A little bit of bling

Good evening!

In spite of being busy (still) at work, it's been a great week! Several of my shows have come back, which makes for a happy household right now lol.

Yet again, the weather here has been pretty dismal this week. It's finally rained last night, and as I type this up :) To make it a little more bearable, I did a few blinged up manis. Shall we start?

Today's mani was simple but very pretty, in my opinion. The base was two coats of OPI's Ate Berries in the Canaries, followed by a coat of OPI's Pure, then a coat of Seche. I know the second and third pics are a little blurry, but they do show the white metals well.

Yesterday's mani wasn't blingy, but just as pretty. I chose to do a gradient using China Glaze's Kinectic Candy and OPI's Fly and Amazon...Amazoff. A coat of Seche then a coat of OPI's Matte Coat finished it off.

Now, Tuesday's mani was blingy :) The base was 2 coats of Zoya's Julie. I sponged on Candy Lacquer's newest circle glitter topper, A Little Bubbly, which consists of pink and gold circles in various shapes and finishes, with a touch of gold shimmer. Tow coats of Seche went over that.

A little stamping and some blackheart......

Good morning!

I hope everyone had a good weekend and got through Monday unscathed :) My weekend was a little busy, on top of feeling a little under the weather. Thankfully, I didn't get sick, just didn't feel my best.

Anywho, I have yesterday and Sunday's manis to show you. I'd also have today's, but the sun hasn't yet decided to grace us with her appearance today >.< Maybe later tonight.

The week before last, I finally caved and bought one Urban Decay's new lacquers. Unknown to me, they had made lacquers years ago, but stopped I guess. Last year, they started creating and releasing new colors once more. They're a little pricey to me, more so than some indie brands I've seen. After seeing so many raves about Blackheart, though, I decided to pick it up....... and I can see what raves are about.

Blackheart is very nearly a one coater. The formula applied very well for me. The color is definitely unique to me; UD describes it as a greige, which is a color name I've never been real familiar with. I say it's a cross between brown and grey, depending on the light, with a red shift thrown in. My pics really don't do it justice. My mani was 2 coats topped with Seche.

Sunday's stamping challenge called for a plate ending in 2. The plate I picked was Bundle Monster BM-H22. My base color was 2 coats of OPI's 4 in the Morning, with Push and Shove as the stamping color, no topcoat. Push and Shove stamps wonderfully, however, much of the stamping started coming off in the shower. 4 in the Morning didn't chip, which made me happy. 

Where to start?

Good evening!

So I know I've been MIA this week. Half my office has been sick with the damned flu since Tuesday, so it's been just myself and my mother holding down the fort. It's been hella busy too, on top of it of it all, so I haven't had much time until now to post anything. Let's get started, shall we?

For yesterday's Texture Friday, I featured a new texture color. This is came from OPI and is part of the Brazil collection. Sadly, for whatever, OPI chose to make the texture colors as minis only, making me a sad panda and forcing me to buy 4 sets of minis to make my own full size. The color I wore yesterday is this year's Pantone Color of the Year, radiant orchid (or, at least it is to me). The color is Samba-body Loves Purple, and I needed 3 coats for opacity. It practically glowed against my skin, I love it.

And yes, it's a sparkly texture :)

On Thursday, I featured Just Spotted the Lizard and Shatter the Scales for OPI's Amazing Spiderman collection. I'm pretty sure that was the last collection that had a Shatter released with it. Two coats of JSTL, a coat of Seche, a coat of STS, and one more coat of Seche.

Wednesday I did a little stamping, again with OPI colors. My base was 3 coats of OPI's newest yellow, I Just Can't Cope-acabana. I'm slmost sure I could had done with 2, if they had been thick enough. This is a surprisingly pigmented and very nice applying yellow, and I've had some crappy yellows (hello, China Glaze Lemon Fizz!). A coat of Seche, then stamped with MJ Jr 8 in Incognito in Sausalito, then Seche again.

Tuesday featured a new to me brand, KB Shimmer. I've read lots of good things about the brand, so I decided to give it a try. I picked a color from the Valentine's set they (still) have for sale, Whole Lava Lovin'. First, just let me say, this is the first red holo that I have really wanted to have. It's a linear holo, but isn't over the top like some red holos I've seen. It's also not a bright, gaudy red that would look horrible on me. KB Shimmer describes it as a cherry red, but I think it has a little more pink in it. Two coats for opacity, and the Seche didn't dim the holo-ness :)

Monday's mani was rather boring compared to the rest of the week lol. I'm really on the fence on how it turned out, though. It's one of those manis where I think I should have stopped at the base and left it be, but I didn't.

The base was 2 coats of Zoya Normani. Now, I remember seeing another call the color putty grey and I have to agree. That's exactly what it looks like on me, the color of putty. It's not unflattering, but rather it's looks nice. I truly own nothing like it. Instead of stopping here, I added a coat of one of Finger Paints' newest flakies, I just don't remember which one (I really should write these things down >.<).

It doesn't look bad, I just don't think it looks that great either lol.

There you have it! I'm all caught up now :)

Stamping Sunday!

Good evening!!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend :) Mine was pretty uneventful, with me getting done a lot of little things done that needed to be done. It's amazing what I get accomplished when the hubs works all weekend lol!

Soooo, today is Stamping Sunday, and today's theme was "your guilty pleasure". Okay, there aren't too many things that I feel sheepish, or guilty, in admitting to having done, liked/loved, ect., except for one. I shouldn't, because there's nothing wrong about, but this particular singer has always had a lot of scandal/media attention around him. Never mind that's he was a phenomanal performer and very groundbreaking. Even his death was surrounded with scandal =\ I hope he found peace, finally.

So, in a way, this is also a tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. I have loved his music since I was a child, and sometimes I get ragged on for it lol. My base for this mani was two coats of OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls, then a coat of Seche on all but my ring fingers. Those received an additional two coats of OPI's In True Stefani Fashion, then two coats of Seche. The others were stamped with images from my Chez Delaney Divers 001 plate, in OPI's Incognito in Sausalito, then topped with Seche. Incognito stamps wonderfully, by the way :)

There's no face on the thumb image because I bet it wouldn't show anyways; too fine a detail. The glitter accent is for his famous white, sparkly glove.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good evening and happy Valentine's Day, to those that celebrate it :) Hubs and I celebrated yesterday because he has to work all weekend. We had a nice dinner and some champagne and an amazing dessert. Really, just an awesome time.

Anyways, I have a few manis to show you, starting with today's. It's Valentine's themed, but not red and pink lol. One of my favorite treats for Valentine's are the little candy conversation hearts, so when Messy Mansion designed a plate with with those little phrases, I had to have it. I started with a Skittles mani, using Zoya Shelby, Yummy, Josie, and Sharon, and OPI's I Just Can't Cope-acabana (ahhhhh-mazing yellow!!!), all topped with Seche. Then I stamped a different phrase on each finger in Confetti Purple Reigns. Topped again with Seche, then a coat of Wet 'N Wild's matte coat.

I won't show you yesterday's mani because, quite frankly, I hated it. I hate how it turned out, it really looked better in my head than on the nail. It was awful.

I got a lot of compliments on Wednesday's mani, which is kind of funny, because the plate I used wasn't the one I ordered lol. I'm still waiting for the one I ordered :P

Wednesday's mani started with OPI's Kiss me on my Tulips as a base then Seche. The stamped image came from Vivid Lacquer plate VL 010 in CND Vinylux Black Pool. Seche again, then OPI's matte coat.

Tuesday's mani was for the Monthly Palette Project-

Okay, so for this one, it was use at least two colors and recreate someone else's mani. You know, monkey see, monkey do. I found this mani on Pinterest and went for it.

All my colors are Zoyas: Stevie, Malia, and Danni. Stamped image came from Messy Mansion MM07.

A new love!

Good evening!

If you've been following me for any length, you've read of my new love of indie polishes. But I'm really picky!!! It's hard for me to say what exactly I'll like until I see it, but there are some I'm predisposed to, such as matte glitters, circle/square glitters, holos.

I came across Candy Lacquer's announcement on Face Book last week for her newest colors, so I took a browse...... and immediately fell in love with Precious Metals. I have no words for how gorgeous this is! Here is her exact description of it:

Lots of micro flakies, including sterling silver, golds and pinks in a sheer multichrome base with just a hint of holographic sparkle. This polish has lots of silver flakes, but has the overall appearance of a copper/gold color with a touch of pink.

My pics do not do it any justice! It has more than a hint of holoness to it. Honestly, I don't see the silver in it, but I can seperate the gold and pink. Candy Lacquer did a great job with this one; I may order another since it's limited edition :P

Alright, I also have for you yesterday's Stamping Sunday challenge, which was appropriately Valentine's themed lol. I don't remember who posted them, but my mani was inspired by a love letter type mani.

The base was two of OPI's Skull and Glossbones followed by Seche, then Saran Wrapped with Zoya Dove. The first image came from Bundle Monster plate BM-311, the lips from Sugar Bubbles 002, and the rose from Messy Mansion MM07, stamped in CND Vinylux Black Pool and Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar, respectively.

Texture Friday and the rest of the week!

Good evening!!

It's been a crazy week, and quite frankly, I've been a little too tired at night to post, on top of having to get up early. BUT!!! Tomorrow is Saturday, and I always weekends off :) So, here we go!

Today's Texture Friday color is from China Glaze's newest collection, Sea Goddess. They finally, finally, released a sparkly textured collection. I picked up two of them about a week and a half ago, and wore one today, Sand Dolla Make You Holla.

First off, the name makes me giggles lol. I just love. This and the other color I got were the only two that really called to me after seeing swatches. Sand Dolla reminds me of the glitter loaded, white crellies that are so popular are now, except of course for it being a texture. Sand Dolla is loaded with green, blue, silver, gold, and fuschia sparkly hex glitters. The formula is..... weird. In the bottle, it appears to be white. On my nail, it becomes pinkish. It's also the only textured that I would consider a fourth coat on it, it can be that uneven. My mani was done with 3, then stamped using Bundle Monster BM-H18 and OPI's Miss You-niverse (which stamps like a champ!).

Yesterday, I did another throwback mani with, yes, Shatter. This time with colors from the Niki Minaj collection. The base color was two coats of Pink Friday with a coat of Seche. I then applied Fly using the Saran Wrap method and let it dry a few minute before applying Super Bass. Over that went another coat of Seche. There actually weren't white spots on the mani, that's my flash. We haven't had much in the way sun this week.

Wednesday's mani was directly inspired by this blogger. Mine wasn't a whole different: 2 coats of OPI Diva of Geneva, 1 coat of Nubar 2010, a coat of Seche, and a coat of OPI's Matte coat.

Tuesday's mani didn't turn out quite the way I expected. It started with a gradient of Zoya's Gie Gie, Julie, and Seraphina, which, by the way, was a right bitch to clean up. The gradient was....... softer? less vibrant? than I was shooting for, but no biggy, I liked it. I stamped over the gradient with Bundle Monster plates BM-H18 and H17 with Maybelline Blue Blowout, topped with Seche. The images were a little hard to capture, because of the weather again.