Holographic Skittle

Hey Y'all!!  How was your weekend?  I've had better, I've had worse, so I can't really complain. Except for one thing:  Fleas!!  Maybe y'all can help me.  We've been going back and forth to Florida over the last few weeks and had a sitter for our fur babies.  Well, with us gone, and the incredibly hot weather, we've been taken over by these *&%& fleas!!  I hate fleas!!  And not only are they making my poor babies miserable, they keep biting me too.  And only me and the fur babies.  The teen and the hubby seem to have yucky blood.  Now, while I do enjoy the fact that I have superior blood to my family, I'm tired of being a big, jiggly, itchy, scratchy mess.  My house smells like apple cider vinegar and flea dip.  The babies and I are tired.  Any advice?

Now on to today's mani!  Today I have a Holographic Skittle for you:

I Used:
Color Club- Harp On It, a silver linear holo
Orly- Mirrorball, silver linear holo with small holo glitters
Loreal- Masked Affair, a soft gray linear holo
Color Club- Beyond, a charcoal gray linear holo
Celestial- Reaper Crew, a black linear holo

First off, I know the color differences don't show up very well in the photos.  But in person, it was obvious.  Taking pictures of holos is really hard...taking pictures of holos and trying to capture the subtle differences in color, really, really hard!

Now for the mani.  Ombre nails are very easy to do.  All you have to do is pick five polishes in the same color family and paint each nail a different color.  For this ombre, I started with Color Club Harp On It on my thumb.  Harp On It is a bright silver linear holo.  On my index finger is Orly Mirrorball.  This is also a silver linear holo but it also has small holographic glitter.  My middle finger has Loreal Masked Affair.  Holy cow!!  Loved this one.  It's a gray linear holo.  Next up is Color Club Beyond, a dark, charcoal gray linear holo on my ring finger.  Finally, on my pinky, is Celestial Reaper Crew, a black linear holo.  Love that one!!

Photos show two coats with top coat.  I really enjoyed this one.  But then, I love anything that glitters and sparkles!

Hope you have a fabulous day!  Happy Polishing!!

Spring Flowers

Hey Y'all!!  So as you may know, I'm not much of a pastel, flower kind of gal.  But occasionally, I am.  That's what happened today.  I saw a painting and was inspired to try this Spring Flower mani.

I Used:
KBShimmer:  Shore Thing, a medium minty green crème
Color Club:  Disco's Not Dead, butter yellow crème
Color Club:  Wicker Park, pinkish lilac crème
Finger Paints:  Sea Temptress, textured white polish with teal flakies
Liner Brush

I started this mani with two coats of KBShimmer, a pretty pastel mint crème that was a dream to use.  Then using Color Club Disco's Not Dead and Wicker Park, I painted splotches in random areas of my nails.  Then I made my mistake.  I ramdomly topped some of the splotches with Finger Paints Sea Temptress.  If you recreate this, do not use a textured polish.  Seriously.  It's really hard to paint a straight line over a textured polish!  And the flakies didn't even show up!

Then I used a basic black polish (sorry, I forgot which) and a fine liner brush to paint the petals.  The petals were basically parentheses.  And in some of the flowers, I painted little dots for the seeds.  Then just top everything with a top coat.

Other than the bad lines over the flakies, I really liked this design.  I hope you do too!

Happy Polishing!!

KPT Same Fall Different Beginning

Hey Y'all!  I'm so excited because today I have my very first KPT Polish!  Again, thanks to the fabulous Liz from A Mani Maniac!  Love her!!  She sent me KPT Same Fall Different Beginning:

I'm so sad, because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get this polish to show all it's glory in the photos :(

KPT Same Fall Different Beginning is a very sheer nude with subtle scatter micro holographic glitters and micro and flake gold glitter.  The pictures show three coats with top coat.  Yep that's 3 coats so I wasn't kidding about it being sheer.

The formula was wonderful.  It applied smoothly without any issues.  And the finish is still sheer, you will still have a visible nail line.  But you won't care! This polish is so gorgeous!!  And very subtle.  This would be perfect to wear to the office.  Or in/to a wedding!  Any where you have to be more conservative, but still want to be you!

This was my first KPT, but won't be my last!

Have a fabulous day!  Happy Polishing!!

Blue & Purple Glitter Color Block

Hey Y'all.  I just wanted you to know that this is the first of several "scheduled" posts.  Scheduled means they will appear on their own, and because of that, there won't be this little intro part from me.  It will go straight into the design/review.  You may remember me telling you I had a family emergency.  It was that my father-in-law had been placed in hospice.  And now, his suffering is over.  I am so grateful that we were able to go and visit him, talk to him and spend some time with him last week.  I lost my own father 20 years ago to cancer and my father-in-law stepped right in and filled that void in my life.  And even though I'm heartbroken that he has passed....well, let's just say cancer sucks.

And on a lighter note, he was a huge supporter of my little nail obsession!  And for today, I have a Blue and Purple Glitter Color Block mani for you:

I Used:
China Glaze:  DJ Blue My Mind, an ultra bright sky blue crème
Studio M:  Grape Escape, a neon purple crème
CBL, Colors By Llarowe, Nitro, a clear base packed with blue and purple small glitter
Scotch Tape

First, thank you, thank you, thank you, to my love Liz at A Mani Maniac for sending me the Studio M and the CBL!!!  My very first CBL too!!  And it's glitter!!  And it's purple and blue!!  It's perfection!

Now on to the mani.  I love this mani, and this style, because I received so many compliments on it while I was out and about, and yet it's so easy to do!  I started by painting my nails with China Glaze DJ Blue My Mind, an ultra bright/neon sky blue crème.  Then, I placed scotch tape (remember to stick it to your hand a few times to remove some of the stickiness) on a diagonal across my nails, and painted a pretty thick coat of Studio M Grape Escape.  Grape Escape (drool), is a fabulously gorgeous neon purple crème.  Be sure to remove the tape as soon as you have painted the nail.

Once the nail has dried completely, place the tape on your nail diagonally, going the opposite way.  Like in the above picture.  Then I added Nitro by Colors by Llarowe.

Add top coat and you're done!

I hope y'all have a fabulous day, and be sure give your loved ones an extra hug today.

Happy Polishing!!

Girly Bits: No Such Thing as a Purple Problem

Hey Y'all!!  First let me apologize for being gone for a while.  Life became insane at the end of the school year.  There were ballets, recitals, finals, extra classes, and on top of it all, a family emergency.  And because of the last one, I've been out of the state for a while and just unable to focus on my blog.  And, although things there are still precarious, I'm able to concentrate again and I'm back to blogging! Thank you so much to everyone that has stood by me and kept with me, despite a less than consistent posting schedule...love y'all!!

So today I have an incredibly gorgeous polish that was a gift from my darlin' Natalie at Over the Topcoat.  It's Girly Bits (my first!) No Such Thing as a Purple Problem:

Girly Bits No Such Thing as a Purple Problem is a blue leaning purple jelly filled to the brim with scatter holographic micro glitter.  The pictures show two coats with top coat.  The formula was a dream to work with.  It glided on without any problems, streaking or bald spots.  It does dry a little rough so you will definitely want to use top coat...which you should always use anyway :p

I can't even tell you how much I love this polish!  But what's not to love?  Purple? Good!  Glitter?  Good!  Holo-loveliness? Fabulous!  I know I say this a lot, but pictures don't do this polish justice at all.  You have to see this in person on your very own phalanges!

I hope y'all are having a wonderful start to your week!  Happy Polishing!!

Lyn B. Designs Our Little Infinity

Hey Y'all!!  Happy Wednesday!  How is your week going?  Mine's going.  This time of the year is so nuts...finishing this school year, planning next year, dance everywhere...I'm ready for a nap!

So I want to get to right to today's post because I'm so excited!!  We just had a swap and the incredible Natalie of Over the Top Coat got my name, and holy cow!!  She spoiled me!!  Here is what she sent me:

!!!!!!  Isn't she amazing??  LOVE HER!!  There was candy too, but it didn't make it to the photo...someone ate it all.  And today I have the first polish I tried, Lyn B. Designs Our Little Infinity (warning, this is picture heavy cause this polish is gorgeous!):

Pictures show two coats with top coat.

First off, the color of the polish is true to life in ALL the above pictures!  Yep!  Our Little Infinity is a duochrome jelly that shifts between a dark indigo to purple with small holographic glitters.  EEKKKK!!!  This is like, my perfect polish!  And the formula is incredible.  I was so surprised to have complete coverage in just two coats.    There was no streaking, no bald spots, just a dream!  And it wore so well.  These pictures were taken a day after putting it on, and there was doing great.

This was my very first Lyn B. Designs, and thanks again to Natalie, not my last!  Thank you again Natalie!!!  Love you!!

Hope y'all have a great day!  Happy Polishing!!

Neon Cheetah Print

Hey Y'all!  Happy Monday!  How are y'all doin' today?  Me?  I'm exhausted!  So sorry I was missing last week, but the teen had rehearsals all week then six shows over the weekend with her ballet company.  That meant many late nights, long days, and a lot of time sitting in the car for Mom.  But she, and all the dancers were wonderful.  So, I guess I'm actually a tired, but proud Mom.

But, it's a new week, and I have a new mani for you, a Neon Cheetah:

I Used:
Color Club:  Sweet Get Away, ultra bright neon pink crème
Barielle:  Sterling Silver, a smoky, silver metallic
LA Colors:  Black crème (the name is missing)
Dotting Tool
Fine Brush

I so loved this mani, and it's really easy to do!  I started by painting three fingers (thumb, ring and pinky) with Barielle Sterling Silver, a pretty, smoky looking silver metallic.  Then I painted the remaining nails with Color Club Sweet Get Away, an ultra bright pink neon crème.  This is from the scented neon line they did.  I think it was supposed to smell like roses, but I just got a slight floral scent from it.

Then, using a dotting tool, I made splotches that would be the base of the cheetah spot.  Then using a fine detail brush, I drew the black outline.  You don't need a brush for this, just use a fine toothpick or anything that is thin.

I hope you liked today's design!  And here's hoping it's the start to a fabulous week!

Happy Polishing!!