Mardi Gras!

One of my dearest friends has made New Orleans her home.  She graciously let me come visit a while back and I fell a little in love with the city.  I had decided to give myself a little rest and time when it came to my nails, and God decided it wasn't enough.  I had planned a couple of other Valentine manis for the past few days, but I got a nasty little cut right along my cuticle that I did not think would mix well with acetone...so, they'll come later (it's always the season for hearts and pink!) and today I'm showing a little Fat Tuesday love! 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Cult Nails Flushed
*3 coats Julep Jennifer
*1 coat OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I and Purple Pizzazz
*Zoya Logan
*1 coat Out the Door Northern Lights

Last year I did something similar to this, but  with a ton more layers and pretty much the same effect.  I'm getting more efficient!  I used Flushed as my purple base.  This is really similar to the beloved Fantasy Fire, but not a dupe.  This is a lighter purple, not quite a lavender, that is packed with a magenta shimmer.  You can really see it in the first picture and on my pinkie in the last.  I love this color--it's just gorgeous when you see it in the sun.  If you don't have this one, it is well worth getting!

I added a thin coat of Fresh Frog of Bel Air over the top.  This is a small green glitter in a clear base with scattered silver hex pieces.  On my accent I used Jennifer, which is a pale peach that is a pretty good nude for me.  It is sheer and a cream, and I was sure I would hate it when I saw it in my box, but I've come to love it.  I used Logan, Golden-I and Purple Pizzazz to dot on some bead strands because Mardi Gras NEEDS beads!

I finished everything off with a coat of Northern Lights, a micro scattered holo glitter in an Out The Door top coat.  In real life, it shows up much more, but you can see it flashing in my pinkie.  I almost chose a clear top coat because these are busy nails, but there's no such thing as "too much" when it comes to Mardi Gras!  I'm excited to see these out in the sun tomorrow.  I need to decided on a Valentine mani or two, though, which is proving hard--there are way too many ideas I want to try out!  Anyway, enjoy a little indulgence today!

"I am one with the Yuletide"

"Know what I mean?"
Ernest Saves Christmas truly is one of the greats.  Watch it.  You will NOT be disappointed!
It was so sad to see my little snowmen go!  I got a lot of compliments from them, including my little cousin, and loved how they turned out.  BUT, then I made a list of the Christmas manicures I wanted to try, and realized that I'll need to change almost every day to squeeze them all in, so I had to say goodbye.  It was sad, but then I fell a little in love with this simple combo, so I might be over it.  Plus, you can rock snowmen again in January, right?  Right.
I initially wanted to do these nails(the pin doesn't lead to anything, but when I searched the watermark I found Linda165 on Youtube with a ton of tutorials!) for Thanksgiving, but I was really busy and didn't have quite the perfect colors, so it didn't happen.  Enter Christmas!

 

I have a tendency to use the same colors again and again, which means that I have a lot of pretties that go untried.  Meet Cult Nails' Annalicious!  I was about to use Danke-Shiny again, which is amazing, but saw this in my drawer and decided to give her a try.  This is a vibrant, bright red and gives a whole new look to this mani.  It's an orange/tomato red with tons of gorgeous red shimmer packed in.  The polished looked really thin with the first coat, but a second was all it needed.  I'm so glad I went with this bright, cheery red!

 

 

For my gold, I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I.  This is a really pretty, shimmery foil gold with decent coverage.  I added a coat of Finger Paints Elves Bells over the top.  This pretty golden glitter is quite dense.  It has micro gold glitter and scattered, larger holo hex pieces.  It blends perfectly over Golden-I and adds just a little extra special.

I used some coupons and promos today and went on a little spree at Ulta and Sally's. This Finger Paints was the only one from Sally's, but I ended up with 4 free polishes from Ulta and a $5 off $10 coupon, ending up at less than half my original total. Score! One of my freebies was OPI Skip the Gift Wrap, a shimmery dark green with a foil finish.  I used 2 coats as the base for my pinkie and then added 1 coat of China Glaze Winter Holly, another Ulta find.  This green glitter is really dense, packed with micro dark green and gold glitter that flashes holo.  It's really pretty--don't take my pictures' word for it1

 

Because my nails are kind of stained (I'm sure you wouldn't understand that) I needed a nude base, so I used 3 coats of Julep Jennifer.  Then, with Annalicious, Skip the Gift Wrap and Golden-I, I dotted around the nail.  I used a thick coat of Seche Vite to seal it all up (I don't really have a choice there--my bottle's only about half full and now is SUPER gloopy.  Any recommendations?  Will thinner ruin the fast dry?).

I had a revelation tonight as I looked at these.  I am not very good at nail art.  I rush to take pictures and don't clean up well.  I neglect my cuticles (but I'm trying there!).  I am not perfect and envy the skills of almost every blogger I come across.  That being said, I'm not going to apologize or put down my work anymore.  I really like how this looks!  I loved my little snowmen!  I could critique their noses or cringe at the odd placement of dots here, but the reality is that I look down at my hands and it makes me happy.  This isn't a response to anyone but myself.  I could go on about how dots are all I can do and I wish I could successfully stamp, but I really want to stop that doubting, criticizing part of me and be a little gentler with myself.  I figure saying it publicly will hold me to it.  I love how sparkly and festive these are!  What are you loving about your nails?  How are you being good to you today? 

31DC: Red

So here it begins!  It's the first of October, and I am going to do my best to get a new mani, on the right theme (or my cheat of it) each day.  I'm glad that we ease into things with colors.  I know that last month the ladies focused on their untried polishes.  I can't guarantee that each post will have untrieds, but I have a lot to choose from, so most should!  Today's red nails have 4!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black out on all but ring finger
*2 coats Spoiled Ants In My Pants on pinkie, middle and index finger
*2 coats Fantasy Makers Once Upon A Time on thumb
*3 coats Julep Jennifer on ring finger
*accent in Zoya Arizona (I forgot that one in my picture--sorry!)

I was just going to give these gorgeous glitters a try, but the point of this challenge is to, you know, challenge me.  I decided to go all in and give a little nail art a try, incorporating a touch of gore/Halloween with a Dexter homage.

When I nabbed the cute Fantasy Makers I forgot about Ants In My Pants.  When I got home and saw the sorta-dupes, I was disappointed in myself.  Luckily, they were each less than two dollars!  I decided to use both to see how they compared.  I started with a black base because the tinted bases of these looked pretty thin.  The strange thing about them, which you can see both in the photos and in real life, is that it actually looks blue or purple. 
You can see in the picture that Once Upon A Time on my thumb has glitter that is much denser than Ants In My Pants, but both were really easy to apply--no glitter maneuvering needed!  I personally (though I know no one agrees) kind of like the uber-wide Spoiled brush, but if you have one you don't really need the other unless you are completing a collection.

Jennifer was very sheer.  I used 3 coats and you can still see nail line in real life.  It is a creamy almost-perfect nude for me.  I used a small paint brush and America to attempt the signature slice from Dexter's work. It's not great, but for me it is a big deal because I almost NEVER attempt any art in my polishing.

You can get a better idea of the blue tint of the base in this one.  And, on a side note, how cute are the Fantasy Makers' bottles?  I know I'm late to the bandwagon, but they're pretty cool seasonal bottles!

So there it is: day 1!  I am a little worried I won't be able to follow through with the whole challenge, but I'm one day closer to completion!
Have you taken the challenge before?  Would you give it a try?  Again?