What inspires you? Sometimes it's an object, a scene, a person...it can be anything. It can set your mood for the week, your style choices, and in my case, my manicures.
For this mani, I was inspired by a drive along the Ohio/Indiana Turnpike, and the beautifully simplistic countryside that I passed along the way. Join me on my journey, and see how I used OPI's "San Tan-Tonio" to create this mani.
For this mani, I was inspired by a drive along the Ohio/Indiana Turnpike, and the beautifully simplistic countryside that I passed along the way. Join me on my journey, and see how I used OPI's "San Tan-Tonio" to create this mani.
The hubby and I celebrated New Year's Eve in South Bend, Indiana, visiting some of our very best friends that recently moved there. The 3 hour drive is almost entirely on the Ohio/Indiana Turnpike (literally all but about 10 minutes), and I spent a lot of time looking out my window.
Let me show you what I saw...
Now, this might impress you...It definitely impressed me! All of these scenic photos were taken using my Iphone while traveling 75 miles per hour in our car. I kept snapping away just hoping I'd get something that wasn't a total blurry mess, and I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome! Obviously, lighting wasn't ideal (it was a cloudy day), but throw on a few photo filters and I think I managed to capture the essence of the countryside. If nothing else, it will give you a sense of what I saw on that drive.
I'm always amazed by how much of Ohio is rural farm country. Living in the suburbs of Cleveland, it's easy to forget that just a short trip beyond the shopping malls, you see farms, barns, and simplicity.
For the past two weeks, I've been sporting some pretty hard core glitter manis in anticipation of the new year. After this trip, though...it's all about going back to the basics. I was inspired to take a look at the neutral nail polishes in my collection. I wanted rustic barns, horses, cows...well, not literally! But the inspiration was there. Here's a deeper look into what I came up with.
To achieve this simple mani, I used OPI's "San Tan-Tonio". I'll be honest...I was nervous about this color at first. This is my first time wearing it. While I really like neutral colors, this one has much deeper brown tones to it than I'm used to for a neutral polish. It doesn't exactly scream "pick me!" when you see it in the bottle; however, I'm really happy with it. It's a soft tan creme polish, and the formula on this is awesome! When a polish has a high quality formula, the color itself becomes slightly less important to me because I'm won over by the ease of its application. It went on so smooth and looks very rich and creamy - I almost felt like I was putting chocolate milk on my nails!
To spice this up a bit, I painted a small heart on my ring finger. Here's where those barns come into play. :)
Since I wasn't looking to paint a barn on my finger, I chose a color in my collection that reminded me of the red tones I saw on the countryside. Introducing... OPI's "Lost on Lombard". I used a small nail art brush to paint on a cute little heart. It adds something interesting to the mani, but still keeps the look extremely simple. I typically paint my nail art facing out towards the tips of my nails, but there's something about hearts. I like to have them facing me, so that when I look down at my nails, I see the heart (and smile)!
Since I wasn't looking to paint a barn on my finger, I chose a color in my collection that reminded me of the red tones I saw on the countryside. Introducing... OPI's "Lost on Lombard". I used a small nail art brush to paint on a cute little heart. It adds something interesting to the mani, but still keeps the look extremely simple. I typically paint my nail art facing out towards the tips of my nails, but there's something about hearts. I like to have them facing me, so that when I look down at my nails, I see the heart (and smile)!
What neutral polishes do you like? Have you had one that pleasantly surprised you? Share your stories! I always like to hear about new polishes to try out.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you stop by often!
Katey
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you stop by often!
Katey