NOTD: "They're like Metallic Volleyballs"

Arden: Today's manicure is a pattern I had been wanting to try out foreverrrr.  I'm not quite sure what this pattern is called, so I'll just go with my brother's reaction when he saw my nails: "They're like metallic volleyballs!"  (But seriously, if you know what this pattern is called, PLEASE let me know in the comments.)

[Update! Many thanks to commenter Kyema for identifying this pattern as the "basket weave.']

To start, I painted my nails with two coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Black Out, followed by a coat of Seche Vite to help dry them quickly.

Then I used my little roll of striping tape and taped off the pattern on each nail.

I started by making a diagonal stripe down the middle, then added several pieces of tape parallel to that toward the tip.  I finished by taping the bottom half of the nail in a perpendicular direction. 

After all the tape was in place, I painted on a coat of Revlon Timeless followed by a coat of OPI On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  I then removed all of the tape immediately from one nail using tweezers before continuing with the next.

NOTD: Neutral to Bright Gradient

Hey y'all! It's Lisl.  Today I'm showing a super simple and easy gradient manicure. I was hunting around on Pinterest last night for future inspiration for "I Can't Afford That" feature and noticed a lot of people had been pairing neutrals with neons.  I don't have any neon neon polishes, but I have plenty of bright ones, and thus this manicure was born.

NOTD: Gradient Fading Dots

Arden here: Aren't these nails super cute?  This might be one of my favorite manicures I've done so far!

It is also by far the most extensive dotting project I've ever taken on.  Previously, any time I saw a design that required an even distribution of dots, I shied away because I just didn't think I could ever possibly make dots that neatly.  But when I saw a similar fading dot design on My Nail Polish Online I fell so in love with it that I knew had to try.  (I also thought that the larger dots might've been easier to pull off than smaller dotting patterns.)

I started with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  Then I sponged a 3 color gradient on each nail (white, light color, slightly darker color).  This was not a super easy process-- it took a couple tries to get each nail right, and that usually involved sponging on some extra white at the base of the nail.

Colors Used (thumb to pinky):
Essie Mint Candy Apple
Zoya Wednesday
Revlon Dreamer
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Essie Jangle Bangle
Zoya Mira
Essie Navigate Her
Sinful Colors Rise and Shine
Revlon Timeless
Maybelline Color Show Impeccable Greys

Whew!  That was a lot of colors!

Then I used my dotting tool to make even dots across my nails.

NOTD: Skittle Saran Wrap Manicure

Arden here: For today's nail of the day, we're going to learn some new nail art vocabulary!  Here are three nail art techniques that are often confused:

1. Gradient: when one color gradually gives way to the next on an individual nail.  Check out our gradient tutorial here.

from http://blog.julep.com/fan-nail-of-the-day-ombre/

2. Ombre: when each nail is a different shade of the same color (often going from darkest to lightest).  We haven't posted one of these yet on Casa de Polish, but maybe we should!

Eagle-eyed readers will notice this is both a Skittle AND a gradient.

3. Skittle: when each nail is a different color--- like a bag of Skittles!  We've shown a couple of these, most notably right after Easter.

NOTD: Diagonal Stripes and Dots!

Arden here: I've got a quick Nail of the Day for you!  With this design, I wanted to experiment with both solid color blocks and dots.  While it probably isn't my best-executed nail design, I think in the future something similar would look really cool!

I started by painting my nails Essie Maximillian Strasse Her.  This is part of the Essie 2013 spring collection, and when I first got it in the store, I thought it was a greyish light green (especially compared to the other colors in the collection).  But on my nails, it looks MUCH more bluish gray (maybe with a little bit of a greenish hue?).  Something to know if you're considering getting it!

I then taped off my nails and painted a triangle section Essie Peach Daiquiri.  (My pointer finger is not painted because even though I had painted my nails Maximillian Strasse Her THE NIGHT BEFORE, I still ended up pulling up some of the paint w/ my tape and had to repaint that one.)

NOTD: Sunshine Nails

Arden: I've got a quick nail of the day post for you today.  It was a beautiful spring day, and I just wanted something happy and sunshine-y on my nails!

I started by painting my nails light yellow (L'Oreal Creme Puffs).  Then I sponged on a 3 color gradient using Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Lightening, Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Coral Silk, and Sinful Colors Big Daddy.

But I worried that they looked a little too much like candy corn, so I decided to turn them into sun rays.  Had I been thinking of this in the beginning I would've used striping tape, but it was too late for that!  So I borrowed Lisl's white Color Club striper polish.

 And then I made it sparkly by adding a coat of the gold flakie polish from the Revlon Moon Candy set "Universe" and followed it up with an additional coat of Revlon Snow Flurries.

I wasn't crazy about the finished product (all of the glitter coats on top made it kind of bumpy, even after I added a clear top coat), so I think I will definitely try a sun-themed manicure again in the future!