60s inspired fauxnad

My original plan was to make this manicure a gradient, but I ran out of time and the colors I picked didn't really work too well together.  So I ended up stamping over it.

This is 2 coats of OPI Did it on 'em and BM plate 322 stamped with Black Konad special polish.  Very 60s eh baby?  shagadelic!

And here's the lovely OPI Did it on Em by herself - one of my FAV colors!

And now a question I pose to our readers (if you still are actually reading).  Amanda and I have been experimenting a lot with different makeup looks and are toying with the idea of starting a beauty blog.  I'm in my late 40s though with partially hooded lids which might be a turnoff to some people.

Would you be interested in seeing different makeup looks and reviews from both a younger and a more mature perspective?  Please vote at the bottom of the page !

A french affair with cocktails

I was intrigued when I saw the pic floating around Pinterest of the cocktail mani.  Presumably, the concept is that the thumb and first two fingers of your dominant hand are accented so the bling is visible when you hold your wine glass. 

So here's my take on it.  I wanted something bright and fresh for summer so I settled on pink.  The base color is Essie French Affair, which is a cool toned pink.  It went on surprisingly well considering I have so many application issues with Essie polishes.  This is two coats.  On top I layered two of my favorite glitterbombs.  First was Funky Fingers Sand & Stilettos.  S&S is a silver holographic glitter but I'm convinced it leans pink.  You can also substitute Studio M or Color Club Magic Attraction (which is the same polish).  Then on top I added OPI Teenage Dream which we all know is a pink base loaded with lots of holographic glitter.

What do you think of the "cocktail mani"?  My B/F's mom says she thinks it looks like I forgot to paint 2 of my fingernails.   Love it or leave it?

Crystal and Stone

Hello everyone.  Last night as I sat trying to think of a color or design I hadn't done lately I settled on something silver.  Here we have OPI Your Royal Shine-ness (which I have showcased before) paired with OPI Servin' Up Sparkle.  I masked off the tips of my nails before applying the SUS - which is a clear base packed with small and large hex holographic glitter.

After the glitter was dry, I freehanded China Glaze Stone Cold to the tips.  Stone cold is a lovely charcoal colored matte polish from their Capital Colors collection.

The two colors together remind me of the fragility of crystal and the durability of stone.  Have a good weekend everyone!

Essie French Affair Accent Nail Mani

Hello ladies! Hope you all had a good weekend.

This mani is something I saw whilst perusing around on Pinterest. Sadly, I didn't repin the mani (because the iPhone app for Pinterest sucks) so I don't have the original source or picture of it. SO! If you've seen it floating around, lemme know and I'll add in credit where credit is do. 'Cause that's the cool thing to do, yo.

Edit: THIS is the original post!

This is 3 coats of Essie French Affair (do I even need to talk about me and my relationship with Essie or are you guys aware of that by now? You're probably aware... I mention it every time I use an Essie polish. But I digress...). The silver accent fingers are two coats of China Glaze Midnight Kiss topped with one coat of OPI DS Coronation and one coat of Sinful Queen of Beauty.

Blingy!

I just love the look of accent nail manis. They are so so simple to do, and I always get compliments on my nails when I do them. What do you guys think of the bling-tastic accent nail manis?

Have a great night!

Patchwork Tape Mani with China Glaze Make Some Noise

Hello ladies!

Boo Monday. I can finally join the millions of people all over the world that hate Mondays. Waking up at 6am this morning for work was BRUTAL. Especially when you've gotten to sleep in every day for the past 10 months during your job search. :)

So....sleepy....

I had been wanting to do a patchwork/tape mani for a while now. I don't do them all too often as I'm usually too impatient to wait for all the layers to dry. However, last week I had a lot of free time (I had the whole week off to relax before my big girl job started). I decided it was the day!

I picked up four of the Electropop colors a few weeks ago, and decided I wanted to use one of those. I started with a base of China Glaze Make Some Noise which is a red that leans a bit coral. I added a coat of Seche Vite, waited a few hours, then taped off on a diagonal and painted with Color Club Revvvolution. Waited overnight, then added another diagonal of OPI DS Coronation.  I don't know what it is with tape manis, but I always find myself failing miserably. Other people make them look so easy, I don't get it? I tried my best to get the tape sealed down, but it kept seeping under areas where it wasn't secure enough. Curse the tape mani! Also, on my right hand (luckily) it peeled up the entire base when I went to remove the tape from the third layer. BOOO!! I ended up having to go in with a small brush to fix the areas where the polish leaked under the tape.

Either way, I do like the colors in this, I just don't think tape manis are for me :( If I could actually execute them perfectly (Erika, I'm looking at you!) they'd probably be worth the time, but it's a long process for something that I can never get to come out looking as crisp as I'd like. Ah well, I guess we all have our weaknesses :)

Just another little note -- I might be MIA for a bit while I try to learn how to juggle this full time job and blogging at the same time. In the mean time, Mama will keep you guys entertained with posts, but I imagine I'll be wiped out the first couple of weeks :)

I hope you guys all have a wonderful Monday!

Valentine half moons

I don't know what to call this manicure.  It's not really a half moon because it's shaped like a heart.  Maybe a heart shaped reverse french?  I saw this on Illamasqua's website a long time ago and wanted to recreate it.  Sadly, mine did not come out nearly as pretty as that one.

I started with a base of Orly Pure Porcelain.  PP is sheer, and I needed multiple coats to get it opaque and it's the only off-white shade I own.  Then I used red acrylic paint to draw in the heart shape as a pattern because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get sharp enough lines with polish without some sort of guideline.  Then I applied Zoya Carrie Ann over the acrylic paint and decided to top it with OPI Excuse Moi.  BTW - Carrie Ann is one of my FAV red polishes - it's a sparkly shimmery red that goes on like a dream.  The glitter from Excuse Moi blends in with the base color of CA so it's not terribly noticeable, and I didn't want to put numerous coats on so I settled for one.

Way too many coats on this one.  I'm waiting for my mani to just fall off from the sheer amount of product on my nails.  It's very Valentine-y and sparkly and I like it; but I'm dreading the day I have to remove it! ;-)

Anti Valentines Day Mani

Hi ladies!

Someone on Tumblr suggested that I do some anti-Valentine's Day manis, and I figured I'd oblige because come on, who HASN'T hated Valentine's Day with the fury of 1000 hells at some point in their life? I know I have.

I painted all my nails (except my ring finger) with Wet n Wild Burgundy Frost. On my ring finger, I painted a black base. I then used acrylic paints to draw the lines, "explosion" (I don't know what else to call it?) and broken heart on my ring finger. I also topped all the other nails with OPI Black Shatter.

Now, I've never been into shatter/crackle polishes AT ALL, mind you, but this one seemed to fit. Black Shatter, shattered heart....yeah, my emo side is coming out.  But I digress. Anyway, the ONE time I used this bottle of Black Shatter (I got it in a giveaway) and it's goopy and clumpy. So... I don't know if that's the reason you can hardly see any base color or if I applied too much...but I only used one thin coat. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I wish the deep red popped out a bit more underneath the Black Shatter. It did come alive a little more with top coat, you should have seen how dull it was before!

I have the whole week off, so hopefully you guys can expect more posts than usual this week! Gotta keep myself occupied somehow ;)

Valentines Love Birds

It's time! Time for the beginning of Valentine's Day manis! Yay! I love love :) :)

I found this adorable little image of a love bird on Shutter Stock and decided I had to recreate it on my nails. The base color is OPI Sparrow Me The Drama and the rest is done with acrylic paints. I really need to get myself a full size bottle of Sparrow Me The Drama... I only have the small one from the POTC mini pack (which sucks to use on my big nails, btw)

 

Aren't they cute?! I didn't want to take these babies off!

Finger Paints Flecked

Hello everyone.  I'm happy to be well enough to post again, as the last 2 weeks has been a real challenge for me.  The flu has really knocked me on my butt - I was sick in bed for 6 full days.  By the time I was beginning to feel a little bit better, I had to prepare for Amanda's visit to Boston.  We had only 3 glorious days together before she and her brother returned to Indy.

My nails have taken a beating this winter.  Since November they've been in terrible shape - first from all the packing and moving/lifting heavy boxes, coupled with the cold weather and being sick (I broke 2 on my picture hand one night as I stumbled to the bathroom) - I've had to cut them down to nubs again.  So until they grow back out you'll have to live with my non picture hand nubbins.

I did manage to score two complete sets of the Finger Paints Special Effects flakies yesterday.  The one I'm showcasing today is Flecked - which is a green flakie that flashes blue in some lighting.  Here I have layered it over OPI Here Today Aragon Tomorrow, which is a deep forest green.

I used two coats for my pictures, but the flakies are very dense and one coat will actually cover quite nicely.  With the small amount I used (even using 2 coats) I can tell this polish will last me a while.  The special effects polishes are meant for layering, and although you can use them over any color, applying over dark colors is where they really shine.  I did experience a little bit of tip shrinkage which was most likely caused by the SV top coat.

Amanda's Top 11 Polishes of 2011

I know everyone is doing these, so I am jumping on the bandwagon!

Keep in mind....during 2011 I was a broke joke for most of the year (actually, I still am a broke joke) so I didn't really get too many new polishes. And there's definitely polishes that would be on this list.... if I had them. But alas, I don't, so you get stuck with a boring top 2011 list! Or exciting because it will be different from everyone putting Glitter Gal and A-England on their lists.... depending on how you look at it ;)

These are in no particular order! Also some of the pictures suck because they were from when I first started blogging....but you get the picture.

1. China Glaze - Sea Spray (Anchors Away collection; Spring 2011)
China Glaze's Anchors Away collection of Spring 2011 was practically made for me. I love pastels, so is it really any surprise that this was one of my favorite colors of the year? And, it was the base for Mad Manis' most popular post ever, my dandelion nails!

2. Zoya - Faye (Sunshine collection; Summer 2011)
I LOVE Zoya polishes, and Faye is one of the most unique polishes in my collection!

3. OPI - Teenage Dream (Katy Perry collection)
Teenage Dream is the most perfect glitter polish in my entire stash. Filled with tiny microglitter and large holographic glitter, what's not to love?!

4. China Glaze - Trendsetter (Metro collection; Fall 2011)
Trendsetter is so ugly it's pretty! I happen to love this color because it's weird and unique, but I do get weird looks when I wear it. Things like "That's uh.....pretty?" I love it!

5. Zoya - Sooki (Summertime collection; Summer 2011)
The most perfect red creme in existence. Nothing else needs to be said.

6. China Glaze - Snowglobe (Let It Snow collection; holiday 2011)
I know this one wasn't released in 2011, but it was re-released as part of China Glaze's holiday collection, and boy is this name accurate! It looks like little chunks of snow all over your nails. So sparkly and pretty, but a PITA to take off.

7. Zoya - Neeka (Smoke and Mirrors collection; fall 2011)
Dusty purple with tiny flecks of glitter in it. Love!

8. Wet n Wild - Rockin Rubies (Ice Baby collection; winter 2011)
My good friend Steph from Imperfectly Painted got this for me for a Secret Santa gift and it shot to the top of my favorites list. Here it's layered over China Glaze Brownstone and WOW. Look at the depth in this one! It's a great red glitter.

9. Color Club - Revvvolution (Femme Fatale)
This isn't a 2011 release either, but I received this one in 2011 so it counts for me. I HAVE to include this...this is probably in my ALL TIME favorite polish list. A charcoal grey holo. WHEE!! I wish the holo was a bit stronger, but I still love it.

10. OPI - I Lily Love You (Nice Stems collection; summer 2011)
I didn't really much care for any of the other polishes in the Nice Stems collection, but this one is just too pretty to pass up. Pink flakies!

11. China Glaze - Brownstone (Metro collection, Fall 2011)
China Glaze's Metro collection was one of my favorite ever. I liked almost all of the colors in it, but only picked up a few. Brownstone is a reddish brown burgundy color that applies like a dream.

Simple snowman nailart

Admittedly, my nail art skills pale in comparison to Amanda's.  These old(er) hands can't hold the paintbrush as steady as a 20something.  ;-)   But here is a cute design I saw on some holiday plates that I wanted to recreate on my nails.

I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow matte.  As usual with white polish, I had some minor issues with streakiness and patchiness necessitating 3-4 coats.

Then after the base was completely dry, I painted a stripe of black acrylic paint at the base of my nails for the hat then used a dotting tool for the eyes and a thin striper for the smile.  The carrot nose is made with orange acrylic paint and a small nail art brush. 

I first attempted this nail art with actual black polish, but found that it was too streaky and didn't cover well so I switched to acrylic paint.

The ring finger snowman's smile has turned into a grimace.  It looks like he has something to say...

Day 15: Delicate Print

Hello ladies! Today's theme is delicate print. I feel like the term "delicate" is very up to interpretation, so I did another flower mani for today.

I started with two coats of OPI Play The Peonies then stamped over with this Konad flower image!

I think it definitely represents "delicate," how about you? I originally thought of doing snowflakes for today's theme, but.... I am very anti-snow and I don't want it to think it's welcome yet. Because it's not. I know, I know... I live in central Indiana. I should be used to snow by now. I am....but that doesn't mean I like it or want it anytime soon! :P

See you tomorrow for Tribal Print!

Day 14: Flowers

Flowers! Yay I love doing flower manis. There are just so many options!

For today, I decided to do an abstract flower design. I started with a base of OPI DS Coronation. The colors I used for the flowers are Zoya Codie, Sinful White on White and OPI Sparrow Me The Drama.

Funky!

Day 10: Gradient Nails featuring Teenage Dream

I struggled for a while thinking about what to do for gradient nails. I wasn't feeling up to doing a full color gradient, so I decided to do a glitter gradient a la The Polished Perfectionist.

I started with three coats of Revlon Top Speed Candy. It's your regular old medium pink creme polish. One thing I find about these Top Speed polishes is that they seem to be pretty streaky -- I have another light colored Top Speed polish that is hard to get opaque because it is so streaky. Anyone else have that problem?

Anyway, then I sponged on OPI Teenage Dream at the base of my nails. I really like the way this looks as opposed to glitter fading down from the tips! Plus this mani is simple and that's what I need after a few busy manis in a row. ;)

Do you prefer glitter gradients from the tip down or the base up, like this one?

OPI Nicki Minaj Press Release

Pink Everyday!

OPI Partners with Platinum Recording Artist Nicki Minaj to Launch Limited Edition Lacquers

 OPI announces the launch of six new limited edition shades inspired by hip hop sensation Nicki Minaj, including a purple Shatter!  Inspired by Minaj’s unique style, love of bright colors, and her debut album Pink Friday, the Nicki Minaj by OPI promotion will feature an array of bold hues, from neon lime green to pink.

 “OPI is so excited to work with Nicki in releasing these six new nail lacquers,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director.  “Nicki has taken the hip hop world by storm, but her music is only part of the equation. She’s also become a fashion inspiration, noted for her daring costumes and hair color both on and off the stage.”

Nicki’s eclectic look made including a new hue in OPI’s bestselling Shatter coat a must for this collaboration. The purple Super Bass Shatter (a record-setting purple that “shatters” before your eyes) is inspired by graffiti art and works when painted over any dry OPI hue. Adding top coat takes Super Bass Shatter from matte to glossy in seconds.

The line features five nail lacquers in addition to Super Bass Shatter, ranging from fantastic pink, rainbow confetti glitter and charcoal sparkle hues to two green shades in lime and teal:

Pink Friday
Kick off the weekend with this pop! of bubblegum pink.

Metallic 4 Life
This charcoal sparkle flies with the stars in the skies.

Save Me
I drove for miles just to find this silver-rainbow glitter.

Fly
I came to win, to fight…and to wear this aqua.

Did It On ‘Em
A lusty little lacquer that loves the “lime”-light.

Super Bass Shatter

I am so excited for these! They look fun :)