Holiday Nails: Candy Cane Stripes and Christmas Trees

Christmas nails! The base on these is Moonstone, part of the Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Collection. Moonstone is a great frosty white, but a just the right angle there's a powerful pink shift that looked really cool with the candy stripes in this mani. The red stripes are Zoya Posh and the green ones are Zoya Veruschuka, both from their matte velvet set. For the accent nail, I used Zoya Logan for the perfect tree base, then added a glitter called Bedazzled by Claire's for the ornaments and topped it off with little star rhinestones!

Right now I'm swatching my little heart out. I bought Zoya's Black Friday deal as my Christmas gift, so that's 21 new polishes PLUS a big shipment from Vivid Lacquer arrived the day before Christmas with 21 new polishes in it that I've been slowly buying since Halloween. My stash has EXPLODED this week.

My partner and I both have birthdays in the next two weeks, so I'll be busy busy busy. What do you have planned this week?



Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Moar Stamps! Snowflakes on blue with rhinestones.

 Geez, it's been forever since I posted! I get super blah in the winter time, especially if there's snow on the ground like there has been lately. Sorry.

So the lovely mani I just finished applying is based on Zoya Dream, which is a gorgeous medium blue packed with holo glitter. Then I stamped with Essie's No Place Like Chrome using a snowflake stamp from Vivid Lacquer's VL006. Matte top coat gave Dream this fabulous look that's almost like glittery denim, then I topped it off with some aqua blue rhinestones by Cheeky that I got in a swap package. I think they came out great!


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coats are Seche Vite and NYC Matte Me Crazy.

Thanksgiving Nails: Apple pie?

 Thanksgiving nails! I was going for apple pie with the golden colored filling and brown lattice crust. I've seen lots of pumpkin pie and even cherry pie. Do you think I was successful with the apple look?

I painted my nails with two coats of Butter London's The Old Bill as the crust color, then stamped using Vivid Lacquer plate VL009 and Finger Paints Catwalk Queen. My doctor's medical assistant just loved these, and I got to introduce her to the concept of stamping!


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Breast Cancer Rememberance Mani

 I know Breast Cancer Awareness month is traditionally October, but my Grandmother had her mastectomy on November 23, 2001 so this is the time of year I celebrate. Twelve years later, she's still going strong!

The main base color is Vivid Lacquer's Theoretical Girlfriend, which is a very very pale pink with white and pink glitters all through it. The accent nail is Flutter by Sinful Colors, a medium bubblegum pinks with a subtle shimmer. Both stamps are from Vivid Lacquer's VL001 plate and I used KleanColor Metallic Fuschia for those.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Stamped Purple Gradient

 I love this SO. MUCH. This is a gradient of (top down) China Glaze Sweet Hook, O.P.I. Planks A Lot, and Butter London Marrow stamped with the large Celtic knot image from Messy Mansion's MM04 in Essie Nothing Else Metals to keep the purple theme going. I'm not sure how I did it, but the lines looked like they were floating above the color and it just came out great.

What do you guys think? What kind of things do you want to see in the giveaway I'm planning? Let's get some interaction going on here!

Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Night Skies: Sally Hansen Gone Grey, Emily de Molly Falling Skies plus stamps and dotting.

 This mani has a little of everything. The base color is Sally Hansen Gone Grey, then I added Falling Skies by Australian indie Emily de Molly. Falling Skies is full of blue, teal and purple glitters, plus holo silver stars and crescent moons. It is gorgeous! Then on the accent nail I used Essie No Place Like Chrome to stamp a crescent moon from Vivid Lacquer's VL013 plate and some stars from Bundle Monster plate BM14 and dotted on some clouds using Color Club Blue Heaven. Pfhew!


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Autumn Mani: Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Copperhead stamped with Wet N' Wild A Show At The Palladium.

 Yay, Autum's here! Summer's hell on my body, so I'm a great fan of fall. This beautiful manicure is Sally Hansen Lustre Shine in Copperhead stamped with Wet N' Wild's A Show At The Palladium using BM04.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Latest Halloween Nails Ever.

Yeah, I know it's November 8th. Whatever bug I have/had came back and hit me hard again starting the 30th and with the Fibromyalgia, it takes me forever to get over anything.

So, this was my Halloween look this year. It's Be-leaf It Or Not by Finger Paints, the face is hand painted in KleanColor Black and White and the awesome stitches were stamped on using Vivid Lacquer plate VL003. Then I used a coat of NYC Matte Me Crazy to make it more like monster skin. I love it muchly.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coats are Seche Vite and NYC Matte Me Crazy.

The Unknown: A tester from Vivid Lacquer

 

Back in April I received a huge shipment of polish from Anni at Vivid Lacquer.  I had been having her put bottles aside for me for months and when it finally came (I was waiting for the monies to afford it all!) this beauty had been thrown in as a bonus. It doesn't have an official name, but I like The Unknown, it seems fitting for a Halloween polish or even something meant to use as a galaxy mani base color. This is a black base with purple and green micro glitter in it. Nearly impossible to photograph and super subtle on the nail, it dried almost matte so I added SV to help the glitter pop a bit. I don't know why I waited so long to try this one out!

Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Jelly Sandwich with 2 Color V-Gap: Wet N' Wild 2% Milk, Vivid Lacquer I Deglaze With Wine, Zoya Joy and Butter London Pitter Patter

Yummy jelly sandwich of Vivid Lacquer's I Deglaze with Wine in between layers of Wet N' Wild 2% Milk. Deglaze is from last winter's holiday collection and it's a fabulous assortment of pink and purple glitters in a clear base. Then for the tips I used Zoya Joy (the raspberry pink) and Butter London Pitter Patter with is a deep dark purple.

I'm finally getting over this ick, so there should be several posts this week. I just put the last coat on my Halloween look and I want to get that up by Thursday. Have a great week!


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Taking a little break - my body demands it!

Sorry about the lack of posts, I'm fighting the flu or something. I've got a fever and chills, body aches, the whole shebang. Yuck. My nails are stuck mid-mani and I just don't have the energy to finish it right now. Back as soon as possible!

Nerd Nails: Sherlock Holmes. Zoya Farah & Flynn stamped with KleanColor Espresso.

 

 I've been taking part in a challenge in my nail polish group over on Ravelry and this is the manicure I've been looking forward too the most. The challenge this day is to show off your nerd/geek/gamer pride. SO MANY IDEAS!! However, one of my main loves is Sherlock Holmes. Not RDJ's Holmes, or the BBC Holmes or even Jeremy Brett's Holmes. I love Sherlock Holmes the character, in all his incarnations. I need to get into more of the stories written after Conan Doyle's days, but I love the Mary Russel series written by Laurie R. King. I spent most of the first book in disbelief, but she's got the nuances of Holmes so down so well that I was a believer before the the villian steps out of the shadows.

Okay, enough about books, most of you are here for the nails. LOL. I laid down Zoya Farah then used plastic wrap to add Zoya Flynn. The shelf of books is from Vivid Lacquer's VL003, then the Sherlock-y stamps are from MoYou's Tourist plate 01. I free-handed the 221B with a tiny brush (as if THAT's not glaringly obvious!) and then added a matte top coat to give the whole thing that aged paper look. I LURVE this mani.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite and NYC Matte Me Crazy.

Zoya Julie Stamped with MoYou's Princess 09 in KleanColor Black Hole

So I was wearing Zoya Julie (x2), which is a beautiful lavender with a subtle shimmer in it, when my new stamping plates from MoYou arrived. Naturally I had to try one out immediately ans decided on this wonderful swirly pattern from Princess 09. This is just super quick stamps with no final top coat, so they're a little sketchier than normal.

Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat (after the Julie but before the stamp) is Seche Vite.

Dr. Pepper Nails: Wet N' Wild 2% Milk & Deborah Lippmann Pearly Queen stamped with Kleancolor Black Hole

 Dr. Pepper nails! I was going to put down Black Hole as my main color and the stamp with the Deborah Lippmann, but my stamp was reversed in my head so I had to change my plans around. I put down 2% Milk and then added a coat of Pearly Queen to give it that fabulous iridescent shift like you can see on my ring and pinkie fingers. Then stamp stamp stamp with KleanColor Black Hole which is a wonderful black cherry kind of burgundy and plate MM02 from Messy Mansion. Love!


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Orly Buried Treasure with O.P.I. Black Spotted.

Awhile back Zulily had a deal on O.P.I., so I went to check it out and wouldn't you know, they had Black Spotted! MINE! When they arrived, I think it went on my nails before it went on a swatch stick, LOL. I was already wearing Orly Buried Treasure - a beautiful metallic bronze-y sand - so instead of the stamping I had planned, I just added Black Spotted instead. There's a learning curve, for sure but I think you'll agree it's worth any trouble!


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Glitter topper Ducky Tie from 365 Days of Color's How I Met Your Mother Collection over Sally Hansen Silver Sweep.

 Last year about this time as I was just easing into the world of indie polish makers, I won two bottles of polish almost simultaneously. One was from Vivid Lacquer, and if you're a regular reader here, you can tell what a rabbit hole *that* turned out to be. ; -) The other bottle I won was from a company called 365 Days of Color, and it prompted a bit of a habit as well. I have several of Sunny's polishes, some of her hand cream and the cuticle oil, so when her new collection based on the show How I Met Your Mother came out, I knew I had to have it. I even got in on the preorders and soon the whole set arrived at my door.

(Thanks for that rambling trip to nowhere, Tosh!)

This is Ducky Tie over a base of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep. Ducky Tie is several shapes and shades of orange and yellow glitters, plus tiny medium blue litter in a clear base. This would be awesome over a tan like Zoya Farah or a muted green like Finger Paints Be-Leaf It Or Not for an instant autumn mani.

Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Try It On Tuesday - A England Dragon

 

 This polish is so yummy I can't even handle it. This is A England Dragon, a dark forest green with holo sparkle! You can see the rainbow best on the thumbnail, I think. I also think I need more A England polishes STAT.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Stamping On Texture: Zoya London stamped with Sinful Colors Innocent using VL012.

 

If you couldn't tell by the little logo guy and the name, I love frogs. My best friend started calling me Toad over 15 years ago (jeebus, that makes me feel old!) and that kick-started my obsession with them. So when my new plates from Vivid Lacquer came in, I knew this had to be the first image I used. This is Zoya London stamped with the single frog from VL012 in Sinful Colors Innocent. I LOVE IT! Then I realized that it kinda looks like frogs on asphalt, London's just the right color for it. LOL. Still love it.

Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

A England Order of the Garter with accent of Lucky 13's Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey

 I love blue polish. I have more blues and greens than any other colors in my stash. 55 of each! These two gorgeous examples are A England's Order of the Garter and Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey by Lucky 13. Garter is an amazing medium blue, full of light and shimmer and Timey Wimey is a stunning blue jelly packed with several shapes of blue glitter plus silver holo stars and moons.I just love how they work together so beautifully.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Wet N' Wild I Red A Good Book with Orly Devil May Care

 These are soo sexy! I love a good Come F**k Me (or CFM) red and I Red A Good Book sure fits the bill. It leans slightly towards the blue end of the spectrum, and it's something of a crelly. I love it muchly. I topped it with Orly's Devil May Care, which is a polish that makes me think of Christmas parties. It's tightly packed red glitter with a healthy dose of gold hexes thrown in for visual excitement. I'll have to do this again closer to the holidays.

Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Stamped: Sally Hansen Lightening with Zoya Channing

 I wish I had had more time with this one. My grandmother turned 75 the other day, and this is the mani I did for her party. She likes autumnal colors like these, but I did the stamping as I was getting ready and I was just too rushed. Channing stamped really well though, so I'll have to try this again some time. The plate I used was CH33.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Essie Sole Mate tipped with Zoya Blaze

 This bottle of Essie is one I picked up on clearance. The sticker says that the color is called Sole Mate and it's beautiful deep, vampy burgundy. To give it a bit of sparkle I sponged some Zoya Blaze on the tips. I think think would be fabulously glamorous to wear to a wedding or a fancy party.


Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Butter London Trout Pout with Vivid Lacquer You Are NOT My Nemesis

This came out so awesome. I'm a huge fan of Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, so when Anni at Vivid Lacquer did a collection based on it last year, I had to have at least most of them. You Are NOT My Nemesis is white shreds, blue diamonds and blue hexes in a clear base. Coupled with the gorgeous summery salmon color of Trout Pout, this mani just makes me want to lay out by my imaginary pool.

Base coats were Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

Skittles Mani - Hedy's Ma.Nish.Ma Neons with Vivid Lacquer Wish Upon A Star

A friend lead me to this set of neons on EBay and they are wonderful, I'm so glad I snagged a set. My favorite feature? The fact that they don't require undies! Yup, all that color is just from the polish! They're actually matte that turned shiny with SV and there's a sixth color, a lighter blue that is kind of turquoise-y. Then I added that fabulous glitter coat by Vivid Lacquer. Wish Upon A Star is all kinds of silver holo glitter shapes - stars, diamonds, hexes and squares. I didn't get to wear this for very long, but the colors are all so cheerful and happy, I may do it again soon.

Base coats were Orly Nailtrition and Bonder, top coat was Seche Vite.

Butter London Two Fingered Salute

I'm just a posting fool this week! Hehehe. This shot is a polish that's just gorgeous. It's Butter London's Two Fingered Salute, a patina green with bronze micro glitter running all through it. I've never seen anything like it! I love the formula on these polishes - I've never put on a Butter London that's been anything but smooth and easy to handle. Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder, top coat is Seche Vite.

Revlon Royal plus Vivid Lacquer The Harlequin's Adoration

This was so hard to photograph, but it was incredibly beautiful in person. The Harlequin's Adoration has this coppery shimmer in it that made Royal look almost like Max Factor's Fantasy Fire. Just unbelievable. Then on top of that, you've got the multitude of little glitters, red hearts and both black and white diamonds. Fabulous.



Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top Coat is Seche Vite.

Try It On Tuesday: Vivid Lacquer Theoretical Blogger and A England Lady of the Lake

 

I love Vivid Lacquer's Theoretical collection so hard. There's depth and sparkle that I just can't capture on camera. This is Theoretical Blogger, a beautiful lavender with several sizes of darker purple glitters in it. Then I went over it with NYC Matte Me Crazy and added french tips in A England Lady of the Lake. Oh My God, this is my perfect purple. It's the most amazing blue leaning royal purple with a ton of holo glitter in it. Yum fest.

Base coats are Orly Nailtrition and Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite applied to just the A England.

Palette Cleanser: Butter London's All Hail The Queen

Indoors, artificial lighting.

Outdoors, full shade.

After the bright, beautiful, colorful, complicated, bright, cheerful, blinding, happy (and did I mention bright?) nail colors I wore to the concert last week, I needed something more... calm, I guess? All Hail The Queen is a beautiful color that seems to change shade depending on your skin tone or something. On some people, like Jacie at You've Got Nail, it almost looks like a sand color. Then on some folks like Jen over at The PolishAholic (and apparently me), it deepens into a toasty tone. Or maybe they changed the formula when they changed the name, I'm not sure. (THE Queen used to be MCQueen in honor of the designer, but his people didn't want his name used, apparently.) Either way, it's a beautiful tan/brown with holo glitter lightly mixed in.

Base was Orly Nailtrition, then Orly Bonder. Top coat is Seche Vite.

It was during the wearing of this polish that I realized that my nails were officially Too Long. I broke a third nail trying to fasted my seat belt. My seat belt for cryin' out loud. So I've since nubbinized. I think I'm going to stamp my current color after I get some sleep, so hopefully there'll be another post in a day or two.

Weird Al Nails!

Yesterday I got to go to a Weird Al concert at our county fair. He was amazing! Energetic and fun and he went through about a zillion costume changes. If you ever get a chance to see him DO IT.

So I knew I had to have loud, fun nails for this concert. I turned right away to my Different Dimensions 80's Baby holo collection. I also wanted to used Emily de Molly's Bright Young Things, since it's a bright beautiful glitter, so I chose DD polishes that I thought would show off the EdM the best.

Indoors, artificial light.

Outdoors, full sun with concert stage in the background.

From thumb to pinkie, the polishes are: Different Dimension Excelsior! (not part of the 80's Baby collection, but showed the glitter off beautifully), Ditz, Gnarly, Homeboy, and Totally. Then Emily de Molly Bright Young Things on top.

Base coat is Nail Tek Foundation II, then Orly Bonder. After the color layers, I used one coat of Seche Vite and then after the glitter layer there is one coat of Butter London Hardwear.




As a side note, I love love love my new camera! Both these pictures were taken with it, and I didn't have to contort myself around a lamp to get the indoor shot like with my other camera. LOL.

Fourth Of July Mani and Holo Half Moons

Hi there! I'm only slightly behind this time. hehehe. Today I've got my nails from the Fourth of July and my first half moons!

This is China Glaze Dandy Lyin' Around as unders, CG Ruby Pumps and Water You Waiting For on alternating fingers, then the accent nail is Pure Ice Twist and Shout plus one star from Wet N' Wild's Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I could not even come close to capturing the depth in Ruby Pumps, it was like looking through a Jello mold full of glitter and Water You Waiting For has all these different shades of blue and turquoise in it. Just fabulous.

 

This is the mani I'm about to take off. Butter London Muggins under Color Club Eternal Beauty. YUM. I did the half moons with those hole reinforcer things and I still kinda think they were put on by a drunken monkey. LOL.

I got a new camera yesterday and I'm super excited to see how well it does with nail shots. My other camera is a like 8 year old Sony Mavica that weighs a ton and argues with my computer. It also cost a fortune. My new camera is a Cannon PowerShot Elph 115 IS that's tiny and cute and light and draws in ambient light like nobody's business. CAPS LOCK EXCITE.

Until next time!

All manicures were done using NailTek Foundation II, then Orly Bonder as base coats and Seche Vite top coat.

I return! Aggrivated, but here.

     Hi everyone! You would not believe what all's been happening here. Between Mother's Day, recovering from Mother's Day, and SSI changing their minds about things every other day, I just haven't been able to concentrate. THEN I went to get all my mani pictures off my camera only to find that it doesn't play well with my new laptop and all of my images were gone. I was able to recover two sets, but that's it! So many wonderful looks gone like *poof*. Blah. Here are the ones I was able to save and today's look.

     June 14th: This is Vivid Lacquer's In The House Of Upside Down over Mentality Vigilance. House of Upside Down is just so stinkin' fun! Butterflies and hearts and circles and fun. The base is just slightly tinted blue, so I'll have to play around with some other combinations for it.

     June 16th: I loved the CRAP out of this look! It's a jelly sandwich of L'Oreal Mango Mamma with the stamp done in Sinful Colors Snow Me White. The stamp is from Vivid Lacquer's VL004. My nails were bright bright bright and the design earned me a compliment from the Medical Assistant at my doctor's office.

     June 23rd: Wet N' Wild 2% Milk as the base, the green is Sinful Colors Mint Apple and that fabulous glitter is Sakura by Darling Diva. It was hard to catch the color of the circles without the light flaring and blowing them out, but they're actually a bright fuchsia and the flower shaped glitters are a pale baby pink. It's very spring-y - there are also green squares and circles in there that didn't pop against Mint Apple as well as I wanted them to in the picture, but they're wonderful in person.



Until next time!

Memorial Nails - Andrew "Andy" Welburn

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 Just a note before today's entry: this week is the last before Mother's Day, so I'm going to be gone again until after the holiday. Hopefully, I'll be able to jump right back in after things calm down again at the flower shop. ~Toad

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It never dawned on me that I might have to do a memorial manicure at any point, never mind one for my Step-dad. He passed away extremely suddenly on April 16th. April 27th, we held a memorial at the gaming store he frequented, oddly enough while a Magic: The Gathering tournament was going on in the other room. 

When it came time to do my nails for the memorial, I got stuck. He loved so many things, how was I going to pick just one? So I didn't. I used his favorite colors, purple and acid green along with the teal and black of his favorite hockey team the San Jose Sharks on the accent nail and chose images that made up the things that were most important to him.

I hope it's a long, long time before I have to do this again.

Thumb: Andy loved dogs. My parents were together 22 years and we always had at least one dog, and sometimes as many as three.

Index: Biohazard symbol, for zombies in all their forms. He didn't care if a zombie movie was good or bad, he had to have it.

Middle: San Jose Sharks.

Ring: Dice to show his love of all kinds of gaming.

Pinkie: A gun. He actually sold guns at one point, if I remember correctly, and I have no idea how many he owned.


Polishes Used:
Nail Tek Foundation II
L.A. Colors UltraNail Hardner
Pure Ice Wild Thing (green)
Wet N' Wild On A Trip (purple)
Wet N' Wild Teal Or No Teal (teal)

Stamped With:
Pure Ice Wild Thing (green)
Zoya Suri (purple)
Finger Paints Black Expressionism (black)

Plates:
Thumb: Shany SH219
Index: Vivid Lacquer VL003
Middle: Cheeky CH38
Ring: Cheeky CH39
Pinkie: Vivid Lacquer VL007

Mani Backlog - Stamps, Stamps, Stamps!

Man, oh man. There's been so much going on around here. For those who may have missed my reason for being gone, my Step-Dad, Andy, passed away very suddenly on April 16th. We held a memorial the next Saturday, and the nails I did in Andy's honor will be posted on their own tomorrow.

Along with all the "normal" things a family goes through when someone passes, my Mom and I both have Fibromyalgia. Somehow, the emotional pain translates to even more physical pain for us, so I think we're both moving slower than we usually do.

It also means that I've been very lax in my blogging and picture taking. I've tried a few new polishes here and there and just couldn't be bothered to haul my cookies into the other room and start the long drawn out picture process. However, I do have a few things to show you today:

April 11th: These came out SO CUTE! I wish the sparkle in Storm showed better in pictures, but overall I just love them.

Polishes Used:
Nail Tek Foundation II
L.A. Colors UltraNail Hardner
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Sinful Colors Neon Melon
Wet N' Wild Heatwave
Julep Sharon
Zoya Storm
Cheeky plate CH52
Franken top coat

May 4th: There are no words for how much I love this. Fairy Bread is just bright and colorful and happy and love. So many colors and shapes of glitter in a milky white base - and then matted?! Just yum, and Vivid Lacquer's stamping plates are awesome squared. This mani earned me a compliment from the gal at my check cashing place, which always makes me feel good, especially since she has her nails done by a pro nail tech.

Polishes Used:
Vivid Lacquer Fairy Bread
NYC Matte Me Crazy
Vivid Lacquer plate VL 001
Zoya Suri