Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July, US girls.  :)  

This is a manicure that I have had floating around in my head for about 3 months, and I finally had a chance to do it.  :)  I just love the way it came out.  

Here's what I used...

Thumb and index finger - BB Couture Fairy Blood

Middle finger - Revlon Royal with Konad White Special Polish

Ring finger - Nails Inc Floral Street with Konad Red Special Polish

Pinky finger - Jessica Majesty Blue with Dollish Polish It's a Me Mario

Stamping plate used was BundleMonster plate BM20.  

I hope everyone in the US has a safe and happy Fourth of July, and that everyone in the rest of the world has a safe and happy Wednesday.

Happy Father's Day!

I wanted to do a special manicure for Father's Day, but I couldn't decide on what.  This idea is one that has been floating around in my brain for several months now, and I thought Father's Day was the perfect occasion for which to make it happen.  And for any other "Good Eats" nerds out there... yes, this was inspired by Alton Brown's mixer.  :P

I think it turned out perfect.  :)

This is 2 coats of Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather, a rich, graphite grey creme, as a base.  I then applied the flames using BundleMonster plate BM12 and Konad Special Polish in red and yellow.  To create the swirled effect in the flames, I first covered the design with the yellow stamping polish and then topped that polish with drops of the red stamping polish and used the pointed end of an orange stick to mix them.  I then scraped the polish and applied the stamp as usual.  

On my ring fingers, I wanted to create an accent nail, so rather than starting with the yellow polish, I first put down the red polish and then topped it with drops of yellow.  I then sealed in the whole thing  with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat.  

I love this look.  Even Tim, who usually couldn't care less about my manicures, said this one looked "bad ass".  I hope you love this one as much I do, and for any dads reading... I hope you have a fabulous day!

Today's Nails - Barielle Shannon's Attitude

If you follow any of my ramblings on Twitter, you may know that today is my 37th birthday.  :\  

I've been waffling for a few days on what to use for my manicure today.  At first, it was going to be the obvious choice, Lippmann Happy Birthday, but I decided to do something different because 1. I think I did that last year, and 2. I don't like being predictable.  :P  

As luck would have it, I had just received my Barielle order (from their 30% off sale) and figured I'd use one of my new glitters (gnah... it's like crack).  This picture is 2 coats of one of their new shades, Shannon's Attitude (holo bar glitter and small micro-glitter in a clear purple base), over 2 coats of OPI Honk if You Love OPI (a deep, browned plum from OPI's 2011 Fall collection).  I also used 2 coats of Nubar Diamont.

Here's a bottle pic of Shannon's Attitude...

It's super-pretty and more than a little distracting.  LOL.  Unfortunately, when I pulled it out of the box, I was a little disappointed, to be honest.  This is because it looks nothing like the picture on Barielle's website.  I quickly got over my disappointment, and I now really like Shannon's Attitude, and my birthday mani in general, but I just wanted to give you all fair warning that in real life, this is nowhere near the picture on Barielle's site.

Barielle Shannon's Attitude is available on Barielle.com, and it retails for $8, though Barielle has their Shades by Barielle always offered on a "buy one, get one half-off" promotion.

QUICK UPDATE - 3/25/2012 - Shannon's Attitude was a complete hit when I went out for my birthday.  It shines like crazy.  If you love glitter, especially bar glitter, you need this one. 

Shannon's Attitude was purchased by me.  Honk if You Love OPI was provided to me by OPI.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

So, as I was thinking of manicures to do for today, I went back and forth about what to do.  It seems like the big trend this year is water marbling.  Water marbling terrifies me.  I'm such a total spazz that I would end up covered in nail polish.  It would also be all over my table and my sink.  LOL.  

I thought about a konad, because I do have a shamrock stamp, but then I realized I don't have all the supplies to konad anymore and I didn't feel like going to Sally's to pick them up.  Then I saw a tutorial on Julep's FB page on how to create a shamrock.  I thought that would be easy-peasy and perfect for today.  Then I realized that painted-on shamrocks did not need to be green, and the perfect idea was born.

However, I greatly over-estimated my freehand shamrock-painting abilities because what started out as painting shamrocks all over my nails quickly evolved in to plan B.  That said, I really like plan B...

Okay, so it's not a conventional Saint Patrick's Day manicure, but think the pink and green work really well together, and I like my non-green, though slightly-wonky shamrock.  Here's what I used...

1. China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint (mint green) - on all nails except for ring fingers and thumbs - 3 coats

2. OPI Sparrow Me the Drama (light tea rose pink) - on ring fingers and thumbs - 3 coats

3. OPI Dim Sum Plum (bright purple/pink) - for freehand shamrock

4. OPI Divine Swine (red-based purple and silver glitter in a clear base) - over Sparrow Me the Drama

5. OPI Fresh Frog of Bel-Air (green and silver glitter in a clean base) - over Re-Fresh Mint

I feel like I practically forced this manicure in to existence, as I had to remove it once and then apply it again.  I almost gave up and applied a boring green creme and let that be that, but I was stubborn and wanted (most of) the idea in my head to end up on my nails, as that seems to be a bit of a problem lately.  LOL.

Orly Wants to be Your Valentine

Okay, normally, I hate Valentine's Day.  Well, I hate the sentiment behind Valentine's Day.  I suppose it was my years toiling around in bitter singledom that created such cynicism, but even now that I've been married almost 10 years, Valentine's Day isn't a concept I can get behind.  The concept just seems so cheesy.  However, I love going through the aisles of Valentine's Day-themed merchandise at big boxes.  I love big pink hearts filled with candy and hot pink stuffed teddy bears.  I suppose it's the little girl in me, but I can't get enough of that stuff.  I don't buy it because my house is a big as a tic-tac, but I do love looking at it.  :)

So when I received this press release from Orly announcing their re-promote of several reds and pinks for Valentine's Day, I was immediately intrigued...

Find an Eye Catching Polish from ORLY to Love this Valentine’s Day

Look fabulous and treat yourself without the calories this Valentine’s Day with ORLY nail polish. ORLY offers saucy and sexy lacquers to add polish to any date or girls’ night out in a flash. When the chocolates are eaten and the roses are wilted, these pretty pinks and seductive reds are here to stay, providing instant glam throughout the year.  

All ORLY Nail Lacquers retail for $7.50 each and are free of DBP and all traces of Toluene and Formaldehyde. ORLY Nail Lacquers and Treatment products are available at orlybeauty.com, Sally Beauty and Ulta. 

--

In addition to the press release, Orly's PR firm was nice enough to provide me with 2 of the colors from this release, Kiss the Bride and Red Flare...

Kiss the Bride - Soft baby pink creme.  Normally, I'm opposed to pastels.  I like them in theory, but most of the time, they are so sheer and streaky that I usually give up and give them to my mom.  You normally have to do 4+ coats and by that point, it's so gloopy, you'll never get it to set.  This one, on the other hand, is nicely pigmented and the formula is thick enough that this could be a 2-coater if you used a sticky base coat.  3 coats.

Red Flare - BRIGHT, pink-leaning red creme.  Okay, the problem with red cremes is that the nail polish market is so saturated with them that there may be a fantastic one out there that you'd never even think to try. This is one of those polishes.  Judging from the PR picture, I would have thought it to be a deep burgundy, but it was a total surprise, and it's awesome.  It's a bright almost-true red, but it leans a bit pink.  I think it's a perfect Valentine's Red.  The great thing about this one is that if you used a sticky base coat and were very careful in your strokes, it could be a 1-coater.  Formula was flawless.  2 coats.

I know sometimes re-promotes are a bit annoying.  You think it's going to be new stuff, but it's polishes already in the core line.  However, I think it's also a great way to try a new polish you may have never even thought about.  I know I wouldn't have picked up Kiss the Bride or Red Flare on my own.  They both seem pretty normal and commonplace, but in reality, they are both great polishes with Red Flare being one of the best reds in my collection.

You can find Orlys, including these polishes, at online e-tailers, including Orly's website, and at Sally Beauty.

These were sent to me for review

KOTD: CC Art of Seduction w/ CC Worth the Risque (Holiday Ideas)

Have you ever looked at all the colors in your stash and realized there was nothing you wanted on your nails? That happened to me last night. I went through all 3 of my drawers and couldn't find a single color I wanted to wear. That's when I remembered I had a box from VNS that I still hadn't put into my stash. I'd put it away after I OD'd, so when I opened it up last night, it was like Christmas all over again. LOL.

As I'd thought about creating a series of holiday mani ideas, I figured I'd start with CC Art of Seduction. Here's a pic...






Art of Seduction is part of CC's 2008 Glitter Vixen collection. If you aren't familiar with it, it's a collection of seven, color-specific, mega-glitters. I've reviewed the purple glitter before, but there's also a green, blue, gold, silver, holo, and this red. All the colors in the collection remind me of craft glitter. In fact, when I was putting this one on, I kept thinking that it was like my kids' glitter glue in texture and pigmentation. Each of these is saturated in color. And, except for the holo, unlike the ChG new glitters, there's no other color in these glitters. The red glitter is red, the blue glitter is blue, the green glitter is green, and so on and so forth. This is why it these are so unique to me and why the remind me of craft glitter glue.

The downside to these is that they are really bumpy and they take 2-3 coats to reach opacity. I did 2 on this mani, but it honestly could have used a third. I put 3 coats of TC over it and it helps a lot, but there's still a little bit of texturing to the finish, but since it's a glitter, you can't tell unless you touch it. It doesn't bother me, but if you are bugged by a little bumpiness, these may not be for you. I know it got some mixed reviews when it came out, but I love this collection (it's one of 2 collections of which I own every color).

As for Art of Seduction on it's own, it's got to be the best red glitter I own, and I have several, though I do not have Ruby Pumps (my sister stole it. grrr. :P). There's not much I can say about it, other than to say it looks like I put red craft glitter on my nails (and I know I've mentioned the craft glitter thing several times, but I find it so appropriate, I can't help myself. LOL).

The konad is plate m64, and I used CC Worth the Risque as the design color. This was my first time konadding with both a holo and a CC. WtR is from CC's Femme Fatale collection. I'm used to using my ChG Romantiques, and this was a little thin and the design isn't as bold as I thought it would be, but I think that's due to the formula of the CC rather than the fact it's a holo. I've seen konads done with ChG OMG and they were perfect. That said, I do like this. As much as I wanted a "slap yo mama" holo konad, I really love the subtly of WtR over the shimmery red glitter. I think this would be perfect for a holiday party.



You can get both these colors and their corresponding collections from H2T and VNS. I love CCs. I think they are great for the price.

Happy 4th of July...

well at least what's left of it. Here on the East Coast, we have 17 minutes as I started writing this post.

First off, I apologize for not updating in almost a week. I kept telling myself I needed to post an update and then I'd get bogged down in something and forget.

As today is the 4th of July, I do have an Independence Day mani to post.

This is Essie Marshmallow base with Essie Aruba Blue fireworks, Misa Got to be Real stars and a very shaky Essie Hot-E french. I am sorry for the state of my cuticles in this picture. The are pretty raggedy-ass and if I didn't want to show you the cute mani and the improvement in my konadding skills, I wouldn't post it. A lot of it has to do with glue on my cuticles, but my fingers are also pretty dry and my cuticles have a tendency to peel when that happens. I applied a shitload of Mango Mend after I removed this and my cuticles do look much better. Not great, but better. Unfortunately, with glue-ons cuticles can never look flawless, at least not with my application skills.

BTW, as you probably noticed, I said that I removed the above mani. I was pretty bummed about it, too. I'd used Bondini glue, hoping I would get more wear from it than other nail glues. I know my mom says that's what her former nail tech would use to apply tips. Anyway, perhaps it was the chlorine from my IL's pool last night, or perhaps the Bondini is just shit, but either way, it didn't last for much more than 24 hours. My first multi-colored konad, too. BooHiss.

So, last night, instead of cleaning house, I had to reapply my nails, as I was not going to have the time today. I put on an untried, BB Couture for Nails Fairy Blood. This color is so pretty and it really reminds me of ChG Ruby Pumps, though with less glitter. I don't own Ruby Pumps, but I did at one point, my sister swiped it and I never saw it again. Again, BooHiss.

Here's Fairy Blood with a brand-new, 2 hours old konad. Plate m35 with Misa Got to be Real. Coincidentally, it's the fairy plate. Funny. I didn't plan that.

As you see, and yes, I am saying this to redeem myself, but my cuticles look much better. :)

Also, you may notice, that my konadding skills seem to be getting better. As I mentioned in a response to HardyMem below, my biggest problem now is consistency with design placement. I learned a lot from a tutorial by Siobhan on the MUA NB. Most importantly, I feel, I learned to roll the design on to the stamp rather than just pressing. You get it on there perfectly everytime this way. Once I get design placement down, I'll be good to go... I hope. LOL.