C is for Chuck

abc challenge


Today for the A,B,C challenge we have the gloriousness that is Chuck. Can't you just swoon over him?  I don't get much into his namesake.  The Gossip Girl books were a super fun fluff read for me but the show is just...well I don't have kind words for it so I'll just leave things at that.  But I die for the Essence twins and aside from Edward and Bella (another fun fluff read ruined by the big screen!) I think this one is my favorite.  Not only is he a gorgeous, bright blue but he's also opaque in two coats and shiny when he dries. :)  I didn't want to do much in the way of art today and matte top coating Chuck made him into a serious mess. :(  So here's him with his glittery soul mate, Blair.

 

Aren't they beautiful?

Don't forget to check out what Emma and Kerrie have for the letter "C".

Product Spotlight: CND Cucumber Heel Therapy

cnd


Today I have a product spotlight for you!! I'm trying to work these in among everything else going on.  Holidays are hectic, even for blogs!!  These are just products that I use and love and recommend.  This one in particular is great for colder months but it works all year round and I love it for a few reasons.  One is that unlike most moisturizers, this one actually works from WITHIN to help hydrate and repair skin.  It's intention is for feet and let me just say, if your feet are callused, dry, or cracked this will work wonders for them.  I have clients who have started using it nightly and over a period of time, their feet look brand new.  Don't get caught up in the word "pedicure" on the label though! This stuff works wonders on elbows, hands, feet and anywhere else you have dry skin.  Another thing I really love about it is that it's very light but it still feels luxe.  We tend to have this idea that heavier product means that we're getting a deeper moisture but that's not the case.  All that greasiness those products leave behind are product that can't penetrate the skin. Gross, right? And useless to boot.  This soaks completely into your skin and starts working right away.  You only need a pea sized amount for each foot and I use about the same for my hands.  It keeps my cuticles looking amazing all year round.  


This is what it looks like.  Really, it has the consistency and look of pistachio pudding!  It's whipped and light.  It has a yummy fresh scent too!  And since it works from the inside OUT instead of the other way around, you'll start to see results ASAP and the more consistent you are with use, the better the results will be.  You can pick this up at most nail retailers who carry the CND brand.  I get mine at CosmoProf.  One jar will last you around three months with regular use.  :)

Have any of you tried this product? Did you love it or leave it?

Dupes Up: butter LONDON Scuppered vs. Barry M Copper

barry m copper


 It's time for another edition of Dupes Up!  Today I have a set which I already KNOW are not dupes.  I know this because one contains glitter and the other does not. However, the purpose of today's dupes post is not to confirm or deny the dupiness of the two, rather, it's to determine if having both is needed.  One thing I'll point out to start is that this bottle shot is making the bL seem MUCH redder than it really is.  On with the post...

Contenders for today:

butter LONDON Scuppered from the 2012  Holiday Collection
Retail cost: $14

vs.

Barry M Copper
Retail cost: £2.99



Here's a close up shot of the two.  Again the butter London is photographing much more warm toned than it is in reality. It does seem to have a lot more red/pink shimmery bits in it than the Barry M which I think is what caused the problem.  Both have an overall copper tone to them and then green and pink bits throughout which catch the light for a super sparkly look.  They are nearly indistinguishable in person, even with the tiny green glitter bits in the butter London. You can see them in this picture (it's on the right). Despite them though, it's hard to tell the difference from a distance.



Here's a picture of them on the nail.  We have the Barry M on my middle and pinkie finger and the butter LONDON on the others.  You can see in this picture that the base on these is basically exactly the same and the difference lies instead in the green glitter in Scuppered. Honestly, while it's fairly obvious in this picture, even in bright lights it was hard for me to tell them apart in person on my nails. In low lights...it IS impossible. I avoided getting Scuppered for awhile because I already have both this Barry M, and his dupe-y USA counterpart, OPI's Warm & Fozzie.  But they're still both stunning polishes!



Here's a close-up sun shot for you. You can see that the polish bases are sort of different. The Barry M has larger flake type shimmer which is mostly coppery and gold.  The butter LONDON on the Other hand, has finer glitter and has a smoother appearance close up.  That said, with your naked eye: the effect is the same. 

Verdict: Close enough that you only need one!!  These are not dupes but you definitely don't need them both. That is...unless you're a crazy polish hoarder like me! :P

Availability: butterLONDON is a Seattle, WA based brand which can be purchased in high end retailers and at Ulta Beauty stores. Snag them online at Nordstrom.com or butterLONDON.com.  Barry M is a London based polish brand which can be purchased at Superdrug, Boots and BarryM.com.

Black Friday is here...

black friday



Black Friday is here! That magical day when people trample all over each other for a pair of shoes at half price. *sigh*  Before I started working Black Friday's I never ever shopped on them and now that I've been on the other side of it I have vowed I will never spend a single dime on that day.  If any of you have ever worked in retail, even ONE time during the holiday season you know what I mean.  People get SO rude about things that honestly, aren't that important in the scheme of things. And let's face it guys, these people are there at the crack of dawn (or overnight) and working on holidays when YOU get to be home with your familys just to provide YOU with the OPTION to shop.  So if you're an early deal shopper...remember to have a little compassion for others today. Whether they're fellow shoppers or associates at your favorite store.  We're all human and it's easily forgotten this time of year. :)  Here are my Black Friday nails.  I used Zoya Storm for the base and then added a SKU with GOSH Holographic Hero.  Happy Shopping!! (or sleeping in!)

Happy Thanksgiving!!



So if you live in the US then you know that today is Thanksgiving!! Last year I must have had a lot of free time on my hands cause I did a turkey nail design which I loved!  This year...well...time is tight! But I wanted to rock some festive nails for the day anyway so I perused the web for quick  but eye catching designs I could whip up in a hurry.  And I found this one! Better still...I have ALL the polishes she used!! Bonus! :)  Her photograph is SO SO much nicer than mine and this does not begin to capture the immense sparkle of these nails.  You literally CANNOT miss them because they're blindingly sparkly even in low lights.  I think it's the Electrify polish cause last time I used it I got the same crazy result. It's one of my favorite polishes of all time. :)  Anyway enough with the chatter!! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and eat LOTS of food!!  Here are a few things I'm thankful for this year:

My husband. :) He makes my life so much better just by existing.


My freedom. It makes me so sad that it's 2012 and still there are people who don't have this luxury.

My most best friend of ever in the whole world! :P  We've been friends for 15 years and still going!

My fat silly kitties. :) They love me even when no one else does. Because if they don't I don't feed them. :P (Kidding of course!)

And finally...coffee.  Because without it, who knows how many people I'd have killed by now. ;P

What are you thankful for?

B is for...Believe

a

OK so admittedly, today's swatch is a little boring.  I wanted this color for SO long and then when I got it I was underwhelmed.  Does that ever happen to you? It IS gorgeous, don't get me wrong. It's just that I'm unsure what to do with it. It's not sheer enough to layer but it's still too light to do much in the way of art.  I fancied it as more of a metallic than it ended up being.  If you click the picture to blow it up you can see all the pretty sparklyness of it. It actually has a lot of different colors in there, much like Essie Pure Pearlfection. It glistens nicely in the sun (which we unfortunately have none of.)  Even though it's a great neutral and very sparkly, it's ultimately just a bit too vanilla for my taste. Here is is with a matte topcoat...
 

I actually like this a lot better matte because it looks sort of velvety and smooth and I think it gives it the edge it needs.  It does lose some shimmer once matted but it's very unique.   I can't complain too much since I got this polish in a three pack on clearance!! But I don't think I'd buy it at full price! No art for today since I have some Thanksgiving art going up later!! :) Hope everyone who celebrates has a very happy holiday!

You can purchase Believe at Nordstrom or Lippmann retailers nationwide.  It retails for $16USD. 


Don't forget to check out what Emma and Kerrie have for the letter "B"!



Grow stache. Grow.

grow stache grow


Today I have some fun for you! I was SOO good September and October. I added practically zero polishes to my stash and even managed to clear a few out.  I did get the Zoya Gilty set in October...but in my defense, I bought it in September on a pre-sale. So...this month I've added a few pretties to the stash BUT I'm really trying to only add things I really want and am going to use from here out. I have way too many at this point and it's difficult to even find what I want. I start going through drawers and find things I didn't even know I had. I know...first world problems, right? You can help me unload by visiting my blog sale. :) More will be added soon I'm sure but it's work going through all these!  So here we go with the additions!  Above are my new Duri's.  Duri is a brand I hear a lot about from professionals and it's always advertised in the nail magazines I get but I've never tried it.  Most people I know are familiar with Rejuvacote, their strengthener, but not much else.  I finally found an online retailer for them (which let me just say, was NOT a pleasure to work with) so I snagged some.  Since I'm not really familiar with them and couldn't find much in the way of swatches, I ordered a few I thought looked pretty and then relied on some friends for a few. :)  What did I grab?  From the top left we have: Irish Coffee (a one coat brown which is amazing for stamping!), The Big Score, Indulge My Whim, Angels and Demons, You Belong To Me, Summer in the City, Summer Rain, and Summertime Blues. 


Of course I also snagged the infamous Rejuvacote and also a bottle of their Hemp Seed Liquid Wrap.  I have to say, this stuff is really great. It has fibers of hemp in it to help strengthen nails but it also smooths them and makes a great base to polish on top of.

 
Grabbed these China Glazes on clearance. I really wanted the new magnet because I have lots of magnetic polish so it gives me three new designs right off. I also grabbed the one bottle of magnetic polish that didn't look like one I already had; Con-fused. The other is Cast a Spell. It's fabulous and reminds me of a deep green version of Midtown Magic.

 
Also snagged two new Orly's.  It's been awhile since I added an Orly to my collection which is funny since my first salon brand polish WAS an Orly.  Anyway I kept going back and forth between Essie's Beyond Cozy and this Orly; Halo.  I finally decided on Halo since the glitters in it are different sizes. Also got this So-Go Diva.  It was the only of the new glitters I had my eye on and was on clearance. I'm glad I waited...I'm not in love.

 
Nails Inc. Got these for free at Sephora with a gift card. Yay!  Sweets Way and a mustard color called Hampstead Gardens.

 
OPI Bond...James Bond.  I really wanted these OPI magnetics because they're sort of sparkly.  BUT I didn't really love the price tag.  However, I found one finally for a steal and when I looked at the three it seemed like two of them are dupes for the Barry M glitter magnetics. So I only got this one. The magnet is cool and this is EPICALLY gorgeous.  A win in my book.

 

I caved and bought the Zoya Ornate Collection.  I kept seeing them on blogs and thinking, no I don't need that.  But I did. I really did.  The only one I skipped was Electra. I have enough bar glitter in my life.



Indies! I'm not a huge indie girl, I don't know why. Part of it is the price tag and the other part is I've gotten so many that aren't that great. But I'm working on it!  Dollish are among my favorites and I got this mini Cold Winds are Rising from a friends blog sale.  Also got Candy Lacquer Argyle which I'm in LOVE with.  The large bottle on the left is a franken from a great friend which is amazing for fall.  Then I also finally got the breakfast duo from Tough As Nails Lacquer.  I LOVE Go Sit on an Egg. The Baconian Method is nice but I'm not totally  in love with it. Not surprisingly, my husband liked it best.

 

And finally...a gift from my husband; Butter London's Two Fingered Salute!  He said he also tried to get Deborah Lippman's Ray of Light but they didn't have it. Sad face. This one is my perfect polish though, I wish it were a TAD bluer. But all in all it's really a stunner. 

What have you picked up this month?





Rain, rain, don't go away, the sun can come back another day...

3d


Well it's been a long few days for me and I've been sleepy and cranky and not really in the mood to do much. Lol...but today I had a little bit of free time and I had an epiphany which turned into this mani.  I don't use texture much on nails which is something I'd like to start doing more often. It just gets in the way at my job and falls off or gets ruined.  But today was a good time to do it since I wasn't really going anywhere.  I also really liked the little kawaii angry cloud!  He's just sort of creeping in there!  I used Lime Crime Once in A Blue Mousse for the base and then used Zoya Purity to make cloudy tips.  After that I used a yellow and a black Models Own Nail Art Pen to make the cloud and the lightning bolt.  I don't know why but I always struggle with lightning bolts. They seem dead easy to make yet mine always go all pear shaped after the first stroke! This one was a little better! But it took two tries to get it this way and the top is still a bit lopsided.  Oh well...practice makes perfect, right?  What did you do with your weekend?


A...B...C...D...



Today I have a new series for you!! I know, I don't have enough already!! This is a challenge that I was asked to join and I couldn't say no!  The challenge is to use a polish for each letter of the alphabet.  We're going to be doing them one week at a time, so 25 weeks from now we should have gone through each letter.  I'm starting today with the letter "A" and the aptly named, Zoya Apple.  Apple is a luminous yellow-toned apple green packed with gold metallic sparkle.  It's a bit sheer, this is three coats and there's still some VNL.  But it's so pretty who cares! It has such a pretty sparkle to it that I decided to go ahead and matte it to see how it looked.

 

Isn't it SO pretty?  I loved it matte and wasn't so into it shiny but my husband preferred the shiny version!  I love polishes like this though because when they look great both ways it's kind of a two for one!  So naturally after I had it matted I decided to add some art work...



Yeah so it's not super exciting! But since I knew it was only for the day I decided to go simple.  I used Zoya Kennedy and Jo for the dots and I left them shiny for contrast.  

Do you have Zoya Apple?

Don't forget to check on the other ladies in the challenge:

Kerrie of Pish Posh and Polish
and
Emma of Manicurity.

Regina George is flawless

Models Own


Pink Wednesday is here again! This time, for once, I am actually participating!  I can still remember back when Pink Wednesday was the ONLY weekly challenge I had to do.  Now there are so many that I can't keep up and honestly, I rarely do any of them at all.  I got in on the Models Own 50% off sale again though, and this is one of...or rather TWO of...the colors I snagged.  There wasn't a ton that caught my eye during this sale.  The first time around I had NO Models Own and was excited to get my hands on some so I went crazy, ordering something like 17 colors.  This time I knew I wanted to replace my nail art pen (I use that thing for like, EVERYTHING) and grab a few new pen colors.  I wanted to get the Mirrorballs, but they were excluded and all the Beetlejuice ones that I wanted I had already picked up from wonderful swap buddies.  So...I grabbed just a few colors and this is one.  It's called Tickled Pink.  It's sort of a bubblegum pink but it packs a helluva shimmer punch. It's so shimmery it's nearly a foil.  It's also a tad sheer and it required three coats for full opacity.  After I got it on I decided to try it matte...I LOVE matte finishes and this one has so much shimmer that it looks amazing as a suede.  Then I threw some Models Own Pink Fizz on the tips, matted again, and called it a day.  What are you wearing for Pink Wednesday?

Nails Inc. Sweets Way

nails inc


Swatch post!! I've been waiting and waiting for my Sephora to get this color back in stock and they FINALLY did the other day.  It just so happens that I also had a gift card so I HAD to snag this!  Of the Nails Inc Sprinkles polishes, this one is the only that initially caught my eye.  It's got white, blue and pink glitters in a sort of milky base.  One thing I really love about these polishes is the ease with which they apply.  You don't have to dab them on or maneuver glitter around or worry about them getting super duper thick.  You can apply them like normal polish and three coats later...this perfection.  I've been wearing it for about five days now and it still looks like a dream. It looks great matted as well but I knew I wouldn't have time to change my nails for awhile and matte polishes are notorious for short wear time so I skipped it this round!  Do you have any of these Sprinkles? Which is your favorite?

Zero

alice in wonderland


This is an indie post!! Today I'm showing you a polish from an Etsy seller called LynB Designs.  The color?  Zero.  Zero is described as a "...sheer white base, with a small amount of red fine glitter. Loaded with medium black hexes, red hearts, white stars, and white hearts." 
 Two things I will say about the description given.  One:  I didn't find the base to be very sheer.  This swatch is over two coats of Zoya Purity so don't judge it on that!! But in the pics below you'll notice that it's more of a milky base than a sheer one.  Two: perhaps it's just that I'm used to crammed bottles of glitter (like with the Shimmer polishes I received recently) but it didn't seem very loaded to me.  Now...those things aside, the polish is a unique color.  I actually thought it was reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland with the colors and the hearts.  I'm reminded of cards and poker!! 


This is one coat of Zero.  You can really see the red glitter in this and there are a few bar glitters on there but so far as being "loaded" I'm just not seeing it.  I did NOT do any maneuvering on these coats.  Whatever came out of the bottle is on my nails. You can also see that the base is already fairly visible even though it's just one thin coat.


This is two coats.  So now you can see that there are some more bars, a few more large glitters and the base is REALLY starting to get opaque.  There is still visible nail line and honestly, I wouldn't say this is a creme. It's reminiscent of Essie Marshmallow.  A white or off white jelly. If you look at the original glitters which were on the nail you can see how the second coat has sort of muted them a bit.


Here we have three coats.  And again you can see that mostly it added some bars and red glitter.  The pictures on the Etsy store list that they are three coats but if that's true then the formula on mine is way different than what is swatched because the base on this is very obvious after it builds up.  I wasn't super in love with it after I got three coats on.  At this point, most of the large glitters are on one nail, and the white ones aren't super visible due to the opacity of the base.  It did dry to a pretty shiny finish but I always add Seche anyway because I'm impatient!  For the original picture you saw at the top I used two coats of Zoya Purity and then two coats of Zero using the "dab" technique to fish glitters out of the bottle and place them on my nail.  That's not uncommon with polishes with large glitters, even mainstream brands like OPI require this technique with some of their polishes.  After I'd done that I really LOVED the look.  I got a lot of compliments on it and like I said, it really has a very Alice in Wonderland look to it at the finish.  As a stand alone polish though, I don't think I'd wear it.  In the swatches on the Etsy store, she swatched it over other colors. I tried this but the base on mine just made it look a hot mess.  It MIGHT work over other very light colors but it will certainly mute the base.  

 Which way do you prefer this polish?

You can purchase Zero and other LynB polishes by visiting her Etsy store.



This polish was sent to me for my honest review. I have not been compensated for my opinions.

Flashback Friday: Betsey Johnson

betsey johnson


It's time for another Flashback Friday!! It's been awhile since I did my last one and it took me a little bit to decide what to recreate! I think this one is a good one because it's a combination of French manicure, moon manicure, and freehand vs. stamp.  It's from March of 2011 so almost two years ago. See when I first started doing nail art I wasn't part of any nail groups online.  I hadn't done much research and I wasn't really that great at doing much more than some dots.  So I invested in some stamps and for my first BIG challenge I did THESE nails....warning: they are a HOT. MESS.




I started this blog, as I'm sure most of you know, because I was sharing my nail art all over my Facebook page and texting it to my friends and family and I wanted a place where I could just put it up once and everyone could see it.  It was also intended to be sort of a personal journal of my art. So naturally, clean-up, photography and other blogger no-no's weren't really a concern of mine.  I polished. I took a quick pic. I uploaded it with a color list. I was done.  Originally, I used a stamp to do the leopard print and now, I'm able to freehand it.  I really prefer the freehand version too because the print is a bit bigger and it makes the design less busy.  Originally I used a tip guide to do the pink tips.  For the second version I free handed them.  I've always been fairly decent at free handing tips so I don't know if that's really an improvement BUT for the original I stamped and then had to figure a way to color OVER the stamp so I did white and then pink and ended up with super thick tips.  For the new version I used a cotton swab in acetone to remove the gold from the tips and then filled it back in with the hot pink.  For the original version I used a guide for the moon and for the new version I free handed it.  For the original I stamped a white bow and then tried to fill it over with a pink. For the new version I used a white/color single stamp technique to do it all at once.    I think of all the mani's I've done this one probably shows the MOST progression. I love it both ways though!  It was based on some Betsey Johnson earrings I got from my husband. :)  I used two of the same colors for the new one: Orly Luxe and Prince Charming.  For the black I used Zoya Raven for the new one and since I don't have the pink anymore either I used butter London Primrose Hill Picnic for the new version.  Which version do you prefer?  How much do you think you've improved since you started?

All You Need is Love

1967


It's the final day of the Digit-al Dozen's music challenge.  I'm kind of sad for this one to end! I had a few more design ideas but I might attempt them later just for fun!  No musical challenge would be complete without these legends of music; The Beatles!  So for today I did something fun and a LITTLE abstract but hopefully not TOO out there.  From left to right we have: John, Paul, George and Ringo represented solely by their facial  hair (and glasses!) in the year 1967.  This was one that I thought would  be super challenging which didn't turn out to be half as hard as I imagined it would be.  The worst part was John's glasses and they're a little off center but it's what it is!  Actually maybe it's his mustache that's off...either way!  I used Nails Inc Basil Street, China Glaze Foie Gras, OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys, Models Own Black Nail Art Pen to complete this look!  And for my song...obviously it's a Beatles song!  I couldn't choose a favorite (who could?!) so I just put up one that makes me smile. :)  Fun fact about the song?  It was meant to be much slower than it ended up being because they recorded it so many times and John hated it and got frustrated so he started playing it more upbeat.  That version made it to the album DESPITE the last part of the song where Paul messed up the vocals, singing that "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face" instead of Molly. No one wanted to re-record it! :P  I hope you all enjoyed music week with us!! Don't forget to check out the other ladies art work for today!

Tape On Me...

calvin harris


Day four has arrived!!  Today I did something a little bit outside my box for the challenge!!  I really wanted to do cassette tapes but I'm not even kidding you...I was scared for the execution of it! First of all...my nails aren't square at the moment. Second, there are color choices since most tapes are grey on grey or white or black or something equally lame and dull and ridiculous to photograph.  Third there are those little wheely things with spokes, which by the way, are called the supply reel...nightmare! BUT I wanted to try it out anyway and when I sat down to do it I realized that to my horror...my nail art brushes were nowhere to be found. So ladies and gentlemen, I did this using only polish brushes and a dotting tool.  I think they came out pretty nice under the circumstances! One thing I will note is that on the pinky it actually looks like you can see some tape through the window...this was a happy accident caused by dragging the polish when it was still wet and therefore causing it to mix with other polish!  I used Deborah Lippmann Let's Hear It For The Boy, Zoya Dove, Carey, and Pippa, Models Own Moody Grey and Wet & Wild White On to complete this look. So for today's musical share?  I wanted something geared towards tapes but I don't get into 80's music much SO...I'm sharing a song that my sister and I have LOT'S of fun with!! 

 

Sing us a song you're the piano man...

billy joel


It's day three of the Digit-al Dozen music challenge! Admittedly, today was a bit of a lazy day where designs are concerned.  I really wanted to include a musical instrument and a piano just seemed like the easiest way to go.  I did think about doing a guitar but it just wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. Still, I love piano music so this turned out to be a great design!  I used Zoya Purity and Raven and my Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black to complete this look.  Even though my title here is a Billy Joel song, and I love him, I'm giving you a taste of one of my most favorite artists of pretty much EVER today for my musical share.  It's Dustin O'Halloran and I'm telling you, this man is a musical genius.  I could, and often DO, listen to his music all day long.  Even Aoife loves him, and we all know what a picky little princess she is!  Don't forget to check out my fellow dozener's work for today!!

Vote America!!

america


If you live in the USA then you're already aware of the significance of my nail design!! If you're not, it's Election Day!! That magical day when we all stand in line, cast our votes, and hope for a better future for ourselves and our nation.  I'm going to keep this short and sweet and just say, if you're an American, and you're of voting age, get out there and make your voice heard!!  If you're not sure where to vote you can use this handy page to find out OR visit your official state page!!  

Thanks for following!!

You Spin Me Right Round...

70's



It's day two of the Digit-al Dozen music challenge!! Today I wanted to do a design based on one of my most favorite things! Records!!  Yes, I am a vintage freak and records are my most favorite thing to buy and listen to.  I'm actually trying to get my husband to purchase me a portable record player. :P  The lighting on this picture looks out of whack but it's funny because it was taken the same way I normally take all my pictures.  I blame it on the neon's!  That green is almost glowing!  So this mani was fairly simple really I just did a half moon with neon's and then added some streaky lines with a darker grey color.  Easy peasy.  I used Zoya Raven, Purity and Carey and China Glaze Hang Ten Toes and I'm With The Lifeguard to create it.  For today's musical share I'm linking up one of my favorite records!  It's Diane Birch, a Carole King-esque folksy singer with a cool 70's vibe. :)  Don't forget to check in on the other ladies!!

The Digital Dozen does...music

butter london




It's time for another week of Digit-al Dozen nail art!! The Digit-al Dozen is a group of twelve ladies, including myself, who dedicate one week (five days) out of every month for themed nail art.  This month the theme is music!  I'm really excited about this theme because I am a total music addict.  I mean that VERY literally.  I have tons and tons of music, at least fifteen pair of headphones, and if I don't listen to right around three hours of music a day...you'll find me VERY cranky!  Since music is my love and since it's sort of connected to this week's theme, I'll be including some little bits of what I've been listening to lately with each post. :) So here's today's art work!! It sort of just symbolizes my love of music with the heart on my pinky and then the iPod on my index.  I actually have a total of two iPods and an iPhone all of which are full and my iTunes STILL has music on it that I can't fit onto any of them. First world problems if there ever were any!!  I used Zoya Purity, Models Own Black Nail Art Pen, Pastel Pink, and Prussian Blue and butterLONDON Diamond Geezer to complete this art work.  And for the song of the day?  One of my favorite artists of the moment...Eliza Doolittle! Enjoy and don't forget to check out what the other ladies came up with this week!


In the end only kindness matters...

clean up or die
Today I have a rant post.  Yes, you read that correctly. A RANT post.  I don't normally venture into the dramatic world of polish drama.  There was that whole Lynderella drama awhile back and I kept my mouth shut about it and happily went about my polishing while the polish world went mad around me.  There are issues with well known large bloggers and many other scandals in the polish world.  And still I remain unbiased, uninvolved and continue polishing on amid the craziness.  Why, you ask?  Because I polish for the love of polishing.  For a long time my blog has remained quite free of drama.  I've been lucky enough to have wonderful, supportive followers (that's YOU!) who I love and appreciate and I've been able to have a positive space for my creative outlet even while others have had negativity plastered by anonymous (and not so anonymous) people in the blogging world.  Well ladies and gentlemen, today that comes to an end.  Blogging is something that I started blissfully unaware of the seedy underbelly that exists in the polish world.  It's something that I wish I'd never become a part of.  But I LOVE to polish my nails. I LOVE to blog. I LOVE to be able to share this with you and to be a part of your own individual polish journeys as well.  So when this blog post went up I couldn't help being appalled.  Bloggers for cuticle cleanup?  What?  I am well aware that in this world of beauty products there is cattiness and jealousy and perfection is very nearly a requirement if you want to be on the top.  In fact, while I was in school I was told more than once that in this industry, if you want to succeed you need to be perfect.  Encouraged even to get plastic surgery if necessary to make it.  And it disgusts me that this standard exists.  Not just in polish but in the fashion world as well.  I expect this from social media and professional sites and advertising agencies.  I do not expect it from my fellow bloggers.  Come on guys!?  Have you never done an imperfect mani?  Have your cuticles never been dry?  Have you never missed a spot while cleaning up? And if you've photo shopped out your imperfections, does this make you perfect? I strive for my blog to be a place of positivity for everyone who visits.  I work VERY hard to provide posts with information to HELP you become better at polishing. To help you become better at caring for your cuticles. To help YOU become the best you can be.  Right along with me! We're all still learning and we should be helping each other up, not pushing each other down!  So right now I'm going to show you something *GASP* imperfect.




 This is a manicure I've had in my cache for a VERY long time.  I keep looking at it, thinking...I should post that. And then...no, I can't possibly post THAT.  I need to re-do it. Perfect it. Make it better. THEN I can post it.  But screw it guys! I'm NOT perfect. I know that. I embrace it. I learn from it.  I hope that you learn from it too!!  I'm not the only blogger who feels this way and I hope that some of you agree with me as well.  If you don't,  that's fine too! But I hope that we can all at least agree that none of us would like to be bullied.  And just remember....in the end...the love you take is the love you make...so make LOTS of it! :)

Models Own: Indian Ocean

Barry M
 

Today I have a swatch post for you!! This has been in my cache for awhile as evidenced by the sunny setting!  I meant to put it up awhile ago but got busy and forgot!  Still this is a gorgeous color so I thought I'd share it with you today. :) It's Models Own Indian Ocean from their Beetle Juice line.  Indian Ocean is a blue/purple duo chrome and as you can see from this picture, it's pretty sheer.  This is THREE coats of polish.  It does build up, as you can tell but as far as wearing it alone without VNL, it's a no go.

 

Here's a different angle so you can see the different colors in it.  The overall tone is a light blue but then there are gold and pinky purple tones to it too.  It's quite a stunner even without being opaque.  For a taste of what it might be like if it WERE more opaque....I layered it over Barry M Blue Moon...


This is a pic of the combo in the shade.  It's just fabulous! You can really see the duo chrome effect when you layer this over other colors.  I really loved it over the light blue because I think it makes the gold stand out more and also it's sort of demure and safe while at the same time being interesting and unexpected.  Here's an angled, sunny shot for you:

 

Gorgeous, right?  The formula on this is pretty standard for Models Own.  It IS a very sheer polish as I mentioned earlier but  these shots with the base coat are just one coat of Indian Ocean on top so you don't need much for impact!  

Do you have any of the Beetle Juice colors? Which is your favorite?

 

Popular Posts

Like us on Facebook

Flickr Images