A 4-pack of FAIL

Happy Friday, Kitschies!  It's been one long ass week and I'm glad it's coming to a close. 

I usually play along with Mamarazzi's Friday Confessional, but I don't much feel like confessing, so I'm going to share some nail fail with you.  I guess that, in itself, is a sort of confession.  LOL

These are all manis I wore but wasn't happy with. 

This is a pretty color, but it's not as great as I wanted it to be.  It's OPI My Address is Hollywood from their Fall collection.  It's a work-safe color with just a hint of shimmer.  Maybe I wanted the shimmer to be stronger?  Whatever it is, it just didn't do it for me.  I added the little hearts to try to change my mind about it, but it didn't work.

I liked the idea of this in my head but like so many nail art ideas, it didn't transfer very well from my brain to my fingers.  The color is a neon pink Nina Ultra Pro and then I added lots of black and white dots.  I think the dots ended up looking like bird poop.  This mani didn't even make it out of the house.

I wanted these colors to be closer and create less of a stark transition between orange and red.  These are Zoya Kimmy (red) and Tanzy (orange) from the Sunshine collection (Summer 2011).  I should've used Tanzy and Rica instead.  Anyway...I did some white nail art on these after wearing it for a day, but obviously it didn't impress me enough to take a picture of it before I took it off. 

And one more...

I was on a French mani kick for a while back in August (?).  The hubs has always said he didn't like the typical French look but I tried to do one anyway.  I started with SH White On on the tips and ChG Whitecap to add a bit of shimmer on the nail bed.  I liked it that way, even though the white was so, so stark.  I wanted to soften it up a bit so I added green star bursts with green star rhinestones.  That's where it went wrong.  I didn't like this one at all.  I don't think this one made it out of the house, either.

So, while these aren't fails per se, they're definitely not my greatest works.  Tell me, fellow nail bloggers, do you post your fails or do you keep them hidden from view?

Why Go With the Flow?

Good day, Kitschies!  I hope you're enjoying your week and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It's been an *interesting* week, to say the least.  Halloween was good - the boys got TONS of candy.  We went to see Harry Potter 7.2 (finally) and I loved it.  I think it was the best of all the HP films.  I cried a lot more than I expected I would, but that's not really surprising.  I'm a cry-baby when it comes to movies.  Anyway...I posted my Halloween manis on Monday and in case you missed it, go take a look at them HERE.

I know it's usually WWtKW or On Wednesday We Wear Pink, but I don't really feel like going with the flow today, so I'm going to share a purple mani with you today.

You've heard of my disinterest in neon and you've heard my love of the CC Electro Candy collection.  This little neon lovely comes from that wonderful CC collection.

This is CC Ultra Violet.  It's a really pretty purple neon with a blue flash.  I love this color in person, but like most purples, this one was hard to capture.

No matter how I adjusted the color balance in PS, I couldn't get it quite right.  It's more purple and less pink IRL.

It was too much POW just left as purple, so I grabbed my black and white striping polishes and did some racing stripes.  And no, you're not imagining things - I've done a mani similar to this a while back with a Cult Nails polish (you can check that post out HERE). 

I love the color of this polish, but I *really* love the blue flash.  It's crazy strong in the sunlight!  If more neons were made with a flash, I wouldn't shy away from them so much.

In other news, I had to chop down all my nails.  *I haz a sad*  I haven't chopped my nails for MONTHS and now I feel like I'm missing half my fingers!  *sigh*  I know they'll grow back but they're so SHORT!  

Well, there ya go.  I'm about outta here for the day - have to go take care of Thing #2 and have the hubs go to work.  Don't ya just love sick kiddos?

One More Summer Fling

Happy Monday, Kitschies!  It was a fun weekend over here in the Land of Enchantment - well, Saturday was fun, anyway.  It was derby championships and I got all dolled up.  I was stuck behind a computer for both bouts, but I got to don my skates and glide around the area a few times.  It felt so good to be back on my skates - I hadn't laced them up since October 4th and let me tell you...I am itching to get back on the track!!  I'm going to my first practice tonight since breaking my toe - wish me luck! 

And yes...I hear you...rest that toe. :|  I hear you.

Now...for the real reason of the post.  Nail polish!  LOL

Waaaaay back in August (yes, another mani from August), I got on a French mani kick.  This is one of the few that survived the cut.

This mani *screams* summer to me!  I did the tips with CC Tangerine Scream (from the Electro Candy collection) then I used Finger Paints Paper Mache for the flowers and dots with a blue rhinestone in the center of the flowers.

I don't usually go for neon polishes, but I dig the whole Electro Candy collection.  They have the prettiest flash to them.  The orange has a really pretty white pearl flash to it.  Oh...and that's Nate's little foot over there in the corner of the pool.

I really liked the contrast of the bright bold cobalt blue against the neon orange.  And the white dots broke up the blank field of the nail bed a bit.

This is how Tangerine Scream looked in the shade.  I don't know what it is about neons, but you can't really capture their heat unless you're in half-light.

Flash of Orange

Happy Tuesday!!  Here we are, chugging through another week.  It's only the second full week of Summer and I'm already over it.  So over it.  Enough complaining, right?  Right.  On to the pretties!

In case you haven't noticed, I am *super* behind in posting my manis.  I'm posting manis from the end of April and the beginning of May!  I was in a blog funk for a while - I didn't want to prep pics, compose posts, the whole 9 yards.  But, it seems like I'm outta that funk for now and I'm getting chunks of pics prepped.  Don't worry...during my blog funk I still did my nails a couple times a week.  This is one of those manis.

This, my friends, is Color Club Tangerine Scream from the Electro Candy collection (summer 2009).  If you've followed me from the beginning, you know that I have a certain hatred toward neon polishes.  Then I saw the Electro Candy collection on Scrangie's blog and all that changed.

These pics don't make this neon orange scream as much as it really does in person.  The thing I like about these neons is the shimmer.  The orange has a light green shimmer that just glows in the sun.

On top of the screaming orange, I used a Bundle Monster full-nail stamp.  My only complaint about the older BM full-nail stamps is they're not broad enough to cover my whole nail.  I've heard they fixed that with the new set, but I can't say for sure.  While this didn't turn out exactly like I had planned, I still liked the design (incomplete and all).

For more color-accurate pics, please check out Scrangie's blog - she has the best pics of these pretty neon polishes.

Are there any polish colors, finishes, etc. that you hated at first but ended up liking in the end?  I'm glad to say that with the right ones, I don't think there's a polish I can truly say I hate.  However, there are some pretty fugly colors out there...but that's another post for another day. 

Two Weeks of Pink - Part 3

TGIF!  It has been one heck of a week.  Bustin' my booty at work.  Corralling the boys when I get home.  Making dinner.  Cleaning up.  Trying not to pass out as soon as my butt hits the couch.  *sigh*  I'm glad it's the weekend.

I know it's supposed to be Flashback or Family Friday, but since I'm on this Two Weeks of Pink kick (you have the bestie to blame thank for that), I thought I'd share the mani I wore for most of the week.  Pink mani #2 was pretty subdued, so it was time to kick it up a notch or two for the next mani.  I hope you're ready for a lot of pictures!

This bright, in-your-face pink is Color Club Electro Candy.  A neon pink with a purple-ish (or was it green?) flash.  I never liked neon polishes until I got my hands on the Electro Candy collection.  This pic was taken outdoors in bright sunlight.

This is indoors with flash.  I started of with three coats (because it's a neon) and while I liked the color, I didn't want to leave it quite that bright.

Outdoors in direct sunlight.  I grabbed my striping brush, black acrylic paint and a silver glitter striping polish and striped away!

This design was super simple.  It was enough of a design to break up the OMGTHATSBRIGHT, but not so much that it hid the awesomeness of the polish itself.

I applied this on Sunday evening and it had awesome wear.  I didn't change my mani til Thursday night and I didn't have any chips and barely any tip wear.

I'm ready for my closeup, Mr Seville.  My striping brush is one of my favorite tools (thanks, Mom!) - you can do so much with it.

Like I said, I wore this mani for 5 whole days without any problem...except that I got bored with it.  I had a patient ask me why I "don't just get those gel nails done".  She meant gel polish that's cured under a UV light.  For a few reasons.  #1: They last at least 2 weeks.  If I had to wear the same polish for 2 weeks, I think I'd go insane.  #2: To get a gel mani at a salon costs money.  Money I don't have.  #3: I don't have a UV lamp and I don't want to buy a UV lamp.  So, yeah.  No gel manis for *this* girl.  To break up the boredom, I grabbed my bottle of OPI Black Shatter that my most awesomest bestie procured for me (you ROCK).

This is one coat of OPI Black Shatter over the already pictured Electro Candy mani.  If you click on the pic, you can see some of the silver glitter peaking through a couple of the cracks.

I liked the neon pink mani, but I liked the switch up the Black Shatter gave it.  See how good this wore?  I took these last two pics the same evening I took the polish off.  I was afraid the Black Shatter was going to be a total PITA to remove, but it wasn't any more difficult than regular polish.  I know you've seen the shatter manis all over the place, but you hadn't seen mine.  Now you have and now you can go back about your business.  LOL

The other day, somebody commented that I didn't post enough pics of myself on my blog.  I hate taking pictures of myself, but since they said that, I thought I'd make it a point to add one.  This is me modeling my new scarf that was included in the Pinktastic Swaptastic package from Christi at g r e y u m b r e l l a.  Thanks, again, Christi - I love it!

So...happy weekend!!  Next week I'll have at least another mani to share as well as a recipe (or two).  I'm hoping to have an Etsy shop to review by Thursday of next week, too.

Don't forget my giveaway.  I've picked up a bottle of Revlon Perplex to add to the giveaway - you know you want it!

Anything But FAIL

Good evening, Kitschies!  It's Tuesday.  Right?  Yep.  Still Tuesday.  It feels like days ago since I got up this morning.  It was a busy day at work.  For me, anyway.  I spent a good couple hours working on the EMR program and 5:00 came *just* before my head exploded, so that was good. 

Now I'm home and I decided to do my nails (shocking, I know) and I've had nothing but failures.  I've attempted a purple gradient and a red/glitter funky french and they were both big FAT fails.  I finally decided to quit attempting to do something cool and went with a safe choice (Nubar Raspberry Truffle).  And to make sure that the fails of the night don't get me down, I'm sharing two manis that are anything but fails.

To celebrate the New Year, we had our besties over for dinner and games.  We used to do this a lot more often when we only had one kid a piece.  We try to get together at least once a month and when we do, either Wendi does my makeup or I do her nails.  This time I did her nails.  She knew exactly what she wanted and, of course, I had the colors we needed to pull it off. 

I started with the Color Club Electro Candy collection: Electro Candy (neon pink with turquoise flash), Pure Energy (neon blue with green flash), Ultra Violet (neon purple with blue flash), Volt of Light (highlighter yellow with blue-ish green flash), Tangerine Scream (neon orange with white flash), and What A Shock! (neon green with blue flash).

I paired the blue and purple together, pink and orange and yellow and green.  I overlapped each of the colors so they looked like they blended in.  Then I grabbed the black acrylic paint and striped each nail with zebra stripes.  How awesomely 80s is this?!

I'm still learning to take good pics with the new camera.  I've got taking my own pics down, but taking pics of somebody else's nails is a little more tricky.  In other words: sorry that pic is so blurry.

We realized later that the blue and purple nails match her awesome purple and turquoise ring.  WIN!!  I was so inspired by the way Wendi's nails turned out, I did my own nails similar to this the following week.

 

Instead of pairing up all six colors, I decided to just use the pink and orange.  I love it!!  These pics were taken indoors with flash.  I did this on a Thursday night and didn't take it off til tonight (that's 5 whole days)!

 It's kinda hard to see on the nails, but you can see in the bottle that both of these colors had a great flash/shimmer.  I know I've previously stated that I hate neon, but this collection has changed my mind.  I don't like the satin finish, but a coat of top coat fixes that!

This is indoors in indirect light, no flash.  The neon colors show up best when it's not in bright direct sunlight.  Its awesome in the dim first light of morning.

Indoors in more direct, bright sunlight.  The wear on this was much better than expected - especially since it's a neon.  Today I had a little bit of tip wear, but I did have a chunk pop out of the middle of my index finger.  I got tons of compliments about this mani.  It's so fun, so bright and so NOT winter.  LOL

I'm tired.  My hands are cold.  I have a headache.  I think it's about time to call it a night.  What do you think of my neon rainbow zebras?  They're definitely a horse of a different color.

Stop the ride!

Can I get off the ride?  Seriously.  I need a break.

Hello!  It feels like it's been a long time since I last posted.  It's been so busy lately - I know everybody's been busy.  It's just that time of year.  On top of all the business, the hubs decided that we need to have family pictures done some time before Christmas.  Good thing I'm already taking Thursday off!  So, we're doing family pictures on Thursday.  Now I have to figure out what to wear.  *sigh*  I love and hate this time of year!

Anyway, I haven't had any time to prep any pics, and I have a bunch on the computer.  I did this mani a while back.  I started off with an attempt at a gradient mani and that was a fail, so then I wiped the slate clean and went in another direction. 

This is Color Club Pure Energy from the Electro Candy collection.  Pure Energy is a really pretty neon blue, almost iridescent.  This is at least 2 coats, but knowing me, it was probably 3.

The dots were made using my dotting tool and white and orange acrylic paint.  This isn't how the designed started out, but this is how it ended up.  I really like this blue and I bet I'll be wearing it more come Spring.

Sorry the post is so short.  I'm so overwhelmed with things this week and I don't see an end in sight until after the new year.  I'm wearing a Christmas water marble right now and I still need to get pictures of it before it chips and I have to take it off.  I'm not even changing my polish as often because I've been so busy! *gasp*  I have a TON of untrieds sitting, staring at me, waiting to be used.  Can't there just be a couple more hours in the day so I can SLEEP?!  Tomorrow I promise to have a yummy recipe for you.

Going Green

Totally Terrific Thursday!  My, my.  SOMEbody's happy today. :)  I took the day off to give my MIL a break and to take the boys to the zoo.  Well, it was planned to rain ALL day, so I changed the plans a bit and took them to the aquarium.  I'll post about that later.  For now, I have a pretty mani I did a couple weeks back.

Months ago I placed my first order with 8ty8beauty.com.  I ordered a couple Color Club colors, a nail art brush set and ChG matte top coat.  I had seen What A Shock on Scandalously Polished and Scrangie quite a while ago and as soon as I saw it, I had to have it!

Color Club What A Shock! is a neon lime green with a blue flash - it's bright!  And gorgeous!  It's pretty sheer, so I applied a layer of Finger Paints Gossamer White (a super pale pink) first and then at least 2 (but probably 3) coats of What A Shock!

I wore this on my toes once and it got all sorts of attention.  I call it my alien slime color.  These pictures were taken indoors with flash and you can really see the blue flash.  This was my first mani after I had to chop off all my nails because of breaks/splits.  I know I can get away with quite a lot at work, as far as nail polish goes, but I had a feeling that this one might push the envelope just a bit, so I decided to tone it down a little with some stamping.

I grabbed my BundleMonster plates and the white Konad Specail Polish and went to work.  I had a hard time with the first attempt at a full-nail image, but this one was much easier.  I think I can chalk that up to having a bit more experience at the whole stamping thing and the shorter nails (less canvas to work with).

This picture was taken outdoors in direct early morning sunlight.  You can see a little of the blue flash on my middle finger, but you can't see how truly bright that green is.

And one more picture for good measure.  I don't mind my nails so short - less to worry about, really.  But, I think they just look better when they're a bit longer.  I got lots of compliments/comments on this mani.  Mostly it was people wondering how "they" got that design on my nail.  Oooh!  You should see their faces when they hear that I, in fact, did my own nails.  Why is that always such a shock?  Get it?  Shock?  LOL  I kill myself.

Well.  The boys are sleeping.  OK.  That's not entirely true.  Mason is sleeping and Nate is in his room for "quiet time" where, I'm sure, he's making a huge mess of his room.  Now...if I can just keep the dang dogs from barking at the neighborhood kids coming home from school...

Take this job and...

...be thankful you have it. LOL I like my job. I can't imagine working any place else. I'm pretty lucky to work with some pretty wonderful people. Really. It's been kinda slow today, so I thought I'd do a little post to speed the time along a bit. I only have to make it through today and then I'm FREE for a week!!! Can't wait!!

Don't forget to sign up for a chance at my giveaway. Entries are accepted through today.

Just a little side note before I begin this little post of mine, I just want to comment about LOST. If you're not a fan, or if you haven't watched the series finale yet, you might want to skip down to the next paragraph. DH and I watched the series finale last night. I have had a love-hate relationship with this dang show for the last couple seasons. The first two seasons were SO good and then it got...weird. And confusing. After pretty much every episode, I would turn to DH and say WTH just happened?! I know I'm not alone. However, I really like how it ended, though I figured out where it was going about half-way through the episode. But that didn't matter because I enjoyed seeing each of the characters meet up with their match. I cried SO much!! I think the one that got to me the most was Sun and Jin - and that's mostly because of the way they killed them off. I am *still* upset about that one! How can you separate them for a majority of the season and then an episode after they're reunited...KILL THEM BOTH?! At least they died together. *sigh* I was a little sad that Hurley didn't meet up with his match, but I like how they gave him purpose to keep him on the island. BUT...if he had purpose to stay on the island, what was he doing in the "church" at the end? And if he did die (everybody dies), who took his place on the island? Or is that why Ben stayed behind? Poor Ben. I don't think he's found his purpose yet. Oh, and I'm really glad Jack's match FINALLY ended up being Kate. I liked Kate and Sawyer together, but she was just meant to be with Jack. We watched the Jimmy Kimmel Live special, too, and agree with Jimmy. Everybody has a test in this life and LOST was about Jack's test. And I love the last scene. I'm going to miss the show, but I'm glad it's finished.

OK. Enough rambling. On to the post.

I picked up Orly Blue Collar the other day while on the hunt for a blue creme. This a really pretty blue creme that is kinda camera shy. One time it shows as robin egg blue, the next it's darker. In real light it's a pretty sky blue. The formula is consistent with Orly and I didn't have any trouble with application. I had great coverage after 2 coats, but I went with one more just for the heck of it.

With flash

No flash - indoor lighting (more true to color)

And to mix things up, I used Claire's Mean Green on both of my ring fingers. You should've heard people's reaction! They thought I made a mistake. LOL Come on, people! I'm just trying to give you a little something different to look at. I did get lots of compliments on my mani and I like that. Don't get me wrong...I do my nails for me, but it's nice when other people notice them, too. Today is day 2 with this mani and Blue Collar is holding up well. No chips, cracks or tip wear. Mean Green, however, is a different story. Oh, in case you didn't know...I. HATE. NEON. (See the bald spot on there? That's after 4 coats of color and 2 coats of topcoat!!) Both fingers of green have a couple chips each and since I did this to complement my pedi, I noticed one of my toenails have already chipped half off. The polish. Not the nail. LOL I love this green color and am hoping I can match it to a non neon color. *fingerscrossed*

Do you have a favorite blue? Green? And if you're a LOST-ie...what did you think of the finale?

Listening to: Automatic by Pointer Sisters (OMG look at those dresses)
Mood: happy