Pink and Purple Gradient Stamping

Hi friends,
I have a super quick pic for you today.  I'm running behind on some non-polish related things so I haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to my nails. Right now I'm wearing a blue polish. That's it, just blue.  No sparkles, no glitter, no rhinestones or stamping.  No gradient or water marble (I don't do those anyway). So it will be another "What's wrong with your nails? Are you ok?" sort of day.  I'm having a bad nail day, alright!

I hope to have more for you tomorrow.
Ciao for now.

Vinyl Stripes

Hi ladies!
What colors are you into right now? For me it's blue and purple.  Today's manicure is a combination of the two. I wanted to do stripes so that I could try out some vinyls I ordered. Love them! They were only stripes, nothing fancy, so I used them both vertically and horizontally.

The purple/fuchsia is a raspberry jelly, and the blue is a metallic true blue.

I really like the vinyls.  I think I'll order more. But for now, I'll use my stripes.

Till my next stripy manicure,
Ciao Bellas!

Blue Sequins

Hello friends,
I promised you a metallic blue manicure, and I aim to deliver. Today's base color is a light metallic sky blue. Over it, I applied blue, green, orange and assorted metallic colored hex sequins.

I started with a simple metallic sky blue polish and loaded the tips of my nails with rings of colored sequins. I went all out on the ring finger because I missed my glitter. More sparkle the better. Overdone is never wrong...unless it's food...or makeup.
Ciao for now!

It's a New Year, Who Says You Can't Mix Metals?

Well, my friends,
Today is the 30th of December, and we're facing a new year. We've come to the end of an epic era. No, I'm exaggerating a little. It's just the end of 2015. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the new year. 2015 was a challenging year for my family, beginning with the loss of my husband/best friend. Challenging is a nice way of saying traumatic. But, with time, love, and support comes healing. And in one year, my boys and I have come a long long way. My little guy is doing very well in school again, and has returned to playing sports. My big guy is looking forward to taking the S.A.T. next month, and is at this very moment a couple hundred miles away from home playing in a tournament with his school team. As for me, much healing has come from starting this blog and interacting with other blogger friends and readers. Without knowing it, you've been more helpful to me and a bigger blessing than I can express. So, to any of you who have left me a comment, responded to my comments, returned my emails, given me advice and guidance, sent me polish to review, or just been with me through this journey, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Big hugs from me to you!
Without further ado, here is my last post for the year.

You guys know that I'm a glitterholic. Of course, I couldn't end the year without donning the fun shiny stuff. Glitter was a given, but the choice of polish had me in a quandary. Silver or gold? I decided not to choose at all, but use both? Less might be more, but more is better.

For this mani, I used a silver multi-glitter topper over a black gold flakie jelly polish. I think I'm all set to bring in 2016. How are your nails bringing in the new year?

Till next year, Ciao Bellas! and Have a Happy New Year.

31 Day Challenge: Day 8 Metallic Nails

#31DC2015 Metallic Nails

Welcome back polish lovers! I knew I'd have fun with this one and I was right. Not only did I get to use gold and silver Mundo de Unas stamping polishes, but I also dug out a few studs from my stash of stuff. How fitting is it to use metal in a metallic mani. Cute. I also used Black Metallic polish by Kleancolors.

Come back tomorrow to see rainbow nails.
Ciao for now.

Zoya Week Sunday: Meet Edyta and Neely

Although I have more Zoya polishes to share with you, we've come to the end of our week long Zoya journey.  These last two ladies are in direct contrast with one another.  Edyta is a black/gold micro glitter while Neely is a pastel green creme.

Edyta

Since my new stamping polishes and stamping plates arrived, I haven't been able to stop playing with them.  I did several manicures, but somehow lost the pics (Painful. I can't talk about it).  But I did salvage these two.

Edyta is a black/gold shimmer polish that appears glittery in the bottle, but is more of a shimmer once applied.  I used gold Mundo De Unas stamping polish with a MoYou London plate from the Explorer set.  The Greco Roman theme worked great with this black/gold polish.

Mundo De Unas Gold 17 and MoYou London Explorer Collection - 09

Neely

I have two Neely polishes.  Once again, I unintentionally repurchased a polish. Maybe I could avoid this if I make a list of the polishes I have and carry it with me. Not likely, but it's a good idea. 

This polish is such a soft color that I wanted to add a soft design to it.  I stamped a simple floral design and used a dotting tool to create multi-colored circles.  Soft and simple.

What are your favorite Zoya polishes?   

O.P.I. Polish Review: Kermit Vs. Spidey

Two O.P.I. polishes from older throwback collections caught my attention because of their duochrome affects. They are Kermit me to Speak from the Muppets Most Wanted Collection (2011) and Just Spotted the Lizard from The Amazing Spiderman Collection (2012).

I fell in love with both of these polishes right away.  I've seen polishes with stronger duochrome affects, but these have just enough to make them intriguing.  Just Spotted the Lizard leans more towards gold with green highlights and Kermit Me to Speak has a rosier hue with soft purple highlights. Both are fantastic and I honestly can't pick one over the other.  Can you?

Bowling....Not a Great Idea For Nails

"Aww, Come on, really!?"  This is what I said over an over again yesterday when we went bowling.  I was so upset about all the repair work I would have to do to my nails that I was distracted from the game....right...that was the reason for my low scores. Not because I'm a poor bowler.  

This was my diary entry for today.

Dear Diary,

Clearly, bowling isn't my forte'.  I'll never be a professional bowler, nor will anybody invite me to be in their league.  Nope, not gonna happen.

I took the kids and parents bowling yesterday.  I figured that my teen would beat us all, then I would come in second followed by my 11 year old and then my parents.  I was sooo sure I would come in second, at least third, but I was sooo wrong.  I didn't beat anybody.  I had the lowest score through two games.  I didn't even redeem myself in the second game.  No, my bowling got worse and worse as nail after nail chipped cracked peeled and broke.  I did a lot of repair work when I got home and then got an inspiration for this manicure.

Do you bowl, or do you avoid it like I'm going to do?  How do you keep your nails healthy when you bowl?

Seaweed and Jellyfish

I still have my trip to the aquarium on my mind.  In my last Dear Diary post I mentioned jellyfish.  I fit a few multi colored "jellyfish" into this seaweed mani.

I stamped the seaweed image directly onto my clear base coat with a blend of blue and green stamping polish ('Konad Green' and 'Wavelength' by BMC).  Then I used a few watered down pearl and metallic acrylic paints for the jellyfish.

                                                  

Blue Jelly polish

The stamping plate I used was an old plate I found on EBay a few years ago.  It was plate "M" if that helps any.  After stamping on the seaweed and painting on the "jellyfish", I coated my nails with a light wash of blue jelly polish that I blended myself.

I didn't use the Milani quick dry top coat in the top picture.  I needed this manicure to shine and with the exception of clear gel polish, Seche Vite is the shiniest fast drying top coat on the market, imo.  Obviously, Seche Vite is my all-time favorite top coat.

There you have it.  A seaweed and jellyfish manicure.  Ok, that's it for the aquarium inspired manicures.  I'm moving on now.

Revlon's Gold Glaze

Yesterday I promised you a few swatches of 'Gold Glaze', a sister polish to Revlon's 'Pink Glaze' and 'Holo Pearl'.

Pink Glaze    Holo Pearl  Gold Glaze

Once again, I wasn't disappointed.  I used both white and black base coats to get an idea of how the top coat effect layers over both dark and light colors.

After several coats (about four), I got a sheer gold shimmer over white polish.  But after just two coats 'Gold Glaze' transformed into a beautiful metallic gold over black polish.  I have metallic gold polishes that aren't as appealing as this combo.  Two thumbs up for Revlon's 'Pink Glaze', 'Gold Glaze' and 'Holo Pearl' polishes. 

Revlon's Pink Glaze Nail Polish

I can't remember the last time I visited a Rite Aid, so when I drove by one today, I had to turn around and take a look around.  After promising the kids that I'd be right back (that really means pull out your video game devices and have a good time).  I planned to do a little personal comparison to my local CVS and Wallgreens.  My plan was to look around, not shop, but when I found two sister polishes to my Revlon Holo Pearl, I couldn't pass them up.  Revlon's top coat effects 'Pink Glaze' and 'Gold Glaze'.

I was so impressed with Revlon's 'Holo Pearl' that I couldn't resist the other two.  I didn't expect them to live up to the same standard as the 'Holo Pearl', however,   simply because they are not holographic polishes.  They looked great in the bottle, though, and I do have a new found respect for Revlon, so it was definitely worth a try. 

Pink Glaze             Holo Pearl            Gold Glaze

I painted both top coat effects over white and black polish to see how they would look over dark and light colors.  I was surprised to see that the Pink Glaze showed up as a faint pinkish shimmer over white polish, but a vibrant purple iridescent color over the black polish.  'Pink Glaze' over white polish was barely noticeable, but it was absolutely stunning over black polish.  Quite impressive.  

    

After a bit of stamping

Tomorrow we'll take a look at Revlon's 'Gold Glaze'.

Ciao for now.

Revlon's Holo Pearl

      I happened upon a beautiful find at CVS.  Revlon Holo Pearl, a holographic top coat.  Since I've recently  caught the holographic micro glitter, bug I had to try this one.  My experience is that not all holographics are the same.  But, I was satisfied and quite impressed with this one.  No, I didn't see the rainbow,  but the glittery effect is outstanding.  It twinkles like a million tiny diamonds.

Unfortunately, I have to give this disclaimer first.  The following pictures do not give justice to this polish.  The beautiful, holographic, glittery effects are noticeable.  But believe me when I say this....Trust me it's fantastic!  

Beautiful in the bottle, gorgeous on the nails.  Since this is a top coat, I needed a base color.  I chose two, white and black. 

Ring finger base coat is black

I loved the polish so much that I couldn't resist a little stamping.

Kleancolor Metallics

In my last post, I talked about the Kleancolor polishes I purchased, for a steal, on EBay.  These are swatches from the Metallic set.



Metallic White, Metallic Black, Metallic Yellow



Metallic Orange, Metallic Fuschia, Metallic Aqua