A Couple of Late Valentines...

As I've focused on decorating my apartment (only about 6 months AFTER moving in) and trying my hand at a Pinterest craft or two, my posts got a little forgotten, but the manis didn't! 
Overall, I really enjoyed my Valentine's Day manis this year.  Here are the last 2 that I wore:

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Sinful Colors Cream Pink
*2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*1 coat China Glaze Make A Spectacle
*1 coat Out the Door

This one was inspired by this pin (if you know its origin, please let me know so I can credit the creator!)  Cream Pink was a bit brighter than I remembered, but just as pretty.  It's not a cream at all, but a gorgeous pink packed with golden shimmer.  I used Make A Spectacle, an iridescent multi-sized glitter, to add some sparkle to my white accent and added a heart sticker that I recently found while cleaning out my mani drawer.  I didn't love the sticker, but overall liked this bright look!

Then there was my actual Valentine mani:

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*2 coats Zoya Gaia
*Zoya Kimber
*Zoya Rory
*1 coat Out the Door

This was a twist on a Christmas mani I did, inspired by The Swatching Sprite.  I'm not sure why, but I think I liked the first one better--maybe I sized the dots a little better.  This was still fun, though!  I used Gaia, a sheer "white" polish that is really more of a gold shimmer, over my base.  Then I used the amazing Kimber (magenta) and Rory (lavender-pink) from the Surf collection shimmers that I NEVER get tired of.  I was a bit down on this one at first, but it really grew on me.

So that's the end of Valentine's 2015 (although it's never the wrong time for a pretty pink mani)!

33DC: Chevrons

Last week I really wasn't very inspired by the challenges, nor did I have time to do more than a simple polish.  Last night, as I read and tried to do ANYTHING but homework, I gave chevrons a try.  I've been dying to try this mani that I found on Pinterest and traced back to Selena at Pink U Rock.  I, like many of you, debated whether or not zig-zags were considered chevrons.  I took the technical road and decided not, so I tweaked the mani a bit, but love it!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Sinful Colors Cream Pink
*2 coats Butter London Fairy Cake
*2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat Out the Door

I love Cream Pink and couldn't find it for a while last night.  I know Sinful Colors are cheap, so it wasn't a big deal, but I had had my heart set on it.  I'm glad it surfaced (which is sort of a miracle in my room right now).  I used 2 coats for coverage, though long nails probably need 3.  I love that, even though it has "cream" in its name, it has a really subtle golden shimmer to it that you can see in the first picture.
Fairy Cake is an awesome gold-ish holo glitter that I used for my ring finger accent.  I love how this looks with the pink!  I used Snow Me White as a base for my chevrons and used striping tape to make the v's.  Then I used Black out over the top and peeled off the tape.
This color combo is so stunning that I am sad to see it go tomorrow!  I have to meet with my internship contact for school and don't really feel like this is appropriate, but I'm sure I'll give it another go or try a variation very soon because I can't take my eyes off of it!  Do you have any color combos that just steal the show like this?  Share!  Share!

"You'll go down in history!"

I've been having a Christmas movie marathon for my "weekend" because I miss most of them while I'm working.  I LOVE Christmas movies!  Except Frosty--that one is really weird.  Anyway, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorites, so here is my little homage to his story:

I love this movie!  Hermie's quitting makes me a little too eager to leave my job.  Yukon makes me laugh.  I love his dogs.  I want to cuddle the little dolly.  I even look past Clarice's "There's Always Tomorrow" and Santa being kind of a tool. 

 *2 coats Wet 'n Wild Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire?
*Sinful Colors Why Not
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out

Don't you just hate macro shots sometimes?  When I see those darn smudges in photos that aren't visible in real life it kills me!  This picture is really not color-true, either, but photo editing is a big world I'm not quite ready to dive into yet.  Why Not is a darker, dustier blue than this shows.  I used these cute yellow umbrellas that Holy Manicures painted (and their base) as my inspiration.  These little guys brought all of the misfit toys to children once Rudolph returned to Santa!

*3 coats China Glaze The Ten Man
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*1 coat China Glaze Angel Wings

Good ol' Yukon Cornelius!  "Silver and gold, silver and gold,/ Mean so much more when I see/ Silver and gold decorations/ On ev'ry Christmas tree..."  Always looking for his silver and gold!  So, I gave him both here!  I used The Ten Man as my base, a gorgeous silver polish with micro glitter in it.  I added Fairy Dust for a little more sparkle and then taped off half of my nail and added Angel Wings.  This amazing gold holo glitter is part of their new Holiday line and so pretty! 

*2 coats Zoya Ginessa

*OPI Wooden Shoe Like to Know?

*China Glaze Mahogany Magic

*China Glaze Ruby Pumps

*Sinful Color Snow Me White

*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out

 

"Do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?"  There are a number of really cute Rudolph manis floating around blogs and Pinterest.  I used Wooden Shoe for Rudy's face and Ruby Pumps for his nose to add sparkle.  Next time I'd leave a little more room for the antlers, but my nails are pretty short right now, so they're a little stubby.  I love that little red nose!



 

 

*1 coat Sinful Colors Why Not

*Sinful Colors Pink Cream

"We've a special job each year/ We don't like to brag..."  This is another shot of Why Not where the flash just makes it too light and bright.  I'm a little bummed about that because this is for Hermie and the elves.  This blue could be a one-coater with special attention.  I knew I was going to go over the tip, so I didn't add a second.  When I was little I thought those girl elves in their pink dresses and hats were so pretty!

*2 coats Zoya Ginessa
*OPI Danke-shiny Red

"We're on the island of misfit toys/ Here we don't want to stay!"  This nail took a lot of debate.  One of the things that makes the movie so magical and nostalgic is the coloring and quality of the stop motion.  I cannot tell, after a LOT of searching and watching, if the elephant's dots are red or pink.  I went with red.  I am second-guessing myself as I type.  ANYWAY, this is for the little polka-dotted elephant, Charlie, and all the other misfit toys who only want a child to love them.  Because I do! 

31DC: Inspired by a pattern

I'm was very excited about today's design!  Then, I got sloppy and took out a nail...it's pretty gruesome.  The pattern that inspired my mani today is: my bed! 

 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener

*2 coats Sinful Colors Cream Pink

*2 coats Ulta Smoke Screen

*1 coat OPI Pirouette My Whistle

*Sinful Colors Snow Me White

*1 coat Seche Vite

 

 

This is my bedding that inspired my nails.  I love this bed set!  I had my eye on it for a while and then it all clearanced down.  Just to brag about how awesome this is--you see those little pillows?  They retail for $29.99 (I think...maybe $39) and I got them for $3.99!  Awesomeness!

I have come to really like Cream Pink.  It has a pretty, subtle shimmer to it and covers well with 2 coats.  I used Snow Me White and a dotting tool to make the button lines on the pink.  While my lines were a little crooked on a couple of nails, I love how this looked!  I think I'll have to work with this design again soon!

But those little dots were the death of me.  As I was focusing on my pinkie (the dots are really straight there!) I hit my ring finger with my other hand.  The polish was thick and tacky, so a big glob pulled up.  It was late, so I tried to hide it.  This is not my specialty. 

 

This is the first time I used Pirouette My Whistle.  I had been after it for a while and thanks to a coupon and a fully-stocked new Ulta, this beauty is now mine!  I was dying to try it and and I decided I'd use it instead of trying to dot on flowers like my duvet. Clearly I kind of regret that.  C'est la vie!

 

Aren't those little dots cute on the cream pink?  I sort of forgot that my pillows had 3 rows, but I think that 2 worked better for a space as small as my nails.  Do you have any tricks for painting disasters, besides starting again?  I'd LOVE to hear how you fix them!

Go Pink Wednesday: Momma Said Knock You Out!

You liked that little L.L. shout-out, didn't you?  I thought so...

This is week 2 of Go Pink Wednesday, bringing awareness and showing solidarity for women and men fighting, beating, and curing breast cancer. 

Cancer is ugly business.  As I mentioned last week, my family has been blessed to have dodged the breast cancer bullet, but we have had other cancers invade our world.  Melanoma.  Brain cancer.  Prostate cancer.  It's all awful and makes me want to scream and cry that life is not fair.  And it's not.  That is what makes those who fight it heroes.  Whether you are staying vigilant and knowing your body, taking care of yourself throughout treatment, researching ways to make this history, or investing your time and resources into a cure, it's a brutal, all-in fight. 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails base
*3 coats Sinful Colors Cream Pink
*2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out (accent)
*1 coat Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Strobe Light (accent)
*1 coat Out the Door top coat

I wanted to thank and pay a tiny tribute to those who fight this week.  Fighting breast cancer is not an isolated battle, though I can't imagine how lonely it can feel.  It is part of a big war, one with hope and promise.  It is a strong, determined, crazy fight to reclaim life.  It is bold. 
I used Sinful Colors Cream Pink for my pink this week.  While it is called Cream pink, it does have a pretty, subtle shimmer to it. 

I used my trusty Sally Hansen Black Out on my accent nail.  I liked the cream finish and almost left it alone, but decided that it needed something more, a spark.  I added Sally Hansen Strobe Light over the top.  This is a gorgeous pale pink holo glitter.  There are larger hex glitters and small micro glitters in the clear base. 

 

Keep up the fight in any way that you can!  Know your body--every mole, every bump, every wrinkle and every lump.  See a doctor when something does not look right--get the edge on the enemy.  Fight strong and dirty, taking any advantage you can.  This is a fight that we are all in, whether we have breasts or not, cancer or not, a choice or not.  Fight hard!