"Vacation Mode"

Just as a reminder, I'm in "Vacation Mode" until after February 15th. When flowers are your life, Valentine's Day is incredibly busy. See you after the holiday with a catch up post!

Jelly Sammie with an accent: 2% Milk, Shuffle the Deck and Julep Sharon

I can't seem to stay away from the jelly sandwich! Thankfully, it's so versatile.

Ah, Julep Sharon, where were you at Christmas time when I was looking for a beautiful deep red? This is an amazing color that I got for my birthday from my folks. I got the 2012 Winter collection, so along with Sharon I now have Hillary, Kathleen, Melissa, and O! Canada. I love them all!

I'm also in full-on planning mode for work next week. See, I work at a flower shop right around Valentine's and Mother's Days as their main customer service person. This will be my seventh year with them, and I love it, but they have pretty conservative rules as far as nails go. So no wild blues or greens or craziness for me for a bit, but I have plenty of reds, pinks and neutrals to play with. And stamping can help just about anything. ;) Sadly, this whole work thing means thins blog will be pretty neglected from February 5th until after the 15th sometime, when I plan to post a reflection of everything I wear during the two weeks I'm gone.

More stamping plates are on their way, I'm waiting for tape for my label maker so I can finish making my swatch sticks - busy busy!



Polishes Used:
Nail Tek Foundation II
Wet N' Wild 2% Milk
Spoiled Shuffle the Deck
Julep Sharon
SHANY plate SH207
CQ Silver
Nail Tek Quicken

Try It On Tuesday: Now With STAMPING! Essie Da Bush, KleanColor Metallic Green, Zoya Irene and Finger Paints Black Expressionism

Eeeee! I FINALLY got stamping to work! This is a pattern of bamboo shoots and the layering was inspired my this post by Let Them Have Polish, but of course hers came out way way better. The grassy green is the KleanColor, and the more army green is the Zoya. Please pretend the wrinkles on my pinky aren't there, Mmkay?  ;)

As far as TIOT goes, Da Bush is brand new to me, another polish I found at T. J. Maxx. It's a great avocado green creme that's not like anything else I have.

Now that I've got my first stamping out of the way, be prepared to see a lot more of it! He he he!


Polishes Used:
Nail Tek Foundation II
Essie Da Bush
KleanColor Metallic Green
Zoya Irene
Finger Paints Black Expressionism
SHANY plate SH203
Nail Tek Quicken

Try It On Tuesday - Essie Case Study & Butter LONDON Fairy Cake

 

I was really surprised by Case Study.  In the bottle, it looks like chocolate milk, but once it dries it turns into a dark khaki color. I didn't know if I'd like it on my skin tone, but I think I do. It's very classy.  I found it at my local T.J. Maxx for $2.00, so if you have one nearby you might peek in and see what they've got.

I love Fairy Cake. Holo silver glitter? Yes please. Having just that little bit of shiny happy yum on the tips of these keeps drawing my eyes back to them. This is one of my first three BLs, and I have to say I love them.

I'm going to try to keep up with TIOT. Goodness knows I've got the untrieds to spare. I may miss now and again, but that's to be expected.



Polishes Used:
Nail Tek Foundation II
Essie Case Study
ButterLONDON Fairy Cake
Nail Tek Quicken X2 to make sure the glitter was smooth

Green with Glitter, Mattified

This looks incredible - and it got me my first compliment from a complete stranger today! I had to go to a branch of my grandparent's bank this afternoon and the teller just loved them. This made my brother actually notice them and say that from far away, it looks like they're done in camo. Then he went off on a tangent about how women in the Army should paint their nails camo so they blend in. o.O

Plus, any mani that gets two polishes off my "to be tried" list AND introduces me to a new-to-me indie polish maker has to be good stuff, right? Happy Ending is a wonderful apple green with just a touch of shimmer and Salt N Peppa is an amazing mix of black and white glitters in all different sizes and shapes, but then they threw in this incredible bright blue micro glitter that just makes the whole thing pop. I love it muchly.

Polishes Used:
Nail Tek Foundation II
Sinful Colors Happy Ending
Lush Lacquer Salt N Peppa 
Nail Tek Quicken
NYC Matte Me Crazy
 

Mint with an accent of Ice Queen

This week one of my major lemmings, Vivid Lacquer's The Ice Queen's Lament showed up in my mailbox via a swap with one of my nail girls. I gave up two of the China Glaze's Wicked collection polishes for this, ya'll - I LOVE it. It makes me sad that VL isn't making it anymore. I knew I had to pair it with Refresh-mint to pull out the green tones.

Ice Queen is a silvery base full of silver, blue and green glitter, slivery blue diamonds that refuse to show up on camera (there are three on that accent nail, people. They REFUSE to be photographed.) and medium blue hearts. Like the other VL polish I have (The Ragdoll's Soliloquy from her 2012 Halloween collection), there was no need to dig for the big glitters, they just leap onto the brush. The formula is awesome. I just puffy heart love it.

Disclaimer: Opinion is completely my own. I was not compensated in any way for my opinion. Please excuse any and all tip wear.

Polishes Used:
Nail Tek Foundation II
Wet N' Wild MegaLast I Need A Refresh-mint
Sinful Colors Snow Me White under the VL
Vivid Lacquer The Ice Queen's Lament
Nail Tek Quicken

A French Beetle? Quoi?

I love the hell out of Beetle. It's a chameleon polish. I swatched it against a purple the other day and you could see all the beautiful purple tones in it, but against this lovely pearly sand color you see more of the browns, reds and greens.

I free-handed the tips the other day while watching TV, so please excuse the shakiness and tip wear.



Polishes Used:
LA Colors UltraNail Hardner
NYC Mulberry Street
Hard Candy Beetle
Out The Door