Saturday, March 24, 2012

China Glaze- Lighthouse

Happy weekend all! I had this one left over from the Anchors away collection,this is Lighthouse. If I'm being honest, this color does absolutely nothing for me.This is a sheer yellow loaded with gold glass fleck. I wasn't sure how opaque this would be, but this is three coats and it has a long way to go. This one might be another one that looks good layered, but I haven't tried that yet.I was procrastinating on posting this because I really don't like putting up colors that I'm not crazy about, but it is a pretty color, just not so much on me... 




I'm sure you've spotted the smudge on my pointer finger...I accidentally stuck it to my middle finger...oops! I wasn't planning on wearing it, so I didn't take the time to redo it all.
The verdict is still out on this, I need to figure out something to layer it with, because alone it looks terrible on me, but I feel like it has potential. Also I really am not a fan of VNL, so hmmmmm. Any suggestions for combinations or other ways to wear this???

Friday, March 23, 2012

Post 100! Nina Ultra Pro- Purple-Xing

Hi guys! I hope every one's week good, TGIF though for sure! I plan on doing some swatching on Sunday while it's supposed to rain outside! It's been so nice here, I haven't been able to stay inside and sit still to get anything posted! Every spring I get a little stir crazy and that has been the case here:-)
So for post 100 (yay!), I have Purple-Xing, by Nina Ultra Pro. I saw Nina's at Sally's and hadn't tried the brand before so I figured this lovely purple glitter would be a great place to start! The one thing I have to ask is- Purple you are beautiful, why are you so camera shy? I have never taken so many pictures of a polish before, trying to get the color to come out accurate. I mean duochromes you have to play with a little to get the shift, but this was just so far off... I did manage to get some though, so here we are:


This was nearly a one coater, it covered great. It was really thick though. It seemed like it was getting thicker as I used it. Purple-xing is a rich velvety blue toned purple with loads of purple glitter with some small silver glitter and slightly larger and fewer pieces of holo glitter. This one is gritty folks! It ate three coats of topcoat. It did end up smooth although the camera shows it bumpy for some reason. I really like the way this looks on my nails and for glitter (which tends to chip quickly on me), this wears like iron! I have had this on 3 days, yes three whole days, and no chipping! Its almost hard to take off a polish this pretty when there's no sign of wear- almost...So what do you think? Have you used this brand? any color recommendations?

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Green Week! Orly- Here Comes Trouble!

Good-morning and happy St. Patrick's Day! I am getting ready to meet my family for some breakfast and head down to the parade:-) I'm so happy it's nice out today, the last two years have been cold and rainy and I haven't been able to bring my son. We got our green gear on and were ready to roll! After that it's off to my husband's family's for some good old Irish fare. I cant wait to eat my mother in law's Guinness stew and corned beef today... Yum!!
So this color screamed St. Paddy's Day to me, it's bright cheery grass green, and oh so sparkly:-)


I started out with three coats, then a coat of SV, but today when I was looking at it close, I decided it needed another layer. So this is four coats HCT, and two layers topcoat. It will undoubtedly chip before the weekend is over but I don't care, I adore this! Green is my favorite (?) color and this one is gorgeous:-) (my favorite color changes a lot! usually between blue and green though) Anywho, this last shot is in front of a halogen light, if you click it you can see there is some variation to the glitter in there. 
So I hope everyone has a great day and stays safe!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Green Week- Irish Flags:-)

Hi Guys! So to continue on with my St. Patrick's Day theme, I figured I throw in some Irish flags. Just some easy nail art, if I can even call it that. I hadn't used Pure Ice- Free Spirit before, and I was pleasantly surprised. It had a pretty good formula, and a  fine shimmer that made the lime kind of glow:-)


For this I used two coats Free Spirit, on all nails except my ring finger. On there, I used two coats Sinful Colors- White on White, then taped off the center portion and used Free Spirit, and Sally Hansen Sunkissed  for the flag. Easy but cute. My mother in law stopped by when I was swatching and thought I should leave it on, but there  was more green to try!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Green Week! Watercolor!

Hi Guys! So this week is a mixed bag here at my house, everyone is sick, but it's so gorgeous outside. I have all the windows open, i can take my son for walks and get fresh air. The stir crazy feeling that I have all winter is gone! Hopefully my guys will fell better soon, and we can enjoy this wonderful weather!
Anyways, today I have something new, watercolor nails.This is something I found on Nails by Kayla Shevonne, and I had to give it a try. I think this technique is really cool, and it is super easy to do.


I used Revlon Minted as the base. This is two coats, which covered completely, formula was good, nice and shiny. Then i put a tiny dot of Orly Lucky Duck on one nail, used a paint brush dipped in acetone and dabbed over the dot of polish. Moving it around it spread the color over the nail in a washed out effect. I did one nail at a time with that color then did the same exact thing with Sinful Colors Last Chance and then again with Minted. I know I'm not explaining this in a way that makes total sense, so to see where I got my inspiration and link to the tutorial Kayla used, here is a link: To see hers you can click here: http://www.kaylashevonne.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day-nail-art-series-green.html

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Green Week! Orly- Jungle Love Snake print

Hi Guys! Today I did a snake print to represent St. Patrick banishing snakes from the Emerald Isle. I used two coats Orly Jungle Love and Sinful Colors Black on Black with BM 215. This came out really cute, but my camera has been acting up lately and capturing this was just not meant to be.

This looked like a real snake skin to me:-) I like this stamp. I'm still at home taking care of my sick boys, so I'm going to cut this short, and go do some nursing!


Monday, March 12, 2012

Green Week! China Glaze- Starboard

Hi everybody! Sorry I disappeared again, this last week has been nuts! I started out with a pretty nasty cold, then passed it to my husband and son:-( So mommy has been playing nurse this week. I decided to try and  make up for it with a week of green for St Patrick's Day. I have 6 different greens lined up with little twists here and there. My husband comes from a big Irish family that takes St. Patty's Day beyond wearing green and drinking green beer. It's Sheppard's Pie, Irish Cream cake, a big parade, and Leprechaun Coins that lead to treasure when the kids wake up, (as well as green beer)! It's just a lot of fun, and a good excuse to all get together.
To get started I have what might be my favorite true green. Starboard. This is another polish from the Anchors Away Collection last year. It is a gorgeous shiny emerald green jelly.


This went on really nice, was opaque in two coats. I couldn't believe how shiny it was. These pictures are without topcoat. I know my nails are in rough shape. I had the corners break off at various points this week while rushing around the house. I'll keep filing them down until they are uniform, but for now they will look a little weird, sorry:-(


Sunday, March 4, 2012

Mermaid Mani with Sinful Colors- Kissy

So remember that "I'm going to be lazy this weekend" thing. Well... not so much. I spent all Saturday morning cleaning, then had family visit, and Sunday will being spent at a camping show. So much for the relaxing! In all honesty, I can't complain because today (I'm writing this up sat night) was fun, and I'm sure tomorrow will be too! I still need to get over this cold though, it sucks.
So today I have the other new color I picked up from Sinful Colors, Kissy. This is said to be a dupe for Zoya Charla, which I really liked but never got my hands on. Judging from pics, it is close enough for me, but I'm sure Zoya's formula wins out on this one. I decided to turn this into some mermaid nails layering two Sinful Colors glitters (Call u Later & Nail Junkie) along with Sally Hansen- Set the Stage. I used two coats of Kissy, one of CuL, one of StS, and one of NJ just on the top half of the nail. All this combined for a fabulous glittery mess that reminds me of mermaids!


I really liked this combination, we will see how much shrinkage I have at the tips here tomorrow morning. That seems to be a problem I have with this many layers, even when I wrap the tips.
Kissy was ok, I used two coats. If I were to wear this alone, I would need three for sure. It was thick and runny at the same time. I put it on and it migrated to my cuticles. I am not the happiest camper when that happens! (Haha, get it...I am at the camping show today! Sorry, I am a nerd, I know!) Anyway, I liked it a lot but rather than do an extra coat of Kissy, I opted to do this instead.
In case you want to see Kissy alone, here she is.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Sinful Colors- Cinderella

Hi guys! Yay Saturday! So today I try to leave the couch as little as possible, while my wonderful husband nurses me back to health! I don't get sick that often and I still went to work like a good grown-up, so I deserve one day to whine and be a baby! I sound pretty whiny already, don't I!?!?
Anywhozzle, I saw Sinful had a few new colors out so when Walgreen's had them for $.99 last week, I grabbed Cinderella and Kissy. I like Sinful but I hardly ever look since their displays are usual re promotes of existing shades. I think right now there are like about 7 new colors out (don't quote me on that).
So this is Cinderella, and it couldn't have a better name! This is exactly like the dress she wore to the ball! And you know how tulle has the iridescent shimmer, well this has metallic and pink (yes pink!!) shimmer packed in there! Soooo pretty:-)

Ok, so my camera didn't want you to see the fabulous pink:-(  It is there and it is pretty. I must be honest though, the formula on this was not so nice. It was kind of thick and runny all at the same time. I needed three coats which was fine, but usually by coat 3, the polish sticks to the previous coat and behaves. This ran down all around my cuticles and needed pretty significant clean up. I don't mid, I think the end result was worth a little effort. Besides for the price who can complain! I just wanted you guys to know that this one is a little moody!

Friday, March 2, 2012

China Glaze - GaGa for Green

Hello! I am so glad it's Friday!!! I don't feel good:-( I managed to stay healthy all winter long in an office full of people passing around colds, well I guess I couldn't hide forever, they got me! I feel especially yucky. I am going to try and relax all day tomorrow and be really really lazy! I don't care what needs to be done, it will have to wait! It will take some effort,I'm not very good at relaxing, I can always think of something that needs to be done then I'm not content till it is,but not this weekend!
So moving on... I have for you GaGa for Green, another Electro-Pop polish. This is very much a spring color! Pretty grass green. Another one of those bright but not bright colors. It reminds me of watercolor.


This was such a nice squishy jelly. It would work really well for a jelly sandwich I am thinking! This wasn't as opaque as some of the other in this collection that were more creme-jelly's. This is three coats, it went on super smooth and shiny. Surprisingly I do not get lobster hands from this one! I feel like a broken record, but I really am loving this collection! I didn't think they were super unique, but I didn't end up with any dupes! Plus I haven't had an issue with any of the formulas in these. They are still available most places that sell China Glaze, but don't wait too long! I've learned that lesson!