Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Ooo Harry Potter

Saturday night, one of my school's organizations hosted a Harry Potter trivia night. Of course, I did my nails for good luck, and it totally worked-- I won! (It could also be due to the fact that I've dedicated a large chunk of my life to reading and watching Harry Potter, but I prefer to think the nails brought me good luck.)

Weirdly enough, I actually prefer my right hand for this mani. I hadn't quite perfected my striping technique on my left hand, and I was way too lazy to redo it. Also, I'm such a Harry Potter nerd that I did the houses in order of how much I like them. I started with my own house (Slytherin 4 Lyfe), followed by Hufflepuff, and so on and so forth. Yes, Gryffindor is my least favorite; sorry, not sorry. 

For all of my nails, I started with the metallic color (or yellow, in Hufflepuff's case), and let them dry completely before placing my striping tape. Then, I did the color one nail at a time, taking the tape off as I went. My thumb has a free handed lightening bolt. 

Slytherin: Sinful Colors San Francisco over Essie No PLace Like Chrome

Hufflepuff: OPI Baby It's Coal Outside over Sally Hansen Lightening

Ravenclaw: OPI Into the Night over Essie Penny Talk

Gryffindor: Sally Hansen Red Carpet over Revlon Golden

Thumb: Revlon Celestial Fix over Revlon Spirit with Claire's Nail Art Pen 

Everything topped with Sally Hansen Dries Instantly

I seriously LOVED having this on my nails, but there were a few things that bothered me. First, my "bronze" for Ravenclaw came out a bit pinker than I would have liked. Second, the green I used was pretty terrible quality (it was the only option that fit, color wise) so the top coat made it streak which gave the silver a bit of a yellowish tint. Gross. Lastly, while I adore the stars and moons on my thumb, there were also little bits of glitter that mostly just looked like bubbles over the white. 

Here's my right hand with the iffy striping technique:

Overall, I love love loved these nails. Anything Harry Potter themed is an A+ in my book. 

Summer in the City

I'm home for the summer! And by that, I mean I'm home for about 10 more days until I leave for my job as a camp counselor in Minnesota. As we slide into summer, I wanted to highlight the bright colors that come with the season. I'm from New Orleans, so summer is hot and humid, which to me, translates to brights and neons, none of that pastel nonsense.

Much to my dismay, I'm unable to travel with my full collection; most of my polish will be gathering dust in my roommate's basement until we go back to school. Devastated as I am, this is really just an opportunity for me to buy more nail polish.

I used some of my new China Glazes--White on White and Sun Worshiper--as well as OPI A Good Mandarin is Hard to Find. The flowers have touches of Nails Inc. Brompton Place and Essie Mint Candy Apple. The flowers are free handed; my ring finger uses nail tape, and my thumb was done with  Winstonia's plate W111.

Against the wall? Not really working for me. 

With flash? I'm thinking it's a bad idea.

I'm still working on what hand position, location, and lighting are going to work best for me, so hang in there. It can only get better (hopefully).