Friday, November 30, 2012

Lazy 15: Guilty Pleasure

Hey everyone... I totally slacked on the Lazy 15 challenge this week; not because I didn't have manis done, but because I was too lazy to upload the pictures onto my computer. So today I have today's challenge a little late and tomorrow I have Monday's challenge I never posted. Sorry!


The challenge for today is guilty pleasure and this was one that I contributed to the challenge, thus I knew this one from the beginning! However, this was kind of a fail because I can't sponge and that nail looked stupid and the first time I tried it, the yellow polish I had on stained my cuticles/fingers. Ugh. Bear with me and don't click to enlarge.

Okay, so JERSEY SHORE! Yes, I know. I'm a teenage girl. I love the drama, the idiocy, the jokes, the personalities, etc. So the mani below is inspired by them:

Pointer: Migi neon green base with Funky Fingers Mermaid Lagoon on top (glittery, gaudy)
Middle: black Migi with red Migi to stamp (supposed to look like the logo, but the sponging wasn't subtle enough)
Ring: Migi orange (to demonstrate their skin tone lol!)
Pinky: Mattese Elite neon pink with Sally Hansen Jade Chrome and m78 from Born Pretty Store (animal print, duh!)


So, I'm sorry for the weird finger staining and my terrible middle finger. I shouldn't try nail art ever.

xoxo,
Amanda

Surprise!

Hi everyone - just a heads up/reminder that I have surprise grab bags for sale. I have to get rid of a bunch of stuff from my stash before it's time to move again so help me out and I'll help you out!

How it works: you pick a dollar amount you want to spend, including $5 for shipping ($10 if you want a bag worth more than $20). Let me know of anything you like/dislike so I can work around those things. Please also link me to your stash list if you have one so I can check to make sure I don't send you anything you have.

Bonus: each grab bag includes at least one HTF, vintage, or indie polish. Also, the value of the bag will be greater than whatever you paid for it, so I promise you'll be getting a deal.

Disclaimers: this will be US only, for now. There are no returns or refunds. Polishes will be wrapped securely but I cannot refund for bottles broken in transit (I'm sorry!).

Interested?: az270890@yahoo.com :)

Thanks for your patience and helping me out (if you do!) - remember, polish makes a great stocking stuffer/Hanukkah gift #shamelessplug

xoxo,
Amanda

Thursday, November 29, 2012

November Untrieds Part 8

Hey everyone - last of November's China Glaze untrieds! I'm glad to have worked through my China Glaze untrieds (well, most of them) - I highly recommend joining us if you have any untrieds you want to go through because this was really successful in helping me try a bunch of them.

Anyway, to ease our transition into December (and because I have a million holiday polishes...) I decided on a very Christmas color for today: Mrs. Claus. Mrs. Claus is a pinky-red base with red glitter and is a very perfect girly Christmas polish, IMO. This was two coats and application was easy breezy (beautiful, Cover Girl?).


So that's the end - bye bye, China Glaze; hello, glitters! Now go see what Madeline has in store :)

xoxo,
Amanda

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Lazy 15: Fairy Tale

Hi everyone. I think it's my duty to warn you: today's post is kind of mushy. I think it might be vomit-inducing. I warned you...


Today is fairy tale themed and rather than going with the typical fairy tales, I decided to go with my own personal fairy tale: my boyfriend. So without getting into mushy-gushy-vomity details, I'll just say that he's a very special person in my life and this was inspired by him.

The base color is Sinful Colors Island Coral and the rest of the design used loose heart glitters, pink rhinestones, and my white Migi pen. Nothing too fancy and just so we can all be assured that I'm not a lunatic, I didn't go out in public with this on haha



So there you go, lovey dovey foofy adorable-ness. Hope you made it through without meclizine ;)


xoxo,
Amanda

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

November Untrieds Part 7

Hey, happy Tuesday! Madeline and I are almost done with this challenge and I'm already preparing for December: glitter. I have about 784731897487198 indie glitters that can use my attention so next month's challenge is perfect! Let me know if you'd like to join, Amanda already signed on!

Today I have Ray-diant for you which is from one of their recent collections that I actually totally ignored. I ended up getting this in a random grab bag and I kind of fell in love instantly - I can see this being a really great accent nail that would match a lot of other polishes.


I wish I could tell you what color this is but I honestly don't even know. It's primarily silver but there's a bunch of other glitters sparsely thrown in so just look at the enlarged version and see for yourself - it's quite lovely :)

xoxo,
Amanda


Friday, November 23, 2012

Lazy 15: Underwater Creatures

Hey all, hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving for those of us who celebrated it yesterday!


I feel exceptionally lazy as I write this so you won't hear much from me. I suck at nail art. I hope someone can figure out what I was going for here... for this look my base color is Diamond Cosmetics Whisper Softly and I used my Migi nail art pens for the design.


Um, in case you can't tell what this blobbiness is, it's supposed to be the bottom of the ocean and fishies. Hey, I never said I was an artist.


xoxo,
Amanda

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving Thank Yous

Hey everyone and Happy Thanksgiving, American readers! I have no nails to show you today... Well, that's kind of not true. You may have noticed this already, but there's a new tab at the top of my blog, called Rainbow Glitters. I swatched my entire collection of rainbow glitters for you guys, and so that's what YOU can be thankful for today: the debut of that awesome blog feature ;)

Instead of the usual nail post, though, I'm going to do a tribute to the people I've really enjoyed interacting with and one thing I am thankful for about each of them. This is no small list, people. Do some stretches. A few deep breaths now. Blink and rub your eyes for a minute. FYI, this list is in alphabetical order just because I didn't want people to be offended (this isn't MySpace, I don't do a top 8) and if I forgot you, please let me know since clearly my brain isn't always 100% functional, especially compiling big lists!
  • Abby - Nothing Personail - Abby is someone I always instantly relate to and lately we've been having some really funny conversations! Thanks for making me smile :)
  • Alicia - The Base Coat - Alicia is new on my radar for some reason but I have really enjoyed chatting with her. She's always got great recommendations and suggestions!
  • Alissa - @MissAlissaS - Alissa and I share the same profession so she's a great girl for me to talk to when I'm stressed about work, and is always kind and helpful.
  • Amanda - Fashion Footing - This girl... no words. No, wrong. Too many words. She honestly has one of the biggest hearts ever and has been my support and my nail polish hunter whenever I needed her. Love this girl! <3
  • Amanda - Mad Manis - Someone needs to get this girl back into blogging, because one of her greatest talents is her nail art. She has a great eye for everything adorable.
  • Amanda - Pretty Girl Science - I've had a lot of fun recently chatting with Amanda, who happens to be a night owl like me, making her perfect for late night insomnia chats ;) I've also recently begun talking to her cohort Nichole, though somehow I failed to realize she got a separate twitter handle!
  • Arlyn - @arlyn531 - Arlyn is such a great hunter! She's always willing to look for polishes if you're having trouble and send them to you. Such a big heart and so pretty!
  • Ashley - @TellEmItsAce - She's been another great person to talk to! Lots of great feedback and responses to my tweets!
  • Ave - Polish Pixelle - Ave has the lucky honor of being one of the few nail bloggers in Massachusetts with me - that's right! This girl gets to share a state with me! What a lucky duck ;) She's been there for me through quite a few rants and that gives her some kudos in my book.
  • Bregje - Oooh Shinies! - Bregje is a "big blogger" with a big heart. She responds to every tweet, Instagram comment, blog comment, etc. since I started following her and is so good at making creative manicures effortlessly.
  • Dana - Polished Claws Up - Vintage queen, sharing the throne with Jacqui, one of the first people I ever got close to on twitter!
  • Fitzy - The Lacquer Lad - I'm thankful for Fitzy's honest opinions and his different take on things. It's always great to have an outlook from someone with a different life experience from you, especially when they can be relatable (which, obviously, he is... or he wouldn't be on this list, duh). Fitzy is always a great person to chat with.
  • Hannah - Polly Polish - She founded Polish Days! Although, I have yet to participate because I swear, I have some form of only-nail-polish-related-ADHD. But she's still pretty cool, even without Polish Days. ;)
  • Jamie - @jamieleelu - Jamie doesn't have a blog (which is a damn shame, because she's witty, talented, and awesome). She was the first person in this community I really talked with and she sent me my ultimate lemming - Mad As A Hatter (yes, every time I mention Jamie, MAAH must be mentioned. It's an unspoken girl rule.). We text pretty much all the time and she's awesome. Did I mention she's awesome? <3
  • Jacqui - The Scholarly Nail - Jacqui has such a great sense of humor. We share a lot of our humor together and she always can make me laugh LIKE KEYFUH ON REEFUH. 
  • Janna - Clever n Colorful - One of my original followers, she's quiet on twitter (and on her blog, lately) but has really great feedback and ideas.
  • Kim - @SomeCrazedLady - Kim (whose name always eludes me because she has no blog nor is it listed anywhere!) is a great polish hunter - she recently got me three of the Studio M rainbow glitters. More on those soon...
  • Lindsay - Nailtopia - It took me about 19 years to remember Lindsay's blog and she finally listened to me and listed it in her twitter description - that's what I'm thankful for, so that I can easily get to this lovely lady's blog ;)
  • Lindsay - Polish and Diamonds - Lindsay and I don't tweet too often but we DM more than I think anyone else I know! She's been a great support for me and always gives me honest opinions.
  • Madeline - Girl Germs - Madeline always has really honest but positive feedback, I know if she comments on my blog, I've done something right! She's also a really cool chick and I recommend trying to follow her on twitter but she's private because she's super cool and she has to keep creepers out. It's legit.
  • Megan - Painting Rainbows - Megan and I used to (when I wasn't impoverished) mail each other random swap stuff and it was funny and random and fun and random. She has a great eye for the random and quirky - like a pie (cake?) shaped sponge she sent me! 
  • Melissa - Nails and Heels - Melissa is new to blogging - go visit so we can encourage her to blog more ;)  She's great comedic relief on my twitter.
  • Nicole - Polish Me Please -  First, I love Nicole's twitter picture. It looks like she's about to say, "PEEK A BOO" and it makes me instantly happy. She's also super supportive and positive whenever I need her.
  • Nicole - Young, Wild, and Polished - Nicole is another one who's been a good support when I need her. She's been through hard times (haven't we all?) and it makes her easy to talk to, even about the tough stuff.
  • Rachael - The Perky Polisher - Rachael is definitely spot-on with her blog name, she's perky - but in the good way. Not the way you think of a "perky" cheerleader which is just another, kinder word for "annoying". This is the actual, fun version of perky. She's great for a pick-me-up and positive attitude!
  • Radha - The Polish Owl - I've been in touch with Radha loooong before her blogging days and I always appreciate her random acts of kindness. She's sent me at least two great polishes - one was Cult Nails Clairvoyant. It made my day and week and month.
  • Ryan - RyCoBra - Another sweetheart in the nail blogging world (there's no shortage!). This sweetheart has made me many a mix CD to cheer me up.  
  • Sabine - My Polish Stash - Sabine is a super-sweet girl from Germany who is currently taking a blogging break while getting her PhD, and I can certainly be thankful for educated gals, even when it means lack of posting pretty polishes ;)
  • Saira - The Girl With The Green Nails - Saira is such a positive person, I don't think I've ever heard anything negative come out of this girl's mouth....er, twitter.
  • Sarah - Lacquerlicious Love - I just recently began talking to Lindsay but it's been really fun getting to know her and seeing how much we have in common - I'm thankful for meeting her and new people this year!
  • Sirena Sparklestar - Sirena Sparklestar - Come on, if you think I need anything more to be thankful for than her blog name, you probably are reading the wrong blog. 
  • Stephanie - The Polish Squirrel - Stephanie is new to blogging (she started in February, so maybe not THAT new) but really knows her stuff. I really appreciate talking to her and she's always kind!
  • Stephanie - Sincerely Stephanie - Stephanie is what I consider a "big blogger" but she never acts like she is... if that makes sense. She's so easy to talk to and personable that I always feel really comfortable chatting about anything with her.
  • Tee - @mstrfrck - No blog for this gal either, people. However, she's such a generous, kind, thoughtful person. She was my Secret Goblin and she spoiled Lulu and I like crazy! (However, don't ask me what her twitter handle means. I have no idea, even after asking her ;) )
  • Wes - Polish Me Manly - Wes is such a sweetheart. I've been chatting with him via twitter since before he began blogging and he's someone I talk to often. He also helped me out when I was struggling financially this month, and I really appreciate his generosity.
Wow, it was really hard narrowing it down to just one thing I'm thankful for for you guys! Also, please don't be upset if I didn't include you. I started this post on the 5th and have been adding people in my sleepless states whenever someone pops in my head - but don't be offended if you aren't an insomniac's sleepless thought ;) I totally appreciate ALL of you, especially my regular readers without blogs and my commenters.

Thanks for the support, kind words, late night chats, laughs, and community you've made. Without you, I don't think I'd have kept up with this hobby for so long... well, maybe if you hadn't been around, I'd be saving a lot of money. Hmm... need to rethink this list...

Just kidding. Love you guys.

xoxo,
Amanda

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Lazy 15: Disney

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good week. I'm out of work early today so I'm pretty excited for that, as well as a long weekend!


Today's challenge is Disney movies and characters. I'm really not much of a Disney person so this was a bit challenging for me because I just wasn't very inspired. I decided to start with a color and see where I went with it and China Glaze With Love from the recent holiday collection was my choice. Instantly I thought: Minnie! So that's what we have today.



From left to right I have Minnie's bow (yes, I know, the colors are reversed), little Disney mice, Minnie's polka dots, and more mice. This was obviously super easy nail art but I'm still fairly proud. Nobody would probably know my inspiration if I didn't tell them but that's okay. Check out what my fellow challengers came up with!




xoxo,
Amanda

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

November Untrieds Part 6

Hey hey hey! I'm running out of greetings to start my posts with lol! Accepting suggestions ;)

Today Madeline and I are back with some more China Glaze untrieds! I'm happy to say I think my China Glaze drawer in my Helmer will be 100% used by the end of the month... though I have some from the Cirque du Soleil collection I'm not counting ;) By the way, December's untrieds isn't a brand, but a type: glitter. So if you'd like in on it, let me know and we can include you too!

Dorothy Who? is the polish for today. This is Ruby Pumps' blue sister. It's a light blue base with darker blue glitter in it and it's beautiful. The formula is a little thin and hard to work with, so excuse the bald spots and uneven application in some places. This is two coats, no top coat.



I'm not usually a blue person, but I liked this one. I don't know when I'll wear it, though, because I rarely find a reason to wear blues and constantly wear pinks and purples *sigh*

xoxo,
Amanda

Monday, November 19, 2012

Lazy 15: Dessert

Hey everyone - another Monday is upon us! However, for my fellow Americans, it'll be a short week for us because of Thanksgiving on Thursday. I'm out early on Wednesday and then off the rest of the week, so I'm definitely looking forward to some quality time off. I'm going to be doing Thanksgiving with my dad, boyfriend, and boyfriend's mom this year and I'm pretty excited for good food and our families to mix and match ;)


The challenge for today is dessert nails. My first thought, and probably many of yours, was cupcakes, but I worried they'd be overdone. I decided to go for a cookie theme: sugar cookies with sprinkles! Every year for Christmas, I make sugar cookies and I can never resist leaving some without frosting and just adding sprinkles to them before they bake, so that was my inspiration.

For the nails themselves, I used a basic white, then Smitten Polish Confection, and topped with Orly Winter Wonderland. They kind of look like if sugar cookies and snickerdoodles mated, but that's okay. I'd still eat a cookie if it looked like this ;)



Smitten Polish is quickly becoming one of my favorites: this one was a white jelly base with rainbow glitter and it was really pretty and easy to work with. I just bought another one recently with pink and purple glitter in a white jelly base and it looks like pop tarts! Here's Confection on its own, in case you were wondering :)


 Anyway, that's all for today, go check out my fellow challengers!


xoxo,
Amanda

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Breaking Dawn Nails!

Hey ladies and gents! I have a twinsie post today with Ryan for Twilight's final installment coming out. (PS Rycobra is formerly Naild In The South, so if you haven't found her new blog name go follow now!) Ryan already posted hers for the premiere on Thursday but I was working and had a concert I wanted to do my nails for, so my nails were done this evening and are on right now, which is rare for me! I'm thinking I'll probably go see it the first time (yes, I'll go multiple times) this morning, which hopefully won't be too hectic!

I actually only have one photograph of this because I felt like it did well demonstrating it on its own and you didn't need 15 pictures to get the gist ;) On my thumb, pointer, and pinky I applied China Glaze Elephant Walk and then Candy Lacquer Chick Flick (fitting, huh?) on top. Then on my middle and ring I used OPI Strawberry Margarita and RLR Creations water decals on top.


I wanted this to be Twilight but not the typical vampire fare, so I went with pink and gray for a toned-down version of the usual red and black, and I really liked the outcome. The decals were pretty easy to work with but they took some patience and I was a bit bummed the white didn't show on the chess piece in front, but I think the point comes across. Hope you liked these, Twihards ;)

xoxo,
Amanda

Friday, November 16, 2012

Lazy 15: Feminine

Hi everyone, I am feeling SUPER lazy today and thus, this post is several hours late (actually, it's almost tomorrow so... sorry about that).






For today's mani, I started with Nicole by OPI Holiday's Glaze, which I can barely seem to find on other blogs anywhere, but I got it from a recent blog sale. Basically, it is a very light pink linear holographic polish and I adore it. It's super feminine too, to me anyway.



The bottle shows the linear holo better than any of my nail shots could:


Then, I added some random bow stamping to my nails using m59 which I got from Born Pretty Store. I was kind of playing with stamp placement here to see what I liked best and I think my pointer and ring were my favorites.


So there we have it - some feminine/girly nails :)


xoxo,
Amanda

Thursday, November 15, 2012

November Untrieds Part 5

Hello! Almost the end of the week yayyyy! I'm actually off work tomorrow because tonight I'm seeing Bassnectar with my boyfriend. When we started dating, I took an interest in his musical tastes, of course, and Bassnectar is probably my favorite of all his music he introduced me to - so I'm pretty excited! I'm DEFINITELY excited for having tomorrow off. I used to have all Fridays off work but had to work them to make more money, so having one off now feels like a real treat!

ANYWAAAYYYYY... today's pictures are awful. Maybe my battery was dying or maybe I was lazy or maybe my life malfunctioned? I don't know. But it's not the best photography ever so forgive me. I needed to do my next day of mine and Madeline's challenge and apparently I overlooked that my photos SUCK. ... uh. Ahem. Moving on.

China Glaze Jungle Queen was actually an accidental purchase for me. I found it on clearance at Sally's and thought it was Elephant Walk... which, of course, it wasn't. So I grinned (grun?) and beared (bore?) it and tried it anyway. I don't love it, don't hate it. It's a dusty purple with shimmer (ughhhh I hate shimmer) but it looks gray in some lights. This was two coats and it applied well.


Then I added a coat of JENsations Follow Your Heart. This is black and white matte glitters (including hearts, eeeee!) in a clear base. If you're running to Jen's shop now to buy it, you're going to be disappointed - because this was a custom one made for me! However, everything used was a combination of glitters from her other polishes, so if you're lemming it you could probably request "Follow Your Heart" or just do what I did and tell her you want a custom polish with all the matte black and white glitters she has except bar glitter. :)









Here's a bottle shot of Follow Your Heart. I absolutely LOVE this polish. Jen did a great job (by the way, custom polishes by Jen are $9.20 - the .20 is to cover a listing fee - and she's so quick and dynamic! I definitely recommend her custom polishes!)


There you are... sorry this post was 90% NOT China Glaze, oops!

xoxo,
Amanda

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Lazy 15: Favorite Color (bonus: Pink Wednesday)

Hey guys and gals! Happy Hump Day :) Not too much to say today so let's jump right in!


Today's challenge is your favorite color, and mine happens to be purple... but I also love pink. I was torn, what do I choose? And then I remembered a certain indie brand's spring/summer duo I purchased and realized I could cheat and show you both under the guise of being thorough and showing you a full collection at once. I'm sneaky, aren't I?

First up is Hare Rad Cloud, which is a purple base with pink, orange, blue, and purple glitter in it.  The glitter on this was incredible! I couldn't believe how much glitter was in that base considering how comparably sparse it looks in the bottle! Application was really easy, no fishing or pushing - just apply like you would any creme. This is two (or possibly 3?) coats with no base color.



Here's where Pink Wednesday comes in: The other half of the duo is Magic Mist, which is a pink base with pink, orange, blue, and purple glitter (she might have used the same glitters but different bases? whatever. looks good to me! haha). This base seems more like a creme to me and Rad Cloud looks more like a jelly. Both were easy to work with though Magic Mist was a little thick and I'll have to thin it in the future. This is three coats with no base. Also, excuse the glitter herpes, or GLERPES, as Amanda and I like to call them.

 

So there's my cheating way of showing you both my favorite colors. Check out what the other challengees came up with!


xoxo,
Amanda


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

November Untrieds Part 4: Tuesday Two-fer

Hello again! If you're reading this, we made it through Monday, woohoo! A few people I know had the holiday off in the US yesterday so this might be the first day of your week. If so, I'm VERY jealous ;)

I'm back with another day of China Glaze untrieds! Today I have two of them, actually, because one was a glitter top-coat. Away we go!

First is Pink Plumeria, from their recent summer collection. I got this from my Secret August Santa, I believe and am ashamed to say it took me this long to wear this beauty! This was two coats, really easy application. The color is more pink than it shows in this picture.

Then, I added Make a Spectacle which was part of one of their recent collections, though the name of it fails me right now. This is iridescent glitter similar to Snow Globe, though not the same. Snow Globe has more rainbow iridescence whereas this mostly shows as yellow, green, and blue. Both are pretty (and I'll keep both!) but Snow Globe is my favorite of the two.

Application was easy-peasy. Brush it on and go. This is 1 coat.


Plus a bottle shot to show you the pretty!


Ta daaaa! Now go see what Madeline has in store today for her untrieds!

xoxo,
Amanda

Monday, November 12, 2012

Lazy 15: Galaxy Nails

Hi everyone! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine was good, yesterday was soooooooo relaxing - something I haven't experienced in MONTHS.


So when this challenge began, there were a few days I read and groaned. You saw a recent one with water marbling. The second was galaxy nails, but I'm actually SO impressed with what I came up with.

So here's what I did (yes, I made a handy dandy graphic!):


Then, I added on some loose silver star glitter I had and voila!


So there you have it! I know it's not the usual galaxy nails you see with lots and lots of sponging but 1. you should know me by now. I like glitter. and 2. I think these are sort of a different take, like what the galaxy looks like from Earth if we're looking up at the sky. 


xoxo,
Amanda

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Saturday Mini-Challenge: Cling-Wrap Mani

Hey everyone! Happy weekend! I'm so so so glad that it's the weekend, work has been nuts lately and I love my breaks on the weekends now.

Anywho, a few of my twitter buds and I decided to challenge ourselves to do a cling wrap mani... just once. My fellow challengers are Nicole, Wes, and Fitzy. It's a one-time challenge - right up my alley! haha! I've never actually done one before this so I was having a lot of trouble deciding what color combination to do... and then I had an epiphany. ALL THE COLORS!

Magnetic Radiant Red, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Shrimply Devine, OPI Atomic Orange, Zoya Pippa, Essence Bashful, Essence Sleepy, A-England Tristam, Color Club Pucci-licious

I heard that putting dark colors over light worked best and it just so happened all my light and dark colors alternated so I could do every other for my base coat. We have Sally Hansen Shrimply Devine, Zoya Pippa, Essence Sleepy, and Color Club Pucci-licious as my base colors:


I waited for them to dry (a tough feat since I'm impatient). I only did one coat even though they have some bald spots because I knew they'd get covered up :) Then I added the remaining colors (Magnetic Radiant Red, OPI Atomic Orange, Essence Bashful, and A-England Tristam) on top, and used the Saran wrap to dab it away while it was still wet.


Here are a close up of the nails I liked better:


There you have it - I managed to use all of the colors of the rainbow. Even indigo! (Which after intense twitter debate, it was discovered can be one of 4 shades and I just chose the darker blue version of the definition.) I really like this method and I loved the results! The Magnetic brand one is a scattered holo and it came out really pretty, it kind of looks like the glitter crackles earlier this year.

Anyway, HOOOOOOOOLYYYYYYYYYY chattiness this post. Sorry about that! Kudos if you made it through and I hope you enjoyed ;)

xoxo,
Amanda

Friday, November 9, 2012

Lazy 15: Water Marble

Hey everyone! I'm being really last minute typing this up the night before when usually I have posts ready at least a few days in advance now to make up for my schedule... but that's life! I'm watching Jersey Shore and not going to bed like I should be, but whatever ;)

Today's challenge is water marble and... groooooooooaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn.


I was dreading this challenge, I won't lie to you. Once upon a time I loved water marbling but it's so time consuming and wastes nail polish like whooooa so I was not imagining this would come out well... and I was right. It's bubbly and it smudged easily and never ever ever dried and ughhhh. I will not be doing this again anytime soon (probably not unless another challenge calls for it actually haha!)

I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry, Cherry, Bang, Bang! (the dark purple/bottle I'm holding), Mattese Elite Pink Tutu (light pink), and Mattese Elite Attitude (blue).






So, there's that. A day of this challenge I am glad to have in my past ;)



xoxo,
Amanda

Thursday, November 8, 2012

November Untrieds Part 3

Hey everyone, hope your week is going well. More than half over, so that's good!

Another installment of mine and Madeline's China Glaze November Untrieds Challenge (we have no official name, so this works, right?)

I actually have two polishes today. I used Glitter All The Way from this year's holiday collection on my pointer and ring fingers and Twinkle Lights from last year's on the middle and pinky. GATW only needed two coats, it was really dense and really easy to work with for a fine glitter. Twinkle Lights was a bit thinner, shown is three coats. This was opaque in person but pictures always show the nail if it's at all possible.


Close up (ignore the yellow splotch on my ring finger, it's a stain from yesterday's dots!) so you can see all the pretty colors. Twinkle Lights is very definitely Christmas, whereas GATW is very Mardi Gras... although, from far away it just looks like a color party and it's hard to tell it's Mardi Gras colors (which is a good thing, because I normally hate Mardi Gras themed polishes since they involve gold 99% of the time).


GATW is a must-have in my book. Twinkle Lights... meh. Not crazy about it since it's predominantly gold. I feel like I should probably hold on to it but I've been fickle lately so I'll probably swap or sell it.

xoxo,
Amanda

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Pink Wednesday & Lazy 15: Dots

Hello everyone. Not feeling so chatty... quite a few things have me a bit upset lately but not getting into that here. Just understand my posts might be a bit quiet for a little while.

I'm back with another day of the Lazy 15 challenge and today's challenge is dots.


I started off with China Glaze Sexy Lady (one of my untrieds, I should get extra credit for mine and Madeline's November Untried Challenge, too) which was two coats of pink perfection (AND it's a pink... on a Wednesday!). Also, yes. My nails are complete nubbins right now and no, I don't want to talk about it.


Then, I got creative and made a "subliminal" message in my dots. I used my neon orange and yellow Migi pens and there's a little message in there in my dots!


I wasn't too impressed with myself because moments after making my dots, I managed to smudge a couple nails on a stray hair that miraculously dove off my head into my manicure. (You might also see my middle finger dots are no where near straight lines but... when you see what the shape on that nail was subliminally, you'll understand why I was struggling. Also, it was late.) I added some matte top coat which did anything but disguise the mistakes...


If you want to see the "subliminal" message (I admit, it's tricky to see...) check below the cut, after the pictures of all my fellow challengers manis!

xoxo,
Amanda