OK so a lot of you have been asking me to post more hauls and to post pictures of my stash.  I'll be honest and say I don't really haul polishes much.  I do buy them here and there but when I do it's normally one or two at a time and even that has been few and far between recently.  I'm just not super impressed with the newer collections and most of the time, I find I already have something similar in my collection.  I'm also trying to work through a whole TON of untrieds.  I haven't counted them and really...I'm almost afraid to do it!  But I CAN post stash pics.  I need to clean out my polishes anyway since for a long time I didn't have the time or inclination to organize them properly and as a result there are polishes all over my house and piled all over my nail table in boxes. :/  I doubt that's helping my untried count!! So...we'll go through them together, shall we?  I'm starting with my OPI's because I hardly use them so they're pretty organized as it is...lol...and also because I feel I may have the least amount of them.  And without futher a do....this is my OPI drawer:

OPI is a brand I really don't like to support.  For one thing, they're very back and forth on whether or not they test on animals.  As someone who tries very hard to lead a vegan lifestyle (or at least as cruelty free as I can!) this is a major turnoff.  Aside from that is the formula issues they seem to have.  One bottle of a polish can look completely different by the time the next batch of it hits stores.  I find that my OPI's thicken up long before my other brands and the glitters are really bad about 'banding' around the bottles.  Therefore, most of what I own from OPI is celebrity endorsed colors, cram packed glitters, and shatters.  

We'll start with the shatters:

I can't be certain, but I think the only shatters I'm missing are white, pink and gold.  At any rate I skipped all the ones I already had from China Glaze.  From the top left we have: Shatter the Scales, Black, Navy, and Super Bass.  Bottom row from left is: Red, Blue, Turquoise, and Silver.

Next up we'll do the special polishes.  These are DS polishes and Suede's (I forgot to photograph one suede with this group so it's in with the regulars. Doh.)

Again from the top left we have: DS Sapphire, Temptation, and Passion.  The bottom row from left is OPI Suede Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees, Russian Navy and Zom-body to Love

What's up next? My personal favorites...the glitters....

I'm not going to name these all out individually because it's a lot! The top row is the complete Burlesque collection.  The second row from left is: Absolutely Alice, Divine Swine, Metallic 4 Life, Save Me, Rainbow Connection, and Fresh Frog of Bel Air.  The last row is Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night, Excuse Moi, Gone Gonzo, Servin' Up Sparkle, and Nothin' Mousie About It.

And now we're onto just regular colors:

Again, I'm not going to list out all the names of these because there are just a lot of them! If there are particular colors you're interested in the name of I'm happy to investigate them for you though! A lot of these are Pirates of the Caribbean colors (I have the entire collection), Muppet's Colors (just missing two), Katy Perry (complete), Nikki Minaj (missing two), and Hollands.  There are of course, other things mixed in though! If you look at the bottom row second polish from left (with the suede cap!) you'll see the other suede OPI I have.  It's Ink.  So the only thing I have left to show you now are my OPI for's.  Lol...OPI for Sephora and OPI for your budget...otherwise known as Nicole by OPI. :P  These no longer fit into my OPI drawer so I'll have to relocate them at some point but for now they're chilling in a box on my desk.

These I will name since there aren't that many and nearly all of them are Justin Bieber colors. The top row are my Sephora by OPI colors.  From the left is: Sparkling Personality, Rumba Romance, Leaf Him at the Altar, and My Personal Serpent.  The middle row from left is: Lemon Lime Twist, Give Me the First Dance, Step 2 The Beat of My Heart, Prized Possession Purple, and Me + Blue. The bottom row is OMB!, My Lifesaver and Dandelion. 

So there you have it! My OPI collection.  Excluding OPI for's I count 74 OPI polishes. Geez...more than I thought! :/

These nails are a guest post for my very good friend, Debbie at The Crumpet. This month she's celebrating her 500th blog post and invited some friends to join in the celebration!!  I can't say enough wonderful things about Debbie and her blog.  It has everything you could ask for in a blog: humor, art, swatches, and best of all, a lot of heart.  I'm nowhere near five hundred posts myself so I give kudos to Debbie for sticking with it and making time to post!! We all know it can be hard sometimes!  In honor of Debbie's milestone, I wanted to recreate one of her wonderful mani's!  It took me a LONG time to choose.  Not only are there a lot to choose from, but they're all so interesting and I wanted to choose one that I could really do justice.  Debbie did a series of these crazy cool mosiac mani's in all sorts of colors.  I chose to do the blue ones because I had most of the colors she used in the original!  I think they turned out really well and I was really sad to have to take them off!  Congrats again to Debbie on her 500th post! I can't wait to see the next 500!  :)

PS: you can see Debbie's original blue mosaic mani here: Crumpety Blue Mosaic 

Colors used: China Glaze Sea Spray, butterLONDON Victoriana, A-England Tristam, Barry M Blue Glitter, Barry M Cyan Blue, China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle

So since I've had to remove my polish pretty much every other day since I started work I'm experimenting with Gelish here and there. You'll probably see a few Gelish mani's coming up since I'm learning how to do it and practicing doing it at work.  A few things I learned about wearing gel polish:. One: it feels thicker than regular polish. Remember the first time you wore lipstick?  The way it made your lips feel a bit...suffocated?  Not unbearably so but just enough that it was a bit irritating?  Well gel polish is kind of the same way.  Your nails feel a little bit more stifled than with regular polish, but you get used to it very quickly.  Two:  they make your nails stronger but also dry them out more.  My hands are in water ALL day long and I really think that if I had gone polish free they'd have broken by now just from being weak all day.  The gel polish really helped to beef them up and keep them strong while I'm working.  That said you're meant to oil them everyday which I forgot to do and so when I removed the polish my nails were extra dry. :(  Three: they're wicked shiny.  Honestly. People get addicted to the shine and I have to admit I kind of have too.  They're MUCH shinier than any top coat I've used.  These lasted about six days and would have probably lasted longer but my thumbs are in acetone all day and I accidentally filed off my top coat so the tips got a little eaten.  The lack of shine there annoyed me though so off they came!!  I really loved this color because it made my nails look so healthy and it was natural enough that I could polish over it when I felt like.  I have an accent nail here of Sephora by OPI in It's Real.  It's a clear jelly base with flecks of real 18K gold in it.  It's really pretty and subtle but it doesn't shine like normal glitters.  It's a bit more of a shine than a shimmer!  I hope you enjoy!!  Have you ever tried gel polish?

Colors used:

Gelish in Sweet Dreams

OPI for Sephora It's Real

This is the swatch I did of my polish.  It was taken in natural, outdoor light on an overcast day.  It's a pale blue leaning turquoise with a subtle copper shimmer.  The original inspiration for my polish was my kitty, Aoife's, eye color.  She has these GORGEOUS blue/green eyes which glint copper when the sun hits them. If you've been on my other blog then you'll no doubt have seen my lovely kitty but for those of you who haven't, here's a pic!

I think this polish hit the nail pretty squarely on the head.  Similar to Catrice's Am I Blue or Green? Nacozari leans blue and green depending on the light.  I had a difficult time capturing it on my camera because for some reason everytime I get a minute to swatch it's overcast. But the macro shot below shows the copper flecks.

The color on this is off a bit.  It's much less murky but you can really see all the shimmery goodness in this shot.  It's taken in artificial lights indoors.  Because Carrie sent me some amazing swatches of it while we were collaborating, I'm including them below so you can get a better idea of the color and also the way it shifts from blue to green and shimmers in the sunlight!

From the pinky to index we have one coat all the way up to three.  I think two coats is nice but the formula is a bit more jelly than creme so three is ideal for full opacity.  You can see here how it's more of a bright turquoise color.

Two more for good measure!!

I hope you all loved this polish as much as I loved making it!! You can enter the giveaway below to be one of the first to own my collaboration, Nacozari, from Sassy Lacquer! If you miss out you'll also be able to purchase it on Friday at Carrie's storefront, The Sassy Lacquer Store!! Tomorrow you can catch another reveal over at Chalkboard Nails and then on Thursday you can catch the final polish over at My Life in Polish.  And don't forget to enter the giveaway below!!

Under Pressure may have bit a hit song in 1981 but your nails will thank you for abstaining!  Try this: grab your file and put it flat on the back of your hand. Now use your index finger to press down at the center of it, using the pressure you'd normally use to file and drag it across your skin.  Feel that?  Your nails do too.  Excessive or aggressive filing, or even using the wrong grit of file can really damage your free edge and lead to breaks, peels, and more!  Now try the experiment again, but this time don't use your index finger. Just glide the file lightly across your hand using no pressure.  Not too bad, huh?  That's all the pressure you need to file your nails.  Start with a 600 or 400 grit file...that's right everyone, A BUFFER.  Drag it GENTLY using minimal pressure across your free edge.  If you're getting the results you need then you don't have to graduate the grit.  If it's not changing the shape then you can use a higher grit but NEVER use additional pressure.  You'll save your nails a lot of wear and tear this way!!

Pro tip: Always use a grit of 180 or above on a natural nail and never use a file to change the length of a nail!  Use your clippers and THEN file only to shape.

Today's mani was a 'good luck' mani for me! I had a big practical test coming up to see if I would be able to go on commission and get out of training for my new job and I wanted to do something that was sort of business in the front, party in the back!  Lol...this mani combines my favorite neutral, professional color with a SUPER fun crazy neon nail.  Surprisingly, it's a look I've seen kind of trending recently.  I decided to matte them all to make it a little bit more off beat and also because it really made the neutral color seem more natural.  I'm still working on keeping polish on my nails on the job and I found that using this color worked out really well since I can tell when it's coming off but it's not super noticeable to the clientele.  At any rate I used butterLONDON Tea With the Queen for the nuetral nails and China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard for the neon.  :)  Enjoy!!

...there are five basic nail shapes?  

There are lot's of fun, new trends like stiletto nails, lipstick nails, and duck nails but all or most of these fall into the basic five shapes: round, square, oval, pointed, and squoval.  So with all these choices, how do you know which shape is right for you?  Simply use your cuticle as a guide.  Are your cuticles more of an oval shape?  Then an oval shaped nail will be the best fit for you.  Are they wider and less rounded at the edges? Go with a square shape or a squoval.  Balancing the nail with the cuticle will not only be the most aesthetically pleasing choice for your nails, but it will also allow you to get the most strength and longevity out of them!

Pro tip:  When drastically changing the shape of your nails, go slowly!  Transition from square to round by going first with a squoval shape.  Going from round to square? Simply nip the round tip and file. 

So now that I'm working it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep my nails polished. :(  It's not that we aren't allowed, it's just that when you're removing polish all day long, your own seems to eat the dust as well. So I'm trying something out.  On Monday, I polished JUST my ring and pinky finger.  When I got home from work, my ring was a TAD smudged. Just a little bit but enough.  So I re-polished.  Today I had my polished removed for a mani for a trainee so I guess I'll have to resume the experiment tomorrow, but the idea is that when I come home with the ring completely pristine then I'll polish the middle and keep going until I'm able to keep all my polish nice for my procedures.  It's work, don't get me wrong, but work well worth it!! So here's my mini polish job!!  The base is Revlon White on White followed by two coats each of the China Glaze Neons* and then some striping tape, a coat of Revlon Black Lingerie, and voila!! Neon nails!! Enjoy and thanks for following!!

*colors used were China Glaze Sun-Kissed and I'm With The Lifeguard

I'm going to apologize in advance for the slowness of my blog lately.  It's probably going to be slow for a little while longer since I've just started a new job and my hours aren't quite set yet!  But I'm trying to squeeze in a few little things so that you have something to read while I'm in between! :)  Some of you mentioned you'd like to see more hauls and honestly, the reason I don't post them is that I generally don't 'haul' polish.  In an average month I probably only buy 10-20 and I rarely buy them all at once.  But recently some things have caught my eye so I'll show you what I've 'hauled' over the past two weeks.  It's smallish I know! I actually bought a TON more...but it was for someone else. :P  Here's what I got for me:

Top row: China Glaze Neons in I'm With the Lifeguard, Sun-Kissed, and Splish Splash (which by the way, is decidedly NOT neon!)

Middle row: Orly Rock the World, Sashay My Way, and Be Brave, OPI Shatter the Scales, and Zoya Chloe

Bottom Row: Zoya Zuza, Maisie, and Opal

Do you have any of these colors?

(...just for fun...here's my haulage for friends!!)

I'm starting up a series of mini blogs titled "Did you know?"  They will feature small tidbits of information and tips and tricks for you to use to help you take care of your nails and improve your nail art. :)  Today will be the first in the series...

Did you know...

If your nails are saturated with water, your polish cannot fully dry until the nail plate is fully dry.  This means when you do a manicure and soak your nails in water, or polish just after a shower or bath you are actually extending the dry time of the polish.  Be extra careful for at least two hours following a water mani or a pedi so you don't mess up all your hard work!!

Well today was my very first official day of work!! It was a long day! But I learned A TON and I have so many more nail care posts planned for you guys. I can't wait and I'm loving all the feedback I'm getting from you all. :)  One thing I learned about recently is nail shape.  Did you all know that we have a shape that's perfect for our nails?  There's a quick and easy way to tell what shape is right for you. I'll be posting on this hopefully on Saturday along with showing you how to tell what basic type of nail you have so that you're better equipped to care for them.  Knowing your nail type will not only help you choose the right products to use but will also help you prevent hangnails and other pesky problems.  My natural nail shape is meant to be oval.  Which is ironic because I had just ovaled out my nails the other day on a whim and today when I trained it ended up just being the right shape for me.  I still think I like them square!! But I'm normally a risk taker with these types of things and it's easy to go back to square!! What do you all think of the new shape?

Today's design was inspired by my new iPhone case.  Cute, no?  Hope you all enjoyed and thanks for following!!

...but today we're going to dwell just a BIT.  Here's the round up for my Harry Potter series.  I had so much fun doing this one.  Harry Potter is something that's very dear to my heart. :)  I wanted to do this round up like the one for the LOST series by showing you all my favorite mani from the other girls, but unfortunately there aren't seven to choose from! :(  So instead I'm going to show you my favorite mani's from Debbie and Kerrie. :) Then, just for fun I'll show you which one was my personal favorite of my own! :P  Here we go...

From Kerrie...

These were for The Half Blood Prince.  I really loved that Kerrie chose to do a newspaper mani! This is something I've been wanting to try for a long time but haven't gotten around to. I know Kerrie's intention was to display the potions book Harry got which had once belonged to Professor Snape, but I loved too that it really summed up my thoughts on the book: A LOT OF WORDS. Lol...

And from the lovely Debbie...

OK I really tried but I could NOT choose just one of Debbie's mani's!  So I'm showing you two!  First we have her Sorcerer's Stone nails. She really started this challenge with a bang!

 I can't get over how PERFECT her 9 3/4 nail is.  And the middle...I know it doesn't REALLY look like what it's meant to (the wall leading into Diagon Alley) but it just looks SO interesting.  I love, love, love these.  Then I also really loved her nails for the Prisoner of Azkaban, which is fitting since it's my favorite book!

I love needle marbling anyway and Debbie ROCKED. THIS. OUT.  You get dementors from it right away but it also just looks darn cool.  (You can also check out Baby Crumpet's version!) I like the black on blue and the way they sort of 'float' through her nails.  Very cool!

What was my favorite of my mani's?  

The Marauder's Map!!  These came out so much better than I had planned them.  And let's face it, I seriously WANT this map.  I could do so many things with it!  

Well that's the round up!!  I have another rehab post planned for very soon but I'm stating my job as a nail tech this week so things may get hectic!! I can't wait to share with you all the tips and tricks I learn in the field!  Thanks for following!

OK, so here we are at book seven.  The Deathly Hallows was a HUGE book.  Not only was it huge but it also contained TONS of information and that made it incredibly difficult to choose art for this mani!  I originally had this epic idea to do a scene over the top of the nails and then run a different theme through the bottom. Unfortunately, I kind of hated it at the end.  Since I'm a trooper...I have included it anyway at the bottom of this blog. Let's face it, sometimes art doesn't work the way we want it to and besides that, when will I ever use it if not now?!  What I chose to do for this mani was some of what I felt were the more important theme's.  The pinky is to represent Fleur's wedding dress (which, btw was modeled after a GORGEOUS McQueen gown!).  It seems like a throwaway but I felt that not only was it the only real happy spot in a book of incredible depression, but it also provided a place for Harry and his friends to gain a lot of information which helped them later with their search for horcruxes.  The thumb for example: the symbol for the deathly hallows.  It was in a book which is given to Hermione while they are waiting for the wedding to take place.  It is also spotted on Luna Lovegood's father's necklace AT the wedding.  Also given to the friends?  The middle nail: Ron's deluminator.  I chose to do his deluminator because it was once Dumbledore's and because it helped him to return to Harry and Hermione and I felt like the bonds of friendship were very important in this book.  The ring finger of course is Dobby's grave.  Then for the index I went for sort of a double design.  The background is representative of Nagini, thought to be the final horcrux.  The foreground is Harry's glasses, which fell to the ground after it was discovered that, in fact, HE was the final horcrux.  On a totally side note: did anyone get a Lord of the Rings vibe during this book?  The necklace reminded me so much of the ring which also was trusted to someone to be destroyed and which had a strong emotional pull on who ever wore it.  Also, they started out sort of as a team and slowly dwindled into just two.  Though in this book they reunite rather than remaining separate.  Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this series! I had so much fun doing it! If you want to see my hideous round one nails...keep scrolling past the color list!!

Don't forget to check my fellow mischief makers, Kerrie, Emma, Abby, Julie, Debbie, and Sam's pages to see their art for this series!!

You can still check out yesterday's post as well: The Half Blood Prince!

Colors used: 

Thumb: Essence Midnight Date, Barry M Gold Foil

Index: China Glaze It's Alive, Revlon Black Lingerie
Middle: China Glaze Stone Cold, Barry M Bronze, Catrice Miss Money Penny

Ring: Essence The Dawn is Broken, Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black

Pinky: Revlon White on White and Black Lingerie

And here are the FAIL nails:

 It was meant to be, thumb to pinky: Snape's collar, Fleur's wedding gown, the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw aflame, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and Dobby's grave.  The top represents the battle between Harry and Voldemort, displaying each wand and the spells colliding.

Thumb: China Glaze Stone Cold and Jitterbug

Index: Revlon White on White and Black Lingerie, China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, Mahogany Magic, OPI Red

Middle: China Glaze Riveting, Smoke and Ashes,  Orly Luxe

Ring: China Glaze Kinetic Candy, Electric Pineapple, GaGa for Green, Aqua Baby, Smoke and Ashes

Pinky: butterLONDON All Hail the Queen, Models Own Moody Grey, China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, Mahogany Magic, GaGa for Green

Today's post is for The Half Blood Prince.  I was so excited for this book to come out. See, when I got through The Goblet of Fire there wasn't much time in between to wait because The Order of the Phoenix was nearly out already. But after that one, it felt like ages before this one hit stores.  Perhaps that contributed to my disappointment with it.  It's not that there wasn't a TON of information in this book; there was. I'd wager almost all of it is vital to the storyline as well.  It's just that in the wake of two action packed, intense, excitement laden novels...it almost felt dull.  There is certainly a lot to take in; Snape's revelation that he is the Half Blood Prince (not Potter himself as many suspected pre-book release), and that he is, in fact, in love with Harry's mother.  The back story of Tom Riddle and his rise to power as Lord Voldemort (anyone pick up a little Anakin Skywalker syndrome on that one?).  And of course, the beginning of the role of the Horcrux.  However, save for setting up the next book there is no real movement in this novel at all...well...until the famous page 596!  The death of Professor Dumbledore.  The epic motion that singlehandedly divided the Potterheads; trust Snape or don't.  Myself I was on the trust Snape side of the fence.  My husband was not.  Nor was a majority of my family and they made that very clear anytime they had the chance.  But look who's laughing now? :P  There was also that group of people who somehow believed Dumbledore's death was a clever ruse and that he would be back--which in some ways was true, but sadly, as Dumbledore himself once said, "There is no spell which can awaken the dead."  So what's on my nails?  For the thumb I did a night sky.  I used a black polish with colored glitter which looked much cooler in real life but didn't pick up well on camera unfortunately.  It was meant to represent the Astronomy Tower where Dumbledore falls to his death. The index is a page from the potions book which Harry borrows and which is embellished with the writing of the half blood prince.  The middle is meant to be a bow tie to represent Slughorn and his Slug Club. The ring is, fittingly, the ring Dumbledore wears which turns out to be a horcrux. And on my pinky, the gold locket and the letters R.A.B.  

Don't forget to check my fellow mischief makers, Kerrie, Emma, Abby, Julie, Debbie, and Sam's pages to see their art for this series!!

Don't miss out on the final post tomorrow! The Deathly Hallows

Or visit the previous day's post:  The Order of The Phoenix

Thumb: Barry M Black Multi Gliter, Color Club Worth the Risque

Index: Essie Sand Tropez, Revlon Black Lingerie

Middle: Revlon Black Lingerie, Deborah Lippmann Almost Paradise, Orly Wandering Vine

Ring: Revlon Black Lingerie, Color Club Disco Nap, Deborah Lippmann Dancing in the Sheets

Pinky: Color Club Disco Nap, Revlon Black Lingerie

This series is moving right along isn't it?  Today's post is for book five in the Harry Potter series: The Order of the Phoenix.  Raise your hand if you didn't want to slap the bejeesus out of Harry while reading this book?  If anyone has their hand up: we are officially no longer friends. :P  Kidding, kidding.  But let's face it Harry turned into a self obsessed, obnoxious twat in this book. Or basically your average teenage boy. ;)   So much happened in this book and it was the first book to really make me cry.  I SOBBED like a baby when Arthur Weasley got bitten by that snake. Oh the suspense...that was so not cool J.K. Rowling.  Oh yeah, the movie? Glossed that RIGGHHHT over.  It was like...two seconds and done.  Then I cried again for the loss of Sirius.  More because of what he had become to Harry than for any other reason since his involvement in the novels, while important, was slim.  But this book provided TONS of information.  It led us to Kreacher, who showed us what House Elves were REALLY like for rich people, the introduction of the legacy of the Black family, and the house Harry would later inherit.  It also provided a rebel base and the beginning of what would later be a very important alliance.  And it sparked off another rebel base...right inside of Hogwarts! Dumbledore's Army.  Who didn't want to be a part of THAT secret club?!  I think the layman's term for what happened in this book is: Shit got real.  Real fast. The Ministry got involved at Hogwarts, Malfoy and Harry very decidedly chose sides, Harry got his first taste of love (and it was bittersweet), and we found out about that prophecy.  This book was action packed to say the least.  So the art?  For my thumb nail I chose to do the shadow of a phoenix rising through flames.  I felt it was fitting for the Order of the Phoenix and also because, well Dumbledore played an important role in this book. For the index I've chosen to do a wand tip with a patronus creeping out.  Harry's patronus plays a part in this book and plus, with a polish called Expecto Patronum, how could I resist? My middle finger is for Dolores Umbridge, the batty little professor from the Ministry who makes Harry's life a living hell.  The ring finger is the logo for Dumbledore's Army and to round things out, the pinky is the marble walls of the Ministry of Magic where Harry has several encounters during this book and where Sirius ultimately loses his life.  :(  Sad times...

Don't forget to check my fellow mischief makers, Kerrie, Emma, Abby, Julie, Debbie, and Sam's pages to see their art for this series!!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on book six: The Half Blood Prince

Or visit yesterday's post on: The Goblet of Fire

 

Thumb: China Glaze Electric Beat and Life Preserver, Revlon Black Lingerie, OPI The Show Must Go On

Index: Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum, Models Own Moody Grey, China Glaze Mahogany Magic

Middle: butterLONDON Teddy Girl and Queen Vic, Essence Mashed Berries, Orly Luxe

Ring: Revlon White on White, China Glaze Winter Berry

Pinky: Revlon Black Lingerie and White on White