Spring Dots and a mini haul!

It all started because I needed cotton balls. So I went to Walgreens and no cotton balls to be found, but I did score two polishes. Then K-Mart and I found cotton balls! And one more polish. Then since Sally's is right in front of K-Mart I had to go in. So two more polishes.

I would have gotten a better pic but someone was being nosy.

So I got Sinful Colors Green Ocean because of Nouveau Cheap's posts about it and Essie Navigate Her because of Vampy Varnish's post. Then Milani Rapid Cherry because of AllLacqueredUp's post. Finally, China Glaze Luxe and Lush just because I wanted it (Yes, I can think for myself) and Some Like It Haute because it was $1.99.

Now, if you read any other nail blog you know about Sarah's contest at Chalkboard Nails. The rules are simple, just use a dotting tool. Today I had so many ideas swirling in my head and I finally settled on this mani. I think it came out cute but I don't think I'll be submitting it just yet, needs some tweaking.

I used 2 coats of Essie Nice is Nice as a base and the "flower" colors are Sally Hansen Grass Slipper (or Limestone) for the light green, Revlon Jaded Night for the dark green accents, Sally Hansen Hard To Get for the white and Bettina Art Deco Purple for the dark purple. Same colors for the dots adding Wet 'N Wild I Need a Re-Fresh Mint.

I messed up my pinky a little bit but you get the idea. I tried different different ways of stamping the dots on each finger since this was mostly for practice so sorry for the inconsistencies!

Hope you like it!

L'Oreal Now You Sea Me (Pic Heavy)

I've never been one to get mad or disappointed when one of the blogs I was following didn't post every day,  but I did think "Well, blogging doesn't seem so hard". Ooh boy was I wrong! So I want to apologize to those bloggers, I get it now. I had planned to have this post up much sooner and another that I still have to edit but this weekend I learned just how hard an overnight shift and having a cold can kick your ass.

Now this post is gonna be pretty massive. I took a buttload of pictures trying to get the color as accurate as possible and I'm pretty sure I still didn't get it, but I tried. Let's see some nails!

OPI I Have a Herring Problem

So when I saw swatches of this on Fashion Polish I was all OMGNEEDIT, but then I saw more swatches and I was a little more meh. Finally when it came out I had about $10 left on a JCPenney gift card so I said why not? and brought it home. Now, ever since I've had it I've kept choosing other polishes over this, until I finally caved and used it on my pedicure. Looks lovely. Since my pedicures last so long I usually match my nails at one point for a couple days at least so I sorta forced myself to wear it.

It's so pretty, look  at that shimmer! And it applied very nicely too, just two coats for buttery goodness. But it just isn't enough....somehow. So I tried stamping.

Stamped with BM-205 and Sally Hansen pen in Gold Chrome

And again, I don't absolutely love it. I still have it on my toes and I'll keep it there for a while but I can't say the same thing for this mani. Maybe it's because it wasn't the original image I wanted to stamp with, or the frustration with the stamping not coming out just right, but it does not drive me crazy. Maybe another day I'll look at these pictures and love it again.

Thanks for looking!

Revlon Royal

Just a quick post today, haven't had the heart to actually remove this polish so I've been wearing it for 5 days. Please excuse the imperfections you may see, I took this when I was about to remove it because my right hand was already chipping :(

Mmm...my favorite in my whole stash. Two easy coats stamped with BM-224 and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep. This mani started as a way to please le boyfriend who complains I always ask him for ideas and then never do them. But then it was a fail so I just did what I wanted. Maybe next time.

Blurry macro so you can see the detail.

I've always loved blue but lately all I want to wear is blue. I promise you'll see some variety soon. Sidenote, you're going to see the watermark change a bit while I decide the best way to mark the pics.

Happy polishing!

Essie Mesmerize and polka dots

This turned out to be one of my favorite designs that I've done recently. I had received my dotting tools but hadn't really done anything with them yet until I acquired Essie Mesmerize, a beautiful deep blue that never looks black and applies like butter in 2 easy coats.

I went a little dot crazy as you can see. I actually kept the accent nail relatively bare because I liked the color so much and my mom told me to. Yes, I still do what she says. Sometimes.

I really need to find a better spot to take pictures. The color's pretty accurate though. Also, some dots were made with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White and some with white acrylic paint (I remembered them halfway through). Fun fact: I had actually picked up this color and put it back numerous times until I saw swatches of it on Colores de Carol's blog, then I had to get it.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Sally Hansen Dorien Gray

After the break I didn't really feel like doing any crazy colors, I wanted something subdued that wouldn't call attention to my sad little nub so I reached for Sally Hansen's Dorien Gray. I'm sure many other blogs have featured it since it's pretty old but a good classic gray to have. Two easy coats and you're done. But of course, that wasn't enough so I added a coat of Finger Paints Twisted for some fun.

And I didn't really love it. I tried mattifying it to see if that would help, but not really. So I decided to stamp it with RA-111 and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep.

Sorry the pics are so yellow, I took these at work.

Just look at the gorgeous flakies under the stamping! It looked like little windows into awesomeness. I really wasn't going to buy any of the Finger Paints flakies because I didn't think I needed them. I only caved in to Twisted because I was afraid of regretting it later. Only negative is that it takes FOREVER to dry and I didn't really want to add 2 layers of Seche Vite so there was a lot of waiting around.

Thanks for looking!

Never cook just after you've done your mani...

So what's one of the worst things that could happen to someone trying to grow her nails out and starting a blog (aside from not having a good photo editing software)? You screw up a nail.

I had just finished a fresh mani when I started to cook. I felt all professional and food networky chop-chopping away when I chop-chopped away a piece of nail. 

Just look at that mess

Not convinced of the fail yet?

I didn't even bother with cleanup at this point

You can see I nicked 3 of 4 nails

But you want to know what hurt my soul the most? When I removed the polish.

 

Ugh, poor baby. For now, I'll have to either hide it or accept the nubbyness in pictures. It'll get better, right?