Jumping Through Hoops

So tonight are the Closing Ceremonies, and lots of people have requested that I do Olympics nails over the course of the past few weeks, and wellllll, tonight is my last chance!! Pardon the shakiness, I just got home, I went to class from 8-1, hockey game from 130-5?, and drinking from 5-7 or so with some buddies from work. Good times. Note to self: NEVER drink Newcastle after SUPER-hoppy IPA, will taste horrible and like nasty caramel. Anyway, on to the nails.



I used Sally Hansen All the White Stuff, China Glaze Salsa for the red, Pure Ice French Kiss for the blue (and mixed with Sally Hansen All the White Stuff for the midsection of the logo body), Zoya Raven for the black, Diamond Cosmetics #319 Lemon Yellow Zest for the yellow, and Nubar Forest for the green. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Congrats to all the countries on a job well done at the Olympics!! :)

Icing Black Out Nail Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have another Yesterday's Nails of the Day for you, which is Icing's Blackout nail polish. I couldn't get a great picture of this one either under artificial light or with the available sunlight. Blackout is infinitely more spectacular than either picture reveals. I'll show you the pics, which are of three coats first in natural then artificial light, then tell you more.

Icing Blackout Nail Polish, Three Coats in Natural Light

Icing Blackout Nail Polish, Three Coats in Artificial Light

Do you see the reflective sparkly bits in the first picture? In normal room light, all of the glitter looks like that, all multicolored (more showed up under artificial light in the second picture, but the first is color accurate). I'm disappointed that I couldn't get a picture that showed the effect properly. As my experience with the few Icing polishes I have, I had chips in well under twenty-four hours.

Since I change colors daily, I'm not used to chips, but I'll be danged if Icings don't chip on me every time. For this particular manicure, I used Barielle Camouflage as a base and Diamont as a top, I've also tried Seche Ridge Filler and NailTek II under them, and Seche Vite and Poshe as a top in various combinations with no luck. I haven't tried a sticky base coat under them - I should. For Blackout on someone who changes color as often as I do, it's definitely worth it.

So that's the update for today, Dear Reader. I'm thinking of kicking off March tomorrow with green manis until the 17th for Saint Patrick's Day. I never celebrated much before, going on the theory that being Irish by heritage was sufficient celebration, but this is the first year in several that I won't be standing at the State Street Bridge watching the Chicago River get dyed green on St. Pat's. I think that repeated experience made me a little cheesier about the holiday, so I'm going to try to do greens until the 17th. On the 17th, I have something for more Irish planned...

Anyhow, we'll see how long I last on greens! Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy

Today's nails were inspired by something... and I'll give you a hint... They're little, and cheesy, and sometimes I have them for breakfast with my Dr. Pepper.... If you guessed Cheetos- YOU'RE RIGHT!! :-D I mixed both the mascot - Chester the cheetah's spots, with the orange funk that always covers your finger tips after a few of the electric orange morsels of deliciousness.



I used Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in 06 Sun Kissed as a base, with Zoya Raven applied with Konad Plate m57. For the orange Cheetos film on the tips, I sponged Electric Orange over the Konad pattern, and then sponged Essie Matte About You over top of it. For the shiny portion of the nail, I used Seche Vite top coat.

Dangerously cheesy.

Sephora by OPI Dark Room & Konad M77

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Yesterday's Nails of the Day was Sephora by OPI's Dark Room with a leafy pattern from Konad plate M77.

I started with three coats of Dark Room, and was reminded of its weird pigmentation. It's like OPI's Suzi Skies in the Pyrenees and Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow, where the first coat loooks foreboding and the following ones even things out. In any case, Dark Room is a color I'm fond of so I chose it.

I added a leafy pattern in Konad White from plate M77, and here's the result.

Sephora by OPI Dark Room Nail Polish, Three Coats & Konad M77 in Konad White

I liked the outcome quite a bit - I can see using this pattern a lot, and it was good to get another use out of Dark Room. When I wear Dark Room, I'm reminded of when it first came out and I wore it on a first date - the gentleman commented on what a nice green it was, and I swooned! It's the little things...

That's the update for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

That's Gonna Cause a Gummyache.

Ok, so today's nails are an homage to Fish. Not the cold, scaly, stinky kind, but the dude I work with, whose nickname is Fish. The plan today was to test his theory that he could eat a 5 lb gummy bear in one sitting. Unfortunately though, the company we work at caught wind and said 'No way Jose, not on OUR property!' So we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and he attempted the gastronomical feat there. The goal? See how much he could eat of it in a mere hour. Let me say, we were ALL impressed. He ate over 3 POUNDS of gummy bear in 1 hour. PLUS- the only reason he stopped is because we had to go back to work, he came back from lunch and promptly ate a sandwich. Seriously. In honor of what was to originally take place today, I painted gummy bears on my nails- even the best flavor - clear (pineapple) on the pinky nail, even though it is hard to make out what it is. :-P OVER 3 POUNDS! I feel nauseous just thinking about it. The thing was the size of a baby. No joke. Fish ate a baby.



I used OPI Alpine Snow Matte as a base, which chipped horribly within 2 hours. For the red bear, I used China Glaze Salsa, for the orange bear, Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in 06 Sun Kissed, for the yellow bear Urban Outfitters Yellow 1, for the green bear, OPI Green-wich Village, and for the clear bear, I used Maybelline Banana Puddin', which I can't find a link for, but I got mine from a lovely Aussie girl on Makeupalley.com. Everything was mixed with Sally Hansen All the White Stufffor the highlights. For the clear bear, I used Urban Outfitters Yellow 1 to distinguish the shapes on the bear (eyes, belly, etc). Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

The maiden bite. He bit off his face because the bear was supposedly 'looking at him funny'.



After 3 lb. 3 oz was eaten.



And...because I found it amusing... the Spork, which isn't really a spork, but a Star Trek fork.



Eat Long and Prosper.

My teeth hurt.

Sinful Colors Green Ocean

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have a Sinful Colors St. Patrick's Day shade for you: Green Ocean. It was in a display with Irish Green, just those two colors.

It's green flaky and regular glitter in a clear base with a slight bit of green to it. I used two coats over black, and got this.

Sinful Colors Green Ocean Nail Polish, Two Coats over Black

Now, I don't have a ton of Sinfuls because they're very hit or miss with whether they'll dry properly for me with any top coat. This one dried fine with Diamont, but dry, it's the exact opposite of smooth. It's looks nice, but feels awful. I think a bazillion refresher coats of top coat would fix that.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

I Feel So Desert-ed.

Hey everyone!! Today's nails are an homage to the seemingly endless span of desert that surrounds the lovely city of sin, booze, hookers, and gluttony that I reside in. :-P No, those aren't bats, they're vultures- the Hunter S. Thompson/Fear and Loathing/Steadman nails are to come in the near future I think. :-D



I used Zoya Yummy as a base, with American Apparel Palm Springs for the desert, then mixed with Zoya Dea to shade. For the cacti, I used L.A. Girl Army Green, that I got at Urban Outfitters, Pure Ice Wild Thing to highlight, and Nubar Forest
for shadow. For the vultures, I used Zoya Raven. Topped everything off with Seche Vite top coat so it'd dry superfast, then topped off the sand portion with Essie Matte About You. :)

Note: No bodies are buried in the desert pictured, unlike the desert surrounding Vegas. ;)

BB Couture Hands of Hope Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

BB Couture's Hands of Hope Collection in no longer available, but since I thought the collection was something noteworthy BB Couture did, I decided to tell you about them anyhow.

For one month this collection was available, and 25% of the sales went to the Red Cross for Haitian relief. The colors were available individually or in the collection, but on the last day of its availability, it went on sale with free shipping, so I bought it.

The colors are actually quite pretty, although none is so unique you'll be kicking yourself for missing out. I needed three coats of each, and photographed them in a brief moment of sunlight.

Paradise is sort of between an off white and a beige with a little shimmer in the bottle, but not so much on the nail.

BB Couture Hands of Hope Paradise Nail Polish, Three Coats

Cap-Haitan is a lavender creme.

BB Couture Hands of Hope Cap-Haitian Nail Polish, Three Coats

Labadie Beach is a pretty bright pink shimmer.

BB Couture Hands of Hope Labadie Beach Nail Polish, Three Coats

Kyona Beach is a pretty mint creme, with the down size of having a few stray little white bits in it.

BB Couture Hands of Hope Kyona Beach Nail Polish, Three Coats

Tortuga Island is a lime shimmer which was a bit sheer after three coats.

BB Couture Hands of Hope Tortuga Island Nail Polish, Three Coats

Bassins Bleu is a bluish minty creme.

BB Couture Hands of Hope Bassins Bleu Nail Polish, Three Coats

With Hands of Hope came a freebie bottle of BB Couture's top coat, and I tried it out. It's not for me. It says it's quick dry, but I washed my hair about two hours after doing a manicure and got smudges and dents galore. That was disappointing.

So this noble effort from BB Couture is my effort for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

I've Gotta Go No. 2.

hahha. Did the title worry you? :-P

I was laying on the couch last night trying to think of what to do on my nails, and totally not wanting to go out to my car to get my idea notebook. Suddenly it dawned on me, based on my nails yesterday, to do pencils!! :)



I used a mix of China Glaze Salsa and American Apparel Palm Springs for the eraser, China Glaze Millennium for the metal band, and then mixed with Zoya Raven for the shadow on the grooves on the band. For the pencil portion, I used Diamond Cosmetics #319 Lemon Yellow Zest for the pencil color, and then mixed with Electric Orange for shading on the sides of the pencil. Topped off the pencil and metal parts with Seche Vite top coat and the eraser with Essie Matte About You to give it that rubery look, but my lotion made it sorta shiny. damn. Oh well, now it looks like one of those old, hard erasers. :-P

LORAC sale on Hautelook!

Woot!! LORAC Sale on Hautelook- everything starts at $4, almost everything is $4 or $5, and the most expensive item is a palette for $16.50 Head on over. LOTS of e/s, l/s, cheek colors, and palettes. :)

Hautelook

Coach Nail Polish Set & Olympics NOTD

Good morning, Dear Reader!

A while back, Coach was giving away little freebie nail polish kits, and I got one for a few bucks on Ebay. I swatched those recently and have the pictures for you today.

My finding is that unless you really want them for the novelty factor, save your pennies. They all required at least three coats, and although pretty in the bottle, the purple is an absolute nightmare on the nail. They're unnamed, so I'll just refer to them by color. I did three coats of each, but you'll see that two of the four don't look right and need more, but I wanted to be consistent.

Since some might still want the set for the novelty factor, I took pictures of the packaging. Here's the box closed, and I left my hand in the picture for scale. They're minis.

Coach Nail Polish Box, Closed

Here it is open.

Coach Nail Polish Box, Open

They were a bit separated, but I just gave them a little shake and they applied fine. Since the application was good and the first swatch was okay, I had high hopes, but they were sooon dashed. Here is three coats of the pink, which was fine.

Coach Nail Polish, Three Coats Pink

The bronze was not-so-fine. It's still semi sheer at three coats.

Coach Nail Polish, Three Coats Bronze

The fuchsia was fine at three coats.

Coach Nail Polish, Three Coats Fuchsia

Brace yourselves for what you are about to see... The purple left uncovered spots and was just an overall mess. I'm showing it to you so you save your money!

Coach Nail Polish, Three Coats Purple

So these will have to find a loving home with a Coach fan who wants them for the novelty factor, because I sure as heck won't be wearing them.

Just so we end on a happy note, I thought I'd give you a peek at my completely unrelated Nails of the Day. Yesterday's Go U.S.A. mani was cheerful, so I thought I'd do another. The colors are Nubar Sensual Red, Orly White Out, and Barry M Cobalt Blue, with Konad M14.

U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!

That's all for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Playing Fast & Loose(leaf)

Today's nails started out in my mind as just sheets of looseleaf paper, but I told my friend Erik (of Vegas Made Me Do It fame) of the idea, and he suggested that I add letter grades, so there you have it.



I used Sally Hansen All the White Stuff as a base, with a mix of Sally Hansen All the White Stuff and China Glaze Salsa for the pink lines, a mix of Sally Hansen All the White Stuff and Zoya Yummy for the blue lines, Zoya Raven for the holes, China Glaze Salsa for the grades, and Essie Matte About You to make it flat. Real pencil was used after the matte dried to draw on the squiggles to look like writing. :)

Did it make the grade?

Go U.S.A! Konad M14 & M77

Good morning again, Dear Reader!

This morning I was considering what to do for my NOTD, and I realized the The Olympics are going on and I haven't done a single U.S.A. mani, so today is the day. I'm so pleased with how it turned out that I thought I'd show it to you right away!

I decided I wanted a base of blue, and chose Nubar Mali-Blue. I figured I'd do red and white Konad, and kind of winged the whole thing after I applied two coats of Mali-Blue - there was no real plan. I went through the Konad plates and chose M14 for the U.S.A. stamp and M77 to do stripes on my tips. I did the accent nail on my ring finger with M14, using Konad Dark Red and White for the stamp.

As I moved on to M77 for the stripes, I noticed that it had dots as well. My original plan, when I chose the plate and thought the pattern I wanted was just two stripes, was to make one red and one right, alternating the position from one nail to the next. The dots gave me a fun idea. I just colored the dots the same color as the top stripe, stamped, and moved on.

The fun idea I had when I noticed the dots was to apply some rhinestones. What's more fun that something that sparkles, right? I underlined "U.S.A" on my ring finger with them, then applied a red, a white, and a blue to each nail on the M77 pattern's dots. I know some people stick the stones in top coat, but Diamont dries kind of fast for that. I did mine with nail glue (a dot this tiny pops right off with remover).

I use a pad of paper to hold my Konad plates, so that and polish that comes off scraping them is not a big deal and when it's messy I can just tear off the top page and have a fresh surface. On the paper, I put a little puddle of nail glue, dipped an orange stick in it, and just picked up the stones and applied them with it. The stick was handy for scooting them to be right on the correct dot. When all the rhinestones were on, I applied a final coat of Diamont to seal them and the stamping.

This is what I came up with.

Nubar Mali-Blue Nail Polish, Two Coats, and Konad M14 & M77

I don't know why I'm so gleeful about it, but I am. Here's to sporty things, medals, and all things that sparkle...

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Konad M75 & M80 Konadicures

Good morning, Dear Reader!

It's been grey and drab here for longer than I can stand, so I've recently done a couple of Konadicures that make me think of warm, sunny weather.

The first started with a base of Color Club Limelight. This one took three coats and stil had a bit of VNL. Not bad, just enough that I can see it if I'm looking for it.

Color Club Limelight Nail Polish, Three Coats

I added a little pattern from Konad plate M75 to it in Konad white, and it's suddenly 1968 on my nails.

Color Club Limelight Nail Polish, Three Coats with Konad M75

The other I started with two coats of Nubar Orange Crush.

Nubar Orange Crush Nail Polish, Two Coats

I finally found a pattern from plate M80 I'm not wild about. It's an asymmetric tip pattern, and the pattern makes it look like it was applied crookedly. At least it was a sunny mani - I used Konad Yellow for the stamping.

Nubar Orange Crush Nail Polish, Two Coats & Konad M80

That's what I have for you for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Liquid Hot MAG-MAH.

Hey everybody!! :) I've been wanting to do this ever since I remembered the Cover Girl Crackle Polishes from long ago. Unfortunately, I cannot find a BLACK bottle of Cover Girl Crackle to save my life. However, I found this bottle of no-name crackle polish at a Halloween store, and finally decided to try it. Unfortunately, as it dried, it turned from Black to grey, but you can see where it stayed black in some spots.. :( Oh well, I still think it give close enough to the desired effect. I marbled red and orange underneath the crackle polish to give the feel of swirling lava.



I used Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in 06 Sun Kissed as a base, with China Glaze Salsa and Electric Orange marbled on top. I then brushed a coat of the aforementioned no-name black Halloween store crackle polish. Once it crackled, I topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

And for those that might remember the game, for those who love Daniel Tosh (of Tosh.0 and comedy fame), and for my friend Jordan....

THE FLOOR IS LAVA, THE FLOOR IS LAVA!

More Revlon Nail Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I mentioned that yesterday I ran into some Revlon nail polishes while hunting for Rock Royalty, and I swatched them for you yesterday. I had many more, I don't know if I still have them. If I run into some of the cool ones I'm thinking of, I'll show them to you. In the meantime, I found plenty to keep me busy.

I'll start with some of the oldies. Speedy is a pink frost, a little too frosty for my taste, now that I look at it. Another to offload! This is two coats.

Revlon Speedy Nail Polish, Two Coats

Serene is a very sheer peachy pink.

Revlon Serene Nail Polish, Two Coats

Firecracker is a classic, a red glitter in a red jelly base. I used three coats.

Revlon Firecracker Nail Polish, Three Coats

The next batch, I believe are currently available. Get Reddy is a red shimmer that took three coats.

Revlon Get Reddy Nail Polish, Three Coats

Raven Red is a dark red creme, also a three coater.

Revlon Raven Red Nail Polish, Three Coats

Vixen is a vampy dark red creme, another three coater.

Revlon Vixen Nail Polish, Three Coats

Guava Glam is a light coral shimmer that required three coats.

Revlon Guava Glam Nail Polish, Three Coats

No Shrinking Violet is a great violet shimmer which needed two coats.

Revlon No Shrinking Violet Nail Polish, Two Coats

Last, the limited edition. The only one I ran into was Not So Blue-Berry, a sparkly light blue scented one. It smells like Boo Berry cereal.

Revlon Not So Blue-Berry Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added some Konad White to it using Konad plate M80.

Revlon Not So Blue-Berry Nail Polish, Two Coats, with Konad M80

Those are the Revlon nail polishes I have to show you for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!