Sushi is Bae Nail Art

Sushi is Bae Nail Art  || I love sushi and so does most of the rest of the world. It's fresh and delicious and actually gorgeous. Have you SEEN the color of raw tuna? I want to paint my LIFE in it!

Anyway, as with most things I love, I decided to try to put it on my nails. Because, naturally. I've seen a lot of gorgeous interpretations of sushi nails lately, but I did try to make mine "my own."

On my thumb, I put my bae tuna. My pointer is tamagoyaki, which honestly I chose more for it's color than anything -- I have only eaten it once! My middle finger is salmon, my ring finger is rice, and my pinkie is intended to look like avocado with sesame seeds.

Quick sidebar about the rice nail that might give you some insight into my brain: in hindsight, if I were to do this all over again, I would paint individual white grains of rice over a negative space clear nail. I think that would read more like rice and look cooler than what I attempted here. The grey patterning is hard to read.

I used gel polish for this, but won't be able to list out all of the materials I used. I did a lot of color mixing, layering, and blending, and beyond that, I wore this manicure a month or two ago and I don't remember the specifics. Oops! 😇

Are you a sushi fan? What's your favorite thing to order?

Watercolor Wash with Splattered Accents

Watercolor Wash with Splattered Accents || Recently, I had the very exciting opportunity to do an interview with our local CW station here in Phoenix, CW6! I knew they would be filming an up-close view of me doing some nail art, so I knew I had to do something jazzy on my own nails, too. I adapted this look from a Neiru lesson called "Fuchsia Swirl" by Mariko Shida.

It's super easy to get this look, especially if you're working with gel. I'm sure many of you guys have seen the drag marble looks with nail polish, right? Well this is the same, but in gel, you aren't working against the evaporating solvents and drying nail polish!

After prepping and applying your base coat, start with one coat of your main base color and cure. I'm using Presto Sordino.

Apply a second coat of your base color, but don't cure just yet! Add some swipes of your additional colors, as well as some thin lines of black gel. Clean off a striper brush, and use it to drag through the wet gel. This look is more of a "long, swoopy lines" type of marble, but you can draw whatever pattern you want. Cure your marbling.

Finally, add some splattered details. I actually used Gelish Pinch of Pepper for this particular manicure, but you could hand paint on some black and white as well.

Full product list:
Gelish Foundation and Top It Off
Presto Sordino (grey)
Presto Bis (mustard)
Presto Garante (blue)
Presto Con Amore (neon yellow)
Gelish Carnaval Hangover (purple)
Gelish Pinch of Pepper (black and white glitter)
Gelish Matte Top It Off

If you're curious, you can also check out my interview with the CW! Here is the manicure I was working on for the segment (shoutout to my friend Kristi for stepping up as a last minute model).

The Collector - Golden Decals for Your Odder Side

The Collector - Golden Decals for Your Odder Side || I titled these nails "The Collector."

Doesn't it seem like an amalgamation of weird items that you'd find in some spooky antique shop, owned by a weird dude that probably does a little spellcasting on the side?

These golden Wrap Artist decals pair with the soft, pink base in a really cool way. It's a sort of girly-meets-peculiar juxtaposition that I really enjoy!

I began by applying Presto Secco as my gel polish base. It's a really pretty soft pink that I actually bought for bridal season, but that works great year round as a more "natural" look!

Then, I applied the Wrap Artist decals. These are water slide decals, which is my preferred method of application for decals. They just work better! I used decals from both the "Bone Structure" and "Oddities" sheets for this look, but you should really just go look around the Wrap Artist site, 'cause there are so many awesome options.

After blotting off any excess water, I applied my gel topcoat to seal everything in and cured. The decals are very thin - I only needed one coat of gel top to smooth everything away.

I had a few people at work questioning the weirdness of this manicure (though just as many thought it was awesome, too). A client was like, "Um, did you know you have bugs on your nails?"

Yeah, I'm aware, and I love it!

It's a Marshmallow World in the Winter!

Meet my current holiday nails! I sat down to do a festive set the other night, but wanted to take them in a slightly different direction than the usual seasonal fare. I reached for the pastel versions of red and green and combined them with silver accents for a marshmallow winter set. I'm in love!

I used the following gels for this set:
Gelish Look at You, Pink-achu!
Gelish Do You Harajuku?
Vetro Silver Leaf
Akzentz Gel Play in Platinum Quartz
Akzentz Gel Play in White

Since I am still obsessed with all things Japanese nail art, this set is inspired by that style. I'm still working to master their eye for mix-and-matching, but I think I found a pretty good balance here that I'm happy with.

All of the details are handpainted, from the "PEACE" to the snowflakes! I also opted for a peace sign on my right hand, cause my left hand can't handle lettering (plus, it mixes things up a little more!).

I really love this set and my clients have been enjoying it, too! It's nice to feel festive without the traditional "rich red, deep green, glittering gold" color palette.

East Asia Meets The Southwest - Embellished Gel Nail Art

I have been waiting for this day since the beginning of the challenge. Not only because it meant that I had successfully completed the gauntlet for the fifth (!!!) year in a row, but also because I had a manicure that I have been dying to recreate for a very long time.

This beauty of a manicure is completely inspired by 111NAIL salon in Japan. I love it SO much. I tried to copy it to the best of my ability (and materials) and I am beyond happy with the outcome. I just adore the aesthetic of Japanese nail art; it's always so refined and balanced.

Since the challenge is now over, I decided to these in gel and on both hands so I can enjoy them for a while. Here are the products that I used:

Gelish - Hot Rod Red
Red Carpet Manicure - Sandal Scandal
Akzentz Gel Play in White and Black

Gold caviar beads
Triangle studs
Turquoise teardrop charm
Round gold frame

Akzentz Bling On (used to attach 3D embellishments)
Presto Top Gel (thick gel topcoat)
Gelish Foundation (go-to gel basecoat)

These nails weren't hard to do at all; however, they were pretty time consuming.

The drag marble nails are my favorite part and are beyond easy, especially in gel. All you need to do is apply the colors in arced stripes, and then drag a clean striper brush through them to create the patterns. Cure the marbling in your lamp and you're set!

The other nails are basically just dots and embellishments, which I attached using Akzentz Bling On. It's a super strong, thick gel that grabs ahold of your charms or studs and helps keep them in place once cured. It made the process of placing the gold bits a lot easier, especially on a manicure like this with so many elements.

I made sure to finish with a thick gel topcoat to help smooth out the edges on the 3D pieces.

If you have a moment, be sure to go give @111nail_omotesando a follow on Instagram, I have completely copied this manicure from them and there is so much more gorgeous work to be seen on that account.

That's a wrap on the challenge for this year! Stay tuned for my 2015 roundup, and congratulations to those of you who have finished as well!

Previous nails I've honored:

• Rebecca Likes Nails' Candy Print
• Mr. Candiipants' Koi Fish
• Nailside's Abstract 80's Design
• Very Emily's Chunky Sweater Nails

Carnaval Netting - X-Patterned Nail Art

Today's prompt is "inspired by a pattern" and I don't even know where I took it today, but here's what I ended up with. The candy colored palette has me thinking of Carnaval in Rio, while the X pattern is vaguely reminiscent of netting.

Wouldn't you know it, my base polish fits the theme! It's Gelish Carnaval Hangover, which is my new gel manicure for the week. I completely finished and cured the manicure before adding the designs.

Using a small nail art brush, I added the Xs with Duri - Shocking Twist (pea green), Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away (blue), and American Apparel - L'Espirit (pale purple). I didn't try to make them uniform, especially not from nail to nail, and instead went for a more abstract feel.

The manicure still needed something else, so after the Xs were done, I added black dots wherever the lines met. I think it contributes a lot to the final look!

More "inspired by a pattern" nail art:

• Dark, matte, and dotted
• Partial checkerboards
• Pretty paisley
• Tori Burch ruby floral

Peachy Marbled Stone Nail Art

We're at the end of section two in the 31 Day Challenge! Today's prompt is "water marble," so basically I've been dreading it this whole time. I am not a good water marbler, I cannot create a marbling bullseye to save my life... BUT this time, I used that to my advantage! Instead of going for a super perfect and gorgeous water marble design, I opted for something a bit more organic with a marbled stone look. More room for error = happy Sarah.

Quick sidenote, does anyone know what kind of stone I created? Some pals suggested banded carnelian, agate, & jasper... But I can't shake the feeling that there's another one that I just can't put my finger on!



I started with a base of Presto #100 Trillo gel, a soft peachy nude. I've been wearing gel underneath all of my challenge manicures and this happens to be my base for this week!

Then, I dropped drops of white polish and a slow-drying clear topcoat onto the surface of a small dappen dish filled with room temperature water. I used a pinpoint dotting tool to gently stir up the drops until I had a pattern that I liked. Working one at a time (since my dish was so small), I dipped my nails into the swirled polish.

Look guys, I'm never gonna be a great watermarbling resource. Here's a good video for beginners from Hannah Rox Nails with some tips and tricks, if you're interested in learning!

Finally, I used a skill that I do have: freehanding! I added some orange and deep red banding along the white marbling using my tiny nail art brush.

The last step was to add a coat of sheer pink on top to give everything a deeper, buried look. I used Formula X Sheer Strength in Wonderous.

Previous water marble work:

• Turquoise water marble
• Starburst candy water marble
• Soft flower marble
• Tattered monochromatic spray marble