Instagramming it up!

Hi Monkeys, we (bestie and myself) are now on Instagram (well, actually posting stuff now) and it will still post to the blog. We wanted to give you more options for surfing the manis and give ourselves more options for posting our manis because there are a lot of unposted nail art I've done and haven't gotten around to blogging them, but Instagramming them is much easier and quicker! Hoping you enjoy the new social media connection! check it out HERE!

Merry Christmas Mani (and my dog!)

Merry Christmas from The Manicured Monkey and Cooper-claus!

Skulls Halloween Mani BM413

JORD wood watches gift card giveaway HERE!

I have a cool black and white Halloween mani for you today. I started with two coats of Milani Black Swift (my go to black creme and it dries fast!). I used Bundle Monster 413 to stamp sugar skulls, a skeleton and a little monster guy. I used sequins to make the eyes sparkle a bit more and add color. I'm pretty surprised at how well the white stamped over the black; I used Konad white stamping polish.

Don't forget to enter my JORD wood watch giveaway!

SinfulColors Pumpkin Spice and BM H06

JORD wood watches gift card giveaway HERE!

 Halloween is so soon you guys! I thought I'd do a fun but simple mani for the occasion! I started with two coats of a white creme, one coat of Pumpkin Spice for that orange glitter factor. I then used stamped various scary pumpkins using the Bundle Monster  H06 plate. I love the way Pumpkin Spice adds to the theme without it being a solid orange. Pretty simple but still festive!

OPI: Peanuts Collection for Halloween 2014!

A few months ago, OPI released images of the Peanuts collection for Halloween this year. I was stoked about the glitters, they looked so different from any glitters OPI has done recently or ever! I managed to do a cute Charlie Brown themed mani and even got a few compliments on it while out and about :)

I did the signature yellow (Good Grief) then an accent and chevron stripes in black (Who Are You Calling Bossy?!?). I alternated the glitters on Good Grief: little finger has To Be Or Not To Beagle (LOVE this one!) and that's on the top of my middle and index fingers along with all on my accent, Where's My Blanket is on the accent finger as well (mixed in with TBONTB) and on the bottom of the chevrons. 

Good Grief has your usual yellow problems and would benefit from a base of white underneath to make it brighter and smoother. Beagle is awesome though with red, yellow, blue, green, orange, light blue, light green glitters mingled in a light black base with small black round glitter and small black bar glitters. The small glitters are the same in Where's My Blanket but the large glitters are only a peach and subtle lime green. 

This collection is available now!

Each of the four shades is also available in the Little Peanuts mini pack, which is sold with ten nail decals ranging from popular Peanuts phrases like “Good Grief!” and “Pow!” to sketches of Snoopy and the signature squiggle of Charlie Brown’s shirt.

“These stickers offer a playful, kitschy way to add instant art to nails,” adds Weiss-Fischmann. “My favorite decal pays tribute to Snoopy’s many kisses – ‘Smak!’”

 Peanuts by OPI and Little Peanuts mini pack will be available beginning September 2014 at Professional Salons, including Chatters, Planet Beauty and ULTA. Peanuts nail lacquers will retail for $9.50 ($11.50 CAN) each; Little Peanuts mini pack will retail for $13.95 ($17.50 CAN).

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter and Instagram@OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan! For more information on Peanuts, follow @snoopy on Twitter, @snoopygrams on Instagram, and like the characters at www.facebook.com/snoopy.

*press sample*

JORD Wood Watch Review and themed mani!

Hi Monkeys, I have a different type of review for you today... more of a fashion accessory review, and also a great holiday gift idea for men or women! Recently JORD wood watch company contacted me and extended the opportunity to review one of their timepieces. Amazing. Let me tell you a bit about the watches: made from natural (sustainable)  materials sourced from around the world, each piece is unique due to different grains in the wood. It's pretty much art on your wrist. I also did nail art to compliment the watch. 

The mani that I did for it was a bit of a new experiment. I did a sort of distressed wood look using Milani Silhouette and OPI Going My Way Or Norway? and stamped the watch from BMH14 and the trees from BM407. I also matted the distressed look with OPI's matte top coat. I really like how this turned out and matches the theme of the watch. 

I was sent the 94A model and here's some deets from their site:

• Hardened, Scratch-proof glass face: 26mm x 33mm
• Wood frame / bezel: 48mm x 42mm
• Band width: 26mm - 37mm transition design (5pc links)
• Lug ends: 42mm
• Stainless face
• Single action clasp
• 3-hand Citizen Miyota movement with date window
• Includes stained bamboo display box

Each JORD watch is designed to be splash proof but is not intended for complete submergence in water. Also note that due to the nature of the wood chosen for each unique timepiece, colors and grain pattern may vary from photos.

This one retails for $159 and in my opinion is well worth it for such a unique timepiece, plus that's affordable as far as higher quality watches are concerned. It's a win win. 

Some NOPI Chevrons

I'm absolutely in love with this mani. I wore it for a record 7 days too before it started to chip away. I used NOPI Lay It On The Lime as my base then used chevron vinyls to "tape off" the pattern and coated it with The Coral Of The Story, then peeled the vinyls off. I'm really digging the chevrons again and using nail vinyls instead of stamping the pattern, allow you to do so many more top colors. This mani was super summery and bright and I received many compliments on it throughout the week. Win.

Guest Post: The Little Canvas! (MONKEYS!!)

Hi everyone!  Alaina from The Little Canvas here taking over The Manicured Monkey for the day!  I couldn't be happier to be posting for Kristin today!   Back in 2012, she featured my work over here on The Manicured Monkey along with a little interview about me.  Since I was a little fish in the blogging pond at the time, it meant so much to me that she wanted to feature my work!

Through my blogging years, I have gotten to know Kristin through Twitter.  Her support of me and my blog has meant the world to me.  Most recently, she inspired me to create my St. Patrick’s Day Nail Art Wheel, which she shared on Pinterest and it got a zillion re-pins.  Okay, maybe not a zillion, but it sure got shared a lot.

For today’s post, I wanted to do something special, fun, and unique.  Since Spring is here, I debated on doing some sort of floral manicure.  Then I thought about doing a kitchen sink manicure with some tape, gradients, and dots.  Both ideas, while awesome, I was a tad bored by.  Then it hit me….The Manicured Monkey…..monkey nail art!

Let’s take a look!

 Colors Used:

¨         Base

o       Sinful Colors – Pistache

¨         Banana Nails

o       Orly Instant Artist – White & Black

o       Ulta – SunSational

¨         Monkey

o       Zoya – Louise

o       Zoya – Taylor

o       Orly Instant Artist – White & Black

Cute, right?!  I am in love with how they turned out!  They are just as I imagined.  I picked Sinful Colors Pistache for my base because it’s a perfect bright green polish.  I thought a little monkey would look beyond adorable on top of that color and I think it’s safe to say I was right.  The monkey perfectly popped off the base.

I decided to do white polka dots on the other nails since I recently figured out how to perfectly fit a dot on my nail.  It only took about two years and a lot of disasticures to figure it out.  Since this discovery, I’ve been kind of obsessed with polka dots.  I decided was a little bored by just the plain dots, so I decided to add the little bananas.  They aren’t perfect, but that’s what makes them cute!

What do you think?  Think Kristin will enjoy the monkey manicure? :)

Thank you so much Kristin for letting me come back and post over here on your amazing blog!  If any of Kristin’s lovely followers would like to check out more of my work, please head on over to The Little Canvas and follow :).

Mixed Media Acrygel Mani

 Recently I did this adorable mani for a friend's daughter and there's alot more going on here than just a mixed media mani. Recently I've been using an acrygel method on my nails. I read about it and watched a video from Chickettes (have you seen this site, it's amazing!). Acrygel is a gel mani but you sprinkle acrylic powder then cure it under your light for added reinforcement.

I used this method for this mani as well. I added some fun animal print, a black matte stud and more. let's take a look!

 I love how this mani turned out, I used IBD Whipped Cream for the white and Black Lava for the black. I topped the black with a Laquistry polish. The animal spots are NOPI ...... and the black stripes and outline of the spots were done using Milani Black Swift. If you follow me on Facebook, you've already seen this mani :)
What do you think of acrygel? It's easier to remove than regular gels in my opinion as well because it comes off in one nice sheet.

Guest Post: Megan from Wicked Splatters!

Hi, This is Megan from Wicked Splatters! Kristin let us know she needed someone to guest post this week, and I was more than happy to oblige.

For this mani, I used polish to recreate a famous painting by Claude Monet, Sunflowers! I mixed the polish to create the range of colors needed, and got to work. Once I was done, I couldn't stop staring at my nails.

Weapons of Choice:

Ulta Blue Streak, Mint Condition and Limelight

Sinful Colors Chick Chick, Cloud 9, Ruby Ruby, Snow Me White, and Black on Black

Once again, Thanks Kristin for allowing me to guest post for you. Hope you have a great trip!

-Megan

To see more from Wicked Splatters, Visit http://www.wickedsplatters.com and on Facebook!

Finger Paints: Dream I Can Fly + BM H10

I have an Easter mani for you today! I used Finger Paints Dream I Can Fly which is a great minty blue creme (2 coats, great formula!) and stamped using Konad white polish and Bundle Monster plate BMH10... easter eggs, bunny, an egg with legs and a crown which I put cute blue flat round studs on the tips. it's cute, I like the large egg pattern but my favorite would have to be the chick and the eggs, it is easy to glance at it and know what the image is and what it stands for. All in all, a cute easy  mani for Easter!

Guest Post: Heather from Wicked Splatters!

Monkeys, I have a treat for you today, Heather from Wicked Splatters is on the blog! If you follow me on Facebook, you'd have seen me post about WS, they're very talented. Check it out, thanks Heather! (also, go Quakes and beat LA! hahaha)

Hello from the Heather, one of the girls from Wicked Splatters. I am so excited to guest post this week for our friend Kristin at The Manicured Monkey while she's on vacation. 

In this nail art design, I featured everyone’s favorite monkey, Curious George!. I used acrylic paint over nail polish for the paint splatters and the details on George's face. Acrylic paint is great for nail art, and I use it frequently for my cartoon style.

Weapons of Choice: Sinful Colors Chick Chick and Snow Me White, Acrylic paint.

-Heather

To see more from Wicked Splatters, Visit http://www.wickedsplatters.com and follow on Facebook!

Soccer Mani With Decals

Hi Monkeys, it is soccer season here for MLS. My favorite team is also sporting a new shield. I'm no stranger when it comes to doing soccer manis.. I've done a few HERE and HERE.

For this mani I've used a base from the new Muppets Most Wanted collection by OPI: Miss Piggy's Big Number. MPBN is a deep blue with a hint of purple duochrome shimmer to it. I used two coats. On my accent finger I did two coats of OPI Alpine Snow then applied a waterslide decal I made with the team's shield. Simple mani yet cute, and best of all shows team support :) Go Quakes!

OPI: Sheer Tints - St. Patty's Day Mani

Hi Monkeys, I have a St. Patty's Day Mani using the OPI Sheer Tints for you. The OPI Sheer Tints are top coats that are jelly like and add a bit of a squishy factor to your mani. 
I created a green beer inspired mani using I'm Never Amberrassed with I Can Teal You Like Me. 

I used the Bundle Monster holiday set for the stamps and then added gold glitter hexes on the pot of gold with a touch of the yellow tint on the clover. All this started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow. 

Here they all are over white and overlapped in pairs. 

There are 4 colors total and are layered in the following combos:
Index:  Be Magentale with Me, Don't Violet Me Down
Middle: Be Magentale, I Can Teal You Like Me
Ring: I’m Never Amberrassed, I Can Teal You Like Me
Little:  I'm Never Amberrassed, Be Magentale

You can see some over lap create better colors than others (note ring and little finger).

*press sample*

St. Patrick's Day 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I have a simple mani for you today. I used Bettina Mojito for the green and Zoya Gilty which is their gold flake top coat. I did a void using a shamrock nail vinyl for a little fun. The vinyl did not want to come off the base coat so it pulled a bit. I also wish that Gilty had less clear base in it so that more flakes would go on the nail. I did one swipe then ended up with the dab method to get more flakes out. Overall, it's a simple mani that's pretty cute for St. Patty's Day.

Pure Ice: Teal Appeal and Happy Hour chevrons

Recently I did a fun mani using 4 Pure Ice products. For this look, I used 2 colors, chevron vinyls for templates and the Pure Ice base and top coats. Their new base coat is good; Girl On The Go. It dried fast, easy to apply and I had no problems with it. The amazing salmony peach color is such a great creme. The application was perfect and it dried fairly quick. I topped it with Teal Appeal (such a great navy creme that was opaque for this in one generous coat). I like the color combo and contrast of these two together. I topped with the Pure Ice Seal the Deal and had a little smudging... I should have waited longer for Teal Appeal to dry. Still a great look and very affordable. You can find Pure Ice at Wal Mart stores, and online.  You can also check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

*press samples*

St. Patrick's Day Mani Using Nail Vinyls

Happy almost St. Patrick's Day everyone! I changed it up a little today and did a chevron and shamrock mani. I started with a base of Zoya Dillon for the green and Zoya Brooklyn for the gold accent finger. I then took nail vinyls and did a shamrock and chevron pattern, covered it in black and peeled it off revealing the void. Super easy to do and looks pretty cute! Gets me in the mood for a green beer :)

Jamberry Mani- Mixed Media\Patterns

Hi Monkeys, I had some friends over for a Jamberry party and thought I'd share 2 manis that I did. The idea was to have mixed textures, patterns and colors- a mixed media mani. While I don't remember the exact colors used, I can give you an idea of how to achieve the look.

First up was a simple skittle mani using mostly the OPI Brazil collection (the index finger is the new NOPI core collection purple). Jamberry accent was an animalish print with a multi colored gradient underneath so I played off of those colors. Very Spring inspired and fun!

Next up was more of a mixed media mani and I love how this turned out. The accent finger is Jamberry- it's a minty green with yellow polka dots. The little finger is Don't Bossa Nova Me Around (OPI Brazil) with three matte black rhinestones, the middle is Zoya Cosmo (Magical Pixie), index finger is OPI 4 In The Morning (Gwen Stefani) with two light blue rhinestones, top coated then matted.. the thumb was Milani white as a base followed by chevron nail vinyls painted over in Milani Black Swift, then removed to show the chevron design.

Each mani is quite different and unique. I like each for completely opposite reasons: the first for the pops of color and who doesn't like a skittle mani, and the second for the mixed patterns and textures.

Overall, two pretty cool manis.

Blogiversary is live!

psst... in case you missed it... 3 year Blogiversary is live! :-)

Heart Mani

Hi Monkeys, a quick post Vday nail art for you today. I used Taupe-less Beach and for the hearts, Kiss Me I'm Brazilian. It's a simple mani but it's one more thing you could do using the new OPI Brazil collection. I used a dotting tool for the hearts but, as soon as I cut down my nail art brushes, I'll use those instead. Dotting tool hearts and I don't mix very well. I like the color contrast though and the formulas are great and easy to work with so that's an added bonus :)