Nail Spotlight: Party Nails & Other Details

Last year, some of you may remember this manicure and this post about it:

That manicure was for Levi's first birthday party (camouflaged-themed). It was really fun. This year, I had decided his 2nd birthday party (construction-themed) would be a bit more toned-down, without going to the extremes we did last year with decorations, food, manicures, gifts, number of guests, etc.....


And then I saw this:

{Courtesy of here, via Pinterest}

And then I realized my Pinterest board for Levi's party inspiration looked like this:

And Tyler brought me these from work yesterday:

The planning began months ago. Several things have been made and ordered... It's 2 months away. Here we go!

Nail Spotlight - Special Edition {Birthday Camo}

Like I told you before, several months ago I typed in "camo party" on Pinterest, and got a whole page of results. The cupcakes were one result I pinned and planned to create, and this was another:

{Original source here}

Notice my Pinterest caption...and that is obviously no joke. So, I knew I needed to buy at least two colors (my adaptations of camouflage "dessert tan" and "olive drab" as I frequently hear my husband refer to them), and I knew I probably had a third color that would work out - a dark brown or something.


I ended up buying "Westside Warrior" by China Glaze and "A-Taupe the Space Needle" by OPI (they have the best color names), and I used "Naughty" by Orly (they do not have the best color names) for my third color. I think the results were great! I got a lot of compliments (at the party) and few weird looks (at church the next morning), and I'm positive my little one-year-old pumpkin really appreciated the effort his mom made for his party :)

{Like the trailer in the background? We are high-class around here}

I know this is a large assortment of pictures...but I wasn't able to capture how they really look (high gloss top coat = glare, anyone?), so I just took a bunch and hope at least one comes close.

Nail Spotlight - Fun with Sparkles

I've been known to try some crazy things on my nails. I usually stick with what is my interpretation of the classics, but I also like to try something fun every once in a while.

I saw this image floating around on Pinterest and pinned it to my Style pinboard as something to try (I had the nude color but needed to get the gold sparkle*):

*Confession: I already owned about 4 different "gold sparkle" polishes, but this one was unlike any of them and so I had to hunt it down. So if you ever need a gold sparkle polish, I'VE GOT FIVE.


{Seen here, originally here}

And here is my version of it. It's pretty much the same, except that girl's photos are better because she took them during the day with natural light (I meant to, but ended up doing it at night after the little one went to bed), and she is just a better photographer than I am (which is pretty easy to achieve - I'm no photographer).

{OPI Barefoot in Barcelona and Sephora by OPI in Only Gold for Me}

Nail Spotlight - Welcome Fall!

One of my favorite things about this summer-to-fall transition is not only the cooler morning/evening temperatures, the excitement of football season, or the promise of my favorite holidays right around the corner, but also the ability to wear fall colors on my nails. I know...it doesn't take a whole lot to excite me.

My absolute favorite fall color is "Ruby" by Orly. It is the perfect dark red; not too dark, and not too close to Christmas or cherry red. I make myself wait until September to use it for the first time, because it is really the first month you can consider a "Fall" month.

I mentioned in this post that I inherited several things from my Granny Iva. My love of keeping my nails painted/manicured was one of them. Unfortunately, I also inherited my love of Dr. Pepper and candy from her too.

{Granny Iva with a Dr. Pepper & manicured nails & a 10-years-younger Leslie}

Nail Spotlight - Classic Red

I told you in this post about my love of keeping my nails manicured, and I'm back to share one of my favorite colors with you. Red is my favorite color in general, and while a lot of the time I keep my nails neutral, a great pop of red is necessary to change things up from time to time.

I've bought the same shade of "classic" red for about 10 years - luckily the company that makes it considers it part of their permanent collection (which you can view here) and promises never to discontinue it. It is called "Haute Red" and is made by Orly. You can buy it at Sally's, Ulta, or anywhere else that Orly is sold.

This red is my favorite because it is great for so many things. It is a great "cherry red" to wear in the summer, and it's also a great "Christmas red" to wear around the holidays. It has a slight tinge of orange - so it looks great with coral-type colors, and somehow, it also looks ok when you wear pink colors. It's just perfect for every thing you need a great red for!

Nail Spotlight - Taupe

I paint my nails a lot. I would say that I keep them freshly manicured and polished about 90% of the time. I always polish them right before I go to bed (during my "power hour" ..or hours.. after we put Levi to sleep - this is when I get everything done). I inherited this trait from my great Granny Iva. She always wanted her nails polished - 100% of the time - and felt naked without them done. I enjoyed painting her nails whenever we got to spend time with her.
I prefer to do my own nails instead of getting a professional manicure, because I am pretty meticulous about it and frankly I just do a better job. I feel the complete opposite about my toes though, I try to get regular pedicures to keep my feet in tip-top shape. There are only so many sides of your own feet you can reach! :)
I love neutral nail polish - nude colors with a hint of pink. This became popular several years ago, and I'm glad it has stayed around as a nail "staple." I usually stick with neutrals, or variations of red, but every once in a while I like to try something out of the ordinary.
A year or so ago, taupe nail polish became popular. I didn't like it at first, but I have to say it's grown on me a little. This past week was my first try at taupe nails (I've done toenails and loved it on them), and I have to say I like it as an alternative neutral from my normal light pink. The polish is by OPI and called Barefoot in Barcelona.

Here are a few essentials that I use to keep my nails manicured.

Orly Top 2 Bottom for a base coat / Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (I also love Orly In a Snap for a top coat) / Solar Oil for cuticles (a must for in between manicures/polishes to keep paint looking fresh and skin moist - especially on toes)

H A P P Y   T H U R S D A Y !
I am coincidentally heading over to do
my sister's toenails for her now (I am the family pedicurist)...