Sunshine!

Talk about BRIGHT  yellow, lol.  Sometimes you just have to make your own sunshine.  I needed it to be sunny on a dreary day.  This sure did the trick!!

Wow, lol.  This is 4 coats of Orly Lemonade topped with China Glaze Golden Enchantment.  I had to do 4 coats because it's yellow and yellow is just a mess.  It's too streaky unless you do gloppy coats and I don't like doing that either.

Yay, pretty!  I love yellow polish.  It just makes me so happy!

This is a weird angle, haha.

4th of July!

I know I'm late posting this, but I left it on for the whole week anyway, so I kind feel like I'm not late.  Does that make sense?  Maybe not.  Oh well.  On with it...

The red is one coat of China Glaze Hey Sailor.  I love that it's one coat, so wonderful!  Great red.  The blue is 2 coats Orly Royal Navy.  Both are topped with one coat of China Glaze Lightning Bolt.  I added the crackle on an angle (or tried to anyway) which I thought would be more interesting.

I know this is pretty much a cop-out as far as nail art goes.  I mean, I looked at my mani from last year and damn!  I really wimped out!  Hahahaha.  But I kinda liked the simplicity of it.  I thought it looked cool.

The other hand!  OMG!  Hahaha.  I did them opposite, obviously.  I think I'd liked there being more red on this hand.  But I didn't like the crackle as well on this hand.

Models Own Utopia

I wanted this sooooooo badly.  I wasn't sure really what color it was.  Honestly, I'm still not sure.  Who the hell cares?  It's awesome!  It's color is awesome.  I hereby name this color awesome.  Carry on.

Ok, so ignore the fact that I didn't clean up.  This is 3 coats of awesome... I mean Models Own Utopia.  It applied like buttah and coverage was great.  I just wasn't doing well and made it streaky so I needed 3 coats.  I could have done 2 if I'd tried harder.

Seriously, what color is this?  Pink?  Purple?  Beige?  Marshmallow?  Whatever, I stand by awesome.

I added some Orly Etoile on top to give it some shimmer.  I think it turned out super pretty.  So if you have an awesome dress, wear this awesome polish with it!  HAHA

Party Hearty!

Somehow I forgot to post this earlier.  I know pretty much everyone and their mother did this combo if they got this China Glaze Party Hearty.  BUT I don't care because it's just that awesome.  And it's still awesome even though it's not Christmas anymore.

This is 3 coats Orly Winter Wonderland topped with 2 coats China Glaze Party Hearty!  How pretty!  The Orly Winter Wonderland is fairly sheer, I believe I may have started with a base of 1 coat Sallen Hansen White On.  But the Orly gives it that frosty wintery feel.  The application on it was good, just sheer.  The China Glaze is just amazing.  It's a clear base with colored glitter, so you have to use a little purpose if you want all the nails to come out even.  You can see my middle finger has a lot more glitter than my pointer.

So cool.  I love this glitter.  It has small silver, medium green and large red glitter in it.  It's an amazing combo!  =D


Also, I just realized that I missed my blogiversary!  LOL.  I started getting some stuff together for a giveaway.  It will be coming soon!  Hehe.

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!

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!  :)

Pink Party

This one was fun and of course, super simple.  I was going for a girlie-girl look without being too kid like and immature.  I didn't want to spend a lot of time on the design, so my eyes were drawn to glitters!

This is 2 coats of Orly Cotton Candy topped with 1 thick coat of Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink.  Very cool!  The pink is, of course, a great color.  Application was smooth and opaque, wear was pretty darn good as well.

This is a shitty picture, but whatever, you can see the colors on the glitter a bit better.  I liked this mani.  It was easy and fast and stayed on very well.  I felt like this would have been good for a party or something, but I didn't have an occasion to go to.

Orly: Galaxy Girl

OMG squeeee!  This is the most amazing color!  I had looked at people swatching Urban Decay Bruise and wanted it... but then this came out!  I love purple and this isn't just flat purple, it's awesome!  I love love love love love it.  Did I mention I love it?  HA!

Ok, so application wasn't that great for me.  However, I think this is pretty much user error.  I was sitting in front of a fan that day and that's my own darned fault.  So you can see some cuticle drag, but it's not horrid.  This is 3 coats Orly Galaxy Girl.  Good coverage, not too thick or too thin.  It wasn't easy peasy, but it was pretty good.

This is a good shot of the magenta-purple and the teal flash.  Every angle of this polish looked unique.  I love that kind of shade where you look and it's one color and then you look and it's another color.  And wait, did it change again?  It's mesmerizing, haha.

Another shot just because it's so pretty!  Wow, I can't sing enough praises on this.  LOVE!

Haul and Nail Mail!

I got some nail mail yesterday and then today I went on a bit of a shopping spree in Ulta.  Couldn't help myself.  I got one of those certificates for spending a certain amount of money during the quarter, so I could get some free polish.  I knew the new OPI Swiss collection was there, so I had to go check it out!  I also got a couple mini-packs that I'm putting aside for giveaways.

First, my nail mail.  I ordered some stuff on Trans Design.  I needed more OPI Expert Touch Remover, it's my fave.  It does a pretty quick job taking off my polish and has a good smell afterwards.  Kinda citrusy, but not overly so.  Anyway, I ordered a jackpot of CND while I was at it.

Hmmm, maybe I over-did it.  I got 3 colors (left to right), Rasberry Parfait, Fireberry, and Dark Ruby.  And 6 effects (not necessarily in this order, I'm too lazy to match them up, haha) Lavender Pearl, Copper Shimmer, Crimson Sparkle, Rasberry Sparkle, Sapphire Sparkle, and Ice Blue Shimmer.  That's a lot!!  I love the effects, they're really pretty and can be dramatic or subtle depending on what you put it on.

Ok, so then I went to Ulta and I found the Orly Cosmic FX collection... SO amazing!  I only picked up 3...

Left to right is Out of This World, Space Cadet and Galaxy Girl (you can also buy these on Transdesign).  A lot of bloggers out there are saying there are dupes for almost all the colors in this collection.  For me, these are all unique.  I love the look of them in the swatches I've seen and I can't wait to try them out!

I also got some OPI... some new, some old.

Left to right is Significant Other Color, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, Color to Watch, Yodel Me on My Cell, and My Private Jet.  Yes, you read that right, MPJ.  BUT... it's the chocolate shimmer version, no holo to be seen.  I've never even seen this color in person but I know from all you lovely ladies that there are several versions out there.  This is one... and there were several bottles exactly like it... yes, I checked them all just to be sure.  I really liked a lot of the Swiss Collection, but so much red!  I'm not a huge red fan.  And some of them looked similar to the new China Glaze colors.

Who cares, I have a giant new stash of un-trieds.  I will have to swatch these soon for you guys.  :)

Orly: Green Apple

I love this color.  This is 3 coats of Orly Green Apple with 2 coats Seche Vite.  This is a bright yellowish green, but definitely more green.  Very springy.  Application was fairly good, but it was a tad streaky.  I have some tip wear after wearing it all day at work, but it's not horrible.  I attempted to stamp some white flowers, but they came out like crap, so I took it off.  I like it plain, it's vivid.  Got a few compliments on it too, which is always nice.

Orly: Royal Navy

This is one of the new Orly shades, Royal Navy.  It's definitely more royal blue than navy.  This is 3 coats Orly Royal Navy with 2 coats Seche Vite.  Application was fairly good.  It was a little gloppy, but that could also have been since I was working near a fan.  It's been darned hot here lately.  Look close and you will see the wonderful teal shimmer in this lovely blue.  I have to say, I could not stop looking at my hands with this color on.  It's bright, but not crazy.  I love love love the shimmer and it's jelly!  Who doesn't love a blue jelly with shimmer?  If you like blues, I would definitely recommend this shade.

After a day of plain, I decided to go nautical and painted on an anchor with Orly Luxe on my ring fingers.  I was going to do a red and white stripe, but I didn't want to cover up too much of the gorgeous blue!  Hehe.  You can see the shimmer better in this shot too.  Absolutely LOVE this color!

Orly: Snowcone

I had to do my nails before my trip to Colorado and I wanted something snowy... so I picked Orly Snowcone!  I have to say this is a lovely Robin's Egg blue.  However, the consistency of mine is very strange.  It's almost oily.  Has anyone else had that issue?  I rolled mine in my palms for a good while and there was still a ring on the side that looked not-completely mixed.  I started painting it on and it totally dragged off in the center of a few nails.  I've never come across this problem before.  This is 3 thickish coats with 2 coats Poshe on top.

And yes, I tried Poshe again.  And yes, I still don't like it.  My nails started chipping after a day and after 3 days, the TC peeled off!!  What the hell!!  And on top of that a bunch of my nails broke off so now I have nubbins.  Very disappointing.  I'm seriously considering going to get gel nails.  I hear they can do them fairly natural looking and thin.  Anyone out there have gels?  Opinions?

Orly: Cotton Candy

So after my mani fail, I wanted something that would definitely look cute.  I looked at my recent haul and pulled out the super cute Orly Cotton Candy.  One of my fav colors is pink, so I just had to.

This is 4 coats of Cotton Candy with Seche Vite.  It looks more peachy in the pic than it does IRL.  It truly is a nice pink creme.  It's fairly bright, but still pastel.  The formula gave me some trouble tho.  I had some intense cuticle drag and it was pretty streaky.  I can still see some vague streakiness after 4 coats, but it's not that apparent, especially since most people look from a little further away, hehe.  I started off doing thinner coats, but had to move to thicker coats for better coverage.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased.  I think the color is worth the hassle.

After all that, I figured I wanted to do an accent nail, so I added a little art to the ring finger.

I drew a horizontal line at the "tip" line with Stripe Rite Pink Glitter.  Then I made some tiny polka dots with Borghese Plumaggio Purple on just the tip.  (I will say I may as well have used black for this because you can't tell it's purple).  I added a large pink rhinestone to top it off.  I nearly forgot to take photos of this.  I thought I had when I first did the art.  I was getting ready to take it off and ripped off the rhinestone on my left hand when I had this pang... did I take pics?  I checked and... nope!  Ooops!  So I quick snapped a few of my right hand, lol.  Please excuse the dry cuticles and tip wear.

New Haul!

I need to rant for a sec...

So, I was going to this salon to get my hair cut and paying an arm and a leg each time.  I found out a co-worker of my mother's was also going to this salon, but left for a new place and totally loves it.  She told me I could save probably 60% and that the stylist was amazing.  Now, granted... this woman gets cut and color where I only get a cut.  However, she straight up lied.  I go to this new salon and it's set up like a chain place, but I don't think it is one.  There's no one at the front desk... when the phone rings or someone walks in the door, one of the stylists have to stop and go tend to them.  The girl puts me right into the shampoo chair without even asking me anything about my hair or what I want.  I'm used to having a "consultation" before a first-time cut so that they know what your hair is like and how it's cut when you come in.  She washes it and puts me in the salon chair and THEN asks me what I want.  I give her an overview of what I am willing to do to my hair (little to nothing) and the kind of cut I currently have.  She asks me where my part is and I tell her.  As she's cutting, she proceeds to part it the wrong way, so I point that out and she fixes it.  I have side-swoop bangs and when she goes to cut them, she pulls them the wrong way.  I tell her and she says, "Oh, right."  It's been months since my last cut and they had grown almost to my chin and she only cuts them to my mouth.  I tell her they need to be shorter and she asks where to.  I told her to cut them to eye level so when they are dry, they'll sit at eyebrow level.  So she cuts them to the bottom of my nose!  I gave up at this point.  She blows my hair out straight and gives it absolutely NO body what-so-ever and blows the bangs out the wrong way.  When she's done, she asks if it looks ok.  I tell her it's fine.  I pay my cheap bill and leave.  When I get to the car, I have a million tiny hairs on my face along with the frown.  I actually contemplated going to my regular salon which is only a few minutes away and telling them to fix it.  I decided not to because I felt guilty for not just going to them in the first place.

ANYWAY... I felt so down after all that so I decided to go to Ulta and pick up a few polishes to make myself feel better!!  I went a little over-board.  Hah.  On to the pics!

I remembered seeing Borghese Stellare Notte, a dark rainbow shimmer like an oil-slick, on someone else's blog and saw the same color.  I picked up it and Plumaggio Purple, a dark purple with pinkish shimmer.

I got Orly Luxe, a gold foil, and Cotton Candy, a baby pink cream.  I have a weakness for pink, so I couldn't help it.  And the gold foil - I mean, come on!

I loved my OPI DS Classic mani so much that I had to get a couple more from this line.  I picked up DS Opulence and DS Coronation.

My goal for the trip was to come out with a nice green for a possible St. Patty's mani.  I found these 3 greens.  The first is essence 18 Check Me Out, a Euro brand, which just recently debuted in Ulta in USA.  They only have the colour & go line, which I hear isn't the greatest, but at $0.99, I couldn't help it anyway.  The second is Ulta Limelight, which to me looks like a grass green.  The last is a brand I've never heard of, LA Splash Golden Seahorse.  This polish looks like China Glaze Audrey with gold glitter!!  This brand had only a few polishes, but it was a small display in general.  There were various make up goodies and I think I may have to get some in the future.

Much to my surprise, I got a free gift!  An OPI Spring Chic mini pack.

OPI Ink, Rosy Future and a Top Coat.  I love the minis.  Really, I love anything mini-sized.  They are super cute just because they are small.

WOW!  That was a lot of pics.  And a lot of polish, haha.  I'm not really one to do swatches just for myself... so if you want to see any of these alone, let me know.  I'm more of a swatch-of-opportunity, lol.  Like I need something on my nails for a couple days and so I throw something on.  But if you ask, I will do it!  ;)

Valentine's Day

These actually came out cuter than I thought they would.  I was second guessing my choice of a purple and pink design and almost changed it all to pink.  I like it this way.  Hopefully you do too!

I started with a base of Essie Baby Cakes, sponged on OPI Meet me on the Star Ferry once about 2/3 of the nail and again just on the tip to darken it.  One quick coat of Orly Etoile (a very subtle silver/purple glitter) over the whole thing for some sparkle.  Then I used Avon Fuschia with a fairly dry brush to make two fat lines which made a small heart shape.