there, I had these nails. I only live less than an hour away from Newport, but it made for a nice mini getaway.

Again, this mani has been posted before, but because I loved it so much, I had to wear it again!!











1 coat of an unknown neon pink Orly (it might be Passion Fruit? Or at least similar to it?)
1 coat China Glaze Lightning Bolt

Be prepared for ramblings about my trip to Newport, RI. If you're not interested, skip this part!!
We had dinner at The Red Parrot last night, which we had previously tried to go to a couple of years ago. We had been with some friends, all of us over 21, and I don't remember the details, I think we were trying to get into the bar. Point being, one of our friends had a reissue RI license because he had lost his. They wouldn't accept it, so they wouldn't let him in. I don't quite understand why they couldn't. Wouldn't a reissue still mean it's a real license? So he can't get in there until his license expires and he needs to renew it? I don't know. Anyway, The Red Parrot. The food was fine, good selection for vegetarians (my boyfriend is far from a vegetarian haha). We had some spring rolls as an appetizer and my boyfriend LOVED the red pepper dipping sauce they had with it, and he asked what exactly was in it. The waitress told us she wasn't quite sure because they don't make it there. It was kind of annoying to learn they just buy the sauce as-is. It's not like they're a chain restaurant, ya know? So what else is just store bought and then served to us? Then I treated us to some awesome Awful Awfuls from the Newport Creamery. Delicious!!

The next morning it took my boyfriend FOR-FREAKIN'-EVER to get up, but it didn't really matter. We wondered back to where we were yesterday and figured we'd walk through the shops and just spend the day there. The shops in Newport, RI are ridiculously redundant. Let me give you a tour... Jewelry Store next to a Clothing Shop next to a Tourist Shop next to a Gallery/Antique Shop next to a Jewelry Store next to Clothing Shop next to an Ice Cream Shop next to a Tourist Shop next to a Gallery/Antique Shop next to a Jewelry Store... you get the idea. They have a few random places that don't fit that description, but they're not wowing by any shot. For example, they have an Army Navy store. It's full of like mass production camo stuff and some tourist things. Other Army Navy stores I have been in have more realistic type of things. So basically, if you're thinking about going to the shops in Newport, I suggest heading southwest and going to Mystic, CT to check out Olde Mistick Village. It's a thousand times more interesting when it comes to the variety of shops.

My boyfriend convinced me to get into one of these little 3 wheel street dune buggy (apparently they're called Scoot Coupes) and drive around near the mansions and ocean. We had done this before, only we had a moped. This little car was so bizarre, but whatev, it was fun anyway. We then wanted to grab lunch, and some chick was handing out 10% off coupons to a restaurant called H2O, which we had eaten at on a previous trip to Newport. It sits partly on a dock, so you're RIGHT on the water, which was nice. But the service was horrible!! They had a whole 7 tables with people, so they were not even close to being busy. Their lunch menu is very small, but that's fine with me because the Roasted asparagus, red pepper, and hummus sandwich sounded amazing. My boyfriend got some grilled chicken sandwich. So the guy, who I didn't think was actually a server, took our order. 25 minutes after we had been there, the girl who I assumed was our server finally came up to us and asked if we were ready to order. Wow. Yeah, we already did. Let me remind you, there were SEVEN tables with people at them!! Just 7. So our food finally comes out, the poor people at the table next to us still didn't have theirs and I could tell they were annoyed and I don't blame them. My sandwich was correct, but my boyfriend got some fried fish sandwich... not what he ordered at all. So they finally brought out the correct meal, and ultimately took it off the bill without us mentioning anything about it, which I thought was very considerate though I wouldn't have minded paying for it. The awkward thing was my sandwich was server on a soft grinder roll. Like a store bought hot dog bun type of thing. The completely wrong type of bread for this type of sandwich, I just ended up eating everything off the bread with a fork. The French fries were perfect, though. My ideal fry! Haha. That poor table next to us got their food once we were finished eating, and they had even messed up one of their orders. Very awkward service. And the prices were WAY too high for the situation. My sandwich was $12!! Too expensive, in my opinion, for a lunch sandwich and poor service. But at least it was good minus the bread.

We walked around some more and stopped in a place called Cupcake Charlie's for dessert. It was a cute little cupcake shop, nothing particularly special about it except you could see the kitchen out in the open, which was nice. The cupcakes looked amazing, very appealing and well garnished. We chose to split a Chocolate Raspberry Surprise that was actually fantastic. The chocolate cake was very moist and not artificial tasting. Apparently it had a filling of chocolate raspberry ganache, but I noticed it on top of the cupcake/under the frosting, not so much actually inside the cupcake. The frosting had a very strong raspberry flavor, and that was definitely a good thing. Here's a photo of the display case courtesy of my iPhone:


The cupcake we had is the one in the case on the right on the middle shelf with the pink frosting and cute little chocolate straws.

After that, we just headed home... well, we stopped at Ulta because I still had a $5 off $10 coupon that expires today. Picked up two polishes I had been wanting... well, my boyfriend did and he's keeping them until my birthday. Haha!!

Summer Neon Crackle

I hate Black Shatter. I keep trying it, and keep hating it. I think a big part of it is because it's summer (spring), and when I think polish for summer/spring, I definitely don't think black. Overall, though, I'm not a huge fan of the crackle trend. I haven't been tempted to buy the new OPI crackles... the Sally Hansen crackles... the Pure Ice crackles... you get the idea. (Though I may grab some of those new metallic China Glaze crackles when they come out).

In an attempt to jump on the crackle trend, I finally found a combination I'm satisfied with.













1 coat of an unknown super old neon pink Orly
1 coat China Glaze Lightning Bolt

I've been DYING to do this for months. Literally months. I had it in my head and just knew I'd love it.

But where's my pinkie you ask?


Busy being injured. Super bad break after slamming my finger into a door (not in a door, into a door). I don't even know what to do about it.
More about it later, but if you're curious and might have some suggestions on what to do in the meantime *cough*Loodie*cough*, please let me know!! (I'm thinking silk wrap but I don't know if the glue would be a bad idea because it broke to the skin).


Keep in mind there's strengthener on my nail that started to peel up near the break, too, so it looks kinda odd. I'm afraid to remove it because I think the remover might sting.

How To: 80s Neon/Bright Leopard Nails Tutorial

I want to start by saying I did NOT come up with this leopard print idea. I've seen different photos of it here and there. When I got my dotting tools, I decided I'd do it. I can't give credit to one person, as I wasn't looking at a photo when I did it, and had just remembered people doing it and did it myself. So I'm certainly not claiming to have thought of this on my own! I've seen many different versions of this. Some used Konad, some freehand. Some used rainbow base coats, some used all shades of pink, there are a bunch of different ways. But this is my take.

And, because I'm calling this an 80s Leopard Print, what's more 80s than My Little Pony!? So introducing... Baby Tic-Tac-Toe



This would look great on short nails, by the way!! But if this is too loud for you, there are definitely ways to tone it down by using a more neutral base color or more neutral spots. It doesn't have to be this stark white and brightly colored!! Hope you enjoy my little tutorial :)

Polishes and Materials Used:
♥ Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White On as a base
♥ Poshe
♥ China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy (pink)
♥ Ardene Sunshine (yellow)
♥ China Glaze Tree Hugger (green)
♥ Zoya Phoebe (blue)
♥ China Glaze Spontaneous (purple)
♥ Sinful Black on Black (black)
♥ ELF Studio Angled Eyeliner Brush (available in Target stores for only $1)
- You could probably use toothpicks for this if you can't find this brush. But if you like doing nail art or want to give it a shot, I highly suggest investing in this $1 brush while it's available =P
♥ Dotting Tool
- If you do not own a dotting tool, you can use a bobby pin, old pen, or a tootpick. If using a toothpick, I suggest cutting the tip so it's not so pointy. This is allow it to make larger dots.
♥ Cotton Pad with Acetone
♥ Notecard or paper to make dots of polish on

Here's a comparison of some of the around the house tools you can use:



The polishes I'm using:



How to do it:

1. I started with 2 coats White On and 1 coat Poshe (by the way, I REALLY love White On. It's an amazing white)




When using a quick dry top coat like Poshe or Seche Vite, I prefer to wait a while before I use a dotting tool. Just because the polish can still be a little tacky, and you may not get the dot the way you want it.

2. I've already chosen my colors as stated above. I made one dot per nail of each color. (Instead of doing one nail at a time, do all 10 with pink, then all 10 with yellow, etc. to reduce the time it takes to do this).



3. Then, with your brush, you're going to draw little curved lines around two sides of each dot, leaving a gap on either side of the lines so they do not touch. Once all dots are encapsulated, fill in gaps with random black splotches with your brush.*



*Keep a cotton pad with acetone next to you. Wipe your brush off on the pad after each nail or as needed so the brush doesn't become stiff due to dried polish. It's ok if it because a little stiff, because it prevents it from spreading very wide so you can draw a thinner line and have more control.
Another recommendation is when you're making a dot of polish on your notecard or paper, don't keep putting it in the same spot when it starts to dry. It will stay tacky if you do that and your brush won't always pick up just the fresh liquid polish.

Here's my workspace after everything was done. You'll see the cotton pad with brush marks and different dots of color all over the notecard. FYI, you see colors I didn't use because this is the same card I used for my Camo Nails:


I didn't use a top coat in these photos, but if you want to, wait a little while and top with a top coat if you choose, and you're done!!













And because I just can't get enough of Baby Tic-Tac-Toe...





And for my awesome followers/readers, I suppose I should mention where I came up with a My Little Pony. Well, I've been collecting them for a... VERY long time. I had them when I was a child, and when I was about 9, I would buy them when I saw them at yard sales. By 11, I was purposely going to Goodwill and flea markets hunting for them. By 12, I was having my mother bid on ponies on eBay. My collection is currently stored away and apart from stumbling across a pony or two here or there, I am on a collecting hiatus. I have hundreds of ponies, I believe my last count was around 400. I only collect the old ones (from the 80s and early 90s), but I do have a few newer ones as well. So there. Just a little more about me!!