Purple and Turquoise Swoop French Tip

Hey Y'all!!  Happy Friday!  How are y'all doing?  It's going pretty good here...except that Mother Nature hates me.  The yellow scourge is starting here in Georgia.  That is literally yellow-green pollen clouds!  Over the next couple of weeks, everything is going to be completely covered in the stuff.  I won't see it though, what with all the sneezing, nose blowing, and itchy, swollen, watery eyes :(  But on to today's post...while I can still see, lol.

Ok, the best name I could come up with for today's mani is the Swoop, lol.

I Used:
Orly:  Wild Wisteria, a dark purple, wine colored crème
Orly:  Steal The Spotlight, a micro turquoise/teal glitter with medium sized holographic glitter in a clear base

Sadly, the pictures aren't doing this design justice.  And of course it was cloudy for days.  But I started with two coats of Orly Wild Wisteria.  Once that dried, I just used the brush that came with the polish and swooped Orly Steal The Spotlight onto my nail.  I started near the cuticle and just swept the polish up and over to create a sort of French tip.  Then went back and dabbed polish anywhere that was thin on glitter.

This was such a pretty, glittery mani.  And I love the combination of teal/turquoise and purple.

I hope y'all have a wonderful day!  Happy Polishing!!

Red and Gold Sequin and Gradient Mani

Hey Y'all!!  Happy Hump Day!  How is your week going?  Mine is ok.  It's that time of year when I'm miserable...pollen.  Everywhere!  I can't stop sneezing.  And the worst part is that the pollen isn't even that bad yet :(  But at least I still have a post for you :)

So here is today's mani:

I Used:
OPI:  Over & Over A-Gwen, a red crème
OPI:  Love. Angel. Music. Baby., a satin gold metallic
Orly: Lavish Bash, a micro gold glitter with holographic bar glitter in a clear base
Red and Gold Sequins

To start this mani, I painted my thumb, pinky and ring finger with OPI Over & Over A-Gwen, a pretty, bright red crème.  Then I painted my index and middle fingers with OPI Love. Angel. Music. Baby., a satin finished gold metallic.  Once that was all dry, I used the brush that came with the polish to dab on Orly Lavish Bash to form the gradient.

To place the sequins, I used a dotting tool and Seche Vite top coat.  I just put a dot of the top coat on my nail where I wanted to place the sequin, then sunk the sequin down into the dot.  Try to get the sequin as flat to your nail as you can.  Otherwise, they will pop off pretty easily.  Then just top off everything with top coat!

I hope you enjoyed today's mani!  Happy Polishing!!

Spring Plastic Wrap

Hey Y'all!  How was your weekend?  Let me live vicariously through you, cause I didn't do anything but sleep.  The weather was so messed up here, freezing cold, thunder storms, now it's sunny.  I just hibernated waiting for it to all pass.  I'm so done with the cold.  So despite the 20 degree weather, I decided to do a Spring mani for you.

Today's mani is a Spring design using plastic wrap:

I Used:
China Glaze:  Five Rules, a soft barely there gray crème
Sinful Colors: Pink Smart, a pastel pink crème
China Glaze:  My Way Or The Highway, a turquoise crème
Plastic Wrap

This is one of my favorite types of manis to do because I think you get such a great effect for such a little amount of effort.  I started with two coats of China Glaze Five Rules, a soft, light gray crème.  Once that dried completely, I put a couple of drops of China Glaze My Way Or The Highway on to a piece of paper.  Then using regular plastic wrap, scrunch the wrap up and dab into the polish.  Be sure to dab it on to a piece of paper first to get off any excess polish.  Then just dab it onto your nails.

Then I repeated the process with Sinful Colors Pink Smart, a soft pastel pink crème.  Then just top off your design with a top coat! 

I hope you enjoyed today's design!  Happy Polishing!!

Purple and Pink Glitter French Tip

Hey Y'all!!  TGIF!!  I would be excited for it being Friday, except it's really windy and cold today and it's supposed to be in the 20's tonight and tomorrow night.  What part of Spring doesn't Mother Nature understand??  I want my shorts back! 

So, for today, I have a Purple and Pink Glitter French Tip/Block Mani:

I Used:
OPI:  Lost My Bikini in Molokini, a medium purple cream
Butter London:  Rosie Lee, a bright micro pink glitter in a clear base
Salon Perfect:  Razzle Dazzle, a purple and holographic micro glitter in a purple jelly base
Scotch Tape

I started with two coats of OPI Lost My Bikini in Molokini, a pretty, highly pigmented purple crème.  Once that had dried completely, I placed scotch tape across the nail diagonally and painted the color closest to the tip.

Then I placed the tape a little further down the nail and painted the next color.  Be sure to only put tape on the outside edge, not over the glitter.  Otherwise, you will lift the glitter.  And don't worry about going over into the other glitter, it really won't show.  You just need the clean edge on the outside.

I love how this turned out.  It feels so Spring-like to me.  I hope you enjoyed it too!

Happy Polishing!!

The First Mani of Spring

Hey Y'all!  So, it's theoretically Spring here in the south...  This is such a "fun" time of year, lol.  Today is supposed to be a warm 73 degrees, tomorrow 79...and Saturday is supposed to be 56.  Have I mentioned how much I hate the cold recently?  So despite the overcast and rainy day today, it is supposed to be warm and it is officially Spring, so I have a Spring mani for you today:

I Used:
Sinful Colors: Yellow Out There, a bright yellow jelly with small holographic bar glitter
Finger Paints:  Aloha Lei, an orange glass fleck shimmer
Make Up Sponge

I started by using Sinful Colors Yellow Out There on my pinky and middle fingers and on my thumb.  Yellow Out There is a bright, pretty jelly polish with very small holographic bar glitter.  The pictures show three coats with top coat.  This was a pretty typical jelly polish in that even after 3 coats, there is still a very visible nail line.  I can't wait to try this in a jelly sandwich!  And why I love the holographic bar glitter, I wish there was more!

Next I painted my index and ring finger with Finger Paints Aloha Lei, a bright orange glass fleck shimmer.  I loved this color!  Pictures show two coats with top coat.  I was a bit disappointed in the wear time.  I had to wait until the next day to take the pictures in the sun and as you can see, I already have some wear.  On my middle finger, I used a make up sponge to sponge on a gradient.

While I'm not loving all the weather changes, I do love this mani!

I hope y'all are enjoying Spring where you are, without snow!  Have a fabulous day and Happy Polishing!!

An Ombre Gradient Skittle

Hey Y'all!!  Oh. My. Goodness!!  I tried to get this post up on Friday, but my computer kept updating.  Does anyone else keep putting off updating their computer until it has hours worth to do?  No?  Just me?  Oh well.  Happy Monday!  I hope y'all had a fabulous weekend.  We had a quiet one.  The teen went to a friend's house and the hubby and I went out to a nice dinner.  And slept!  This time of year wears me out.  Not only does the teen have a million things to do and a million places to be, the weather kills me.  In one week we can have 30's, 80's, sun, tropical storms, wind...all leading up to everything about to be covered in an inch of pollen.

But on to today's mani!  I have something I'm calling an Ombre Gradient Skittle:

I Used:
China Glaze: One Track Mind (a deep cobalt blue crème)
Orly- Tiara (small silver glitter in a clear base)
Finger Paints- Ho Ho Happy Holidays (micro silver and light blue glitter in a clear base)
Icing- Sapphire (a medium blue micro glitter in a clear base)
China Glaze- Feeling Twinkly (a dark blue glitter in a clear base)
Make Up Sponge

To start this mani, I painted two coats of China Glaze One Track Mind, a deep cobalt blue crème.  Then using a make up sponge, I sponged on the glitter polishes.  They are:
Pinky:  Orly Tiara, a silver glitter
Ring Finger:  Finger Paints Ho Ho Happy Holidays, a silver and light blue glitter
Middle Finger:  Icing Sapphire, a medium blue glitter
Index Finger:  China Glaze, Feeling Twinkly, a dark blue glitter
Thumb:  all the above

When sponging on the glitter, start about three quarters of the way down your nail.  Then go back and sponge on just the tip of your nail to give you a more concentrated glitter.  For the thumb, paint stripes of the polish on the make up sponge and dab on your nail.  It is really important to use a sponge at least for your thumb...the sponge will soak up the excess clear polish leaving you a more concentrated glitter.  I did two coats on my thumb.  Then just add the top coat.

I hope you have a fabulous day!  Happy Polishing!!

NOTD: Finger Paints Gilded Chrome

Hey Y'all!!  How are y'all doing today?  I'm exhausted.  Long, long day yesterday and up early today.  The teen has a field trip then dance class and rehearsal so let's get right to today's post.

So for today, I went gilded, Finger Paints Gilded Chrome:

I won this from Finger Paints (it was one of three polishes).  I wasn't feeling too well today and decided I wanted a lot of bang for very little effort.  Then I remembered the polishes I won from Finger Paints!  Pictures show two coats of Gilded Chrome with two coats of top coat.

Gilded Chrome is a textured, heavily glittered pack polish in a clear base.  It is PACKED with glitter!!  The glitter is multi sized, goldish silverfish colored.  It gives the look of slightly tarnished silver.  I LOVED how this looked!  Some of the glitter has a more matte effect while the bigger glitter is super reflective. 

While I loved the look, I wasn't that impressed with the polish.  First I had to use a top coat because the texture was SO rough I was scratching myself.  And it hurt.  It took two coats to get it smooth enough for me to be able to live with it.  Second, the wear was horrible.  In less than a day, I was chipping.  A lot.  Although I did get complete coverage in two coats.  I'm really on the fence about it.  I loved the way it looked on the nail, but hated the way it felt and how little wear I got from it.  I will probably wear it out for a special night, but only for that night.

I hope you enjoyed today's post!  Happy Polishing!!