Winter nail design for New Years

What a crazy week. My internet has been acting funny, I think its the wireless base and not actually the cable - hence the delay in posting. I had prepared the posts but could not get online to post.

For the next few days I'll be with family and friends celebrating Christmas (we have several gatherings to go to). Then even more on New Years, add on the fact that my nieces birthday is Jan 1. So I wanted to post the design I'll be sporting on new years.



The base I did with OPI Ski Teal We Drop
, which I reviewed in an earlier post. It's a lovely navy (however, in some light it looks forest green). I do like the shade, mostly. I'd like it more if it never appears forest green.



For the Snowflakes, I used GCOCL plates, which are like the cheaper version of Konad nail art plates. The plate I used was m10. The paint used was Konad Sky Pearl
which is a mid-light blue with shimmer. The shimmer is not usually visible after stamping, but the color is lovely.
If you haven't tried nail art stamps before, I highly recommend it. The expense adds up buying plates, but they last forever and you can reuse them indefinitely.



I tried not to center the large snowflakes so I could add partials to the sides to make it look more like falling snow. I love how the look came out. It's probably one of my favorite nail stamping designs.

Holiday Pedicure

In my in laws houses there is a *VERY* strict no shoes rule. So the holidays require me to have my toes nicely done.

I just rubbed heavy lotion on before the pictures, so it shows up in a few of the images.



I started with silver nail polish. I used Wet N Wild precious metals(Lilac Available on Amazon
). Then I used water decals on the big toes for the flowers. I could've painted flowers on, but I was in a rush. I really don't like water decals too much, working with them is a pain. I think I work with them improperly.



After I finished the rest of the toes with little red foil strips in a pattern so it almost looked weaved in. I wish I hadn't run out of time to apply top coat as some weren't sealed down. However, it still looks really good.



Probably one of the only videos I'll include for a bit. My Holiday wishes from my family to yours.

North Point iBand - Feliz Navidad (instruments are iPhones, iTouch, and iPad)

Fun nail art

What a week it has been. First, my iPhone "breaks" into an infinite boot loop. I only use linux, so I had to hoof it to my sisters to use her computer to restore it. Since I had no backup I lost everything.

Add to that, more christmas shopping. AND I prepared my post and found out 2 images I saved somehow became unusable(or unreadable). Bummer.

I did however get 2 great images of my funky nail art. I was going for an almost japanese look of cherry blossom branches and cool tips.




I started with OPI Glamour and Glitz, a fun cool gold color. I then used acrylic white paint and a nail art striping brush to do curvy branches. Then I used a small dotting tool to make what looked like flowers.




I finished with "Dazzlings" in round from Viva La Nails. The color I used was like a purple, and I don't see it available on their website anymore.

I'm so glad it's finally night time here. Hopefully, I can get a good nights rest. I'm not going to count on it though. Both my daughter and I are coming down with a cold. However, on a bright note, the holidays are here and seeing her so happy (even when she is sick) is so wonderful.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Nail Designs

Woo, Christmas is almost here. Which is actually why I didn't get to post my nails up yesterday. See, my brother from Florida made a surprise visit. So I spent some time with him.

Anywho, to help me get more lifted and into the spirit I went a little wild.






I used MAC Mean and Green as the base, then some sparkle/glitter from VivalaNails. It turned out OK I think. I tried to make trees on my index and ring finger, but they were a bit funky.
I do really like it though, and the green base with pink sparkles from the MAC nail polish works well for the season.




Today we finished MOST of our shopping. We have a few last second gifts to get. "Tweens" are so hard to shop for. They want big gifts, but we can't afford them. So we're trying to be very particular in what we get for them. The rest of the nieces & nephews are young.


Tree Up Close

Wish us luck, and enjoy the holidays! I'm going to go bake cookies with my daughter.

Toe Nail Designs

So I realized I left my whole mani kit at my dads last week. Luckily, I had some back photos that helped me get by. I'm going to be picking up the kit on Friday, yay. Basically, it has everything I need (cuticle creams, clippers, polishes, nail art stuff).

One of my back designs I was saving for later was again another toe french. This time, with white tips (oh white polish why do you curse me!) I used OPI Nail Polish Alpine Snow
.

For the artsy stuff I used nail art items from Viva La Nails which were given to me for review.



The cool star sparkles are actually "Dazzlers", and the pictures do it no justice. When they capture the right lighting they shine back beautifully. The only downside is they are thicker than most glitter.
It requires a few good top coats to seal them in so they don't snag off.



The bottom flower design is from their white nail stickers collection. They're also thick, and kind of like a foam. A real pain to put topcoat over. I suppose the only good thing is they give a 3D effect, AND theres some silvery sparkly spots on it, so it's not just white. Still, if ordering I'd probably pass.

I promise, new nail stuff up here monday and no toes!

French Pedicure

Having some more fun with my items from Viva La Nails items I received. I wanted to share a really simple pedicure design I did but I got a lot of nice feedback on.

I love doing french pedicures, unfortunately, I hate using white nail polish(only because of the issues that come with white nail polish... Not white enough, too sheer, too many coats required). So often, for my toes, I do a color french pedicure.

I started with OPI Designer series in Exclusive to paint my french tip on. I used a craft brush with acetone to create a smooth smile line (Designer series works great for this application).

After, I applied 1 coat of base coat on and added a few close matching pink pieces of glitter. I think these are actually super glitter? It's hard to tell because nothing was labeled in my review kit and I cannot find rounds on their website besides the dazzlings, which are much larger.


I finished with a couple layers of top coat (allowing each to dry first.)

O.P.I. nail polish To Eros is Human

Happy Monday!

I got a chance to play around with O.P.I To Eros is human. A discontinued duechrome color. This is a deep pink almost red shimmer color. Very pretty, without being overbearing red.




The beauty of this color is it looks very warm in some light, but in others very cool. In fact, it's quite noticeable even indoors as you walk into different lighting situations. In my opinion, it's the perfect shade for a different color french tip.



This color may be discontinued, however, it's still readily available through online marketplaces... at a slightly more expensive rate. If you really love this polish then it may be worth it for you.



Again, another beautiful Holiday color, without going to deep into "red" nail polish territory. I'm not a giant fan of reds, if you can't tell already.



Speaking of the Holidays... What are your plans?

OPI Fireflies

Want one word to sum up Fireflies by O.P.I.
from the Holiday 2007 collection? NO.
What was OPI thinking? So the allure of the color is better than the actual polish on. Fireflies are so beautiful, mystical, fun. On nails it just doesn't work.



I suppose if you want a sheer no matter how many coats(I did 3) that also looks like you stained your nails then go for it. Hehe. But otherwise, I could only see this color being useful for layering nail polishes.

I'm normally all for weird nail polish colors and I don't like to be negative about many things but like my OPI feet in peach, this is going in the "do not use again" box.



What have been your nail polish no no's?

OPI Designer Series Exclusive

Happy Tuesday? I think so. I suppose I have to try and be excited. I'm especially excited about this particular color. It's just out of this world Amazing. It's OPI Designer Series Exclusive.

OPI : Exclusive from Designer series

While I loved the previous designer color I did, this one has a deeper pink to go with it. It makes the multicolored diamond sparkles POP like no tomorrow. They definitely look amazingly holographic.

All that glitters is not gold

I could see myself wearing this particular nail polish all the time. Although it's harder to do designs on it as it's already perfection on it's own. Any design would look silly as the whole nail would sparkle, excluding the design. The diamond chips give a rainbow effect, and these pictures are VERY true to life.

No matter which angle you look at your nails, or almost all lighting situations it will have this amazing effect. In this instance, I think the extra money per bottle for Designer Series is worth it. It's also very easy to remove unlike other "glitter" polishes, as the sparkles are not the sizes of glitter. Designer Series retails at my local beauty supply store for about $6+ USD which is at least $2 more than the other OPI polishes offered there.

A top coat is a necessity for this color, as the sparkle would just turn to silvery spots within 24-48 hours without a decent protecting coat.

O.P.I. Grand Central Carnation

I really hope everyone(in the states) had a wonderful holiday weekend. I ate way too much.
This post is happening later in the day than normal. I apologize. It's been a hectic and news-worthy Monday. I'd share, but it's a bit too personal.

OPI Grand Central Carnation : A sophisticated pink polish

Anyways, onto the swatches! I had some fun over the week with a ton of colors. One of which is Grand Central Carnation. This is a sophisticated pink shimmer color. More like a rose. Definitely a good color for almost everything. It's neither too pink nor too red. For whatever reason (maybe discontinued) it's like $20+ on amazon, however it's still available on other websites for a reasonable price.

No flash, warm indoor lighting.

In most light it looks a dusty rose, with a small bit of shimmer. It's just positively lovely and girly. The above picture shows it's true colors a lot better, as with the flash on it looks almost hot pink. However in sunlight it does achieve more luster.

All in all, it's a color I'd use again, even though it's not my main forte on the radar of nail polishes. It does look a LOT better on my nails then it does in the bottle. So I'm glad I got to try it out first because just based on looking at this hue in the OPI bottle I would've passed.

What do you think? Too pink? Too bland? Too over the top?

Happy Thanksgiving

Due to cooking all day yesterday and today being the Holiday I haven't had a chance to post.

I wanted to wish everyone a happy safe Thanksgiving! Enjoy the day!

TURKEY YAY!

Metric Tons Of Stuffing!

Creative Nail Design - In The Mauve

I'm so so so in love with this unexpected color. Creative Nail Design (or CND) polishes for whatever reason were never my first choice. In reality, the colors are pretty, and they paint well. Plus sometimes you get an unexpected color from an otherwise boring bottle.

Creative Nail Design - In The Mauve

This color in the bottle doesn't look like much special. A normal reddish purple with some sparkle. However, once I painted it on I was amazed. The Mauve color was perfection. Even better, the gold sparkles just jump out from the nail but work so well with the mauve. 

I really could see myself wearing this color a lot more often. Both creme mauves and really gold colors tend to make me look very pale, but the two mixed together work really well on my super pale-pink skin.

With one coat is was almost perfect, although slightly too sheer for my tastes. Most who don't mind a slight sheer wouldn't mind. Two coats were perfection for me and the polish dried quickly.

Without flash, picture deceptive as it isn't this washed out in real

You can find this particular color online for about $5-$6 USD. I see a lot of CND polishes at C.B. Sullivan, my local professional beauty supply store. 

Feet By OPI Warm Peach

So I purchased this bottle because it was on clearance. I should have taken that as a sign.
Feet By OPI polish is actually a nail strengthener with added color (although they also have clear) and straight from their website it says "Helps protect toenails and keeps them their strongest, guarding against breaks, chips and splits, even those caused by injury. This unique protective formula coats nails with liquid nylon, acting as a shield against stresses."

Feet By OPI Warm Peach

This stuff goes on streaky and weird. It takes several layers to look normal. Even then something is still "off" On my feet the warm peach color looks like I'm lacking any nails at all as it blends well with my feet skin color. Go figure.


As far as less damage, I can't really tell. It chips easily, but is thicker after all those coats of polish. I didn't notice anything special going on with my toenails or fingernails when wearing it.

I suppose if you have really brittle toenails or damaged nails it might be nice to hide damage with and maybe offer some protection. But, for me, this is on the "do not use" list. Sorry OPI!

OPI Hungary For My Honey

OPI Hungary for my Honey is a beautiful burnt orange with yellow shimmer. It's great for Thanksgiving.
It was released with the OPI European collection in '02. It's been discontinued, but you can still find it rather inexpensively online.
The color is absolutely lovely. Especially for the fall. In the right lighting you can catch the yellow sheen that sets it apart from other burnt orange polishes. This was a very hard effect to photograph.

Hungary For My Honey Review

If you're not into pumpkin orange polish you aren't going to love it. Also, to probably sport this properly your skin better be a warmer tone. It's an extremely warm color, and for some reason just looks "off" on me. I still love it though.

With 2 coats the color is pretty true to the bottle. Something I definitely like. I really dislike buying a polish without trying it but then the dried color is so different then the way it looks in the bottle.

No flash, Warm lighting

Speaking of Fall, Thanksgiving is nearing. I have to do a TON of cooking (for 2 separate celebrations). I'm starting to get excited and antsy. I haven't even purchased some of the stuff I should have grabbed already. I'm really hoping the supermarket doesn't sell out of my fave stuffing.
How much cooking do you usually do? What is you fave dish?

Do French!

I love all variations of the french manicure. From the crazy to the simple pink & white. I feel like it makes my nails and toes generally look better, and it can hide tip flaws when the rest of the nail looks nice. I usually work with a white tip and a clear coat. Sometimes I go a bit wild, when I can.
My main problem with French manicures is that I chip my nails often. I hate spending forever trying to do a perfect french, to only have it chip within 24 hours.

A fun french manicure

For these nails I used square french tip guides, which didn't come out perfect as I removed them too soon. They should be left on just long enough for the polish to begin to set but not to completely thicken/dry. Remove too soon and you'll smudge, remove to late and you'll pull strings or chip. I usually leave the guide on about 60 seconds after painting the tip. You also want to try to get as little polish on the actual guide as possible.

Oops, I painted on a hair :(

For the colors I used MAC Earthly Harmony for the base, and OPI Ski Teal We Drop for the tips. It makes for an amazingly lovely combination. These two polishes were born to co-exist!

In this photo, you can kind of see the orange sparkles in Earthly Harmony

It needed a tiny bit more pizzaz in my book. After painting I used a water decal on my middle fingernails only. I found one in my Viva La Nails setup where the colors matched perfectly, at least the teal did. The flash made the blues look lighter but in real life they looked exactly the same.

Working with water decals is a pain, I'll do a how to post soon

I finished with Rimmel London 10 day lasting finish. Which as of now is my new favorite top coat. My manicures have been lasting anywhere from 2 days to over 1 week longer (on my toes, where I change things less often). I kept this design on my nails for about 4 days before the chipping began on my thumbs. During that time I got quite a few comments.

So what do you think? Posh and pretty?  Or over the top?

Polishes were purchased by me. Water decal was part of a blogger review pack from Viva La Nails.

OPI Swatches Divine from Designer Series

I got to raid my aunts nail polish collection (wee) and she has a lot of colors I wouldn't usually purchase. Mostly pinks, reds, and golds.

One that caught my eye almost immediately is O.P.I. Designer Series polishes. I decided to swatch Divine. I haven't purchased any of the designer series myself, because the price is double that of the other OPI polishes at my local beauty supply. Why OPI? What makes the designer series so special?

Swatches of OPI Divine (Designer Series)

According to OPI the series is "A spectacular diamond-dust formula. Ultra-rich, glimmering colors. And unmatched glamour for nails. In eleven shades, including nine brand-new choices, and top coat.Designer Series by OPI. Flawless by design."


Does it contain actual diamond dust? That would explain a premium cost. From my searches it seems that this is the case.


This color is an awesome deep pink, with holographic multi changing sparkles. It will look like a rainbow of sparkles on your fingers. This picture is pretty true to life.

OPI Divine

Not only does it sparkle like crazy, but it also is a pretty shiny polish even without topcoat. I highly suggest a good top coat as the nails will lose their luster pretty fast. The sparkles remove with ease with %100 acetone, so I was able to do a great french tip on my toes with this color.

Am I willing to pay more for a rainbow of sparkles? Yes, because the top price of OPI designer series in my local beauty supply is still less then most retail costs ($6.75 about).

Good luck finding this particular color. Designer series Divine is said online to be a Japan exclusive. I know for a fact my Aunt purchased this color in the USA at either CB Sullivan OR at her beauty school (Blaine!). I've seen it on E-bay and google shopping for $35-$50 a BOTTLE. Insane. Maybe I should talk her into selling it. hehe.

Do you like holographic nail polishes?