Original Wacky Loves Nail Polish

Hmm, New Feature Idea?

2012-02-03T01:54:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking of doing a new thing on Fridays, and calling it Friday Flashback. I'll dig in my OLD picture files (old being relative, as I'm only talking 2-4 years ago), and post up a few. Many of them will look pretty crappy, since I had no talent back then, and my clean-up was pretty atrocious at times. But hey, it just shows how far I've come with all that practice, right? So, today is going to be my first Friday Flashback, and I'll share a few comparisons of dark colors.

I'll start with a comparison between Nicole Black Cat-cha Later, and Midnight Madness.

Nicole Black Cat-cha Later is a lovely deep burgundy color.

And Midnight Madness is a great dark dark blue shimmer.

I still love colors like this, although I'm more likely to wear them when my nails are really short, just because.
The next comparison is three SH polishes, Black Diamond, Endless Night, and Real Royal, and Milani Black Magic.

Black Magic is a creme, so it's just black - and it took three coats to get it looking good. Not like my beloved WNW Black Creme. Hee. Real Royal is a brownish copper shimmer in a black base that I like more than I would have thought I would.

Real Royal and Endless Night are the two closest in this comparison. Endless Night is a touch browner, and seems to be a little cooler. At a distance, you might not be able to tell the difference, unless you are a nail polish freak.

Endless Night and Black Diamond aren't really alike at all. Black Diamond reminds me of a dark graphite type color, and is black with silver shimmer in it. I do love it.

Well, that's going to be enough for the first installment of Friday Flashback. If you're a blogger, why don't yo9u join me? It doesn't have to be polish, it can be anything from a while back that you share. Comment if you do, so I can take a peek!

Help Me Out Ok?

2012-01-28T04:49:00.001-05:00

Okay, so this week I was playing around with polish, and I got to thinking, maybe those of you who read could give me advice on the best way to swatch! I mean, I know what I like to see, but what about you? I have to say, my favorite swatches are those done by Crystal over at Valentine Kisses (Like, click here to see one of her nail polish swatch posts - SO AWESOME!). She also has a couple of giveaways, so you should go enter those before they end on the 31st and next month on the 14th, I think. Anyway, thing is, I'm not sure I can DO such a great job, I'm kinda limited on how much time I have (no really, it must take her HOURS to do those!!!), and I'm not that great with the camera. So I thought I'd show you the two methods I'm most likely to use, and ask you to tell me which you like better.

Okay, the top of each picture is my original way of swatching, which involves doing one coat on the pinky, two on the ring finger, three on the middle finger, and four on the index finger. Then, if it's a sheer polish, I'll do a coat over black on my thumb. The bottom is basically a regular manicure type of swatch, and I'll tell you how many coats etc. This first picture is of my thumbs in both cases, one coat over black like my older method, and three coats over white just because. And it's side by side, but the rest will be top and bottom. Go me for being confusing, right? Muahaha! Oh yeah, this is LA Girls Zesty Citrus, and it does smell like citrus.

So, there are three pictures for you to compare, seeing them at different angles etc. Please don't forget you can click to embiggen the pictures so you can see them better.

I would like you to know for reference that in the bottom picture, it took me SIX coats to get that level of opacity, and as you can see, there is still plenty of VNL (visible nail line). Now, I'm pretty dead set against VNL on my own nails, so this is almost certainly only going to be a layering color for me (which is fine, as I love yellows and have tons of them to use as a base). But other people don't mind it, and in fact some folks LIKE it, so there you have it.

All of these pictures are taken under my OTT light, simply at different angles. These were taken the same night, but sometimes swatches are taken days apart, and using my OTT light seems to be the best way to keep things as uniform as possible so that you can see the "true" color. Of course, monitors vary and all that stuff. But in general, I think my pictures are fairly accurate in showing the color of things - and I tend to avoid tweaking in PaintShop as far as color goes. I'll always say if I've done anything like that.

Also, you might note that the swatches are in general 'messier' than the manicure type, because I try not to get even close to the cuticle with those so I don't have any cleanup to speak of. So, in terms of time spent, the top ones do go faster (especially when I need to use SO MANY COATS of the polish, like I had to with this).

So, do tell me please, which one do you think is better? I like the top ones for seeing how sheer or opaque a color is, but the bottom ones look more 'complete', so those are kinda equal in my head. The top ones definitely take less time overall, but not so much that it's a huge issue. And now, I'm going to grab the puppers, and crawl into bed. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

I Haven't Left!

2012-01-27T01:34:00.000-05:00

Really, I'm still around, just been super busy, what with a new puppy, The Mate getting his new wheelchair, and attempting to get more work done on the house. So for tonight, let's just look at several pictures I've taken with my phone to share with my BFF.

Here's a picture of my challenge water marble, holding an orange.

And this is Ruby Kisses Blues Clue. I love this blue. And yes, I was in the bathtub when I took it.

Check out this awesome car we saw at the gas station!

I cleaned out the frig and made it all neat.

How about my tiny haul while we were picking up the aforementioned puppy?

Some Funky Fingers, and a few others. You may have seen some of these in manis already. Yeah, yeah, I'm slow. Oh well. Ooh, right this instant, this is what I have on my nails:

I'll post better pictures of that in a couple weeks probably. Haha. Back in like, November, I found a bunch of polishes on clearance, and grabbed them. I took a phone pic then, and never shared it. Here it is!

I took this cool picture of the moon rising over the neighbor's house one night a few weeks ago, and I like it a lot.

And now, I've saved my favorite one for last. This is from my swap with the lovely Happy Berry Naiad, who sent me a FANTASTIC package all the way from Singapore! I just put all the polishes in one pic, and I can't share the other stuff, because it's being used. Like the adorable pink coin purse she sent, which is hilarious because I was was TOTALLY looking for one. Well now I have one. And I also have these GORGEOUS polishes!

So like, that is two of the three blue jean Chanels, and the dupe to the third (the Nubar). Already, I'm dying from happy, right? But then, there is the whole Tony Moley Galaxy Collection! Just look at those awesome glitters!! But that wasn't all, there were two PA polishes, including my huge lemmings paQ21!!! And I'm totally not turning my nose up at MAC Immortal Gold (is that the name? I'm sooo forgetful lately), because it's almost like a yellow, and we all know that's my favorite nail polish color. Ooh, and I almost forgot to mention up there on top - there is a black crackle polish in there too. How awesome is that? VERY AWESOME!

Okay, so it's getting late, and I have to get the dogs out one more time, and then crawl into bed. Tomorrow we have a bunch of junk to do, and this weekend is the dog show locally, so I'll probably be missing in action until next week. We'll just see, it depends on lots of things.

Dude, I'm A Slacker!

2012-01-21T02:42:00.001-05:00

Okay, not so much really, but I have been busy as heck what with the new pup and all the other things going on. Like, The Mate is getting a new power chair, so he'll be able to go place again! This is awesome, but meant I had to do some serious moving of things so he could use it in the house as well. And I'm not anywhere close to done with the things I need to get done around here, but you didn't come here to listen to me whine about that.

And I blew up my Greader, and am starting over so I can organize, so I will have to spend some time working on that too. So if I unfollowed you, it's not personal, and I'll be back! Possibly under my other gmail address, so that I can keep things organized, and maybe be able to comment on posts sooner. See, I sometimes wind up reading posts a week or more after they are posted, and I always feel strange about commenting so late, so I kinda don't do it, and then I feel bad that I'm not commenting on all your wonderful posts! Yucky spiral that is.

Of course, I also have lots of things I'd like to do with my blogs, and not nearly enough time to do them, which kinda sucks too. And editing pictures takes me quite a while, so I need to either get better at it or take less pictures. Yeah right, less pictures. That won't happen. I'd love to reorganize my Photobucket, but that would mean going back and correcting ALL my links, and I'm not sure I have the guts to try that. Too bad there isn't a way to automate that. And while I'm mentioning ambitions, I'd like to do some videos for my blogs, so that means a whole new set of things to learn, like how to edit them, and how to take decent ones. Not to mention get over how much I hate hearing myself talk. Haha.

So anyway, here I am with my first manicure of the year, three weeks later. If you're still reading, then jump on in and take a peek at what I did. I sure liked it.

I started with L'Oreal After Hours, from the new line.It's a nice navy jelly, and since I was putting something over it, I just did one coat, though it could have used two. But it was late, I was in a hotel room, and I wanted to see the end results RIGHT NOW.

So, here you go, the end result, adding Essie Shine of the Times to the blue. LOVE IT! Ooh look, the hotel desk too. Wheee!

I love the multi-chrome effect of these flakes. Just lookit those colors!

Flash makes it look kinda coppery, with hints of yellowish green.

Angling the light differently brings out the green and yellow effect a lot.

Here you can see the orange, rust, copper kinda color with hints of green at the edges.

I seriously took a LOT of pictures, and had a really hard time narrowing them down to just these.

This does remind me of Nubar 2010, and SH Hidden Treasure (the original one, not the new one - WTF SH?), but the flakes are way thicker in this.

In some ways, I like all the flakes in this, because this was ONE coat to get the effect. However, sometimes it's fun to have a few less so that you can see the base color better. So it depends on what you prefer. I like both, and want to have both, so I'll keep them all.

If there had been any sunshine, I would have gotten pictures in it, but it was stormy as heck, practically a blizzard, so I couldn't do sun pics. Ahh well. Besides, I probably would have been distracted by the puppy, since he was all new and needy and cute and so on.

I love the color shift just by moving my nails around. Luckily I was able to keep my squeeing to a dull roar so that I didn't wake up The Mate. And the puppy.

Even in low light there is so much color and character in this.

So, what do you think? Would you like to wear a polish like this?

As a reward for reading and looking at all that, here are a couple of pictures of said cute puppy that is taking up so much of my time. Let me introduce you to Koshka! I love this picture, the two guys I love most in the world (besides my son, duh) snuggling does my heart good.

Of course, he's awful cute just sleeping on his own too. The puppy, I mean, although The Mate looks pretty cute when he sleeps. But I don't think he'd like me to post pictures of that.

Don't worry, Krissie isn't being left out at all, she still gets her place on the bed, generally something along these lines.

Yes, she is under the covers between us, and on her own pillow. Stop laughing at me. She's NOT spoiled.

Okay y'all, I totally need to get into bed, because I have chores in the morning, and then I think The Mate wants to try to go fishing. Which I like. Because if I'm bored with fishing, I can crawl into the van and cuddle up with puppies and watch movies. Hee.

Why I...

2012-01-13T02:44:00.002-05:00

This is a nice writing prompt that I thought I'd try out. The idea is from SarahBee at MyOwnBeeswax. The premise is to finish the following thought: "Why I...". So it didn't take me long to think about a few things I could finish it with, and that leads us to the following post. But to make it fun, I'll include some polishes I haven't shown you yet. Let's jump right on in!

Why I ... love doing my nails.

CoverGirl Bronze Matte

It all started something like three years ago. I just bought myself a bright yellow nail polish, and found that I really liked how my nails looked.

Of course, that one polish led to another, and another. Suddenly I was noticing nail polish a lot more. And that included finding people online who were into it as well.

I can't wear much for makeup because of my skin. So nail polish is one way I can really add a pop of color to ME. Without having to buy an entire new wardrobe, which is convenient, since I'm also limited in what clothes I can wear.

I have found that doing my nails relaxes me quite a bit, and also lets me be as creative as I want. Nobody can tell me I'm doing it wrong, because I get to make it look however *I* want it to.

So, it's come down to being not only a way that I can be 'beautiful', but also a way to express the artistic side of myself, if only on a small canvas.

And yes, I would say I'm addicted to it. But as things go, it's a pretty harmless little obsession, and it makes me happy. I suppose we can't ask for much more than that.

Okay, so I did the prompt, but I still have a couple of polishes left to show you.

Bonita Tangerine

I liked this orange quite a bit, maybe because it's got that 'rusty' quality to it.

It's a very nice shimmer.

It's a very warm polish.

What do you think of it?

It is a great Halloween color, so I'm going to keep it in mind for that this year. Unless I want it before then. Hee.

I thought I'd add some fun to it with a glow in the dark polish. Of course, I didn't take any dark pictures. Oops.

with Glow in Dark Pumpkin

It really does glow in the dark though. Those pumpkins are fun!

And the last thing I'm going to show you is a yummy blue sammich manicure.

Ring finger has a coat of the Revlon on top.

Regaled Out Blue is a lovely dark blue jelly polish.

And Mosaic is a great blue glitter polish.

Together they look amazing.

I love being able to see all the pieces of glitter floating about in there.

You may know by now that I am a HUGE glitter fan. So this makes me happy in the pants.

I'd explain why I like glitter, but really? I can't. I just LOVE it.

Okay, so now I'm going to crawl into bed, and probably read until I can't see anymore, then fall asleep dreaming about nail polish. Hee. What can I say, I'm obsessed.

I'ma Fling Some Glitter!

2012-01-12T15:25:00.000-05:00

I'm kinda having a crap day, so I thought I'd go get those holiday manicures and show them off, because that should help lift my spirits. I mean, how can thinking about what a great holiday we had be anything BUT good? So if you'd like to peek at a couple more NOTDs with Xmas colors etc, this is the place to do it!

I love those little snowman polishes that come out around the holidays.

I used a green and silver for a very simple manicure this time.

Since I was in a hurry, I kinda horked it up a bit, so it's not a polish issue, it's an application issue. All my fault. Hee.

Still, when you aren't looking close up, it's okay.

The colors are nice and shiny.

Blurred kinda makes me happy in the pants for this mani.

For Christmas Day itself, I wanted to go fancier, so I layered.

Icing Electric Emerald is a GORGEOUS green shimmer. Then Spoiled Hit The Brakes is a wonderful red creme.

First I added a coat of Spoiled Shaken Snow Globe, then I added a bit of Icing Sunlit (love me some bar glitter), and that's how this mani came about.

This is one I left on for a few days, because it was just so fantastic.

I will caution you that the green did stain my nails, even with two layers of base coat. I don't mind, but I thought you'd want to know.

But looking at the pretty, it was so totally worth it.

Besides, I wear polish pretty much all the time, so it's not like people generally see my nakey nails.

So, is there any specific kind of stuff you'd like to see on my nails? I've got oranges all this week, and a flakie to share, but then I haven't decided what else to do yet, so I don't mind if folks request something specific. Keep in mind that I'm not really that talented at nail art unless it's something I can stamp or use decals for. I just got an AWESOME swap package that I think I should share as well, so you'll probably see those polishes before too long. But for now, I'd better get some chores done, or I won't have time to do my nails tonight! Yikes!

Last Challenge Day!

2012-01-11T23:33:00.000-05:00

So, this is where we get to choose one day that we want to recreate. I thought this would be really hard to decide, but I liked the one I did for yesterday's post so much I decided to do that one again. In different colors. Heck yeah! And get this - I went with pink. Because I wanted to use my new pink glitter polish from The Hungry Asian called I Hate Pink. I got the glitters she was selling, and I love them so much! And then, just look how it happened to work out - just look at what today is!

Let's go see how my pink looks!

I used Pink Lingerie from Cherimoya as my base color. It's a delicate pink that is kind of frosty.

Then the first swipe of color was a new brand I picked up at Walmart called Salon Perfect. This one is named Steel Rose.

And then I grabbed one of my super old Sally Hansen Chromes, in Fuschia Sapphire.

And the glitter accent was the frankened I Hate Pink from The Hungry Asian. I don't HATE pink, but it's not usually my favorite nail color. This glitter though? It's FANTASTIC.

Just look at the holo scattered everywhere in that bottle! How can I resist something like that?

I smudged up my nails some trying to hurry, but I still like the way it turned out.

What colors do you think would look great with this kind of mani?

Well, that's the end of the challenge, so I'll be posting other stuff from here on out. Don't worry, I found a couple more holiday manicures, and I've got oranges all this week for Jack to share. And I've got lots of wonderful new polishes to play with, so I would imagine I can try to be creative and do some pretty stuff up over the next few weeks!

Oooh, Like, A Whole Month!

2012-01-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

So we've come to day 30 of the challenge, a mani inspired by a tutorial. Well, one of the ones I've liked best is this one over at the Indian Makeup & Beauty Blog. This Geometric Nail Art Tutorial is reasonably simple (anybody can do it!), and gorgeous. So why don't we take a peek at how I did?

I started with the base color of Confetti's Rhapsody In Blue, which is a light steely blue. Then the first diagonal color was Unforgettable Moments in Sparkling Turquoise. Over that, the second diagonal color was my old friend, Wet N Wild Black Creme. And the little lines were done with Claire's top coat (no name, so I call it silver OMGPRETTYHOLO).

No, seriously, just look at the holo in there!

So, the finished look comes out like this.

I didn't have quite as much contrast as the tutorial, but I like it.

I did find out that I really need better brushes for this kinda thing. But it was still workable.

I think this would be fun with all sorts of color combinations.

When I blue it a bit, you can see the lovely sparkle of the Claire's polish.

So now tomorrow you will get to see which one I decided to recreate for the last day of the challenge? Which one did you like best?

Supernatural!

2012-01-09T22:50:00.000-05:00

No, it's not ghosts, but it is a mani inspired by the supernatural. I wanted to try to find something a little less common, so rather than go with ghosts or haunting kinds of things, I went with something that was way supernatural in the past, but is kinda known nowadays. I chose St. Elmo's Fire, and tried to make it look like it was against the night sky.

St. Elmo’s fire sometimes looks similar to lightning but it is a separate meteorological phenomenon. Although called “fire,” St. Elmo’s fire is a luminous plasma that can glow a bright blue or violet. It can also appear like an eerie fire burning at the top of tall, pointed structures like ship masts or aircraft wings. It has also been reported on leaves, grass, and tips of cattle horns during a stampede.

Unlike the thunderous boom which follows lightning, St. Elmo’s fire can be heard “singing” on an aircraft’s radio, a frying hiss or buzzing sound running up and down the musical scale. It is often as a precursor to a lightning strike.

Sailors would regard St. Elmo’s fire with religious awe, an omen of heavenly intervention. It was named after St. Erasmus of Formiae, the patron saint of sailors. It has been recorded over the centuries, starting with the ancient Greeks, Julius Caesar, Columbus and Magellan. After Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod, the phenomenon was seen more on land, sparking fear as the ghostly blue flames inspired stories of spirits and hauntings.

If you'd like to read more about it, and see some pictures, then just click on this sentence. Then, I'd love it if you'd check out my interpretation of St. Elmo's Fire on my nails.

I started with Revlon Mistletoe, which I thought was kinda like a stormy sky.

I love this polish. Two coats was way plenty.

It went on smoothly and didn't drag or pool.

Cleanup was easy too.

Then I used Whiter Than White and Prismatic White to make the lighting effect.

First was the white, for the basic electricity part. Then the Essence glowy color to try and look like lightningm or the 'fire'.

I'm really quite happy with how it turned out. What do you think?

I tried to make it look like it was continuing across the other nails.

I'd like to think you can almost hear the singing electricity when you look at this. Hee. Okay, so I have a vivid imagination.

Wow, we're down to the last two days of the challenge, and then I'll have to pick and choose what I do myself. Luckily I have friends who often ask for certain manis, and/or request certain colors.

Wave Your Flag!

2012-01-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

Whoooo! We're up to day 28, and today's mani is one inspired by a flag. I've done American flags a few time, so I didn't want to go with that. I've seen plenty of British flags, and some others, and I kinda didn't want to do those. Finally I settled one one that I thought would be fun, and pretty, and that means something to me. I decided to go with the Czech Republic's flag. It's a clean and simple design. We're using some Czech commands for our dog. I have Czech ancestors in my bloodline. Seems like three is enough, right? You can click on this sentence to see info about the Czech Republic, with a picture of the flag. So now let's see how I did this on my nails.

I used 10 Professional Nail Lacquer from CVS in Lady In White for the white, and as the base.

This is another white that I like for basing nail art on.

To make the red part, I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamonds & Rubies. Normally I'd use tape for nice even lines, but in this case I was feeling steady, so I went freehand.

You can see how my lines aren't so perfect here, but it isn't very noticeable unless you get up close.

For the blue, I wound up using an unnamed, unbranded bottle that I picked up in a package from CVS.

Once again, I went freehand on this, but I probably wouldn't do that again for better lines.

I sorta had to glob the blue on, but it still turned out pretty nice. All in all I was very happy with how this one looked.

From further away, this looked quite fantastic. If every nail looked like the pinky then it could almost be called perfect. Well, as perfect as it can get. Because I am not perfect or anything. But I can try hard to do mybest anyway.

So, you keep hearing about this puppy we got, but I haven't shared pictures. What is up with that? Well, I haven't got a lot - I've been pretty busy with all sorts of things. So here's just one so that you can squee over how adorable he is like we have been.

How cute is he?!? I could chatter about him for hours, he's just too much fun. But I'd better get this posted, and get my mani finished, and get some sleep. I have tons of work to do. Don't you wish that the chores could complete themselves?

Almost Skipped Today's Post!

2012-01-07T21:30:00.000-05:00

Since I'm all thinking about Jack and what's going on there, and what I can possibly do to help, I thought about passing over the challenge post, but I figured I'd go ahead and post it. I'll be reminding people until I'm blue in the face about it, and you probably don't know Jack, so you might want to see other stuff here too. But you'll have to click to see the pictures.

Today's mani was inspired by artwork. I started by painting white, and then adding a coat of Revlon Colorstay Calla Lily for the base.

As you can tell, I use a LOT of white polish in my art, because it provides such a nice background to work on. Anyway, the piece of art that inspired me was Georgia O'Keefe's From The Lake. I took a picture of the picture on my monitor to show you. Hee!

Of course, the idea isn't to duplicate it exactly, just be inspired by. So here's my version of this.

I kinda like the abstract look.

I think it's even better with a matte top coat. As usual, I used Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love. It's cheap and convenient, and works nicely.

I think I could have done better on the waviness of the design, and gotten more of the foggy grey at the top, but I guess I'm happy with it overall.

And now, I think it's time to get things together and do my mani for the night, which will be orange for Jack.

Not Really About Nail Polish

2012-01-07T20:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, so you've heard me talk about The Band before. Well, if you've been reading you have. If not, then you should certainly be checking them out. Anyway, so last night one of the band members found out her son Jack has leukemia. Yeah, super serious stuff. Now it seems this is ALL, which is one of the "better" ones to have, but still, a 5 year old should NOT have to deal with this crud. So we're all teaming up to send our best wishes to him, and he's gonna KICK ASS and get healthy.

Now, I don't have any orange ribbons, so I'll have to post some orange polish for you to enjoy while I tell you more about what you might be able to do to help. Yes, YOU.

Did that bright orange polish catch your attention? Good. One of the most important things you can do to help out folks with leukemia is to join the Be A Match Registry. It won't cost you a penny during the month of January, because American Express has given a grant to cover the expenses (it normally costs $100, which may or may not be covered if there have been enough contributions). You could be a super man/woman to somebody out there if you are their match.

It may turn out that Jack doesn't need a transplant, but even if you don't happen to help him, you could help somebody else. Somebody's son or daughter. Somebody's brother, sister, or cousin. Somebody's best friend.

So, have further questions on what you'll need to do to join, or how this all works? Just check out their Frequently Asked Questions section. It's got everything you need to know.

Maybe you are ready RIGHT NOW to possibly help save a life? Then you can go here and follow the instructions to join.

Or are you one of those people who is already signed up, and just waiting for the call that asks you to help? Are you certain your information is up to date? If not, then you should head on over and make sure it is.

Perhaps you're like me, and are unable to join for some reason. I have psoriasis, and that precludes me from being able to help in this way. But take heart, there are other things you can do to get involved.

There are even several ways to donate money if that's how you prefer to do things.

Maybe you are reading all this and just not quite sure what leukemia is exactly, or how it can be treated. Well, the Band has put up a resource page that can help.

If you'd like to learn a bit more about Jack, and/or follow along, you can visit his Caring Bridge page. He's so adorable and sweet. No kid should have to go through this.

If you'd really like to send Jack a get well e-card or an email of support, just contact me, or any of the Band members for an email address. Or just leave a note at his Caring Bridge site Guest Book.

Band members have also started using the #jackonaut hash tag on twitter to send Jack messages of hope and light.

If you'd like to stick one of the cool buttons on your blog to show your support, even for just a day or so, you can grab it from the Band post. Well, that's about all I can think of for the moment. I'm going to dig up several orange polishes and wear them this week in Jack's honor - as well as all the other kids who are dealing with leukemia in their lives.

Oh, one last thing... if you're just itching to spend some money on something, here's Jack's Amazon wishlist. How about you, do you know somebody special who is going through a rough time? Maybe you can do something small to help lift their spirits.

It's Becoming A Pattern!

2012-01-06T23:07:00.000-05:00

Well, more like I was inspired by a pattern, but who's keeping track of that kinda crap? Not me, that's for sure. So anyway, I was thinking that it would be nice to do something that I love, and I love stained glass. So I chose to be inspired by this pattern:

Seriously, how can you not think that's pretty awesome? So, let's take a peek and my take on this one!

Of course I started with a white base again.

Then I used all these polishes plus black to make the design.

I tried to keep it fairly random, and use some of each color on each nail.

This is a mani that I can stare at for hours on end.

It was super fun to do.

I haven't done anything like this in a long long time.

What do you think?

This was day 26, and we're closing in on the end of this challenge. Who knows what I'll come up with next for fun? I'll keep doing On Wednesdays We Wear Pink, at least most weeks, and I have a couple more holiday manis to share, but after that, who knows what I'm going to come up with. You'll just have to stay tuned!

Fashionably Late

2012-01-05T21:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, no, I'm not late, but I felt like saying that. Anyway, tonight's challenge mani is supposed to be inspred by fashion! So here is the picture I found and was inspired by.

I attempted to do something similar to the white dress on the left there.

So, did I succeed? Let's just say it's too bad this post isn't going up tomorrow, as I could call it a Friday Fail as well. Heheh. The white looked great.

I started with Kleancolor Whiter Than White, and then stamped in Cherimoya Pearl Silver.

The ring finger was supposed to look like cleavage, with the rest of the them looking like the edged of her dress.

At least it was pretty easy. I'd hate to think of hours of work for a fail.

What do you think? Could this idea work out better (if somebody with actual talent tries it)?

Anyhow, with that posted, I think I'm crawling into bed and seeing how much sleep I can get before the puppy needs to go out yet again. Hee. I'm seriously wiped out. See you soon!

I Love To Read

2012-01-04T22:17:00.035-05:00

So, since I love to read, you'd think that it would be so easy for me to come up with a book to inspire some nail art, right? But no, I just kept thinking of books and deciding that I just couldn't manage that one, or I didn't want to try this one, and so on. Finally one came to mind, but I was thinking that it would be ridiculous to use that one. However, after a few hours of not figuring out any other books, that one was still in my mind, so I went with it. What did I choose? Click the link and find out!

You're probably going to laugh at me, but that's okay. I don't mind. So here's what I chose to use.

Yep, a kid's book. But hey, it's still a book, and it's what inspired my mani. So it counts. As you can guess, it was *really* easy to do this one. I went with a white base on my fingers, and stamped the 'fish' on them. Then I used yellow on my thumb to imitate the cover color. Easy peasy.

I kinda horked up the blue fish a little, but it still gets the point across, so I'm not complaining. Along with that little smear on the purple 'one fish', it just adds character, right?

I probably could have cleaned it up just a bit better too, but that's life. At least my version of life. Hee.

I've become more impressed with Kleancolor Whiter Than White for a base, as it goes on easily, and covers great in two coats. I am not giving up on the WNW white, but this one might take it over as my best white.

I love that yellow too. I was actually tempted to leave this mani on for an extra night, I liked it so much.

So what book would you want to design on your nails?

Going To The Movies

2012-01-03T22:20:00.004-05:00

Today's challenge mani is one inspired by a movie. I've seen all sorts, from Harry Potter to Transformers manis, and those are all awesome, but I wanted to be different, of course. So I chose a movie that I've never seen in nail art. I guess I didn't do TOO badly on it. So, what did I choose? Click the link and find out.

I chose to go with a very simple one, and based it off of this picture:

Do you know the movie? It's A Clockwork Orange. So let's take a peek at my mani.

I made an orange franken out of a few orange polishes I had handy to get this shade, as I was looking for a specific orange and didn't have one. Funny how you can have all this polish and still not have THE one color you are looking for.

It was still a touch darker than the picture to my eye, but close enough.

I like the shimmer that is just barely there in this one.

Now to add the art part.

It was tough to fit things in the way I needed to. That spot on the hat in the above picture is a trick of the light.

Then I added the title to my thumb. Or tried to. I'd like to think I could have done better, but I'm still happy with the effect.

So, do you think I did all right?

We didn't get home until today, because the weather was pretty yucky, and we decided to stay an extra night. It was worth it, I was SO sore from fighting the serious wind on the way there and tired from not sleeping much due to excitement, so we came home today, and it was a pretty easy drive. Well, for me anyway, but apparently not for others. We passed at LEAST three cars in the ditch, and one flipped over along the way, so the roads must have been on the nasty side. I guess people need to slow down and take it easy in the winter. It helped me immensely that we have really excellent tires on the Jeep, and they tend to stick to the roads really well. For now, I'm getting to bed early, I still have more recovering to do. And of course, a brand new puppy to attend to! And yes, I'm sure you will see him soon as well.

Music!

2012-01-02T22:20:00.000-05:00

So tonight I'm posting the mani inspired by a song. Hopefully we are safely home by now, although the weather reports were a bit scary, so we shall see. Anyway, I scheduled this just in case, so that I wouldn't miss out on a challenge post. I've only barely missed the deadline once, otherwise I've been getting these done every night. Pretty cool! So, let's see what song I chose to be inspired by, and how I worked that into nail art.

So, here's what I thought would be fun.

Yep, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' version of Crimson and Clover. Well, here is the crimson part.

I LOVE this polish. It is SO gorgeous.

The glitter is amazing.

It applied beautifully.

And it smells of cinnamon!

Cleans up nicely.

Color Club hit it out of the ball park with this one.

Then for the clover, I used China Glaze Holly Day.

It looked good, but I thought it needed a little more detail.

I mixed a touch of black with the green and made some lines, but that wasn't quite enough.

I mean, it looked like a clover and all, but it just seemed sort of dark and drab.

So I grabbed my Essence Prismatic White, and added more detail.

And heck, why not some Funky French tips too?

I like it that way muchly.

It just stands out nicely, and shines.

But I can't get over that red!

It's got a hint of gold to it.

This is one of my favorites so far.

So, what song would YOU like to see in nail art?

(This post is scheduled.)

Oh Look, Color Inspiration!

2012-01-01T22:50:00.000-05:00

Today we start looking at the manis inspired by things, and the first is one inspired by a color! Well, I thought for a while, and since I'm really wanting this to happen, I got inspired by the color of snow!

So let's see how I did!

I used a whole bunch of polishes for this one, and I'm not even going to attempt to describe exactly how I went about layering them and so on. Let's just say it was time consuming and very experimental. Hee.

I tried to make it look all drifty and pretty.

I even made sure some spots were kinda raised up to look more like snow.

It looks a little like clouds too. But I like it.

I'm ready for some snow here. No White Christmas for us. That makes me sad.

However, the reason this is a scheduled post is that we are picking up our puppy, which makes me happy in the pants.

So, how do you think I did?

(This is a scheduled post.)

First Post Since Last Year!

2012-01-01T13:00:00.031-05:00

Bwahahaha! I love saying that. Yeah, I'm not real mature sometimes. So anyway, I thought I'd schedule a couple posts today, so here are a few random polishes that I haven't shown you before but have used recently. Let's take a peek.

First up, a Funky French with green and grey.

Yeah, I was hiding the cuticle messes again. This time with stars.

I'm loving SH Teeny Greeny Bikini. It was a three coater, but well worth it, and I could probably have done a fourth.

This would probably go well over a darker color.

It's a really spring-y color, which I guess works for a brand new year.

Flash makes it look a bit different.

So, I thought I'd add grey tips, just for kicks. I free-handed them, so they aren't perfect.

I like the effect though.

It's another SH polish. And I really like it.

Next up, a polish I picked up from Payless Shoes. And yes, another green. Hee.

Sergeant Khaki is, as you might expect, a khaki green.

For interest, I played with green crackle polish on my accent fingers.

I like the effect on this quite a bit.

It's not quite a metallic polish, but close. Not a foil either.

Either way, I like this polish quite a bit.

For the next one, I have a yellowish green to share.

Yep, China Glaze Trendsetter. You might know I like the pukey colors quite a bit, and this is no exception.

It's got a lovely shimmer in it.

You're not going to hear me complain that my tips look like snot. Hee.

Of course, I wouldn't buy clothes in this color. But then, I'm not a super colorful person as far as clothes anyway. I have no fashion sense.

So, would you wear this color?

Next up, a not really green, but much more of a teal from Hema.

No name, just a Shade number, which is 11.

It's a gorgeous color.

Two coats of lovely lovely polish.

And that shimmer is wonderful.

It's not metallic, but almost looks like it under the flash.

Last, I'll share my franken with you. I haven't been doing a ton of frankening lately, but I loved the way this one turned out.

I can't tell you what all is in it, but it's got a bunch of random stuff mixed in there.

The camera was pulling it a bit purple, but it leans more blue than the pictures show.

It's definitely grey with a blue tinge. Not sure why these all look so purple.

Regardless, I love it quite a bit. The shimmer knocks my socks off.

What do you think of it?

Well, that should be plenty to entertain you until tonight's challenge post goes up.

(This is a scheduled post.)

Let's End The Year With Xmas Manis!

2011-12-31T23:57:00.000-05:00

One last post for the year... this one containing a few Christmas manis that I snuck in between the challenge ones. I didn't go as overboard as I have in the past, mostly because it's been a super busy year this year, and I had to hurry some of these. But I enjoyed them anyway, and wanted to share them with you.

The first one I did was a very simple one in red and gold.

I used Color Club scented polishes for this. They were AWESOME.

The colors were gorgeous as well. That red? Is. A. Ma. Zing. The gold works pretty well for stamping too.

If you don't have a steady hand for just painting this freehand, use a piece of painter's tape so divide your nail. It's such a simple mani, but looks like you worked on it really hard.

As you can see, this is about the time I broke a nail, and had to file them all down to nubbins.

I still think that short short nails can be gorgeous, so I don't stop making them colorful just because there are so little of them. Sure, you might not be able to do some of the intricate bigger designs on them, but hey, short is chic too.

Next I tried out one of the new Revlon ColorStay polishes. This is a deep green called Rain Forest.

I stamped the nails with Color Club Gingerbread Man. And yes, even with just stamping, I could catch a whiff of gingerbread. So the scented polishes are a hit for me.

This green as super gorgeous - I described it on first view to my friend as "Nars Zulu and Emerald Sparkled had a baby!"

I can see this becoming a super popular color really quickly among green lovers, especially those that love the dark ones.

I didn't use their top coat or anything with them, but I'll probably give those a try at some point and review them.

I couldn't stop staring at this green. If you want to see it even better, you can click to enbiggen the pictures.

After that gorgeousness, some of the BB2G folks asked me to do a blue one, with snowflakes. So I did. I started with Nicole Listen To Your Mom-ager. I don't watch the Kardashians at all, but I'll gladly buy these polishes. Hee.

This is a fantastic blue.

It's shiny and pretty and made a wonderful base color.

I did stamps of snowflakes in white, silver, silver glitter, and black.

Then I added a few pieces of glitter from Color Club Orna-Minted for added fun.

I think it turned out pretty neat.

And yes, Orna-Minted smells like mint.

For this one, I did a black base with my old classic, Wet N Wild Black Creme. I like it because it's ONE coat, and it it easy to apply and clean up.

Then I topped it off with (from thumb to pinky) Kleancolor Puppy Love, Snowman unnamed red glitter, Color Club Orna-Minted, Snowman unnamed green glitter, and China Glaze Ulta-Mate Holiday (an Ulta exclusive that I nabbed).

I love the sparkle in this mani, and stared at it more than I should have.

As you may have noticed, I'm playing with new watermarks. Feel free to comment if there are particular ones you love.

I hope everybody got at least one present they really wanted this year. I got two that were absolutely fantastic. My Kindle Fire, and my new Bose headphones.

See, I have major problems trying to find headphones that do NOT hurt my ears because of the psoarisis on them. But they still need to fit well enough not to be falling off my head every three minutes. And I'd really like quality as well, since I use them a fair amount. Noise reduction is a huge plus too. So, when I opened those from The Mate, I was overjoyed.

Finally, I can listen to things without disturbing others. Without discomfort. You can bet I'll be babying these things like mad.

And the Kindle Fire is fantastic for watching Amazon Prime videos. There are all sorts of movies and tv shows on there that I want to watch, so whenever I have some spare time or can't sleep, now I have a chance to watch them.

A huge honorable mention goes to the Zippo my Dad got me, it's so pretty and I love Zippos. There were a few other small things, but those are the ones that mean the most.

Okay, that's pretty much all I did for holiday manis this time around. A most HAPPY New Year to you!

(This post has been scheduled.)

It's Day Twenty!

2011-12-31T22:41:00.014-05:00

And the challenge for today was doing a water marble! Since I had my new Cult Nails colors handy, I used the "bad" Devious Nature (Deviant Nature muahaha), and Tied up. I mean, what better pair can YOU think of? Tee hee. Let's hurry up and take a peek.

I didn't get a lot of pictures of this one, even though it turned out pretty decent.

I managed to smudge the pinky a little, and didn't get very many curves on the ring finger. It's still pretty though.

I think my favorite of all is the thumb, even though it came out really sheer there. I love it anyway.

I'm getting just a bit better at the whole marbling thing now, and I think I want to keep practicing so that I can stay competent at it.

Do you do marbling? I really enjoy it, even though it's kind of time consuming and a little messy. I don't mind the mess though. And doing my nails relaxes me.

Well now, I think I'd better fix up a couple of posts for the next couple days, since we'll be picking up our new pup, and I'll see you next year!

Galaxy!

2011-12-30T22:35:00.000-05:00

Welcome to day 19 of the challenge, galaxies! I kinda made this an extra layered mani, just going all out on adding all sorts of things that might make it look like a galaxy or five. Muahahaha! Let's jump right in and see what I did.

I pretty much just grabbed a BUNCH of random colors and layered them to come up with this one. I think I like the way it turned out well enough.

Blackout is awesome, and so nice.

What a great base for anything to do with space.

I'm a fan of this color, it flowed on nicely, and it's just so pretty.

I could wear this on its own and enjoy it.

Look how nice it cleans up too!

So, I added a bit of Wet N Wild Black Magic.

Next, I dabbed some SH Razzle Dazzler.

And I followed that up with SH Showgirl Chic.

I dripped just a few drops of Blackout into a clear base, and slapped that over what I had so far.

Just for kicks, another coat of Black Magic found its way to my nails.

And the last thing I added was a sparse bit of holo glitter.

I think it looks like a colorful twinkly night sky.

I have to admit, I spent a lot of time staring at this one.

I think it's really interesting how everything shows through and has such depth.

PHEW! That was a lot of polish. Tomorrow night I'll have the water marble challenge for you, and maybe I can sneak in my holiday manis, if I can find time to edit them. I'm awfully busy, since we're puppy proofing the house to get ready for Sunday. I will probably have to schedule the Sunday, and maybe the Monday posts since we will be busy, busy, busy those days! Well, more than just those, but they will be the busiest. Heheh. And the year is ending TOMORROW. Sheesh, WHERE does the time go? Do you have any New Year's Eve plans?

Because I Am A Follower.

2011-12-30T00:36:00.000-05:00

I'm doing this meme with Aunt Becky. Except I'm going to put polish pictures in between the questions. That's just how I roll and stuff. Okay, let's get to the fun!

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Dude, I'm lucky if I remember anything I did this year, let alone whether I've done something or not before. Oh, I know! I bought a dog. Like, from a breeder. Our first not-from-a-rescue-or-shelter dog.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't even do resolutions. It's not like people really keep them, is it?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, which is good, because I would suck at delivering a baby.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Too many pets. Not so much with the people though.

5. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
The ability to cure The Mate's pain. Well, mine too, that would be nice.

6. What countries did you visit?
I stayed in the US of A. But I want to go see Canada. And lots of other countries too.

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why:
Really I can't think of any. There wasn't any one day that was HOLYSHITMUSTREMEMBER.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I didn't kill anybody for being stupid and/or in my way.

9. What was your biggest failure?
~~I didn't kill anybody for being stupid and/or in my way.~~ No really, I kind of try not to dwell on the whole failure thing. Except if there is some lesson I need to learn and such.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
You mean besides the psoriasis that I've had for well over 20 years? Apparently I have gout now too. Oh boy.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our new puppy.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The Mate's. No really, he's just that awesome.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Uh, nobody, really. Because I just try to stay away from negativity.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills, bills, bills. And nail polish.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Nail polish. And the new puppy.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
There really isn't any one song that stands out.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
I guess I'm happier. I dunno

ii. thinner or fatter?
Pretty much the same, but I'm working on losing.

iii. richer or poorer?
Richer in love and family and good stuff like that, and probably poorer in money. Oh well.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
~~Sexytiems.~~ Uh, wait, my kids can read this. I WISH I HAD DONE MORE STYUDYING AND LEARNING, REALLY I DO.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Uh. I'm actually kinda stumped. I guess, less complaining? Not that I'm a whiner or anything, but dayum there are some sucky things about having psoriasis and gout and tummy issues and mental illness and... you get the idea.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Dude, it's over. We hung out alone at home, just The Mate and I and our critters. It was kinda awesomesauce.

21. There was no #21. I don’t know why there was no 21.
Well that's just silly.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
You mean any more than I was before? Because I fall in love with The Mate over and over again. Not that I ever fall out of love with him.

23. How many one-night stands?
I really prefer to sleep laying down. Although I sometimes fall asleep sitting up in the tub.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Given that we just kinda leave the tv running all the time, it's pretty hard to pick a favorite. Let's go with Vampire Diaries since I'm in the middle of watching that on Netflix.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I've kinda let go of hate for the most part. I mean, I claim to hate stuff, but it's not HATE hate, ya know?

26. What was the best book you read?
Training Levels by Sue Ailsby

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
This guy.

28. What did you want and get?
I wanted a Kindle Fire and I got it. I wanted nail polish, and I got some of it. I wanted to get The Mate a dog to be his service dog and we pick him up Sunday. It's been an awesome year.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Mannnnn, I watch all sorts of movies, but I'm way behind the time, so I haven't seen any new ones really. Uh, I'll just throw in Pirates: On Stranger Tides in there.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I spent it with my kids and I was 42.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Winning the lottery. Haha.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Pajamas.

34. What kept you sane?
My anti-crazy pills.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I've always had a thing for Harrison Ford, and that hasn't changed.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Totally not gonna go there. I don't do politics here.

(I ran out of L'Oreals to post, so whatev.)

37. Who did you miss?
I always always always miss my kids.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Everybody from Band Back Together.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Do not lock your keys in the car when it's below freezing.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Like I even remember song lyrics. I really don't do that whole sum up thing very well, so one lyric isn't gonna cut it. Let's just skip this one.

So now, if you haven't already, go read Aunt Becky's post to see how it's really done. And do your own and join in the linkup!

When The Moon Hits Your Eye...

2011-12-29T23:12:00.000-05:00

Nah, I'm not gonna sing it, but today's challenge post is the half-moon mani, and I liked it. I'm pretty busy for the next few days, so this will be short and sweet. Let's get right to the pictures.

I left the glitter on from yesterday, and added Cult Nails Power Thief.

Just look at the teeny multi-colored shimmer in there!

I didn't do so well on making it all even and pretty, but I liked it anyway.

Sorry I'm not so talkative, but the whole busy thing is wiping me out.

See, I have to puppy proof the house. Because our new puppy is coming home over New Year's and we need to be ready.

I bet we'll be really busy once the puppy gets here too, since he's just a baby. I'm sure I'll still have time for my nails though.

So there you have it, day 18. Can you believe we are over halfway through with this challenge? Pretty cool, eh?

An AWESOME Day!

2011-12-28T22:11:00.031-05:00

Why is it so awesome? Because today's challenge was GLITTER, and y'all know by now I love me some BLINGAGE! Also, it's kinda sorta pink, so you know what that means!

So why don't we jump on in and see how it looks?

I went with Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Lady Luck for this one. It's kind of a purply pink, but I still think it works for pink day, AND for the challenge. Nice to get two birds with one stone and all.

It's got big pieces of holo glitter in it, which add all sorts of fun to it.

I spent a lot of time staring at this one, because it was just soooo sparkly.

Of course this was also before my nail broke, causing me to file them down to nubbins again.

It's a thirsty one, like many glitters, taking two coats of my Wicked Fast top coat from Cult Nails.

Even in the near dark, and blurry, there is some great sparkle there.

If I were forced to pick ONE finish to wear, I'd probably have to go with glitter.

These gem crushes generally only need two coats to be nicely opaque, and I'm pretty impressed with them all.

What is your favorite nail polish finish?

Sixteen Tons

2011-12-27T22:35:00.035-05:00

Now, who among you starting thinking, "You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt."? If you did, then, you're welcome. Hee. So anyway, here we are at day 16 of the challenge, and it's the tribal print. I saw a picture on Tumblr that I thought was a good tribal print, and so I kind of tried to copy it. Not so sure I did a great job, but it was fun to try. Let's see how it turned out.

I started with my base in Cult Nails Feel Me Up. (Tee hee, I said 'feel me up'.)

It's a wonderful yellow, and since that's my favorite nail polish color, I was thrilled to get this one.

A sunshine/sunflower yellow, just absolutely gorgeous.

My application on this night left a bit to be desired. But the polish is so pretty I don't even care.

I used my charcoalish franken to konad several patterns from several plates.

As you can probably see, I didn't do too well overall. But it could have been mush worse.

If I do something like this again, I think I'll add some freehanding in there.

So, what do you think? Is this a pass or a fail?

All I Got For Christmas...

2011-12-27T03:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I say all, but it wasn't a ton of stuff. I can't sleep, so I thought I'd share my review of the Cult Nails base and top coats, which I used for the first time when I got Vicious from them back in September. I know, I know, I'm running way way behind on that, but as you may have noticed, life has been whompin' on me lately. It's all good though. I'm not gonna sit around and whine about the crud, I'm going to enjoy the wonderful good stuff. Let's jump in!

So anyway, I bought myself the base and top coats from Cult Nails when I bought Vicious. Let me start by saying that Vicious is COMPLETELY GORGEOUS, and I'm in love with it. And I'm pretty impressed with the base and top coats as well.

So, let's see how my naked nails look, before we get started at all. Ridgy and yellow, that kinda covers it. This is why I don't do sheer polish, except on very rare occasions.

Get It On flows on nicely. It's tinted ever so delicately pink, which looks natural. Dries just ever so slightly tacky (which is what you want in a base coat!) but could probably be worn alone as well. Has some shine but not so much that it looks, uh, well, dumb. Haha. Of course it doesn't cover the yellowness of my nails, but since I am so so rarely without color, it's not a big thing for me. If I were to want to go bare, I'd whiten my nails up anyway, with denture tabs.

Vicious is a gorgeous purple, not really leaning either blue or red.

Two thin or one thick coat gives complete coverage. Practically applies itself, levels beautifully, and dries fairly quickly to a nice shine.

It's a dark purple, but doesn't look black, which is nice.

In bright light, it's very vivid.

It was easy to clean up (since there wasn't much mess to start) and I probably can't sing the praises of these polishes enough.

You'd think I was getting paid a bunch of money or something to sing their praises, but nope, I bought them myself.

Wicked Fast is completely clear, goes on smoothly, and is slightly thinner than SV to start.

Self-levels, and is dry to very light touch within around 45 seconds. Within two minutes it is dried to a barely tacky high-shine finish.

At around 3 and a half minutes, it's quite dry, and well on the way to being solid enough to use fingers carefully.

Within 15 minutes I was typing and using my hands as usual, and my polish was staying intact. I'll do a comparison post with SV sometime, and see how they are side by side, and how this works with other polishes. Within an hour or so of doing my nails, I took a nap, and not a hint of sheetmarks or anything.

Just a hint of tipwear at three days, and five days. Really impressive when you consider that I am absolutely horrid to my nails most of the time. I never remember to put gloves on (mostly because they bother my skin so much), and I have a bad habit of using my nails as tools (Bad Michy!).

So while you're looking at these, did you have any interest in knowing what I got for the holidays?

Well, the BIG one was that I got a Kindle Fire. I was not expecting The Mate to buy that for me. I figured I'd get one in a couple months after saving up.

I figured I could make this mani last longer by adding a french tip stamp, and I did. Of course, I suck at lining these up.

One thing to note: when you apply this top coat, it WILL make your polish sorta liquid-y again, so beware of that. If you're using it over a Konad design, wait until the design is very dry, and go over it with a delicate hand. This is not a bad thing, just something to be aware of. I think that this is part of why it works SO very well to prevent chips and wear.

So, besides the Kindle, I was completely flabbergasted to also receive a pair of Bose headphones!!!

I've wanted a really good set of headphones for YEARSm but most of the ones I'd found hurt my ears. See, I have psoriasis on my ears and head, and anything that presses the wrong way will cause me some pretty major issues.

So, imagine the pleasure of FINALLY having a set of headphones that not only doesn't leak sound all over when I use them, and provides some sound dampening... but does not hurt my head or ears! It's like a freaking miracle.

The only other two things I got were a really cool pen, and a Zippo lighter (My Dad knows me so well, it's an awesome lighter). I'm not complaining, because OMG these presents are GREAT!

I'm seriously lucky to have gotten such a bounty this year. The Mate is happy with his presents too, even though one of them can't be here until after the New Year. That would be his new service dog, which wasn't born until November 5th. I also grabbed him an electric blanket for the car, several good dog books, a pen like mine, and my Dad got him a Zippo too, which he can add to his small but growing collection. A fantastic holiday all around really.

So, back to the polish here, I managed to keep this on without any chips for ELEVEN days total! If you know me, that is a major miracle, as I don't think I've ever gone over a week before. It's rather doubtful that I will very often in the future either, but knowing that I CAN if I want to is nice.

Now that I've been using these for a few months, my final impressions are this:

If you have very ridged nails like I do, you may want to use a ridge-filling base with the Get It On. That helps smooth it out, and then the GIO provides the stickiness that I always got from Orly Bonder, though it doesn't have the tendency to drag quite as much as Bonder can sometimes (usually with an older bottle).
Wicked Fast is pretty much tied with SV for my favorite top coat ever, with SH Insta-Dri as a third lagging behind a little ways. I do find WF might soften the polish up a little bit upon application, but that seems to be how it works, and once it's dry, it's DRY. SV seems to dry just a tiny bit faster, and is thicker, and of course there is the whole SV getting stringy at about half a bottle, which WF doesn't seem to do (I'm on my second bottle of WF now).
The price is very reasonable. SV runs around $6-7 usually, and sometimes more. Orly Bonder is less expensive, but has it's own issues. If you don't have extra lumpy crud nails like me, GIO is probably going to work really well for you.

So there you have it, my review. As I said earlier, I bought these for myself, and I like to think I'm pretty objective about it all. So tell me, what did YOU get for the holidays?

A Delicate Matter

2011-12-26T23:59:00.000-05:00

Naw, not anything serious or whatnot, just that today's challenge is a 'delicate print', and I think I did okay on it. I'm still pretty wiped out from the excitement of the holiday, and stuffed full of leftovers. We went ahead and ordered the Bob Evans Holiday Feast To Go so that we wouldn't have to stand around cooking all day for just the two of us. It's a touch spendy (something like $75), but when you figure that it provides us with something like 4-5 full meals, it's not bad. We would spend more buying everything to make our meal anyway. It comes with a ham or turkey entree, corn, potatoes and gravy, rolls, cranberries, green beans, stuffing, pumpkin bread, a pie, and maybe another dish or so. We added carrots to ours, because their carrots are soooo good. You place your order ahead of time, and the day before the holiday (or a few days before if you plan it that way) you just bop on in and pick it up. Then all you have to do for the holiday is heat things up and eat! I add my own sweet potato casserole dishes, and any snacks we want to have on hand and we're all set. Once we've stuffed ourselves for a couple of days, I take some inexpensive plastic divided containers, and freeze the leftovers in meal-sized portions for reheating later. Then when I'm not feeling like cooking, we have some "tv dinners" that aren't so yucky.

So, back to the nail polish challenge. I liked this one enough to leave it on for two days, which I don't do very often. Let's see what it looks like!

I used Cult Nails Time Traveler as my base, since it's a flippin' GORGEOUS blue jelly-like polish.

Two coats makes perfection on this one.

It's a deep blue, but not blackened. I just love this blue so much.

It doesn't lean red or yellow, it's a blue all the way.

I used the white Konad polish to do this pattern.

I really like the way it turned out.

The little flowers and dots remind me of old fashioned wallpaper or something.

The bows are so darned cute.

I love it when a mani turns out looking this nice.

So, have you joined the Cult yet? If not, when why don't you go check them out? I can tell you that the quality is quite awesome, and you're very likely to be pleased!

HAPPY HAPPY HOLIDAY!

2011-12-25T22:11:00.001-05:00

Real quick-like I'm dropping in to post my challenge mani, and to tell you all that I hope you are having an extremely happy holiday, whatever you celebrate. And if you're not celebrating anything, then I hope you're having a wonderful day.

I probably could have coordinated this for the holiday, but I wasn't thinking ahead like that. So today I have a beauty for you, with some flowers.

Yes, that is Cult Nails Mind Control, and it is fantastic.

That is two coats, and it's pretty much perfection, much like all of their polishes.

The tiny purple glitter stands out nicely and adds depth to it.

This is going to be a favorite polish for sure.

I decided to go with pink flowers for my flower challenge.

As you can see, I kinda smeared them when putting on top coat, but it was still pretty.

I just need to have a little more patience when I use my Konad. Hee. It's all good though.

I love how you can see the sparkles peeking through on that last one. So, feel free to tell me in the comments what you've been up to for the holidays. I'll be back tomorrow with more, but for now I'm going to go play with my new toys.

Lions And Tigers And Bears... Oh, Just Tigers.

2011-12-24T22:41:00.035-05:00

So, I chose to go with tiger stripes for my animal print challenge day. It's day 13, and it's also National Chocolate Day and National Egg Nog Day. I can get behind those! Heck, I can combine them and have chocolate egg nog! And if I drink enough of it, I'll have some realllllllly interesting posts. Muahaha. Nah, I really don't drink that much, and I doubt I'll have more than a cup anyway. So let's take a peek at the nails, and then we can all get back to holiday celebrations!

I wanted to use this yellow for a while, so I went with that over orange, even though tigers are usually orange. But the challenge never said I couldn't take artistic license with colors and such. Hee.

I totally love this color. Like, more than I should.

I was trying to hurry to get this done, so it's not as neat as I usually try to be.

Hey, it actually kinda looks like the color of egg nog.

It looks fantastic with a shiny top coat too.

For the stripes, I used a franken that I made that is kind of a charcoal grey.

Then I went in and added some thicker stripes on the accent nails.

I love it, but it needs just one more thing. A matte top coat!

Ahhh, that is just about perfect.

And now, I'm going to go have that cup of egg nog, and try to convince The Mate that we should open at least one present right now. May you have the happiest of holidays (whatever you celebrate)!

I'm Earning My Stripes

2011-12-23T22:26:00.034-05:00

Okay, so don't ask me what I'm doing to earn them, I just remembered that phrase and used it. Hee. So, anyway, today's challenge post involved stripes, and I had a blast with it. Let's take a peek.

I thought it would be fun to do them skittle-y.

So, I started with a good base in a variety of colors that could be like ornaments.

I let that dry and get all shiny while I did some other things, and it looked like this.

Then I used tape strips the length of my nails, and painted the metallic colors I'd chosen over them. Peel the tape off and YAY STRIPES!

I really like the way this one turned out. I might have to do some more of these sometime.

The red and gold would make a fantastic Christmas mani if I didn't already have too many ideas to get in before the holiday is upon us.

So, how excited are you for the holiday weekend? I'll try to make sure I still get posts in, and maybe slide some extras in on you as well.

Dot, Dot, Dot

2011-12-22T22:20:00.020-05:00

Today I bring you day eleven of the challenge, and it's all about the dots! Dots are one of the easiest nail arts to do, which makes it really fun, and they almost always look great too. Let's see how mine turned out!

I used blues for this one, since I've picked up quite a few blue polishes lately. The dark blue is Fresh Paint's Emo. *gigglesnort*

The light blue is Ulta's Bam-blue-zled.

Both are great polishes, and went on smoothly. I didn't find I got staining from either of them.

I'm sure it helps that I almost always use two base coats. Right now my favorite combo is Orly Nail Armor and then Cult Nails Get It On.

So, with the base coats and polish on, then I just used the opposing colors to make the dots. I have dotting tools, so I used a medium tip to make these dots.

You can see how the dark blue is a bit jellyish, but it still looks nice. At least, I think so.

To top this off I added a very sparse layer of holo glitter. I didn't want to cover up my dots, but I wanted that little extra.

I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out. It's fun because it requires almost no skill so anybody can do it, and it still comes out looking so smooth and pretty.

Are you ready for the holidays? I mostly am, though I have a couple more things that will be delivered. It's just going to be The Mate and me here this year, so we'll probably stay up really late, open presents, and then crash for most of the day. Hee. I'll be back tomorrow with stripes!

Deck ALL THE HALLS!

2011-12-21T18:38:00.000-05:00

I've been busy decorating all over the house, and I'm having a blast. You aren't getting pictures of that yet, and probably will only get a few at some point because I suck that way. Muahahaha. No, really it's more that we are in the middle of some remodeling, and I'm so not going to show my house in its half finished state. But my nails? I can show you those!

I used a couple of snowman polishes, which of course have no names. But they are so much fun that I'll forgive them this time. Hee!

I love their cute little faces!

I like gradients, although I don't do them a lot, because... I don't know why.

This one was a blast, and sparkled so much.

I added just a touch of holo glitter to the top of it to add to that sparkle.

I got lots of compliments on this one. I love those kinds of days.

I do have to be careful when I do something so pretty, as I can't stop staring at my nails. This is hazardous when driving. Hee.

Normally I use sponging to do these, but this time I just kinda brushed the glitter on in layers, getting thicker towards the end.

Check it out up close, I really love it.

What do you think? The holiday is approaching so fast, the last of our presents should be delivered soon, and then I get to have a blast wrapping them. I really love wrapping presents.

Twas The Wednesday Before Christmas

2011-12-21T17:15:00.000-05:00

And all through the house,
Every creature was stirring,
Bugging my spouse...

Okay, enough with that, I'm so not going to attempt to rewrite the whole thing. Hee. So, you know what day it is.

I went with China Glaze Go Go Pink this time around.

It's a very soft, delicate pink. But it was fairly opaque in three kinda thick coats.

As I've said a billion times, I'm not a huge pink polish kinda girl, but these colors prove me a little wrong there.

It's kind of squishy, but I can't really call it a jelly.

Please excuse my dents, as I tend to attempt to do stuff before they are totally dry. Oops.

So, what do you think? Is pink my color?

Tonight I'll pop back with my challenge post, and maybe I'll try to get a Christmas mani or two in here before long. I haven't done as many of them since I've been doing challenges. Hee. That and I've been busy decorating the house, not my nails.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow!

2011-12-20T22:44:00.014-05:00

Oooh, rainbow nails, I love them. We're up to day 9 of the challenge, and it's time for a rainbow! I've done rainbows before, which I loved, but this time I did it differently. Let's see how it turned out!

I had a few different ideas, and this is how I chose to go about it. I started with a white base, using my Cherimoya White.

I'm actually kind of fond of how white looks, though it isn't something I do on its own much.

There's just something almost zen about it.

So then I just drew stripes as if it were a rainbow. I freehanded these, although I might want to use tape next time for cleaner lines.

I used a set of Razzle polishes that I picked up at Big Lots. It didn't happen to have a green, so I grabbed Funky Fingers Ectoplasmic for that.

I like the effect, and I was happy with how it turned out.

You can see that I could have used a couple coats for better coverage, but I was still happy with it.

To make it even more fun, the polish is scented, so my tips smelled like candy.

I couldn't help but smile every time I looked at my nails.

I'm going to want to do some more like this down the road, because it's just too much fun. Tomorrow? I'll have peeeeeenk and then day 10, the gradient mani. Are you excited?

Day Eight, Posting on Day Nine!

2011-12-20T12:44:00.000-05:00

I got struck down with a migraine yesterday, so there was no post last night - but you get the benefit of TWO posts today now! This one is the 8th day, metallic nails! I'll come back later tonight with the 9th day, and maybe I'll sneak another post in there somewhere tonight or tomorrow. We'll just have to see. Anyhow, let's see what I did for the metallic look!

I decided silver was going to be my metal. I really love silver polish.

The mini Cherimoya polishes that I got are nice, and I'll be buying more of this brand when I can.

The mirror-like finish is one of my favorites other than glitter glitter glitter.

It does tend to show flaws pretty easily, but that has more to do with my (lack of) skill than the quality of the polish.

It's almost looks holo, but it's not, just a smooth, gorgeous silver.

Blurring it really gives you a good idea of the shiny, even in low light.

But you might know by now that I hardly ever leave well enough alone.

I was in the mood for some IN-YER-FACE color, so I added Stage Dive from Funky Fingers over it.

It looks so much like a disco ball to me.

This mani made me happy in the pants.

I got plenty of compliments on it.

I wish I could have this in every color. Hee.

Is this something you would wear? Why or why not?

In Black And White

2011-12-18T22:53:00.020-05:00

Oooh, such an original post title! We're at the day 7 mark of the challenge, and today's nails are black and white. Not a whole lot to say about that, is there? I'm all sorts of wired up and scattered today, I guess I'm just overflowing with holiday spirit or something. Hee. Plus we got something like 4 inches of snow, and it's all white and pretty (and it makes my bones hurty - yikes) outside. Anyway, let's take a peek at the nails.

I took the easy way out, and feel back to my old standard white - Wet N Wild French White Creme.

It's your standard white creme, no shimmer or glitter. This is two sort of thick coats.

I love using this as a background for art and bright colors to make them pop.

Sinful Colors Black Crackle is what I chose to top off the white.

I brushed it on in a fairly thin layer at an angle to get this effect.

I'm loving the way it looks. I might get over crackle someday, but who knows.

It was great with the top coat, all shiny and such.

But I thought I'd change it up a bit, so I used Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love over it.

Do you like it better with or without the matte top coat?

Tomorrow we start getting into some more complicated challenges. The metallic I'll show you tomorrow was pretty easy, but then we get to look at rainbows and gradients and so on. It's gonna be a blast!

Almost A Whole Week!

2011-12-17T22:38:00.001-05:00

We're up to the 6th day of the challenge, and today the color is Violet. Of course, I call it purple. So there. Muahaha! Ahem. So shall we take a look at the pretty pretty purple?

I went with Kleancolor Bold and the Beautiful for this one.

This is a really blue leaning purple. Almost blurple.

I accented with SH Bejeweled.

Bejeweled is awesome. Even when cat hair gets in the picture.

It's multi-sized pinkish glitter. And it looks fantastic as an accent here.

In low light, this purple can look nearly black.

Today is National Maple Syrup Day. I figured that meant that pancakes for supper was okay.

The Mate is not much of a pancake eater. It's okay though, because he likes bacon, so I can forgive the pancake thing.

This is a pretty fantastic mani in general. At least I think so.

So, tomorrow we hit the one week mark! Are you looking forward to more of this challenge? I've been having a blast!

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues

2011-12-16T22:11:00.043-05:00

Yeah, I'm sitting here singing that now. Are you? Muahahaha! So, here we are on day 5 of the challenge, and it's BLUE! But, we just saw ten days of blue for Wackita... do you even HAVE another blue? *evil cackle* Of course I do. Who are we kidding here? It's ME, that wacky nail polish obsessed lady! I probably have ten more in the untried bin right now. But we won't talk about that. *shifty eyes* Let's just see what I've got for you.

I went with Tip Top Navy Marine for my blue.

I really really like this blue. It's dark without being blackened, and the polish was excellent quality.

I chose Blingtastic for my accents.

I really liked the way this one turned out in general.

Even in lower light it doesn't look black.

It has a tiny bit of a glowy thing going on, but there's no shimmer in it or anything.

By the way, did you know it's National Chocolate Covered Anything Day? Yeah, sounds like a pretty good excuse to smother anything I eat with chocolate.

Except maybe the spaghetti we had for supper. That might just be weird.

For some reason I'm thinking chocolate covered blueberries would be totally rad right now. What would you cover in chocolate?

Sorry, no flash picture, I didn't think I needed it. Anyway, that's the blue day, and tomorrow we get to see violet (purple, whatever). Hopefully over the weekend I'll manage to post my review of Cult Vicious and their Get It On base coat and Wicked Fast top coat. Preview: I like them.

Friday Fail!

2011-12-16T09:45:00.003-05:00

I've seen other blogs do a fail on Fridays, so I thought I'd share one of mine today. And some random pictures just because. I was attempting to do a black and white water marble, and for some reason I just couldn't get it to marble well, and this post is here because of that. Hee.

I don't even know exactly what I did wrong, but man, it just wasn't gonna work. On top of that, I could NOT get my camera to stop making the white look blue, so double fail. Go me!

I really only have the one picture, because I gave up pretty easily. Then I played around with some of my oranges and crackles. I'm still very much liking the crackle trend. So, let's just get to it. Some are great, some are crap, I just played for a while.

It always seems like the lighter crackles (shatters, etc) don't work as well as I'd like over dark. This one isn't too bad.

I do like the Sinful Black Shatter, it seems to work very well.

I think my favorite here is the Bonita Tangerine, which is on my ring finger.

It's darker and more of a standout orange.

Sinful Cloud 9 is really nice too. It's got a lovely shimmer to it.

And, here's a flash picture.

I doubt that I'll make this a regular feature, because I don't have enough fails to keep it up. Not that I don't fail on a regular basis, I just don't tend to take pictures of every fail I do. And some that might normally be a fail work out really well, so... ... yeah. Anyhow, I'll be back tonight with my challenge, as you may recall, tonight is BLUE.

It Ain't Easy Bein' Green.

2011-12-15T22:32:00.001-05:00

Nah, I'm not posting anything Muppet related, just love saying that. However, I do have day four of the challenge here, and the color is, as you may have guessed, green! Also of note, today is National Lemon Cupcake Day (dammit, it should have been yesterday, that would have gone great with my yellow!), so I think we should all have cupcakes! Of course, I like chocolate ones better than lemon, but whatever, I wouldn't turn down free lemon cupcakes. So, let's see how my green looked.

I chose to use MNY #753 (I really like names better, but at least a number is SOMEthing) for this one. Since the holidays are coming up on us REALLY fast, I didn't want to use a dark green like I do for those manis, and this one fit the bill perfectly.

Here's a messy and blurry shot of the accent color I chose, Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Glitz Gal. LOVE this one.

One coat of the glitter over three coats of the MNY and I'm liking this mani a whole lot.

There were a few really mild brushstrokes in there, but I can live with those, especially since this isn't a frosty nightmare or anything.

I love how the dark glitter looks over it, and with the holo sparkles floating around in there I spent more time staring at my nails than I should.

I still want cupcakes.

Get in the low light and you can see how the green almost glows from within.

And the charcoal glitter just tops it off nicely.

This really seems like it would make a great spring mani if you're the kind who tends to keep colors 'in tune' with the seasons. Of course, I just go with whatever random thing strikes me so that's not me.

Do you wear colors "in season" or just whatever you feel like?

Time For Day Three!

2011-12-14T22:08:00.001-05:00

So we're on day 3 here, and it just happens to be one of my favorite number AND my favorite nail polish color. How cool is that? Probably not very, but I'm easily entertained. Now that I've gotten through the pat few months of mega-cruddiness, it's nice to be looking forward to things more. Sure, there's still yucky stuff going on and going to happen, but there's good too, and I'm trying to focus on those good things. So, while I'm looking at the bright side, let's see this bright polish!

Oh my, one coat and look how streaky it is! Can we save it?

Well, perhaps if we throw some Big Money at it, we can do something about it.

Okay, enough with the sillies, right? I used an unnamed Cosmetic Arts yellow, and the paired it with Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Big Money. Since it's kinda lavender, I can't help being reminded a little of Mardi Gras... especially if we added some green. Only we have to wait until tomorrow for green nails, so this will have to do.

I just used two coats of the yellow, and one of the glitter for this mani. And then promptly smudged my middle finger. I was too lazy to fix it though, which isn't all bad, because I could hold that finger up and point out the smudging on it. And I did that several times through the day.

This is a bright sunshine yellow and I just adore it.

Even in low light it is cheerful.

Sometimes you need a blast of sun in the middle of the dreary winter weather.

Of course, this year hasn't been that horrible as far as weather.

And here we are at the end of this post. One last picture, and then I get to say some goofy thing or ask a question and then hit that publish button.

So, the whole question thing... how about you just make up your own question? And then, like, I can answer it!

Starry Starry Night (or Pink, Really)

2011-12-14T16:44:00.000-05:00

No, not the Essie, I'm thinking of the song by Don MacLean. Which seems really random, but it isn't quite that rndom, as today's pink polish is Revlon's Starry Pink.

Let's see how it looks.

This isn't a typical blah pink, it has lots of silver glitter in it. I used my poor right hand to show you what it would look like at various coats (I even wrote how many coats on my fingers with my new Sharpie pencil!).

This time I used puppies and kitties to cover the worst of the cuticles. As you can see, my right hand is in rough shape compared to my left, but I'm working on it.

I wanted to like this, what with all the fun glitter and so on, but the pink actually sort of muddled the glitter.

To see if I would like it a bit better, I added Claire's Silver Glitter Top Coat to the accent nails.

I like that better, but the best part is that the glitter is holo, so when you hit some brighter lights, you get that real sparkle going.

It shows up best in blurry shots, so here you go.

But either way, it just wasn't thrilling me, so I slapped some shatter over it (Sinful Colors Black Shatter), and that was much better to look at, for me anyway.

I painted from side to side instead of the usual way to get this effect. I like it a lot.

With some blur, you get a peek at the holo underneath the shatter.

I used really thin coats to get lots of cracks. Do you still like the shatters, or are you so over that trend?

Okay, I'll be back later tonight with my 31 Day Challenge post!

Ooh It's Ice Cream Day!

2011-12-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

Also, it's Day Two of the Challenge! Oh, and Violin Day. I'm just all sorts of the random tonight. Muahahaha! So, yeah, the whole Challenge thing. That's what I was talking about. Anyway, today is ORANGE! And I was lucky enough to happen to have a much-coveted (for me) orange in Lippmann Lara's Theme. But I was trying to be all inspired or something, so I added a little extra. Take a peek.

This Lippmann is absolutely gorgeous.

It's not really neon, but in certain lights it does pop pretty good.

Anyway, I just can never leave well enough alone. So, I thought I'd add my own little twist to this first week, and do some coordinating glitter on the accents for each day. I did a thin coat of Nicole Disco Dolls on my thumb for this pic.

On the ring finger I went with two heavier coats.

This one kinda made my camera feel insane. Haha. It just wanted to see it as blindingly bright, and it isn't quite that bad (or good, if that's what you are looking for).

I'm not so sure this coordinates as well as the red yesterday, but I like it anyway.

Here you can see the color a bit more realistically. It was a four coat mani this time.

I'm so happy I snagged this Lippmann (wish I could just buy them all!), because it is just beautiful.

Well, as you know, tomorrow is my favorite nail polish color, YELLOW! Do you wear yellow polish?

I Love Me A Challenge!

2011-12-12T22:04:00.003-05:00

If you read nail blogs regularly, then you're almost certain to have seen this challenge floating around out there. So, being the kind of person I am, I'm going to be jumping on the bandwagon after all the cool kids have gotten over it. What can I say? I guess I'm behind the times. I saw it over at here comes the sun, and then sort of put it out of my mind, and now I finally caught up with myself enough to give it a shot.

Today, of course, is the first day, so if you want to see my red nails, then take a peek.

First, here are the rules if you're going to join in. Well, more like guidelines, but whatever, right?

RULES:
Reblog this post if you’re going to accept this challenge (Okay, I guess this is the reblog. Hee)
One post per day (I think I can do this one!)
If you miss one, pick it up the next day (Whew, just in case.)
Post a picture of each mani (I plan to post a LOT.)
It would be nice if you listed/linked to what polishes you used (I'll at least include details if not pictures.)
For the inspiration prompts, SHOW US YOUR INSPIRATION/SHARE LINKS (Ooh fun!)
BE CREATIVE (I might be able to manage that.)
TRY NEW THINGS (I know I can try new things!)
HAVE FUN!!! (That's the easiest part!)

Okay, now that we've got all that out of the way, let's get to the pictures. I decided to go with Brucci Berrylicious, which is a wonderful red. It has a tiny bit of microshimmer that doesn't show up much but adds depth to the color.

Don't forget you can click to see any of the pictures larger.

The microshimmer is just barely visible, even when you embiggen the pictures.

This pretty much is a classic red that leans to the warm side.

I did three coats to get this coverage.

I'm pretty fond of Brucci, I just wish it were easier for me to get.

Random fact: Today is Poinsettia Day. Neat how it just happens to be the day I post red, eh?

It's also National Ding-a-ling Day. Who comes up with this stuff? Either way, it fits me. Hee.

Now you had to know I couldn't just leave well enough alone, right?

So I thought I'd add a (mostly) red accent as well. The new Sally Hansen Gem Crush polishes were at hand, so I grabbed Cha-Ching! and slapped it on.

These Gem Crushes are pretty awesome. They'll give full coverage in three coats, so you don't have to use them over a base if you prefer not to.

This one has those nice big chunky hex pieces of silver glitter as well as smaller ones.

I thought it worked very well over this red.

It would look fantastic alone too.

Seeing it close up makes me want to smile.

So, what red would YOU pick if you were doing this challenge? It was a hard choice, so I went with a not-so-famous one. Up tomorrow, ORANGE!

Ten Days Of Blue For Wackita (Days 9 and 10)

2011-12-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

And today, we're at the final stage of my ten blues for Wackita. I still miss that Siamese meow of hers, and the little curled ear. Sure, other cats snuggle with us, and are wonderful, but none is going to be Wackita. We wouldn't want them to be, each is special all on their own.

First, Ruby Kisses Blue's Clue.

This is a gorgeous light blue cream that went on vary nicely.

I wish I'd gotten more pictures of it, but I only got a few. I guess that's not the worst thing ever since I dinged it up pretty much right away. Go me!

And saving the 'best' for last.. China Glaze Skyscraper.

These pictures seem to pull it more on the purple side, but it wasn't that purple to me.

However, you can see how awesomely sparkly it is.

It really does remind me of skyscrapers in the night.

I may have to try to get better pictures of it at some point, because it is just too gorgeous.

The formula was great on this one too, which is pretty standard for China Glaze.

I think this one may be in my top ten China Glaze colors. Or at least close.

And there you have it. Ten blues to celebrate ten years of sharing our days and nights with Wackita. She will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

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Ten Days Of Blue For Wackita (Days 7 and 8)

2011-12-08T09:00:00.001-05:00

Today I have another light blue, and an ollllld polish to share with you. As you may recall, these posts are to honor ten years of Wackita being in our lives. Since she had one blue eye, and we're blue without her, I thought ten days of blue would be a lovely way to how how much we loved her.

First, that lovely light blue I mentioned.

Another polish with no name. Polish companies (yeah, like they read my little blog - haha!), take note, we LOVE names for our polishes. They don't have to be the best names every or anything, just SOMETHING. Ok?

This is one of the most accurate pictures of this color, even though my skin looks off. I'm still figuring out how to play with the settings and such to get color accurate pictures.

Here you can see closer that it's a great creme, no glitter or shimmy in this color.

This pictures makes it look dark, but it's really a light sky blue color.

Here's a close-up, you can see I got a few teeny bubbles in there. They weren't visible to the naked eye so much.

And here is Maybelline Matte Blue.

It really pulls a lot to the grey side of blue.

This reminds of me rainy fog for some reason.

If you aren't careful, it can be brush stroke-y, but it wasn't too bad.

Of course, me being me, I wanted the shiny, so I added top coat.

I like the way it brings out the shine, and hides brush strokes, which were pretty mild to begin with.

In this one you can see how it has a shimmer to it.

If somebody you know has lost a pet (or a loved person), you may not know what to say or do to help. Band Back Together has a wonderful resource page on how you can help.

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Cult Nails Hypnotic Collection!

2011-12-08T05:48:00.001-05:00

Another collection full of fabulosity from Maria at Cult Nails! Yeah, I know I'm behind a ways, but to do her polishes justice I can't just slop it on any old way. These polishes are high end, like when you save up to buy that fantastic sports car you've always dreamed of. Okay, so they aren't the most expensive of all, but they are special. And I'm not getting anything out of saying that other than knowing that I believe these to be high caliber polishes that deserve to be loved. If you know me, you'll know that I'm not going to sell out for nail polish, no matter how addicted I am. So let's take a look at these beauties!

First up we have Enigmatic.

It is a heart-stoppingly gorgeous burgundy purple.

Not quite duochrome, but it does show up a bit different at different angles.

And if you click to embiggen the pictures, you'll see the wonderful details of the color, how it blends so nicely together to create this look.

The sparkle is not IN YER FACE, but it's definitely there.

Also, check out what happens if you slide a coat of Hypnotize Me over it!

Apologies for the horrid cleanup when you get in real close.

But is that greeny blue sparkle not just TO DIE FOR?

After that, I went with In A Trance. I added an accent in Maybelline Khaki Fringe to compare it.

At least on my right hand. Hee. So you get the see the nubbins.

They do look more similar with matte top coat, but still not the same. In A Trance is way better.

So, of course I needed to slick on some Hypnotize Me. And promptly mislabel the picture. D'oh!

The blue sparkle really shows up nicely against that green.

And even matte top coat doesn't make it unattractive.

So, the left hand, I didn't bother with the Khaki Fringe. Honestly, who would? This color is too too beautiful to have need to compete.

The shimmer in it is SPOT ON PERFECT.

Did you know it's National Brownie Day today? Just wondered if you were paying attention to my ramblings.

I think that means I should make brownies, don't you?

Really, how much more could I gush about this polish?

Any flaws in application are totally my fault, not a polish problem.

Under flash you can see the golden bits, and everything. You should really click to see it bigger.

I enjoyed that so much that I thought I'd play around with some really simple nail art. So I used WNW Black Creme and French White Creme as a base, and used Sinful Adventure Island for some contrasting dots opposite the In A Trance Dots.

I really liked the way this turned out. Also, I really want some brownies now.

Whee, flash!

Apologies for the condition of the cuticles. I'm still playing with various ways to hide them. But sometimes I just don't.

I got a lot of compliments on this mani. I like that feeling.

On the right hand, I'd tried alternating color rows of dots on black, but I think the black and white on my left is better.

So, like I'm wont to do, I matte-ified it.

Seriously gorgeous.

Flash shows it off well.

And then to round this out, I used Awaken and accented with Hypnotize Me. I really LOVE Hypnotize Me. It looks good over EVERYTHING. But especially over Awakening. Annnd, yes, I mislabeled these pics. But I'm too lazy to fix it. Haha.

Hey, Hypnotize Me also looks awesome on it's own if you use a few coats. I think this is 4-5 coats, with butterfly fimo slices buried in there.

Super shiny and pretty and just look at that depth!

Now, Awakening is an awesome teal. Like, so awesome my best friend gasped out loud when I sent her a picture.

Under flash it seems more green, but I think it leans more blue in real life.

Just too much pretty to contain myself. I think I only got bubbles because the wind kicked up and was blowing on my while I finished my mani. Yikes.

So, if you're looking for a wonderful new polish to try out, that is worth spending some money on (not unreasonable by any means), then I urge you to check out Cult Nails. I've been around watching her go through all of it (she's remarkably open on her blog about the whole process), and though I get hit with the random twinge of envy every so often (seriously, it's a DREAM JOB!), I'm just tickled to pieces at being able to get all of her collections as they come out and tell everybody I know about this fantastic polish! (Master of run-on sentences am I.) And now, I'd better get my butt into bed and sleep so I can do a whole metric butt-ton of chores tomorrow. And make brownies.

Ten Days Of Blue For Wackita (Days 5 and 6)

2011-12-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

I'll bet you know what these posts are about, but in case you're new or missed a couple days, these are ten days of blue to memorialize Wackita, who was with us for ten years.

We'll start with a great light blue polish from Tony Moly that I just adore.

No name, which I always kinda feel meh about, but PP04 is a gorgeous light blue shimmer.

It sparkles so delicately.

This picture is off on the color, but it shows how shiny it is.

This is probably the most accurate showing of the base color. This is three coats, by the way. It's a lovely polish.

And just to prove that I can be a real idiot at times... I cannot remember for certain which polish this next one is!

I *think* it's Kleancolor Neon Aqua, but I just didn't write it down. This is what happens when you have a really big collection of polish - and fail to keep good track of what you are doing. Oops.

It's gorgeous, and makes me think of still waters.

I just love how smooth it looks. For all that I'm a glitter lover, I can sure appreciate a nice creme as well.

Losing a cherished pet is hard. If you've lost a pet and need some support, Band Back Together has a great resource page that might help you.

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It's PEEEENK Day!

2011-12-07T03:42:00.015-05:00

It's Wednesday, and y'all know what that means! I'm posting nice and early this time, because I can't sleep. Go figure. It could be worse though.

Let's see what polish I've got for this one!

Oooh, it's a sammich!

I used Revlon Victorian with Q Collection Multi Colors, and the accent nails is Confetti Tazmanian Devil.

Don't forget you can click to embiggen the pictures if you'd like to see better details.

This time, I hid the ragged cuticle spots with animals. What can I say, I'm easily entertained.

I may have gone a bit overboard with them.

I hope it doesn't detract from the gorgeousness of this sandwich.

I love how the glitter is suspended in there. It makes me want to make a Jello mold with some delicious fruit.

Now, you should go check out all the other lovely pinks that you can see on Wednesdays! Meanwhile, I'm going to try to get some sleep!

Happy Happy Birthday Baby!

2011-12-06T14:16:00.000-05:00

Today marks sixteen years that my sweet Sarah Bera entered my life. I cannot imagine how my life would be changed without her (or any of my three monsters). I could write for hours and hours and paragraphs and paragraphs, and still not even come close to expressing how much she means to me. Not only that, but she impresses me as well, and makes me so proud to know her.

So, because I hate to get too mushy or gushy, I thought I'd share some of my favorite Konad designs. After all, I don't want to embarrass her too much or anything. Muahaha! She was born at 10:05 PM, and oh so precious.

Not only we her parents adore her, but so did her big brother. At least when she was tiny and cute. *snicker*

Before she hit two, she had a baby sister. It was not quite like having twins, but there were times when it seemed like it.

When she started walking, she went to running almost right away. And as she grew, she got to be more annoying to her older brother. Isn't that what little sisters are supposed to do?

Even in preschool, she was already showing how she was going to be great in school. She hasn't lost her enthusiasm for learning.

Like her Mom and Dad, she likes to read, loves animals, and has a wicked sense of humor. It's hard to find anything negative to say about her at all.

Watching her grow so quickly has been a wonderful thing. It's almost too bad that it is going by so quickly.

All three of my kids are pretty wonderful. Sarah is probably the girly girl of the bunch, though the youngest isn't far behind at all. But that doesn't mean they can't get down and dirty and be tomboys as well.

As the girls got older, they got much better at antagonizing their older brother. Sarah sorta gets really into it at times. She takes her role as little sister to heart. Hee.

She's also a pretty awesome big sister. Woe to anybody who messes with her little sister. Even if they have those sisterly spats that most sisters have, she's right there if her little sister needs her.

She also takes time to help others as well. She's a great friend to have. I just hope her friends know how lucky they are to have her in their lives.

I know her Dad and I couldn't be any more thrilled that we get to enjoy her. It's amazing how one person can mean so much to so many others.

Like I said, it's awfully hard to find anything bad to say about her. She's smart, gorgeous, giving, generous, loving, and just pretty awesome all around.

Sometimes I wish I could just hug her and never stop. That might get a little awkward when it comes to school and other activities. *giggle*

She brightens the lives of everybody around her, just by virtue of being herself. Even the critters are drawn to her, probably because animals always know when somebody is a good person.

Besides all her wonderfulness in so many ways, she's also been learning to cook, and she is really good at that too. Teaming up in the kitchen is always fun, and even better when we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors.

So, there are sixteen Konadicures to celebrate sixteen years of having my girl in my life. Sarah, I love you, baby girl, and I always will.

Ten Days Of Blue For Wackita (Days 3 and 4)

2011-12-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

As I said yesterday, these are a series of ten days of blue to celebrate ten years of Wackita being in our lives. Today I have a dark dark blue and a more metallic frosty one for you.

We'll start with the dark, which is a gorgeous jelly-ish polish.

This is LA Girls Vamp, and it's awesome.

It flowed on really easily, and looks fantastic.

Clean-up was a breeze.

I did use top coat, but it was pretty shiny on its own.

These pictures are pretty accurate too.

The next is from the Confetti line, which I've found at our local CVS stores.

This is pulling a little more teal than I found it real life, but it's still close.

I didn't have any real issues with brush strokes, which is nice, but I did get a little bit of bubbling. I should just slow down a little I guess.

I'm not super impressed with the Confetti polishes, but since they are pretty inexpensive, I can work with them.

That's it for this post. I encourage you to hug your pets every day and tell them you love them. There's no way to know how long they will be with you, and it sucks to lose them.

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Ten Days Of Blue For Wackita (Days 1 and 2)

2011-12-05T09:00:00.004-05:00

We recently lost our first kitty to cancer, and after some recovery time from the grieving, I thought I'd honor her with ten days of blues. Today I'm going to show you days one and two. Wackita was such a character, and so much fun to have in our lives.

First up, I only got a few pictures, what with the cameras being broken etc, but this is Orly Rock Solid, over black and white. Well, on the accent nails anyway. Please ignore how yellow my nail looks, it's more from the psoriasis than anything.

Over white, it looks pretty nice, kinda like a deep blue sky.

Over black, it pops nicely. I think I like it that way best.

Here they are side by side. For some reason, I have no pictures of the whole mani. How dumb am I? (Don't answer that!)

Using a movie camera to take still pictures is rough. But it's more or less accurate for color, and at least you can get an idea. Next up, SH Xtreme Wear Deep Blue Sea.

This is fairly close to how it looks to me in real life, so I'd say it's relatively accurate color-wise.

I like the way it's fleck-y, as I'm fond of that kind of finish.

It's very shiny as well.

It doesn't change colors or anything at different angles.

Here is where we got a new camera, and I started trying to learn how to use it. The color pulled much more teal than it really is in these pictures.

Hopefully with time I will get better at getting the settings right so the color shows up true to life.

In closing, I want to urge you to check your pets over regularly for lumps or bumps, as that is how we found her cancer, and were able to try and save her. She passed in surgery (probably just too much for her poor body), but since we'd found it relatively early, it could have had a much better outcome.

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I've Been On A Cleaning Spree!

2011-12-05T01:36:00.000-05:00

And what better way to wind down at night than to post some Kleancolors? Let's get right to it so I can get to bed soon.

First, let's see Kleancolor Firework.

It's a wonderful extravaganza of glitter!

Sure it took four coats for me to get full coverage, but who cares when it looks like this?

The beautiful gold, the wonderful flashes of color, it's amazing.

Blur it a little and it almost makes me wanna cry at the sheer beauty.

I think Firework is THA BOMB! (Get it? Hahaha.)

Even using the foil method to remove it, there as plenty of glitter left on my hands. It was totally worth it.

The other Kleancolor I have is Holo Chrome, which I layered over SH Grape Escape.

I dunno why they didn't just call it Purple Holo, it doesn't look very chrome-y to me.

That being said, I adore this one as well.

It's not a linear holo, but the scattered effect is gorgeous.

My cuticles are looking very ragged, so I though butterflies would be better to see. Like them?

I dunno, they could be a bit distracting, but I had fun with it.

Maybe if it were more like this, the butterflies would be better.

Using the skin smoothing function leaves me with something like this, which hides the cuticles, but I dunno if I like that either.

Blue this one and it just looks like little flashes of light all over the place.

Okay, now I'd really better get in bed and see if I can get some sleep. Got another busy day tomorrow, as always.

Something IMPORTANT!

2011-12-03T15:57:00.000-05:00

Before I share my pictures for today (I'm up to Halloween - see what happens when you go missing for a while?), I've got something more serious to discuss/show you. It's about bullying. It's been in the news more and more, and it can happen to ANYbody. Over at Band Back Together, there is an Anti-Bullying Rally going on, and there are a LOT of stories being posted about experiences with bullies. If you are or have been bullied, are or have been a bully, or somebody you care about has been affected by bullying, stop on over and take a look around. The Band is taking a Stand and saying NO MORE.

And now, I'll shift back to nail polish, for those of you who only want to see that. As I said, I'm all the way up to Halloween (over a month late, go me! haha), and this year I didn't go all out as I have in the past. But I managed a few designs in amongst the regular polishing, so I'll share them now.

Keep in mind that this was during the time we had a few cats take ill and need to be euthanized, found out our first kitty has cancer, and were dealing with a bunch of that stuff, so I wasn't much up to par on these, but I tried. It could be worse. Hehe. First up, we have some stamping.

Also, I used a dotting tool, and some crackle. I like having some variety at times.

This was during the "I have no camera" time, so the pictures are not very high in quality. I was using a video camera to capture stills - not the best way to go about it.

Still, the colors are more or less correct, and you can see the important things, so I guess that's what counts.

I'm not going to complain, it would be far worse NOT to have any camera at all!

I do also have my phone's camera, but for some reason I just don't always take pictures with that. Or if I do, it's one solitary picture, and then I forget to upload them, and well, I just forget what I'm doing.

I totally admit that I'm a bit of a scatterbrain. It's just that I almost always have a lot going on, whether it's really good stuff, or there's some bad stuff mixed in.

My right hand had different designs too! I'm kinda hiding my right index finger because it is horribly broken way down. In fact, even now, over a month later, it's still not grown out completely and ready to post. Sheesh. Good thing it's not my left hand, that's my normal picture hand. Hee.

Next, I was attempting to do some theme colored water marbling, but it wasn't working super well.

So I slapped some crackle over things, and made some blotches or something, and pretended that's what I meant to do.

The marbling is not good because I chose colors that just didn't marble well. My bad.

So let's pretend that I was trying to make something that looked like ectoplasm and fog. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Okay, that thumb kinda worked better than the others, but it's still not my best marbling ever. I'm just not as good at it as some of the others out there. But I don't mind - we all gotta fail at stuff.

Strangely enough, my right hand was much better than my left this day. Maybe for once I was in my right mind!

Except for that middle finger. Hehehe. "The Naughty Finger".

I do apologize for this being rather craptastic, but that's life, right? The only other mani I'm going to call a Halloween one is the one where my daughters wanted me to do the bloody tips thing.

I started with graduated colors from black to white.

That could have been enough there, but I can't resist when the kids want stuff, at least things that I can give easily. So dripping blood must be added. Hee.

To make it show up better, I first did some white on the tips of the darker nails, and then went over it with the red.

It actually turned out kinda nice in the end, though I think I could do much better.

Anyway, I had fun, and isn't that really the important part? Just nod and agree, it's easier. Haha.

In the works, now that I'm getting more caught up are the following posts!

My review of the Cult Nails base and top coats.
The recent L'Oreal collection (birdies!).
Cult Nails Hypnotic collection.
Several random colors just because.

And now, I'm going to go rearrange a few things around the house, because I have overnight guests of the canine and feline type tonight - 4 extra dogs and 2 extra cats are staying over on their way to rescue. I'm gonna be busy!