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!

Coming back

Well hello and my apologies!  I have kind of dropped off the face of the earth, both here and in other areas of my life.  I know that no one expects anything of me, but you have been such wonderful readers and so supportive that I feel like at least a small explanation is in order.
Since the end of January I have really been battling depression.  There is not a whole lot that inspires or excites me lately.  On top of that, we lost my grandmother to a sad, difficult end.  Life has just been overwhelming and I haven't felt compelled to polish much, let alone post about it.  What I tell myself has just been "me" time is really retreating, though, and not all that healthy, so I'm trying to come back.  Fake it 'til you make it, right?  Right.  I'm hoping this will help me feel more like me.
That being said, I'm starting off super unoriginal and recreating an awesome mani that Amber posted over at the highly-addictive and awesome Amber did it!  My coloring is slightly different, but I couldn't resist the perfect summer mani she rocked!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
*China Glaze Pool Party
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*Cover Girl White Night
*1 coat Hoof Lacquer
*1 coat Out the Door

 

I buffed my nails (now that the staining has grown out!) and opted to go nude for the French.  I was tempted to use a nude colored polish, but let my natural nails be the base instead.  I taped off the tips with Scotch tape and used Pool Party for the tips.  On my left hand I freehanded a second coat after removing the tape, but wasn't as confident for my right.  This is a little sheer and needs a couple of coats for the whole nail.  As a neon, it dries to a semi-matte finish, which I like to shine up with a top coat.  With that shiny top coat, though, they looked about the same.

On my accent, I used a dotting tool for the black and white dots, and then the opposite on top.  The one thing that Amber did and I wish I had more successfully copied was the size difference in the dots.  I was worried about making the larger ones too big, but they came out a little too close in size to tell a difference.  Either way, I love the neon pink with the black/white contrast!

I don't often end up doing a French, but I really like how this looks!  I have tons of funky French mains pinned, so I'll have to keep them coming.  This was a fun, easy, cute mani for me and I'm hoping to dive back into this little hobby.  Thank you, for coming back and for having patience with me. 

New 31DC: Cheer Yourself Up

Today is my 100th post! It's also a really hard choice for me. I really don't have a go-to polish, color, or look to brighten my day. It really depends on my mood--I love a good bright pink, but also a good shimmery dark polish. I love a clean, smooth finish and tons of glitter. I love seasonal looks as well as old faves. This is hard because I really don't have one sinlge favorite--most any polish can brighten my day.
So, with too many options, I went with a look that I like but have yet to photograph and post.

*1 coat Yello-Out
*2 coats China Glaze Life's A Beach
*2 coats Nubar Black Polka Dots
*1 coat Out The Door

I love a good pink with black glitter!  I'm a little obsessed with black glitter in general and am out to find the perfect one.  Currently, I have Black Polka Dots to use.  This is a clear base with micro square glitters and larger hexes.  The bigger glitter are harder to place evenly, so I kind of swirl the brush in the bottle before applying it.  This is a pretty sparse glitter, in general, which is good for showcasing the base.  It does try the obsessive perfectionist in me, though, to have the nails be unbalanced in glitter, but I just can't resist it!

 

Love's A Beach is yet another awesome newbie from my wonderful momma.  It applied perfectly in 2 coats.  As a neon, it has a semi-matte finish to it, which is really not my favorite, but glitter and/or a top coat fix that right up!  I'd call this a neon Barbie pink, a medim pink that leans warm (the first 3 pictures are truer to color than the last).  It is also packed with a hidden shimmer, not a true cream finish.  It's a really pretty polish and I'm excited to see it out in the sun!

 

 

 Do you have a go-to look when you need a smile?  Have you found the perfect black glitter?  Do tell!

New 31DC: Splatter

Holy moley!  I don't know what I really expected when it came to a splatter mani, but not...this.  One thing that I am committed to, and love that many other bloggers are too, is being real about our nail adventures.  That includes the less than stellar.  Which 75% of this challenge is. 
First and foremost, Chalkboard Nails' tutorial really had the single best piece of advice: put down a big piece of wax paper.  If you think it's too big, it's not!

 

When I hear "splatter paint" I think of my childhood and homemade shirts.  Then, I think of Lisa Frank.  Thus, my color choices:
*1 coat Yello-Out
*1 thick coat Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*China Glaze Sun Worshipper, Four Leaf Clover, Gothic Lolita and Pool Party
*1 coat Wet 'n Wild Kaleidoscope

I wanted a neon blitz on my nails.  I got...something like that.  By the way, this was way messier and tougher clean up than my water marble disaster learning experience, even with some solid taping.  I realized that I was holding my hand like I do in pictures and splattering my palm too.  This is not for the sleepy!

I used a regular soda straw (probably from Wendy's because you NEVER use it when you have a Frosty...that's all plastic spoon!) that I cut into quarters.  I bet you can tell which finger I started with and where I ended up :)  Actually, my ring finger was first, then my pinkie (I got cocky).  I learned that some colors were blobbier (totally a word) than others.  Four Leaf Clover, a pretty bright teal cream, tended to be my worst enemy.  It overtook each nail and was hard to get to splatter instead of spill down.

I liked the color combination of the neon creams.  I wish that I had not used Sun Worshipper, though, because it is not truly opaque.  As you can see on my pinkie, it kind of layered into new colors.  Awesome neon marigold color, but not really what I had envisioned.  Gothic Lolita (always gorgeous in its bright purple-ness) and Pool Party (neon pink wonder) were pretty cooperative.  When I was less than satisfied with this outcome, I asked myself what Lisa Frank would do in this situation.  Add glitter!  So, I layered a coat of Kaleidoscope holo silver perfection over it all.  (In case you were wondering, adding glitter is ALWAYS the answer)

 

I actually really like how my thumb turned out!  That's a Lisa Frank dream!  This is what I pictured for all of my nails.  Index and parts of Middle aren't too shabby, but Thumb is really '90s rad.  I think that next time I'll get (and by that I mean swipe from a coffee shop) some smaller straws that don't hold as much polish inside and have a little more control in their splatter.  The improvement I saw as I moved from finger to finger was encouraging and means that you and I have not seen the last of some splatter fun.  Have you splattered before?  Any tips for avoiding Pinkie?  Any Lisa Frank love you just need to get out?  I totally understand.