30 March 2013

Sneak peek of what's coming up!

So excited about this stuff! Also about my @hexnailjewelry bling (which autocorrect tried to change to blunt). I have it on already and am excited to show it off. Especially since I obviously love black/dark nails. #nailpolish #blacknailpolish #orly #shad by TartanHearts
This is NOT Orly ' Shade Shifter' in action but I was so excited about it that I had to take a picture. My awesome Hex Nail Jewelry charm is pictured; I figured that went really well with Ramones-inspired polish. . More details about this mani coming very soon!

ETA: Sneak PEEK! PEEK, damn it. Not a sneak peak. No stealthy mountains here.

*All products here were purchased by me for my own wear and review. 

26 March 2013

St. Patrick's Day nails 2013

St. Patrick's Day nails 2013

*All products here were purchased by me for my own wear and review. 
This is: CND Stickey base coat, Gelish base coat, two coats of RCM 'Dress for Success', two coats of China Glaze 'Running in Circles', one coat of Poshe top coat, stamped with BM-221, and one coat of Poshe top coat. Accent nail has one coat of Ninja Polish 'Shamrock Floam' over the CG with a bit of twee & honey 'Viscera' and a coat of Poshe top coat.

Happy (belated) St. Patrick's Day! It is a HUGE day for my because I work in (and my family owns) an Irish pub. I see more family on SPD than on Christmas. No exaggeration. Naturally, I need awesome nails.

When "Running in Circles" came out, I remember lots of people saying, "This is the green version of Riveting! It's beautiful!" Somehow this stuck out in my mind and I still love my Giants playoffs mani, so I did a green version based on that. I fell in love with Ninja Polish 'Shillelagh' and 'Shamrock Floam' as soon as I saw them, and had to incorporate 'Shamrock Floam'. ('Shillelagh' deserves its own manicure on a day that I won't be stuck in a very dark pub. And pictures of me WITH a real shillelagh because I do have one.) I bought a TON of SPD polish and was only able to wear a bit of it. I do love green polish so I don't see this as a problem because I have no problem wearing it on any given day.

The interesting thing about this mani is that I completely forgot the Gelish top coat step. And didn't have very good results. RCM isn't the most durable to gels (on me) so that really didn't help. It started to crumble on a couple of my fingers and lead to me taking this off after only wearing it for a couple of days. Also, it looks like tipwear here but it was shrinkage! Poshe! :( Going back to my beloved (and much cheaper) Jordana top coat immediately.

Here's a picture of me with my super cute shamrock shirt found at Target. (tiny hat also from Target!)
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I am also wearing Sephora + Pantone emerald green fake eyelashes, but didn't take a close-up to show them off.

My "work" outfit for the day, since I was dancing, was this:
Please don't kiss me. Personal boundaries, people!

I was very excited to wear my new Jig outfit! Not only is it hella cute (especially compared to my last Jig outfit, seen in the middle there) it is a lot lighter and cooler to wear than a kilt or an Aboyne outfit. And it's one zipper and an apron tie versus five different items of clothing. I'm excited to do some more competing this year, even with the "no polish" dress code. I'll be posting some nude toned manicures for sure! :)

20 March 2013

Pretty & Polished 'Irish Brawn'

Pretty & Polished 'Irish Brawn'

This is CND Stickey bas coat, Gelish base coat, two coats of Gelish 'Black Shadow', Gelish top coat, one coat of Pretty & Polished 'Irish Brawn' and Jordana Quick Shine top coat.

I am a total SUCKER for any bright glitter in a dark base. I own quite a few polishes like this, in various shapes and colors. If someone put out a line with a polish like this in every color of the rainbow, I would buy them.

That said, I like 'Irish Brawn' performed. It was not too thick or thin and the glitter didn't get lost in the base, as often happens in polishes like this. The glitter application was very random, which I like. My thumbs ended up with a LOT of glitter. The effect on my ring finger made it almost look French tip, which was unintentionally awesome! If I worked someplace other than a dark-ass bar, this would have been my St. Patrick's Day day-of mani. Instead, I opted for something a little brighter which I will post soon!

*All products here were purchased by me for my own wear and review. 

19 March 2013

a-England 'Dragon'

a-England 'Dragon'

This is CND Stickey base coat, Gelish base coat, two coats of Gelish 'Runway For Your Money', Gelish top coat, two coats of a-England 'Dragon' and Jordana Quick Shine top coat.

I've just recently acquired a-England polishes and I am kicking myself for waiting so long. The holo isn't as holo-y as it could be but somehow that doesn't seem to matter with how gorgeous these are (usually it does). They're very pigmented and apply beautifully. I highly encourage you to pick up some a-Englands if you don't already have any!

'Dragon' is a yellow-toned medium green that is probably a bit lighter than pictured here. It has a copper duochrome and a scattered holographic effect. It was perfect to wear at the beginning of March when I wanted to get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit without being SHAMROCKS AND RAINBOWS for three weeks.

*All products reviewed here were purchased by me for wear and review. 

11 March 2013

LITTLE MERMAID NAIL ART!

I have something to show you guys that I am SO EXCITED ABOUT! I can barely believe that *I* am responsible for this.

the Little Mermaid nail art

the Little Mermaid nail art

Ariel detail

Ariel's hair and shell bra detail

mermaid scale nail art

These babies are my DISNEYLAND nails!

I did so much I'm not sure where to begin.

My right hand (and my left middle finger) is a custom mixed of soak-off gels because I didn't have the perfect color. It's mostly RCM "Who Are You Wearing" and "Dress for Success" mixed, with a little white added in. I stamped it with RA-111 and Urban Outfitters "Green Holo" (so creatively named).

My left hand went a little like this:
Thumb: Ariel's hair using SensatioNail "Taupe Tulips" as a base with L.A. Colors red and red glitter nail art stripers plus LA Colors "Hi-Lite" striper and a teeny bit of Ulta "Sun-Sational" for the star. It's hard to tell in the pictures but the two yellows gave the star a bit of depth.

Index finger: Shell bra! Using SensatioNail "Taupe Tulips" as a base and OPI "Funky Dunkey" and an unnamed love&beauty purple for the shells. It was way easier than I expected it to be! This is what I thought would be the most difficult and it ended up being a breeze. There may be more nail art in my future!

Ring finger: FLOUNDER! Used SensatioNail "Taupe Tulips" as a base and completely covered it with Ulta "Sun-Sational" and painted the stripes using L.A. Color stripers in "Blue Glitter" and "Teal Glitter" (more creative names).

Pinky: Sebastian's eyes used Sally Hansen "Red My Lips" as a base and a dotting tool with black and white. Pretty simple but so perfect!

Basically I'm so excited about this I can barely make words! I found several Little Mermaid manis via Pinterest (of course!) and put together what I thought was cool and what I thought I was actually capable of doing with my very limited nail art skills. I borrowed mostly from these two from The Nail Network and Nails at Home. I also was really inspired by this one and the less literal take on everything.

Because a Disneyland trip isn't complete without PICTURES here are a couple more:


#DIDNEYLAN @seeingaliens @bachbach916

We found them by accident. #DIDNEYLAN @bachbach916 @seeingaliens

Oz.

I missed the exclusive 15-minute preview of Oz that was playing in CA Adventure but I ended up seeing it yesterday. It was great! The original Wizard of Oz is my favorite favorite favorite movie (followed by the Little Mermaid) and while this one didn't come close, I did like it a lot. I've never done Oz-themed nails, so that may be in the works.

Up next: St. Patrick's Day greens!

10 March 2013

Stitches nails!

Stitches nails! -direct light

Stitches mani! - indirect light

Stitches mani! -shade

This is: CND Stickey as base coat, one coat of Gelish base coat, three coats of SensatioNail "Espresso Bean", one coat Gelish top coat, alcohol wipe, Revlon "Golden" stamped with Bundle Monster plate 225, plus a coat of Poshe top coat. The pictures above show direct light, indirect light, and shade.

Last year was my first year going to Stitches West, a convention for knitters, crocheters, spinners, and fiber lovers of all other sorts. I went this year, prepared for being totally overwhelmed with gorgeous wooly things of every variety. While I ended up going down the rabbit hole and deciding to finally give spinning a try, I managed to make it out of there without too much damage to my wallet. Mostly, I got to see and meet some amazing humans at the LSG meetup.

DSC_6702
(not my photo, click thru to flickr for the owner's feed with MORE pictures of us!)

Last year, I was asked quite a bit about my nails. (And I had a really awesome manicure so you can imagine why people asked about it.)  So I knew I had to do something pretty cool this year! Since I hadn't stamped in a while, I figured that was the way to go.

This manicure was inspired by another knitter, Amoena. She's also a polish blogger! (Although her blog is in Finnish. Google translate is your friend! The stripped-down tumblr version in English is here.) She has created some gorgeous stamped manis that look like tapestry like this one and this gorgeous beauty. I find myself admiring her work a lot and decided to try my hand at doing something tapestry-like and sort of tonal. I was already wearing SensatioNail 'Espresso Bean' and I thought gold would go great with it. I was right! I did audition 4 or 5 golds before I hit it out of the park with "Golden". Orly "Luxe" was my back-up in case nothing else worked out. We all know it stamps like a dream!

*All products featured in this review were purchased by me for wear and review. 

09 March 2013

SensatioNail Espresso Bean

SensatioNail 'Espresso Bean' compared to box

SensatioNail 'Espresso Bean'

This is: CND Stickey as base boat, one coat Gelish base coat, three coats of SensatioNail 'Espresso Bean', and one coat of Gelish top coat.

This is the first SensatioNail polish I've picked up that is actually accurate to the box color (which is why I included the box picture!). I hope that's a good sign going forward, because some of their packaging is pretty misleading. (I'm talking about you Purple Orchid! You are not a warm purple!)

I LOVE rich browns and this is one of my favorite brown polishes ever. It has just enough shimmer to keep it from looking black or too dark. The micro-shimmer is multi-color and I found gold, red, and a bit of green in it. I had a nail chip and redid it with the same color. THAT is how I know I like a polish. Especially when it comes to gel! I highly recommend this if you are a fan of brown and/or darker colors.

This was an ideal base for stamping and I have a forthcoming post with a ton of pictures! My first stamped manicure since October!

*All products featured in this review were purchased by me.