Halloween Nail Art

I'm currently rocking some nubs after snapping not one but three nails last week, so hopefully this posting helps you and I alike find some creative ways to celebrate Halloween with our nails - long or short. All images courtesy of their respective companies.

If nail art isn't your thing, Dermelect Cosmeceuticals has 4 brilliant colors that will help accent your costume or show off your holiday spirit.

Head Turner

A brilliant tangerine creme - perfect for pumpkin related costumes.

Decadence

A metallic espresso - great for a witch or zombie look.

Red-iculous

This classic red creme works great for blood related manicures.

Persuasive

This delicate peach is perfect for princess costumes.

Dermelect ME Anti-Aging Nail Lacquers ($14) at Dermelect.com and high-end apothecaries, beauty boutiques, salons, spas, medi-spas and doctors offices.

Next, Pure Ice has 18 scintillating and stylish shades in their new Perfect Potion Halloween Collection including a Glow in the Dark polish to help you mix and match for the perfect manicure.

Perfect Potion Halloween Shades

-Glow In The Dark

-Cheatin' (glittery purple)

-All Night Long (sparkle blue)

-Hit The Floor (sparkle red)

-I'll Never Tell (glitter brown)

-Superstar (white)

-Blackout (black)

-Can't Stop (coral pink)

-Free Spirit (sea green)

-Silver Star (silver)

At only $1.99, the price is definitely right to collect them all and rock several different looks. Pure Ice is available at Walmart and Walmart.com

CND is constantly being the innovated one that thinks outside the box, and this Halloween they created Hollywood-inspired nail looks to die for. Ask your favorite salon to help recreate these Shellac looks or the last one is done with Vinylux for the at home DIY-er!

 The Redrum - Inspired by the cult classic "The Shining". Created by Heather Reynosa-Davis, CND Education Ambassador.
1. Apply a thin later of CNS Shellac Base Coat and cure for 10 seconds in the CND UV Lamp.
2. Apply two thin layers of CND Shellac in Wildfire. Cure each layer for 2 minutes.
3. Apply a thin layer of CND Shellac in Black Pool - DO NOT CURE.
4. Use a style to etch the letters into the wet Black Pool revealing Wildfire underneath. Cure for 2 minutes.
5. Apply a thin layer of Shellac Top Coat and cure for 2 minutes.
6. Wipe with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol to remove top film.

The Dracula - Inspired by Bram Stoker's 1931 classic horror film. Created by Kris Kiss, CND Education Ambassador
1. Apply CND Shellac Base Coat and cure for 10 seconds in the CND UV Lamp.
2. Apply two coats of CND Shellac in Cream Puff. Cure each layer for 2 minutes.
3. Apply CND Additive in Black Pigment from cuticle towards the center.
4. Apply CND Additive in Red Pigment from the edge towards the center.
5. Apply drops of isopropyl alcohol randomly on black pigment area.
6. Lightly apply CND Shellac in Wildfire over red pigment area and cure for 2 minutes.
7. Lightly dust CND Additive in Steel Dreams over black pigment area.
8. Apply CND Shellac Top Coat and cure for 2 minutes.
9. Wipe with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol to remove top film.

The Alien - Inspired by Steven Spielberg's 1970s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Created by Torie Bastian, CND Education Ambassador
1. Apply two coats of CND Vinylux in Steal Gaze and wait for it to dry (8.5 minutes).
2. Using a striping brush, draw two large almond shaped eyes using CND Vinylux in Black Pool.
3. With a striping brush, outline the shape of the alien's head and fill in the surrounding area with CND Vinylux in Midnight Swim.
4. For additional effect, use a sponge dipped in CND Vinylux colors of your choice to create a nebulous, space-like look. Let dry for 1 minute.
5. Apply CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat.

ORLY brings you 4 polishes that are sure to give you just the right of glitz and glam for any Halloween Look.

Black Pixel, Right Amount of Evil, R.I.O. and Monster Mash; $10 each at OrlyBeauty.com. Additionally, ORLY is offering free shipping on all orders over $16 with the code FALLFREESHIP from now until November 15th. Any guest who makes a purchase using FALLFREESHIP is additionally eligible to receive a coupon code for 20% off their next order. All 20% off coupon codes are eligible for savings through December 15th.

Finally, Gelish brings you a great Spooky Eyes nail art from head manicurist Danielle Candido. This is great for those who may not be able to dress up at the office but can rock a look on their nails! (And it's also for someone like me who may be a little nail art challenged!)

Prep the nails first: Apply Gelish MINI Nail Surface Cleanse on to a lint-free wipe to clean the nails. Push back the cuticle and clean the surrounding nail. Apply an adhesive tab to the plastic pusher and lightly buff the nail to remove the shine. Apply Gelish MINI Nail Surface Cleanse to a lint-free wipe to remove the dust and clean the nails. Dehydrate the nail plate with Gelish MINI pH Bond. 

1. Apply a thin coat of Gelish MINI Foundation Gel to the nail, making sure to cap the free edge. Use a clean orangewood stick to clean up any excess Gelish MINI Foundation Gel from around the cuticle or under the nail. Cure in the Gelish MINI Pro: 45 LED Light for 45 seconds. After curing Gelish MINI Foundation Gel, a tacky surface will remain. 

2. Apply a thin coat of Gelish MINI Black Shadow to the entire nail bed from the cuticle to the free edge.  Cure in the Gelish MINI Pro: 45 LED Light for 45 seconds. Apply a second coat of Gelish MINI Black Shadow for full coverage. Cure in the Gelish MINI Pro: 45 LED Light for 45 seconds. Darker colors, such as Gelish MINI Black Shadow may need to be cured longer. 

3. Using the larger end of a double-ended dotting tool, place two dots of Gelish MINI Sheek White on the nail bed next to each other. Cure in the Gelish MINI Pro: 45 LED light for 45 seconds. Using the smaller end of the double-ended dotting tool, place two smaller dots of Gelish MINI Black Shadow inside the dots of Gelish MINI Sheek White. Cure in the Gelish MINI Pro: 45 LED light for 45 seconds. 

4. Seal with a thin coat of Gelish MINI Top It Off Sealer and cure in the Gelish MINI Pro: 45 LED Light for 45 seconds. Your nails will remain tacky until they are cleansed. 

5. Apply Gelish MINI Nail Surface Cleanse to a lint-free nail wipe to remove the tacky surface. To finish, apply Gelish MINI Nourish Cuticle Oil to the skin surrounding the nail plate and massage into the cuticles.  

There you have it! No matter what your skill level or what products you have, there are many options to rock a great manicure next week for Halloween. Stay tuned to PolishGalore to see what I ended up wearing next Thursday!

JulieG Frosted Gum Drops Holiday

Texture has been all the rage in 2013 but one thing that has kept me from buying all the polish is the price. Not the case with JulieG Frosted Gum Drops by Jesse's Girl Cosmetics!  This holiday season, they are coming out with 6 more jewel toned shades and the price? Only $3.99 each. They just recently held a pre-sale on their website where all 6 was only $20.01 but sadly that ended on Friday.

So where else can you find these awesome polishes? Rite Aid stores.

Shout out to the amazing photography and hand modeling done by Leslie Henry of work/play/polish. I got to meet her this summer and she's an absolute inspiration to me in the blogging world. 

Let's see the polish!

Gift of Gold

Ho Ho Ho

Mistletoe

Silver Bells

Sleigh Ride

Sugar Plum Fairy

If you see them, get them. Don't question me.

China Glaze Howl You Doin'

Press Sample

Also from the Monsters Ball collection, today I have China Glaze Howl You Doin', a purple base with orange and blue flakies and frankly I really was excited about this. It looked so vampy and pretty in the bottle. Sigh.

I started with a base of Cult Nails Get It On, then used 2 coats of polish and finished with Cult Nails Wicked Fast. The formula on this polish absolutely sucked for me. It was thick and bumpy and dragged on the nail. It dried bumpy and matte (which is why I needed the top coat).

 See the pinkie? See that pulling? Rawr. I was so sad panda about it.

Even in the shade you can see the bumpy texture and whatnot. I just didn't love this polish at all.

I feel like this one will end up my shelf for awhile which makes me sad. I think maybe if I thin it out a little, it may be better.

China Glaze [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Morgan Taylor Royal Life Holiday

These are the days when I wish either Morgan Taylor was available to the non-professional or that I had a license because this Royal Life holiday collection is aaaaaaamazing. They are available for $8.50/each  at beauty supply stores like CosmoProf.

This collection is just stunning.

Regal As A Royal

Wrapped In Riches

To Rules Or Not To Rule

Sapphires, Rubies, and Emeralds Oh My

Where's My Crown

Fit For A Queen

Get in my collection!

China Glaze Boo-gie Down

Press Sample

So maybe you remember the drama from last year's China Glaze Halloween collection. Long story short, the 3rd party graphic designer that was hired to make the box artwork ended up stealing a photo off DeviantArt and changing the colors. Well China Glaze fired the graphic designer (and who knows what else) and this year as a sign of good will, they worked with the original artist Abigail Larson for the box artwork. Abigail even got to sign the image which is in all beauty supply stores and I think that's really awesome.

When I saw these at Cosmoprof North America, all I wanted to do was hide them in my bag and run away. I'm such a sucker for glitter. When these arrived at my door, I decided to try Boo-Gie Down first. This multi-sized orange, black and white glitter needed a good base color so after looking in my stash, I decided on Electric Pineapple from the 2011 Summer Collection "Island Escape". I had a base coat of Rejuvacote, 2 coats of Electric Pineapple and then just one coat of Boo-Gie Down. I topped my nails with Cult Nails Wicked Fast to smooth out any glitter and add shine.

I had tried a new manicurist and she just didn't quite get my cuticles smoothed out so I apologize for them. I'm also working on keeping them oiled at all times so they look healthy and moisturized.  So here it is in the sun - you can see all the different glitters in there... small, medium and large (pointer) as well as bar glitter. Great mix for Halloween!

I tried using the glitter on its own for an accent nail but I feel like it just makes the nail look dirty - like you stuck your hand in salt and pepper. Otherwise, I'm in love.

This photo is indoors without flash. I'm still without a storm door so I'm trying to find good lighting in my house for photos. This was also taken with my PaS camera instead of my DSLR so it's all a learning curve up in here.

If I had to pick one polish out of this whole collection that's a MUST BUY, I'd say it this one. Definitely a big fan of the size of glitter and the appropriateness for Halloween. I'm seriously thinking about making this my Halloween manicure but with all fingers using Electric Pineapple instead of just 4 out of 5.

China Glaze [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.