Feeling Patriotic - The Americana Collection

It's collection time again!! This time I take inspiration from the upcoming 4th of July and the national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, to bring you the ultimate Americana Collection. :)

Available on:

www.spellboundnails.com

www.spellboundnails.etsy.com

www.spellboundnails.storenvy.com

This collection has a little of everything. 2 glitter toppers, 2 shimmered holographics in red and blue, and a creamy white crelly with red and blue glitter.

And did I mention how amazing they look together? I used all 5 to create this amazing mismatched mani - perfect for any patriotic holiday. It is seriously easy too! This is 2 thin coats of Star Spangled on my middle fingers, 3 thin coats of Rockets Red Glare and Twilight's Last Gleaming with one thin coat of Home of the Brave and Bombs Bursting in Air over each respectively.

Stick around to get a look at each polish. :)

Twilight's Last Gleaming is a blue holographic with a chunky blue shimmer. It dries to a matte like finish so a top coat is a must to really bring life back.

Bombs Bursting in Air is one of those very simple polishes that manages to be something amazing! It's a mix of red, white, and blue stars and bar glitter with a dose of rainbow colored shimmer. I am reminded of fireworks exploding in a night sky every time I look at this. Shown here over Carbon Copy from The Neutrals creme collection.

And here is a close-up of how it looks over Twilight's Last Gleaming. That shimmer is just to die for!!

Star Spangled is a creamy white crelly with red and blue hexes and stars that is just sheer enough to showcase every piece of glitter. Shown here is 2 thin coats. The key is keeping your layers thin so you show glimpses of the previous layers glitter. :)

This may look familiar to those of you who have been with me from the start. This is the reformulated Miss 'Merica that was tucked into orders around the 4th of July last year. Now going by Home of the Brave, this polish is a perfect fit for the Americana Collection. It's a mix of red, white, and blue glitter with blue stars. It adds a patriotic touch to any polish. Shown over Hearthstone from The Darks creme collection.

Last but no where near least is Rockets Red Glare. This one is so hard to photograph, and I really didn't manage to capture the true awesomeness of this polish. It is a red holographic with a fine red shimmer. I direct your attention to the mismatched mani at the top of this post as it really shows a lot more of its shimmer and shine in that pic. This polish also dries to a matte like finish so a top coat will really help add shine and sparkle. :)

If you stuck around through the whole post - congrats and I hope you enjoyed the Americana Collection. Do you have a favorite from this collection?

And here's a bit of real life news if you stuck around. One of my nieces just turned 16 yesterday. Where does the time go?? For the first few years of this little girl's life I helped raise her ... so I'm really feeling old. 

Until next time,
♥ Ashley

Patriotic Drips Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!! It's been forever since I posted anything. I knew running a nail polish business was going to take time, but I guess I never realized just how much of my blogging time it would eat into. I'm working really hard to keep up with orders, restocks, and developing new releases. Any free time I manage to grasp is spent storing up nail art and swatches so I can start posting again - hopefully within the next few months.

My patriotic nail art has been getting a ton of stardom lately. My nails can even be found in the July issue of People StyleWatch magazine! If you don't have a subscription to this magazine I recommend getting one. It's one of the best magazines I've read in a long time! I didn't have to search and skim, skipping large portions of the magazine, because every page had something interesting to me.

Now, onto the nails!!! With all that interest for my patriotic nails I decided to try something different. I won't claim that I created this - someone, somewhere has probably done this before - but I will say it is something I have never seen before! I would love to see your nails if you decide to try the tutorial, so don't be scared to send them to me. I don't bite. Promise!! :)

Right click and open in a new tab if you're having trouble reading the tutorial.

That's it for now. For those who don't follow me on Facebook but enjoy my polish I will be having a big restock, complete with a ton of NEW polishes and the return of those sold out polishes some of you may be waiting for! Head over to my Etsy shop tomorrow to see what I've come up with. Hope to see ya there. :)

Patriotic Splatter

Happy 4th of July to my United States readers. This is the last 4th of July mani I have for you. I wanted something simple, something just about anyone can do ... something that doesn't use all the usual tools my nail art does. What's one of the simplest manicures I could think of? A splatter, of course!

I call this a patriotic splatter. I used two coats of white. I did a light splatter of red, then blue, before doing one more splatter of red. My blue left larger splatters, more drips than anything, and took over the mani until I added more red.

Be very careful if you use two primary colors, colors that can create other colors if mixed, in your splatter. To keep my red and blue from mixing and making purple I used a straw for the red and a straw for the blue. There is always the chance that they will still mix on your nails though. I have a few purple spots on my nails but not as noticeable as they might be if I had used the same straw for both colors.

The nice thing about this design is that it can be done by any patriotic person, not just those living in the US. Simply use your country's colors for a unique splatter. This can also be done with school colors or your favorite sports teams colors.

Here is a splatter tutorial by The PolishAholic if you'd like to try your own Patriotic Splatter mani.

4th of July

Wait! What do you mean it's not the 4th of July yet?? Yep, that's right. I'm early (for once)!! My holiday nails are usually done quickly and posted the day of the holiday. So I'm really happy to be posting these nails early. I may be a bit biased, but I adore the US flag. There are a few other flags I like but never as much.

This is three coats of white which I then taped over the bottom half of before painting the blue. I added red stripes to the bottom half and white stars to the top half. I free handed the stars this time. I think it was easier than trying to trace around star shaped gems. Now I just have to focus on drawing them smaller for other designs.

I wanted to try something different with my picture this time. I love how some bloggers have large pieces of jewelry or hold coffee cups or any number of things besides a nail polish bottle or going claw. So, I decided to try a flower this time until I can browse my local shops for something else. :)