Matte Gold Glitter

This manicure is the result of another case where I wanted something easy, but not just a plain color.  I had picked up L.A. Girl Glitter Addict in Synergy a couple of months ago and hadn't used it yet.  Actually, Sam, my 6 year old, picked it out from the display at Rite Aid one day when I was browsing!

I decided to start with a base of Ulta Alter Ego, which is a really pretty shimmery turquoise with silvery shimmer.  I have a sort of love/hate relationship with glitter polish - I like it, but before I even put it on I'm thinking about how much of a pain it is to remove.  So I end up not wearing it that often.  I really do love a good matte glitter though, so I topped this one off with Essie Matte About You. 

How do you feel about glitter polishes?  Do you prefer chunky or fine glitter?  Saturated?  Shiny?  Matte?

Ulta Bam-blu-zled

Sorry for my lack of posts lately!  I have a bunch in the works to show you, but I need to edit the photos and get them up here.  I did my first gradient nail recently, and also stamped for the first time, so I'm hoping to get those up later this week!  For now, here are some swatches of one of my newer polishes, Ulta Bam-blue-zled.  I thin I too these before using it as a base for something else I was doing.  It's a pretty light blue cream with a hint of purple.

Blue Ombre Nails

I've seen lots of photos of ombre manicures. Maybe this isn't a TRUE ombre since I didn't just use different shades of the same color, but I like how it turned out!

The colors I used for this one were Essie Go Overboard, Revlon Chic, Ulta Bam-blue-zled, China Glaze For Audrey, and a light blue Petites polish I picked up specifically for this.

Go Overboard and Chic are two of my favorite polishes in my collection, so it's always nice to get a chance to wear them!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I was ready for a change today and I definitely wanted something green for St. Patrick's Day this weekend and for my St. Patrick's Day themed Bunco night.  I just got some new craft scissors that I've been wanting to try out with tape, so I picked out some greens and went to work!

First, here are some swatches of the first color I applied.  This is a brand new one that I picked up at Ulta last Sunday called Limelight.  It's not quite 100% opaque after 2 coats, but I left it because I was going to be covering part of it.  It's a really pretty, springy green.

Next I got out my tape and scissors and put some stripes on with Sinful Colors Show Me the Way and then Sally Girl 812098 on the tips.  I don't know if the Sally Girl ones have a name other than that number, it bugs me when polishes don't have a name.  By the way, if you like doing tape manis and you don't own a bottle of Seche Vite, go get one right now!  It is awesome in general, but in terms of drying each layer before putting on the next, it cuts down the time you need to wait to put tape on by a lot.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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?

Glitter French

I'll be getting new manis up soon with photos taken with a REAL camera, but in the meantime I'll keep putting up some of my old manis that I've done.  This is one of my recent favorites.  I FINALLY got my nails into the shape I really wanted.  Of course, less than a day after I took this photo, one broke and I had to cut them.  I'm not sure how people maintain square nails without having acrylics.  Part of me thinks sometimes about getting shortish acrylics so I could have that pretty square shape, but I don't know if I want to pay to maintain them.

This French manicure was done with a topcoat of Ulta After Party, a clear base with silver and red sparkles.  I love to do this instead of a plain French.  Lovely and clean, but with a little glitz!