Off the Wall

I've been saving this design for a while now, because I have to wait for TODAY to do it. Why today, you ask? Because it's Chris' birthday today, and this design is tailormade for him...he LOVES Vans. LOVES. I mean the guy is a 42-year-old skateboarder for god's sake, it's kind of a natural fit. He even has a size 66  Vans shoe (no, really) that he keeps at the house. This thing is massive, and it is a large-scale version of a normal Vans shoe. Chris even got me hooked on Vans; as someone who suffers from foot pain from most shoes (even sneakers), the surf shoes are some of the most comfortable I've ever worn, and I've actually even worn a few pairs out. :D

Today's design is part of my way to celebrate Chris' birthday - the iconic checkerboard pattern, the "OFF THE WALL" logo, and the pattern from the sole of the shoes (both the waffle pattern as well as the pattern across the ball of the foot where it changes).

Join me in wishing a Happy Birthday to my better half! His age is the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything! :-P

I used:

Mustard: Barielle Aura Angora
Medium Brown: China Glaze Mahogany Magic
Dark Brown: Barielle Unraveled Rust
Camel: American Apparel Trenchcoat
White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Black: American Apparel Hassid
Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor
Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat  <----I'm adding this because I get asked so much what basecoat I am using.

This BIG shoe!!

The inspiration for part of  this manicure:

Image courtesy of Sneakerpedia.com

Get to the Point

Uh-oh. One of those nail doodles happened. This started out being inspired by a F*(King awesome pencil skirt that Divya wore on the show 'Royal Pains' (If I can ever find a photo of it, I'll post it!), but evolved after it looked too bland. I'm actually loving how it turned out. The colors were bottles I already had on my nail table from previous designs (save for the yellow), and it seemed like a natural path to get to the picture(s) below. :)

Are you ever nail art inspired by fashion you see on TV shows or movies?

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Yellow: China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Grey: Nubar Stronghold
Teal: American Apparel Peacock
Turquoise: Zoya Robyn
Topcoat: Seche Vite

Falling For Fall

Well, August is swiftly approaching its end, and the warm days of summer will be long behind us (well, you) soon. The cool, crisp mornings of fall are on their way, and I have to say that I'm completely jealous of those of you lucky enough to enjoy it. Fall is my absolute favorite season, and since I moved to Vegas, and then India, I haven't really gotten to enjoy it. I miss the warm scent of burning leaves in the air, the tartness of warm apple cider on my tongue, and the crisp blue skies of autumn. I know it's a month or so away, but it's already on my mind, especially seeing all the fall nail collections coming out. Growing up in the woods in Michigan, there was no shortage of Autumn experience, from the greenery-lined gravel roads of summer becoming ablaze with the flame of fall leaves, all red and orange and yellow, to the chill that forced a sweater over your shivering shoulders at night. I loved it all, still do.

Today's nail art is to bring a little autumn to my humidity-filled existence. :)

I used:

White: American Apparel Cotton
Dark Brown: Barielle Unraveled Rust
Medium Brown: China Glaze Mahogany Magic
Burgundy: CND Bloodline
Mustard: Barielle Aura Angora
Camel: American Apparel Trenchcoat
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Bright Orange: CND Electric Orange
Medium Orange: Jesse's Girl Beauty Guru
Red-Orange: American Apparel Lopez Canyon
Copper: China Glaze Harvest Moon
Metallic Gold: ORLY Solid Gold
Topcoat: Seche Vite

What's your favorite season?

For the Record...

I remember as a kid, my sister and I hunted in our parent's attic for interesting stuff when we were bored. One day we came across my mom's record collection. Unfortunately, my mom has questionable taste in music, so her record collection consisted of what seemed like a BILLION Neil Diamond records, a Jesus Christ Superstar record, a Bill Cosby record, a record that I can only remember one of the songs off of (Happy Together by The Turtles), and one gem—The Beatles HELP! album. The only other record that my house sheltered was an awesome Captain Kangaroo tune that belonged to my sister. :-P  I always ALWAYS look at records when I go to antique stores, simply because I love the album art. I don't own a working record player, though I think Chris might (somewhere?).

I thought record nail art might be fun, with the brightly-colored labels and whatnot, so here goes!

I used:

Black - American Apparel Hassid
Green - Sally Hansen Grass Slipper
Red - China Glaze Hey Sailor
Yellow - American Apparel Manila
Orange - CND Electric Orange
Aqua - American Apparel The Valley
Topcoat - Seche Vite

Striped With Sophistication

I loooove sales. Love them. I love the thrill, the hunt, the attack. Why is this relevant, you ask? Well, let me tell you! Recently, I received an email in my Inbox like I'm sure several of you did, informing me of a Surprise Sale at Kate Spade. I love Kate Spade. I love the bright colors, the patterns, the simplicity. How could I pass up just a little peek? I couldn't, of course. I mean, for all intents and purposes, I'm broke. (I need to tell myself this so I can manage to save money—something that's hard for me!) :) Anyway, I did sneak a little peek, and while my (Kate Spade) wallet can sigh a little sigh of relief because I didn't buy anything, I came away from the website with some inspiration for a few new nail art ideas! :) Some are color combinations, some are patterns, some just made something else click in my head that was completely unrelated. So you're thinking, 'Hey Melissa...get to the point.' Right? OK, OK! Sheesh! :-D

Today's nail art was actually a color combination that I was inspired by. I thought it looked classy and elegant, but it had that awesome pop of color that I love so damn much! Well anywhoo- here ya go:

I used:

Camel - American Apparel Trenchcoat

Black - American Apparel Hassid

Orange - CND Electric Orange

Topcoat - Seche Vite

I'M READY FOR CARNIVAL..

INTERVIEW WITH COMPANY MAGAZINE

The very lovely people over at Company magazine interviewed me! Have a look here to read it.

BOOM NAILS AT THE LOUDER LOUNGE!

Just a little taster of how shit went down when Boom Nails was in the Louder Lounge at V Festival! 

SO MUCH FUN, SUCH GOOD PEOPLE! ♥

More pics to come soon. 

Thank you to everyone who came and got their nails did, to everyone who made it possible for us to be there, and everyone who had such amazingly positive feedback. Hopefully see you back there next year! 

x

Galaxy Nails! Nail Art Tutorial

Ok, so I have no idea who started the AWESOME Galaxy nail trend, but I'd love to shake her/his star-covered hand! (EDIT: Apparently it was Nails by Asami, which is no longer a site?!) This nail design LOOKS hard, but it's so easy it's ridiculous- you really can't screw up. The best part is? BECAUSE it looks so difficult, your friends will marvel at your nail art talents, and strangers will incessantly compliment your damn fine nails. :-D (You may even get a comment or two like the one in my tutorial video! :-D)

You can paint plain galaxy nails, or you can add the 'half moon' like I did in my previous post! :D Snazzy!

Hey, baby. Are you a satellite? Because I looked at your nails and said "Hubble Hubble"

It Was Elementary, Dear Watson! Nail Art Tutorial

What?! Another Back to School tutorial?! Dang, if I keep this up, you're going to be super ready for school days to start, and no apples for those teachers will be required! :D

Today I did a tutorial geared more toward the younger kids and the parents of younger kids- something you either loved or loathed - Manuscript writing! :D This tutorial is based off of the It Was Elementary, Dear Watson! design I did a while back.

What do you think? Is it teacher's pet material or does it deserve a detention!?

What was your favorite thing about the first day of school? I always loved wearing new clothes, and using new school supplies. *NERD ALERT*

Fly Me to the Moon

I've been wanting to do this Galaxy manicure fad since I first saw it forever ago—it's awesome, right? You know me though, I like to put my spin on things, so I've been thinking about how I go do just that.  I figured why not make a LITERAL half-moon mani?! I actually think I'm a little obsessed with this galaxy manicure thing, it's a wonder I held out until now. It's the best of both worlds- nerdy and pretty, with a bit of awesome thrown in for good measure! :D

So what do you think, did I up the nerd factor on this one, or should this design get lost in a black hole?

I used:

Black: American Apparel Hassid
Light Grey: butter LONDON Billy No Mates
Medium Grey: ORLY Mirror, Mirror
Dark Grey: Nubar Stronghold
Dark Teal: American Apparel Peacock
Turquoise: Zoya Robyn
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Coral: China Glaze Life Preserver
White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Topcoat: Seche Vite

If you hate it, think of the bright side: instead of the moon, I could've painted Uranus. :-P

I've Gotta Go No. 2! Nail Art Tutorial

So I hear it's Back to School time!  Man, is it happening earlier and earlier now, or is my memory shot? I could swear that we didn't usually start school til after Labor Day back when I was a kid? Well anyway- my oldness aside, I've got a fun Back to School nail art tutorial for you today!

This one is based off of the I've Gotta Go No. 2! design I did a few years ago. Look out for another Back to School themed tutorial soon!

Also- I've recently upgraded my method of filming tutorials- I'd love to know what you think! :)

Are you looking forward to going back to school (or your kids going back to school?)

COLOURS AND PATTERNS

All Things Being Equal

A while back after seeing some super awesome nail striping tape manicures, I decided to order some striping tape from eBay (the easiest place to order nail art things here in India). This design kinda hit me today, and I have absolutely NO IDEA where it came from, but it DOES use striping tape! The only other tool required is a cosmetic sponge! The thumb nail turned out to be my favorite, since it was the easiest to apply the tape to. I sponged the gradient first (over my yellow base color), then after that dried I applied a zillion strips of striping tape and painted the exposed nail black. Fairly easy, right?!  The hardest part is making sure the stripes are evenly spaced...or dare I say 'equal'? Get it—because its an equalizer?! *groan*

I used:

Green: CND Green Scene

Light Green: Sally Hansen Grass Slipper

Yellow: CND Bicycle Yellow

Orange: Zoya Arizona

Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Clear topcoat: Seche Vite

striping tape

Indian Flag Nail Art Tutorial!

You may know that I've been living in India for the past 9 months, and today is India's Independence Day! I could hardly do this Flags of the World tour and not include my current home, right? I figured that today of all days would be the perfect day to post it, too.

There's more to India than curry, saris, and Hinduism. I'll be the first to admit that this country is sometimes maddening, but to balance out the madness are some of the most kind, generous, and generally selfless people I've ever met.

In addition to my Indian flag, nail art tutorial, I wore a saree/sari to work yesterday! (We didn't have work today) I felt awkward and exposed all day, and have a whole new respect for the Indian women that choose to wear saris on a regular basis. I rewarded myself with wearing jeans today. :D My friend Sheba was an absolute godsend, since there was no way I could wrap this thing alone- every time I tried, it looked like a giant slate blue diaper.

At the beginning of the day- Jasmine flowers in my hair, bindi on, all put together. :D

My friend Diana fussing over my pleats to make sure they looked right :D

My friend Sheba fussing over my pleats at the end of the day before having pic taken again. Stupid things kept coming untucked.

The back view. I love the pallu (the hanging piece) of this sari- all gold and copper metallic threads. so pretty!

BUNTING

Spotted!

After some of the recent designs I've done, I wanted to keep it simple today. Super simple. This design was inspired by an interesting invitation fold where 4 semi-circles come together to make a cool looking center. The best part about this design is that is entirely done with a dotting tool! But wait–you don't have a dotting tool? How about a toothpick? Maybe a pin? A nail? Anything with a small, round tip can work! Easy stuff.

Another thing that is nice about this design is that it can be done in a zillion different color combinations if you don't like grey, purple, lime, hot pink, and turquoise! :D (But, let's be realistic- who doesn't like those colors?! Maybe not necessarily in this combination, but still! :-D)

I used:

Grey: Nubar Stronghold

Purple: American Apparel Imperial Purple

Lime Green: Sally Hansen Grass Slipper

Hot Pink: Zoya Lara

Turquoise: Zoya Robyn

Topcoat: Seche Vite

Disclosure: All Zoya links in this post are Zoya Love links, and points earned when you click on them, start an account, and make a purchase go directly back to you— as Giveaways!! :)