DS display, Green Ocean, Sinful Colors- Navy jelly franken

Hi Kids!
Heads-up! Sinful Colors has a St Patrick's display in Drug Stores featuring  Green Ocean (glitter-flakie) and Irish Green.

I bought 6 bottles o_O of Green Ocean- 2 are going in my Giveaway stash. :)
I also picked-up 3 other Sinful Colors in the green family...Irish Green, Happy Ending, Rise and Shine and 2 more OPI- Mad As A Hatter and You Don't Know Jacques Suede.

I hauled a lot of polish this week, so what did I choose for the base of my next mani?....
A navy jelly I frankened last week!
To give validation to this weeks hauls, I'll be using Ocean Green with this mani.

OPI Chop-Sticking To My Story- Bollywood fauxnad

Hi Kids!
OPI Chop-Sticking To My Story, Hong Kong Collection 2010... Love this color, but I'm afraid I don't see anything "caramel" about it, "warm" or "rich"... It's more like burnt pumpkin to me -definitely not as orange as the swatches I've seen so far. My best description of this color...If there were a non-jelly version of Mango Mend and a smidgen of brown was added to it, you would have Chop-Sticking To My Story. All the business of this color being warm is not entirely true either. Next to my cool toned skin with bright rosey flushes, Chop-Sticking To My Story is a neutral that leans warm, and I can wear it.

I have an antique, silk Saree from India in this exact shade of burnt pumpkin! I bought this polish so I could dupe the look of that Saree on my nails. :)
Click for x-tra large pictures.

Mani, 2 coats OPI, Chop-Sticking To My Story
Tips- freehand overlay with Wild and Crazy, Crunch (Sheer ivory with a metallic, orange reflect)
Nfu-Oh #38 over the overlay
Nailbed layering- Elle LDL #433 (Clear with transparent, gold, reflect micro-glitter)
Fauxnad plate H29 (full nail curlicues)
Stamped with China Glaze, Liquid Leather (perfect for a softly pigmented background)
Konad plate M57- 2 images- bottom right lace strip and tri flowers at top
Both images stamped with Color Club, Where's The Soiree?
Flower centers accented with Hard Candy, Break Up
1 coat Seche

Out of all my layered fauxnad/Konad-icures, the execution of this one is the best. Sometimes I get carried away with my stampings and make every element bold. Too much of anything is, well...too much.
There- I said it.
As much as I love this mani, I'm already looking ahead to my next one...what to do?

Help! I want to do a Giveaway! small personal haul at end

Hi Kids! I apologize for not coming through with the fauxnading I wanted to do over my Pink from Pacific UK mani. For those of you who have seen the Pacific UK polishes at Ross, grab them! I've had the pink on for 4 days now, and there is absolutely NO tipwear!

Anyway, the real reason I'm posting today is to show all of you something...the pile of nail polish I've been putting aside since I decided to do a Giveaway at 50 Followers- which never happened. My 100 Followers milestone also came and went with the same intention to do a Giveaway resulting in the same result. Now I am at 150 Followers, and I desperately want to do a Giveaway!

There are many reasons why I've been dragging my feet with doing one...
lack of time, the feeling that I'm not giving enough- (what I receive from authoring this Blog is priceless!), lack of organization on 2 levels...#1-the polishes I've acquired are a mishmosh of different brands, making it real difficult to group them into Giveaway "packages", #2-I lack the skills it takes to keep the "more chances to win" per Follower organized.
I find *talking* about a Giveaway daunting...try to imagine me actually doing it!

So, I need to keep this *really* simple, and need suggestions/guidance/direction on how to accomplish this without feeling like I'm at the bottom of a massive avalanche.
***********************************************************************************

Since I'm here, I might as well show you what I hauled today. The colors in that pastel set on the bottom row are just yummy! I did a preliminary swatch of those on some plastic and was surprised that, aside from the yellow, they have a great formula and are super pigmented- 2 coaters. The colors are darker and not as chalky looking as Claire's new pastel set. Other than the pretty silver foil flower on the bottles, there are no other markings. On the box...manufactured by Tri-Coastal Design. Found this set and the 2 cubes of 9 polishes on the right (Elle LDL) at Ross. All the rest, I purchased at Ulta.

I'm going to use OPI Chop-Sticking To My Story, Hong Kong Collection 2010, for my next mani. I love the name and I knew instantly what I was going to stamp on it.

Pink from Pacific UK, Northwich

Hi Kids! I finally found a medium pink creme that looks good on me!
About a year ago I picked-up a set of 7 polishes packed in a round plastic box at Ross. I thought "Nail Polish" in Old English style lettering, foiled in purple, on the bottle was absolutely gorgeous. The colors weren't too shabby either. Aside from a quick swatch in the car, on the top of the plastic container they came in, these polishes sat in the furthest regions of my stash- destined to be untried...

Until last night, when I pulled out the pink, swatched it on my nail, and found that it looked great with my skin-tone. Not too bright, blue, chalky or creme-y, this polish is an almost jelly, and I love it!
I can't wait to go through my fauxnad and Konad plates for this one! I am almost tempted to go girly...imagine that!
I am also tempted to try to remove that perpetual hard spot located at the sidewall on my middle finger (your right) with wart remover. That hard spot has been with me *all* my life and nothing has been able to remove it. I am desperate!!!

Application was streaky, however, I managed to get an even first coat- which helps a lot with polishes that are not totally opaque. Second coat went on horribly streaky in  gloopy vertical ridges, so I added thinner for the third coat. When I was finished, I took a good look at the brush and realized that my troubles came from the brush and not so much the formula. When I have time, I'm going to see if I can get one of the new Sally Hansen Complete Salon brushes to fit in this bottle.

The only other marking on these polishes are 2 small round stickers on the bottom of each bottle. All 7 bottles have the same batch # 1148. Does anyone know more about these polishes?

Layered, multi color fauxnad over Rad Purple

Hey Kids!
~Edited~ I had such a difficult time photographing this mani!  I had to sacrifice unflattering angles of my nails for crisper shots of the art :(  So many pictures to go through, and not a single one captured what this fauxnad/Konad art looks like on this jelly!
Irl, the intensity of Rad Purple and the strength of the jelly glow subdued the stamped images. Using a dual polish application on the butterflies and flowers complimented and mimicked the jelly glow.
On any given day at work, I have dozens of people wanting to get a better look at my nails. Tonight, there were exactly three people that noticed I had art on them. The rest just noticed the color.
 At any rate, even I- queen of glammed-up flamboyant, would have stopped at less, full-colored art on every nail if Rad Purple could not carry it all!

~Edit~
4 coats Milani, Rad Purple
Layer of Pure Ice, Heart Breaker that I jazzed up with a few drops of NYC, Love Letters
Fauxnad H20, middle image, partially stamped on (your) right sidewall
H20 stamped with Color Club, Emerald Depths
Butterfly images from fauxnad plates H16, P7, and an unmarked (Chez Delaney) plate (has foot & paw print)
Butterfly images from Konad M20, M40 & M66
All butterflies stamped with Sally Hansen Chromes- Carnelian & Ruby Chrome
Fauxnad flowers from plate P21
Stamped with Sally Hansen, Royal Purple Chrome & what used to be China Glaze 2030...I added a lot of Pure Ice Crimson to knock down some of the reflective properties and to warm it up more.

I had such a difficult time photographing this mani!  I had to sacrifice unflattering angles of my nails for crisper shots of the art :(  So many pictures to go through, and not a single one captured what this fauxnad/Konad art looks like on this jelly!
Irl, the intensity of Rad Purple and the strength of the jelly glow subdued the stamped images. Using a dual polish application on the butterflies and flowers complimented and mimicked the jelly glow.
On any given day at work, I have dozens of people wanting to get a better look at my nails. Tonight, there were exactly three people that noticed I had art on them. The rest just noticed the color.

Milani Rad Purple

Hi Kids! It feels like *forever* since I last posted! With Valentine's Day falling on a Sunday, my weekend at the restaurant was crazy busy.
Anyway!  I'm seeing some awesome eyecandy on the Blogs I follow!!! I wish I had time today to comment on all of them- I've been called in to work early, and have just enough time to leave a post of my own.

The mani I had planned for today was not going to be Milani Rad Purple, but Quirius Cruiser, a baby blue. Last night, it started snowing *again*, and the thought of polishing my nails with a color so close to that of snow did not feel like a good idea. So I chose Milani Rad Purple, and I'm really glad I did. It's a jelly. I've always admired jellies on other people, but felt that they never looked quite right on my own nails, until I shortened and squared them. With my new length and shape, colors that did not look good before now look great.

I love the jelly "glow around the cuticle area!

As you can see, my cuticles are still trying to recover from nail file trauma.

I love how this jelly changes in different types of lighting...just look at the juice-y glow in the picture above!

Mani done with 4 coats Milani Rad Purple. Application with a standard type brush is always tricky for me. I did not get the first coat on evenly at the sidewalls. Because this is a build-able jelly, even after 4 coats, I could not get the sides to "catch up". It's all good though...a little less at the sides just brings out the jelly "glow" all the more.
If you click on the pictures you can see lots of bubbles. Blame it on the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat I've been trying out.
Anyway! This mani is screaming for some fauxnad. Hopefully, I'll get to that tonight.

Fowl fauxnad for foul weather

Hi Kids!
I've been off work for 2 days due to the blizzard that hit our area. Tomorrow, my mission is to trek through the frozen, snowy tundra of Southern New Jersey and dig out the restaurant. I'm not looking forward to going out and being blinded by nothing but white and grey.

The perfect remedy would be for Spring to miraculously appear, but since that won't happen, the next best thing would be a green mani...*and* some color on top of that...*and* it has to be something beautiful, shiney, sparkley, and, andandand...
Can a little mani to do all that? I think so- especially if the inspiration source is the epitome of beauty!

My mani comes nowhere near the quintessential beauty of the Peafowl (or  more commomly, Peacock), however, the similarity is there, and that's all I need.
Lots of pictures. As always they're clickable for ginormous viewing.

Base color- Rimmel, Camoflage- 2 coats

Fauxnad plate A18

Stamping polishes;

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Malediction

Konad Special Polish, Blue Pearl(?) why don't they label these?

deb (as in deb Shop clothing store), Purple

The fauxnad image I used, and the one to the left of it are very tricky to use. Oddly, polishes of the jelly type, and shimmers  work better than thick creme polishes. I had to thin out the Konad Special polish a lot for it to work. 

Some afterthoughts- I wish that I had used a polish with a purple flash instead of the deb shimmer. I'm thinking that ChG Liquid Leather may have been a better black for this image, but I've used all mine up in frankens.

My right hand turned out better than my left. I believe it's because I had less layering of image upon image.

My cuticles are still an unsightly, bloody mess. Thankfully, I found that polish thinner was a painless way to do my clean-up!

~If no one hears from me in a day or so, send out the rescue dogs (with Tequilla please)!

Dark Valentine - Funky French fauxnad

Hi Kids! Before I let Isla go, I figured I'd do a Valentine's Day mani with it, albeit a little on the dark side.

Base- 2 coats Zoya, Isla
Fauxnad plate- H30
Stamped with Color Club, Where's the Soiree?
Tips- Claire's, Magic
Smile Line- Hard Candy, Lava
Heart sequins from Love My Nails, Crazy For you

I spent a considerable amount of time swatching different colors on plastic trying to find just the right color and comparable finish to coordinate/compliment Isla. I like the final outcome!

Edit- After trying to illuminate my tips by taking pictures on a mirror, I remembered that there is a Blogger who regularly takes her pictures on one. Giving credit to Polish Hoarder Disorder!

Unveiling...my new nails- Zoya, Isla

Well, not actually new, new...but my old nails re-vamped and made different.
After 2 more nail breaks on Sunday,  I decided to cut my acrylics down, at the break point. My break point is where my natural nail (under the acrylics) ends. None of this would have happened if my nail tech ground away my natural nail. But, she refuses to drill under my nail, and now I have breakages. I refuse to go to the salon every couple of days until the last of my natural nails are cut down...that's 6 more nails!

So, until I can find a tech who does nails by hand and will drill down my natural nails, I will be sporting shorter nails. Having said that, since I added 2 new tips and gave myself a fill- a decent one at that- I may just buy a nail Dremel and forget about nail techs.

For Readers that are interested...I purchased The Aspire Acrylic System- student version (about $36). It came with an instruction DVD, tips, glue, primer, liquid bonder, 3 acrylic powders; clear, white & pink, brush, emery boards & nail forms.  I had no problems with anything in this kit, aside from the brush...it is garbage. I will be investing in a good one.
The nail forms came in handy. My left middle nail has been visually crooked for months, and I had an idea to use the form and build out the right side-wall to straighten it out. I am tickled pink that I was able to do this! All I had to do was gouge out some vertical lines in the acrylic at the sidewall...something for the new acrylic to grip on to.
I've never been formally trained in acrylic nails, and am extremely proud of myself for coming up with this solution and executing it as well as I did!

As you can see, I need to be less aggressive with my emery boards...cuticles and sides are a bloody mess.
Oh...the squared off nails were my daughter, Amber's idea. She says that I have nail image issues. She also said that my oval-ed nails make me old. I'm giving square a shot for this mani, maybe. The corners have triggered my picking instinct, and if I cannot get a grip on it by tomorrow, the shape will be modified.

2 coats Zoya Isla, no top coat-

Fauxnadicure base-(new) Rimmel, Steel Grey...layered!

Ok Kids, here it is, the base color for my next Fauxnadicure.
NYC French Manicure, Love Letters over Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro, Steel Grey.

This is 2 coats Rimmel LFP in Steel Grey, 1 coat NYC French Manicure in Love Letters.
Pretty, isn't it? I picked up Love Letters as an afterthought, thinking it would look good layered over some of the pink cremes I have. I swatched one of my "Carl Sagan" nails with it and was shocked to see that it's actually a pink and turquoise micro-shimmer duochrome! 
I'm hoping the sun makes an appearance tomorrow so I can capture it better than my desk lamp does.

Interesting to note that while this is pre-clean-up, there is only a spot or two of  Rimmel to remove, and a whole lotta' NYC slops.
It's the new brush! The new Rimmels have the same "magic brush" as the new Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure...short stem, flat wide brush is perfect for my application.

Anyway, I have a Fauxnad idea for this, that I hope turns out spectacular. I'm going to take some plates and polish to work with me and try it on my break.

Carl Sagan inspired fauxnadicure!

Hi Kids! If someone was giving out "grades" today, I'd certainly get an "F" for not using my time wisely. :(
(I'm going to have to rush through this post...it's back to work for me this afternoon.)

Anyway...From the top- Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure- To say that I'm in Love with the brushes in this new collection is an understatement. The short stem and wide flat brush are so perfect for me, I had virtually no clean-up after applying it as my base coat! For this mani, I chose Midnight in NY, but was so disappointed in the lack of sparkle, I doctored it up with 2 kinds of multi-colored, micro glitters, and made it absolutely gorgeous. Once I had my new and improved Midnight in NY on my nails, I knew that I would be stamping a space themed mani. Using the book Cosmos by Carl Sagan as inspiration, I came up with this multi layered  fauxnadicure; Click to make these humongous!

A piece of my son's hair somehow made it into my picture...posting this one to show detail and the duochrome properties of Spa Ritual, It's Raining Men-

Better angle to prove that my nails are not wide Chicklets, and to show some love to my Cockatiels, Pierre, Razor and Pearl...

Franken with 1 coat Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat. (Testing this after reading good things about it in MeganChair's Blog,  Little Music Boxes) This would definitely need another coat or 2 if I wasn't planning a fauxnadicure.

Side by side comparison of Midnight in Ny(left) and my Franken(right)...

Fauxnad plates used;
**B22, A8, A12, H1 & P55. I initially had trouble picking up images from my new A series plates, until I used less pressure when scraping.
**I used Spa Ritual, It's Raining Men (Sheer lite blue with a golden pink flash/duochrome), Spa Ritual, She's a River (sheer, murky, lite blue-grey with a blue flash) and China Glaze, Millennium.
I used the Spa Rituals purely for the flash and duochrome properties.
**1 coat Seche

omg...I *think* that's all...I'm in such a rush!!!