Brand New Skates

Good morning!

I am showing a swatch and look that I did a few weeks ago but never got around to posting.
Today is OPI Brand New Skates from last year's holiday collection.

Three coats indoor light

BNS is VERY sheer. I have rocked this with four coats but there is still a great deal of VNL. Nonetheless, I love this color and I thought it was a great departure from the usual holiday offerings. It's a lovely, glittery gun metal grey. It looks amazing layered over a grey creme and black creme.

Dry time is acceptable. I found it best to let each coat dry a little longer or there will be major smudges and gloppiness.

Bottle love, baby.

I wore this as is for a day then added a little more just for fun.

China Glaze Fairy Dust layered on index, middle and pinkie.

Konad Special Polish in White and

Zoya Posh on ring

Topped with China Glaze Matte Magic top coat

I really liked Fairy Dust over this because it is simply amazing over pretty much any polish.

But my curiosity got the better of me and I had to see what the whole thing would look like matte.

Eh, it's okay...

Mattifying Fairy Dust killed the holo but gave the appearance that this was a densely packed glitter. That was kind of cool but lesson learned. The good thing was that after much hand washing and application of hand creme, the fully matte finish gave way to a satin and the holographic goodness of Fairy Dust began to twinkle again.

That's it for now, lovelies. Hope the day finds you well! Thanks for looking.

Workplace appropriateness

Today I bring you China Glaze Fifth Avenue. This was shown recently and I'm a jerk for not remembering who it was. :( Anyway, I decided to go with something work safe today.
I bought this when I was out of work and was getting ready to interview. I decided on this because it still gave me color and when I wasn't interviewing anymore, I could always layer over it with something cool.
I suppose everyone needs some neutrals in their stash, right?

Two coats in full sun

I was happy with the result and I do like the color but it is a little boring. So I had to do more.

One coat of Nina Ultra Pro Molten Gold

The Ninas are simply awesome. I love the berry tones it gives Fifth Avenue and the gold flash is mesmerizing.

This still keeps the manicure work safe but adds some much needed flash.

Now to plan a snazzy manicure for Thanksgiving...

Thank you for looking and see you again tomorrow!

Duck Day Mani

Good morning!

So this is my Duck Day mani from this weekend. It was a simple and easy one since I really had limited time.

I used Sinful San Francisco for my base on index through pinkie and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Lightening on thumb. The green banner is stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Jumpin' Jade, the black is Wet n' Wild Black Creme and the White is Konad Special Polish. I used Lightening to stamp the banner over the green but again, this didn't pop much. I also changed the alignment of the stamp for my green nails and they kind of looked like flames. The banner image comes from plate m4.
I was most pleased with this and how quickly it all came together. If I could say that for the game. It was a killer! It was a nail biting overtime victory and that's too much suspense for me! Good thing I don't bite my nails or I'd really be in trouble!

That's it for now, my friends. I hope you enjoy your day!

NOTD

Today's nails are Wet n' Wild Black creme layered with Nina Ultra Pro Molten Copper. It was hard to capture all of its dimensions. Molten Copper can look  like a dark purple foil that flashes golden olive green and teal. Depending on the angle, it is reminiscent of peacock feathers.

I have nearly collected all of the Nina moltens. I thought this was the last but then I found Molten Opal.  I must have it! It looks similar to China Glaze Rainbow in bottle but we'll see how it is in real life.

From Nails

From Nails

From Nails

I will soon have pics from my latest haul to show you. I did pretty awesome considering I had less than 20 bucks to spend. Stay tuned! Duck Day mani to come soon as well.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your Sunday!

Island dreaming

It's official. I am over Autumn and have decided to skip Winter. Probably because I am seriously planning another trip to Cancun. We could definitely use it! (BTW, Matt and me are taking vitamin D supplements and it is really helping.) I dream about this often:

Oh hells yes, y'all.

So I decided to swatch one of my favorite blues for you today.

Two coats, hardly any sun

This is Orly Calypso Breeze from the Tiki Time collection. I only have this in a mini size but I need the full size.

As usual, Orly is amazing. One thicker coat is opaque and it dries super fast. The shine factor isn't too bad considering Orly cremes dry with a satin finish. I have played with this for Konad and it's a winner. Orly is one of my absolute favorites to Konad with.

What a pretty blue!

Calypso Breeze is a truly season-less color but man, does it make me miss Cancun. What can I say? I was meant to be an island girl!

Thank you for looking and here's hoping your morning treats you well!

Give me glitz

I have mentioned time and again that I am a sucker for metallic polishes. I love golds, silvers, bronzes and coppers. Which is funny since I only wear white gold and sterling silver jewelry. Go figure.
Last winter the Flourish collection was released and I HAD to have Richelle.

Two coats, failing sun

Richelle is a unique gold. It has some bronze-y and rose tones but it still is definitely gold. This is a great option for anyone who shies away from yellow golds. This requires three coats for full coverage and really doesn't show much brush stroke unlike other metallics.  My only complaint is that I get these weird little clumps of polish somewhere on the nail. Now, this has been doing that ever since I brought it home and used it for the first time. It is really weird. Anyone have any ideas?

Snatching the last of the sun

This wears really well. I wore this for three days with minimal tip wear and a few chips and this was without the Color Lock System. If using the Color Lock System, this should wear a little longer. Provided you are not digging through giant boxes of smelly, donated shoes or building fake Xmas trees. Just sayin' is all.

As always, I thank you for coming by. Enjoy your evening!

Sweetness

Good day!

Today I bring you a lovely Zoya polish that I bought ONLY because of its name.

Zoya Dita!

Two coats in failing sun

I'm not much for reds, pinks and berries but I do have a few. Dita was a pleasant surprise for me. I didn't think I would like it but I wound up loving it! It just cheers me so.

The formula is awesome as ever. Three coats would be a must for full coverage because two still shows VNL. This dried quick and stayed shiny and glossy. I had no issues with staining when I went to remove it which was a relief. That's one reason why I dislike wearing reds or berries!

As I mentioned, I bought this because of the name. This is my little Dita:

Dita the tiger eating Auntie's hair.

(I don't understand why she does this but she loves it.)

Looks like a cocktail for the nails!

Thank you for looking! I have some more things coming up and a little surprise.

Now it's off to Sally, Rite-Aid and Dollar Tree for more polish!

Where I been and Duck day mani

Friday was a special day with much rejoicing.
It was my sister's birthday and we took her out to our favorite bar to celebrate.

Left to right:

Matt, my sister, me

Our bestie, Edica

Our other bestie, Nae and Nae's boyfriend, Chris

We had a super good time and it was a nice way to start my week.

Now on to the Duck Day mani.

I received my China Glaze Loves You Snow Much set on Friday and I knew I would have to use it right away. I was rocking Zoya Harley on Friday and I really did not want to remove it.

My first step was to apply a thin coat of Five Golden rings over Harley.

It was pretty.

Then it was time to break out the Konad and the dotting tool and have some fun. The gold was a little luxe so I wanted to roll with the rich feeling and I chose the fleur de lis pattern from plate m15. That one has always been a headache for me because it refused to transfer properly. I took Sasse's tiep to lightly file the image and that worked for me.

 

Dots are China Glaze Emerald Sparkle and Zoya Goldie

Images are Emerald Sparkle and Goldie

I love how this turned out. The gold stamp was really subtle but it was so pretty. Emerald Sparkle stamps well and it's sparkles really popped in bright light. However, Emerald Sparkle is much too pretty for something like this. It is best to be shown in all its glory. Which is to come...soon!

Thank you for looking!

China Glaze Recycle

Last winter I was crazy about grey. I had great makeup in grey but no nail polish. I was hunting high and low and all I found was polish waay out of my price range at the time. (I was saving for Cancun then too! Guess that will be my winter getaway destination from now on!)

Since I was pretty new to China Glaze, I did not know they had a grey creme until I saw Recycle on All Lacquered Up. I immediately rushed to Sally to find only disappointment. They did not have it! Which is a constant refrain about the Sally's here in town. Thank bob for e-tailers! I finally got my hands on this when I placed an order with Transdesign.

Recycle fulfills all of the lemmings I had. I didn't want it too dark and certainly not too light.

Three coats full sun

Recycle turned out to be the perfect middle ground for me. It's fully opaque in three coats and dries fairly quick and with plenty of shine. I love wearing this when I want something edgy but I'm not feeling black.

Imagine the possibilities...

I knew this was going to be a great choice to have some cool sheers and glitters layered over and I'm looking forward to doing some Konad with it. (I haven't because I have an idea for it and I need some more supplies!)

I did not hesitate to do some layering experiments last week  and I'm pleased as punch!

From left to right:

Pumpkin Holo

OPI Brand New Skates

Haken Blue Crush

China Glaze Fairy Dust

Fairy Dust is just awesome. Blue Crush is such a winner, it's so gorgeous on its own and it looks so neat layered over so many colors. BNS over this deepens the gray and is a good idea for those that don't like its sheerness.

Left to right:

Sally Girl It's SoU

Hard Candy Mr. Wrong

Nina Ultra Pro Molten Gold

Nina Ultra Pro Molten Ruby

It's So U's blue sparkle pops on darker bases and I love the way it twinkles.

I threw Mr. Wrong on there on a whim and it's ok. I would like it better if I had applied it better.

Molten Gold never fails to please me. I really love how the pink shines here and it definitely deepens the gold. (Which I could not accurately photograph!)

Molten Ruby looked really snazzy in person. I especially like how it makes the red richer and the grey adds a great dimension. I will definitely wear this combo as a full mani!

Thanks for looking!

Curry Duck Day Mani

Good morning!
Happy day! I went to the Sephora inside J.C. Penney last night with my sisters and had soo much fun! It is amazing how makeup and nail polish can change your mood. Anyway, I walked out with my first ever Urban Decay shadow palette and I am crazy in love!
I will also be picking up some more polish this weekend so I will be having plenty to show you.

What we have today is last week's Duck Day mani. I like how it turned out but it was rather subtle. I kinda knew that the Ducks would fall to Stanford so this mani was not nearly as exuberant.

New York Summer Amaranth

Orly Love Each Other

Wet n' Wild Shield

Zoya Goldie

China Glaze Medallion

Konad Image plate m21

A rare picture of righty.

I did not stamp the full flower design on plate m21. I just used the head of the flower because it looked more like a coin in the metallics. Then I used a dotting tool to place dots of Medallion around and in the center of the flowers.

I think my right hand came out way better than my left. That rarely happens! As I was applying this, I noticed that it evoked the kind of embroidery found in Indian textiles. That gives me inspiration to try this again with some other colors. I can't wait to do that!

Thank you for looking and enjoy your morning!

Hello!

It's been awhile, huh? I'm sorry to say that this is the time of the year that my life becomes a nasty, vomit inducing roller coaster ride. I have nail pics and plans for some haul and that will come...eventually.
So if you'll indulge me, I'd like to take this moment for a little ranting.

Work

Ahh, retail. I hate you from November to January. The holidays truly blow and it is no different in non-profit retail. I've been up to my eyeballs in Xmas since September. I've built fake trees, strung lights, arranged figurines, cut myself on broken ornaments, tagged and hung up ugly sweaters. I've sorted through tangles of cheesy Xmas jewelry, merchandised scarves and gloves, collected vacation requests and written people up. I am exhausted and the holiday season has not yet begun. To top it all off, I have a four hour management training session to attend next Wednesday. My day off. My choice was to leave four hours early one day next week or get paid four hours of overtime. I took the overtime. I have nail polish to buy!!
But I do not look forward to this. There will be buzzwords, role playing and group studies. Oy. That is one part of my job I despise.

Husband

Right now, Matt is in Las Vegas again for another training seminar. I'm glad he's gone ONLY because of his seasonal affective disorder. He is nearly impossible to live with this time of year. Nothing pleases him and he is always angry. I'm hoping this trip will recharge his batteries for a week and that he will enjoy the lovely Vitamin D supplements I bought us. I need to find him a hobby that's cheap so we can save more money for another trip to Cancun. Because I do not want to smother my husband in his sleep.

The Holidays

I do not look forward to this. At all. Frankly, it is much too depressing to tell you all about it.

I think I've done as much damage as I can. Bear with me, guys. I'll have happier stuff later on. I promise.

OMG you guys!!!

I am over the moon right now! I entered China Glaze's giveaway for Facebook fans and I won!!!

I will finally have Emerald Sparkle!!

This has totally made my day! (I had lots of chores and then a phone meeting with my insurance rep. Bleargh.)

Swatches will come once this lands in my hot little hands. I will even have a guest hand model for that!

Okay. Time to calm down, I will be heading off to bed super early tonight. Have to open the store by myself tomorrow and I want to be well rested.

Good night, sweet dreams and much love!

Layering on the light side

It's time to show another round of layering experiments. I decided to see what would happen with a lighter base color so I chose Orly Country Club Khaki.

Left to right:

L.A. Girl Crowd Surfing

Nina Ultra Pro Molten Gold

OPI DS Treasure

Haken Blue Crush

 

Full Sun close up

Closer look

OPI Brand New Skates on thumb

Crowd Surfing looked cool but it was hard to accurately capture in my pictures.

(I really need a new camera now!)

Molten Gold was pretty over this but much better over a darker color.

Treasure just does not fail. It looks a little greyed out over this but, man does it sparkle!

Blue Crush looks very green over this and still so stunning. Damn, I love that color!

Brand New Skates didn't change anything. I'd recommend this to anyone who didn't like how sheer BNS was. I did one coat over the two of CC Khaki and everything was opaque.

That's it for now. Enjoy!

Kreativ Blogger Award

I was tagged by  gildedangel , Cindy, Pinkginger and Andrea for this!

Thank you so much!!

Update!!! If you haven't seen by the comments, the lovely Helen tagged me as well. Just goes to show how I've been slacking on my social obligations.  Bad, bad lamb!

I'm to share seven things that I have not before. Sometimes it is so difficult to come up with things!

1. I love movies but I don't like going to the theater or watching them at home with other people. I'd rather watch them by myself because I'm so picky.It's hard to choose a movie with me because I hate chick flicks, action movies and most big budget blockbusters.

2. I love music and I'm known as the music geek at work. Metal is my absolute favorite but I have a shameful love of Eurovision. I won't front.

3. I am lazy. I hate cleaning. I will save all of my chores until the last and try to speed through them before Matt comes home from work. I've been busted way too often but it's what I do.

4. My older brother is in Afghanistan working as a Police Mentor. This makes my mom worry.

5. I do not like cake. I get a cheesecake for my birthday and I had one at my wedding. Cheesecake is delicious.

6. My mom's side of the family is HUGE. She is number 16 out of 18 kids. I've met cousins I never knew I had until I joined Facebook.

7. My parents are from Long Island, New York. My brother was born there. But my sister was born in Colorado and me and my younger brother were born in Nebraska.

I'd like to tag some new people that have come along so I'm sending this out to:

Crazy 4 Nails

Cucumpear

Phenomenail

New York Summer Amaranth

I don't always have a lot of love for jellies because they show too much VNL.  However, if the color is too good to pass up I will be all over it. I saw pictures of Amaranth last spring and I knew I would have to have this. It was such a stunning green!

Three coats, partial sun

Amaranth is quite sheer so three coats is a must. Three makes it close to opaque but there is a faint VNL.  More like squint to see it but, yeah. Each coat dried quickly and it had a satiny finish. Top coat adds the necessary shine and you're good to go.

Amaranth is a cheerful green and I am so glad I bought this. It will be necessary to lift my spirits through the winter! I will definitely have to try it out for a Duck Day mani!

Bottle love in full sun.

When I do wear this, I can't help but hear the Nightwish song, "Amaranth."  Which reminds me that I really prefer Annette Olzon as a brunette. Just sayin' is all.

Zoya Posh

I've definitely been on the matte trend and the Zoyas did not disappoint. What was different for me was that I did not want the black or grey. Those are usually my favorites but Posh was exceptionally stunning.

Three coats, full sun

Posh dries ridiculously quick and it is best to work fast when applying. The shimmer in spite of its matte finish is lovely and glows from within.

 

The frosted finish of the bottle is so pretty.

I wasn't satisfied to just leave things as is. But I wasn't going to slick on top coat and go. It is amazing, yes. But we have all seen it. I had to try some layering combos.

Left to right:

China Glaze Fairy Dust

Nina Ultra Pro Molten Gold

OPI DS Treasure

Nina Ultra Pro Molten Ruby

 

All in full sun.

Treasure was my favorite of the experiment. The gold sparkles added a warmth and richness to this lovely red and made it much more fiery. Fairy Dust never fails and it was a fun look . The moltens were lovely but didn't add as much as I would've hoped.

More to come soon. I've been a busy lamb!

KOTD - Challenged!

Last night I asked Matt what he thought I should do with my nails. (Poor husband, has to participate in these discussions about polish...) I really loved yesterday's mani but you know me, I must change my look each day!
Matt said I should blindly grab two polishes from my stash and rock them together.
That was a scary thought! What if I pulled out two cremes that don't go well together? The possibilities were overwhelming and I wasn't sure I would take up his challenge.
Until he said he would pick two polishes and then take my stash to work with him!!! The mere thought of being without my Konad was horrifying! So I promised I would and I have.

Early this morning, I pulled out my stash. I kept my eyes glued to the news on T.V. and reached in. I spread my hands out and quickly snatched the first two bottles I touched. What did I get? Only the biggest relief ever! I managed to snag China Glaze Adore and Orly Country Club Khaki. Two colors that could mesh well and Konad! I win.

CC Khaki on thumb, index, middle and pinkie.

Adore on ring.

Stamped with image plate m4.

I really enjoyed the contrast of the metallic and creme finishes and I love vibrant colors paired with neutrals like tans and browns. I seriously lucked out on this one and I hope Matt will approve.

We will see!

Trying to get some sun through the fog...

That does it for me today. Time to get ready for work. Xmas end caps await me!

Have an awesome day!

Frowny Face

Morning, y'all.

Just wanted throw my best out there to Siobahn. I will miss your blog. May your future endeavors bring you joy and success.

Good-bye Siobahn!

Beautiful Dirty Rich

Well...how bout them Ducks? Stomped USC and we are sitting pretty at the top of the Pac-10. Hells yes!
That ended the weekend on a beautiful note for me! The concert was amazing and I have some pictures to post from that. Halloween was fun despite having to go to work. Pirate Duck was a big hit!

My work week is winding down and today's mani was pretty spot on. I had to meet with the insurance rep from work since I'm now eligible for all my neato benefits and I was not happy. I never got my packet outlining what's covered, how much, etc. and I did not know she would be meeting me in the morning until yesterday.
Yeah. I hate having meetings and being unprepared!!! I'm also not fond of having to compare insurance plans and costs. Ugh.

So, since I got my mind on my money and my money on my mind...I should of course be wearing Dirty Sexy Money.

Two coats indoor light

This is my first and only (for now!) Misa. I'm very pleased with this. The color is super hot and applies nice.

Since the weather is supposed to be dry and somewhat sunny, I couldn't just wear this as is. (I blame y'all for having me fall in love with glitters, flakies and duo chromes. I was all about the cremes!!)

Thus, I grabbed Sally Girl It's So U to layer with and...

 

 Two coats, limited sun, holla!

This turned out so pretty! The blue glitter in the Sally Girl just pops! 

It's like the ocean...

I'm glad I did pick this up. It was what I hoped for and managed to surpass my expectations.

That's it for now. I'm going to enjoy a glass of wine and cuddle up to Matt.

Have an enchanted evening!