Happy New Year!

Kate's Nails 

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!! I hope that everyone has fun ringing in 2013 tonight.  I'll be headed out in a little while to welcome 2013 with good friends, and I had to do some fun nails for the occasion.  Prior to these nails, I had never tried nail stickers, or wraps, or whatever you want to call them.  I always figured that I could create those designs myself, so why spend the money?  But then I saw this Minx set on sale for $5 (normally $18) at Ulta, and thought they would be perfect for tonight.  They were super easy to use, and seem like they will hold up well.  I used the Minx on my middle and ring fingers.  I used China Glaze's Liquid Leather on my thumb and pinkie, and then I layered a coat of Milani's Gold Glitz over a coat of Essie's Good as Gold on my index finger.  

Looking Back on 2012

This has been a big year for Miscellaneous Manicures!! We launched the blog in April and have cranked out some serious manicures over the past months. Kate and I took a look back through the year  and have compiled (in no particular order) our 12 most favorite manicures of 2012! We are very excited to see what 2013 brings for our fingernails!! Happy New Year!

Click on the titles to link to the original post so you can see what we used and how we created these manicures. 

Fair Isle

Dias de los Muertos

 Pink Cheetah for Breast Cancer

Composition Book

 Maryland Pride

Superman

  Vegas Baby!

 Fireworks

Pattern Mixing with Where's My Chauffeur

 Purple Snowflakes

Rosie Lee Gradient

Annapolis, MD

Do you agree with our choices? What do you think we should have included in our top 12?

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 17 - Liquid Sand

Kate's Nails 

It's the last week of the regular season, and the Ravens are in Cincinnati this week to play the Bengals.

My nails this week feature Can't Let Go from the Liquid Sands collection from OPI.  I didn't expect to see these polishes in stores until after the new year, so I was very surprised when Cara texted to say she saw them in Ulta (and that she picked this one up for me - what a good friend!). This was a two-coater, and the texture is really interesting.  I've never seen any polish like this, and I can't stop looking at it! 

Polishes Used

OPI Can't Let Go

OPI You Don't Know Jacques

Milani White On The Spot

Ulta Little Black Dress

Wintery Silver and Teal

Kate's Nails 

Now that Christmas is over, it's back to regular old manicures.  My nails have been in pretty rough shape lately, thanks to all the holiday glitter polishes I used.  Luckily I got a nice nail care kit for Christmas, so I'll be getting my nails back to normal soon! 

For this manicure I started with three coats of Essie's Where's My Chauffeur?  I then taped off a section, and painted one coat of Essie's No Place Like Chrome.  Then I added the dots with my smallest dotting tool and China Glaze's Liquid Leather.

Fuzzy Snow Manicure

Cara's Nails

This has been a very enjoyable and busy holiday season for me. Unfortunately, I have not had much opportunity to complete all the holiday nail creations I had in mind. I am hoping now that the holidays are dying down I will have plenty of time to get to some winter themed manicures. Here's my latest wintery manicure using white flocking powder. I have had this powder sitting around just waiting for the weather turned cold! I applied the powder over a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On. My glitter nail is 3 coats of Sally Hansen Diamonds over White On. I love the fresh snow look the flocking powder creates. I wish this kind of manicure could last a little longer!

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 16 - Purple Snowflakes

Kate's Nails 

Sorry for the late post today - I've been at a family party all day.  Merry Christmas, Ravens Nation!!

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 15 - Fuzzy Purple

Kate's Nails 

The Ravens are back at home this week against the Broncos.  The game starts in 6 minutes, so I don't have a lot to say this week.  Go Ravens!

These nails started with a coat of Wet N Wild's Buffy the Violet Slayer.  I then added top coat, and sprinkled on purple flocking powder (Recollections brand from Michael's).  The football nail was done in OPI's You Don't Know Jacques and Sinful Colors Snow Me White.  The gold is Essie's Good as Gold.

Oh Scribbly Christmas Tree!

Cara's Nails

This weekend was full of festive activities with friends and family!! I thought it was time to try out a holiday manicures since Christmas is really only 8 days away! So here are my scribbly Christmas trees. I used a base coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Red Carpet. This was two coats. My Christmas trees were painted using Ulta The Jungle Look with little sequin tree toppers. My glittery "light" nails are OPI The Living Daylights from the Skyfal1 collection. 

I am having a  difficult time coming up with original holiday designs this year. If you have any suggestions or requests please leave me a comment. Happy Holidays!!

December Birchbox

It's Birchbox time again! If you're wondering what a Birchbox is, or if you want to see previous Birchbox posts, click HERE.  This month's box came with some really good products!

ModelCo SHINE Ultra Lip Gloss:  

After last month's full sized ModelCo mascara, I was surprised to see another full sized product from them this month. This lip gloss has a nice scent, and adds just a touch of color.  There's a mirror right on the lip gloss, which makes for easy application.  The gloss itself is a little thick, but not waxy, which is great.  Two full sized products that I really like in two months. Way to go, ModelCo!

(Full size - $16)

Aerie Shimmer Fragrance:

At first smell, I really liked this fragrance.  It smelled light and fresh, which is what I look for in a fragrance.  However, after a few seconds of smelling, the scent became very heavy. The best way I can describe it is "Old Lady smelling".  Yuck.  (Full Size - $14.95-39.95)

Kérastase Resistance Ciment Thermique - Protect:

This did a nice job of softening my hair.  I blow dry my hair every day, and straighten it regularly, so it was nice to add a little protection from the heat.  It made my dry ends look healthier, and gave my hair a nice texture.  This was a win!

(Full Size - $39)

Benefit Cosmetics It's potent! eye cream:

I haven't been using this product long enough for it to make a difference, but I have high hopes for it.  I have used another product by Benefit (POREfessional) and it did exactly what it promised.  Therefore, I expect the the eye cream will help with my dark circles.  If it does, I will definitely buy it in the future!

(Full Size - $32)

Chuao Chocolatier ChocoPod:

I'm not entirely sure what this was supposed to be.  It said it was a breadcrumb with chocolate and sea salt.  Seemed to me like just a piece of dark chocolate.  And, since I don't like dark chocolate, I did not enjoy it at all.  Oh well.

So there you have it. If you're interested in signing up for Birchbox (or giving a subscription as a Christmas gift!) you can use my referral link here: https://www.birchbox.com?raf=xdgbr

Julep Maven Box

Cara's Nails

Guess who found a Julep Maven box sitting of her doorstep?! This is my first experience with the Julep Maven and I am just so looking forward to seeing what shows up in the next few months! This minty green beauty is called Daphne. My accent nail or "party nail", as I have recently learned from a friend, has a top coat of China Glaze White Cap. 

Gitter Bomb #3

Cara's Nails

Here is my third entry in the Glitter Bomb series. I know it's time I start with the holiday nails but there are just so many glitters left in my collection! I used China Glaze Glistening Snow for today's manicure. This is a beautiful halo silver. It's mesmerizing in certain lights. The chevrons and polka dots are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet. This is a sparkly red polish. It was hard not to stare at my nails all day with this manicure!

Fair Isle Nails

Kate's Nails 

I love Fair Isle prints, but have always been hesitant to try them, thinking that I would screw it up pretty badly.  But then I found this  TUTORIAL for a Fair Isle snowflake and decided I needed to give it a try. The snowflake was actually really easy to do! Coming up with a pattern for the other nails was a bit more difficult.  I started with a base of Ruby Pumps from China Glaze.  I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing this color from now until December 26th.  I'm not a big fan of red polishes, but wow.  I can't stop looking at it!  
More wintery/Christmasy/holiday nails to come in the next few weeks!

Polishes Used:

China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Milani White on the Spot

layered under

China Glaze Glistening Snow

White Acrylic Paint

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 14 - Beltway Nails

Kate's Nails

This week the Ravens take on the Redskins in the "Battle of the Beltways".  Since the teams are located so close to each other, this area is pretty equally split between Ravens and Skins fans. 

So for this week's nails, I painted the sign for I-695, which is the Baltimore beltway.  Here's hoping the Ravens win this one, because I don't want to listen to the Skins fans if we lose :-P

Polishes Used:

Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober

Revlon Cherry

Revlon First Class

Milani White on the Spot

Zoya Farah

Butter London Teetotal

Plaid Accent Nail

Kate's Nails

I have always liked the look of plaid nails, but after a horribly botched attempt at them last St. Patrick's day, I haven't given them a try.  But after seeing a bunch of great ones lately, and with the holidays coming up, I wanted to give them another go.  I decided on just an accent nail - baby steps! I really like how this turned out, and I'm sure I'll be doing some holiday plaid in the near future!

Polishes Used:

Zoya Natty

LCN London Beat

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Revlon Cherry

Glitter Bomb 2!

Cara's Nails

Good morning all! Today I am continuing with my homage to all things glitter!! This glamourous manicure was the perfect addition to the amazing day I had yesterday! I used Essie Set in Stone over a base coat of Ulta Professionals Joined at the Hippo. I love this Essie chunky glitter with its variety of little silver flecks and large hexagonal pieces. It only took one coat to get this beautiful sparkle effect. My accent nail is 3 coats of Set in Stones over a base of Essie Blue Rhapsody for a little extra bling. It is not an easy polish to photograph unfortunately. I wanted to make sure to really capture the glamour of this glitter. Amazingly enough I found the best lighting under a street lamp in a poorly lit parking lot! 

Glitter Bomb #1

Cara's Nails

The holiday season is officially upon us! I love this time of year mainly because of all the pretty lights and glitter. I am not quite ready for the holiday manis so I thought I would ease into it with some glitter bombed manicures. I have been on a huge glitter kick most likely brought on by the holiday season. Here are a few of my more recent favorite glitters.

My thumb is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink. I just recently re-brought this color because my original became way too chunky to use. But I really love the color! The green is Orly Halley's Comet. This is a gorgeous blue-green with flecks of silver. This was an easy 2 coats. My middle finger is Sally Hansen Gem Crush Glitz Gal. On my ring finger is Pure Ice Strapless. I really love this vibrant blue but it took about 5 coats to get it opaque. It also looks nice over a coat of black. My purple pinkie in LASplash Vernis a Ongles. This was another one that took several coats. 

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 13 - Purple Patchwork

Kate's Nails 

This is a huge week for the Ravens!  If we beat the Steelers and the Bengals lose, we clinch the division.  A win over the Steelers is always a wonderful thing, but if we can clinch the division with it too, there would be even more reason to celebrate!!

I've been loving glitter polishes lately, and wanted to use some in my design today.  I couldn't decide which ones to use, so I used a few in this patchwork design.  I've done this design BEFORE, and really like how they look.  

Polishes Used:

Milani White on the Spot

OPI You Don't Know Jacques

Milani Hi-Res

Ulta Little Black Dress

Milani Purple Gleam

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 12 - Purple Ombré

Kate's Nails 

This week the Ravens take on the Chargers.  I'm wishing I was is San Diego for the game today - I'm hating this chilly, windy, Maryland weather!  

For these nails, I painted Butter London's Teetotal on my thumb, and then did the laces in Sinful Color's Snow Me White.  On my index finger, I painted Spoiled's 2 Weeks Sober.  Then for all the other nails, I mixed 2 Weeks Sober with Snow Me White to get progressively lighter colors.  I made sure to not use any fast drying colors so that I could keep mixing as I painted and not have to worry about the colors getting goopy.  This is an easy way to do ombré nails without having to coordinate a bunch of different polishes. 

Go Ravens!!

November Birchbox

Time for a review of the products in my November Birchbox!  This is a bit late, but November has been a crazy busy month so far.  If you're wondering what a Birchbox is, or if you want to see last month's post, click HERE.

This month's box.  So exciting!

So here's the lowdown on the products.

ModelCo Fibre Lashxtend Lengthening Mascara:  

Well, my Birchbox just paid for itself.  Twice.  This is a full sized mascara ($24), and I love it.  It's a perfect mascara for a light, fresh-faced look.  It doesn't clump, and it gives you a very natural enhancement.  As someone with eye allergies, I'm pretty picky about my mascara.  This one feels like you aren't wearing any mascara, and doesn't bother my eyes at all.  This one is a win!

Lulu Organics Lavender + Clary Sage Hair Powder:

Ok, I'll admit it.. I have greasy hair.  I have to wash it every day or else my blonde hair turns brown.  I have tried dry shampoos in the past and not had any success with them.  Unfortunately, I didn't have success with this hair powder either.  It didn't do anything to revive my hair, and it smelled pretty bad.  Oh well.  (Full Size - $30)

Mox Botanicals Pomegranate & Fig Lip Butter:

I have mentioned before that I'm a lip gloss snob.  Last month's lip balm was a winner, but this one didn't do anything for me.  It was a bit sticky and waxy, and I ended up giving it away.  

(Full Size - $16)

One Love Organics Aromatic Body Serum:

This serum spray had a pretty overpowering scent, but I used it anyway.  I used it on my feet, elbows, and knees, and it did a good job of softening them.  I probably wouldn't buy it again, just because of the scent.  But if they came out with an unscented version I'd be all about it!  

(Full Size - $39)

John Varvatos Artisan:

The theme of this month's box was "Give", so they included this sample of cologne to share with a "lucky guy".  I gave it a sniff before giving it away, and it was a nice scent.  Not overpowering or too musky!

So there you have it.  I'm pretty happy with this month's box, mostly thanks to the awesome mascara!  If you're interested in signing up for Birchbox (or giving a subscription as a Christmas gift!) you can use my referral link here: https://www.birchbox.com?raf=xdgbr

Turkey nails

Cara's Nails

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I have been terrible about posting this week. My nails were starting to look pretty rough and I thought they needed a little breather. But now I'm back with a Thanksgiving inspired turkey manicure. 

Sorry for the quick post. I'm doing this during a short break in cooking Thanksgiving dinner!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kate's Nails 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!  Today's post is going to be super short, since I'm heading to my parent's house shortly for the day.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Polishes Used:

Revlon Cherry

OPI Schnapps Out of It

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Ulta Sun-Sational

China Glaze Fast Track

Essie Good as Gold

OPI You Don't Know Jacques

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 11 - Purple Cheetah Print

Kate's Nails

This is my first manicure in a week! I decided to give my nails a week off to let them breathe, and heal a bit.  They were looking pretty rough, but with the help of nail whitener, cuticle gel, a buffer, and some Vaseline, they're looking much better now!

So this week is a big week in Raven's football.  We are playing our biggest rival - the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It's always a good game when we play the Steelers, and I would love to beat them on their home turf tonight!  

For this week's nails, I went with a purple cheetah print.  I'm not usually one for animal prints, but I really loved Cara's PINK CHEETAH NAILS, and have been wanting to try out her method for creating them.  I started with a base of Essie's Lilacism and then used Bundle Monster plate BM-221 to stamp on the black.  My stamping polish was Wet N Wild's Ebony Hates Chris. I then used my small dotting tool to fill in the spaces with Wet N Wild's On a Trip.  The football nail is my usual combination of Butter London's Teetotal and Milani's White on the Spot.

Go Ravens!!!!!

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 10 - Drips

Kate's Nails 

This week the Ravens have a home game (woo!!) against the Raiders.  I had a much more elaborate manicure planned for today, but I was out late last night and didn't have time to pull it off.  So I decided to go with some purple drips.  

Here's hoping the Ravens can keep the home game winning streak alive!

Polishes Used:

Milani White on the Spot

Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober

Butter London Teetotal

Social Distortion Nails

Cara's Nails

I had the great pleasure of catching Social Distortion live last night. Easily one of the greatest bands of all time! These guys have been rocking out for over 30 years and they still don't disappoint live. Here are the nails I wore to pay homage to this great band!

The base coat is Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Black Tie. This is a very cool shimmery black. In certain lights is picks up some purple tones. It's a nice alternative to wearing a straight black polish during the fall/winter months. The Social D symbols were painted using acrylic paints. 

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 9 - Ruffles

Kate's Nails 

This week, the Ravens are off to Cleveland to take on the Browns!

I've done a bunch of RUFFLE manicures before, but realized that I had never done a Ravens themed one.  So here it is!  I used the following colors:

Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober

Essie Good as Gold

Essie Lilacism

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Milani White on the Spot

Butter London Teetotal

Pattern Mixing with "Where's My Chauffeur?"

Kate's Nails 

At a trip to Ulta yesterday, we came across Essie's winter collection.  The "Leading Lady" collection features a pretty wide variety of colors and polish types.  I picked up Where's My Chauffeur? which Essie describes as "an opulent turquoise".  I'll definitely be getting more polishes from this collection in the future!  You can see swatches and reviews from The PolishAholic HERE.  For this manicure, I started with a base of Zoya's Farrah. I then used regular tape, striping tape, and a small dotting tool to create the different designs.  I love these two colors together, and will definitely be wearing them together again!

Monarch Manicure

Kate's Nails 

I've seen this monarch wing design all over the place, and have been wanting to try it out.  I figured that today would be an appropriate day to give it a go, since the monarch is a symbol of the Day of the Dead.  I didn't have the time or patience to do a full manicure of wings, but I'm loving this accent nail!  It turned out much better than I thought it would, and I'm thinking I need to do a full manicure soon!

My nails are painted with LCN's Tokyo Expression, which might be my favorite all time polish.  The monarch nail was done with a base of Sally Hansen's Mellow Yellow. I sponged a layer of Sally Hansen Sun Kissed on that, and then sponged some parts with OPI's Schnapps Out Of It on top of that.  I lined it in Tokyo Expression, and then did the dots in Milani's White on the Spot.

If you haven't checked out Cara's Día de los Muertos manicure yet, you have to see it!!

Día de los Muertos

Cara's Nails

November 1st and 2nd are the celebration of The Day of The Dead. I am in love with the imagery of this holiday. The bright colors, sugar skulls, marigolds, and butterflies are just so amazing!!In celebration I have this Dia de los Muertos manicure showing off my favorite symbols of this holiday. 

The marigold bases are China Glaze's Happy Go Lucky. The red marigold is China Glaze's Salsa and the orange marigold and monarch butterfly is Ulta Professional's Sun of a Gun (my most favorite fall orange). 

It's a Monster Mash!!

Cara's Nails

Happy Halloween everybody! I had all these great ideas for Halloween nails that I was so excited about! Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy decided to mess with my plans and leave me without electricity for a few days. And painting your nails by candle light is just not a smart idea. So as a result, I decided to mix all my monster ideas into this Monster Mash. Enjoy!

All the white is White On by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. The mummy base coat is Essie's Master Plan. The Frankenstein face is Ulta's The Jungle Look and all the black details are Wet n' Wild's Ebony Hates Chris.

Happy Halloween!!

Kate's Nails 

Here on the east coast we've been dealing with Hurricane Sandy for the past few days, so I haven't been doing as many Halloween manicures as I would have liked!  I made sure I had some done for today, though!  The base of the drip nails was done in Wet N Wild's Rest in Pieces, which is black with a subtle purple glitter.  The drips are Sally Hansen's Lickety-Split Lime.  The pumpkin nail uses Sally Hansen's Sun Kissed and Going Green, as well as Liquid Leather by China Glaze.  

I hope everyone has a happy Halloween!!

Stormy Skies

Cara's Nails

What is a girl to do while waiting around for "frankenstorm" Sandy to hit? Why she creates a manicure to commemorate the occasion of course!! I was inspired by the dark clouds looming over head as we all wait for Hurricane Sandy to hit. 

I sponged layers of Wet n' Wild Eboni Hates Chris, Ulta Professionals Concrete Evidence, Zoya Kelly, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On over a base coat of Butter London Blagger. The hurricane accent nail is White On over a coat of Blagger.

 Hoping for everyone to have a safe couple of days while we wait out this 

frankenstorm !!!

Spider Webs

Cara's nails

Halloween is right around the corner and I realized I have yet to do a true Halloween manicure! I have been seeing a lot of of spider web manicures and I thought I'd try one out. I created the spider webs using Wet n' Wild Fast Dry Eboni Hates Chris as a base coat.Using a white nail paint, I streaked white lines over a thick coat of the black. I used the drag marbling technique to create the spiderweb pattern. The accent nail is a nameless thick orange glitter. I found this glitter in a pack with other great glitters at Rite Aid for super cheap.These came out a little messier than I pictured in my head. But for a first try I think it isn't half bad. 

Keep checking back for more Halloween inspired nail art from me and Kate!!