Half Moon Mani with China Glaze Hook and Line

Hi Guys!
Today I'm excited to show you my first half moon mani!  I used Nina Ultra Pro's Burnished Bronze and China Glaze's Hook and Line from the Hunger Games collection. 

I know this picture is blurry but don't you just love how blurry pictures can convey an impression? 
Like what this mani might look like from afar?

How did I do this?  It was pretty easy.

Two coats of Burnished bronze.  Make sure this is completely dry and cured. 
About three hours for me.
Then apply stickers, and make sure they are flat so that paint does not seep under them.
I used a cuticle pusher to flatten the stickers.

Paint two coats of Hook and Line.  With one coat the orange was still coming through.

What I used. L to R, reinforcements, CG top coat, CG Hook and Line, NUP Burnished Bronze.

I peeled the stickers off right away, after painting with Hook and Line, and then cleaned up the edges with a brush and pure acetone.  Gooped on some CG fastforward topcoat and that was it!

My nails were really thick.  There are a total of seven coats of polish that I'm wearing.  I used Orly's bonder as a base (nice and thin), two coats of Burnished Bronze, one coat of CG FF top coat, two coats of Hook and Line and one thick coat of CG FF top coat.  I also have to add, after I peeled off the stickers, Hook and Line started to dry, and left kind of a wall of pooled paint that was laying against the edge of the stickers.  CG's top coat did a nice job of smoothing out the line/wall while still maintaining a clean crisp demarcation.  I think this is why CG FF top coat is my go to top coat for glitters.  It is such a great leveler, smudge fixer and delivers a high gloss finish. 

Well what d'ya think?

I think you are going to see more of these half moon manis from me because they are so easy to do and fun.

If you missed yesterday's post on CG's Liquid Crystal click here.

China Glaze Prismatic Liquid Crystal

I have to say if you really love blue and glitter nail polishes, either or both, like I do, you need to get China Glaze's Liquid Crystal from their Prismatic line.  I layered one coat over China Glaze's Sea Spray and here it is, in all it glori-ous-ness. 

A little closer and at a different angle.

Liquid Crystal is jam packed with small silver dusty glitter, and larger multicolor hexagon glitters.  The glitter are suspended in a transparent, blue, and purple duo chrome polish.  From afar it looks as if I'm wearing a light blue metallic polish, but up close it sparkles like mad!

Macro shot.

Incandescent lighting.  Super sparkle-ly, some fingers are blurred to try to capture the sparkle.

Liquid Crystal on the left vs. Full Spectrum on the Right.  Both over Sea Spray.

Glitters are such a great way to recycle an old mani.  I touched up tip wear with Sea Spray and applied one coat of Liquid Crystal.  Since both Liquid Crystal and Full Spectrum are so dense it only took one coat for full effect.  Then I gooped on a final coat of China Glaze's fastforward top coat.  Done!
New mani in 5 minutes!

I was able to find this on a recent trip to Sally's, (they finally restocked), for $5.99!  This month their having a buy 2 get one free sale. 

I review China Glaze's Sea Spray a few days ago, and Full Spectrum a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for stopping by!   

China Glaze - Sea Spray

Quick post today, on China Glaze's Sea Spray, from the Anchor's Away collection.  Sea Spray is a light blue grey with subtle silver shimmer, such a soft and calming calming color.  The formula is excellent, two easy coats and goes on like a creme rather than a pastel. 

The shimmer is very subtle, its there, but hard to see. 
You might be able to tell there is kind of a finish to it, it's not real crisp like a true creme is.

Even though Sea Spray is from last year's collection it is in Sally's regular stock China Glaze so this is really easily accessible.  YES! 

Do you have any other colors from the Anchor's Away collection?

Sinful Colors - Timbleberry or Thimbleberry 108

I don't know what a timbleberry is but that is the name of this polish, I swear.  This polish frequently shows up under the search term "thimbleberry" as well.  Thimbleberries actually exists as a type of raspberry and is very close to the color of this polish.  Why the powers at be, at Mirage Cosmetics, Inc. went with "timbleberry" and not "thimbleberry" is beyond me.
 

I would describe Timbleberry as a bright watermelon color, somewhere between a lighter/bright red and a dark pink.  The first coat kind of goes on like a jelly, nice and even, and a little translucent.  The second coat kind of a applies like a creme, with noticeable cuticle drag.  I applied three coats to even out the second coat. 

My home office is flooded with natural light and is great for taking pictures, however it has ugly blue walls and one day I will paint it.  So until do, my photos have a blue cast reflecting back, just like in the photos above.  I don't know why this happens on only some occasions and not all the time.  My photo lamp is turned on as well which lessened the blue cast.  Also the my camera is depicting timbleberry as more red than it really is, in real life.  In real life it is more pink.  Watermelon is the best way for me to describe this polish accurately. 

Overall its an appropriate color for spring and summer.  Its noticeable as well, a few people at work pointed out my nail polish to me.  "Oh my gosh, you did your nails." "What color is that?" "Its really bright."  Those are the statements I got. 

Personally, its a color I'm okay with; I could take it or leave it.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: 5/3/2012  Sinful Colors UK names this polish "thimbleberry, 108" same number.  Looks like the same shade.  http://www.sinfulcolors.co.uk/polishcolourchart.html

Happy Easter!

I won't be posting tomorrow, so Happy Easter!

I dyed some eggs with a Paas kit.  It came with some cheesy stickers. I put some on, then stopped because I didn't find them creative or artistic.

I did an Easter mani a few days ago, click here.

This morning I did a post on Nina Ultra Pro's Blue La La, click here.

Enjoy!

Nina Ultra Pro - Blue La La

Hi guys! Today I have a beautiful cerulean creme to show you - Nina Ultra Pro's Blue La La.  This was two easy coats and will lift your day.  Well at least it cheered me up. 

Nina Ultra Pro is at Sally's, $4.29 a bottle. 

I thought I would do a comparison of all my blue polishes since I have few blue-greys, not that Blue La La is a blue grey, but I tend to re-buy things I like, and forget that I already have a certain color.

In the same order as on the nail wheel.

I have swatched all but five of these.  If you want to see them, click "blue", under "labels" you should be able to see all the posts. 

I can't seem to single out a favorite. Each blue is beautiful in its own right, and I do love love all of them!  Do you have some favorite blue polishes?

Sinful Colors - Hazard

Well, like green I don't have very many orange nail polishes in my collection.  Here is one I recently picked up at Walgreens: Sinful Colors, Hazard, from the Petal Pushers line.  Orange is another difficult color for me to pull off because my skin is cool toned.  I really did not like how this turned out, Hazard borders on being a neon, but I would describe it as a medium orange coral.

Hazard applies like a pastel, thick and tacky.  Above is two coats, and I did not have any issues except I'm just not that excited about the color.  Maybe I will be in August when its hazy, hot and humid here on the east coast.  Late summer the sun is so bright, everything is washed out and I can't see anything else except these bright beachy colors.  UGH.  Maybe I need to add some nail art or glitter?   At least it was only $1.99. 

Thoughts?