Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

orange you glad I updated?

So, I was noticing that in the summertime*, I am drawn to bright colors. It's challenging, since I work in fine dining and garish nails are generally frowned upon. I toe the line as much as I can. I started Zoya Lana. Beautiful duochrome, orange with a silver/pink glint. Love it.



Then, about a week & 1/2 later, I grabbed another orange out of The Big Box o' Polish (technically, two large drawers...whatevs). Not as much duochrome, but the colors are still pretty similar. China Glaze Jamaican Out. It looks much darker in the bottle than it did on my nails, but it photographs lighter than the Zoya.



so, these aren't totally dupes, but they're close enough for me.

*anything after April 15th = summer in my mind

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Konadapalooza

I told you I would go bananas if I ever got a Konad, and look what I did for this Easter:



I didn't do the white base coat this year. If you don't count base coat and top coat, it's only six polishes. Also, one polish is a repeater from last year, Bahamian Escape (a lovely sky blue).



the colors: Chine Glaze Good Witch, CG Peachy Keen, Sinful Colors Let's Meet, CG Bahamian Escape, OPI By Sephora Iris I Was Thinner and SC Purple Diamond.

I got Good Witch (it's on my unseen thumb up there) from the Wizard of Oohs and Aahs collection in the same Sally sale for $2.99, and will fully swatch it at some point. Probably in May, when I go see Wicked as it rolls through Dallas.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Grass Slipper

So bright, so green, so springtime. I once again found it not looking quite complete. Konad to the rescue, again. This is a granny smith apple green. The brush is weird. And after I put the designs on, I put on a coat of Seche. I got a lot of compliments on this particular manicure, which I rocked on a Friday night.



I think this is supposed to be a fishnet design, but the final effect was referred to as lizard nails. I should have fixed the index finger, but I don't think people look *that* closely at my designs.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

pretty purple polka dots

Konad m79 is totally my favorite so far. It's dots, clouds, some fishnet looking thing and pearls and flowers, all full nail designs.

I went to Sally last week and snagged a couple polishes on sale. They also had an Orly Rage at the counter, which I *had* to have. I got China Glaze VIII for $1.99. It's a lovely eggplant creme, opaque in two coats. It was lovely, but it lacked a certain pizazz. Enter m79 and the Sally Hansen Color Quick Purple Chrome.



Squee! I love this so much! Apologies for the blurry shot. Also, the deep shine? Seche Vite, baby! Winner, and still champion of the top coat battle.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Nubar Stronghold

I've had Nubar's porcelain base coat and Diamont for a while, but haven't been using them. I finally broke down and ordered a color from their new Fortress collection. Because I really *heart* grey polishes. I will tell you that I still prefer Seche Vite top coat, even if it does shrink a little. I started with two coats of Stronghold.



It's gorgeous, and it's pretty much opaque on the first coat, but I did a second coat to ensure no streaks. There was a little naked nail on the first go around.

I liked it, but I also wanted to play with the Konad. It was grey and rainy, so I went with silver clouds. Ooooh. Aaaah.



I did use Diamont over the Konad. I also sat for 30 minutes while it dried completely.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Rescue Beauty Lounge Cherry Love

I actually wore this one on St. Patrick's Day, as an homage to the colorblind. Also, I really, really, REALLY like this red. It's creamy, and opaque and totally works with my weird pale, yet still olive skin tone.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday

I couldn't find my black, so I went with a navy blue, Nicole by OPI Midnight Madness. I like the effect. I'd like to see this with an opaque white base coat.

Also, please excuse my ragged cuticles. I wore a lot of glitters this week, which means a lot of soaking in acetone to remove. I use a cuticle oil daily and a cuticle cream at night, and still, raggedy. Apologies.





So lovely. So sparkly. Such a pain to remove.

Monday, March 15, 2010

BB Couture Napa Valley Red

this is a collaboration between Vampy Varnish and BB Couture. The Vampy Varnish collection has many lovely shades in it, but this one appealed to me the most. It's almost a see-through red, with a lot of glitter. I took a picture of it out in the sun, so you could. The effect is that it appears to be lit from under your nail. I went with three coats, so the glitter would cover my visible nail line.

I got this polish in January, which tells you how far behind I am in taking and posting pics. :(


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Sephora by OPI Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I just realized, I don't show the two tone toes anymore. This blog has become about my manicures. Oh well. Que sera sera.

Why does OPI insist on making you sound like you have a lisp when you're saying their polish names?

I will tell you that this a dark, shimmery green, with tons of silver & green microglitter. It flashes silver in different lights. I think it also looks really pretty with silver Konad designs.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Zoya Adina

I don't even know how to begin to describe this color. It's like a beautiful purple with an iridescent green flash. Just kept staring at it. It's so pretty. In the dark restaurant where I work, it looked like a glowing grey. Then, I'd go into the brightly lit kitchen, and it would either look green or purple, depending on which way I turned. It's absolutely gorgeous, and may be headed into my all time faves category.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Franken-FAIL!

I wanted to make a pretty blue glitter polish for my best friend. She's always dug blue/teal polishes, and I had a bottle of Sally Girl teal glitter just lying around. I also had some Poshe top coat that wasn't being used. I decided to swirl them together. On the first shake, it blended beautifully. I shook it a little harder, to achieve an even distribution, and then I walked away. When I came back two hours later, I was bummed to discover what had only earlier looked like it would be a great teal glitter was now a glop of silver glitter at the bottom of the bottle, with a blue-tinged polish on top. No matter how hard I shake it, it will not blend back together.

FAIL.

Monday, February 22, 2010

new Konads!

I got plates m77 & m79, along with a larger bottle of black special polish, and a large bottle of purple metallic special polish. Man, have I raved enough about ocnail.art? Great selection, free shipping on orders over $20, and she'll honor any coupon, hers or a competitor's.

I've been playing with m79. My favorite is the clouds.

Meet Me at Star Ferry main polish


China Glaze Bahamanian Escape main polish. This one was great, and received compliments all through the day and night. It looks like the wallpaper in Toy Story. I love this.





Orly Thorned Rose main polish, which looks deep red on my pale skin, with design from m77.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Valentine's Ombre with Nicole by OPI Love Your Life

While I like the overall effect here, this manicure came out a bit chunkier than I'd hoped. I ended up digging the little hearts out of the bottle with a toothpick.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Sephora by OPI spingtime

Again, I know that it's February, and not technically springtime. But the colors that are coming out now are so gorgeous, I can't stand it. Here are two more that I picked up recently.

First is Leaf Him at the Altar. I am so madly in love with this polish. It is a bright metallic green, with a golden shimmer. It showed no brush strokes, and I again, I went for three coats. Also, please note that I always use Seche Vite top coat. But I've also recently made a switch from CND Stickey base coat to Seche Rebuild. My nails are starting to get all thin & peely, and I can't have this.

I got a billion compliments on this color.




Next, we have the winner for maybe the worst name ever to grace a polish: Iris I was Thinner. You wha? Excuse me? It's bad English, and it's perpetuating bullshit.



But, it's a lovely lavender shade. And since the Lucky Lucky Lavender from the OPI Hong Kong collection turned out to be not so lavender and oh so Pepto-Bismol pink, this was a nice shade for my purple fetish.



three coats color, plus my beloved Seche. This stuff is awesome, and is the tricky to a glossy manicure, every time.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

woohoo, Spingtime!

Well, it's technically still wintertime. But, since it's February, and this is Texas, spring is just around the corner. I got some colors I wanted out of China Glaze & OPI's new collections.


left to right-- China Glaze Up & Away collection Heli-yum and Peachy Keen, OPI Hong Kong Jade is the New Black, Suzi Says Feng Shui, and Lucky Lucky Lavender.

two guess which one I used as soon as I got home.


wow, that is a beautiful green. It was opaque in two coats, but I used three just because I wanted the color to pop.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Chanel Particuliere

Mmm...neutral. I didn't immediately hate the formula, which we know is progress since I usually loathe Chanel's polishes. I love their lipsticks and blushes and whatnots. But the nail polishes and I don't get along. But this formula was easy to use, and opaque in two coats. Yay!

outside, with light coming through sunroof


inside


this color is really pretty in person, and I'm not sure that comes across in the photos. It's neutral, for sure, but it's not so neutral that it annoys me since I like really colorful options.

I did manage to snag the last bottle at Northpark's Nordstrom. Because I am cool like that. Not cool enough to have snagged a Chanel Jade, but still...

Friday, January 29, 2010

happy new year

so, yeah, I've been gone. Sorry. I still do my nails, and sometimes, I even take pictures. I've been playing a lot with ombre manicures.

First, I took two polishes, China Glaze Metallic Muse and Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle, and mixed them.



Then, I took a bright color (Sephora by OPI's Blue Grotto - on sale for $5) and added white polish to it gradually. This one came out lovely.



I also find myself experimenting with textures. I played with OPI's suede finish Lincoln Park After Dark, with the regular lacquer on the tips. Eh.



And then, I used a glitter tip, with a lovely purple, which was a much more festive look. Rimmel's Purple Metal with OPI's Mad As A Hatter on the tip.



I snagged a bottle of Chanel's Particuliere on a recent trip to Nordstrom's, so I will post a swatch of that, with some of the other "greige" colors I have.

'Til then, my lovelies, thanks for dropping by.