The First Franken I have ever attempted

I made this before Christmas for a great Christmas polish or something comparable to Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers w/o the black base.

I added so many things to this I can't remember the whole list. I know that wnw Prancer and the topcoat it came with, ChG Phat Santa, Ruby Slippers and another ChG red cream. It came out super runny and thin b/c of that topcoat so I did 2 coats over 2 coats Phat Santa.

Then I attempted some tips with the Nail Art French Stamp Template DIY Kit that I got from Born Pretty Store. And I added a 'winter flower' with the 2way DOTTING Pen Marbleizing Tool Nail Art Dot Paint which didn't come out too well- my fault though.

If you want to order anything from Born Pretty Store, use code CONTESTS23 for 10% off discount until 03/31/2011.

Thanks for looking!

Christmas NOTD with Water Decals

I am finally managing to post a NOTD that I am actually wearing right now! I have been so far behind lately.

Anyway, here's Barielle Elle's Spell. Three coats of jelly and flakey goodness.

 Then I added some Christmas water decals that are from the Born Pretty Store.

I like putting the decals facing me than facing away from me. I like looking at them :)

I really like how easy these decal were to apply and that I didn't have to cut them all the way to the image. Most of the ones I've used I've had to cut them very precisely all the way to the image. These I didn't. I also really liked how I could wear these over a dark color and they still showed up.

They are available here for $4.73 and you get 11 sheets!

They are offering 10% off all orders from now until 3/31/2011.  The code is CONTESTS23.  Also, if you register on their website, you will receive a free Christmas nail art sticker.

Thanks for looking! I should have another Christmas mani before Christmas, maybe. 






A portion of the items were sent to me in exchange for an honest review.

Glitter Gal Holo Polishes

I was recently sent 2 polishes from Glitter Gal to review. Just seeing these in the bottles are gorgeous!

First up is Red. It's a bit more of a coarse holo then the second one I was sent, Green. But, nevertheless, it shined and holo-ed brightly. This was 2 coats. I could have gotten away with one thick coat, but excellent application!

In the sun it shines like it's lit from within!

The next one I was sent was Green. It was definitely sheer and much more smooth than Red. But even more holo-y goodness. This was three coats.

Also lit from within!

If you would like to buy these holo polishes they are available here for AUD$9.95. These bottles are rather small, but some of the colors are VERY unique!

Thanks for looking!

*I was sent these polishes by the company in exchange for an honest review.

One Christmas Mani

I wanted a really dark red so I wore Isadora Midnight Red for a day.

I really like this deep creme, but I had a problem with it coming off on paper and it looked like I was drawing with crayons. Does any one else have that problem?

Then I decided I wanted some kind of red sparkle so I added Miliani Spellbinding on the pointer, ChG Ruby Pumps on the middle, and Orly Star Spangled on the ring finger.

This is a different way of getting Spellbinding on with one coat instead of alone with 3 or 4 coats.

Then I reversed it. I added Ruby Pumps and Star Spangled to half of my pointer nail and added Spellbinding on top of the middle and finger nails.




On my thumb I have Spellbinding and I added Ruby Pumps as a french. Very subtle.

This was all done, just for fun and so I could see how they looked.

Then it was time for something Christmas-y and I was too lazy to take off my nail polish.

So I added a french tip with OPI Paris Couture for Sure followed underneath that with ChG Emerald Sparkle. On my ring I used PCFS, ES, RP, and Zoya Trixie to make it kinda look like wrapping paper. KINDA!!

I am hoping to do a Christmas Tree mani tonight and I will try to post it as well.

EDIT: I forgot to post that this was a b*tch to remove!!! It stained my nails like crazy! It might be because I kept packin on the layers or that this was an old polish.

Thanks for looking!

Snow and Icicles

This idea I copied from Nora @ Nail of the week seen here. My lines aren't as defined as hers, but I still like how this came out.

This is SH Salon Wine Not? as the base and Zoya Trixie for the silver and Sinful Colors Queen of Beauty for the glitter. I used a thin (but not so thin) art brush to apply.

This kinda ended up as a great way to do a french tip more than icicles.

Thanks for looking!

Avon Change Artist & Falling Stars

For some reason I really thought these would be awesome. I should have heeded Jen @ ABS's warning. But she was very right about these being opaque in one coat! But removal was like you are wearing straight glitter!

I got these from amazon.com (where they are no longer available) for about $2.99 each. I had a gift card so I didn't feel too bad that these weren't that great.

Packaging:

shimmering teal, shimmering steel, shimmering lavendar, shimmering red

Of course I couldn't just get one, I had to get EVERY COLOR THEY WERE AVAILABLE IN (because that's how nail polish addiction works, right?)

The measly, small, little brush they give you to work with for nail art/french nails/etc.

shimmering steel with some nail art

really really hard to see

shimmering teal w/ some nail art and bumps of polish

shimmering lavendar (my favorite of the bunch) with nail art

shimmering red with nail art

this one I really did gob on to get that bit of nail art

As you can see the coverage with one coat was great, but the nail art was hard to show up or even see! You had to gob it on (if that makes sense) with the small wand and hope that it would turn into something. Overall I don't really regret purchasing these just because they were so cheap (and I had a gift card) but I would regret these if I had paid full price.

Since I wore these nail polish for a day each, I decided to get a little creative. :)

In this POST I talked about how much I liked Nihrida's Shooting stars:

Then Glittermillie attempted this and it came out fantastic:

And now here are my sad attempts at this, but instead of shooting stars I call them falling stars since I am starting at the end of my nail working toward the cuticles.

!!BE WARNED!!

No toes...just many attempts :)

First I used:

Zoya Trixie, dumped some NYX silver glitter into Orly

This is the outcome of using Orly and NYX glitter on half of my nail then Trixie on the tips on top of shimmering steel. Not soo good.

a bit too globby

My second attempt: WnW Kaleidoscope, Zoya Trixie, ChG Nova, Eyeko Disco Polish

I used Kaleidoscope for half of the nails, followed with Nova on half of the nails, then Disco Nails on 3/4 of the nails, then Trixie on the tips over shimmering teal.

A bit too much bling and globby.

For my third attempt:

WnW Kaleidoscope and ChG Nova

Nova on half of the nail and Kaleidoscope on 3/4 of the nail over shimmering lavendar

Not a lot of bling, but kinda texturized and not even.

My fourth and final attempt:

Kaleidoscope on half of the nails and Sinful Colors Queen of Beauty (like Glittermillie used above) on tips of the nails over shimmering red.

I really liked how this one turned out and I wore it for about 2 days after apply all this. The silver started to rub off and turn kinda pink, but it still looked awesome.

Thanks for looking!