Post-Holiday Post...

Whew! Holidays are over, everyone is healthier and my house is hmmm, somewhat back to normal! We had a bad cold/flu move through our house and hit just about everyone I know...blegh!

My etsy shop has been busy and so that has meant fewer posts and probably less fancy manis. Oh, well-thank-you for everyone that is still reading my blog!  I can't WAIT for spring, now, since my sweetie found an affordable small (6'x8') greenhouse kit for me-yes, he is indeed a "keeper" :0)

On to some mani spammy!

 

2 coats of Rainbow Honey Pinkie Promise over the top of Essie Demure Vix. I picked up demure Vix somewhere along the way dirt cheap and was thinking I would trade it...but darn! I really kinda like this polish! Covers WAY better than I expected and it is the perfect undie for some of my glitters. On my index finger, there is 1 coat-pretty good coverage in my opinion!

Above-a Freaking "My Little Pony" parade on my nails, lol! I decided that this was a nail polish addict's version of "gratuitous sex and violence" (in other words, "Gratuitous glitter and glitz")

Above and below-Crows Toes Purple People Eater (Yes, I grew up with the song!) over Quirius Eggplant. 2 coats of Eggplant, 1 coat of CT PPE. I tell you what, PPE is beyond stunning-it F-ing POPS! I tweaked the photos a bit to show it more color accurate, but PPE is super sparkly and glamorous-I ADORE it. I covered it with Seche Ultra V, Gelous, and 1 coat of SV for gloss, since it is a tiny bit gritty, but I really love the total glossy look.

Below, the new color I am working on- I am totally loving it, too!-with Lynderella Change dabbed down from the cuticles-This looked so awesome...blingy, but not over the top, you know?

Can you see the gold/green shimmer in the blue? That is the best part I think...it is a very strong, noticeable shimmer and it is lovely....
I hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays-I wish you all the best: Good Health, Safety, Loved ones nearby and *hugs*

Mari Moon Artsy and Zoya Ginessa Mani (Spam!)

Hey there, it has been a long miserable week so not very fun. Back to things that make me happy and bring sunshine to my day :0)
On to the manis...

I broke down and bought some Mari Moon polish, and I am ADORING it! I bought a set, and will be splitting it with my friend Saundie (she wanted Unconventional) so I may keep the rest. This stuff is to die for *sigh*

Two coats of Orly Liquid Vinyl, with one coat of MM Artsy over the top. Speed dry top coat in between colors and on top. (Out The Door brand)

Above, you might be able to see the blue and the purple at once....below, the rosy pink color..Can't wait to try the other colors, now!

I thought I would try the picture style that Alizarine Claws uses..but no one can do it like she does! She has phenomenal nails!

Now, a not so fab mani, but it was pretty...
Two coats of Zoya Ginessa. I used MM Daring for the dots, and then used some of the Zoya speed dry drops over the top. I STILL dented it during the night! I really love Zoya colors, but the fact that I can't expect fast drying OR mix and match as easily makes me crazy with frustration!

Here is a little friend of ours we had to say farewell to this week....Snowball. Goliath liked/tolerated her. I hope we made her day as bright as she made ours. We shall miss you sweetie

Zoya experiment

So , yes, I broke down and bought some Zoya polishes, 1) great sale and  2) awesome colors!
However, I forgot what my friend told me about Zoya not playing nice with other topcoats. The first mani I did with a Zoya (Unicorn mani) started peeling off the next day. TOTAL bummer.

So I talked with my friend (a Zoya addict, btw), did some research and decided to start experimenting. Since I typically wear 2 coats of Gellac base coat under all polishes-that is its own experiment....

Tonight I tried 2 manis, Zoya Anchor over gel polish, 2 coats of Ginessa, 1 coat of Nina Ultra Pro speed dry (3-free) OMY that turned into rubber cement on my nails....bad move. Removed the glittery, silver mess that is now all over.

NEXT-yes, I was stubborn! N Zoya Anchor, just Zoya Adina-2 careful coats. So far, so good.

I alternated the Zoya fast dry drops and a franken topcoat. Not really an intentional franken, just leftovers from SV, Sally Hansen triple strength and a few other remnants of TC.

So here are some really bad pictures of a messily done mani-but hey, it is a process I guess!
Live and Learn :0)

My intention is to take some pictures of how this mess plays out-I will warn you...it might not be pretty! If there is anyone else out there that has used gellac/gel/shellac under other polishes....have you tried Zoya??



I love the colors of Zoya, so I hope it works over the gellac...at the very least.
OK, I am done rambling...g'night!

New Icing polish and mani

I HATE the mall...there is only one here in my town, but I really dislike it. I am fairly allergic to perfumes and that is the biggest reason I avoid malls like the plague...
BUT I went looking for something specific and got pulled into some stores by the lure of nail polish, hehehe!

So I bought 2 Icing polishes, one of which I used for this mani.

2 Coats of this gorgeous, sparkly beige polish.

I checked out the name for the blog and promptly forgot it, if you are curious, e-mail me and I will find out for you :0)

Gorgeous golden/green glitters in a beige base. Don't think it is a duochrome, but not positive...
Stamped with Sally Hansen Black Out using Bundlemonster plates...the newer ones.

I love this color, but I have to admit it probably doesn't look very good on me. Colors that are too gold in their tones tend to look pretty blah. I am bordering on lobster fingers, and that rarely happens to me. Go figure.

Take care everyone and if your weather is unseasonably nice, enjoy. Our Montana weather is sneaky and evil and last week it was in the 40's and 50's last week-that is unreal for Montana in January! I am waiting for the inevitable slam of harsh weather...it has to happen, ya know....

At any rate, drive safe, stay warm and enjoy your post-holiday hauls if you were able!

UM Grizzly Mani

Today and most Thursdays during football season, we are allowed to have a University of Montana Grizzlies Jeans Day at my workplace. If we want to wear jeans, we have to wear the UM Griz school colors, lol. Works for me since I attended/graduated college there. And I will do almost anything to wear jeans and a nice T-shirt, lol!! Normally we have to wear dress slacks, nice blouses and dress shoes. Not ultra conservative, but not casual either. So here is my Maroon/Silver mani, those are the college colors :0)

Revlon Ruby Ribbon, which is a "suede" polish (2 coats), 1 coat of Sally Girl silver glitter over that, and one heavy coat of SV over the top.  *SIGH* sparklies are so pretty!

I am still wearing regular polish over my gel polish that was applied 9/22. So it has been a full week now and I will show you how they have changed over the nail polish removal, wear and tear. See the picture below and don't ralph at the staining :)



The red arrow shows the only cracking that is noticeable to picky me....a little notch in the nail wrap I did with the gels. VERY little...but I pick at stuff like that, so it is important. I wrapped all my nail edges with the base coat, 2 coats of sheer pink and again a base coat layer. Not bad! The green arrow shows how the whole thing is growing out. If you click on the picture, you can see the raised line of the gel polish a bit away from the cuticle. Also, they are losing their lovely shininess, but that is totally workable. After all, the goal was to protect my thin nails, provide a smooth base for regular polish and nail art, and maybe prevent nasty *^#%* stains from happening! So far, it's meeting my goals! I will probably re-apply the gel over this weekend, because I hate that much gap near the cuticle.

Take care, and be safe everyone!

Copper-Clad Leopard Print

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but Fall is busy for our family! On to the mani I promised!
This one was SO cool! I did one coat of Revlon Copper Penny over the gellac base coat, and then a leopard print with Wet N Wild Black and dabbed in some SH Chrome purple....WOW!!!!!

One coat of Copper Penny....yummy polish

Viola! I have to say, this was one of the most popular manis I have done, and I loved it!. I have never pegged myself as an animal print girl, but I do have to say this one fit me to a "T". I used a nail art fine brush to dab those little purple chrome bits in. I have seen Nailnerd do this style with red, but that wasn't me (sorry dear lady!) But this is, lol!! Darn...may have to play with the tiger print next!!

I am still playing around with the Gel polish and mostly underneath regular polish as a protectant for my nails. This past weekend, our whole  family got together to help another family member work on their ranch....basically, making sure all the cows and calves were healthy before winter hits. I only chipped my right pinky, and a tiny one that I could just file down a bit. I thought that was amazing. It was pretty funny that my niece had her nails done too, so I didn't feel so goofy!



Gellac? Woot!

OK, this shit rocks..no other way to say it!

I am really good at teaching myself things, but I thought this stuff would be more difficult, even with all the YouTube info out there....
I have done them twice so far since this weekend, mostly to try and remove the nasty staining in between, LOL!
But here are the pics with actually 2 coats of ibd Gellac bonding base coat. My theory was, if one coat is pretty slick, what does 2 look like?! A still, glassy pond.......

Shield your eyes from the obscene staining, hehehehehe.....



And this stuff held up to housework (I didn't cut ANY punches)...moving a kiln complete with scratchy firebrick and mowing (lawnmowers and my nails don't get on well, LOL!)

Since I have ridges, it coats those like.....syrup! And regular polish slicks over this stuff like butter! Right now I am wearing a metallic polish mani and we shall see how it holds up. I will say that speed dry top coats don't speed dry at all over this. It was a wee bit of a pain to remove, but not horrible by any means. Looks like a good weekend plan for me, as strong as it is. I will keep you posted with how this stuff is working out, but I paid $31.50 US dollars for the lamp, and just under $9 for the base coat. Frankly, the gel/shellac polishes are a bit boring compared to what you can do with regular polishes and acrylic paints, lol! So I am not swapping all my cool colors out, that is for sure! Confession time...I even did my toes in this stuff, just to play! Gives a nice smooth base for any polish
Oh, here is what I had on before the gels....Failed Red glitter sandwich! pretty, though!

Tomorrow's mani....Copper-Clad Leopard print! Wowsa!!

Quick update on "The Loot"

OK, it is almost 1:30 am...I have to be at work by 7:30am and I can't sleep, so what do I do? I blog!!

I have quite a few pictures, but first, My UV lamp and Gellac base coat came in, so here is a sneak peek.
This stuff is amazing--slicker than...oh never mind, I'll behave :0)

More tomorrow...must try to sleep now and will probably dream of frankens, gel nails and my new toy (a kiln)...woo-hoo!