Scan me, please!

Hello again!

How are you doing today? :)

So, I saw today's brilliant manicure in Allure magazine and fell in love!
I thought.. "WOAH buddy, how creative and different!"

They are the bar-code nails!

Therefore, I just had to try it for myself.

I must say, she made it look much easier than it really was!

It took me two tries! I get frustrated easily, so this was annoying me. Plus it was sticky.

(Thanks, vodka!)

To do this cute design you will need: nail polish of choice, bar codes from a magazine, vodka (shots optional), PATIENCE, and a top coat. :)

PS: I would not recomment ThreeOlives Loopy. :p

First you will paint your nails the desired color. I chose OPI Steady as She Rose.

Once that is completely dry, you will dunk the bar code into the vodka then place on the nail, press the bubbles out, and hold in place for a few seconds.

Then you will peel the bar code off slowly. Voila!

Bar code nails.

 

 

Thank you for reading!

Have the best day!

 

Up next: Lavender Florals

C'est fini!

:)

 



Hello, Fall!

Hey everyone!

Happy FALL! It's finally here! :D

What did everyone do during their first two days of fall?

I went to a football game on Saturday.

Today, I played softball all morning and took my doggie for a walk this evening.

It was really pretty. Visit my instagram for pictures ---->

I just did my nails, of course, inspired by the turning leaves of the fall.

I think the colors of fall are so beautiful! I wish I could have  captured it better in my nails.

I used the saran wrap method with three different colors. I used Sally Hansen Emerald City, Wet and Wild Sunny Side Up, and China Glaze Lemon Fizz.

Okay, here is the look!

 

 

 

Thank you for reading!

Just a heads up, I will be doing a giveaway once I hit 50 followers! However long that may take! :p

 

Up Next: Something floral!

C'est fini!

:)



Good-bye, Summer!

Hey!

First of all, I would like to say Hello to all my new followers! Thank you so much!

I truly appreciate you all!

Today I really wanted to do a fun post saying "good-bye, summer!"

Since today is the last official day of summer (in the USA), there is no better time!

While I imagine some of you may be heart-broken that the warmest, most carefree season is over (unless you live somewhere warm all the time!), I know there are some of you who love fall!

Just like me!

:)

So... I wanted to do my nails of things that remind me of summertime.

For this manicure I used real sand that I brought back from Punta Cana on my pinkie - inspired by the beautiful beaches there. I also added a little silver starfish!

On my ring finger I used real jean material that I cut into my nail shape - inspired by cutoff denim shortie-shorts.

Then I did a orange-yellow gradient inspired by the warm summer sky!

Then I did a glitter-y blue/green combo on my pointer finger - inspired by mermaids!

Don't judge me, they ARE real! :p

I will list all the polishes used at the bottom of the post.

 

 

The colors I used were: China Glaze For Audrey on the pinkie. China Glaze Lemon Fizz and Essie Meet Me At Sunset on my middle finger. Essie Dive Bar, OPI Fresh Frog of BelAir, and Sinful Colors Hottie on my pointer finger. My ring finger is just jean held on my a base coat underneath and a top coat.

 

Some questions for you guys!

1. Would you like to see pictures of the actual polish?

2. Where are you from? I'm really interested! I think other cultures are amazing!

 

Thank you soooo much for reading! I really appreciate that you take time out of your day to visit!

Up Next: Say "Hello" To Fall Nails

C'est fini!

:)



Hand and Nail Care Routine

Hello!

As promised from my last posts, here is my hand and nail care routine.

A bit late I may add. I apologize for that, but I visited a friend I hadn't seen in awhile!
I had a fantastic time and it was great to catch up!

So, a day late... here is my hand and nail care routine.

I usually do this 2-4 times per week depending on how dry my hands/cuticles are.

I am a huuuuge fan of Mary Kay Satin Hands. It literally is the best hand mask and scrub out there.

As for the lotion. There is nothing spectacular about the Mary Kay one, so I use whatever is striking my fancy at the moment. I used it here for the simple fact that it was available and part of the set.

PS: I purchased this on my own and I am not affiliated with Mary Kay nor am I a Mary Kay consultant.

Just to be clear, I use lotion on my hands constantly - not just when I do this routine.

Okay...

Here is what my set looks like. I have the peach scented one... it is the BEST!

It is available here. Or you can get the unscented one here.

 

The very first thing I do is wet my hands to moisten my skin.

 

Next, I will use the Satin Hands Hand Softener (I leave this on for about 3 minutes)

 

 Then I squirt a pump of the Hand Scrub on to my hands and massage it into my palms, backs of my hands, fingers, and between fingers. The scrub has bead-like things in it as well as tiny micro-scrubbie things - yes, my descriptions ARE fantastic. :p

(This is my favorite part by far! It feels so good!)

 

 After that it is time to rinse with warm water. I make sure all of the scrub is washed off completely.

Then I pat my hands dry with a hand towel.

 

Finally, I moisturize my hands with lotion.

 For cuticle and nail care I use these two things. Yep! Only two things.

I use Cuccio Naturale Cuticle Conditioning Butter Stick and any nail file that I have lying around.

This is what the stick looks like. 

 

 I glide the stick over each cuticle on both hands then I gently rub it in with my fingers.

This makes my cuticles feel heavenly!

 

After that step, I file my nails in whichever shape I desire at the time (currently it is a square nail) then I use a nail hardener on them and that's it! :)

 

Thank you for reading!

Up next: A good-bye to summer mani

 

C'est fini!

:)

 



Color Club Sale!!!! :)

Hey guys!

I just wanted to let you know that color club nail polish is on sale on Hautelook today!

Go get you sooome! :)

I ordered two of the mini kits!

Hautelook: http://www.hautelook.com/short/3BneA

 

Okay, have a great day!

I should have my hand and nail care post up later this evening!

C'est fini!

:)

Strawberry Jelly

Hello!

Today I wore my first scarf of the season!

I love fall weather.. it is my favorite! So I finally got to break out my fall scarves!

Thought I would share that little piece of information.

If you would like to see more little glimpses of my life follow me on instagram!

bellecouturenails

Today, I created my first 'jelly sandwich'

Why haven't I done this before? Someone tell me!

It's amazingggg. I love the effect!

-runs to buy more jelly polishes-

It gives a muted glitter look and I love it!

The base color I used is OPI: Bubble Bath and the glitter is OPI: Gettin' Miss Piggy With It.

It reminds me of strawberries. I also wanted to add some black glitter, but I have none.

On to the nails!

 

 

And just for the fun of it (and because I am obsessed with fall) I thought I would share my favorite fall candles with you! :)

These are from bath and body works, which in my opinion are the best candles!

Lucky for me, I made it to the 2 for $20 sale so I picked up Pumpkin Cupcake and Leaves.

I absolutely love Pumpkin Cupcake! It smells like a bakery with a mix of pumpkin carving. hahaha

I know, I'm so good with my descriptions!

And I'm sure everyone knows about the infamous Leaves.

I get it every fall because it just puts me in the fall spirit and I burn like 3 of these per year.

I need to go back and buy more scents!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Also, do you guys like when I add other little things (like candles and ellen) or no?

AND... can someone pleaseee, please help me with my layout or whatever? I'm begging you!

 

Thannnks!

Coming up next: Hand and Nail Care Routine

C'est fini!

:)

 

 

 



Disaster!

Hey guys!

Today I wanted to try what I called in my last post a "funky blue design".

Well, let's be honest... it didn't turn out they way I had imagined it.

I'm sure this dilemma has happened to all nail artists.

I was going for a futuristic design so I suppose I succeeded.

I used Essie: Mezmerised as a base color.

OPI: Gargantuan Green Grape for the bottom half of the design.

And Pure Ice: Silver Mercedes for the top half.

Then I topped that with Love My Nails: Milky Way.

 

 

I also, of course, am spending the evening catching up on my DVR'd Ellen Shows!

I can't even express how much I admire and respect Ellen!

I honestly believe she is one of the most inspiring women.

On top of that... she's HILARIOUS!

 

Plus.. she's the best dancer EVER! :p

 

 

And.. she shaves ugg boots into her dog. Sooo funny!

 

Okay, I hope the dog photo made you giggle as much as it did me.

So have a fantastic day!

As Ellen would say... "Be kind to one another"

Thanks for reading!

 

Coming up next: Jelly Sandwich

C'est fini!

:)

 



Owl Be Seeing You!

Bonjour!

How is everyone?

This design was inspired by my recent obsession with owls.

I have no idea where this came from.. oh well. I think they are cute!

Wait... I do know where I fell in love with them. I saw an owl Scentsy burner!

I thought it was adorable, so I wanted an owl on my nail. :)

The color you see on all other nails is Zoya Edyta. This color is probably going to be my favorite for fall.

Then on the "owl" finger. I used Zoya Avery for a base. Essie Set In Stones for the owl body.

Then I used little gold circle studs and beads that I got from a local beauty store for outlines.

I think it turned out cute. I'm not sure how much of an owl it really looks like though!

Just use your imagination. hahaha

Hey... I tried, okay? :)

Unfortunately, my top coat bubbled. Ugh.

Alright.. alright.. here it is!

Thanks for reading!

Coming up next: a funky blue design!

C'est fini

:)

Abstract Wine

Hi everyone! I've been spending my Sunday evening preparing for the week ahead.

I've got Breakfast at Tiffany's playing, candles lit, and nailart to post! :)

Since I'm going to New York City in a month I decided there was no better time to watch this movie.

Oh, I love New York.

Anywayyyyy... on to the nailart.

I painted my nails a really pretty gold-wine color.

I used: N.Y.C - Wing it Wine.

(Okay... I did NOT plan that! What a coincidence! haha)

I wanted to try doing a tape manicure. I really love doing this! It's so simple, yet gorgeous!

 I taped out triangle shapes on each nail and painted them in with a nude shade.

I used: Zoya - Avery.

I adore this color. It's very opaque so one coat is plenty! It makes it very easy when doing tape manicures since you have to remove the tape right away. :)

I think these colors look very nice together. I also added some gold accents!

Here is the masterpiece!

 

 

Thanks for visiting! :)



Liebster Award

First of all, I want to thank Nailed It for tagging me with the Liebster award!

"the Liebster Award is passed along to up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers to help them promote themselves and congratulate them on coming this far!"

Here's how it works:

1) The recipient must post 11 fun facts about themselves.

2) The recipient must also answer 11 questions created by the award giver.

3) The recipient must give the award to 11 new bloggers with less than 200 followers and post 11 questions for them to answer.

4) These 11 bloggers must be told they have been given the award.

5) They will in turn pass the award on to 11 new bloggers of their choice (no tagging back the award giver)

Eleven fun facts about me:

1.  I love sweatpants. I live in them. As soon as I get home I am in a pair of sweatpants!

2. I'm very athletic. I've been playing sports for as long as I can remember. I've played a lot of different sports throughout the years, but my favorites are softball and volleyball. I still play those today.

3. I love Christmas. Not just Christmas day, but just the spirit and happiness everyone has around the holdiay. It's amazing and I love the decorations! And SNOW!

4. I shop waaaaaaay too much. I seriously have a problem. I've been working on it. hahaha

5. I am crazy about The Ellen Show!

6. On that note, I absolutely despise "The Jersey Shore"

7. I want to visit every state in the US.

9. I never spend my coins. I put them in a container and then cash them in at the end of the year.

10. I use hand santitizer way more than anyone should every use hand santitizer!

11. It's a dream of mine to become an author.

On to the questions:

 

1) When and why did you start blogging?

 I officially started blogging here on February 15th 2012! I started because I had loads of nailpolish and I was always finding myself browsing through photos upon photos of nailart on tumblr. So, I thought to myself "You know, you could do this!" That's why I started and I love it! :)

2) How many bottles of polish do you own?

I currently have around 80 bottles of nail polish. That's CRAZY! I've never counted before and I was a little shocked at my number! Woah buddy!

3) What color do you have the most of in your collection?

I think I've got a lot of pink shades. 

4) What is your first memory of nail polish?

Oh boy, I can't really remember. I don't think it was anything significant. I do remember one time when I discovered the french manicure and I wanted to spice it up a little bit. I took some loose glitter I found in my house and started dipping my nail tips in the glitter! After that I remember I would do everyone's manicures for the holidays.

5) What do your friends/family think of your hobby?

They think it's great!

6) What are your hobbies other than blogging?

I love reading and writing. Like I said earlier, I would like to publish a book someday! I also like teaching my dog tricks! :)

7) What's your favorite nail polish color?

Right now, gargantuan green grape by OPI. It's such a pretty, unique color.

8) What would be your dream polish?

A clear polish that you could make any color you wanted by scanning the cap against the color you want. Dream big. :D Also, my dream polish would be my own. I would love to have my own line!

9) What is something you love, but everyone else hates?

I used to love taking notes in college. :p

10) What nail trends do you love?

I've really been into metallic colors lately and I always love glitter!

11) What nail trends do you hate?

I hate really talon nails. They are so impractical.

 

 

I taaaaaaag:
1. nailsenzo
2. applypolishhere
3. eat.sleep.polish
4. simplejoyofpolish
5. lacqueriss
6. missy'smanis
7. nearlynailed
8. youngwildandpolished
9. mindpolish
10. apolishedaddiction
11. nailsndetails

Your questions:

1) When and why did you start blogging?

 

2) How many bottles of polish do you own?

 

3) What color do you have the most of in your collection?

 

4) What is your first memory of nail polish?

 

5) What nail polish color would you never wear on your toenails? Your fingernails?

 

6) What are your hobbies other than blogging?

 

7) What's your favorite nail polish color?

 

8) What would be your dream polish?

 

9) What is something you love, but everyone else hates?

 

10) What nail trends do you love? Hate?

 

11) Which nail polish brand do you have the most of?

 

 

Gosh, that took awhile! It was so much fun though! I hope you enjoyed reading it because I enjoyed doing it!

 

Don't forget to go check out Nailed It because her blog is amazing and she tagged me!

 

 

New Members

I know, I know...

it's been over a month since I've posted anything.

I've honestly just been getting my grown up life together.

I recently graduated from college so I was on the hunt for a big girl job.

Lucky for me, I landed an amazing job and I couldn't be happier!

But really, I have no excuse. I was lazy. Didn't post.

Don't worry! I didn't forget about ya'll.

Nail art is a huge passion of mine and it is very soothing to me.

That being said, I will never stop doing my own nails... Ever.

So.. I would like to come back with two new members of my little nail polish family!

I found these beautiful Zoya nail polishes at Ulta.

Honestly.. I can't believe I don't own more Zoya! They are SUPERB!

Anyway.. the colors I bought are Avery and Edyta.

They are so gorgeous and perfect fall (my favorite season) colors.

(actually, Rachel Zoe used Zoya Avery in her fall 2012 runway show!)

Avery is a cool, neutral beige that is creamy and very opaque!

 It's the perfect nude nail polish if you are on the hunt for a nude shade!

The second color, Edyta is indescribable!

That being said.. I will just give you the website's (www.zoya.com) description!

 "A complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smoky grey with a sparkling metallic finish.

A dark shade balanced with sparkle for a dramatic look"

Perhaps now you see why it would be impossible for me to describe! :D

It is simply amazing!

 

(I don't have swatches because my next few posts will feature the colors! Stay tuned!)