Arrrg, ye matey!

Haha, I loved the Pirates of the Carribean collex from OPI.  I liked it so much that I actually put the movies on my netflix (since I hadn't seen them yet) and have now watched the first 3!  I should have stopped after the first 1... but that's another issue.

This is 3 coats OPI Mermaid's Tears with dots of OPI Yodel Me on My Cell.  I absolutely love this dusty teal green.  I love teal already, but this shade is just to die for!  I love it!  So pretty.  And the application was fairly good too.  It was perfect, there's a bubble on the index finger, you can see.  But hey, it's worth it for this shade!

So pretty!  I love it!  Hahaha.  What do you guys think??

Broadway Nails Nail Dress

There is such a craze of having super detailed manis.  If you wanted to free hand something, it might take a good chunk of time and/or some practice!  But with the Broadway Nails Nail Dress, it's practically instant.  At the most, it would take as long as a regular mani to apply, but most likely even less time than that.  Let's take a look.

As far as I can tell, this design doesn't have a name.  We'll call it polka dots, shall we?  The yellow kind of freaked out the camera, so I apologize for the not-so-great pics.  These are "stick-on wraps" and to me, essentially stickers.  The Sally Hansen version is very thin, not sticky, more like nail polish.  This is thicker, like a sticker or decal, not very stretchy.  They come 14 on a sheet and each package has 2 sheets.  So essentially you get 14 sizes and 28 total wraps.  However, as with most of these products, you'll most likely only get one use out of the entire package unless you have in-between sized fingers that can fit in more than one size wrap.  Application SOUNDS really easy.  You pick a size, peel it off the sheet, apply with the round edge near the cuticle, smooth it on, file off the excess.  BUT and for me, this is a big but... (haha, butt... anyway) the sheet is opaque.  And not just like a little hard to see through, no, it's completely opaque.  So you can't put your finger under the sheet to gauge a good size to peel off.  When I am applying false nails or decals, etc, I like to size up all my fingers first and make sure I have a plan before I start.  With this, you just have to kind of wing it because you can't get a good fit by eye-balling the sticker and your finger.  Your nail is rounded and the sticker is flat, so it's just hard to match up!  That was the biggest downfall of this product.  But the rest of the application was very, very easy.  It goes on, well, like a sticker.  It comes with a 2 sided file and the one side buffs on the wrap, the other side files off the excess.  They recommend putting on a top coat for extended wear.

I put them on starting with the pinky, as they recommend.  I honestly don't see how it matters unless you are using your nails to peel off the stickers which would ruin the fingers already done I guess.  But you shouldn't be doing that because we all know we aren't supposed to use our nails as tools, right?  Right?  Stop it!  Haha.  But after I got them all on, I noticed the first few started lifting around the edges.  I had taken my prior mani off but did NOT buff my nails to take off the shine prior to application.  I think if I wore these again I would do that so they would stick a little better.  So after I got them all on and filed off the edges, I went back and made sure all the edges were good and stuck and slapped on a coat of ChG Fast Forward.  I made sure to wrap the tips since I just filed these things off on the blunt edge and wanted to keep them on.  I took these pictures the next day and you can see I already have some issues with this.  The pinky and thumb show some tip wear!

This isn't the greatest pic, a little blurry, I apologize.  I did like this mani, it's bright and fun and definitely easier to apply the sticker version than it would be to freehand.  Painting yellow dots on top of purple would be HELL.  You'd have to do white first to even get it to show up and then you'd need a nice opaque yellow of which we all know there are very few.  Not to mention how time consuming it would be if you are not very well practiced in nail art.  These are definitely much easier to apply and look "done" with very little know-how.  Apart from the issue with finding the correct size, application was very easy.  Keeping them on... not so much.  After 2 days, this index finger peeled off.  It started lifting at the tip and then caught on my hair in the shower and came right off.  I do type all day at work, so maybe that aggravated the tip wear resulting in that one coming off.  Who knows.

Basically, this is a decent product for what it is.  They come in a variety of designs and are fairly easy to apply.  It allows even the novice manicure maven to have a fun and/or sophisticated mani in little notice.  For a special occasion, these would be perfect.  However, if you're looking for long wear, I would not recommend these.  But they are very cute and look great while they last!

[This product was sent to me for review]

Snowflakes?

I wanted to do snowflakes, but I was in a bit of a rush, so I did dots with sparkles instead.  Haha.  It's sorta snow like.

This is 3 coats of Orly Snowcone.  I make dots with a dotting tool and Sally Hansen White On and topped them with OPI Simmer & Shimmer.  I think it came out cute and a little abstract, haha.

I love that blue, it's so clear and intense, yet light.  Does that make sense?  It's a great color.  You may recall I had a bit of trouble with it previously.  But I shook it up good for a couple days before I used it this time.  I shook it up, let it sit and then repeated, lol.  Seemed to take away that weird oily problem I had.  I try not to shake my polish and roll them instead, but I think this one needed a good shake and then time to settle the bubbles.  Whatever, it worked and I was much happier this time around!

BOO!

Hehe.  Scared you, didn't I?  :)  I free-handed these ghosts... and honestly I didn't like them.  But a lot of other people did, lol.  I was going for a night sky thing with the ghosts swirling around.  I liked it, I just didn't like the ghosts, which is kind of the whole point, but oh well.

This is 3 coats of Nubar Night Sparkle.  Soooo pretty and sparkly!!  I used Color Club Worth the Risque for the dots and ghosts.

Love these colors.  I had no problem with application on either of these.  The Nubar gave fairly good coverage, which was surprising to me since it's a glitter.  But the base is blue too, so it covers pretty well.  And the holo of the Color Club stood out even among all that sparkle.

I wound up liking this one because of the color combo and because it was kind of anti-halloween, haha.  These aren't the usual colors for Halloween, so it caught people's eyes.

Models Own: Lilac Dream

How awesome is this color?  I have to admit, I wasn't that exited about this shade when I saw it on swatches because it looked too pink.  But once I got it on, I love it!  It is on the pink side of lilac, but it's very flattering.  Some lilacs tend to look dusty and that makes your skin look pale, but this is vibrant and warm.  This is 2 coats Models Own Lilac Dream with Milani Hi-Res for the dots.  Topped with 2 coats Seche Vite.  Application was very smooth and easy, great coverage, no cuticle drag.  Very dreamy if I do say so myself.  And to top it all off, this pic is after 4 days of wear.  There's some tip wear, but no chipping.  Pretty darn good.  I will definitely go to this color again soon.

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!

Purple Dots

This was actually my first venture into nail art.  I only took this one photo.  I took it with my cell phone in my bathroom, so the lighting sucks, haha.

Start with a base of Sally Hansen Pat on the Black.  I used Stripe Rite White and Silver Glitter to make the flower in the bottom corner.  I made a few dots coming out of the flower with OPI A grape fit!  Then I used some clear top coat to stick a purple rhinestone in the center of the flower.

Blue Flower

I actually expected the base coat to be a little lighter and more opaque.  It looks more like I have nothing on the nail, but there is a slight rainbow hue.

I started with a base of Essie Gladioli.  Then I used a dotting tool to make a large flower in OPI Yoga-ta get this blue!  I did a few flicks and some tiny center dots on the flower with Stripe Rite White.

Hot Pink

I LOVE the new brush Sally Hansen has in the "Complete Salon Manicure" line.  The brush is shorter and rounded, completely flat and tapered so it's thicker towards the handle.  It makes it so easy to apply without streaking.

I did a base of Sally Hansen Shrimply Devine.  I did some stripes in black and gold glitter using Stripe Rite.  Then I made a dot flower in the corner using Avon Golden Twilight.