Nicole by OPI Turquoise Texture

I recently wanted to do something fun, but not too complicated.  I decided to use one of my texture coats that I haven't really worn before, Turquoise Texture from Nicole by OPI.  I saw online somewhere that the crackle will follow your brushstrokes (duh!), so I was excited to try something a little different, a diagonal stroke.  

For my base coat, I used Sally Hansen Fire Opal in Amber Opal.  It is one of the polishes in my collection that is absolutely gorgeous that I totally forget about.  I tried to get a couple of shots of it, but they really don't do it justice at all.

Next I used the texture coat and did a kind of diagonal stroke.  I love the way it turned out.  The color combination was awesome, especially when we got out in the sunlight at the zoo the next day!

Bottle Spam!

Sorry for the sudden absence from this blog!  I got to the end of my scheduled posts and then I got sick and had bare nails for over a week because I had to blow my nose every 5 minutes and couldn't have wet nails!  It was crazy.  So, I have some fun stuff coming up that I've been wearing and hopefully that will get me back on my regular schedule! 

Today I have some fabulous bottle spam... stuff I've gotten recently!  I got my hair cut last week at Hairmasters, and the location I went to had a bunch of OPI polishes 60% off AND buy 1 get 2 free... what?!  How could I resist?  I got Skull & Glossbones, I'm Suzi & I'm a Chocoholic, and Jade is the New Black.  I didn't have any idea it would happen, but I am in LOVE with Skull & Glossbones!  I will have some swatches of that coming up.

 

The other day I was in Big Lots and decided to check out the beauty section for polishes, and they had a whole bunch of two packs of Revlon polishes including the glittery scented polishes.  I got Grapefruit Fizz, Colada Fizz, Pineapple Fizz, and Apple-tini Fizz.  Each pack of 2 was only $2!

 

Lastly, I picked up one of the polishes from my wishlist - Zoya Ki.  Look how pretty that duochrome is!  And a boring old white from L.A. Colors since I didn't have one.

I was also shopping at Fred Meyer the other day and started looking at the Essence display there.  I did not have any Essence polishes, but I have heard they're not bad.  Then I realized that they have a bunch of nail art stuff.  It's super cheap, and I haven't really had a chance to try it out, but I thought it might let me see what things are like even if it doesn't work as well as the really quality stuff.

I picked up a gem-placer/dotting tool, a magnetic polish and magnet, two stamping plates and a stamp, and some stencil stickers with stars.  I'll post more about these as I use them!

 

In closing, here is a random shot of my polishes where I keep them now... I may need a new system soon, it's not very organized and the bins are getting full!

 

Classic French With a Twist

Sometimes when there are so many polishes and ideas, it's hard to pick just one!  Last night I found myself wanting something new, but I didn't really feel like doing all the work for a complicated tape mani or water marble.  I took to my Pinterest board and found inspiration from Chloe's Nails (as is often the case!).

Feminine, classic, and so, so pretty!

Base coat is Sinful Colors Bare - it is a gorgeous creamy pink with subtle pearl shimmer.  I saw it in the bottle, and now that I've worn it, it's probably my favorite pink polish in my collection.

The tips are Sinful Colors Black on Black, and a top coat of Seche Vite for that extra shininess.

I am in love with this mani!

Funky Frenches

I like doing funky French manicures.  Here are some of the ones I've done and photographed in the last few months.  Sorry for the poor quality cell phone photos, these are from when I was just posting my nails on Facebook and not much else!

Christmas Mani - Clear base, Sinful Colors Show Me the Way tips with an Ulta After Party topcoat

One of my all time favorites - Ulta Alter Ego with Sally Hansen Chrome Black Pearl tips 

Sinful Colors Black on Black with Essie Matte About You, then a clear topcoat for glossy tips

Another Christmas Mani - Ulta Jaded with Ulta After Party tips

I'm not sure if the tips here were black or a dark gray, then I applied a 

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms South Sea Pearl topcoat

Classic white tips with a Sinful Colors Frenzy topcoat

Sinful Colors Rise and Shine with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Emerald Express

I'm not sure what this pink is, I don't think I have it anymore.  Sinful Colors Black on Black tips

What's your favorite way to do a French tip?

Revlon Whimsical

I had been keeping my eye out for Revlon Whimsical because I'd seen it on another blog and was curious about it.  I finally found it at Rite Aid, and I didn't love it in the bottle, but it was so different that I decided to buy it anyway.  It's got pink and blue hex glitter in a light blue jelly base, and some smaller blue and silver sparkles.

I went and got acrylic nails yesterday.  I had been thinking about it for a while for a couple of reasons.  I really like the square shape, but I just can't get my nails to do that.  I did it once, but within a day at least one of the corners had broken off.  I don't know what the trick is to natural, square nails.  I also like having some length, and once one of mine breaks, I have to cut them all because I can't stand uneven nails.

I'm still getting used to them, but it's kind of fun so far.  I don't love how thick they are, it makes for a rounder looking nail, but I do kind of like them.  I'd only had them one other time for my wedding, so I'll try them for a bit and see how I feel.

I've had some trouble with application with glitter polishes.  Several times, I've had a really hard time getting the glitter to stick without just following the brush off my nail.  This one has a pretty good formula and applies nice.  This is 3 coats, and the glitter stuck well.  I shook the bottle between each coat, which seemed to help.

Rose Gold Mani

My current manicure is a rosy pink with gold flakes.  I had originally gone for a dark grey with a shimmer coat, but looking at it, I found that I really wanted something a lot lighter.  I actually found myself craving some sort of pastel green, purple, blue or pink cream, but I found I didn't really have any of those.  I picked up a couple at the drug store yesterday, so I'll try one out soon.  

In the meantime, I settled for this pink.  I used Maybelline Wet Shine in Wine Shine, an old polish that I've had forever, and it was ready to be trashed.  I don't even remember the last time it was opened. The brush was losing hairs everywhere, and the polish was thick and goopy.  Luckily it only took one coat to fully cover.  I topped it with one coat of Wet n Wild fastdry in The Gold & The Beautiful.  This glitter polish is really dense, and I didn't know if I liked it when I first put it on.  After topping it with a coat of Essie Matte About You, I was pleased with the results.

The polishes in their bottles:

I LOVE the Matte About You top coat.  I love experimenting with matte polishes, and being able to turn any of my polishes into a matte is so much fun!

Here's a close up shot of the polish - you can see that even though the gold looks like glitter in the bottle, it's actually really flakey.