Freehand Funky French on the Diagonal

So if you can't tell by my boring title names, I'm not really a creative person.  It may appear (at first glance) that I am and I truly wish I were but for the most part all I am able to do is take someone else's idea and try my hand at it.  I've had my creative moments but I'm just not yet brave enough to show those because most are fails.  Maybe some day. ;)

One of the many cool things I've come to find out about nail art is that the love for it is universal.  While the taste may vary from culture to culture or even person to person, you don't necessarily have to know the language of the individual to "get the picture".  A lot of blogs and youtuber's I subscribe to are in other languages & I don't speak a darned one of them - I only speak English. :(  The reason I say all that is because today I have for you my take on a funky french that I saw here, which is not in English, but here is the pic of my nails:

For the base coat I used Gelous that I purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply.  I then freehanded the black which was LA Colors nail art w/the striping brush in black.  Once that dried I used Sally Hansen White Out and a toothpick (I didn't have any dotting tools yet) for the white dots.  Then I alternated smaller dots on top of the white in blue (cannot remember the polish I used - sorry!) & a purple-pink neon China Glaze Purple Panic.  I then topped it off with Seche Vite.  I believe this is the 1st freehand nail art mani that I've ever done & it's still one of my favorites! 

Another cool thing about this mani is that it was super cheap to do so if you're looking for a neat way to spice up your nails without having to pay salon prices or buy special tools then this should be right up your alley!  The LA Colors nail art polish I got at one of my local dollar stores for $0.99, a toothpick and 2-3 other colors is all you really need to accomplish this look.

Hope you like!  Have a great day fellow nail polish lovers!

Zoya Harlow & Konad m74

It's me again dear readers!  I have for you now the awesomeness that is Zoya Harlow (2 coats).  Harlow is part of their matte velvet collection which they describe as being "Rich saturated plum rose packed with sparkling metallic shimmer in a velvety matte finish. A perfect choice for fall or winter that combines rich color with a hot matte finish."  I just love this color and the finish is amazingly awesome in person.

                              
The other matte velvet colors in this particular collection are Posh which is a red & Savita which is a velvety beautiful purple.  Zoya has another matte velvet collection which consists of Veruschuka which is a green velvet, Loredana which is a medium gunmetal grey & Dovima which is a darker charcoal black.  I own all of these except for Verushchuka - I'm just not that into greens (yet).  These are in my untrieds so I'll have to put them on my to-do list fo sho!  You can purchase Zoya nail polishes from any salon or spa in your area that carries their product or you can purchase directly from their website at artofbeauty.com.  I have to say that my experiences with Zoya polish so far have been amazing but that's a whole other subject for another day - maybe for when I have more Zoya swatches to show you.  :-P

Anyways, back to the pic.  The design comes from Konad m74 and the polish I used was LA Colors no name black that I got at the Dollar Tree.  At first I didn't think it would stamp because after I scraped away the excess, nothing appeared to be left in the design but don't let that fool you!  A friend of mine had told me about it and it does work!  It doesn't stamp as black as the Konad special stamping polish in black does, it stamps more of a charcoal'ish shade, which is fine by me.  This also doesn't leave nearly the mess on my cuticle/skin area the way the black Konad polish does which is another plus!  Which reminds me, please ignore my horrible cuticles - it is the middle of winter so cut me some slack.  Anyone have any suggestions for cuticle care?  I'd love to hear them!