New Years Sparkle

2012 is almost here and we made it without a zombie apocalypse! I hope the past year has brought you all something new and great.

When the Let it Snow Collection from China Glaze came out, I knew right away that Tinsel Town was going to be my New Years color. This glitter polish has a grey-back, almost soot color, base with a tint of blue hidden inside. I used 2 coats and it was fully opaque and topped it with Seche Vite. SO much sparkle! Seche Vite took that beautiful sparkle to the next level making it extremely glossy and smoothing the slight roughness right over. As with any glitter, you shouldn't skip the top coat! Make sure you wrap your tips with top coat too to prevent having rough/coarse nails ends! The formula was easy to apply and the glitter stayed exactly where I applied it, no running at all.

look at all of that amazing sparkle! 

I am most pleased with my New Years selection. What are you wearing to ring in the new year?

Noel Meets Twila

Christmas is finally here! I hope you all had an amazing day with your loved ones. The husband and I had a nice  morning with coffee and cinnamon rolls and presents for each other and the dogs. Then we went to see the new Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. VERY good movie. Unfortunately we couldn't spend today with family because the military only gives out 1 leave period between Thanksgiving and Christmas and we went down to FL and GA to visit my husband's side at Thanksgiving. We did Skype a bit with my family this morning though. My husband bought me a new mouse and hard drive for my computer :-D :-D (we are avid gamers, mostly WoW) and the most delicious smelling Shea Sugar Body Scrub in coconut lime scent. We also got ourselves a Magic Bullet. I gifted him a fire pit for outside this year.

Holiday fun aside, time for some more polish! I jazzed up my Noel manicure I showed yesterday, with it's sister from the Gems and Jewels collection, Twila. Each of the 3 metallics I mentioned have a coordinating bar glitter! That's right, BARS of glitter. GORGEOUS! I loved Noel so much that I just taped off a diagonal and added glitter to just 1 side. I would say Twila is really more of a layering glitter, but I didn't try it myself. I imagine if you were to try to get full coverage with it, it would take a few coats. That being said, the bars in this glitter tend to have a mind of their own. This is one polish you do NOT want to skip a topcoat with, and I would be very generous with it, to keep this glitter in place. I even went as far as to tweeze some of the bars that stuck out past my nails to give it a cleaner look. Here are some pics...

Indoor Lighting

Natural Lighting

Can you see those awesome bars of glitter goodness?! I forgot to mention in my Noel post that the Gems and Jewels collection is limited time only for the holidays. The 3 metallics and 3 bar glitters won't be available from Zoya for much longer! D:

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT!

ZOYA Noel

Today I have one of the Gems and Jewels collection colors to show you from Zoya, Noel. On top of looking down-right gorgeous, this color applied beautifully. It just glided off the brush onto my nails. My husband thought this color was very pretty too. Noel is one of the 3 metallic shimmers in the collection. I was lucky enough to have gotten a mini in my November Birchbox. Enough gabbing, this color will speak for itself!

Indoor Lighting

Natural Lighting

Doesn't the sun make it look fantastic?! <3 Time to get myself ready for my late lunch at The Cheesecake Factory with my hubby! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE LADIES!!

Santa is Coming to Town

Christmas is just around the corner and the big man is a'comin! Santa Claus has to be one of the most iconic figures associated with any holiday. So, in true Christmas spirit, I did full Santa nails! Unfortunately, I have to admit, they didn't turn out exactly as I was picturing. All in all though, it's still cute and festive enough.

I used the following colors topped w/ Seche Vite:
     • Zoya - Sooki
     • China Glaze - Liquid Leather
     • China Glaze - Go Pink
     • Finger Paints - Paper Máché
     • Essie - Allure

So yeah, my pointer got a bit mussed up because I had to clean up a major polish spill! Merry Christmas, ladies!

December Birchbox 2011

10 days late, but my December Birchbox has finally arrived! They had delayed shipping this month due to a sample arriving too late to meet their normal packaging deadline. Usually, their boxes arrive on or around the 10th of each month. For those of you who aren't familiar with Birchbox, it is a monthly subscription of "four to five deluxe hand-picked beauty samples" that costs $10 per month and arrives at your door. It's pretty great! Did I mention one of the brands they carry is Zoya? That's right! Some months you can get a mini zoya polish. In my November box I received a mini Noel. Here is what I got this month :

It ships is this hot pink box :-)

This month I received 4 samples with 2 extras.
       • Oscar Blandi : Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo
       • Atelier Cologne : Ambre Nue
       • Jouer : Moisturizing Lip Gloss in Birchbox Pink (shade made exclusively for Birchbox)
       • Nuxe : Huile Prodigieuse OR Multi-Usage Dry Oil Shimmer (shimmer body and hair oil)
       • *bonus* Prep ShowStoppers : Designer Fashion Tape
       • *bonus* Recharge Boost : Orange Natural Energy Booster

You get a little bit of everything :-). If you think this is something you might be interested, you can use my LINK to sign up for the new year.

Merry Christmas, ladies!

Christmas Hearth

I'm quite proud of this manicure tonight. It took a while to complete because I used so many different colors and had to play around with the design a bit before I was satisfied. Also, dry times between each color... /rolls eyes. :-) But, you know how it is! Anywho, my nail art today is a Christmas Fireplace surrounded by stockings and then the Christmas tree in the corner. I know the watermarks are different, I've been playing around with them, but both pictures belong to me.

Colors Used (and there were a LOT!)
        • Zoya : Sooki (pointer and tree lights)
        • Zoya : Kristen (ash in fireplace)
        • Zoya : Kennedy mixed with China Glaze : IX (fireplace)
        • China Glaze : Holly-Day (tree, pinky stocking and ring finger)
        • China Glaze : Emerald Sparkle (pointer stocking)
        • China Glaze : Velvet Bow (bricks in fireplace)
        • China Glaze : Ring in the Red (pinky and stocking)
        • China Glaze : Snow Globe (pinky stocking fluff)
        • China Glaze : Lemon Fizz (tree lights)
        • China Glaze : Frostbite (tree lights)
        • China Glaze : Liquid Leather (fireplace)
        • China Glaze : IX (fireplace)
        • Finger Paints : Paper Máché (fireplace)
        • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear : Sun Kissed (150) (fire)
        • Barry M : Gold Foil (320) (thumb)

Told you there were a lot!! You should have seen how cluttered my desk was. All designs were freehand with a small art brush and all nails topped with Seche Vite. I hope you get some inspiration for your own holiday nails. Merry Christmas!!!

Red-Nosed Reindeer

To jazz up my Zoya Kennedy mani, I added a holiday decor to it. I free handed red-nosed reindeer using 2 art brushes. omg I love LOVE LOVE this mani!!! It's super festive and EVERYONE commented on it! I have to admit though, I am not the one who originally came up with this design. Sammy at The Nailasaurus is an amazing talented artist who came up with this, and many other, festive designs as part of her "12 days of Christmas" nails. I highly recommend you check out her blog.

I used the following colors in this mani:
         • China Glaze: Ring in the Red (noses)
         • Finger Paints: Paper Máché (eyes)
         • Zoya: Kennedy (base color)
         • China Glaze: IX (reindeer color)
         • China Glaze: Liquid Leather (reindeer outline)

As I said, I used art brushes to paint in the design. I found a pack of 4 different sized brushes from Michaels for around $4. If you are looking into getting a thin brush for detail work my advice is make sure you get a brush with strong bristles. If they're too flexible, your stroke will not be as fluid or precise. Also, do not try to dip your brush directly into your polish bottle, as this will most likely result in a huge excess of polish in a gloppy mess that is wasteful. Dab small amounts as needed onto some sort of smooth, non-porous surface. Same as recommended while using a dotting tool which is what I did the eyes with. Also, something to keep in mind while doing nail art is that you need to keep in mind whatever you design with your dominant hand will have to be replicated with your non-dominant hand, so don't go too detailed that you can't achieve a similar look on both hands.

Now on to how I painted this look. First I had my 2coat base color of Zoya Kennedy topped with Seche Vite. Then I used a fine brush to add the shape of the reindeer. Using my smallest brush I then outlined the shape in black then proceeded to fill in the extra details, eyes and noses.  I also used a thin coat of white before I painted on the red noses because Ring in the Red is a very thin polish that wouldn't have shown to it's fullest potential over a deep, dark brown. The design looked a bit rough at first, but after it FULLY dries, I topped again with Seche Vite and it gave it a smooth, glossy look. So if you are doing nail art with a fine brush and think it doesn't look smooth, don't worry because your top coat will help take care of that! (=

I hope you feel inspired to do some festive nail art of your own! Merry Christmas nailaholics!!

ZOYA Kennedy

Tonight I have one of the new colors from Zoya's Feel Collection. I snagged this one from one of their flash promos. For those of you who don't already know, Zoya has been doing ongoing flash promos for their followers on Twitter, Facebook and Google Connect since the start of Dec. It's the best idea for Christmas Time shopping!!! This collection is beautiful full coverage neutrals.

Indoor Lighting

Natural Lighting

I got quite a few compliments from this color and it is definitely a keeper!!! Like it, love it, gotta have it. Merry Christmas!

Ring in the Red

Tonight I have one of the China Glaze Let it Snow Collection polishes to show. This one is Ring in the Red, a beautiful red sparkle. I have to say, I love love LOVE the Let it Snow Collection!

It took me 4 coats to achieve opacity with this one, but when I painted my second hand, I found I could achieve this exact same look with 1 coat over my Zoya Sooki red.  I'm sure any good red creame would work or, of course, you could use this as a one coat layer of sparkle to jazz up a normal mani! Another big thing would be a jelly sandwich. Just chose a nice, juicy color as a base with a layer of sparkle then top of with a 2nd coat of your jelly color. Sparkly, squishy goodness. Anywho, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

First Christmas Mani of the Season

'Tis that time of year again! All of my decorating is done and I am definitely high on Christmas spirit! I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for holiday decorating! The only problem now is to stop my dogs from stealing ornaments off my tree!!! Speaking of my dogs and my decorating, here is a quick pic of one of my favorite Christmas decorations! The reason should be self-explanatory.

I love my huskies!

So today's mani is a candy cane inspired theme. It's not perfect because I was free handing it on about 2 cups of coffee, but I am still pleased with the results. I love trying new nail art, especially holiday art.

my snowman salt shaker from Khols

For this, I started with 2 coats of Finger Paints: Paper Mâché then using an art brush I free handed the green and red stripes with China Glaze: Holy-Day and Zoya: Sooki topped with Seche Vite.

As an early Christmas present to myself, I ordered my first stamping plate off amazon. I can't wait to try this out and get my festive nail on!

Well, enjoying my stripes for now but always thinking about what I want to try next! MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!!

Color me Marbleized

So my husband is on duty today and I needed a project. So, after I spruced up the house a bit I decided I wanted to give a go at Water Marbling. Still learning, but I am actually quite pleased with the results. What do you think? :-)

natural, overcast sunlight

left hand marbling

right hand marbling

I used room temp, filtered water and a toothpick to swirl in my designs. The 3 colors of choice for this mani were Essie-Allure, Essie-St. Lucia Lilac and Pure Ice-Love. Topped it all off with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. The Pink on all other nails is 2coats of Pure Ice-Love. I hope you like this as much as I do! I can't wait to try some more water marbling!

Fresh Coat of Lacquer for the Day

Today I got my nail mail from Nailstash's blog sale! YAY! I recieved confirmation Sunday on my purchase and it came today! Super fast and wrapped with care! I snagged China Glaze Emerald Sparkle and Essie - St. Lucia Lilac. I'm sure you can guess which one this is. :-P

Indoor lighting no flash

outdoors, direct sunlight

I realize my application was a bit sloppy, but this polish was not the smoothest application for me. I found the formula to be on the rather watery side and it streaked pretty horribly. I LOVE the color though, so I stuck it out. I think it's a beautiful pale purple (lilac) with a great subtle grey undertone. This is 3coats topped with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. Eventually, I think I might just cave and pick up a Seche Vite top coat!

Layering Experiment

My husband wanted to see what black crackle would look like over this electric blue I had. We both thought it sounded great, but I don't really know if I cared for the final effect, so I slapped some glitter on top just to jazz it up.

I had 2 coats of China Glaze Frostbite topped with China Glaze Black Mesh Crackle topped with Wet n' Wild 460D. 

I decided I didn't really care for this so it didn't stay long. One of the issues was that I think I applied the Wet n' Wild too thickly because the polish never fully dried before I just took it off. It was about 2hours later and it easily slid around my nail if any pressure was applied. But yeah, possible user error on my part. I liked the glitter itself so I would definitely try it again. As a personal preference though, I think I prefer lighter colors under the black crackle for more of a contrast.

ZOYA Charla

Decided on doing a fresh mani today and Zoya Charla seemed to me like the perfect choice! I hadn't worn it before and it just looks so beautiful in the bottle. This color reminds me of a mermaid and it did not disappoint. Application was smooth and easy. I am really starting to fall for Zoya polishes.

2coats topped with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

indoors w/ natural back lighting 

direct sunlight

Charla is a fresh, fun color. The shimmery teal is sure to be an attention grabber!

4th of July Pedi and Mani

I find it easier to jazz up a pedicure than my fingernails, probably because the surface area is greater. Anyways, here is my Independence Day pedicure.

The red is Zoya Sooki, which I will show on my nails below and the blue is China Glaze Frostbite. I think the 2 colors go absolutely perfect together!

Simple, somewhat boring, 4th of July mani.

 Here is Zoya Sooki all by itself.

Sooki w/ flash. The flash seems to pick up on the subtle orange undertones in this eye-popping red.

 This red cream polish is absolute perfection to apply. It goes on smoothly with no streaking and really only needs 1 coat, but I did 2. Topped with Chinaglaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

In honor of Kate Middleton

Today I was perusing the selection at Target, and saw Essie's Allure. I remember reading somewhere that Kate Middleton wore this color on her wedding day. Granted, her stylist mixed it with Bourjois No. 28 Rose Lounge. ANYWAYS...I was up at 4am that morning to watch the event and it was beautiful! So, naturally, I had to grab this one!

very thin, opaque polish. I used 3coats here. I love how it has a slight pink sheen to it. I feel like this is a beautifully natural color. The polish was great to apply, not streaky at all, and I topped it off with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. Excuse the bubbles on the bottom photo, I was a bit clumsy while it was drying!

First Manicure

So my sister was really big in on the nailpolish craze. She came to visit and brought some of her collection. Now, of course, I have to do what my older sister does! I went out and bought a few polishes to start off with. This was my first self-manicure.

Chinaglaze: Pink Voltage (neon)
Chinaglaze: White on White