Paint it Purple for Boston

As I mentioned in my last post - there was a post going around Instagram to paint your nails purple (on Tuesday) in honor of the victims and all around horribleness of the Boston Marathon bombing.  I intended to post this yesterday, but I got too busy.  If you follow me on Instagram you have already seen this.



I used 2 coats of Color Club's Eternal Beauty and stamped with Konad White using BM-321.  Eternal Beauty must have a really strong pigment because it turned the Konad white light purple after about 5 min. The B (my best try at the Boston Red Sox logo) was done with white acrylic paint as well as the big ribbon....is also turned light purple!  I accented everything with a sliver glitter striper paint.

I am still in awe that something like this could happen at such a non-political event.  It hurts my heart to know that so many where injured and the life of a young boy was lost for no good reason.  It will never make sense to me...ever...why people do this kind of thing.  Please continue to pray for the city of Boston and the people and families effected. 

Also, you might have heard, there was a massive explosion in West, Texas yesterday evening.  It devastated the entire city and caused an earthquake felt up to 50 miles away. I live in Houston, southwest Texas, and as a Texan everyone is family.  This catastrophe, in the wake of Boston, is just too much.  Prayers and positive thoughts to my fellow Texans today as well.

Blue Holo Gradient

This will be my 3rd mani for Autism Awareness month!

For this mani I used China Glaze Hanging in the Balance and Color Club Over the Moon.

I painted one coat of Hanging in the Balance and then used the sponge gradient technique and sponged on a couple coats of Hanging in the Balance and Over the Moon.  I was surprised at how well they blended.  Unfortunately, I was not able to capture the holo goodness that is Over the Moon, but in real life the subtle depth is very elegant.

On a sad note...the Boston Marathon bombings are weighing heavy on our nation and our hearts.  My husband is a runner (sometimes I am too) and we have both participated in the Houston Marathon in the past.  I can only imagine what the people of Boston are going through.  My prayers and thoughts are going out to all effected either physically or emotionally.  Yesterday (late) I saw notices on Instagram to paint your nails purple for Boston today (4/16), but it was too late to do so.  So I will paint it purple tonight and share tomorrow. 

Please continue to pray for our nation.

Cartoon Drips

I know this has been done...a lot...but I have not done a drip mani yet so that's what I'm going to show you today.

For this mani I used 2 coats of Color Club's "Over the Moon" (2013 Halo Hue's) and used Sally Hansen "White On" and a dotting tool to make the drips.  For some added cool toned sparkle I used a coat of Confetti "Ice, Ice Baby" on the drips.  The "cartoon" part (the black outline) was done using Sally Hansen's Nail Art Pen in Black. 

Overall I think it came out great!  I think next time I will make thinner drips.  How do you feel about "Drip" mani's?  Yay or Nay?

Sally Hansen Peach Breeze and flakies

Just wanted to pop by and show you a quick mani I did with a new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

Peach Breeze

This polish is pretty much a neon coral creme that leans more toward the orange tones than pink. 

 I used 2 coats for a perfect opaque finish.  I have I ever told y'all how much I love Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes?  Out of all the polish I own, I have more Insta-Dries than anything else.  Added bonus...most of them stamp really well.

The color in the pictures are slightly off.  I swear this polish glows neon coral. 

And because I can't leave well enough alone I decided to throw a coat of Color Clubs Snowflakes on top.  I love this flakie polish (I still can't find Essie Shine of the Times).  These warm toned flakies really accentuate the polish color and creates extra sparkle and texture.

This is a great color for spring and definately summertime...bright and happy.

Valentines Day Nail Art Challenge Day 5 - Hearts

Only one more day left in this little challenge! 

Today's theme is Hearts.

I knew going into this challenge that I was going to do some stamping, but I also wanted to try water marbling ( i know...i know...how have I not done this before?).  Earlier this week on instagram I saw an awesome heart shaped water marble (@milly_cutenails) and knew that I had to try it myself.  Lets just say its not easy to water marble, let alone capture a heart small enough to fit on your fingernail (tip use a small mouth cup).  I was able to make some successful hearts but once on my finger I realized it was much bigger than it looked in the cup.  Then I smeared a few, once on my nail, and had to re-do...boo.  I think I ended up attempting the heart about 5 times before I settled on what is on my middle finger here....1 finger!!!

So here is my Heart skittles mani

As you can see I only got the humps of my heart! But I think it turned out pretty.  I added some dots and little hearts with a dotting tool to cover any air bubbles and make it look more "heart" themed.  My other fingers were stamped with a mix of Bundle Monster and Cheeky heart themed nail plates.

Pinky - Sally Hansen White on stamped with Rapid Red (Insta-Dri)

Ring - Sinful Colors Truth or Dare stamped with Sally Hansen Pink Satin (Extreme Wear)

Middle - Marble of Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Flashy Fuchsia, White On, Northern Lights

Index - Color Club Miss Bliss stamped with Konad White

All in all im pretty happy with this mani.  What do you think?

Only one more day left and you get to choose what you want for Valentines Day.

Please go check out my fellow participants and share the love:

1. Elena from Ecklipsed by Color

2. Lynette from Pink & Purple Dots

Color Club Halo Hues 2013!!!

Color Club has released  a new set of Halo Hues for 2013 and

they are even more dreamy than the first set.

 The 2013 set has a jewel toned base color vs. the 2012 pastel base color.

The first set was gorgeous, but I prefer this one mainly because I can actually tell what the base color is supposed to be.

As a warning this will be a long post so I can show you all the colors in one post.

(sorry in advance for my cuticles. Crazy weather and constant preventative illness handwashing has done a number on them)

 Without further ado....

Miss Bliss

Miss Bliss is a dusty rose pink

Eternal Beauty

 Eternal Beauty is a gorgeous royal purple.  

Kismet

 Kismet is a light sage green.  

Cosmic Fate

 Cosmic Fate is a beautiful copper/gold.

This is a perfect color for a natural/nude mani with a little extra flare....spectraflare that is!

Over the Moon

 Over the Moon is a bright sea blue.  This is the color I was most excited about in this collection, and I'm certainly not disappointed...it's gorgeous.  I'm a sucker for blue and green polishes.

Beyond

 Beyond is the blackest holographic polish that I have seen.  Usually black holos are really just dark grey, but this one is perfect.  I see this being used in some galaxy mani's in the future.  This one does stain in removal.

When I saw that there was going to be a black in this collection I wondered how it would compare to Color Club's Revvolution (2009). Well here ya go....

You can tell just by looking at the bottles side by side that Revvolution has more silver and less fire than Beyond.  On the nail this difference is much more noticeable. Beyond, as well as the rest of the collection, must be made with a finer particle of holographic pigment.  They are both beautiful despite their differences.

For all of these photos I used 2 coats of each polish and 1 coat of top coat (no base).  The first coat goes on nice a smooth and dries very quickly.  The second coat is where you need to be careful.  I found that this polish does not like to be over-brushed.  It is very easy to brush a bald spot or dent in both coats of polish.  I recommend that you use as few strokes as possible when using this polish (2 to 3 if you can).  I am super impressed with the colors and the fire that these Halo Hues have.  They sparkle and glow even in low light.  I promise you will be looking at your nails constantly. 

 I'm not sure when these will be available in stores (if they aren't already), but I know you can find the full sets on eBay.  Stay tuned for some nail art with these beauties.

Color Club Blue-Ming and gold stamped mani

Have I mentioned how much I love mint green?

Well...anything in the mint green and turquoise family really, especially when it is paired with gold.

It's such a great combo...never gets old in my book

Today's mani was done with Color Club's Blue-Ming and stamped using Revlon 24k (Cheeky XL plate B) and decided to add an accent finger with OPI Goldeneye.

Pretty right? I love Blue-Ming!  It's like the brighter/neon brother of China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint (my all time favorite polish ever!!).  I did have to add a couple drops of thinner to my bottle, but its pretty much perfect now.  I used 2 coats of Blue-Ming and 2.5 of Goldeneye all topped off with 1 coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat.

I want to take a minute to mention the XL squishy stamper in the first pic.

  I'm in love with it a little.  I had seen it used in some YouTube videos (I always watch reviews before buying a new set of plates...just in case) and thought wow...that stamper looks like it would be really great.

In the past I have always used the pink Konad stampers,which work great, but I didn't like that they have very little cushion.  If you have long nails they will bend your nail when you stamp, etc. 

This XL squishy stamper on the other hand is different.  I don't know what kind of rubber/silicone this is but it's ridiculously squishy.  You dont have to "roll" the stamp on your finger.  You can just smoosh your finger face down on the pad and it will squish the design on all sides of your nail.  Can we say no more crooked stamps?! The pad is also slightly sticky so I find that it picks up the image better...like there is no more residue polish on your plate.  I highly recommend buying this stamper if you haven't already.  I purchased mine from this eBay store.  It costs a little more than other ones listed, but the seller is located in the US and I got it really quick vs. waiting 3-4 weeks.  There is a video included in the listing so you can see the awesomeness of this stamper.

Ok...enough ranting. I'll be back with more swatches later.

Color Club True Fashion 2012 - Editorial

Today I would like to show you a mani I did in between the Christmas Nail Art Challange.

Color Club's Editorial from the Fall 2012 True Fashion Collection

Gah....just look at that gorgeous duo-chrome.  This polish is yet another addition to the large family of Channel Peridot dupes....and there is nothing wrong with that now is there?

This one is a bit greener than most I have seen.  Many of the Peridot dupes are kind of murky mustard/yellow which makes me look like I have a liver disfunction.

Editorial is a green/gold chrome base that shifts from bronze to green and turquoise blue.  I have seen many Peridot dupes that don't have this much of a dramatic shift.  Editorial definately translates from the bottle to the nail. 

The chrome effect of this polish really surprised me.  I could see my reflection in them....no joke.

Application was great.  This is 2 coats plus a top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri).  This polish does have a slight issue with showing brush strokes...as most chrome effects do, but its not hard to make it look smooth.

Needless to say I'm in love with this color.  If you are looking to buy a Peridot dupe this is the one to buy!!  I have Editorial's sister "Port-folio" to show you next week.  Stay tuned.

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge Day 5 - Snowman

Today's challenge is Snowman....and I'll be honest I didnt try very hard.

It has been a long and stressful week so I didn't go all out on this one.

I did, however, get a chance to use my I Love Nail Polish "Up to Snow Good" which made be happy.  Snow...Snowman...same thing right?

I used 2 coats of Color Clubs "Metamorphosis", 1 sheer coat of China Glaze "White Cap," and 2 coats of I Love Nail Polish "Up to Snow Good."  Wow, that is a lot of layering even for me, but look at the close up....there is so much wonderful going on here

Here are all the colors I used in this mani

I fully intend on doing an entire post of my I Love Nail Polishes...because they are awesome and deserve their own thunder.  Until then please stop by Nicole's blog to check out her Snowman nail art for today along with all the others participating in the Christmas Nail Art Challange.