Happy Birthday to Me!!

Hello Everyone!

Today is my 24th! And so far, it's been great. I got some great gifts, and got to spend the day with my family, so it's been pretty good :)
For my birthday mani, I wanted to combine elements of my favorite things. This mani incorporates my favorite color (purple), my favorite insect (butterflies), and of course glitter!

Materials Used (in order):
Milani 3D holographic Hi-Res
Sinful Colors Purple Diamond
Wet n Wild fastdry Hannah Pinktana
Sinful Colors Fiji
NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel Starry Silver Glitter (2 coats)
Konad Image Plate m1
Konad Special Nail Polish in Black (stamping)

It may be hard to tell, but this was actually a gradient mani. My first successful one! I used a make up sponge to apply the polishes, and it was a breeze.

I got money as birthday gifts, so guess what I bought? Polish of course!

L to R: Milani Garnet Gems, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet, (2) NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel Starry Silver Glitter, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement, Revlon Not So Blueberry

L to R: Revlon Blue Mosaic, Starry Pink, Facets of Fuchsia

 When I saw these 3 beauties in Target for $3.36 each, I literally squealed. My mom looked at me like I was a nut or something. She couldn't understand why I was so excited over polish. 3 lemmings satisfied in one go!

L to R: Sally Hansen High Definition Nail Color in Spectrum, Milani 3D Holograpic HD, NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel Top Coat, Orly Bonder Rubberized Basecoat.

 I got the four above from CVS. I haven't been to CVS in years and was shocked to see that they had a good selection of Orly products! Of course, at $7.99 a pop, I wasn't about to go crazy. The basecoat sounded good, so I decided to grab it. On the back of the box, it says that it prevents nail lacquer from wearing off for up to two weeks. I will definitely be putting this claim to the test soon.

$5 for this set at Target! The polish junkie in me simply couldn't resist.

Shades from Payless. I paid $9.99 for one and $4.99 for the other! Payless is buy one, get one half off of everything.

Spin Pins by Goody. Greatest hair invention ever made! It holds my bun up all day long.

Inked Wet n Wild Craze Collection: $1.99 ea. at Duane Reade

Pretty decent birthday haul! And I'm totally happy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Opi DS Coronation + Bundle Monster

Hello :)

I'll start this post off by warning you: I cut my  nails down considerably. My pinkie nail had a crack in it, and rather than start cutting up tea bags and possibly driving myself nuts trying to salvage it, I cut it off at the crack. Since having one single short nail didn't look cute, I cut down and filed all the rest of my nails to match my fresh nubbin of a pinkie.
I immediately regretted the decision, and wished I had tried to salvage my poor pinkie nail after all. But after looking at my  hands for an entire day, I think I'm actually preferring the look and feel of my freshly cut talons! I'm usually able to type quickly and accurately, but my longer nails slowed me down considerably. Now that they're shorter, I type better again, my polish doesn't seem to be chipping as quickly, and they just look neater and more uniform in shape to me.
But enough chat, on to the pictures:

Materials Used:
OPI DS Coronation (base color)

Color Club Wild at Heart (stamping)
 Bundle Monster Image Plate BM-221


I rely on natural light for the majority of my pictures, and since its been raining for what feels like a month, I haven't had many photo-ops with ol' mister sun in a while. The pictures don't do OPI DS Coronation much justice. It's packed with scattered holographic particles that sparkle when the light catches it a certain way. To me, the brush looked diamond encrusted with the wet polish on it. The formula on this was really easy to work with, and it dried relatively quickly. I can't say enough good things about this polish. You can see a really good swatch of it here. Color Club Wild at Heart is great for stamping. In the light you can really see the scattered holo effect of both polishes. I'm really disappointed that the sun wasn't out :( But the sun will come out tomorrow...or so the weather man says :-). Maybe I'll get some brightly lit pictures then...



Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn Leaves Mani

 Hi there!

 Today officially kicks off my favorite month of the year, O glorious October! Not only is it the month of my favorite holiday, Halloween, but it's also the month of my birthday. October is also the first full month of the Fall season, which happens to be my favorite season. I love to see the leaves change colors :).

All pics are enlargeable when clicked!

Right hand  (with flash)

Left Hand (with flash)

Left Hand  (no flash)

Right Hand (no flash)

Materials Used:
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed ( 2 coats)
Wet n Wild Fastdry The Gold & the Beautiful (1 coat over Sun Kissed)
China Glaze Haunting (2 coats)
Bundle Monster Image Plate BM04
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red (red leaves)
China Glaze Passion (gold leaves)

On my left ring finger, I tried to use Sun Kissed and Passion to make a sort of dual color effect with the leaves, but Sun Kissed didn't show up over Haunting so well. So if it looks like I have half a leaf stamped on just that finger, that's why. I'm really enjoying using multiple colors and alternating colors on each hand.  I hope you folks like it :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Black and White Spiders and Webs

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since I last posted...I've fallen into a bit of a depression lately and haven't really been in the mood for blogging. But I'm trying to pull myself out of it.
I finally decided that it's time to start doing Halloween themed nail designs, so I have a spidery design to share with you!

Outdoors

My rarely seen right hand!

Indoors

Materials Used:
Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris
Sally Hansen Whirlwind White
Konad Image Plate m1 (spider)
Bundle Monster Image Plate BM-13 (web)
Stamping Polish: Konad Special Polish in Black and White.

I tried to make each hand opposite the other. I love the way these came out, but it's kind of creepy seeing little bugs on my nails!

Thanks for looking!

NOTD: Mummy May I

Happy Friday!

I'm feeling much better, and thank you guys for the well wishes :). Of course now that I'm no longer confined to the bed, I decided to paint my nails again. Today is officially the first day of fall, so time to let go of the bright summery colors and embrace the darker hues.
 I've been dying to use Mummy May I. I love glitter, and anything purple :). And what a cute name!

China Glaze Mummy May I- 3 Coats (Indoors, with flash)

(Outdoors, no flash)

(Natural light, without flash)

(Natural light, without flash)

(Outdoors, with flash)

It was extremely hard to capture the glitter particles of this polish in the photos. It's been raining all day long, so no sun :(. If the sun decides to show itself, I'll definitely take some better pics of this.
Edit 9/24/11: Added new pics (#2 &5)Still no sun, but at least you can really see the glitter now.
Mummy May I has bright purple glitter suspended in a dark purple base. You can see the dark purple base after one coat, but it ends up looking closer to black after 3 coats. Beware, this polish eats topcoat for breakfast. I used 1 coat of seche vite and 2 coats of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat to give it a shine that I was satisfied with. I never like to leave a polish un-decorated for too long, so if I come up with an idea for nail art, I'll definitely post it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Polka Dots

Hey everyone,

I've been sick as a dog for the past few days :(. When I did my nails on Monday, I was just starting to get sick, so I really wasn't up for doing anything too fancy. I decided to use 2 of my newest Wet n Wild polishes, Teal of Fortune and How I Met Your Magenta, and do a simple design with dots.

Wet n Wild 'Teal of Fortune' and 'How I Met Your Magenta'
(Outdoors, no flash)

(Outdoors, Flash)

(Indoors, no flash)

I used Teal of Fortune and a dotting tool to make the dots.
I admit, I really wasn't a fan of the Wet n Wild fast dry brushes at first, but now I love them! I'm able to paint my nails neatly, which means little to no clean up after. Both polishes are beautiful, but Teal of Fortune was the showstopper for me. The indoor photo is the most color accurate in my opinion. It looks a lot closer to green than teal, and is packed with shimmery particles. How I Met Your Magenta is a hot pink polish with beautiful gold shimmer. It dries to a semi matte finish, so you might want to use top coat to gloss it up.

Both polishes were completely opaque after 3 coats. 

Wet n Wild Fast Dry polishes are still only $0.99 at Walgreens, but the sale ends 9/24. Get them while you can! For the price, you really cant go wrong.

Toodles!

Floral Nails

Hello everyone!

Nail art inspiration sometimes comes from the most unexpected of places. Last night was a perfect example of this, as I was struck with inspiration for a nail art design while watching Married with Children. The Bundy's have been my favorite TV family for months now, thanks to Netfllix and TBS :). In the episode I was watching, Kelly Bundy was wearing a super short, tight blue dress with white flower print, and all the flowers had an orange center. Since I was already wearing a blue polish, it seemed only appropriate that I try to do a design based on the dress.  Once the episode was over, I broke out the image plates and found the perfect thing:

(Outdoors, without flash)

(Indoors, without flash)

(Indoors, with flash)

(Indoors, without flash)

Bundle Monster Image Plate BM-224
I used the image on the upper left for my index and ring fingers, and the upper center image for the rest of my fingers.

I used a dotting tool and China Glaze Papaya Punch for the center of the flowers. Note the cute little pumpkin in the upper right. Perfect for Halloween!
I love the way this turned out! What do you think?

Thanks for looking!

Twinkle, Twinkle over Deep Blue Sea

Good Morning!

For today's nails, I decided to use 2 of the polishes from my haul yesterday: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Deep Blue Sea and Twinkle, Twinkle.
Click on photos for a closer look!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Deep Blue Sea, 3 coats

Deep Blue Sea is pretty sheer. I needed 3 coats for good, opaque coverage, and I probably could have still done a fourth. The color itself is really pretty. It really does look like a sea blue, with silver shimmery particles.

2 Coats of Twinkle, Twinkle over Deep Blue sea

I was a little disappointed by Twinkle, Twinkle. Looking at the bottle made me think that the glitter was dense, but it really isn't.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Twinkle, Twinkle

Twinkle, Twinkle, 2 coats on swatch wheel

I do like the combination of the 2 polishes, but I wish Twinkle Twinkle was a more dense glitter. Both polishes would probably be great for layering. I love this look so much that I can't bear to cover it with art. I feel like it's pretty enough on it's own :)

Before I go, I just had to share this video I found. This woman holds the world record for longest nails! I'm curious to know how she functions daily...but take a look and draw your own conclusions!



Thanks for stopping by!

Drugstore Haul!

Hi everyone!

And welcome new followers! Always good to have you :). I was feeling pretty restless this morning, and decided to take the long, looong walk to Walgreens and Rite Aid. Turns out it was the best decision I've made in a while, because I came home with goodies!

Walgreens is still selling the Wet n Wild Fast Dry nail color for $.99, so get them while you can! The Sinful Colors were $1.99 at Rite Aid.

L to R: Wet n Wild: FuchsiaRama, How I Met Your Magenta, Teal of Fortune, Teal or No Teal, Grays Anatomy, Sinful Colors: I Miss You, Queen of Beauty, Love Nails

L to R:  Midnight Sky, Pumpkin Spice, Set the Stage, Twinkle Twinkle, Teal-y Cool, Teeny Greeny Bikini, Deep Blue Sea, Very Cherry

I was mega lucky at Rite Aid. All the polishes had literally JUST been put on display. I could tell the salesgirl was pissed, because I snatched up a good quantity of the Sally Hansen display she had just finished putting together. But oh well! Finding Pumpkin Spice alone made the trip worthwhile. And I immediately fell in love with Twinkle, Twinkle and Set the Stage. All of the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes were $2.99 at Rite Aid. Even though I already have an insane amount of nail polish, I just couldn't pass them up.

I previously posted about using a nail polish remover jar/sponge combo to remove glitter polishes. The big one was $2.99 and the baby sized one was $1.39 at Rite Aid. I love mini sized things, so I couldn't help myself :).

Last but not least, my nails for the past 2 days:

Shown with the book I've been reading. It's zombie fiction! Due to the unfortunate lack of good zombie movies that I haven't already seen, I've turned to books to satisfy my craving for zombies. And it has! Feed is written by Mira Grant, and It's set after zombies attacked and wiped out most of the population. The book follows 2 bloggers, a brother and sister, that report the news on their blog. There's a lot more to it, but I wont spoil it for you :).
On my nails is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms in Golden Tourmaline.

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Golden Tourmaline,  2 Coats

Beautiful red polish with scattered holographic particles, but chipped after not even a full day of wear :(
I'm still pooped from my journey earlier, so I'll probably redo my nails tomorrow. See you then!

Thanks for stopping by!

Multicolored Pink Nails

 Hi!

 Was your weekend too short? Because mine was! Work rolled around way too fast :(. In anticipation of the cloud of depression that usually falls over me every Monday, I decided to combat the Monday blues...with pink! All pics were taken in natural light, and are enlargeable when clicked.

Materials Used:
CND Basecoat
Orly Cotton Candy (pinkie)
Orly Basket Case (ring finger)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Pink Blink (middle finger)
Orly Fancy Fuchsia (index finger)
Orly Lollipop (thumb)
Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter (1 coat over index and ring finger)
Color Club Wild at Heart (stamping polish)
Seche Vite Top Coat
Bundle Monster Image Plate BM-213

As you can see, Wild at Heart is good for stamping. If I look at it really closely, I can see the holographic particles! Unfortunately, it isn't as noticeable in pictures.
I'm really loving using multiple polishes in a single manicure. It's a great way to 'test drive' a polish :)

Thanks for looking!