Monday, November 26, 2012

Influenster

I tend to be a pretty frugal gal.  I love trying new things but I don't have a lot of money for trial and error so I love receiving samples and products for review!  I'm more than happy to give my honest opinion on a product if I can try it out for myself. 

One program I've really wanted to get in on for a while is Influenster.  They send out various types of boxes full of products to review and I've seen some really good stuff in those boxes!  Sadly, I haven't been able to receive one yet but I'm working on it!

They just changed the site up and to me it looks pretty darn good!  It has a really clean and simple layout.  It's easy to find and access everything and over all it just looks great.  I love the color scheme.

The only thing I can really gripe about is the fact that my age was showing up as 107 and I couldn't figure out how to change it!  I doesn't really bother me, people will either assume it's wrong or think "Damn, she looks good for 107!"  Actually, now that I'm looking, it isn't even showing my "age" anymore!  I corrected my location and now the fake age is gone.  Strange...I'm sure I'll get that figured out eventually.

ANYWAY,  Right now I'm working on completing as many badges as I can because I'd really love to get a chance to try some new products and put my opinion on them out there for everyone to check out!  You should do the same, click here to  sign up for Influenster and start earning those badges!

Thanks for stopping by and check back soon for a new product review!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Beauty Minions Catch-up

What's that, brain?  Did you say joining a group which does bi-weekly assignments will help me blog more consistantly?  Well, that sounds fantastic.  Thanks, brain! 

*Cut to 7 weeks later*

WELL, that was a bust.  Thanks for the lies, brain!  Okay so it wasn't a total bust.  I'm still doing my Beauty Minions assignments I'm just not posting about them!  So I'm here in the wee hours of the morning to catch up.

The second assignment (In celebration of her 2 Year Blogversary) was to do a look inspired by the header/background of  Heather's Blog; My Husband Ate All My Ice Cream

Here is my interpretation!  You can see the rest of the entries for this assignment here Beauty Minions V2. I have to admit, I was really excited when I saw my mani as the first picture on the post!


For my base I used Icing - Riviera Romance. The Skull is Finger Paints - Easel Come, Easel Go!  and NYC - Black Creme.  I did the tips with french manicure strips and sprinkled loose silver glitter over clear polish. Yes, there was glitter stuck to everything for days.  Ah yes, glitter; the herpes of crafts! 


Onto assignment 3.  Theme:  HALLOWEEN!  Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I love everything about it so I was really into this one and excited to see everyones creations! 

Here's mine and of course you should check out the other Minions here; Beauty Minions V3.


 
 
I had painted my nails with Revlon Just Tinted - Desire the day before and while thinking about what I wanted to do I thought about how pink is kinda left out of Halloween.  I love pink and decided that it should be included!  I also used NYC - Black Creme and Finger Paints - Easel Come, Easel Go! in this one.
 
Well, that's all for now, folks!  I'm off to make early morning grilled cheese sandwiches or as my boyfriend calls them, gorilla cheese. 
 
Thanks for reading!  See you next time. Same nail time, same nail channel!
 
 
 
 



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

First Beauty Minions Assignment!

I recently joined a group called Beauty Minions.  It was started by Heather from My Husband Ate All My Ice Cream.  She's giving us bi-weekly assignments, a theme for us to translate into pretty much anything beauty related.  I will obviously be doing them on my nails because it's kinda my thing.  Check out the first of the Beauty Minions post to see all of the participants entries!

The first theme was 50 Shades of Grey. Now, I have never read this book so my inspiration came solely from the title. I knew right away I would do a gradient with white, grey and black. The black didn't really come out in the end but that's okay since I was just trying to get the different shades of grey.


I was planning on doing the gradient with a sponge but it just wasn't working out.  It was pulling up the polish and making too much texture. I took that all off and decided to try a technique I've seen using a fan brush instead. It was pretty messy but I love how it turned out!  I really like how you can see the brush strokes but the transition is still so smooth.
 
 
I wish now that I had taken some picture of the process but it's pretty simple.  I just put vertical stripes of white, grey and black on some plastic and then swiped the fan brush through it (vertically) a few times to blend the colors together.  I picked up quite a bit of paint on the brush so I could cover the nail in one swipe. 
 
The hardest part was finishing the side of the nail where the brush stroke ends.  At first I kept getting a bare spot. You can kinda see on the ring and pinky finger where the brush stroke stops and I had to fill it in. I also used a little thinner on my brush to help the colors run together and make it easier to work with. 
 
 
Love the look, hate the clean up!  I made a serious mess.  The side where the brush stroke started would be fairly clean but the other side tended to pool up with polish.  I had never done this before so hopefully next time I can find a way to cut back on clean up!
 
I hope you enjoyed this weeks Beauty Minion Assignment.  Go check out the other gals work here and stay tuned for a new Beauty Minions post (and hopefully some posts in between) in a couple weeks!
 
 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Tip Top Nails Review and Swatches

Finally I get a chance to write my review on Tip Top polish!  I had been wanting to try Tip Top so when I was contacted by Joan at Tip Top Nails South Africa  asking if I would like to review some of their polish I was super excited!  The only down side to this offer is that I'm now in love with Tip Top polish and I can't get it in the US. They are only available for purchase in South Africa but I believe they are trying to find a way to sell them internationally or at least in the US as well!

Here is the wonderful selection of polish I received with my awesome polish Caboodle in the background!

L-R Peach Crisp, Melting Marshmallows, Space Cadet, Fairy Dust & Solar Flare

Onto the swatches!  I did 3 very thin coats on all but 1 of these polishes.  I could have gotten away with 2 thicker coats but it has been pretty humid and I kept getting bubbles!

Peach Crisp is a dark peach creme.  This one looks more peachy in the bottle but dries a darker more orange shade.  I think apricot rather than peach when it's dry.  This polishe gave me a new appreciation for wearing orange! 




Melting Marshmallows is a light pink creme.  For me, this is the perfect baby pink.  I have a ton of pink polish but hardly ever wear them.  I've worn this one 3 times since I got it.  It's so pretty and feminine.



Space Cadet is a dark blue jelly with silver glass flecks. The name fits, it reminds me of space and I really want to use it as the base when I do my next galaxy mani.  I only did 2 coats with this one but it was perfect.  The picture does not do it justice.  In natural light it kinda glows and you can really see the blue and shimmer from the glass flecks. The down side to this one is that it does stain.  Even with a base coat I had a bit of staining but it's a dark blue, staining was not unexpected.  Just be careful with application because cleaning up your cuticles will be a pain.  Still, totally worth it!

 



Fairy Dust is a light, kinda dusty lavender.  It's the second most used polish I have from the selection. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first (I'm more into bright, bold colors) but after wearing it I decided I really do love it!  It's another very feminine color and I do so love purple.



And last, but not least there is Solar Flare.  Perfectly named in my opinion because it's a very bold and bright red-orange creme.  This one kinda made my camera freak out.  The bright orange didn't want to photograph so I had to play with the picture a bit to try to get a good representation.  It's not perfect but it's pretty close!



I can honestly say that I love this brand!  The colors are beautiful and very pigmented.  The formula is great, went on like butta.  It was easy to do thin, even coats and dried quickly.  They also have great brushes and don't smell much at all.  I can't attest to wear time because I rarely wear polish for more than a couple days.  I wash my hands a lot at work and am not able to be very easy on them so that usually ruins my mani within 1-2 days.

The only thing I could even think to gripe about was the barcode stickers on the handle of the bottle. The ink on a couple rubbed off onto my fingers and I wish the stickers were easier to peel off. Obviously that has nothing to do with the polish itself, just a observation! Oh, and as I said before, Space Cadet does stain.  Personally I don't mind much because my nails are almost always stained!

Thank you for reading! My next post will be a review about the treatments I was sent, along with some progress pictures I've already taken. So, stay tuned!  While you wait,  go check out the Tip Top Nails South Africa page on Facebook and their website Tip Top Nails where you can check out all of their colors and products.









Tuesday, July 31, 2012

YaY! Guest Post #2 for Frugal Polish!

HIYA EVERYONE!  Yes, I'm alive and yes, it's been about a month since I last posted.  I've been a bad blogger!  I did however recently write another guest post for Alyssa at Frugal Polish.

I promise I will be posting more once I finally get a sd card for my REAL camera!  Taking pictures with my webcam has become such a hassle that I just never feel like doing it!  It's hard to get the right lighting, focus and a good quality pic.  Actually I did buy a sd card but it wasn't compatible with my camera because the camera is a little older and needs a more basic smaller card!  I will have one soon though and  it will be more fun and easier to take pictures!

Until then, go check out my second guest post for Alyssa here Frugal Polish and keep checking back here because I WILL have a new post up here as soon as possible.

Thanks for sticking around even though I haven't been posting much!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

It's a Major Award!

I'm sorry, I've been a terrible blogger lately!  I haven't posted anything in almost 2 weeks.  I just haven't felt up to it.  The last couple of months have been rough and I've just been in a funk.  I hate using that as an excuse but there it is.  I've been painting my nails but I haven't really been doing any new nail art so I felt like I didn't have much to post about.

HOWEVER, I just got nominated  for an award from 2 lovely ladies! One of them is Melanie from Samples By Entaeyen and the other is Alyssa from Frugal Polish.  Thank you, ladies  I really appreciate it, it motivated me to do this post!

The rules for accepting the award:
Post the rules on your blog.  Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere.  Name five things you love.  Name five things you hate.  Pass the ribbon on to five other bloggers. (Leave them a comment to notify them of their win.)




I liked it, so I put a frame on it!




Five Most Fabulous Moments:

  1. Finding all these ladies I can share my polish obsession with!
  2. Getting my car running again.
  3. Winning Floam! OMG FLOAM!!!
  4. Receiving this award from 2 gals I love!
  5. Getting to travel to Ireland with my dad.

Five Things I Love:
  1. Uh...nail polish, DUH! 
  2. Zombies.
  3. Watching weird documentaries. (I just watched one on Pinball machines)
  4. Singing loudly in my car where no one can hear me. 
  5. Legos!

Five Things I hate:
  1. The sound of mass chatter, like in a crowded mall during Christmas.
  2. Cleaning the tub.
  3. Driving with my boyfriend as my passenger. 
  4. Messing up a perfectly painted nail.
  5. M. Night Shyamalan movies.  I just watched "The Happening" and I was disappointed AGAIN!

ONTO THE NOMINEES!
  1. Angel from Mega Nailattude
  2. Carrie from Ink & Polish
  3. Lou from Tips and Topcoat
  4. Jess from Kyoti's Nails
  5. Joanna from Polished Dezinez Addict

Oh man, I'm kinda glad that's over!  Choosing was so hard, there's way more then 5 people I would like to award! 


Thank you for reading my blog and a big thanks again to Alyssa and Melanie for the award!




Friday, June 15, 2012

My Very First Guest Post!

I am excited to say that Alyssa from Frugal Polish asked me to do a guest post on her blog!  She held a mini mani contest on her Facebook page for the best manicure of the day and to my surprise, I won!  I was kinda shocked honestly.  I wasn't exactly trying to do anything special, I just submitted my NOTD which was Color Clubs Fame and Fortune.  I just wanted to participate and show off what a beautiful polish it was!  She also ended up buying the polish for herself after seeing how full of awesome it was!

I'm not going to show you the mani I did for her blog here because I want you to hop over to her page too!  Check out the post I did for her blog here at Frugal Polish.

If you haven't seen Fame and Fortune here it is!  This is the mani that won me my first guest post.  If you think it looks good here in my photos then trust me, it looks 100X better in person!




This picture prompted 2 people (that i know of) to buy this polish!  What do you think?  You want it too now, don't you?!



Thursday, June 7, 2012

OPI - Just Spotted the Lizard

This is my very first bottle of OPI!  I won it in a giveaway from XO, Noelle

I always put off buying OPI because...well because I'm broke right now!  So I usually go for the more frugal options. I figured it didn't make too much of a difference!  Now that I've tried it, I am in lust!  This polish applied so smooth and evenly.  It dried quickly, was opaque in 2 coats but I think I used 3! I love the brush, it made application very easy and the color is just fantastic.  (I've been trying to get a Peridot type dupe.)  I think I will be splurging on some more OPI polish when I get the chance.

Here is is!  Hopefully I will be able to use the camera my friend gave me soon.  I haven't been able to get a memory card for it but when I do you can expect some better pics!




I tried to show off the color change the best I could.  That might be easier when I get my new cam working!  This polish looks so cool in my shower, the light in there was able to let me see the blue color change in the polish.

Do you have Just Spotted the Lizard or a similar polish?  Don't you just love looking at it!?


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My First Indie - Sticks & Stones

Finally got my hands on a bottle of Sticks & Stones!  It's just...just fantastic.  Let's see if I can get everything in here.  Sticks & Stones has big, medium and small white hex glitter, white bar glitter, big and small black hex glitter, big and small black SQUARE glitter (love square glitter) black bar glitter and just a hit of holographic glitter!   It looks great over all the cremes I've tried it on and on a couple jellies too!  Next time I post about this polish it will probably be in a pink jelly sandwich so stay tuned!

On with the show! Here it is over my skittle nails.  Thumb to pinkie I used Hard Candy Splendid, Unnamed pink jelly from the 99cent store, Unnamed Green jelly from Icing(sorry!), Wet&Wild Blazed and Sally Girl Chillax.  Then I topped them with Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love.

OoOoOo, Aaaaah

My sister said it reminded her of a garage floor!  I think she meant one of those kinda fancy garage floors.  My boyfriend even thought this looked cool, he really liked the bar glitter.

Do you have Sticks & Stones or any other black and white glitters?  Are you as madly in love with them as I am?

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Crackle - A Torrid Love Affair

I was thinking the other day about what exactly started my nail polish obsession.  I've always liked polish and I have always kept my toenails painted but I never used to be so into painting my finger nails.  I had a small collection of pinks, a couple reds and some pretty sheer pearly whites but I rarely painted my nails.  Then one day I bought a neon pink, you know the kind that it almost hurts to look at.  Well, I painted my nails with it and I was in love!  Still, I wasn't knee deep in polish addiction yet.

So what was it, what really sent me over the edge? SHATTER!  When I saw the OPI Katy Perry collection in InStyle I went bonkers!  I had to have it.  I looked all over for it but it was sold out everywhere.  Finally one day I found the Icing brand Crackle and of course I bought it right away.  I loved it, I still do!  I've only collected 4 colors but I'm so glad I have them.  While other people lost interest in crackles I remain enamored! I don't use them terribly often but I'd never toss them to the wolves.  Today I decided I needed to show my Silver Claire's Crackle a little love with one of my favorite color combos.  Teal/Silver.  Enjoy!


Did you fall in love with the crackle craze?  Do you still enjoy using them?

Summery Water Marble

I was driving home from work the other night and I thought, "I think I want to do a water marble tonight." So I did!  Let me tell ya, if you just suddenly get an urge to do a water marble, you might want to take it as a sign.  It's not something you should try to force or do when you aren't feeling like you have a little extra patience!

I was really happy with the way my left hand came out.  The right, well that was another story.  I didn't like it so I forgot to take a picture of it.  Yeah, that's it...I forgot!

For this one I used a white base color under the marble.  Then I used Claire's-Secret Garden, Grasshopper and Hard Candy-Splendid.


I love the water marble look but it can be such a pain!  Do you enjoy doing them?

Monday, May 21, 2012

Sally's Visit - Skittle Mani with Gradient Accent

So I just renewed my Sally's Card (YAY!)  They sent me my monthly flyer reminding me that it was about to expire and there was a coupon on the back for 15% off and a free Ion or Silk Elements product!  I  ended up being good and just bought some Seche, renewed my card and got a free Ion Conditioner for just a little over 10 bucks!  I think their card is a great deal.  If you don't have one, GET ONE.  I know you might be thinking you don't want to spend the 5 bucks for a card but you get a $5 off coupon for your next visit and there is no set amount that you have to spend to use it.  You can just buy $5 worth of product if you want to.  You also get discounts on just about everything and sometimes it's a pretty good discount.  Just browse around the store and look for the Beauty Club price.  You can save a lot of cash! 

The next day I went back (since I had my $5 coupon) and bought some of the Sally Girl polishes and a bottle of the Beauty Secrets brand thinner.  I used to have the Orly Thinner and let me tell you, the Beauty Secrets brand works just as well!  The bottle is bigger and a little less expensive.  The only down side is the bottle design.  The Orly Thinner has a really nice squeeze bottle top and it's very easy to dispense just a drop or 2.  The Beauty Secrets brand thinner has a flip up spout.  It doesn't just spill out but it's easy to get carried away.  Aside from that, it's great!  I accidentally left a bottle of polish partially open and didn't realize it for a long time.  It was all but completely dried up.  I poured a good deal of thinner in there, mixed it up with an orange stick and then shook the hell out of it!  It totally saved my polish.

Anyway, I didn't intend to ramble on like that but I really love that card and wanted to tell you about the more frugal option of thinner!  What I really wanted to do was show you the mani I did later that night with my Sally Girl minis! (plus one Spoiled)




Unfortunately I can't positively remember the name of the pink on my index finger!  It might be Blink Of Pink but I can't find it on the site. However the rest (middle to pinkie) are Chillax, Epic and Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober. Chillax is more blue then it looks in this picture.

I love the Sally Girl polishes, they always apply really well and dry quickly for me!  Have you tried them?  What did you think?

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Warhol Bender - Day 31 - Recreate your favorite Challenge

I have seen this last day interpreted many ways.  Some people recreate a mani of their own from a prior day or a mani someone else did for one of the days.  Our instructions were just to choose your favorite challenge and create a mani based on that theme.

 I have to be honest now, the day I chose wasn't my favorite (shhhh) however, I took this as a chance to retry a challenge that I wasn't very happy with the first time around! I choose Day 27 - Inspired by Artwork.  This was the idea I really wanted to do for the original day but I just didnt have the time after work to do it.  My boyfriend actually came up with this idea so I gotta give him credit for that! 

I present to you my Warhol Bender (the robot).


I really love the index finger here.  I think it came out the best, his expression is perfect and totally says "Bite my shiny metal a**" to me!  The pinkie is my least favorite and kinda reminds me of Marvin The Martian! The eyes on this one gave me a heap of trouble for some reason but overall, I really liked it!  I think I may try this again but instead of all Benders I'll try different characters on every nail.  Something I don't think Bender would take kindly to!

Forom index finger to pinkie I used Claire's Grasshopper, Hard Candy Splendid, Claire's Secret Garden and NYC Fuchsia Shock.  The Benders are all mixed acrylic paints.

Explosions - Day 30 - Inspired by a Tutorial

Day 30 was kinda a flop for me. I was a little stressed out and just couldn't relax.  That usually makes for a bad nail day!  While I was pretty happy with the end result I couldn't get it exactly how I wanted it.  Now, looking back, it seems so easy.  I re-did it today as an accent nail and it came out just right!

The tutorial that inspired me is here Nailside - Explosion Tutorial and here is my submission for day 30. By the time I actually ended up with this I just didn't have time to do the third color for the challenge deadline and honestly I just didn't feel like working on it anymore!

I used Claire's Aqua and Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go for this one.


And here is my re-try of this design as just an accent nail. I used Claire's Bright Skies, FP Easel Come, Easel Go! and Sally Hansen Black heart.  I like this one MUCH better in terms of getting it to look like the tutorial. However, looking back at the original I realize that I do really like the way it came out!


Ever have one of those bad nail days where nothing seems to workout?  I hate those days!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Cutie Ghosties - Day 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

All I can think about when I hear the word supernatural is Sam, Dean and Castiel.  Oh my goodness, talk about wanting to be touched by an angel!  I'm sorry, was that too much?  I digress...  Seriously though, it's a great show with some super hot guys!

Again, I apologize, that's not what this is about!  I didn't do my nails based off the show. I based it off this tutorial from a very talented lady Nails In Nippon.  I thought it was so freakin' adorable and had been wanting to try it since the first time I saw it!  Here is my version.


You can't be scared by these cute wittle ghosties can you?  They look so friendly and cuddly.

All American - Day 28 - Inspired by a Flag

I started doing my nails with the flag at the end of a Super Mario Bros. level as my inspiration and then realized that my nails were just a little to short for me to do exactly what I wanted.  So, I switched it up to the more patriotic option!  Super shiny, glittery patriotism!


Reminds me of Captain America or the 4th of July! 

I used China Glaze - Ruby Slippers, Orly - Winter Wonderland and Claire's - Bright Skies

Comic Nails - Day 27 - Inspired by Artwork

Another day where I was working with very little time to get my nails done after work.  I wanted to do something detailed like an Andy Warhol using Bender the Robots face on each nail or The Scream by Edvard Munch.  However, I only had about 1 1/2 - 2 hours so it just wasn't going to happen!

I have tried newsprint nails before and I really liked the results.  This time I decided to try colored comic strips.  It was kinda a win/fail.  Win in the fact that they do work!  Fail in the fact that they didn't come out as good as I had hoped and I didn't have time to re-do anything!



My index finger turned out really well and came out clear.  It was much brighter then it looks in the picture.  I still like this but that damn ocd perfectionist part of me keeps saying I could have done better!  I just wished I had more time!

Ever try newsprint nails?  It's super easy, try it!

Cherries! - Day 26 - Inspired by a Pattern

I have  this awesome, vintage style apron.  It's white with red trim and little red bows on the pockets.  It's also covered in cherries!  I love cherries in every way possible.  They are delicious, they are adorable on clothing and jewelry and...did I mention they are delicious?

I mixed it up a little bit and chose black for my base color on my nails instead of white because I have been using white quite a bit for this challenge and well, I thought it would look cool.



Now that I'm thinking of cherries...I have to share this.  If a little swearing offends you then turn back!  Turn back NOW!  Otherwise, stay tuned.  It's just one word!

I think this is originally from this site ComicDay.


Vintage Style - Day 25 - Inspired by Fashion

This one was a bit rough for me honestly.  I love fashion but for some reason I couldn't come up with an idea that I really liked.  I also needed something I could do fairly quickly because I knew I wasn't going to have much time to work with.  I desperately started searching the internet and looking at clothing and jewelry pages I frequent for ideas.

Then, suddenly...SPARKLES!  Inspired by a sexy hand bag! I found this at PlasticLand

Sexy, right?


Sometimes, things just work out!  I used China Glaze - Ruby Slippers and Finger Paints - Easel Come, Easel Go! for this one and it only took a few minutes (I'm leaving out the dry time of course)


Simple, quick and kinda cute I think!  Occasionally, less is more!

Curiouser and Curiouser - Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!  Again I've been totally slacking off on posting these pictures on time.  Between work, painting my nails and geeking out on other people's nails I just haven't gotten around to posting. 

I chose "Alice in Wonderland" as my book.  I wanted to make it look like the red paint was dripping off a rose but it kept coming out looking like blood.  Not the look I was going for this time!

Here is my end result.


For some reason the heart was giving me more trouble then all the other shapes.  Actually, I think I know what it was.  My middle fingers are both crooked at the tips so it was hard to get it centered.  I'll have to take a picture of that someday soon. They have always been that way and it tends to cause my nail to wear down and break at the corner.  When I used to get acrylics done, people would say "They put that nail on crooked!" and I would say "No, they put my finger is on crooked."

Used mostly acrylic paints for this one but I used NYC French White and Claire's Secret Garden as my base colors.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Nerdy Nails - Day 23 - Inspired by a Movie

Watchmen!  Great graphic novel & good movie.  I was going to do this one for tomorrows challenge which is "Inspired by a Book" . However,  my other book idea is also a movie, I decided I'd just do this one today!

Here I used Hard Candy Splendid as my Yellow base, NYC French White as my white base  and a mix of a Sally Girl Teal color and Claire's Secret Garden for the blue base. For the designs I used acrylic paints.  You can see how thick it came out in close of the close ups!

Sorry if it's redundant,  I felt the need to catch this one from a few different angles!






The Night Owl Nail was very thick.







This is by far my favorite mani of this challenge.  I am pretty impressed with myself here!  It turned out so much better then I thought it would. The only trouble I had here was Night Owl.  I did it 4-5 times before I was happy. I couldn't get just the right angle on his mask.  Oh and I messed up a bit on the happy face nail but I just fixed that up with some of the Hardy Candy Splendid, topped it with Seche and you can't even tell!  That stuff is just magical.

Have you read "Watchmen" or at least seen the movie?  I recommend both but if you only choose one, choose the graphc novel!

Diamonds - Day 22 - Inspired by a Song

The song that I was inspired by was "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend"  Originally I wanted to do "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" I got a pretty good looking marmalade sky going. I used an orange and yellow gradient with some sponge painted clouds but the diamonds were just to big to go with the design.  So this is what I came up with since I wanted to use my "diamonds".

I like how it turned out.  Very simple and kinda classy.





I used Sally Hansen "Twisted Pink" and my rhinestones were from the 99 cent store hahaha.  I don't think Marilyn would be happy with those diamonds

TMNT - Day 21 - Inspired by a Color

I was inspired by my beloved green jelly from Icing.  It has no name but that's alright, I still love the little guy!  I think it looks like Slimer from "Ghostbusters" when I'm out in the sun.  Inside it is a perfect Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles color, don't you think?



Let's see, here I used (from index to pinkie) blue acrylic paint, Sally Hansen "Sun Kissed", Spoiled "2 Weeks Sober" and NYC "Big Apple Red"  I drew the eyes on with a sharpie pen.  I do not recommend using a sharpie over top coat.  Under top coat it usually works out just fine though if you let it dry before adding top coat.

Completely unrelated to nails but totally related to TMNT.  Have you heard what direction Micheal Bay is going to take when he makes the new TMNT?  Ugh, that's all I have to say.  Okay, I'm lying. That's not all I have to say but it's all I will say here!

TURTLE POWER!

Bubble City - Day 20 - Water Marble

I love the look of water marble nails but have you tried it?!  It's tricky!  I've had good times and bad times.  This time I had mixed emotions.  I loved the design and colors but as you can see, I had quite a few bubbles!  Look it up on youtube if you have never tried this.  It's fun but it can also be messy and very, very, VERY frustrating!






I'd show you the other fingers but...I didn't do them!  I had already tried this hand about 3 times and I gave up and painted my thumb and my right hand with "True Romance".  If it wasn't so bubbly it would have been perfect!  I used a base of Finger Paints "Easel Come, Easel Go!"  I also used it in the marble along with Claire's "True Romance"  NYC "Empire State Blue"

Nails in Space - Day 19 - Galaxies

Okay, so they are more like space nails than nails in space.  While I would love to go to outer space, I don't know if it would be a good place to paint my nails!

Space nails are something I really enjoy doing.  There is a prior post about them here Pre-Blog Galaxies.  I think I actually like the first set better!  I used the same polish colors as I did in the first set but instead of a make-up sponge I used a sponge tipped eyeshadow applicator.  That's a mouthful, sponge tipped eyeshadow applicator.





Mattified, just for fun!
I didn't get to see how the matte version looks in the sun but the shiny version looks even more fantastic, like real nebula.

Do you like it shiney or matte?

Finger Necklaces - Day 18 - Half Moons

Another design I've never been crazy about personally.  I tried 3 different combos for this one and just wasn't diggin' it.  Also, I didn't have any of those nifty hole reinforcers and my lines were coming out crappy. When I finally came up with this combo, again I was in love.   It's like little pearl necklaces for my nails, so fancy!

Index Finger is my favorite, the pearls are so defined.


For the solid blue on this one I used Icings "Riviera Romance".  The Pearls are a unnamed BonBon shade and the kinda sparkly blue part is an unnamed Claire's polish that I bought because it was a dollar and the bottle is so darn cute!

Adorable right?

Forget You Franken - Day 17 - Glitter

Glitter, glitter, glitter!  I can't get enough of the stuff.  Sure, it can be a pain in the butt to apply. Then there's the terrible, horrible, very bad, no good removal.  You can put soaked cotton on you fingers for a few minutes and yes, that always helps but it still sucks!  Every relationship has it's problems though and I will stick by glitter till the bitter end!

For day 17 I chose my Deborah Lippman "Forget You" franken, mattified!  I love matte glitter and it shows up better since I can only use my webcam.   It's a bit thick because the base color in mine is so sheer.  I would normally layer it over black but I was fresh out!



What do you think?  Do you franken your polish?  If not, you should try it!  It's super fun!