Glammed-up

slideshow- recent notds

2011-08-18T13:58:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I didn't mean to be away so long...
On May 23rd, I started at home treatment (with Suboxone) for an 11 year addiction to pain medication. Aside from not having extra "oomph" at the end of my day to Blog, I am doing remarkably well- going to work, hanging with my husband and son, shopping, doing my nails...etc.

I'm actually doing my nails more than ever, I am just not sharing as much as I want to. One stumbling block has been Picassa, my picture hosting site. Once my Blogger space was used up, I went to Picassa because A.)my pictures were already there, and B.)It's the default Photo App on my laptop. Hate it. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong...I can't find where I get to choose what pictures I want to upload. Every time I try, ALL my pictures get uploaded, the good, the bad and totally unrelated- sometimes multiple times. Crazy!

For what my Blog is, all I need are some simple editing tools and easy interface, so from now on, I'll be using Photobucket. I've had a free account for years and used it mainly for my LiveJournal and for my corset business.

Another stumbling block for me has been my Suboxone medication. It makes me extremely tired. If I'm not engaged doing something largely physical, (like walking), I will nod off to sleep. I can't tell you how many times I started to write a post, only to find myself waking up an hour later with a keyboard imprint on my forehead and a post filled with kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkks. For those of you that have sent me emails concerned about my whereabouts (Thank you! hugs)...I'm still here and judging by the keyboard marks on my forehead- much closer than you think! ~hahahahahaha~Yes, I find the situation hilarious. I am on the road to getting better. No one knows how happy that makes me.

Fairytale nails, layered fauxnad

2011-05-24T13:25:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I created this layered, fauxnad mani a couple of weeks ago. Base color is 3 coats of BB Couture, Love Bug. I had all the plates used for this set aside to account for them when I had more time. Unfortunately, they were shuffled through and placed back on the shelves when I had a co-worker over for a set of nails and stamping art.

With the exception of black, all stamping polishes used are frankens. Love My Nails, Angel Baby was used to bring some iridescence into certain areas within the mani. Unlike a lot of my layered manis, I wore this one for a whole weekend, and got lots of compliments (and the "fairytale nails" title idea) from customers.
As always, pictures are clickable...

I'm back!

2011-05-16T18:45:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Although my new mani/make-up/jewelry making area was completed weeks ago, major changes in my life kept me from getting back to my Blog. My dd, Amber, left several weeks ago to move in with her boyfriend, who lives 3 hours north of me. While I'm really happy for her that she's in an area where she has more opportunities, I was ~~hoping~~ expecting she would stay with me forever. It hasn't been easy for me, and truthfully- I'm pushing myself to Blog today in order to snap myself out of feeling so empty.

That said, I didn't have any trouble picking what I was going to Blog about even though I had 4 things in que...
Crack Polish.
I wasn't a fan of it the first time it came around years ago, and I'm still not. The look is just too deconstructed for my taste, especially if the cracks are large. Today, I'm wearing Color Club Tangerine Scream with Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in Vintage Violet. I can't decide which is greater;
How much I hate the crack effect of this mani...or
How much I love the color combination the effect produced.

I sure all of you have been witness to a multi-colored Autumn sunset that includes purples, fuchsias and oranges all glowing with the same intensity all at the same time. I have always been drawn to that color combination. For the last 11 years, they have been the decor colors (with a little aquamarine thrown in) of my studio and of my daughter's bedroom...walls, furniture, treatments...everything. When visitors come to my house, they always comment on how surprised they are to find so much color work so well at being peaceful and calming. The truth is- I'm not the color wizard they think I am... my color combination was stolen from a reliable source, a place where everything works well together- nature.

Sunset Crackle
All pictures were altered with a heavy hand. Please ignore skintone.

I've been out of the loop for a while now, so I'm not sure if the following is old news or new news...
I found that Vintage Violet worked better over polish that was not fully dry. Any area that has not cracked CAN be manipulated to crack. Once the crack polish has skinned over enough to touch, gently place your finger on the patch and daub it in different directions until a fine crack appears. Continue daubing to make it crack more. Fingerprints may be smoothed out with some gentle rubbing.

That's it for today Kids. Still in the editing stage, the next mani to be posted will be a multi-layered fauxnad.

more project updates- almost done!

2011-04-19T00:53:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I was able to accomplish a lot since my last post! With the exception of a board to cap off the right side of my polish shelves, they are, for all intents and purposes,- finished! I have to say that trimming them out became a project of epic proportions. In lieu of purchasing trim, I decided to make my own from a roll-up bamboo shade I got from the clearance cart at Lowe's for $5. Being a bleached Birch, the slats were all wrong for my studio colors, so I stained and sealed them a rich, warm Mahogany. When dry, I cut, glued and nailed pieces to my polish shelves. At each shelf intersection, 18 total, I added bronze medallions that I hand embellished with glitter and gold holo sequins. These medallions were part of a belt in their previous life.

Ignore the flying outlet strip- I just finished painting the table black and had to temporarily secure it up and away. When the weather is warm enough to leave a window open overnight, my table will have 2 silk paintings from India, sequins and glitter embedded under a 2 part resin finish. Until then, I'll be making due with a couple of coats of latex gloss.

I haven't decided on "pulls" for my plate drawers yet, so I'll be living without them for a while until I can think of something.

With a couple of more things to secure and some paint, the project will be finished. Let's hope I don't come up with any more projects...my hands and nails haven't looked this bad in 15 years!

another construction update

2011-03-29T13:01:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Popping in with an update on where I'm at in construction. It's been a slow moving project. I get 1 full day a week to work on it with a few single hours here and there throughout the week. The size of my new area is
7' x 10' , what used to be my dining room, but has never used as one. It's in an open floor plan that includes a large living room converted to sewing studio for me, and workshop area for dh.
The U shaped table I'm constructing will have 3 sections. The largest is, of course, my mani station. Next to that, in front of the window will be my make-up area, and to the right, will be a small section for my jewelry making supplies.
Anyway, my under stamping plate storage is almost complete. It's ingeniously designed using supplies meant for a totally different application. Have a look...

tab

From mani station

After I finish with plate storage, I'll be completing work on cotton ball storage (haha, yes, another idea that got turned into a project)
Just below this section of the table is the bottom part of an old bookcase, flipped up-side-down. There is a deep recess that's perfect for storing cotton balls, so I cut a rectangle door out of the table to access the recess. Now all I have to do is decide whether I want to use hinges on the door or do I want the access door to lift off...decisions...

From mani station

Once that's finished, I'll have made my decision on what type of ventilation fan I'm getting and how I'm going to install it.
I'm not sure how much longer this project will take. When I'm finished, I'll have to re-organize the space where my old mani station was and give that stolen space back to my sewing studio.
One thing is for sure, I cant wait to get back to my nails. After several construction accidents, one of which sent a screw through a nail, I went ahead and took them all down to a manageable working length. In addition to that, since I don't have time to maintain polish, I've been wearing the strongest polish known...
glitter.
A whole week wearing 2 coats of Milani Gold Glitz, 1 coat of a franken made from SinfulC All About You, topped with 2 coats of Seche, with nary any tip-wear.

New polish shelves

2011-03-17T10:49:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids!
Since I won't be posting manis while I'm in construction mode, I'll be posting my progress with the new mani station. First up, my new polish shelves. The empty area on the right will be home for all my stamping polishes. The shelves will look much better once they're trimmed out, which I'll do at the end of construction.

Today, I will be starting the most complicated part of the project- building and installing my work-table. The table itself is easy- construction under the table is what's going to be time consuming and tricky. I'm incorporating the way my table is supported with the need for storage using two 46" high stereo speakers my husband was going to throw out. It would be much easier to build with all new materials, however, I love the rewards of repurposing something that was destined for the landfill. It's a passion of mine, and one that never fails to give me a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Close-up of how I notched out the shelves and of Streetwear Elf- recent find at the bottom of a bargain basket in a discount beauty supply store for $.50.

Cloisonne inspired- layered fauxnad

2011-03-15T13:47:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Oh my goodness...almost 3 weeks since I posted! I'm in the process of moving my manicure area to the other side of my studio, which means I have to build new polish shelves. In addition to that, I'm going to build a U shaped work table and new storage space for my stamping plates.
Polish shelves are almost completed, except for trimming them out, and I've already moved my polishes to their new home.
Since I'm doing this construction all by myself, I haven't had much time for nail stamping. I do, however, have the following post of my last mani, that I've been sitting on for far too long.
I also still need to get polishes out to peripatetic33. Hoping to get them out by Friday.
Anyway!...
There are 2 questions I get asked repeatedly in regards to my layered fauxnad/Konad manis.
#1- How long did it take?
#2- How can you bear to take it off after all that work?

The answer to question #1 is somewhat complicated. Since I don't often have a concrete plan, I tend to work in sessions/stages over the course of an evening, or over a couple of days with a loose idea. During these stages I do a lot of test stamping on plastic that's been covered with my base coat. This is also the stage where I work on frankening stamping polishes, or more often, tweaking one I already have to work better for my current mani. Practically *all* my time is spent in this stage... I guess it's a good thing that it's also my favorite part of nail stamping :)

Now, getting back to time spent...
The truth...
It took 5 hours to create the Cloisonne inspired mani you are about to see. 4 hours for testing & choosing stamping colors, testing & choosing images and re-frankening several stamping polishes, and 1 hour for actual stamping on the nails.
A mixture of 22 stamping plates, fauxnad, Konad and Bundle Monster, were used here...the most I've ever "worked" for 1 mani. I chose so many plates because I wanted each of my 5 nails to be different from the next (x2, right and left). There are only 3 or 4 images that repeat and appear across all 10 nails.

As for question #2... Given the enormous amount of time I put into many of my layered manis, you would think I'd be upset when it came time for removal.
Surprise!
I'm usually more than ready to remove my work and get started on something new. Since I do a pretty fair job at documenting my manis in Glammed-up, I can always come here when I feel the need to relive a mani.

I'm beyond happy with the following Cloisonne inspired mani. I wore it for a weekend, and it was a huge hit! More customers commented on this than all my other manis combined.

I'm really bummed that this looks so much better irl than my pictures...and I took a lot over the course of 3 days. I'm posting only 1 picture, because I'm pressed for time. If you want to see more, click on the mini pic and it will take you to my Picasa album.

Drop Box

Layered fauxnad, Lemony Flutter alternative

2011-02-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
I'm waiting for a Capacitor and other parts for my PC to arrive, so I'm still publishing from my laptop. It's a PIA having to take my laptop and power cord out of my briefcase every time I want to go online.

Anyway!...I can't believe I've had Sally Hansen Grey Area with a layer of CND Crimson Sparkle on my nails for over a week now! Although Crimson Sparkle, with its soft tri-chrome sparkles, is my absolute favorite CND Effects, I always felt that it overpowered the color it was being layered over, especially darker colors. My CND Crimson Sparkle works much better for me diluted 1/4 CS to 3/4 clear.

My idea for this mani included layering and using several floral images from the new D series fauxnad plates. Shortly after getting my base images down, I got distracted by the tangled mess in my jewelry drawer which lead to a DIY project to get all my jewelry untangled, organized and into new storage. (pictures of that at the end)

By the time I got back to my mani, my original "vision" and motivation to complete was lost. Instead of abandoning the whole thing, I added a few more iridescent colors, sparkles and stamped a single image, and called it a day.
I'm glad I went ahead with this fixerupper...the iridescent color flashes and sparkle were pretty enough to warrant another day of wear rather than just taking pictures and removing it all. I really thought I could capture the pretty with 1 or 2 pictures, but my camera had different ideas, focusing instead, on the black stamping. In reality, these black areas look less globular.
It's all good, though...this fixerupper gave me new inspiration for a future mani.
Finished mani:

Remaining pictures are posted in order of application:
Note the condition of my cuticles and hands in the first 3 pictures. Horrid dryness made much better in the last 3 pictures by a cheap alternative to Lemony Flutter !

Enlarge the next pic for pretty...

Here's the product that changed the condition of my cuticles and hands, literally overnight.
Heel To Toe Spa Pedicure Collection
$5.99 at Sally's will get you a 2oz tub.
Honestly, I like this much better than Lemony Flutter, and not just because it's readily available and cheaper.
HTT is not as oily feeling as LF...in fact, 15 minutes after application, you barely notice you have it on your hands. No need to wait until bedtime to apply it. I keep a small sample tub of this in my drawer at work. I have found that HTT protection lasts through several hand washings as well. Like LF, HTT contains the wet animal smelling Lanolin. While Lush tries to mask the smell with the opposing fragrance of Lemon, HTT does a much better job through the use of complimentary fragrance(s). Although not listed, my nose detects some pine and another wood/resin. HTT smells a bit like furniture polish/cleaner...maybe a bit like Murphy's Oil, but not in a bad way. It's not an overpowering odor, and it doesn't compete with cologne or perfume.
I originally purchased a sample pot to try on my feet, but never did. I ended up using it on my hands one evening because I was too lazy to get my Mango Mend from another room. Overnight, my hands went from being scaly dry (pics 2 & 3) to soft and supple.
Although Heel To Toe is meant for feet, I have no problem using it on my hands. It works well enough for me that I can say bye-bye to Lush and their overpriced Lemony Flutter!

And...here's my jewelry DIY storage... No more tangles!!!

I attached a piece of pegboard to the back of my closet door to hang necklaces. I also salvaged the frame from a discarded art canvas, stretched and stapled black netting to it to hang my earrings. (my ears are gauged, but I always wear hanging earrings with my plugs) As you can see, my necklaces are currently hanging 3 and 4 on each hanger and there's no room on my earring board. Monday's project- since I have 2closet doors, the back of one will be for necklaces and the back of the other for earrings.

scroll down, 2 jellies

2011-02-17T11:46:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
My *almost new* Dell PC died a couple of days ago. I'm posting from the crummy laptop that I use as a wp just for work. I don't how some of you publish from laptops. I find it super inconvenient, uncomfortable and I can't control the screwball mouse pad. I miss my big screen, my comfy leather chair, cordless mouse, and above all- decent speakers to listen to my music while publishing and surfing the Web.
Here's hoping that my dh figured out the problem and that the Capacitors I'm going to pick-up from Radio Shack will get us back up.

Actually, this has been a week of Hell. I've had to deal with irate employees (my dd included)...One of them failed to tell me that her apartment has been infested with Bedbugs for months.... Problem is...They all share a communal box for coats and other personal belongings. I pray she wasn't a carrier for stowaways.

To cap off my WOH, I contracted a Staph infection in my palm. Damn dirty public with their nasty, dirty hands! I can't tell you how mortified I am with the state of people's hands...I see it all. What's most disturbing to me- the amount of people, men and women, walking around with thick, deformed, yellow fingernails- nail fungus. Also, I've noticed that only half of the women I come in contact with wash their hands after using the restroom. Another thing... why is it that people, mostly men, always blow their nose right before they give me money?
I can't believe that in our time- the age of information- people still do this, and they think it's ok.
My hands are in a state of constant dryness due to all the hand washing I do and through the use of antibacterial gel. Even after being diligent in regards to keeping my hands clean, I still got a Staph infection. What's worse, it's in an inconvenient spot, on my palm, just below my middle finger.

~Sigh~ At least my nails look good. Essie Fishnet Stockings...a gorgeous red jelly to make me feel better.
Geez...It ain't over...Just went to upload my pictures and received the message that my (very convenient) Picassa acct is full. I guess I'll have to upload to Photobucket.

Bonus pictures of another jelly I wore as a NOTD. Ruby Kisses Fuzzy Naval....the most squishiest and juiciest jelly I have in my collection!

Review, Chez-Delaney D series plates

2011-02-14T10:17:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
Right off the bat, I'm letting it be known that I've only fooled around with about 30% of the images from the D series fauxnad plates. I purchased them as a 30 plate bundle from Chez-Delaney. While shipping was super fast, some of my plates, including the XL "C" were slightly damaged by way of small dings. I don't think the damages happened in transit. They look to be manufacturing defects, quality control issues, and improper storage. These fauxnad plates are easily damaged due to the inferior metal stock used to make the plates. Many of my other fauxnad plates have similar damage. I never reported this to Chez-Delaney, so I can't give feedback on how she handles such issues. What I can say...twice I received plates that were stamped way off center, and duplicate plates were included, that although not perfect, were better.
I repaired all the damaged plates myself. I'm a corset maker, so I understand metals and have many tools in my arsenal to take care of stuff like this.

The D series fauxnad are available for 50 Euros ($68.44 USD) as a whole bundled collection of 30 plates.
Due to some images not stamping well or at all, Chez-Delaney discounted the price and is selling them as a set.
They are not sold separately!
This was good news for me...I figured I was going to get the entire set for the price of whatever plates I was going to cherry pick.
As for images not stamping at all, there really weren't that many. The biggest problem with some of the images I tried were incomplete/partial stamps.

Disclaimer...If you've been following my Blog for a while, you'll know that I do things differently. I don't stamp 1 or 2 images and call it a day. Although a little bothersome, partial stamps aren't a big deal to me.
Honestly, finicky/tricky images in the D series fauxnad plates make up only a small percentage- much less than the very challenging T series fauxnad plates. Seriously, sometimes all it takes to get a troublesome image to work is to experiment with different stamping polishes. Then again, I don't play by the rules where choice of stamping polish is limited to those that are labeled for stamping. I make most of my own stamping polishes now, and am always experimenting with regular manicure lacquers. Did you know that some jellies make excellent stamping polishes? Sometimes the only way to get an image to stamp is to use a jelly. Other times you may have to add thinner to a stamping polish, and in some cases the addition of clear to a polish is needed to make certain images to work.

So, before this post becomes a tip post (coming soon)...
The images in the D series fauxnad plates were well thought out- there is something for everyone. You're not getting the same old run of the mill images that look like something else you have on another plate. I think all of the images are outstanding. The assortment of flowers is amazing, as are the fleur de lis, emblems, scrolly and leafy thingies. There are a fair amount of images on these plates that I'm sure are a no-no...illegal... Mickey Mouse, Tweety Bird, Tinkerbell, to name a few, also stamp well.( I should add that I had to thin my black a bit for Tink to stamp fully.)
I have to laugh...the stamp I've used most, the circle on plate D30 is supposed to be one of the "fail" images.
For the last couple of weeks, I've been wondering why that circle has an off center dot. For this post, I went back to the Chez-Delaney site, only to find out that while it's supposed to be Winnie-the-Pooh in a circular frame, the only part of Pooh that made his way in that circle was his nose.

Anyway- I absolutely LOVE my D series fauxnad collection! As far as I am concerned, if I was only able to have 1 set of nail stamping plates, this series would be it, faults and all. Truly, this bargain priced set has all the right stuff!
If you are the type of person who plays by the rules and expects all the images to stamp perfectly with polishes made specifically for stamping, this set is probably not for you.

My plate below- no Pooh face...just the dot of his nose. This manufacturing fail works great for me. You'll see this circle image in a lot of my stampings.

Oh yes...I can't forget to mention the extra large, double end stamper also offered by Chez-Delaney, made specifically (I believe) for the XL plates.
Since I got this, I have not touched my Konad double ended stamper. I love this stamper as much as I hate it. The gummy heads pick up images like no ones business, however they also pick up things like hair, lint and anything else that gets within an inch of it- including the very plate you're taking the image from!. Cleaning between stamps is a nightmare if you use cotton balls. I'm going to try using one of those yellow, small cell kitchen sponges soon.
Another issue with this stamper- The material used to make the heads is squishy by nature. Care must be taken with how you apply images to your nails. "Rolling" and any type of firm pressure will lead to distorted stampings. What works best for me is gentle pressure with no rolling.

Please remember, this is a preliminary review of the D series fauxnad plates. I'll surely post another review in the future as I get to work with more images.

Many layered fauxnad, snakeskin!

2011-02-08T12:41:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
Oh my gosh- I'm so behind with everything! My boss infected me with the flu twice in the last two weeks. He's sick again, and this morning, my nose started running. Gah!

Anyway, I've been playing around with my new Chez Delaney fauxnad plates, and came by my finished design by stamping the full (haha,yea right) nail image from plate D17 multiple times. Base was China Glaze FYI, stamped over with several glitter jellies, a shimmer and a couple of holos. I topped it all off with CND Jade Sparkle, an un-named mini with glitter and Seche.

You'll have to click on the pictures to see all the glitter in this design...it's so pretty! This is seriously the most photogenic mani I've ever had...every picture was a winner.

Green Disco Ball nails

2011-01-28T03:49:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
While I'm busy playing with new plate, here's a mani from the Vault that looked awesome flashy and magical in real life, but horrible in pictures. Credit for the idea goes to Deez Nailz in this post.
I hadn't planned on doing this mani at the time...it was more on the lines of playing with sequins on an old mani (Revlon Emerald City). Were I to take my time with this idea again, I would definitely choose a base polish that had more shimmer in it as well as place the sequins closer together.
In spite of the application flaws, this mani got a tremendous amount of compliments, and was fun to wear.

Layered fauxnad!

2011-01-19T01:28:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
Nailene Acrylic Strong does NOT make a good topcoat for 'nadding, unless you're hardcore into the smudged look. Wanna know just how bad this topcoat is? The stamping polishes I used for this mani were not stamping polishes, they were regular polishes!
I'm really disappointed because I had planned on wearing this mani for a couple of days.
All pics are clickable...

Smudge City

Nails were sponged with polish, followed by the stamping of several floral images over the sponged areas in matching polish colors. The design was then accented with black stamping and black sequins.
If anyone is interested in the colors and plates used, please ask in comments.

Guide Grafix

2011-01-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
This would have been so much better had the red not bled from the holo dot stickers I used.
Base is 3 coats of Revlon Bubble Gum (scented). Mani was masked off using straight and curved french tip guides from Orly and Kiss. One coat of OPI Miami Beet applied to the exposed areas.

The holo dots were purchased from Michael's craft store. I have them in silver, gold, pink, red and black. Being very thin, they are a great alternative to rhinestones and sequins. Each dot is embedded in slightly elevated metallic ring making them look like gems in a setting. Anyway, this is my first time using the red, and they looked great until Seche ate through the color.
Pictures are clickable;

Navy Jelly and contest winner

2011-01-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
For all my Followers who entered the Name My Franken contest- Choosing was difficult...I loved all your suggestions. I narrowed it down to three, slept on it a couple of days, and decided on peripatetic33's Seren-Dippity. Please forward your address to glammed_upblog at yahoo dot com.

Also- in keeping with the tradition of the Wicked Vixens, I will be announcing a Giveaway when I reach 666 Followers.
Watch this space...especially if you have a thing for gorgeous navy jellies. The nail polish used in today's NOTD will be one of the lacquers offered in my 666 Giveaway!

Ruby Kisses Regaled Out Blue, the perfect 2 coat navy jelly.
Click on pictures to enlarge...

If I was able to give an award to the most improved nail polish, it would go, hands down, to Ruby Kisses.
This little known company did an outstanding job with reformulating their lacquers, changing to a quality brush and adding classy, new, labling, they deserve some serious consideration.
I love that Ruby Kisses is priced at an affordable $.99- $1.49 per bottle- BUT- I think their image would improve greatly if they raise prices. Being cheap is undermining the fact that the polish is quality.

Product fail

2011-01-05T13:43:00.000-05:00

Hey Kids!
Such a shame that these gorgeous metallic looking nail art flowers ended up looking like Rice Krispies on my nails. After testing every top coat I own, Nailene Strong was the best option in regards to keeping the finish somewhat intact on these flowers. I used one coat of it, however, I made the mistake of following that up with a coat of Seche. I have to say that my pictures make these flowers look worse than what my eyes actually see.

glowing blue embers FCC #6

2011-01-04T12:22:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
WooHoo! With the holidays over, I get to enjoy a couple of low stress months at the restaurant.
Anyway, I have a gorgeous NOTD to show you today, but before that I wanted to thank all the Bloggers who are posting lesser known polish swatches. For me they are a breath of fresh air from the stuffiness of the same old OPI, China Glaze, Orly...etc. I also want to mention that I've decided to edit the rules for Name My Franken contest. You may enter as many names as you like- no limit!

So, here it is, my NOTD. This color the most saturated and glowiest dark blue shimmer I have in my collection. Funny thing, though, until I applied a top coat, it looked exactly like my bottle pic, which is pretty much an unremarkable blue. I'm not sure why a top coat affected the color/finish in this way. I'm not complaining...this is definitely a gorgeous color, especially considering it was a $1 FCC.
Pictures are clickable.

Looking all nonchalant in the bottle...

Mani- 2 coats FCC #6, 1 coat Seche

I've received several emails from Readers interested in swapping for some of these FCCs. At present, I don't have any back-ups to do so, however, I'm crossing my fingers that the Dollar Store where I purchased these from will re-stock.

Name my franken contest, no entry limit!

2010-12-30T13:57:00.001-05:00

Hi Kids!
I've been saving something special for the last post of 2010 here in Glammed-Up. It's a franken I made last year that came thisclose to being dumped in the trash can.
Although I make a lot of frankens, most don't ever get showcased in this blog. The majority of them are nothing really special...mostly a doctoring up of dupes so they're slightly different and frankening lacquers solely for stamping.

Last year, when I was on a quest to franken RBL Scrangie, I put together the franken I'm bringing you today. It's made of WnW Clear, minerals and/or pigments- no other polish. I was going to dump it out when the pigment used for the base color refused to mix properly even with 3 ballz in the bottle. Having made so many Scrangie fails, I lost interest in making any more and being too lazy to salvage bottle, brush and ballz, I just put this one aside and forgot about it...
Until my daughter, Amber, called me from work one day to to gush about how extraordinarily pretty the polish she was wearing was and to ask me where it had come from. I was confused until she described it to me...it was my franken! Catching her excitement, I took down the bottle and swatched it on a nail wheel. After months of sitting on the shelf, the base pigment had totally dissolved into the clear, and it was just as pretty as she said it was!

It's unfortunate that I cannot remember how I made this. The 2 ingredients I am 100% sure I used were WnW Clear and Manganese Violet pigment. I have no idea what the tri-chrome sparkles are...something I have from TKB, Aromaleigh, a mix of the 2 or something else. I don't recall seeing this effect when I first made it, so maybe it's in the process of sitting/marinating that aligned these sparkle particles this way, or maybe they *were* there all along but invisible to my eye due to the base color problems.

My un-named franken is a sheer red purple with sparkle flecks that travel from blue to pinkish purple to (camera elusive) turquoise. It would take 5 to 6 coats to reach bottle color, however, since I have only 2/3 of a bottle, I chose to layer my franken over 2 coats of Rimmel Violet Metal.

I am very proud of this franken and love it to pieces. It deserves to have a name...and that's where you come in, Readers. Since I lack the skill it takes to come up with a fitting name, I'm leaving it up to one of you.
Name my Franken Rules;
1.) Open to USA only (sorry)
2.) You must be a Follower (show me how)
3.) It must be clever (as an example this post from Body and Soul. I LOVE the name You Sleigh Me from Forsythe)
4.) Enter as many names as you can think of!!!
The winner will receive; Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, Opulent Cloud, Mystic Lilac, Purple Gala and a small decant of my franken. (Picture at the end of this post)
Contest ends January 9, 2011

After all that, I guess I should show you my pretty....
Pictures taken randomly- with top coat, without, before clean-up after, and in different light conditions. Shifting colors are so hard to capture, so please excuse the 15 + or - pictures I'm about to post. For some reason, my camera made the blue look super dark and saturated. In rl it is lighter like the second bottle picture. Anyway, since there are so many, I've kept them small and leave it to you to click for the larger versions.

I think I remembered to post everything. If I've forgotten anything, I will add it later.
Good Luck everyone...and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Winnings;
(Small bottle is for reference. It does not contain my franken yet)

Freehand flower garden

2010-12-28T11:52:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids
It's been a long time since I picked up a brush to paint...2003, I believe...when I redecorated my sewing/craft studio. That said, most of my painting supplies were for painting on furniture and other large surfaces. Since I had the day off on Sunday due to the snow, I trekked over to Michael's for some paint and brushes.

Geez Louise- things have gone up in price! Instead of leaving with the Liquitex set I planned on getting ($90), I got a Reeves Intro Set for a sweet $11.99, a bunch of brushes and a new clean-up brush.

Anyway, I didn't have as much time to spend on my nails as I thought I would. My dh did not get called into work like he said, so I had to juggle time spent between the 2. My flower garden mani didn't turn out too bad- definitely much nicer to look at than the view of 15+ inches of snow out my window. Considering the time I had and the fact that I've never freehanded on anything this small before, I'm happy with my first attempt.

The following pics taken at night under incandescent light, and not very color accurate. Click to make bigger...

bling;

The following pictures taken this morning under natural light and are more color accurate;

My dh picked the base color for this mani, China Glaze Rio. I used 1 coat of Rio over (my underwear), 2 coats of Avon Ballerina. I'm pretty much mortified at the condition of my hands in all my pics, especially this next one- don't click on it!
Black tips done using guides and 1 coat QingYu black;

Fauxnad plate T27, stamped with QingYu black. The purpose of stamping something here is to create depth...any image would do. I used the bubble image because I love it and needed to practice this problematic (for me) image.

Reeves Intro Set...18 tubes of color for $11.99!

Nfu-Oh #50 layered over black tips. Yellow rhinestones and iridescent hex glitter (AB crystal and black) also used.
2 coats of Seche...should and will get another before I leave for work.

Faux lace, layered fauxnad and Konad

2010-12-24T03:17:00.001-05:00

Hi Kids!
It's a good thing I Love this 'nadded mani so much. This year, the restaurant is open on Xmas day and I'll be too busy to even *think* about a different mani.
Anyway, this 'nadded faux lace was inspired by the way cool nail skinz You've Got Nail posted the other day.
Since this is my Xmas mani, I took the inspiration further and added sparkle.

This turned out soooo pretty...please click on the pictures to see them as they should...

Mani is 3 coats Brucci Princess Di
1 coat Love My Nails Dazzling
Konad M57
Fauxnad plates; A05, H16, H41, P21, P48, T33
Essence plates- 2 rectangular (no #s)
9 plates total!
QingYu black for stamping
Crystal AB rhinestones
Hard Candy Break Up applied in random places
2 coats Seche

One more...

Merry Christmas!

Xmas fauxnad, essie Very Cranberry

2010-12-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
Aaaaaaaaah... I'm feeling like my ~~old~~ self again...New nails ahead, and they are long!
Anyway!...Would you believe that while I have a fair amount of essie lacquers in my collection, I don't recall ever doing a full mani with one? I've passed them by for 1 reason... fear of application issues due to the puny brush essie is known for. With Very Cranberry on my nails, I found my fear unwarranted. The formula of this one made application a breeze even with the puny brush.

Very Cranberry, a neutral red, would look fabulous on just about every skin tone. I first thought this to be a creme, but it has a soft, very fine, micro shimmer, so I don't know what to call it. This is one of the few reds
that look good on me and that I feel comfortable wearing.
Here it is- 2 coats- and some fauxnad

Products used; Fauxnad plates H29, H25 & H14 stamped with a green franken and Qing Yu black, iridescent green stones and 2 coats Seche.

I really like this understated Christmas mani, though I'm not sure how long it will last...already I'm obsessed with touching the stones...only a matter of time before "picking mode" gets triggered...
Next 2 pics Very Cranberry alone. You may have to enlarge these to see the shimmer...

Red flakies and multi colored micro glitter on black

2010-12-20T11:59:00.000-05:00

Hiya Kids!
A couple of days ago, I had to remove my acrylics due to lifting. Unfortunately, I had to go through the weekend, which included my 49th birthday yesterday, with nubbins. With no free edge, my nails are nubby nubbins.
Anyway, this layered flakie, glitter mani had just the right amount of oomph to get me through the weekend.
I love how Love My Nails Dazzling turned into a rainbow of multi colored sparkle on my nails. Please click on pics...

Products I used:

Nutra Nail Bulletproof Strength (My dd loves this one. It has Kevlar fibers in the formula)

Instant Artificials

Color Club Where's The Soiree?

Franken- red jelly with red flakies and red hex glitter

Love My Nails Dazzling

2 coats Seche

Butterflies, glitter and fauxnad flowers

2010-12-17T13:16:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
Expecting me to jazz up yesterday's mani, Avon Glisten Scintillant with snowflakes?...NOT!
We got our first snow here in Southern New Jersey, so the last thing I wanted to wear on my nails was a winter theme.
'Tis the season for my whining and complaining about the cold. I hate winter. All those warm and fuzzy TV commercials with everyone gathered around the fireplace sipping hot chocolate and toddies does nothing for me. It's a sham...it's freaking COLD outside, and no kind of household heat can rid me of the radiant cold I feel creeping through the floorboards and through windows.
My husband is planning on retiring to the Mid West within 10 years. He will be going alone, I'm afraid. I'm going South, to get as close to the Equator as I can.
Anyway...
Cold, first snow...bad. Butterflies, flowers...good.
Yesterday's mani, Avon Glisten Scintillant topped off with body tattoo glitter butterflies and fauxnad flowers stamped with WnW Nocturnal using Essence plate from Ulta. I also accented the butterfly bodies with small hex glitter in several colors for some extra flash. Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and Nfu-Oh #50 also used to accent butterfly wings. 2 coats Seche.
I like this...
You'll have to click on these to get a better look at the pretty sparkle.

Out of focus

Here's the body tattoos I used. They're applied using water, just like water nail decals. The only drawback I have found with this type of glitter tattoos is that after they're on the nail, the surface feels sticky. Within a day, this sticky-ness will work its' way up and through topcoats. I'll be adding Barielle Extender to this before I leave for work to see if it helps with this issue.

Glisten Scintillant, Avon Mirror Shine

2010-12-16T12:16:00.001-05:00

Hi Kids!
I am not a huge fan of chrome polish on my nails for anything but stamping. The iciness of a chrome is too harsh for me...makes me feel cold, and I can't stand the cold. That said, I'm really surprised that I liked Avon Mirror Shine, Glisten Scintillant, enough to wear it as a full mani.

The difference of this chrome, from all the others in my collection, is in the frosty texture of the pigment/particles. This texture helps to reduce harsh iciness, making for a very pretty, soft, satiny, diffused chrome with a bright and large, glowing halo.
The formula of Avon Glisten Scintillant is quite remarkable. This is a 1 coater! The polish had a nice consistency, not too thin, not too thick and flowed smoothly on the nail without any brush strokes. What I liked best...although this dried quickly, it wasn't too fast...just enough time to go over and get even coverage.
I'm not too sure about Avon's choice of bottle, though...cheap, lightweight and plastic.

I'm wearing this sans top coat... click to make 'em bigger...

Very glow-y, even under low light...

Next pic is for texture comparison... NOT color accurate!

Ruby Pumps with gold holo sequin tips

2010-12-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
'Tis the season for Bling!
My NOTD

Yes...that's a Pizzelle I'm holding.
China Glaze Ruby Pumps and gold holo sequin tips. Second coat of Seche not quite dry as evidenced by lumpy pinky tip. I can't stand thick or lumpy tips, so I taped my mani off and removed Ruby pumps from the area...

I used a bit of Color Club Abracadabra (orange jelly with the sparkliest gold glitter ever) to fill in bald spots. I believe this was from a mini Halloween collection. I'd love to have a full sized bottle...soooo sparkley!

I used loose, large hex and small hex holo sequins and applied them with a dotting tool.

Ruby Pumps

Orly Winter Wonderland (over underwear)

2010-12-10T12:26:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
I can't believe I almost didn't buy this polish...It's beyond gorgeous!
Go figure, although I love and gravitate to dark and bold lacquers, Orly Winter Wonderland easily takes the #1 spot in my top 20 list if layered over my choice of underwear, Avon Ballerina.

I have been searching for a wearable polish in the white family forever, and I am beyond ecstatic that I found *the one* that looks good on me. I know this sound silly, but- I'm having a terrible time looking away from my nails long enough to type this post. My mind is twisted up in a tumble of stamping ideas for this glass flecked mani. (Jellies are going to look amazing stamped over this!)

Anyway...although my pictures are decent, the Macro setting sees the glass flecks in this polish as more grainey and lumpy than they really are. I think it's because the flecks have a silvered reflective coating and the setting sees this as opaque. In real life the glass flecks are more like a frosted sugar coating. Imagine the inside of a seashell but pulverized. I can't tell you how much I love this layered combo...neutral, soft and ethereal, sprinkled with bold.

I don't very much like my hands, or the fact that I have no other choice than to wear acrylics. With this mani, for the first time, ever, I'm not bothered by this. Winter Wonderland/Ballerina is magical for me...I feel like a Goddess.
I can't think of a single polish or layered combo that makes me feel this way.

Mani;
1 coat Orly Winter Wonderland
1 coat Avon Ballerina (soft, sheer, neutral pink jelly)
1 coat Seche
As far as formula is concerned, Avon Ballerina is amazingly streak free and super shiny at 1 coat, and is build-able to opaque in 3 coats. I recommend a thin first coat and each succeeding coat be applied thicker than the last. Brush was excellent!
The formula of Orly Winter Wonderland was goopy and thick. It's the type of polish that gets thicker the longer the brush is out of the bottle. Even after adding thinner, I had to be careful when wrapping my tips. As thin as I made it, by the time my nail was covered, the polish thickened too much on the brush to get a nice smooth tip. I had to re-dip the brush for the right consistency.

Funky French, The Show Must Go On!

2010-12-09T12:36:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
Be prepared for a lot of pictures... The color shifting pigments in OPI The Show Must Go On! are amazing!

Before I go on, I have to say that this Funky French was not a planned mani, but a back-up for a fail. I was thisclose to finishing an awesome layered fauxnad (on a turquoise base), when a slip up cost me the whole mani. Any other day, I would be very disappointed in losing the time invested into a mani- but not today...
The Show Must Go On is so striking and interesting, I don't even care about my fail!

Pictures taken under several lighting conditions. Clickable...
(cuticle area in a bit of a mess...the turquoise polish I had on prior to TSMGO pooled in some spots and was extremely difficult to remove)

2 coats OPI The Show Must Go On! over 2 coats 10 Professional Nail Lacquer Cocolate Kiss
Freehand chevron tips, 1 coat QingYu #57 black
Fauxnad H20 stamped with QingYu #57 black
Bundle Monster BM11 stamped with a gold franken over tips
Gold Holo dots from Jones Tones
2 coats Seche

Lilac foil

2010-12-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

Hi kids!
After the trouble I had removing my layered mani from a few days ago, it's going to be a very long time before I wear glitter and flakies together!
Removal was a time consuming, 3 step process; 1.) non-acetone remover to dissolve Seche top coat, 2.) nail drill to grind off glitter, flakie and crackle polish, 3.) and non-acetone remover to dissolve the Milani polish.

So, after all that work, I wanted to wear an easy to apply, quick dry, 2 coat polish, and being in the mood for something in the purple family, I chose S-he Stylezone #436, a pretty lilac foil. I think this polish makes my nails look elegant, and is the very type of mani I could wear for days if I had to.

Weird layered mani

2010-12-04T07:38:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
I have a weird layering mani for you today.
I started off with 2 coats of Milani Pink Out Loud, which I didn't like. Instead of removing my mani, I chose to cover it up with a purple crack polish I got in an old swap with Thriszha.
Unfortunately, I wasn't to keen on that combo and proceeded to add 1 layer each of Nfu-Oh 49 and 50, and then topped the whole shebang off with Love My Nails Dazzling.

The end result of this layered mani looks really cool, but I'm still on the fence on whether I like *this* many layers of polish on my nails.
Tons of pictures under all lighting conditions. Make them bigger to see all the detail!

Check this giveaway TIRNAKLAR FORA

2010-12-02T01:08:00.004-05:00

Hi Kids!
Would you believe me if I told you that I've only entered 2 giveaways- ever?

I really, really love the giveaway that Dilek is hosting on her blog Tirnaklar Fora. I'm totally nuts about holos and brands I cannot get in the USA, and her giveaway is a marvelous collection of holos and a rainbow of colored bullion in the cutest little jars!
I love finding and following new blogs, and Dilek's Tirnaklar Fora is a lovely addition to my blog-roll. Yay!

I hope I did this correctly...This post will be my first blog link...crosses fingers.

Cl-icky link...

TIRNAKLAR FORA: 100.Post Giveaway: "Booty holografik ojeleri çok merak edildi.100.yazım için sizlere holografik ojelerden ve renkli tırnak süslerinden vermek istedim. Kurallar..."

Revlon Royal... Cobalt jelly, anyone?

2010-11-30T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
I can't believe I haven't seen anyone Blog about the new Revlon Top Speed enamels! I found a large step display in Walgreens and picked up 2- Royal and Emerald.

Revlon Royal is an unbelievably gorgeous shade of deep cobalt blue. This is one of those polishes that's not a creme, and not a full jelly, but somewhere between, a hybrid. For the sake of classification, I'm going to say this is a highly pigmented jelly. The formula is thick and sticky, making application a bit tricky because it's too thick for the Revlon brush. I didn't add thinner because I knew from swatching on a nail wheel that Royal is a 2 coater, and I didn't want to mess with that. This polish skimmed over very quickly and dried to the touch to a satin finish in minutes.

I love this one sooooo much. Revlon Royal positively glows with richness, and depth and is the most perfect shade of vivid cobalt blue I have ever seen in a nail polish. It's unfortunate that my pictures do not bring out just how amazingly rich, deep and vivid this polish really is.
Click to make bigger...

This is why I'm calling this a jelly. Look at how glow-y this looks with light shining through!

Here is a side by side with Orly Royal Navy. If you back away from your monitor, you can see the base difference a bit better. Irl, tRevlon Royal looks *almost* blurple next to the Orly.

Golden Ticket Tiger Stripes fauxnad

2010-11-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
I finally have a few minutes to slip in a quick post today. I've been doing my nails, but haven't had the time to take pictures. We're very short staffed at the restaurant and it's causing all kinds of stress for me in addition to sucking up all my free time and inspiration.

Anyway, since I did not have time last night to change my current mani, Sally Hansen Golden Ticket, I decided to "refresh" it with some fauxnad. Although not very creative or imaginative, I settled on doing the tiger stripe full nail stamp from fauxnad plate H3.
Mani;
2 coats Isadora Apricot (sheer apricot with a bold golden shimmer)
2 coats Sally Hansen Golden Ticket (not very "golden" to me...sheer apricot base with brass and lite copper glitter)
Fauxnad plate H3 stamped with my Dollar Store find- QingYu #57- The blackest pigmented black I own to date)
1 coat Seche
Although animal prints are not really my thing, I do think the tiger stripes work well with Golden Ticket. The base and stamp are equally bold, giving this mani good balance. The stamp does not detract from or over-power the sparkley base. Click to make these bigger...

Stars and arrows funky french and fauxnad

2010-11-17T10:22:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
I'm back with a full image fauxnad from Bundle Monster plate BM20 along with a bit of Fing'rs nail stickers. I put this on a funky french that I free-handed with Color Club Where's The Soiree. I also layered some shimmer sparkle from I franken I made by mixing equal parts, NYC Love Letters and Revlon Sheer Sparkling Nude over the hot pink base I posted the other day. After adding the stickers, I felt that the fauxnad needed something more, so I dotted colors found in the stickers to accent the centers of the stars.

Although this is not my style, I couldn't help but smile every time I looked down at my nails.

3 NOTDs, Color Zone, BB Couture and Risk

2010-11-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
We were super busy at the restaurant every day last week....thank goodness it's finally over!
No rest for the weary, though. I woke up early today to get a good start on sorting summer and non fitting clothes from my closet and bureau. I have 8 loads of laundry to tackle! I also have an awesome jewelry and belt organizing idea I'd like to get to today as well. That may be biting off more than I can chew on my only day off, especially since my sanity is in dire straights right now and would benefit some serious attention via nail art.
Lolly-gagging - certainly not an option today if I want to get anything done...

My current mani is 3 coats of a hot pink pearl from a trio of colors by Color Zone. Unfortunately, I threw out the packaging, (and all the information it contained), shortly after I purchased the set in August 2009. The hot purple from that set turned out to be very pigmented, and is my "go to" purple stamping polish.
I'm happy I chose to wear this pretty, pearly hot pink. Even though it's a bit streaky, it turned out to be the perfect color for the weather today- overcast and dreary. If this mani survives my wardrobe organization, you'll get to see some nail art on it tomorrow.
Oh yea...lookit how short my nails are! I removed a lot of acrylic with my last fill and filed the tips to the length of my natural nails.

Saturday's mani...3 coats BB Couture Peony Pink. The formula on this really sucked. It was thin, runny, very hard to control, and the blue flash from the bottle- totally invisible on the nail. I tried to save this mani with Dazzling, a very delicate, iridescent glitter, top coat from Love My Nails to no avail. This looked terrible on me.

Next, mani from last Tuesday. 3 coats Midnight Cruise, a pretty blue shimmer from Risk. Formula was wonderful on this one and it dried fairly quick. Midnight Cruise is one in a set of 4 polishes purchased at Ross. After a couple of days, I added 1 coat of China Glaze Shooting Stars.

$1 well spent!

2010-11-08T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hi Kids!
Goodness- is this purple polish amazingly glow-y and gorgeous- or what?
This is just what I needed after the very cool toned, Avon Olive Green mani from last week.

A couple of weeks ago, I hauled 8 FCC lacquers from a dollar store. At a dollar each, I wasn't expecting much from the polishes. Honestly, I was only after the pretty gold toned, filigree encased, bottles, and am truly surprised with the quality of these lacquers. I wouldn't call them outstanding, or anything like that...but they are good.

Although not a dupe, FCC 21 is very similar to Claire's Magic...same formula, same blurple base, but he shimmers differ. FCC 21 has a finer, more prominent and warmer shimmer that glows twice as hard as Magic's. The color of the shimmer pigment differs as well. FCC 21's plum shimmer pulls more magenta.
It's very, very pretty with my skin tone. What I like most about FCC 21 is the chameleon like properties it has. The color changes it makes under different lighting conditions is quite amazing. It certainly had a lot of people thinking I was in a constant flux of changing my nail polish all weekend.

My camera did a decent job at bringing out all the color facets of FCC 21...

I'll be removing this today, and am not sure what color I want to wear!
I'm *really* itching to get back to 'nadding.

Avon Olive Green

2010-11-04T11:45:00.001-04:00

Hi Kids!
I'm back with another Avon Nailwear Pro. Since Olive Green was my biggest color disappointment in my Avon haul, I was just going to put it up on my "greens" shelf, untried. When my Blog buddy, Sasha from Nihrida, left a comment on my Avon haul post, showing an interest in this one, I changed my mind.

Anyway, Olive Green is a blue leaning, drab green, creme. It's too blue to be called olive or an army green.. As I worked the register last night, it dawned on me where I had seen this color before...Avon Olive Green is the exact shade of green found on US paper money.

The formula of Olive Green skins over very quickly, and it's on the thick side. Because it's very pigmented, and on the thick side, this polish would make a perfect 1 coat mani for those with short nails. I, however, got a lot of drag ridges, (almost every nail), applying the first coat. For long nail gals like me, add thinner ( I did 13 drops). It did wonders for the consistency, and I was able to get the second coat to level out/fill in the ridges of my first coat quite nicely.
Something worth mentioning...I had to shake my bottle of Olive Green- a lot. The pigments in this polish separate something terrible, and are very visible not only from outside the bottle as marbling, but on the brush as well in long blue and yellow streaks. I shook my bottle vigorously every couple of nails and did not get a single bubble.

I color categorize Avon Olive Green in the very popular, color tone of the season... with all those greyed out, tauped out, smoked out colors and greiges. I lump all those polishes in what I call Grunge. The mood of those types of colors remind me of the Grunge music movement of the 90s... Organic, distorted, toned down, dirty and a little depressing .
I'm betting that 10 to 20 years from now the Grunge color fad of the present will be seen not chic- but depressing, as noted above. I truly believe that the colors in fashion are a reflection of the over-all mood of people in industrialized countries, just like all the brights, patterns, must have vivid eyes, cheeks and lips, over-sized shoulders & accessories, and bling on bling of the 80s were the reflection of the excesses of that decade. I don't believe that Grunge colors will get as big as what happened in fashion during the 80s- no, nothing will ever top that.

Good grief, I'm rattling on and on!
I'm a bit nervous about some Ultrasound results, and it's showing.

Avon Olive Green mani- 2 coats, 1 coat Seche;

NOTD Avon Lagoon

2010-10-30T09:34:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids!
All I have time for today is my NOTD. Avon Lagoon.

When my avon rep, Chelsea, brought my Bag of Goodies into the restaurant, our plumber, Chris was sitting next to me at the counter. Being the he-man type, he was not into to all the pretty colors being un-boxed until he caught sight of Lagoon, a slightly brushstroke-y almost frost, periwinkle blue with a royal blue flash . He said that in the automotive industry, Lagoon would be considered to be a "flip flop" paint color. Since he was so fascinated by Lagoon, I decided it would be my NOTD.

Being quite thin and runny, I used 3 coats. I think a 4th coat applied with a very light touch would have helped eliminate brushstrokes. I am not crazy about brushstrokes, but this one does not look too bad. Although Lagoon looks better on the color swatch in the Avon book, it has grown on me. Flash polishes always do me in, and this one certainly looks pretty with its glowing blue.
(My apostrophe is screwing up my posts...wth?)
Anyway, as always, pictures are clickable. All these were taken after a days wear, and under halogen lighting in my bathroom...

Avon haul!

2010-10-29T05:33:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I dropped a nice chunk o' change on Avon products this week. 14 nail polishes, 2 of which, are back-ordered and 4 eyeliners.
Here's the nailpolish...

FCC 34 EDIT! spooky tattoos as nail art!

2010-10-27T12:54:00.003-04:00

Hi Kids!
Before I get to my review of another FCC nail polish, I have to mention that FCC #39, the beautiful, glowing molten red I wore a couple of posts ago, stained my acrylics something fierce. The staining went so deep no amount of buffing would remove it. It's all good though, the staining forced me to do my fill, which I should have done a week ago.
I also want to say that FCC #39 removed quickly...topcoat and color came off with 1 swipe. The silver foil that was left behind came off with with a couple of more swipes...then surprise- red staining!

Anyway, I really wanted to try one of the blue FCCs, however, since I experienced staining with the red, I wasn't taking chances with blues. Since I just did my fill, I opted for a lighter color. Nothing new there...I tend to wear lighter colors on new acrylic, moving my way towards darks the closer I get to my fill.

FCC #34 is a silver champagne foil. It applied like a dream and was opaque in 2 coats. Like the red #39, #34 is a grain-ey type foil. After topcoat, it magically transformed into a smooth brushed metallic. Very pretty! I threw in the word champagne for the lack of a better description. This polish has a warm champagne gold involved in the formulation. I'm not sure if some of the foil particles flash soft gold, or it's in the base. Although not visible looking at the bottle color, the soft champagne gold is subtly noticeable on the nail, making the color a neutral.

Of course I have pictures...
I also photographed a card of spooky body tattoos that I'm going to put on my mani.
EDIT!
Very quickly, cause I have to go to work and this will def get scratched up; Make these bigger...they're wayyyy cool! Body tattoo stickers work on nails. Oh, the possibilities!
Pics are clickable

In non-nail news;
I believe I mentioned/alluded to, in a prior post, the prescribed Valium I'm taking to help with anxiety that's compromising my BP med therapy. It trips me out that I can take 60 to 80mg of pure liquid Morphine for pain management with no effects what-so-ever, and 1 10mg Valium makes me uncontrollably sleepy and drunk like.
Yesterday, while at my PC desk, my head fell forward onto the desk and I fell asleep on a ceramic coaster. My forehead sat on that coaster- for I don't know how long- until my husband came by and woke me up.
The imprint of the coaster stayed on my forehead overnight. Although I don't have a visible bruise, my forehead is freaking sore as heck. I can't even touch it it without experiencing pain like a severe bruise. WTF?
Here's the ~~coaster~~ weapon;

That's one thick, and hard coaster!!!

More news...Remember the waitress who I nicknamed "juicey" on this Blog? The one who caused mega drama? Well, she quit. I had to fight with the owner to NOT beg her to come back. He wanted that psycho to be head waitress. CYBI? My boss is, for some reason, drawn to people with emotional issues...and he invariably turns them into monsters that I have to deal with.
I am 100% sure this was a play for power on her part. Make herself non-expendable and quit so he would call her back and give her a position with power. I know this because she has a big mouth... she subtly broadcasted her intent on Facebook. Funny shit...she's still waiting for one of us to call (also on Facebook) Stupid girl.

Anyway! I'm going to stop this rambling and get to those body tattoos. Crossing my fingers they will not only work, but be visible.

FCC polish haul!

2010-10-26T00:31:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
After my last post, I put on a pair of boots, jumped in my car and drove a mile to the Dollar store that has the FCC polishes. For the Reader who asked...it's called Dollar One. The husband and wife owners are Eastern Indian and are super nice. The husband told me that they had already sold several displays of the FCC polishes and he forgot to order more. I mentioned that I would buy any polish in ornate bottles as long as they're not frosty. I'm sure he can't cherry pick colors for whole displays, however, I did tell him I'd be his best customer for brights and anything on the dark side...purples, greens, teals, oranges and anything glitter.

Anyway, I grabbed 10 more FCC polishes and a black and a blue by another unheard of brand QingYU. Now that I think of it, I should have purchased all the clear FCC polishes...my favorite polishes would look lovely decanted into those bottles, as would my favorite frankens. Dang!

Double dang! I just remembered I purchased a Bingo scratch-off lottery card I have yet to touch!
Here's my Dollar store haul... all $12.36 of it. (My county is in the 3% tax zone)
I set-up my haul display with Halloween in mind.
2 light sources;

The red on the left is a true jelly...whoo hoo!

Oh yeh...I've been meaning to post this question for a month. NJ is in the midst of a Stink Bug plague...they're everywhwere...I can't sleep at night for the helicopter noise they make when all is quiet and they're a flying.
I call them stink bug because when they're crushed, they stink. Little did I know. scientidtd snd entomologists use stinkbugs as they're common name!

Anyone else have a stink bug outbreak?
Here's what the critter looks like;
Ewww...creepy red eyes!

You gotta' see this!

2010-10-25T14:40:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids, check this polish out!
If you're a fan of Mary's Blog, Body and Soul, you've seen this brand before here and here. Her sister purchased them last August for a surprising $1(each) at a flea market in South Carolina.

The awesome pictures Mary posted created an instant lemming for me. Honestly, I wasn't much interested in the polishes. What I really wanted were the stunning bottles! My favorite being the one that looks like a filigree cage.

I never thought these polishes/bottles would be mine, so imagine my surprise when I found them by accident at a local dollar store I never go to!
My favorite FCC #39;

The bottle is to die for and so is the color! It's a 2 coater with a great brush.
I can't stress enough that you just *have* to click each and every one of these pictures to get the full effect of this awesome glowing polish. I feel like I *stole* this cheap-o at $1. Forgive my gushing excitement...I believe the last time I was *this* excited about a polish was when I traded my brand new, unopened teal flashing MPJ for the 3/4 full original holo MPJ at the last nail salon I was using.

Look at how this metallic glows! Now, I don't have MAC Bad Fairy, but from swatches and descriptions I've read, the duochrome properties of BF is soft and only visible under certain light conditions. My FCC #39 has a soft duochrome thing going on under certain lighting. I would not call it a dupe, however, it has totally killed my lemming for BF for sure...it's *that* gorgeous!!! Please enlarge all these pics to get the full effect of this polish.

Color without topcoat looks like a silvered red foil. Upon applying a topcoat it magically transforms into a molten, glowing red metallic with flashes of gold/orange and fuchsia. Just stunning!!! Please click to get a close-up of the difference. Bottom is a fakie without a TC.

Close-up of bottle color. The silver you see disappears after applying a topcoat.

I <3 FCC #39 so much!!! I can't decide which is more beautiful, bottle or polish?
I also grabbed a filigree cages blackened red and the following;

I grabbed the above (FCC #65) thinking it was a glitter with flakies. Upon swatching, I realized that the goldish floaties were iridescent hex glitter- and not flakies. It's still pretty though.
I'm leaving right after posting this to grab some more. The almost empty FCC display had several different bottle types, one of which was kind of bullet shaped similar to a Cover Girl Lashblast mascara tube but smaller. That one was a dusty griege purple and I want!

Here's more FCC #39

Going batty fauxnad

2010-10-23T02:53:00.001-04:00

Hi Kids!
Here's my first Halloween inspired fauxnadicure of the season...more than a little late according to my Goth Card. For a while there, I was afraid the men in black coats would revoke my card, however, since my mani is kind'a cool, I'm confident that my card is safe for the time being.

This fauxnadicure was really hard to photograph, so be prepared to be bombarded with more pictures than I should posting. As always, they're clickable for the ginormous size.

*Base was an old Maybelline Express Finish, Fiji Plum, 3 coats. This polish doesn't look plum at all, it's really a dusty, berry red with red flashing to gold glitter.
*Moon is Nfu-Oh #61 applied using a reinforcer on middle nail
*One coat layer of Ruby Kisses in Fuzzy Navel...a sheer, orange jelly.
*While the layer was still wet, I brushed on and swirled a dark franken in random places. I was going for the illusion of dark clouds in a red night sky.
*Since the night sky is always brighter around the Moon, I ringed it with China Glaze Orange Knockout and also added it between the clouds, concentrating most of the intensity on the middle nail and lightly radiating it out to the inside edges of my index and ring nails. Thumb and pinky are the furthest from the Moon, so I left them darker.
Bat images applied using a Color Club mini in black.
*Plates; T13, H17, BM13.
*Stamped (the solid) witch riding her broom on my thumbs

Staining Nina Ultra Pro Love Struck, LOL a peenshroom!

2010-10-19T08:46:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids...I meant to post this last week, after removing my cherries fauxnad.
Look at the staining I got with NUP Love Struck;

The staining this polish left was so opaque, I barely had vnl. Since I was originally going to wear a blue, I used a base coat, and just look at what happened! Staining was so deep, I had to grind away 1/3 of my acrylic. I'm not sure if Nina Ultra Pro Love Struck will do the same on natural nails. At any rate, I'd recommend doubling up on a good base coat before applying this one.
Although the staining was horrendous, it doesn't change the fact that Nina Ultra Pro Love Struck is my #1 favorite red.

For the heck of it, I'm closing this post with a bit of funny.
Last week while my dh and I were on a leiserly walk through the woods, I came upon this;

Giant peen mushroom! I wish I had taken these pics from the angle that showcased the "helmet" better, but I was laughing so hard I could barely keep my camera still. It didn't help that dh asked if I felt the need to take the giant peenshroom home.
Since dh is such a fungi, (yes, I crack myself up...at 49, I'm allowed to be corny), I'm going to back and grab this thing and put it on my nightstand.

SH Garnet Lapis Prism, worthy of a weeks wear

2010-10-18T02:48:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids! Long time no post...10 days to be exact- with good reason(s). I'll get into that after nail polish stuff.
My NOTW has been 2 coats of Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis Prism over 1 coat Pure Ice All Night Long.
Prepare yourself for lots of pictures...Garnet Lapis is a gorgeous, multi-chrome chameleon.
There is so much more I want to say about this polish, but am unable to because Valium is making my normally inarticulate mind even more confounded where words are concerned. Not even sure if that last sentence makes any sense.
I can, however, post my pictures without fear of sounding stupid....
Garnet Lapis has many facets. You can check it closer by clicking the pictures to make em bigger...
Most pictures taken after a week of wear;

So, that's it- Garnet Lapis, a great polish to wear and be mesmerized by while sitting in the dentists chair for 7 out of 10 days.
It's also been a great "pick-me-up" after my chest X-ray confirmed my suspicion that I have Emphysema...one of my rewards from smoking...Which, by the way- for those of you who smoke- IS NOT REVERSIBLE.
I'm not writing this for pity- I knew what the risks were. That said, please do not comment with "I'm sorry"-that will offend me greatly.

Cherries fauxnadedit

2010-10-07T03:08:00.002-04:00

Hi Kids!
I am tickled pink at how nice my fauxnadicure turned out!
9 pictures, 3 different light sources.
Pictures are clickable...
Sun

Incandescent light...

Fluorescent light... Overall, most color accurate

With the exception of black, all the stamping polishes are my newest frankens, and were created specifically to give my faunadicures more dimension.
All the traditional stamping polishes I've used tend to be one dimensional and just sit there on top of the nail. Not a good look if you're into multiple colors and layering.
With that in mind, I used a mixture of- polishes and pigments that have a flash, shimmers, frosts, metallics, and in the 2 greens used today, holos. I really love how my frankens turned out...they seem to sit deep within the mani. It's very similar to the difference between a pattern woven into a silk scarf opposed to a pattern printed on a silk scarf. The woven pattern is more dimensional and richer.

I'm having so much fun messing with these frankens...there is always the element of surprise. ? I don't know what finish within the stamping polish will dominate until I apply a top coat. (Base color also changes what the stamping polish will do.) The franken I used for the cherries is actually a light coral, but after applying Seche, it looks like a hot, glowing, cherry red over Nina Ultra Pro Love Struck!

Oooops! For got to give plate numbers...
Cherries- essence rectangular plate (from a swap with the lovely Tiana) and partials from BM21
Leaves- BM05
branch thingies- fauxnad A07

I also forgot to post this...
Does this happen to anyone else?
Mani is FULLY cured, but without top coat. It is NOT dentable.
Granted, I sleep on my hands as well as have them under my pillow. As per my dh, the area doesn't go over body temp- 98.6.

Odd that a temp of 98.6 softens polish enough to do this.

Nina Ultra Pro so underated!

2010-10-05T13:46:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
It's weird how fast tastes change. Half a year ago I hated red polish, and now, I can't get enough of them!
I was hoping that Nina Ultra Pro Love Struck would be a great red. I was wrong....It's an amazing red!
I have to laugh at myself...applying Love struck was thrilling- yes, it's *that* good. A dream to apply and sooo shiney!
2 coats of Love Struck looks good to me, however, because I have work tonight, I may need another coat to cover scratches. Stay tuned...this mani really deserves some 'nadding!

No clean-up yet and please ignore my parched skin...
Overcast and rainy.
No top coat Kids...Look at that shine!!!!!!!
Pics are clickable...

1 thick coat on plastic

Before I forget again- A special belated Thank You to Ange from Scandalously Polished...
I have now have one of her amazing frankens.
I am waiting for the sun to show itself so I can wear this awesome gift!
It feels wonderful that Ange thought of me for this holo franken- a warmer version of my "go to" polish OPI Passion.
<3 Thank You so much Ange!!! <3

Zombie Zest NOTWeekend

2010-10-04T22:41:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids!
Boy, am I ever glad I bought this polish! China Glaze Zombie Zest was not a planned buy, but more of an afterthought. I got it before the release date, when I picked up Orly Space Cadet and Galaxy Girl. I think I subconsciously chose Zombie Zest over It's Not Rocket Science because of the cool, Halloween inspired name. At any rate, I love it so much I stopped by Sally's to get Orly's version...better cap and more polish for the $. Once there, it didn't take long for China Glaze Mummy May I, Ick-A-Bod-y and Nina Ultra Pro Love Struck to jump in my basket, along with more boards and thinner.

Not a very good week for my wallet...Just the other day, I wiped out a whole display of my favorite, iridescent, fine glitter top coat- Love My Nails Dazzling. In addition to that, I grabbed 2 of the new Borghese matte glitters- Purple Confetti & Mediterraneo Sea, a few Claw Polishes (for the bottles) and a few beauty incidentals (wtf??? $17.99 for BigSexyHair hairspray?). 2 days, 2 bags, $200 :(

China Glaze Zombie Zest is great on it's own, however, I think layering it over black brings out the duochrome in the flecks. Mani is 2 coats Zombie Zest layered over 1 coat of Color Club Where's The Soiree? I put this on Saturday and aside from melted corners from pulling hot clothes out of the dryer and a bit of tip wear, it still looks great!
Have a look...pics are clickable...
Spots are raindrops

Close-up macro...Pretty, isn't it?

Here's a pretty of a different kind...
Nipple markers I had to wear for my mammogram today.
Being a mammogram tech has to be the best job ever. Large boobies, small boobies, young ones, old ones, sagging, perky, lop-sided...doesn't matter- they're all so beautiful.
My paternal grandmother was a breast cancer survivor, and so is my mother.

Fall leaves fauxnad/Konad

2010-09-29T13:41:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I can't believe how much dust was on my nadding plates! It's been too long, but I'm back. Business has slowed down at the restaurant enough for me to exit "machine mode" and enter an artsy state of mind. Yay!

Mani is 2 coats Ruby Kisses Neon in Yellow Bikini. Plates used- Konad m66 and Bundle Monster bm04. With the exception of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Orange You Fast! and Color Club Ms Socialite all stamping polishes are frankens, and topped with 1 coat Seche. Although this is not one of my best nadded manis, I really wanted something ultra colorful, quick and easy.

Please excuse the condition of my hands. My new BP meds are making my skin peel. I slathered on a thick coat of Mango Mend over damp hands for relief. Oily-ish hands and taking pictures at my tree covered in ivy = speckley fallout and a cobweb that I could not get off.
Also, pay no attention to the nasty, dirty old cycle grip I'm using as a prop/grip in some pictures. My aging fingers are twisting. In order for me to get them straight, I have to manually adjust them and the texture of the grip helps keep them in place.
Pictures taken under cloudy skies.

I'm still not feeling "myself"...trying to get to the bottom of some health issues and job stress is still in the red zone.
You all know about my health stuff, but I've kept work stuff to myself cause it's usually boring if one is not in the business. This time I'm going to make an exception...only because it's "juicey".
One of my super ambitious servers is doing all she can to take my job. Unfortunate for her, she actually told someone "I'll do whatever it takes to get her out and then take her place." Mistake #1. She also stalks the owner's house, riding by it up to half a dozen times a day. Mistake #2. Mistake #3, and this is the biggest, she has an attribute inherent to her personality that the owner despises in his employees- the need to dominate.

Her mother works as a secretary at my husbands job, and I hired her as a favor. She's a great server, so I don't have regrets and I don't hate her. I have to laugh...Her mother started screwing the Director in order to oust another secretary and to make $1 more an hour than the highest paid secretary.
How's that for the apple not falling far from the tree?

I have no fear about losing my job. After 3 years as manager, the owner, George, gave me a key to the office yesterday. While it may not sound like a big deal, it is. Not being family, I am the only "outsider" person in charge at the restaurant. Even the 3rd owner, who *is* family, does not have a key.

Ruby Kisses Yellow Bikini

2010-09-28T11:34:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Does a 2 coat, non-streaky yellow creme exist? Is it possible to find such a polish for under $2? Yes, YES!!!
Since seeing is believing, I'm showing you what 1 coat of Ruby Kisses Neon in Yellow Bikini looks like. Before I do, though, I have to say that this is not a neon yellow, but a straight-up, well pigmented, Primary yellow, that dries to a gloss finish. The formula is thick-ish, but not too. It's also a bit sticky...perhaps stretchy would be a better adjective to use here.

Yellow Bikini has the potential to be a 1 coater on shorter nails than mine...if one takes advantage of the super loadable brush and work with the viscosity rather than fight it. What I mean...with brush loaded, set aside some polish by puddling it with the flat side of the brush dead center of the nail, to avoid flooding the cuticle area. Immediately create your gap and apply soft pressure to cover nail with polish. At this time you will notice that more polish is making it's way down the brush...don't stop- go back over the nail- do not let brush make contact with nail, but "stretch" that additional polish overstroking what you have already laid down. Dragging will not be a problem because this superb formula has a wonderfully long "open time" and does not "skim over" very quickly.

Yellow Bikini is the second polish from Ruby Kisses Neon I've worn, and I have to say, I'm truly impressed with this collection- right down to the gorgeous label on the bottle! You can see the orange mani here.

Now that you've listened me hype Yellow Bikini up, here are some quick pictures.
I have a few bubbles because, my bad, I shake my polish bottles. It's also repair day for me, so my cuticles are torn up *and* since this is about to get coat 2, no clean-up.
Remember...this is 1 coat Kids!

\

How's that for a $1.99 yellow polish?

Stay tuned...fauxnading to come with this one!!!!! YAY!!!!!

Concrete, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

2010-09-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I'm 2 for 2...2 cremes in 2 weeks, a new record for me! I was going to say Idkw I have on another creme, but I think I figured it out. Like Nina Ultra Pro Salsa, the formula of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Concrete is a wanna-be-jelly. Not as dense as a true creme, both of these polishes are one step away from being semi jelly. For me, this type of formula flows on my nails like silk, and any application mistakes I make are easily corrected with spot touch-ups.

Concrete is one of the new Xtreme Wears from Sally Hansen. Not being a greige lover, I would have passed on this one had I not seen it swatched on someone's Blog. The slight, warm, mauvish tone to this color, makes it unique and very complimentary to my skin tone. Along with this one, I also picked up Purple Gala and Mystic Lilac. I started to layer Mystic Lilac over Concrete, but it wiped out the pretty, warm, mauve-y thing going on. I wasn't ready to explore the cool tone it added to my mani, so I quickly removed it.

I did come up with a "Mystic" (green shimmer) layering solution for Concrete without sacrificing the mauve tone...1 coat of Pure Ice Heart Breaker. As evidenced by my fakey top-to-bottom swatch, a mauve-y version of Mystic Lilac can be achieved...Mystic Concrete!!!

I love everything about this 2 coat mani! For now, I'm happy with Concrete in it's pure state, but who knows...I may "mystify" it tomorrow.

No sun- overcast...first 2 are not quite color accurate.
I think the blue morning glories had something to do with this.
As always, pictures are all clickable for giant view.

This next one is color accurate!

Concrete, Purple Gala, Mystic Lilac

Top half, Mystic Lilac
Bottom half, Concrete with 1 coat Pure Ice Heart Breaker

Everyone loves pretty!

Deeper

Flakie Ms Socialite pedi, and NOTD

2010-09-23T12:41:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Fall is officially here, and while I don't ascribe to seasonal fashion rules, once evenings get cooler, I wear closed toe shoes. With that, I tend to get lazy where pedis are concerned.
It feels weird that on Tuesday, I wore boots to work, and today, I'll be wearing sandals. My area is about to be blasted with a heatwave. Fine by me...I actually love heat and humidity...not to mention, I get to wear my favorite sandals and boho India shirts again!

I also get to show off yet another flakie pedi. I love flakies on my toes- not my tips, and my number 1 choice has been the ever popular and spectacular Nfu-Oh-s and Hidden Treasure. I've worn them over almost all my pedis this past summer. This time, though, I went with something different....Claire's mini in purple, one of a set of 6, that came out in the beginning of summer. These Claire's flakies are similar in texture to Sinful Colors Green Ocean...chunky and bumpy- not something I like, however, the sparkle payoff of the flakies and multi colored glitter is fab, so they are redeemed in my book.
(Debris on my feet from walking in wet grass)
2 coats Color Club Ms Socialite from Spring 2010 Rebel Debutante, 1 coat Seche, 1 coat Barielle Manicure Extender.
Sun;

Shade;

Sun;

Bottle pic...really pretty enlarged!

And, my NOTD, Milani 3D Hi-Tech.

Thank you all for comments and links to your Blogs in my last post! Blogs that I was not following are now added!!!

Wanna see my underwear? Bloggers shout out!

2010-09-21T12:36:00.002-04:00

Hi Kids!
I've had one heck of a stressful week. I won't bore you with the mostly work related details, except to say that my blood pressure is an out of control, 186/118, even with my bp meds. (more health stuff after nail stuff)
First, though, I want to show you my "underwear"-
Instead of my nails going "commando" under sheers and problematic polishes, I'll now be using 1 or 2 coats of Milani Angel Pink. Please excuse how dry my hands are. I had a molar pulled, and the towel I wrapped my pillow in sucked all the moisture out of them.
I'll be wearing this soft and feminine color as my NOTD for work tonight. I've set aside a half dozen plates in hopes that I'll feel well enough to do some stamping after work. x-crosses fingers-x

All full sun...

Medical/Doctor/Dentist
I saw my Dr yesterday, and he upped the mg dosage of my current script, in addition to setting up appointments for some general baseline testing...mammogram, colonoscopy (or as my husband calls it- the kaleidoscope), bloodwork, and a much needed appt with a specialist to check out a large and bothersome lump located on a lymph node where my upper thigh meets my lower groin.
Right after my Dr visit, I went to see my dentist and had a molar pulled- but not before waiting 2 hrs in the office while he tracked down my Dr for an "OK" to extract. Because of my high bp, I had some major bleeding from the Novocaine injection site. After signing 3 release papers, my dentist went ahead and reluctantly pulled it out.
What an ordeal....I bled for 17 hours, and feel like total crap today.

Do you have a Blog????
At this time, the *only* stress reliever I have in my life is my Blog and Blogs that I read. I cannot tell you how much Joy this brings me. Time is precious, and I appreciate all those who Blog and those who comment. Recently I accidentally found (and joined) several Blogs that belong to my Followers- some, of which, are old time Followers.
Please- if your Blog is 80% or more about nails- I want to be following it. Leave your link in this post!!!

Heart Nina Ultra Pro Salsa!

2010-09-16T12:07:00.000-04:00

Okay Kids, you won't be seeing this too often...check it- I am wearing a straight-up Creme!

It's ironic that at 49 I can still pull off wearing mini skirts (with tights, of course) and not look silly, but cannot and almost will not wear a creme without a glitter, shimmer or some other sparkle-y topcoat. Like mini skirts, Creme polishes scream youth to me. With a few rare exceptions (one being OPI Sapphire In The Snow), Cremes look out of place on my nails, not to mention that I royally suck at applying them.
It bears mention that I don't see glitters and other sparklies as youthful. To me, they say "fun, party, happy"...things that an old timer like me needs in abundance.
In a nutshell...While I'll never be a youthful Creme again, I am still an amazingly active, crazy, party animal.

Hah! All that rambling because I found another Creme I can wear... Salsa, the green 2 coater from Nina Ultra Pro, and I just *love* it!!!
First coat went on semi streaky but was manageable. Second coat went on smooth as silk and adhered to the first coat as if it were a magnet. 1 coat Seche.
I don't think it gets any better than this for me....Perfect!

Revlon Glitter, Galaxy over H&M Goddess On Stage* edit

2010-09-15T11:23:00.002-04:00

Hi Kids!
I have another drive-by post with my NOTD. Today, I am wearing 1 coat Revlon Galaxy over 3 coats H&M Goddess On Stage. I received Goddess On Stage in a swap with Tiana .
I have a lot of glitters in my stash, and Galaxy seemed similar enough to China Glaze Techno that I thought I did not need it. And being on a low buy, I passed on this Revlon glitter half a dozen times. Then one day, suffering from nail polish withdraw, I caved and got my fix with Galaxy and several other ds polishes. :)

I'm happy that I got Galaxy. It's made of large holo hex glitter and blue based fine holo dust. It's super sparkly and the fine blue holo dust looks much better over darks than the all silver holo in Techno.
Anyway, I'll be removing this mani tonight. I was in a hurry doing my fill and repairs yesterday, and did not notice how thick I left the nails on my picture (lefty) hand. I'm thinking about going a third shorter as well.

Edit....I'm not so sure all the fine glitter dust in Galaxy is holo. After taking a drive and looking at my mani from all angles, there is a definite blue haze over my nails. I don't like glitter that looks like freckles. Galaxy, however, has a nice mix of dark glitter dust making it perfect for for layering over dark colors. I really like this one a lot! Click on the second pic for a better view of the dark glitter dust.

Shade

Revlon Matte Suede Ruby Ribbon

2010-09-12T03:08:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Just a quick, drive-by post with the mani I've been sporting for 3, maybe 4 days- Revlon Matte Suede Ruby Ribbon.
Ruby Ribbon looks red in the bottle, but dries much richer and deeper and is very similar to the Signature color of vintage Etienne Aigner leather items. The shimmer in this polish makes it more of a satin finish rather than a matte or suede, which I really love. I think Ruby Ribbon looks super sophisticated.
I've had a half dozen of art ideas for this mani, and I'm really bummed that I did not have any time this week to art this one up...hurry up October!
Anyway, mani is 3 kind of slow drying coats. As you can see, I definitely need more practice in applying matte, suede and satin finish polishes.

Not too shabby after 4 days...pics are clickable

2 NOTDs- Let's Groove and Photo Flash

2010-09-08T12:30:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids!
Still super busy at the restaurant...so much that I had to don a dusty apron, pick-up pad and pen to wait tables on Monday. Although my sticker mani got ruined from the heating elements above plates of food, I actually enjoy getting back to my roots- waiting on tables. My time on the "floor" was short-lived, though...The owner, George, got sick from taking one my pain killers for his blown out knee, and I had to get back to the door and register. Once George was out of the "picture", stress levels went down and the rest of the day ran smoothly.

Labor Day is the end of our busy weekday business, however, weekends are still slamming busy. We still have Fireman's weekend, Irish weekend, Biker's weekend and a couple of other themed weekends until summer is officially over at the restaurant.

I'm not happy about that...summer coming to an end. It's a perfect 86.2 degrees at my PC desk. There is a wonderful cross draft going on with my windows open, ceiling fan on and another fan in a far window pulling air through the house. It's depressing to think that I'll be turning my heat on in a short, few weeks. I will, however, have more time for nadding and nail art.

My current NOTD is China Glaze Let's Groove. I purchased my bottle last year at Sally's, from the clearance bin. This color is so right up my alley...a cool blurple base with a warm, red purple shimmer. I have 2 coats on...a thin first coat followed by a very thick second coat and 1 coat of Seche. I applied this right before getting ready for work yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that after all was done, I had relatively few dings. You *may* be seeing Let's Groove as the base for some nail art tomorrow...if all goes well with an idea I have.
Anyway, here it is, no clean-up. The Moonstone necklace I'm holding is my favorite. I've had it for 10 years and very rarely take it off.
Full sun (pics are clickable)

Indirect light really brings out the blurple base and red purple shimmer...

Mani from Monday- Milani Photo Flash (3 coats). I wasn't crazy about the color once I had it on, so I added a bazillion nail stickers.

Semi gradient stripes, green holo dots

2010-09-02T03:58:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I thought I found the perfect brown with Savvy Chocolate, when the bronze shimmer magically turned my nails into lit within Tiger Eyes. Unfortunately, when my 2 coats dried, the shimmer became a glimmer, the Tiger Eyes disappeared, and my mani looked almost black. Sad!

I had high hopes for this brown that looked so great in the bottle....Speaking of- I absolutely *love* Savvy glass bottles... Square and heavy like a high end polish bottle. Anyway, I decided that Chocolate needed help, so I dumped a bit out to make room for some CND Copper Shimmer. It did help, as in it doesn't look almost black anymore. It did not give me that lit within, Tiger Eye look I so wanted.

I toyed with adding a faux Tiger Eye by laying down a verticle, center stripe with CND Copper Shimmer, when I remembered a certain picture I had saved to my hd some time ago. Mani saved by inspiration! I *love* how this turned out soooo much!
Click to make them bigger!
Flash...colors are true and saturated exactly like this first pic.

Inspiration pic...iz small

Stripes done with a Milani striper brush in;

Sally Hansen HD Resolution

Claire's Magic

CND Copper Shimmer

Nicka K Magical (glitter) on Resolution

Green Holo Dots by Jones Tones (from the 80's Kids... when *everyone* had glitter and sequins attached to every article of clothing and accessory they wore, head to toe)

Such a simple mani, yet it pushes all the right buttons with me. And I'm extremely happy that the first picture turned out so well color wise. I've been reading the instruction manual that came with my camera and have been messing around with color settings. About time, I know!

Purple franken with glitter, flakies and shimmers

2010-09-01T02:28:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids! I have a killer purple franken for you today!
My pictures look terrific, but they're not accurate. I wish I could figure out *why* my camera decided that the low-lying micro-shimmer should be so prominent. Irl, it's very subtle.
Irl, the red, holo, hex glitter, fine, square red glitter and flakies take center stage.
Pictures were taken under all kinds of lighting conditions, and even after a color tweak in ps, they're still not accurate.The red glitters and flakies take up much of the space in this franken and positively glow like mad in the jellish base.
Here's the list of ingredients;
Sally Hansen Purple Pizzazz
Nfu-Oh 51
Sally Hansen Prism Ruby Sapphire
CND Effects- Crimson sparkle, Jade Sparkle
Funky Fingers Hyper!
Red holo hex glitter
Fine square red glitter from Aromaleigh Hothothot

Click them!!!

Make the next one big. Look at my pinky...camera is trying to pick up the red glitters and flakes. Imagine it more metallic, brighter and sparklier...

Orly Space Cadet- fun with stickers

2010-08-27T13:20:00.000-04:00

Ok Kids, now *this* is the Wow I was looking for!
Space Cadet is nothing short of awesome! This would have looked even better had I not cheated, and used my Galaxy Girl mani as a base. The duochrome, mineral, foil-y shimmer in Space Cadet is suspended in an olive green jelly base. The formula is thin but buildable.
I didn't want to leave my house without jazzing this up, and since I'm already late for work and have yet to get ready, black craft stickers to the rescue!
Mani is 3 coats Galaxy Girl buffed down with a yellow sanding block (to even out all the terrible dings and marks) topped with 3 coats Space Cadet, black craft stickers and 2 runny coats of Seche.
No clean-up because I'm in a hurry...
First 3 pics show Space Cadet at its best in bright, indirect sun.
Pics are always clickable...

Full sun;

Orly Galaxy Girl- drying problems-review

2010-08-26T13:30:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
The only polish I wanted from Orly Cosmic FX collection was Space Cadet. After seeing the numerous Blog swatches and one Blogger comparing Galaxy Girl to Vanishing Venus, I ended up buying 2 bottles (of each).
I'm really hoping Galaxy Girl lasts through my work shift tonight, because I have an art idea planned.
I say that because my 3 coat mani- 18 hours after application- has not cured.

Out of all the brands of nail polish I have, Orly has always been a consistent good performer, and has never failed me. That said, I'm really disappointed with Galaxy Girl. I applied 3 thin coats at 6pm last night, went to bed at 3am, and woke up to deep hair marks on my right middle and thumb nails, a nail ding on my right ring and a scrape on the outer middle nail. My mani is now 18 hours old and it still feels "soft" when I lightly scrape a nail over it. I did not apply a top coat to this mani because it would interfere with the blending that will be involved with my art idea.

This is not my "thing", reviewing a nail polish. My fellow nail Bloggers do it so expertly, I feel there is never anything to add...except for this one.
Galaxy Girl is a very dark burnt raspberry, but indoors, it looks almost black and the turquoise flashing purple mineral shimmer looks silver. Galaxy Girl looks best in bright, indirect light, making it the type of polish that to everyone else but the wearer, just another dark, shimmering vampy.

Being a vampy lover, I don't dislike Galaxy Girl. I am, however, disappointed that it looks more interesting in the bottle and in pictures than it does irl. I expected this color to be WOW, but it fell very short. More than that, I am extremely disappointed in the non drying formula.

Here are my pictures- under different lighting- looking much nicer than what I see on my nails irl.
Full sun;

Bright indirect;

Dappled sun;

Right hand, non drying issues;
Hair marks on middle nail.

Major scrape...woke up to ring finger nail stuck to middle nail- 17 hours after application.

The bottle I bought as a back-up (because I thought this color would be wonderful) is now labeled and destined for my frankening drawer.

My old reluable, OPI DS Passion

2010-08-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Wow! Super busy at the restaurant over the weekend! Thankfully, my boss (the primary owner) will be back from his 5 week vacation to Greece on Thursday. I'll be glad to send the secondary owner packing and get back to having Monday as my RDO. I always feel like I've been run over by a truck after busy weekends, and having to work 2 more days until a day off totally sucks.

In an effort to pick up my spirits, I chose to wear my old reliable; OPI DS Passion. Prior to this, my mani was Nfu-Oh #50 layered over Brucci Blue Sapphire. I've come to the conclusion that I do not like flakies on my tips, but love them on my toes.
Anyway...DS Passion is the polish I reach for when I desperately need a fill, maintenance, or a pick-me-up. The mauve base matches my ruddy tones, making it a semi neutral on me. Because the color and soft, linear holo elongates my fingers and nails, it never fails to make me feel I have something very pretty on.

Flash

Current pedi- Nfu-Oh #50 over Brucci Blue Sapphire. Don't judge- no maintenence here what-so-ever, AND I've just been on my feet for 16 hours...

Simple fauxnad flowers on Orly Rage

2010-08-20T03:13:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Lovely color, Orly Rage...Mani is 3 coats, plates; BM03 & fauxnad H3, stamped with WnW Black, 2 sizes gold, holo, hex sequins, 2 coats Seche.
Pictures look better bigger...just ignore the fact that I did not clean this mani up

I matched my mani color to the shirt I had planned on wearing. I had only worn it once before, and never took note that there were flowers on it. Honest to goodness, I had this shirt on for an hour and did not know how exact my mani matched until I passed by my full view mirror.
Check it;

It actually kind of freaked me out. I had my daughter, son and husband all come over to see the surreal duplicity, only to be disappointed that they were not as amazed as I was.
Apologies that I did not delay posting until tomorrow for some daylight photos...I could not wait (to get off work) and share this with all of You!

Fairey Bomb Glitter franken

2010-08-18T12:34:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Being the busiest month of the year, August business at the restaurant sucks the life right out of me. Business is booming this year too, in spite of the economy- or rather because of it. People can't afford big vacations and are opting for southern New Jersey shore points. All those coming from north and north-west of the center line of the state, drive right by the restaurant. It's been crazy busy!
Once September rolls in, kids go back to school, trips to the beach will be weekends only. Just a few more weeks to go until I can get back to posting (at least) 1 layered fauxnad a week. Yay! I know that's what you're all here for...me too...lol!

In the mean time, instead of going on hiatus or disappearing, I'll be bringing you frankens, simple stamping and some NOTDs.
Speaking of frankens...I've been making a lot of them lately! Mixing polish, pigments and glitter is exciting and relaxing at the same time. I've made over 24 so far- half, of which, are for stamping.
Anyway, today's franken, Fairey Bomb Glitter, is not a true franken... It's Freshcover Pinky Lacquer- made better. Pinky Lacquer is a pretty, sheer pink polish with iridescent glitter. I really loved that this polish had iridescent gold glitter(like OPI Pink Me I'm Good) in addition to multi colored iridescent.The original is long gone.... I frankened this a month after I purchased it- a year ago. If memory serves me correct- the glitter particles were one size, and I added smaller iridescent gold, multi iridescent and holo dust to make this pretty layering polish more dimensional. Go figure- my awesome glitter bomb mani is wasted...after a 3 week drought- I woke up to a gray sky and rain.
I feel so bummed...I wanted to post something special. Irl, the holo dust looks to be floating on top of the nail tentatively-as if you could blow it off. It is wall-to-wall glitter, and so not the weak coverage pictures show.

Mani is 1 coat Fairey Glitter Bomb over 2 coats Ruby Kisses Pink Hot Pants (another perfect polish from RK!!!).

RAOK

2010-08-17T12:15:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
How cool is this? I was recently gifted with 2 necklaces from peripatetic33. Thank you so much Teresa- I LOVE them!!!
I paired the turtle necklace with a black, feathered necklace I already owned, and wore it with an alligator print sleeveless shirt on Saturday. With a long black gauze skirt, sandals and a couple of black, feathered hair picks, my whole look was super bold and organic. I love the feeling of wearing an outfit that "comes together". My plan was to take pictures after work. I should have known better than to think I'd have energy for anything after being on my feet for 14 hours. Anyway, I took a picture today, and have included a couple more the day my RAOK package arrived.

Thank you again Teresa!

Rub-on stickers and Fimo Flowers!

2010-08-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
For those of you who are still looking for a very pretty, soft but sassy shade of melon/coral/apricot for summer, I encourage you to locate and purchase Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Sunrise Sunset.
Being a build-able color, this is nothing short of awesome. First coat is semi sheer melon, softly glowing with apricot, and sprinkled with a slight green shimmer. Each coat after enhances opaqueness, but still retains an overall softness. Aptly named, this polish glows like Sunrise and Sunset, but in a very subtle and delicate way. Soooo pretty- and I love it bunches.

I wore 2 coats of Sunrise Sunset as my NOTD yesterday, and added some craft rub-on stickers last night. I had less than desirable results with the rub-ons, due to the stiffness of the plastic backing, so I added whole and cut up (w/cuticle scissors) fimo flowers to help save my mani. To keep the fimo slices from looking too chalky, I gave them a coat of CND Crimson and Jade Sparkle, and topped it all off with 1 thick coat of Seche.

Macro setting on my camera picked up the demarcation edge of the rub-ons- irl these edges are not noticeable at all. All pic are clickable.

Pretty color all by itself...

Ruby Pumps - blinged out

2010-08-09T13:57:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids!
Would you believe that this is the first time I've worn China Glaze Ruby Pumps full nail? Having experienced this polish for myself, I can now understand why this polish is in so many top 20 lists!
I wore Ruby Pumps as my NOTD on Saturday, and amped up the bling with some layering on Sunday.
Pictures are clickable...

My camera captured the over all metallic-ness of the glitter in Ruby Pumps in these next pics.
Make them bigger to get a good look!

The "blackening" you see at the cuticle and sidewalls was done with a layer of Nfu-Oh 51. I have a deep red-purple jelly franken that would have done a better job, but at the time I did not think of it. I don't like how the flakes/glitter in 51 show green in some pictures.
I applied Color Club Mini in Abracadabra (a super chunky, flashy, sparkley glitter in an orange jelly base), heavy at the tips and dragged it halfway up the nail. 2 coats of Seche made this nice and smooth!

Asian inspired fauxnad

2010-08-07T02:25:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I Love Asian inspired nail art. It's a theme that's super easy to pull together, especially if you have Asian lettering (or is it wording?). Anyway...
Several months ago, I picked up a very cool fauxnad plate, from Chez-delaney. P49 and has a series of 12 Asian lettering(?), wording(?), sayings(?) around the perimeter of the plate in addition to 12 astrological signs in the center of the plate.
I figured it was high time to use it, especially since I have even more Asian design options with the Essence plates Tiana sent me.

The color choice for my base is an odd one, where Asian is concerned. It's the new Confetti polish My Favorite Martian. I wore this light pine, glass fleck as a NOTD before I went nutz with layering and stamping. Actually, that is the condensed version. Because I'm super busy at the restaurant, I do my manis with nail art in stages. Day 1-NOTD, Day 2-Layering, Day 3-Stamping, Day 4-So "over" the mani and color, I can't wait to take it all off! ~Sigh~ I cannot wait until we're a bit slower so I can at least have some time to reply to your comments.
Anyway, here are the (clickable) pictures. Deets after...

Day1- NOTD, 3 coats My Favorite Martian.
Day2- layering with; CND, Sapphire Sparkle, Jade Sparkle, Crimson Sparkle, Raspberry Sparkle, Hard Candy Sweet P, & Sinful Colors Green Ocean in arcs, thick lines and circles, all outlined with a glitter liner from US Maxim.
Day3- stamping with fauxnad plates; H23, H28, H30 & P49, Konad M66 and an unmarked, rectangular Essence plate. Stamped with Konad Special polish Wine Red, and a black Color Club mini. Accents done with a dotting tool and China Glaze Ruby Pumps. 2 coats Seche.

Etude House BL009

2010-08-03T11:19:00.001-04:00

Hi Kids!
Move (waaaaay) over Charla and Dickweed...Etude House BL009 is the new, Mega Superstar in my polish collection. Everything about it- color, application, formula, dry time and finish is total perfection!
For the last 2 days, I've spent more time looking at my nails than doing the things I'm supposed to be doing.

Etude House BL009 is an absolute stunner- it's a crime that I put up pictures that fall so very short of what it truly looks like. I tried an image search, only to come up with pictures similar to mine.
Take the following description and imagine this polish twice as pretty as the gorgeous bottle it comes in!

Etude House BL009 is a "blued" jelly, turquoise/emerald shimmer. ("Blued" like Zoya Isla is a "blackened" red.) The density of the micro shimmer makes it difficult to identify what shade of blue the base really is. I've included a 1 coat swatch of BL009 on a piece of clear plastic to get a better look at the base. The swatch isn't totally color accurate, looking a bit greener than it is. This might be due to my "sunset" camera setting which puts a yellow cast to my pictures. While the base is not as blue as Orly Royal Navy, it is blue enough to look blurple at the extreme edges of the nail. ~So pretty and totally cool!~ Anyway the micro shimmer is very glowy with a fair amount of tiny sparkle. Depending on light source the micro shimmer fluctuates between turquoise and emerald.

The application of BL009 was perfection...absolutely the smoothest and most behaved polish I've ever experienced. No "oopsies", mani turned out flawless where the polish was concerned. There was no need for clean-up. The base *is* thin, and I believe that all the micro shimmer not only helped keep pooling at bay, but also helped keep the polish traveling down the whole length of my nail without streaking.
Mani is 2 coats of BL009 over 2 coats of Seche base, topped off with 1 coat of Seche tc...all done and dry to the touch in under an hour.
The only negative I had with Etude House BL009- no ballz in the bottle- to which I remedied by adding 2.

I happen to LOVE shimmers. I think they look best on my nails, making them look longer and more slender than they really are. Etude House BL009 goes even further with that optical illusion... the "blued" effect around the edges makes my nails look super slender. I want 4 more bottles...1 as a back-up and 3 to franken with!

I feel very lucky to have Etude House BL009 in my stash. I received it along with several other ETs in a swap with the lovely and mega talented Thriszha from FAB UR NAILS. Thank you sooo much Sweetie!!!
It can, however, be purchased HERE, if it ever gets restocked.

As always, pictures are clickable for the ginormous view.
These are lightbox pictures...
*edit* I did not kill this dragonfly for pictures- I found it dead but intact on our bench in the restaurant's lobby.

Washed out color directly under an incandescent 60watt lightbulb...

1 coat swatch on clear plastic...

Another lightbox pic...look at the blued edges on my nails and in the gorgeous bottle...so beautiful!!!

Millefiori, layered fauxnad

2010-07-31T09:24:00.001-04:00

Hi Kids!
I'm getting old...my youngest turned 21 today.
Aside from some medical issues, I don't *feel* old. Fortunately, I look pretty good for my age, unlike a lot of kids I went to grammar school with. (I still say kids- when I should be saying "people").
So, what in the world does this have to do with nails???
Well...my mani was inspired by an art project my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Verttoli, had us do once a week. For the record, that was in 1969 when I was 9 years old- 41 years ago!

Anyway, Mrs Verttoli would pass graph paper printed with 100, 1 inch blocks for the class to color on. Almost all the kids would turn the paper over and color the blank side. Me- I used the graph side, treating each block as a separate canvas. I worked several colors in each block, playing with a mix of floral shapes. When finished, I had 100, 1 inch designs on my paper. Mrs Vertolli loved these so much, she wallpapered the cubby her desk was in with them. She called them mosaics. I learned a better descriptive term for my graph paper art many years later- Millefiori.

As always, all pictures are clickable for the ginormous view.

Franken- Jersey Pink

2010-07-29T12:38:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
How I miss the 1980's! Everything under the sun, except for percentage rates, was better back then. It was the decade of excess, and us Jersey girls knew how to do it right.
Jersey Girls have a special place in 1980's fashion and style history for having not only the *BIGGEST* permed hair in the country, but were also known for having super saturated pink lips and nails (complete with shoes and handbag to match)!

Being post punk/early goth, I did not sport the pink lips and nails back then...but... I did (and still do), have killer BIG, permed hair. So, as I listened to Gene Loves Jezebel, Voodoo Dollies on my way home from work last night, I got in the mood for pink nails- specifically the super saturated, warm pink of the 1980's.
The closest color I have to that in my stash, although a bit cool, is Diamond Cosmetics Wow. Instead of settling, I frankend a pink with (new in CVS) 10 Professional #415 Pinky Promise, Claire's Cosmic and Ruby Kisses Neon Yellow Bikini, and called it Jersey Pink.

I have plans on fauxnading this mani, but before that, I want to do a gradient, and will have to franken a couple of more colors.
Anyway, mani is 3 coats Jersey Girl- no top coat.
It's unfortunate that my camera wants to say this is coral...it really is a warm pink.

Swap with Tiana, this and that

2010-07-28T01:38:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I put on a new set of acrylics today and I feel *much* better! I still have another pass of buffing and smoothing to do, but ran out of time before work. I had to quickly apply 2 coats of Milani My Network so I didn't go to work with naked nails. Despite metallics picking up every flaw on the nail, my mani doesn't look too bad. I have some fine buffing wheels for my Medicool drill on order from TD. Crossing my fingers that they arrive by Thursday (my day off this week) and just skip hand-working a block on my nails.

Anyway...I was pleasantly surprised to find a swap package from Tiana on my doorstep this morning!
Look at all my goodies! Essence stamp plates- whoo-hoo!!!

Thank you so much Tiana! I love everything!!!!
Out of all the polishes Tiana sent me, these 2 are my absolute favorite <3.
(btw, I'm wearing Milani My Network here)

Glam interrupted

2010-07-27T02:26:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids...Look what I have...Nubbins! I had some serious patches of staining that I could not take anymore. After a bit of grinding, I realized that the staining was too deep and I'd be better off removing them.

Tomorrow, I'm going to create a fresh, new set, but in the meantime, I have the following mani on to protect my frail nails;

2 coats CND Ridge Filler
3 coats China Glaze Dorothy Who?
1 coat Nfu-Oh 51
1 coat Seche
I absolutely LOVE how this looks irl...even though there are waaaaay too many "coats". Nfu-Oh 51 never dried leaving my mani susceptible to major dents and shrinkage. While the dents are unacceptable, 51 is shrinking towards center, leaving Dorothy Who? exposed all around the edges. I think this looks really cool!
I'm definitely going to try this again- but on my long nails!

Weirdness...true neon jelly?

2010-07-22T14:08:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I was in the mood for orange today, so I pulled down Ruby Kisses Neon in Orange U Jealous. Now, I don't usually post a straight-up NOTD unless there's something extra special about a particular polish.
Well...lemme tell you...this polish is weird, but in a very good way. I bought this orange along with a pink and a yellow last month. When I happened on the Ruby Kisses Neon display, which also included a blue, I had a feeling that they might be jellies. I only purchased them for frankening, but loved the new labels -which look very old school British, btw, I put them up on my rack, instead of in my frankening drawer. I paid $1.99 each for these, $.50 more than the permanent line Ruby Kisses.

Anyway, moving along here.... With the first stroke of lacquer on my nail, I was pleasantly surprised with not only the wonderful brush that loaded and splayed out so perfectly, but with the formula and pigmentation as well! This polish has a rubbery or vinyl consistency that's a little on the thick side, but not thick enough to warrant the addition of thinner. It's the thickish, rubbery formula that makes this polish my absolute favorite among all the neons I have. The lacquer stays in the brush until it's placed on the nail. The leveling properties in this polish is superb! Because I have wide, long nails, I have a terrible problem with over-brushing, always resulting with terrible vertical ridges, brush ridges, streaking and missed spots. I did not have a problem with any of those things. When I over-brushed, the polish leveled out like magic! This polish gets even better with pigmentation- it's a 2 coater! Any uneveness I experienced was taken care of when I lightly overbrushed the area on the first coat. Second coat just intensified the color and filled in the gaps. And the finish? Definitely not matte as most neons are...this is a jelly and dried to a gloss!
Ruby Kisses Orange U Jealous is about as perfect as a neon could get.
All bumps in my pictures are from not removing ChG Stroll completely from my nails.
No top-coat yet either!

I want to go get more bottles of these RK Neons. I want to play with adding glitter to them!

Peacock fauxnadicure take2

2010-07-21T03:46:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Although this did not turn out quite like I wanted, this second try at fauxnading peacock feathers is much better than my first. I specifically frankened all the stamping polishes for this mani with pigments, micas and sparkles- except for 1- the green surrounding the "eye". That was made from scratch with WnW clear, pigments and micas. All these frankens are metallic, have a flash and shimmer. Some are even multi shimmered...much more interesting and dimensional than the SH Chromes.

Click to enlarge the next 2 pics for a close-up of my frankens!

Fauxnad plates; T13, A18, A16
I used partial images from those plates.
As for my base color...now don't shoot me for putting all that junk on...

China Glaze Stroll, 3 coats.

1 coat Seche.

Man pedi

2010-07-16T20:14:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Something a bit more attractive than my last mani....my ex/future husband's pedi with color!
About a month ago, I convinced Jim that he ought to wear polish on his toes.
This is the new 10 Professional Lacquer in #459 Showtime.... 2 coats, 1 coat Essie MAY

Colors better irl

2010-07-16T18:01:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
I'm back with my marriage license/bridal nails. They don't look like much in my pictures, but I assure you, they look lovely irl. It's times like this when I really wish I knew more about photography and my camera's settings, because the Purple Picture Eater stole my colors!!!
Aside from some off white floral and dot stickers and medium lime colored fauxnad leaves, everything else on my nails (a trio of small purple fauxnad flowers, purple floral stones and purple sequins) are all a similar shade of purple. You wouldn't know it by my pictures, The stones look blue and the sequins look pinkish, and because of that, I did not want to make this post.

I'm not wrong when I say most Followers are interested in eye candy not text. I can't *stand* putting up a mani that looks sub par, but feel I can't blow this one off...~sigh~

Anyway, Jim and I have our marriage license, and Monday we go back to Elkton to get married. I already started practicing "half of yours' is mine" by grabbing half the cash in Jim's wallet!

The green I used to stamp the stylized leaves is the wrong shade as well :( It's a warm mid lime green, not a pastel mint.
Both the green and purple I used for stamping are frankens. Aside from a handful of SH Insta-Dri polishes, all my stamping polishes are now frankens.
Fauxnad plates- A04, H28, T33

Base for my bridal nails- Elianto, Sparkling Diva Lilac

2010-07-14T23:12:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Tomorrow morning, Jim and I are driving 1 1/2 hours to Elkton, Maryland for a marriage license. Since there is a 48 hour wait after application to get married, we'll be traveling back on Monday (I'm working Sat & Sun) to get married by the Justice of the Peace.

I doubt very much that this mani will last until Monday, but I wanted to do something. Having Bridal nails for the marriage license app will have to do...besides, it's not like we weren't married to each-other before. (Married for 12 years, divorced for 10- for those of you who don't know).

I received Elianto Sparkling Diva Lilac in a swap from Thriszha of Fab Ur Nails. The moment I opened my package, I knew that this shimmering, glass flecked polish would be the one for my "day".

The base color of Elianto SD Lilac is a sheer, cool lilac, that leans blue and slightly dusty. It would never reach opacity on its' own but for the super-duper amount of glass fleck that flashes a warm raspberry. I love high contrast and juxtaposition, and is all about being cool and hot, soft and fiery.

I have no clue what nail art I'm going to put on this mani. I usually leave pretty and interesting polishes alone.

No single picture does Elianto SD Lilac justice...you'll have to use your imagination to piece together standout facets from each picture into one polish.
Probably the most color accurate, but lacks the hot flashy glass flecks. You can see a glimpse of it (enlarge pic) on the left side of both my middle and ring fingernails. Very metallicaly looking.

The glass fleck flash also visible in this pic...right side of nails.

If I could only have 1 polish...& swap pictures

2010-07-12T22:47:00.000-04:00

It would be, hands down, Maybelline Vanishing Venus.
You read that right, Kids- I'd choose an old Maybelline.
I've always loved the leaf colors of the ornamental plum trees growing in my yard, so it's no wonder I would love Vanishing Venus...the colors are very similar!
I took a lot of pictures..mani is almost 4 days old, dings, scratches and tip-wear ahead.

Click to view awesome shimmer!

*****************************************************
A while back, Thriszha from FAB UR NAILS and I set up a couple of swaps. The following pictures are swap #2...Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of swap #1.

I had to wait almost a week to pick up my package from the Post office. I barely had time to sleep this week for all the extra hours my boss threw on me. I asked for a week off, and he decided to "use me up" as much as he could before my time off starts. I also did not get 7 consecutive days. I'm off Mon-Fri, have to go back to work Sat & Sun, then finish my vacation Monday & Tuesday.

So, yea, I worked all week, fretting the whole time about my swap polishes sitting in the post office. I finally picked my package up today (day #1 of my vacation) and tore into it the minute I got in my car...
Look at the pretties Thriszha sent me!!!!!!
Etude House and Elianto stunners!!!!!!

Thank you so much Sweetie- I LOVE all of them!!!!

Nail shape & Milani Digital

2010-07-08T09:51:00.000-04:00

Hi Kids!
Yay! I fixed my nail shape!
My natural nails are flat and triangular in shape...meaning- My nail bed from the cuticle starts out with a slight, rounded curve, but quickly goes flat and fans out at the tips. They are very unattractive, bordering on mis-shaped...and that's my un-injured hand, the hand I use for pictures. My right hand is that and more. Due to a crush injury, they have ripples,dents, un-even growth and curling at odd places and angles. A challenge for trained nail techs, and a nightmare for my un-trained self.

It hasn't been easy for me to create consistent, "good nails". As you all are witness to- they don't always look good, and that makes me very sad....Doing the Happy Dance today, because I think they look great!

In order to get a curvier nail, I have to build-up my nail bed. Unfortunately, this makes for a very thick nail. Something I just learned...If I add some more length, it gives my nail "time" to transition/taper to a thinner tip.

Milani Digital- 3 coats
1 coat Seche

2 FOTDs

2010-07-05T22:43:00.000-04:00

Hey Kids!
Thank you all for commenting on my Fireworks mani! For all the glitter/sequins on it, it was surprisingly easy to remove. I've had 2 FOTDs since that mani, and am here to post them for you.
Both are relatively simple, using just one image. I hope this doesn't disappoint too many Readers. I'm not happy with the shape of my nails after I did my last fill.... So, instead of working on a layered mani, I'll be spending the rest of my evening off tweaking my nail shape.

Full sun

Shade

If you want to get a good look at the holographic sparkle of the charcoal stars, click the following picture- Taken under fluorescent lights in the restaurant's kitchen.

lightbox

**Base color is an un-named, un-numbered PA Pro polish. The formula pretty much sucked...even after adding a lot of thinner to it - twice- it still applied like it was elastic...weird. I love the color though, an awesome red purple with red and blue shimmer.
**Fauxnad plate A12, double, triple stamped
**Konad Princess Polish White Pearl
**Holographic stars- from DS- they came in a multi nail art pack that included 2 glitters and fimo slices.
**4(!!!!) coats Seche- star "points" still caught on everything, scratched my lip too.
While I really loved this mani- the points of the stars drove me nutz.

Next!
Yuck- look at how dry my hands are in these pictures. This is pretty much the norm for me during the summer. It comes from handling money and frequent hand washing. By the time my week ends on Sunday, my hands look this bad. The mani is sure pretty, though. Tangerine and bright rose are so yummy together!
Shade

Setting Sun

**Base color- 3 coats Orly Life's A Peach. Love this pretty tangerine polish with its soft raspberry shimmer.
**Fauxnad plate A05
**Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Speedy Sunburst
**1 coat Love My Nails Dazzling
**1 coat Seche

Glammed-up

slideshow- recent notds

Fairytale nails, layered fauxnad

I'm back!

more project updates- almost done!

another construction update

New polish shelves

Cloisonne inspired- layered fauxnad

Layered fauxnad, Lemony Flutter alternative

scroll down, 2 jellies

Review, Chez-Delaney D series plates

Many layered fauxnad, snakeskin!

Green Disco Ball nails

Layered fauxnad!

Guide Grafix

Navy Jelly and contest winner

Product fail

glowing blue embers FCC #6

Name my franken contest, no entry limit!

Freehand flower garden

Faux lace, layered fauxnad and Konad

Xmas fauxnad, essie Very Cranberry

Red flakies and multi colored micro glitter on black

Butterflies, glitter and fauxnad flowers

Glisten Scintillant, Avon Mirror Shine

Ruby Pumps with gold holo sequin tips

Orly Winter Wonderland (over underwear)

Funky French, The Show Must Go On!

Lilac foil

Weird layered mani

Check this giveaway TIRNAKLAR FORA

Revlon Royal... Cobalt jelly, anyone?

Golden Ticket Tiger Stripes fauxnad

Stars and arrows funky french and fauxnad

3 NOTDs, Color Zone, BB Couture and Risk

$1 well spent!

Avon Olive Green

NOTD Avon Lagoon

Avon haul!

FCC 34 EDIT! spooky tattoos as nail art!

FCC polish haul!

You gotta' see this!

Going batty fauxnad

Staining Nina Ultra Pro Love Struck, LOL a peenshroom!

SH Garnet Lapis Prism, worthy of a weeks wear

Cherries fauxnad**edit**

Nina Ultra Pro so underated!

Zombie Zest NOTWeekend

Fall leaves fauxnad/Konad

Ruby Kisses Yellow Bikini

Concrete, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

Flakie Ms Socialite pedi, and NOTD

Wanna see my underwear? Bloggers shout out!

*Heart* Nina Ultra Pro Salsa!

Revlon Glitter, Galaxy over H&M Goddess On Stage* edit

Revlon Matte Suede Ruby Ribbon

2 NOTDs- Let's Groove and Photo Flash

Semi gradient stripes, green holo dots

Purple franken with glitter, flakies and shimmers

Orly Space Cadet- fun with stickers

Orly Galaxy Girl- drying problems-review

My old reluable, OPI DS Passion

Simple fauxnad flowers on Orly Rage

Fairey Bomb Glitter franken

RAOK

Rub-on stickers and Fimo Flowers!

Ruby Pumps - blinged out

Asian inspired fauxnad

Etude House BL009

Millefiori, layered fauxnad

Franken- Jersey Pink

Swap with Tiana, this and that

Glam interrupted

Weirdness...true neon jelly?

Peacock fauxnadicure take2

Man pedi

Colors better irl

Base for my bridal nails- Elianto, Sparkling Diva Lilac

If I could only have 1 polish...& swap pictures

Nail shape & Milani Digital

Cherries fauxnadedit

Heart Nina Ultra Pro Salsa!