Misc Nails 2012 - Part 2

Good day, Kitschies.  I'm back for another installment of random manis from 2012 that I found when trying to clean up my desktop.  Good times.

You can find Part 1 HERE. 

And now for Part 2.

Starting off strong with Zoya!  This is Jem and Aurora.  I am so glad that holos are making a comeback because each one is more beautiful than the last.

Pretty glitter gradient using a black creme base (don't remember which one, exactly) and Walking on Broken Glass from the Ulta mini collection Glazed and Confused.  I liked this collection so much that I picked one up for a polish exchange thing I do every month. 

I am embarrassed to admit that I have no idea what this color is.  I want to say it's a China Glaze but damned if I know.  How horrible is that?  *sigh*  I can tell you that I didn't think there was enough little tiny purple glitter so I added a coat of Milani One Coat Glitter in Twinkle.

Maybeline Downtown Brown.  I want to like this color, but I don't.  It's so pretty in the bottle but just does not deliver for me.  It's a red-based brown with a teal flash.  The formula was HORRIBLE and I just couldn't get it to cover completely.  I searched for a month for this color (it was LE) and I am disappointed I found it.

NerdLacquer Event Horizon.  Hello, gorgeous!!  I've heard rumblings of NerdLacquer coming back but nothing concrete.  I hope she comes back - she had the BEST nerd-tastic polishes.  This one finished a little bumpy but an extra coat of topcoat cleared that up, no prob!

This was a second Halloween mani.  I started with a base of OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow, a green so dark, it's almost black, and sponged on Zoya Ivanka for a glitter gradient.  I love glitter gradients (if you couldn't tell).  I wore something very similar to this for Halloween 2011. 

I have a very love-hate relationship with matte polishes.  It seems the only way I can handle them is if there's chunky glitter on top...like this.  The green is actually a matte polish: Zoya Veruschka.  The glitter is one of my faves: China Glaze Party Hearty.  Great combo for Christmas!

Don't worry...there might be more...I have more cleaning to do!  Hope you liked them.

OPI + SH = *winning*

Good morning, Kitschies!  I hope the boogie man didn't keep you up last night and you got a good restful sleep.  The boogie man kept me up last night - but it wasn't the scare-the-kids kind of boogie man (if you catch my drift).  I feel like a zombie this morning and the overcast skies aren't helping.  It's SUPER slow here at the clinic this morning, so I thought I'd get my post up and out of the way.

A couple weeks ago...I dunno, maybe even a month ago...I wore this mani.  I originally saw it posted on Nailstah and I finally remembered got around to giving it a go myself.

This is OPI Ski Teal We Drop from the Winter 2010 collection with a coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure on top.  I did a mani with STWD back in October and I thought it was time to drag it back out.

Let me tell you...this combo is gorgeous!  STWD is pretty by itself, but when you add HT on top, it's eye catching.  And that's just when it's in the sun.  It's even better when in indirect light!

It's like Hidden Treasure has little hidden lights that makes it glow in indirect light.  I cannot tell you how many compliments I got on this mani!

I was wearing this when I went to pick up some of the Tronica collection and the sales clerk could not stop commenting on this.  She had me write down the names of the polishes for her so she could do it herself.  I couldn't believe she hadn't heard of Hidden Treasure before and I wished her luck in finding one (now that it's been almost a year since it was released).

A close up for drooling.  I just love Hidden Treasure because of the rainbow of colors.  In this pic you can see red, yellow, orange and maybe even a little red (and back again).  It may look like fish scales in the bottle, but when paired over a darker color, those fish scales just glow.

Well, I suppose I should get to work...it *is* what they pay me for!  Too bad I don't get paid to blog.  That. would. be. awesome.  Have a terrific Tuesday!

So I Caved

Morning, Kitschies!  It's kinda slow here at the clinic, so I thought I'd fit a post in.  Last night was pretty uneventful.  I got off work about 5:45.  Got home and got the kids in to the bath and then had dinner.  After lazing around on the couch alone while watching Antiques Roadshow, the hubs and I watched an episode of Ghost Adventures.  Say what you will about those kind of programs, but I like this one.  Yes, the lead "hunter" is a douche (they *all* are), but there's something about GA that I like.  Lately they haven't gotten to me, but the one we watched last night was kinda scary.  No nightmares, but I did have to watch something else to take my mind off it.  LOL

So.  When my bestie got me in to this whole nail polish addiction almost a year ago, she picked up ChG For Audrey.  I'd seen it all over the boards and there's a ton of pics on it if you do a Google search, but I just didn't *need* it.  I've gotten many, many polishes over the last year and I always just looked over it.  Until January.  For some reason, I decided I needed it and I caved.

While on a hunt for a new nail art design to try, I came across *this* and thought, "Hey! I can do that!"  I changed up the colors a bit and this is what I got.

The lineup, taken without flash.  ChG For Audrey, some un-named LA Colors (I think it's Atomic) and ChG Atlantis.  Oooh!  I love Atlantis!  I went in to Sally Beauty to look for something else and Atlantis jumped out at me.  So pretty! 

*drooooool*  Look at all the awesome holo sparkle.  Add in the medium teal jelly base and it's a total WIN!

This pic was taken with flash...I think the first pic is more accurate as far as color goes.

How cool is this?  Taken in the shade, you can really see all the great colors.  Minty blue-green on the whole nail, a diagonal with the darker blue-green and a smaller diagonal with Atlantis in the corner.  Top off with a couple stripes of white acrylic paint and you have a cute, easy-to-do mani!

Here it is in the sun...so pretty!  I think this was one of my favorites.  It was hard to fully capture the sparkle of Atlantis, so you'll just have to trust me that it was drooly.  I don't remember exactly when I wore this mani, but I do remember that I loved it.  I want to try it again with some other colors.

Happy Tuesday!  I hope you all enjoy your day.  It looks like another gorgeous day here in the Land of Entrapment Enchantment.  See you here tomorrow!

Randomness

A bonus entry for the day.  The hubs is playing Star Wars on the Wii with Nate and Mason is napping.  I was going through my pending and pics folders and realized that I had a couple manis I hadn't shown you.  Why?  Maybe because they only had a pic or two or because they just weren't all that great (in my mind).  Either way, in an effort to start the new year off right and a bit more organized than when I left it, I'm going to show you some randomness.

I did this one for a black & white challenge on FAB UR NAILS.  I didn't really care for it, so I never submitted it.  Therefore, I never posted it.  Til now.  This is SH Black Out, Maybeline Express Finish in Shooting Stars (the glitter) and Finger Paints Papier Mache (white) with light blue rhinestones.  I'm still meh about this one.  I really like the glitter but it's PIA and takes FOREVER to dry - even with FDTC.

This is another FAB UR NAILS challenge, but I submitted this one.  I really do like this one; I don't know why I didn't post it on my blog.  This is ChG Foxy with gold and green acrylic paint and a gold rhinestone in the corner on the ring finger and thumb.

Love. Love. Love this color but it's super PIA to capture accurately.  This is OPI DS Extravagance - a GORGEOUS berry holo.  I think I didn't post this because I wasn't happy with the pics.

Another OPI.  This is Rumples Wiggin.  I like the color and the stamping (Color Club Wild At Heart) is cute, but I only got two good pics out of the mani.

OPI again.  This time it's William Tell Me About OPI.  I loved this color in the bottle because you can actually see the super dark plum color, but once it dried, it was darker and it was practically black unless you were in bright sun/light.  I think I wore this mani plain for a day and then added SH Hidden Treasure over top.  I liked it a little better after that.  Again, the pics aren't the greatest.

One more OPI for good measure.  This is Yodel Me on My Cell.  I do like this color, but it ended up be quite a bit more sheer than I expected it to be.  This was the standard 3 coats, but you can see on my thumb and pinkie that it could've used another coat.  Oh, and the stamps (stars done with Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go) didn't show up as much as I would've liked.  That's my big fat fatty kitteh, Sol, in the first pic of this set.

Zoya has yet to let me down and this one is no exception.  However, the pics aren't great and that's why I never showed you.  This is Gloria from the Fire & Ice Flame collection.  It's a really pretty light raspberry pink glass fleck.  The pictures aren't great (are you noticing a trend here?) and so it stayed in my blog pics file.

Zoya Mimi.  Beautiful medium purple glass fleck.  This is the *only* pic I have of this one for whatever reason.  This is more purple than blue as it shows here.  Why are purples so hard to capture accurately?

So, there ya go.  I get to clean up my folders a bit and you get to point and laugh at the horrible pics.  Which one is your favorite out of this?  And the worst?

Downhill Skiing

There are really only three things to learn in skiing:  

how to put on your skis, how to slide downhill, 

and how to walk along the hospital corridor.  

~Lord Mancroft, A Chinaman in the Bath, 1974

 

Ha ha!  That quote is funny cuz it's true.  For me, anyway.  Good evening, Kitschies!  I hope this Thursday passed you by in a blur - unlike MY day.  Meh.  It was not very busy at work today and that made the day drag on forever!  On the other hand, I'm one day closer to our Ruidoso adults only weekend, so it was a necessary evil.  While on my trek to work (which takes an extra 10 to 15 minutes thanks to the people who are just totally dumbfounded by the purty balloons in the sky), I realized that I forgot my flash drive.  I swear.  If I didn't have my arms attached to my body, some days I'd leave them at home, too.  ANYway.  

 

A couple weeks back, I posted a poll to see which color from my giveaway box I should wear first.  It was pretty clear that you all wanted to see OPI Ski Teal We Drop.  And I don't like to disappoint, so here ya go!

 Ski Teal We Drop is a darkened teal creme.  This is the first experience I'd had with OPI and I'm pretty impressed.  I've had it on a manicure, or two, when I used to have acrylics (WAAAAY back when), but I'd never actually used it myself.

I really liked the Pro Wide brush.  I have pretty wide nails, so it was nice to not have to do 10 strokes with each nail.  I was also impressed with the formula.  Not thick, not thin.  It was juuuuuust right.  LOL  And the opacity was great!  If I had been super careful, I probably could've gotten away with just one coat.  My *only* complaint is that it seemed like the color on my fingers was a little darker than the color in the bottle.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but when I want a color that's *in* the bottle, it would be nice if it were the color *out* of the bottle.  Does anybody else have that "problem" with OPI?  The color was pretty, but it was missing a little pizazz.

See how dark that looks?  Where was I?  Oh...I grabbed my stamping plates and my white Konad polish and went to work.  I did the stamping after I'd worn Ski Teal We Drop for a couple days, and you can tell by the dullness of a couple of the fingers.  This is an image from Konad m2.  The flower design kinda reminds me of Edelweiss, the national flower of Switzerland.  Kinda fitting considering this polish is from the OPI Swiss collection.

Well...it's Thursday night.  You know what that means, right?  It's Project Runway night!!!  Tonight's episode looks especially juicy because it seems as though there may be a cheater in the mix.  I have no idea who it might be, but I can tell you who I want it to be.  I'm horrible!!  So, I'm off to watch PR with a big bowl of popcorn (the hubs is at the studio tonight and PR is the one show he doesn't like to watch with me - hmmm...wonder why?).  Until tomorrow, my dear Kitschies!  One more thing.  Don't forget to sign up for my recipe exchange!  I'm taking names until October 12th, so hurry on over there and get the details before you miss out.


Listening to: Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons (quickly becoming one of my fave bands)
Mood: FIERCE

 

Fish Heads

Fish heads.  Fish heads.  Rolly polly fish heads.  Every time I looked at this mani, I thought of this wonderful little song.  HA!



Good evening, Kitschies!!  I hope you had a wonderful Thursday.  Mine was...like every day in the last 10 days...BUSY!  I thought I'd get a bit of a reprieve because one of my docs is out on Thursday afternoons, but of course not.  And on top of it, she gave me some other stuff to do before she left, so besides all my regular duties (which I usually share with another medical assistant), I got to call some patients to let them know they're holding a special clinic on Saturday.  *sigh*  WHAT would they do without me?!  I better stop before I break my arm patting myself on the back.  LOL

On to the good stuff.  Last weekend after I got my hairs cut, I walked my happy butt down to the Dollar Tree to see what kind of cheap goods they had to offer in the "beauty" section.  I put beauty in quotations because there are some things there I don't think anybody would buy, but apparently they do because there's always replenished stock on hand.  But, I digress.  They had the usual stock of LA Colors with a couple new ones.  I spied with my little eye a pretty medium teal creme - snagged it!  I also spied a bright blue creme - snagged it, too.  And then I found a cute little set of rhinestones complete with topcoat and an orangestick for application - snagged x2!  Who can pass that all up for a buck each?  I mean, I got 3 new things for 3 bucks (I guess I really go 4 new things, but who's counting?).  Happy Megan.  And happy hubs because I didn't spend the average $6 each for polish. :)

So, this is LA Colors Color Craze in Atomic. It applied easily and I had complete coverage with 2 coats.  I tried a third coat on one finger but the hubs couldn't tell the difference, so I left it at 2.  The wear on this polish was very good, especially considering it was just a buck!  I applied this Saturday evening and didn't take it off until Tuesday.  Or was it Wednesday?  Who cares?  It was an excellent wear to cost ratio. 

My only complaint with LA Colors is that there is no name on the bottle.  The name is only on the packaging and it's your basic cardboard backing with plastic bubble to hold the polish, so there's no reason to keep the packaging.  So, unless you have a photographic memory (I definitely do not), there's no way I'm going to remember the name of this.  But I will because I did this post.  Ah...gotta love modern technology!  Now, this color is pretty and all, but it was missing something...

It was missing fish heads!!  LOL  I know you've probably seen this combo before, but I had the hubs pick out a design off the Bundle Monster plates (he gave them to me for my birthday last month) and this is what he picked.  This is from plate BM04 with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out for the cat and Konad special polish in white for the fish heads.  I know they're not *really* fish heads, but I loved people's reaction when I responded to their compliments with "Oh, you like my fish heads!".  Ugh - my hand looks so dry in that last picture.  We were hiking among some inactive volcanoes (where I took this picture) and it was really windy.  Not exactly the place to be applying hand cream.   

I am off to watch Project Runway.  Just a little note on that.  I'm glad Michael C won the last challenge - I don't care if none of the other competitors don't like him.  He seems like a genuinely nice guy (not manipulating like Gretchen or katty like Ivy).   If you watch the show, is there anybody who stands out as THE ONE to you yet?  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to see you again soon.

Listening to: The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars (I loves me some Jared Leto!)
Mood: campy