Where's the Party At?

Unfortunately we missed the party this weekend. I had made a pie for it and everything! Sorry guys, I know I have been MIA for a few days. It's been a rough weekend with lots of chaos. My son to be typical and wait for the very last minute to figure that his little report was actually a project. We were up until 2am Thurs night doing the project without a printer because it ran out of ink. He came home Friday to tell me his project was given back to him and he was told to turn it in on Tuesday. I wanted to strangle the child. Friday was an insanely busy day at work because the warehouse guy was out and I was doing his job plus mine. I got to leave a little early but was exhausted. Between all of that and the dogs that constantly wake me up at 1-2 am for absolutely no reason other than she doesn't want to be downstairs alone I slept REALLY late Saturday. It was great! I think for the most part it cured the exhaustion. My son had a stomach bug part of the weekend and the other part was spent cleaning and yesterday I finally got to relax a bit before fighting with this child to do a better job on his project. There are only eight days left of school. THANK GOODNESS!

I have a ton of stuff to do before I feel as though my stash is organized. I need to update my spreadsheet and put away some polishes I have out, swatch on my nail wheels or swatchsicles and figure out if I like my helmer organized by brand or not. It would also help to get another helmer but I don't know that it will be doable in the near future. I have two more polishes left in the Box O Fun and I saved a couple holos for last. Hopefully it will cooperate and be sunny.

Now that all the updating is out of the way I have today's mani Essence Where's the Party At? This little baby is awesome. The picture of the bottle is not great, sorry about the darkness, but it shows what she can do.

Where's the Party At? is a grey purple that flashes green and teal. It is pretty visible in the bottle but very hard to capture on camera. I noticed it isn't as visible on the nail but it can be seen when your hands are moving around.

Mostly the polish looks like the above picture. It is a purple, silver, grey color that ranges from dark inside to light and silvery outside. I used two coats and they do look brush strokey.

This is in the car in light.

Now when you tilt your hand a certain way the green comes out. It looks grey green and I kept trying to catch it.

The flashes came out mostly on my drive home. It was taunting me actually because when I was stopped at a red light I wouldn't get to see it or the picture wouldn't come out but every time I stepped on the gas the polish was flashing like crazy.

I was trying a polish remover pen which is why there is a grand canyon between my polish and cuticles. I just wanted to show the silvery look.

And a picture of the pie I made for Memorial Day. The boys were very happy that we ended up not going to the BBQ because they got to eat more pie. The bf said it tasted like a giant cookie and my son the anti-pie boy asked that he have this pie EVERY YEAR instead of birthday cake. He also said this morning that he was very disappointed that there was no pie left because he wanted it for breakfast.

That's all for now :)

As Requested...

Today I have a great mani to show you. Last week I posted about ArtDeco #236 Deep Aqua and showed the picture below where it stands next to Golden Rose Scale Effects #13. I had initially planned on doing another post with these two layered but then thought it would look pretty layered over P2 Jetset. Deep Aqua chipped before I had a chance to layer it so I decided to just use Jetset with it. I went back to the original plan when I had a request for these two to be layered. I am so thrilled that I did because WOW they are gorgeous together.

Golden Rose #13 is on the left and ArtDeco #236 Deep Aqua is on the right.

I used two coats of Deep Aqua and decided I must do an accent nail to show the Golden Rose polish on it's own. I don't know if anyone uses flakies on their own but if there is someone out there that does this will show you what to expect. It looked a little funny not to mention that I can see the yellow stains of my nails so I decided to do a funky french tip with Deep Aqua to tie it together.

I used one coat of the Golden Rose #13 over Deep Aqua and the ring finger is two coats.

The flakies are gorgeous and I really wish I had my mom's camera to get better pictures of this mani. I can not capture all the gorgeous that these flakies show.

I think it would look really cool if I put a matte coat on there too.

These two colors make such a pretty combination and when you look real close and the flakies show their green it looks very sea like.

I love the funky french look and maybe when I get the staining of my nails under control I will try a cool funky french with it.

I must say this mani held up pretty well too. The bf called me mid afternoon because he got a flat and his car doesn't have a jack. I ran out to rescue him and helped change the tire and my mani was in tact afterward. Pretty impressive :)

I had to add this picture in for cuteness. It looks like the little bugger is posing. I am a little worried about him because he seems to be having a little bit of his urination issues again. We called the vet's office today and he wasn't there but the girl said as long as he is urinating he is ok but to call back in the morning to talk to the doctor in case he needs to be seen. Hopefully we can figure out something to stop this from happening. The poor thing made me want to cry last night when he was whimpering and screaming and had the sad look in his eyes. I am going to have to pick a cheery mani for tomorrow to keep me sane. Between the kitten and my son's grades they are going to drive me nuts!

That's all for now :)

Stranger Tides and Skulls

This weekend I pretended I was going to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean and did my nails up for the event. I never actually went to the movies but my nails were really cool. I actually even got a compliment from a cashier somewhere. I don't remember where I was but she thought they were cool. 

OPI Stranger Tides is on the right in the photo above. It was the other polish gifted to me by the amazing gal over at MUA. The picture isn't very color accurate because it is actually a dingy, murky looking grayish green. I love the color but had a heck of a time with the application.

The first time I tried this mani was not too successful. The first few pictures are from take 1 of the Pirates mani. Please excuse the cleanup and general ickyness of the mani. I was basically trying to get it all together in a test run.

The first day I had terrible issues with Stranger Tides. I know people have raved about the application of this collection but this one was a PITA! It was streaky and uneven and not cooperative at all. I wasn't sure if it was the brush or me or the polish but even after three coats it wasn't completely even.

The skulls are made with acrylic powder and a 3D mold that I ordered on ebay. There is a bit of a learning curve with this process and I struggled a lot with it the first time. I was highly frustrated and ready to give up after awhile. I managed to get it together enough to make the skulls on my nails though.

I think the ones on my pinkies look more like Lord Voldemort than skulls and I might actually make them as Lord Voldemort and incorporate them into a Harry Potter mani when that movie comes out. We will see.

Here is a more close up of one of them. I probably should have picked a better one. The thumb had the biggest one so I chose that one. I used an insanely thick coat of Seche Vite on top of them which didn't help the look of the mani.

I tried again Sunday to get the mani the way I wanted and had much more success. It helped that I got a smaller brush to work with and it really made a difference. I also changed the way I worked a bit which made all the difference.

This time I did my mani first and then made the skulls. Last time I made the skulls first and they were completely dry by the time I got around to putting them on the nail and they stuck up more than I wanted them too. I still had a few issues (you can see the one on my ring finger has part of a bone missing) but overall it was much more successful and looked a ton better.

When I did this mani I waited a little longer in between coats and Stranger Tides performed so much better. The first coat was still streaky as can be but with the wait I ended up evening it out in two coats. We are friends again.

The smaller brush let me make the skulls with less issue and less mess. I still manage to get acrylic all over my hands but that will eventually stop I hope. I will figure it out as I go.

Because I was ready to make the skulls and then put them on my nail immediately they dried and shaped themselves to my nails so they didn't have edges that stick up. I think I have a plan for making them in advance but I am going to have to test it out first.

This was a super fun mani and I love the little acrylic guys. I can't wait to get more molds and try some other stuff. When I go see the movie I will probably end up doing the skulls again but I have another idea for the mani overall.

Jetset

Hey everyone! I am about to jetset, well carset really but ya know what I mean, off to the stupid dentist soon so I am going to try and get this post up for you all before I go. I actually got a couple calls from the dental office about my appt already today. First she asked if I could be 15 minutes late which was fine with me since I am not looking forward to this at all. Then she called and there was a cancellation at noon but the guy that is coming into the office wasn't coming in before noon. Then she called and said the hygienist could accommodate me at one if I could make it. I called her back at noon and told her I would not make it. The dude is still not here but like I said I am not looking forward to the appointment so it is ok. My mouth is starting to bother me a tad bit already yay fun. Tonight we have a parents night at my son's school too so it should be interesting.

Today I have for you another P2 polish called Jetset. It is a really nice turquoisey color.

Jetset is a little dusty or murky. I am still learning about these things so I may not have the correct description lol.

I used two coats and it applied really nicely.

I love cremes. I don't know why but they seem so clean and shiny to me. I love my sparkles and shimmers but sometimes I just need that flat, rich creme look.

These two pictures (above and below) are pretty close to the color. The one above was in the shade and came out a little darker.

I have been trying to figure out why the skin in the corner of my nail looks like that on my middle finger. I can not figure it out. I always have issues with the skin in those corners it is usually hard and uncooperative. I need to find a remedy for this. The dude at the salon clipped it but I am not really liking how it is reacting to that.

Incidentally this is the last pictures of my wonderfully shaped nails. As is the case whenever I get a manicure most of my nails broke this week. I think it was six of them actually. I don't know if it is the way they file or my nails or what but they just don't enjoy being filed. I think next time I will just go with the pedicure.

I will miss you nice evenly shaped nails.

That's all for now :)

Deep Aqua and Golden Rush

Happy Saturday everyone!!! It has been a great lazy day so far for me! After my son left for his dad's house I vacuumed and swiffered the floor and cleaned up a guitar the boyfriend bought. I am apparently the go to expert in guitar cleaning. This guitar was quite dirty and I even managed to get the frets nice and shiny which thrilled the bf. After he went back to work I took a nice long bath (something I don't get to do often) and I plan on spending some time on the couch with cheesy lifetime movies. The one that just started is already cheesy and it's only in the first five minutes lol. It's one of my occasional guilty pleasures.

I used P2 Crackling Golden Rush over my ARTDECO #236 Deep Aqua mani. Crackle is every where these days. Sally Hansen just released their line of crackles with a gold in it as well.

The color of Deep Aqua looks a lot lighter in these pictures.

I really love the way Golden Rush crackles.

I am not a big gold fan but I do like this polish. I think I like the silver one a wee bit more though.

I liked this picture because it shows the awesome ring!

I think Deep Aqua actually goes great with Golden Rush.

And I leave you with a little picture of Mr. Bruce.

He doesn't like to sit still so my pictures keep turning up blurry. He is still cute even when he is blurry though lol. I hope you all enjoy your Saturday!

That's all for now :)

ARTDECO 236 Deep Aqua

It is FRIDAY!!! Don't you love how I always state the obvious? I am only mildly excited because I know that I will probably spend much of the weekend in discomfort or pain. Pirates of the Caribbean is out though and I realllllly want to see it but I am doubting I will get that chance. I have an exciting idea for my nail art for Pirates though. I will not divulge too much info yet because I am not sure if I will be able to pull it off. I can't wait to show you though if it does work. Yes, cart is before the horse right now. lol.

I don't have much scheduled for the weekend that I know of yet. Tonight I am attempting to make some pumpkin cookies with a recipe one of the girls at MUA gave me. I never liked pumpkin before but tasted pumpkin bread that one of the volunteers brought to the kennel a couple weeks ago and it was DARN GOOD so now I want to try these cookies. Hopefully I can get my hands on that bread recipe too lol. Depending on my mouth I will probably volunteer at the kennel and I have tons of cleaning to do. FUN STUFF. Hopefully I will have time to update my spreadsheet too because I know it is only about 85% done. I of course filled my helmer already and now have to go through each drawer because I don't remember what was listed and what wasn't. Did I also mention that my helmer is full? I just got it and already need another one. I am not sure if that is good or bad.

So today's polish is ArtDeco # 236 Deep Aqua. ArtDeco is a German brand I believe. I saw this one on another blog as well but unfortunately didn't know what it said because it was written in German. The polish was so pretty though lol

Deep Aqua is on the right.

Now I have to tell you I did this mani in my car on the way to the dentist. I was stuck for a VERY LONG train and decided I had enough time to do my nails. It was that or do them in the parking lot before I went into the dentist office lol. I should have done them the night before but didn't have time. SO cleanup wasn't really great and I was in a car so application was interesting as well.

I used two coats for this mani but should have used three. I was worried about how long the train was going to go and I didn't want to run out of time so I stuck with two.

I wasn't really fond of the brush. The first coat was really uneven and the polish was on the thin side which made the brush more annoying. I like the color and the polish though.

It is really shiny and very pretty. If I had used thicker coats two might have been enough. I was trying to make as little a mess as possible and wasn't quite sure about the brush.

I am so happy with this polish though and saw a couple more that look intriguing from this brand.

That's all for now :)

Teeez Cool

What a busy day! Work has been pretty busy today which is good except my mouth has been hurting most of the day. Aleve is just not cutting it. Hopefully it gets better before Monday because I fear Monday they are going to make it worse.

Today I have Teeez Cool to show you. I absolutely love this polish! My dear friend Silke is AMAZING for getting this one for me. I had never heard of Teeez until I saw swatches of this polish on another blog. It is a Dutch brand and yet another reason I am either going to have to visit Holland or just move there!

I like the bottle. I think it is cute.

I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking again. It is driving me crazy how the pain comes and goes. It is back right now which is lame.

It is a lot more blue and a bit darker inside but you can still see the gorgeousness of it.

I love this polish.

With the flash and in the light it looks lighter.

I stared at it all day.

I took a million pictures because it is so pretty.

I didn't want to take it off either.

It is stunning in person.

So pretty.

Sorry about the lame commentary. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to write my post right after the Aleve kicks in and I feel better. :)

That's all for now :)