Happy New Year!!

A little belated... but Happy 2011!!!  I hope this year is a lot better than last year.  I suffered a great loss in 2010, but I'm better for it now and I'm thankful that I was strong enough to keep going.

How cool is this?  I used 3 coats of Sephora by OPI 212-Sephora as a base.  It's an amazing black base with copper flakes and gold and iridescent small glitter.  I used Orly Luxe on the tips.  Then I added some Viva la Nails stars and hex glitter.  It was very fitting for the occasion.

So pretty!!!

Last shot, lol.  I loved this one.  I think it came out pretty and I got compliments as well!  :)

OPI: Just a Little Dangerous

When I saw this advertised in the Sephora magazine, it looked AMAZING!  In person, not so much.  I can't find their promo pic now, but they made it seem like this was purple with pink and blue glitter.  There is definitely a shimmer in here, but it's no where near as obvious as they made it out to be.

Sorry for the quick and dirty application.  I was in a rush to get a new color on and had to be somewhere, lol.  Never a good combination.  Anyway, this is 3 coats Sephora by OPI Just a Little Dangerous.  It's definitely pretty, just not the WOW I was hoping for.  It went on fairly well, it was a bit streaky at first.  The pink shimmer is definitely more noticeable than the blue.  Especially in low light where the pink is barely visible at all.

Ewww, horrible cuticles, haha.  I'm messy.  And don't mind that tip wear.  I had to take pics after my day and yeah... it didn't turn out so great.  Oh well.  Really this was only worth something in the sun.  In the shade it was just another royal purple.

OPI: Under My Trench Coat

I purchased this color a while ago in Sephora.  I loved it in the store because it's one of those taupy grey shades.  But then it sat in my bin and I kinda forgot about it.  I recently went away to NC for a few days and had to change my mani when I got back.  I didn't feel like doing anything really, and when I sat there staring at my colors, this one jumped out!  This is 3 coats of Sephora by OPI Under My Trench Coat with 2 coats Seche Vite.

Application was pretty good, but it was a bit sheer.  After 3 coats, I couldn't see VNL in normal light, but in the car one day I saw all the streaks and yuckiness.  Oh well.  I love the taupy color and the subtle gold shimmer as well.  It's a really pretty color.  It's looking more green on here than it is in real life.  And it wore well, I left it on for a good 4 days and only had slight chipping.

BTW, I linked the polishes to where they can be purchased online.  I think I'll do that from now on.

Pink Glitter

Ooooo... glitter.  I was in Sephora the other day and couldn't resist this pink glitter, Sephora by OPI It's Bouquet with Me.  I knew just by looking at it that it would take too many coats to be opaque and I'd NEVER get it off, haha.  So I started with a single coat of OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry.  I think they match up pretty well.  I was considering using a bright pink or a neon purple, but I like this look.  It's kinda in between pink and purple.  And then I tried to do a flower with a Sally Hansen nail art pen, but I failed.  It started out looking fine and the polish was flowing normally, but then it stopped flowing, so I dabbed it once on a napkin and it came back, but as soon as I touched my nail again, all this water pink liquid flew out... OMG!  So I quick grabbed a cotton ball and wiped it off, but some of it had started to dry.  So I tried to brush some acetone over the nail to get it off... I knew it wouldn't take the glitter right off.  You can see a tiny bit on my thumb nail still, oh well.  It blends in under most light.  So I added the white swoopy things with Stripe Rite White.  Problem solved!

Moody Purple

Ewwww!  Nubbin alert!  Haha.  I hate that all my nails broke off while I was vacationing.  Some of them were painfully short.  Thank goodness it's been about a week now and they're starting to get better.

I went shopping over the weekend and stopped by Claire's for this much-raved-about Mood Polish!  I have to say, I wasn't expecting greatness... but I was pleasantly surprised!  I used 3 coats of Claire's Mood Polish in Calm/Wild.  Then I added 3 dots of Sephora by OPI It's Bouquet With Me.  I like the simplicity.  Topped with 2 coats Seche Vite.  Ahhh, back to my HG, hehe.  This bright purple seems to be how my nails have looked most... my hands are usually cold.

I will say that the application was not fantastic with the Claire's polish.  I had cuticle drag issues.  But overall, it provides good coverage in 3 coats.  I wasn't expecting it to be wonderfully opaque, so that is a good bonus!

I ran some hot water over my hand to take some pics, but by the time I got outside, the tips started changing back, haha.

It's rainy and gloomy, so the light is still pretty low.  The middle finger is the most pink still.  I kind of like this ombre effect and would love it if it stayed like this, but it doesn't seem too.  Especially since I have nubbins and there's virtually no free edge on the majority of my fingers at the moment.

Indoor with Ott light.  My hands were cold, they were changing fast!  Haha.  Really interesting and fun to watch!  All day I caught myself checking out my fingers to see what color they were.  Endless entertainment!

Mani Fail

I don't know what I was thinking, but this mani is a FAIL.  :(   It looked good inside my head, but clearly something happened in the translation.  On with it...

Yeah, I don't know.  I used 3 coats of China Glaze Peachy Keen as a base and sponged Sephori by OPI Metro Chic on the bottom.  I tried to blend it with a coat of China Glaze Golden Enchantment but it didn't do much.

It looks like I dipped my fingers in dirt or something... ewwwww.  Oh well, everyone fails sometimes.  I lasted like a day and then took it off.  Haha.

Wishing I was on the beach

My area got hit hard with some snow a couple weeks ago and we had a tiny bit last week and we're due for more this coming week.  But yesterday was BEAUTIFUL!!  The sun was out and the snow was melting.  It still wasn't all that warm, but at least it felt better.  That got me to thinking about the spring and summer... and I LOVE the beach.  When I took a look at my little stash, I came across the OPI DS Classic and thought it looked kind of sand-like.  It was so pretty I didn't want to put much on top.  It's almost a mannequin hand look on me.  I like it tho, it came out cute.  :)

I started with 2 coats of OPI DS Classic.  I painted a little flower/leaf design on the side with China Glaze For Audrey and shaded it with Sephora by OPI Ocean Love Potion.  I put a little bit of China Glaze Fairy Dust on top of the flower just because the base is sparkly and I wanted it to be uniform.  Topped the whole thing with 2 coats of Seche Vite.