Fairy Love

My love-hate-mostly-love relationship with Valentine's day is in full swing.  Bring on the pink!  Bring on the sparkles!  Bring on the hearts!  Bring on the love!  (Pretend to ignore my lonely singleness!)
Here's my first mani for the season.  I wanted to have some sparkling red on my nails, and went from there once I got some new decals in the mail that I ordered from RLR Creations.

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Zoya America
*2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*3 coats Butter London Fairy Cakes
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*1 coat Out the Door

America is 2 easy coats for perfect red coverage.  Adding Fairy Cakes as a second accent was a last minute decision, but I'm glad I did it.  Sometimes too much red makes me feel...old.  I like breaking it up like this.
I used Snow Me white as a base for my red heart decal.  This comes in a really cute Valentine's set.  I was kind of off as I was finishing up this mani and left the first decal in the water WAY too long and it got folded as I slid it off.  This one lost a little bit of the red as I patted it on, which is really only noticeable up close.  I've never had this happen with these decals, so I'm assuming it was a fluke--we'll see with some of the others from this set that I can't wait to use!
 

I was having a rough day when I I painted this, so I figured a little more sparkle was in order.  I added a coat of Fairy Dust, the perfect micro holo glitter, and then shined it all up with a top coat. 
I've been doing a lot of cleaning/decorating/crafting lately, so I've gotten some chips on my right hand.  At first I was bummed because this was such a fun look, but now I'm a little happy because it gives me an excuse to move onto the next festive look!

Do you have any "love" looks you love?  Let me know!

Thanksgiving Catch Up

Between school and work, things have gone into overdrive these past couple of weeks!  I have 3 more finals, a final paper, and 9 more days of work before I get a break and time at home!  I canNOT wait!
So, since I got behind and it's now almost Christmas, I'll just do a quick post with the two Thanksgiving looks I wore this year.
This first one is inspired by this look from the Tumblr Sabzii's Nails.  I first saw the mani on Pinterest and fell so in love with the Funky French she did.  Her little feather is amazing and I knew not to even attempt that!  So, I used some of my amazing decals from RLR Creations Nail Art. 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*OPI DS Opulence
*China Glaze Fairy Dust
*2 coats Out the Door

I tried to find out what polish she used for her mani because it is gorgeous!  I didn't get an answer, though, so I did my best and was really impressed with how close this was!  I used DS Opulence, a pretty, dusty rose with scattered micro particles and dabbed on Fairy Dust for some larger holo pieces on top.  I used two different decal, one on each hand.

Ignore that smudge on my middle finger and look at how awesome those decals are!  They are so easy to use and come out amazing every time I've used them!

My second look was my attempt at this little turkey from All That Is Gorgeous.

I used Essie Mochachino for my base.  Then, I went mainly to my China Glaze Capitol Colors--Mahogany Magic for the body of the turkey and Riveting for the orange feathers/dots.  I used OPI Dane-shiny Red and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Man-go Team! for the other feathers.  His body and head turned out...not as I imagined.  I loved the dots, though!  Overall I'm totally envious of how awesome the turkey was that I worked from, but this wasn't too bad at all.  My little cousins thought he was fun, which is really all that matters :)

The only surfin' I do

I'm still making my way through all of the amazing polishes my mom bought me from my wishlist for Christmas.  This is one of them that I swatched while organizing and knew I needed to use A.S.A.P.! 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hardener
*2 coats China Glaze Surfin' for Boys
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*1 coat Out the Door

AHHH!  I never wanted to take this off!  It was the perfect summer mani!  Surfin' for Boys is a neon coral/salmon color.  It's hard to describe accurately, not really orange and not clearly pink.   It has a shimmer to it which doesn't show up really well on its own because this dries to a satin/semi-matte finish.  When you get a glossy top coat on it, though, the shimmer gives the color a lot of depth.

I was trying to think of art to do with this, but went back to my simple, Junior High school roots.  I added a glitter top coat of micro holo with Fairy Dust.  Then, I fell in love.  Just look at that shiny, shimmery, holo-sparkly goodness!  I could not get enough of this combo, especially out in the sun.  I need to paint my toes and just decided on what to use as I looked back at these photos!

Good riddance, 2012!

I'm now "home" after a wonderful week at Home with my family.  I didn't do much polishing, and what I did do I didn't photograph.  Sorry!  But know that I did have a super-cute Christmas mani (China Glaze Champagne Kisses with Zoya Logan for holly leaves, red rhinestone berries, and a Christmas tree accent, kind of a mash up of many of my previous Christmas looks).  I wanted to do something fun and festive for New Year's Eve, even though I'm all by my lonesome, but was overwhelmed with possibilities.  So, I decided to do what my momma wanted: dark purple with silver glitter.  My momma's kind of the best.  She has been getting into nails lately too, and she said her students love it when she does.  This is what she gave me, all individually wrapped in a big box:

Out of control awesome, right?!  She went through my "want" tab and found a ton of them!  But now she also knows how much some of the things I waste my money on cost...hmmm.
So, I'm going with her New Year's Eve choices tonight.

*1 coat Hard as Nails Hardener
*2 coats OPI Vampsterdam
*China Glaze Fairy Dust
*China Glaze Techno
*1 coat Hoof Lacquer

I used Vampsterdam for the first time for this mani.  I only used 2 coats, and perhaps a 3rd would have made this darker, which was more of what I imagined.  It is a pretty polish, lighter on the nail than in the bottle, a deep raisin purple.  Like any OPI, the application is perfect and the coats build easily. 
I am still unpacking and catching up on some sleep, so I didn't dig out sponges for the glitter.  I just used the brush, concentrating the Fairy Dust fine holo glitter at the cuticle and stroking toward the tips.  I dabbed Techno on top, and then added just a little more thin Fairy Dust toward the tips.  I kind of wish I had sponged the glitter for better blending, but they are still super sparkly and festive!

2012 has been a crapfest of a year for me and my family.  I am more than ready for the clock to strike midnight!  2013: come at me!  I'll see you all on the other side with a brand new challenge (can I make it through another 31 days?) and hopefully a much brighter year.  Until then, be safe and I wish nothing but the best to you and yours as we welcome this new beginning!

"There had to be another way"

Let me be the first to wish you a very happy Festivus!  Yes, nestled between Hanukkah and Christmas is a holiday for the rest of us.  Thank you, Frank Costanza. 
(Sidenote:  I LOVE Seinfeld.  Like, quote it, made an unofficial fan club in high school with my friends, own all 9 seasons and watched them with commentary, passed an appreciation bill about it in mock Congress in high school LOVE it!)
I had to make time for a very special Festivus manicure.  But, to honor its creator, it also needed to be very simple--"I find tinsel distracting."

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hardener
*3 coats China Glaze The Ten Man
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*1 coat Seche Vite

I used The Ten Man to represent the traditional Festivus pole.  "It requires no decoration...It's made from aluminum.  High strength to weight ratio."  I have become a bit obsessed with this polish lately.  It is really sheer, so 3 or 4 thin coats are really needed to wear it alone.  It is a cool silver base with fine silver glitter particles in it.  It builds easily and is so shimmery and beautiful!  I added Fairy Dust for just a little extra something, a fine scattered silver holo.  This look screams "Winter!  Holiday!  Class!  Celebrate!"  Can you hear it?

So, may your family be kind with their grievances and may you prevail through the feats of strength.  Gather 'round the pole and remember that no doll is worth what happens out there.  Here's to many Festivus miracles for you and yours!

Oh Christmas tree!

Let me just say that I wore these little guys today and was SO sad tonight to take them off for a new mani for tomorrow.  I didn't give myself enough time to get through all the Christmas designs I wanted to wear this year (I'll do more "winter" ones I passed on in January) and have to move quickly.  That being said, I couldn't take my eyes off my hands today and think that I'll do these again for Christmas day.  Here are some cute little Christmas trees:

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats China Glaze The Ten Man
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*Color Club Holiday Splendor
*China Glaze Angel Wings
*Milani Gems
*1 coat Out The Door

I have become pretty obsessed with The Ten Man.  I used 2 coats of the shimmery, glittery silver goodness for a base.  It is not quite opaque, which made for such a pretty, ethereal background.  It was like glowing lights and sparkling snow behind the tree with a thin coat of silver-holo Fairy Dust.  Gorgeous! 
I was going to just use Skip the Gift Wrap because it was on my desk when I thought about pretty little Holiday Splendor in the drawer.  I taped off triangles and used this squishy, holo green glitter for the trees.  I know I've said it before, but if you ever get your hands on this one, don't let it go!  The bright, minty greed has an amazing holo glitter to it with a jelly consistency.  A-mazing!

I was going to leave the little trees alone, with a dot of Angel Wings on top.  I saw some manis earlier this month (edit: Amber Did It was the one that sparked my interest) with with multi glitter as ornaments on the tree, and I knew I only had a couple of chances to do tree designs, so I dabbed on Milani Gems, a typical though really pretty multi glitter.  The big and small hexex in so many colors looked so cool on the trees!

When I sealed and smoothed it all up in a shiny top coat, it was so pretty!  This is just a huge glitter fest, but it's really cool because of all the different kinds of sparkle, from subtle shimmer to holo and chunky.  My pictures really don't do these justice--there is a real, pretty depth in person, especially with The Ten Man base.  Like I said, I think I'm going to do these again for Christmas day because I love them SO much!  Have you found a cool Christmas tree design that I need to try?  A new way to "decorate" your tree?  Let me know!

Just what the Doctor Ordered



This week my mom started back to school. She is an amazing teacher and wrangles third graders five days a week. She puts everything into her classroom and kids, and I wanted to do something fun in her honor. Well, I wanted to spend a lot of money, but I improvised instead.

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails base
*2 coats Sally Hansen Blew Me Away
*2 coats Spoiled Shuffle the Deck
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*1 coat Out The Door top coat

What I really wanted to splurge on was Whimsical Ideas by Pam's Seuss.  It's all over the blogs and a brilliant take on childhood.  It's a bright blue base with awesome red and white hex glitters.  Oh, and did I mention the cutest bottle ever?  I wish that I had the money to buy far too many of her polishes, but alas, I am but a poor girl...

(This is a little closer to the real colors, without the flash)

So, I tried my hand at recreating her beauty.  I used Blew Me Away as my base, a reasonable match to hers.  This is a beautiful bright blue cream that actually is a bit darker than the picture shows.  It's a clean, afternoon-sky blue. 
I then added Shuffle the Deck on top, which is a mix of red, silver and black hex glitters in a clear base.  I have a love-dislike relationship with Spoiled glitters.  I do not hate them, even at their worst, but they can be a bit annoying.  The base is thick and the glitter can be sparse, so it makes for some work.  But, at $1.99 (or less!) with the combos they have, I can't complain too much.  I did 2 coats and each time I put the brush in, I swirled it around before pulling it back out.  This seemed to help get more glitter onto the brush. 
I had just snatched up Fairy dust, and my glitter looked a bit sparse, so I did a thin coat of this micro holo over the top.  The silver look of it fit well with Shuffle the Deck.  I dried and shined it all up with Out the Door, which is becoming my go-to quick dry.

So, it's not quite the same as Pam's (which I would NEVER object to swapping for receiving as a gift), but it was not too bad.  I would work a little harder to get the glitter dispersed more evenly next time, but it was bright and happy and reminded me of my mom all week, so I guess it could have been a whole lot worse!