Sunset Polka Dots

I wanted to do a nail design with a sunset color scheme to it. I tried a gradient before and it didn't work out, it looked more like color blocks and I didn't like it so much soooo...here's a different angle. My base coat is China Glaze in Peachy Keen. I used 2 coats. I then used the Konad plate m79 for the polka dots. I just used the dark purple special Konad polish for this. I did a top coat of Seche Vite because I didn't want the dots to come off when I did the chevron tips. For the tips I used Big Spender by Essie followed by a few more layers of topcoat. I debated over adding a silver glitter stripe at the bottom of the chevron tips but ultimately sleep won out. :)

Starry Nights!!

I really liked the story behind the Ruffian manicure and how it was inspired by the moon and the night. I'm a night owl so I felt it suited me. :) For the "moon" I used Pure Ice in Silver Mercedes and then for the "sky" I used Essie in Midnight Cami. Now I know traditionally these have a matte finish but I'm not really into matte so much and like the glossier wet looks so I did not use a matte topcoat. I wanted it to have a little more to it so I used the stars/fireworks on Konad stamp plate m14 with the white Konad special polish and also added a rhinestone to each nail. The original design was to have the rhinestone in the center of the largest star but my rhinestones were too big for that...so I just added them to one spot on the nail. I really liked this one!!!

Crackling it up!!!

I had bought some of the China Glaze Crackle polishes awhile back and decided to experiment. I was trying to figure out a good color combo and felt a green and black would work. The base coat is Nicole by OPI in Iceberg Lotus. This color is an interesting iridescent green type of shimmer to it. I like more of an opaque look so this took about 3 coats to get it to an opaque I could deal with. The shimmer it has to it is pretty awesome. I wish I had photographed it prior to the Crackle but I didn't. I used the Black Mesh Crackle on top and was pretty pleased with how it came out. The green sparkles through the black. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

Bad Manicure Romance

This is a manicure I did over Memorial Day (I told you I was slacking :) ) I found some nail art stickers that I were interested in and thought I would try. Everything started out ok. I did my usual base coat and painted 2 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Lavender Cloud. This was the first time I had used a color out of that collection, even though I have 3 colors from it. I liked the color but found the brush to be a little on the weird side for me. I didn't like the brush that much because of how it applied the polish.

Because I have klutz tendencies...I decided to use drying drops on it so I wouldn't have to redo a nail....bad mistake...I was using the OPI Drip Dry drops and it had an unusual effect...the nail polish got some funky looking skin on it...like when pudding dries on the top (nasty I know but that's the best way I can explain it..lol).

Then it went from bad to worse. I have a bad habit of doing my nails in bed. I sat my acetone down on my comforter and didn't know that the bottle wasn't closed all of the way. I didn't notice it until it had already gone through my comforter, top sheet, fitted sheet, mattress pad and all the way down into the mattress...Talk about pissed!!!! I had to wash them all at like 5 o'clock in the morning...I finally got the stickers on it and a couple coats of Seche Vite. Here was the final result. Not too bad but a lot of frustrations...

OPI's Shimmer into Summer Collection for Ulta

I'm a slacker...I know...I haven't posted in a while and have a bunch of pictures to post. Maybe I'll get caught up on the 4th of July.

I did see something in my Ulta ad that I got in the mail today. It was showing a new OPI collection that according to the ad was exclusive to Ulta called Shimmer into Summer. It had some pictures of some blue glitter shades but it didn't say anything about their names or so on...I was wondering if anyone has heard about these cause I can't find any swatches or anything about it anywhere. I'll update more soon...off to MUA to see if they have heard about it.

Glitah!!!!

It's been a few weeks since my last post so....time for a new one!!! Woo hoo!!! I do like me some glitter and was in the mood for it so I came up with a variation on a french manicure.

I use China Glaze's Aqua Baby (2 coats on top of a base coat). I used 1 coat of Seche Vite to get it to dry faster and some drying drops. I've seen people use reinforcements for the half moon manicure but I used it to get the bottom of the tips to be a little more rounded cause I suck freehanding it and tape was too straight of a line for me for what I wanted. But the tips are OPI's Simmer and Shimmer and then I Seche Vite'd the crap out of it (2-3ish coats). The glitter in the Simmer and Shimmer has a rough texture to it and I wanted it to be smooth. Overall though I liked how it turned out and should sparkle pretty well in the sun light.

I've decided to catalog my nail polish with color wheels, I'll have to post pics from that later...I also need another way to organize my polish. I've outgrown my current storage and still have nail polish on it's way. I'm hoping to get my order soon. It's some Zoya polishes which I've never tried before but hope to have some luck with them. More to come later!!!

My 1st Watermarble

I first saw watermarbling on MySimpleLittlePleasures' YouTube channel and thought it looked awesome and wanted to try it. So this was my first attempt. I started with a base coat and 1 coat of China Glaze's White on White. I then used the White on White and OPI's Ogre-The-Top-Blue and What's With the Cattitude. I liked the effect but I do need more practice on it.

The Left Hand

The Right Hand

I've also got new polishes!!! Woo hoo!!! I also found some of the China Glaze's Tronica Collection at Sally's and they were reduced to $1.99. I also got the OPI Silver Shatter at Ulta and the ones out the Pirates of the Caribbean that I liked.

I have also discovered they are selling Zoya at Ulta. I hadn't ever seen this one there before but OK is the last to get things sometimes. I would like to try some Zoya polishes. Off to go roll around in my new polishes...ROFL!!!

Nail of the ehhh...

This one didn't turn out how I wanted it to...oh well. I used China Glaze's Princess Grace color, it is a sheer shimmery very light pink. I wanted a pink background for the design and was trying to decide between that and OPI's Mod About You. When I tested it out, I thought the black stood out better on the Princess Grace color...plus I was feeling rather royal...LOL!!! I used Konad plate m57 with Wet and Wild Black Creme for the fishnet design and then used the rose design off of the m65 plate with the Konad black polish. I was trying for a lace look and wanted the roses to stand out more but it didn't turn out quite how I wanted. I think if the fishnet had bigger squares it might have looked better...oh well.

Nail polish haul...

See the problem with sales on nail polish is that I have to buy a bunch....hahahahaha!!! BUT IT WAS ON SALE!!!! Sally and Ulta still had their buy 2 get 1 free deals going on, plus with Ulta I got $5 Ulta cash....just so I can perpetuate my nail polish collection...lol!!!

And the other problem with shopping for nail polish is that I never remember what I have so I am going to catalog my polish in Excel (I know, very nerdy). I think I got some duplicates. I need to figure out how to organize them a little better cause I'm running out of room. I got some Bundle Monster plates in the mail the day before last so I'm quite excited about that and now have some new designs to play with. I ordered some empty nail polish bottles off of e-Bay and got a bunch of glitter to play with. I'm going to try to make some frankens with them. Hopefully that goes well.

Last weeks NOTW

I've been slackin' but here is last weeks NOTW... OPI's Rumple's Wiggin' stamped with Orly's Wild Wisteria on Konad stamp m63...purples are awesome!!

Freakin' Awesome Combo!!

I was really excited about this one and thought it was such a pretty color combo!! I love how it came out!!!

I used a base coat, followed by 2 coats of Revlon's Top Speed in Royal (1 coat probably would have worked but I wanted it to be nice and opaque and FYI this one has a stinky smell to it). I topped it off with the paisley print off of plate M60 in Pure Ice's Silver Mercedes. I have found this one to be the best silver to stamp with as far as how it appears against the base polish. I like this one way more than the Konad silver and best part...it's only $2.00 at Wal-Mart!!! I finished it out with 1 coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Konad polish vs regular polish

So when I got my Konad, I just got the stamper and scraper and a bunch of plates not any of the polishes. A lot of people were pretty successful with regular nail polish that I just decided not to spend the money on it. Recently I decided to try some of them and compare...

The color is China Glaze - For Audrey, the bows (plate M3) were in China Glaze - White on White, and the flowers (plate M37) were the Konad white nail polish. (pardon the chippage...I didn't have the Konad polishes so this had already been on my nails for 1wk and was right before I removed it). This was also the first manicure I did with the Konad plates too. Personally I liked the Konad white better for the stamping but I still liked the regular one. If you know of a better regular white nail polish, let me know!!

How it all began...

I've been painting my nails since I could sneak my mom's nail polish out of her room. :) Recently, I had a friend post a pic on Facebook about a Konad print she did....and then the flood gates opened and I found a world of nail polish that I never knew existed. My nail polish collection exponentially multiplied like rabbits after that as well.

So here I am just looking to explore it further and !! Hope you enjoy!!