V: V-french with OPI Skull and Glossbones

Hey there!

Quick post... we are on V for the ABC challenge and I did a simple V tipped french, some call this a chevron french as well.  This is OPI Skull and Glossbones as a main color with China Glaze Call of the Wild for the tips.

I love grey and brown together, it's what I wear when I get tired of black.

I did this free handed but you can easily use tape if you want.  I did a tutorial on v-tipped french manicures a while back with tape.  Click here to see the tutorial.

Don't forget to check out the other lovely ladies in the challenge!

H: Hello Kitty Manicure

Hey ladies!

It's time for "H" of the ABC challenge. How do you wear Hello Kitty when you are over the age of 35 and not look like a total fool? Discretely. Tastefully. Somehow in a luxe material. I think?

Well, I got a bunch of gold Hello Kitty nail decorations free with a dotting tool kit from Amazon. I really love gold and grey together so I did a simple mani with Color Club's Muse-ing, a dark grey cream polish. I picked a dark grey for high contrast and the gold warms up the grey nicely. Don't ya think?

There's only one picture today, because my camera's battery is almost dead and I don't have time to wait for it to charge.

So who does construction labor with a full on manicure? Crazy moi, that's who.

Progression of the bedroom....

After we tore up the carpet we had a little set back. We found some water damage in the back of the room and on the side. We suspect there must have been a waterbed in this room back in the 80's that leaked.  If you look to the left of the top picture, you can see we repaired the damage. The water had made the floor sink and bow about an inch downwards. The nails were not going to be able to grab on to the plywood underneath so we used liquid floor leveler to make the floor flat again. Kind of like a base coat ridge filler here in the nail world. We stopped construction because we had to wait a full 24 hours for the leveler to dry. The red tank is a compressor used to power the hammer.

Above is a sneak peak at what the new floors will look like. The black stuff is tar paper, for protection against moisture.

So that's it for today. Don't forget to check out the other ladies in this challenge.

OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Hey guys!

I don't know why, but I keep running into random nail polishes from 2010 lately.  Here's another one. Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (LLM) from OPI's Swiss Collection.  LLM is a graphite, metallic foil polish with some nano-sized green and purple shimmer scattered in it.  I thought I was pushing it a bit when I wore this to work, but someone said "Hey I like your nails, they match your grey pants!"    ....Thanks!  I rarely, intentionally match my nails to my outfit.

Macro shot.   See the green and purple?

OPI's at Ulta, but not available from their online store.  Isn't that weird?

Well that's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Barielle Misbehaving Mistress

Hey out there on a quiet Sunday night! 

I have a simple swatch/work mani to show you today - Barielle's Misbehaving Mistress, from Fall 2008.  I found this medium, taupe, with subtle, silver shimmer, gem-of-a-polish at Marshalls last week for $2.99... This is my first bottle of Barielle.  I don't know where to buy these offline, anymore.  Ulta use to be the only place I knew of, but they replaced them with Zoyas.  Now its just transdesign.com... who is having a sale on their Barielle multi-packs, BTW. 

Anyhow, the formula on this is really nice too; two coats, no issues.

I used Nina Ultra Pro's quick dry top coat for this mani for the first time.  Just recently they changed their font, bottles and brushes.  I like the new packaging but the new brushes are huge!  Double barrelled, wide and soft.  See the picture above?  I don't know if people are going to like this....

This is just a preliminary review because I've only tried this top coat once.  Nina's top coat does dry fast, 2 minutes to touch but I had some major shrinkage, noticeable at the tips after three hours.  (I do wrap my tips).  Shine was okay, but after 12 hours the shine started to fade. 

Well, that's it for now, TTFN!

Sinful Colors - Leap Flog

Leap Flog.... What?  Beats me.

Well, whatever Sinful Colors wants to call this, its AWESOME.  LOVE this color, excellent formula!  This was two super easy coats with Seche Vite.  A dusty, green, grey cream!

I actually wore this to work, and got a TON of compliments.  I think its unique and classy.

I broke a nail the other day :(, so I filed the rest down quite a bit.  It was the middle finger.  Something about that nail in particular thats prone to breaks.... maybe because it sticks out the furthest?  Oh well....

If your interested, I did a post on filing and shaping nails, click here.

Any Sinful Colors on your favorites list?

Sinful Colors 1055 Slate

Hey Guys!

Today I have a quickie swatch, Sinful Colors, Slate.  Slate is a nice medium grey with a silver shimmer.  Like most shimmers, the formula is really easy to work with.  Here it is; two coats in early morning light.

The top coat is Etude House's Jelly Pop.  I picked this up during the 99 cent sale at Walgreens!   I love me some cheap thrills!

Thanks for watching!

CrowsToes - Gomez

FI-NAL-LY! *clutch fists* After waiting three full weeks, my bottle of Gomez arrived.  Gomez is complex glitter bomb made up of various sizes and quantities of black, blue, gold, silver and purple hex glitters and some black bar glitter.  Here it is layered over Sinful Colors, Slate, a medium gray shimmer polish. 

Right hand.  Thicker coat of glitter.

Left hand, glitter is more sparse here.

I had a much better time controlling the glitters with Gomez, than I did with, I Make the Path, the other CrowsToes polish I posted.  Gomez seems to have more clear base in it.  My right hand has one thick coat and the left hand has a thin coat.  Sometimes I really don't like my glitters so crowded but in this case they were pretty both ways. 

The mixtures of glitters in Gomez are very nicely done.  The black adds some depth and dimension. The gold, silver and blue sparkle.  Blue, I would say is the main color and the small amount of purple is a nice surprise and balance.  I think Gomez will definitely be in my top 10 polishes for 2012!  Its like crusted jewels.  Extraordinarily engaging!

I got my bottle of Gomez from shop.llarowe.com, for $14.  Expect delays, in this case, I think it was worth it.  I probably sound like a whiny, impatient child, but I'm used to store bought polish, and when I buy polish online I generally buy from eBay.  Which many times, polish ships out in one business day and shows up in my mailbox, two to three days later (domestic mail), not three weeks later.   However, I can forgive, because I did get a couple of mass notification emails about shipping delays, which is better than no communication at all.  I highly suggest visiting my other CrowsToes posting on I Make the Path. In the comments sections there's a discussion on shopping experiences with Llarowe.  Please check your bottles as soon as you get them in the mail.

Thanks for stopping by!

Petites Color Fever - Vintage Gray

Hey everyone!  Having a restful weekend?

Today's post is on last week's work mani.  I hope I don't totally bore you.  Below is two coats of Vintage Gray from Color Fever, a light gray leaning every so slightly purple.  The formula is kind of thin, and since it could be in the pastel family I waited for the first coat to almost dry before applying the second coat.  Works like a charm. 

Outdoor shade.

For what its worth, indoor, incandescent lighting.  The hint of purple is not apparent here.

Picked this up at Rite Aide for $2.99, such a cute little bottle.  The top is round but the bottom is square. 

Carry on!

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.

Zoya - Dove

Today I have a beautiful pale grey to show you from Zoya's Intimate 2011 Collection.  Dove is such a soft, cool and calming color, I just love it and I can't get enough!  I hope I captured it in the photos below.

Two coats.

Up Close.

Even closer.

In this picture the color seems softer than the first photo to me for some reason. 
Maybe because it is a little lighter than the first photo?

Unfortunately, Dove is one of those tacky pastels that can be hard to apply.  The first time I wore this, I applied three coats and it was a sticky mess that took longer than normal to dry.  The first coat applies unevenly and thin.  The second coat builds very well, but takes some skill in consistently getting just the right amount of paint on to the brush and covering all the bald spots.  I think the trick with some pastels is to get the best two possible coats on and leave well enough alone.  Hopefully, the top coat fixes any unevenness, which it did.  If I start to fix any smudges or unevenness with a third coat it starts to become thick and tacky.  The other approach which I haven't tried is to let the first two coats dry completely before applying a third coat.  Like I said... (which I say to myself, really)...is to know when to leave well enough alone. 

Now that I've said all of that, just look at what I did to ruin this manicure....

I love wearing grey and brown together, so I thought I would experiment and do a glitter french with my new brown glitter....  I totally hated how this turned out, and should have left things alone!  Sheesh, so after an hour of doing this manicure, I had to start all over again!

Has this ever happened to you?

Nina Ultra Pro - Never Glum Plum & China Glaze - Techno

This post is going to be a little lengthy because later on, I feature two China Glaze glitters.

Nina Ultra Pro - Never Glum Plum (NGP), is a medium gray creme polish with a teeny tiny touch of purple, maybe.  I really can't see it.  Either way it is still a very pretty gray.  Is it grey or gray?  Well, this is an American blog, so we will go with gray.  NGP was a little watery, but two coats will give you full coverage.  I have used Nina Ultra Pro in the past and find their polishes are quite good.  My favorite of theirs is brushed bronze, the only orange nail polish that I own.  I'll have to swatch that sometime. 

Many bloggers report that Nina Ultra Pro is cruelty free and vegan!  On the back of their bottles, the ingredients are big 3 free, major PLUS! 

In addition, they are quite affordable, I bought my at Sally's back in November for $1.99 each.  Right now they are having a sale on Nina Ultra Pro, for $2.99, I think normally they are $3.99 each.  Bigger Plus!

Last week I found China Glaze's Techno at a beauty supply store for $5.  They had the entire Electropop collection, which are a bunch of bright spring colors I'm not ready for, so I didn't buy any, just Techno.  Techno is a clear polish with big and small holo hex glitters.  You would think, it should not be hard to find a clear polish with holo hex glitters, but it IS!  Revlon makes one, I think, called Sparlking?  I never can find it, its always sold out.  Yes, it is on eBay, but some seller wants $15 for it,  I think not! .... so I was happy to find Techno.

I just did the ring finger on this mani because I really like NGP on its own.  Techno in my humble opinion is a must have glitter in anyone's collection,  it would be great to even layer with other glitters.

On the right hand, I was experimenting with China Glaze's Some Like it Haute.  I applied this glitter on the tip with a big #6 flat brush on top of some stars.  I should have done the glitter first then applied the stars... so backwards!  Oh well.

I posted Some Like it Haute earlier.  See here.

Thoughts or comments?  Are you ready for the Electropop collection or any other spring collection?  I'm ready for warm weather, but I'm still enjoying the dark colors and glitters. 

Wet N’ Wild – Grey’s Anatomy

I just found out Wet N’ Wild (WNW) is cruelty free.  I know, I’m probably the last to know, duh.  I keep passing up WNW because I keep saying to myself I have to look them up… blah blah blah.  Well, I never did look them up. There was a buy one get one free pack at CVS and on the back of the package is a bunny with a heart for ears, ahhh cute!  Why didn’t you say so WNW???  So I bought Silverado, Grey’s anatomy, and Party of Five glitter, the Silverado came with a free top coat, which I have yet to try. 

Grey’s Anatomy (GA) is a nice soft color.  I would feel comfortable wearing this to work.  I would say it is grey based with purple/green duo-chrome.  The purple is more apparent than the green. The green shows up at sharp angles.  Formula is kind of thin and sheer.  I applied three coats and it still wasn’t fully opaque, but that’s okay, I am really happy with this polish. GA has a subtle, soft beauty of its own.   Also the brush is round and makes it easier to apply neatly.  I had very little clean up to do.  Since it is thin and sheer it would make for an interesting layering polish!    Ideas, Ideas!!!

Riding along in my car....

Rainy overcast day - perfect light for pictures.
See the green duo chrome?

I used Orly’s nail defense base, three coats GA, and one coat China Glaze FF top coat.  Made in China, inexpensive Chinese labor, hence, $1.99 each, CVS.