It's my first Blogiversary!

Find a full list of polishes used at the end of this post!

That's right! Nails in D Major is a year old today!

I'm so thankful for all the support and encouragement that I've received over the past year. Without that extra push to create a "big girl blog," I likely would not be pushing myself to become a better artist every day.

On to the nails!

I wanted to do something cutesy and special, so I whipped up my favorite: a mix & match mani! Every design was created with a dotting tool. I love love love the little cupcake on my ring finger. I'm quite obsessed with it, so do not be surprised if you see a full cupcake mani soon! Because cupcakes are so simple to create (trust me, they're much easier than you think), there are a ton of tutorials on YouTube, and it shouldn't be hard to find one that works for your type of nail!

I'm not going to lie: the number 1 on my index finger was such a pain to get right. And it still did not turn out as clean as I would have liked it to be. Nevertheless, I am happy that my first foray into lettering was not a complete failure, and I'm so pumped to try again (and get better! ;))

It's been a wonderful year, and I look forward to many more!

Tumblr: nailsindmajor.tumblr.com

Instagram: @donithax

List of polishes:
Base: Wet 'N Wild En Voyage
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
China Glaze It's a Trap-eze
Wet 'N Wild Candylicious
Wet 'N Wild Tickled Pink
KleanColor Red Alert
Essie Devil's Advocate

Yay, super-saturation!

Back to Basics: Leopard Print

L.A. Colors Circuits, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and Maybelline Color Show Clearly Spotted

I absolutely adore simple black and white. It is so chic, and it can make the wildest of patterns (see leopard print above) appear elegant.

I should do black and white manicures more often! I could not stop staring at my nails when I wore these, and I was quite pleased with my 20 minute mani!

I painted the leopard print with a mid-size dotting tool, after two semi-dry medium coats of Circuits. I love that about dotting tools: I can begin working almost immediately after painting all 10 nails twice. As long as I'm dragging the polish lightly with the tool, I don't dig into the base coats. Then I slap on a coat of Seche Vite, binding all the layers of polish together quickly and without smearing. Done!

Neon-Metallic Fusion Part II

See part 1 here.

Essie Devil's Advocate with China Glaze Icicle, That's Shore Bright, Flip Flop Fantasy and Too Yacht to Handle

This color scheme may seem familiar, as these are the exact same colors I used in my Deconstructed Roses manicure. I was only allowed so many nail polishes in my carry-on, so I just grabbed my favorites, and that was that.

In a way, it was more challenging trying to think of something different to do with the same colors, but I just picked up a dotting tool and did whatever felt natural. Everything was done with a dotting tool (someday I'll graduate to brushes...), so it was super simple to create this funky mani. On my thumb and ring finger, I did the dots in straight rows, as normal. I was going to leave them as accent nails, but it was too tempting to just use the grid as a pattern for more chevrons! I'll be using that as a tool from now on!

Just Plain Sophisticated

Essie Devil's Advocate, China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, and China Glaze Icicle

As you all know, I'm such a fan of manicures that look like they took forever, but they really didn't. That's exactly what this is! If you have a couple colors of polish, some Scotch tape lying around, and a dotting tool (or make your own, if you don't have one), you can recreate your own version of this manicure within a half hour.

Instead of using a nude polish as a base, as I did in this tape mani, I just put on a couple layers of base coat (I use OPI Matte Nail Envy), and let it dry completely before proceeding. Granted, this might not be the best option if you have staining from a previous manicure. If you do have staining, I would suggest buffing your clean dry nails just a little bit to see if you can buff away the surface stains. Too much buffing will weaken your nails, and if the stains do not readily come out, just swipe on a thin coat of a nude polish (for this look), or your favorite creme.

Once the base coat dried, I taped off the bottom half of my nails on a diagonal, and painted Devil's Advocate on my tips, enough for opacity. I recommend putting the tape on your hand before putting it on the nails, because Scotch tape will readily rip up your base coat! I loved the look with the plain plum tips, but I tested out the dots on my left hand, and loved it even more! The dots can also function to help cover up a crooked tape line, or other tiny mistakes. It's a win-win! I finished with a coat of Seche Vite, and boom! Done!

I hope you enjoy these nails! For more manicures that don't make my main blog, in addition to mani updates right after I complete them, follow me on Instagram @donithax!

Christmas Nails!

BREAKING NEWS: GLITTER IS DIFFICULT TO PHOTOGRAPH, ESPECIALLY IN HORRIBLE LIGHTING.

This seems intuitive, but I went ahead and wore these glitter bombs I call nails for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love this manicure so much (especially when compared to 2012's Christmas nails). I wish I could've captured their beauty more accurately for all of you.

I'm at home in Georgia for winter break (whoooo! the semester's finally over!), and the lighting at home is very dim and yellow (damn incandescents). I resorted to taking these photos in the bathroom, where I could find the brightest light, so please excuse my conditioner and soap in the background...

This mani combines my favorite things: glitter, gradients (done with a wedge makeup sponge), and dots (with inexpensive dotting tools)! I hope you love them as much as I do!

Simple Manis Just to Get Me Through

Sephora Conceited and Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet

Finals period at Bowdoin is no joke! I couldn't stand the thought of going through the final stretch with bare nails, so I turned my break time into mani time! These are (very) quick designs that I did not think through; I just went for it. I knew I needed some glitter, because it always seems to cheer me up, and it lasts a long time.

I added an extra blurry photo of Conceited because there is no way to properly photograph this color, I'm convinced. I also tried here, but the struggle bus rolled into town once again...

At any rate, I hope you enjoy these manicures! They literally take only 10 minutes (even less with a fast-drying top coat, like Seche Vite or Dries Instantly)!

China Glaze Running in Circles and an unnamed light green Kiss Striper