Sinful Colors Up in Flames

Hey Everyone!! Well, Tuesday was much better than Monday but it is still only Tuesday. I am definitely ready to win the lottery. I could use a nap too. 

Today I have a mani I did using three Sinful Colors polishes I snagged at Walgreens during their last .99 cent sale. These are said to be Walgreens exclusive polishes. They are also Shimmering Sand Textures though I top coated them for this mani.

I did a gradient base using Face the Facets, Orange Crush, Ruby Mine.

I used Konad black stamping polish and Cheeky plate CH52 to stamp the flames.

I am getting better with my gradients. I used a kitchen sponge for this one and really liked how the gradient came out. I think the sponge made all the difference.

I love how this mani turned out. I could have placed the flames a little better on some of the nails. Overall I think it came out really well and love how the image has flames coming from both the top and the bottom of the nail.

I love the shimmer and sparkle that these Sinful Colors show. They definitely pop with top coat on them.

I didn't use the right top coat to make them totally smooth but the texture is not as extreme as it appears in these photos. It was pretty smooth even though it looks like there is still some texture going on.

I love these three colors together and they go perfect with the flames.

This mani looked great in the sunlight too. I really love those three Sinful Shimmering Sand Texture polishes. I also love the flames with these colors. 

That's all for now :)

Zoya Channing

Hey Everyone!! Once again I got a late start on editing and posting because I had to wait my turn for the computer. I am going to try and get ahead a little bit this weekend so that I can get the posts up earlier. We will see how that goes.

Tonight I have Zoya Channing from the Fall Cashmeres and Satins collection. Channing is from the Satins part of the collection.

I used three coats of Channing. It is a gorgeous metallic rusty copper red shade. 

Since I can't leave anything alone I had to try some stamping over it. I really loved the color of Channing and thought gold would look nice. I was also too lazy to go look for a copper polish to stamp but I really like the way the gold looks so my laziness worked out well. I used Essie Good as Gold for the stamping. 

I stamped with Cheeky plate CH-44 from their 2012 Summer collection. I think these look slightly like brass knuckles which I don't mind at all. 

C was very upset because I hadn't shown him this mani last night and he says it is the coolest one I have done lately. He only noticed it because he came up behind me while I was editing the pictures. Perhaps he should pay more attention.

I really liked the metallic color combination for this mani and it was nice and bold and kept catching my attention throughout the day. Definitely one of my favorites.

I meant to take a picture of Channing without the stamping but I completely forgot about it. I will definitely be using this polish again so I will have to remember to get pictures of it then. 

That's all for now :)

Purple Pixie Butterflies

Hey Everyone! I hope everyone is staying safe and warm out there. I can't believe how crazy the weather is out there. I was hoping we would get some cool air down this way but it doesn't seem like it is going to happen. On a good note today we start Zoya week! 

I used two of the awesome 2013 Pixie Dusts for this mani. I used Stevie from the Summer collection and Carter from the Fall collection to create a gradient. It isn't perfect but I was pretty happy with how the gradient came out.

I used two coats of Stevie for the base. I really love the way the Pixie Dusts look. The sparkle they have makes me very happy.

I actually had to do this mani twice because I had a great idea the first time that looked awful. I guess it was not too horrible, according to C anyway, but after an hour I couldn't take it anymore and I had to start over.

This mani made me think of candy for some reason. Due to having to redo the mani twice I didn't bother stamping it last night. I couldn't stop thinking about how this mani needed butterflies on it so I decided to do some stamping before I took it off. 

I used Sinful Colors white and Cheeky Jumbo Plate 9 Wild at Heart for the butterflies.

The butterflies made it perfect! 

I couldn't leave it alone so I put clear on my ring and middle finger to show you how the Pixie Dusts look with top coat. Unfortunately I did this just before taking it off and it was already dark so I couldn't get a good picture in the light.

You can see a little bit of difference in the last picture but not enough. I will have to remember to take better pictures of the top coated Pixie Dusts next time. 

That's all for now :)

Power Clutch and School of Hard Rocks

Hey Everyone!! It is almost Friday! Yay! I think I am getting sick. I might just be losing my mind. I think I have a swollen lymph node which generally means you are sick from what I read but I don't feel sick yet. I am going to the doctor tomorrow because I am a paranoid freak. T has a sore throat currently so I am really hoping he isn't getting sick. The weather has gone from cold front to 80 degrees back to cold front which I don't think is helping. I am absolutely loving the cool air though. I should have worn socks today since my feet are freezing. Right now I am seriously regretting not buying a pair of boots. My feet are cold in their sockless flats.

Continuing on with Essie week I have two polishes to show you today.

For this mani I used Essie Power Clutch from the 2011 Fall Carry On collection and School of Hard Rocks from the 2011 Winter Cocktail Bling Collection. I used three coats of Power Clutch on my index and pinky fingers and three coats of School of Hard Rocks on my ring and middle finger.

I used the opposite color to stamp with Cheeky Jumbo-A plate. This was the first time my rectangular squishy stamper and I got along fabulously. You can see where a bit of the pattern was messed up on my ring finger but that was my fault.

When I first looked at these pictures I almost forgot which color I used where. Due to the pattern they looked the same to me. I figured it out but because I left after dark last night so I had to rely on indoor and dim lighting some of the pictures were useless. 

This is one of those pictures that the colors look really close.

I really love both of these colors. They are dark and cozy looking. Both applied very nicely and stamped really well.

I need to do something about my indoor lighting situation.

I attempted to take a picture under the light in my car. It wasn't awful and at least you can see the difference in the two colors.

That reminds me I should go take pictures of my mani before the sun goes down and I am stuck using indoor lighting again.

I should probably brush my hair too since I am going out to dinner tonight and I have yet to brush it today. 

That's all for now :)

Football Draft Mani

Hey Everyone!!! Today I have to make it quick because I am about to head out to the dentist. I guess it will break up the workday a little bit but I am still not excited about having to drive there. I actually love my dentist I just don't love the drive there. 

We had our first Fantasy Football league draft last Sunday and of course I had to do a football mani for it. I cut it back to only two leagues this year so that I don't loose my mind too much. I can't wait for football season though my Bills are not looking too hot right now with their quarterback situation. I will have another football mani for the Friday night draft too. I wasn't really overly thrilled with how this one came out.

I used Zoya Holly as an accent nail. I also used Holly to sponge some grass on my other nails. They had base coat but no base color. 

I used China Glaze Hey Sailor, First Mate and Mahogany Magic as well as Nubar Night Sparkle for the helmets and footballs. I used Sinful Colors white striper for the white. 

I used the plate CH35 from the 2012 Summer Collection plates by Cheeky for the football and the helmets. 

I wasn't overly excited about this mani but I was running out to time. I was trying to make the accent nail a football field but I couldn't get the markings right so I just went with a solid green. I wouldn't say it is a fail mani but it isn't awesome either.

Oh you can see my clawed index nail too! My nail broke so I figured instead of making it super short I would try out a new shape. I had a hard enough time shaping that one nail and it is still not quite right so I am not sure the pointed look is going to be something I go for. I do love it though. 

Send me good thoughts if you can. I really do not want to hear the words root canal when the dentist and I discuss my cracked tooth. 

That's all for now :)

Shark Week belated

Hey Everyone!!! I love shark week. I love sharks and I love learning things. Things were so hectic I didn't actually do shark manis though. I didn't realize that Discovery Channel rips us off and shark week is only Sunday through Friday and I did my shark mani on Friday. I thought it would be ready for the last day of shark week but I was wrong. Apparently the week is only 6 days long according to the channel and my shark week mani became a post shark week mani. I won't even get into the whole megalodon special fiasco which totally angered and destroyed my perception of the channel. 

One day I am going to get used to this new schedule and not be so tired all day. Today is not that day though. I am sooo tired. 

I started with a base of American Apparel Moonlight Beach from their sheer polish collection. The first time I went on their website I was shocked and confused by their topless models on the polish page. I was at work which didn't make the situation any better. I don't shop there but they do have nice polishes.

I used my Sinful Colors blue striping polish and Mash plate Mash-50 to make the wave design.

I then used the shark image on Cheeky CH38 from their 2012 Summer Collection for sharks. I stamped with Zoya Dove for the sharks. I was going to go for a two toned shark image using another polish but that polish didn't show up very well. You can see it on a couple nails before I decided I needed to stop using it for stamping. It is too bad because a two toned shark would have been cool.

I wasn't going to do the waves when I initially started this mani. It started as a gradient but you can hardly tell by the time I was done. I wanted to do the cuticle area lighter and then get darker as you got to the tips so it looked like a deep sea but it didn't quite work out.

Have I ever mentioned I am really bad at gradients? You can sort of see the gradient on the pinky nail above. It pretty much looked like I had no idea how to paint my nails and was missing spots and spaces. Since that wasn't looking too hot I decided to use waves to help my ocean look better. 

You can also see on my pinky the failed sharks look like a shimmery blip on the nail. The mani was starting to become as disappointing as the megalodon special.

In the end it came out really cute so it wasn't a fail. I like the sharks and the waves make the water look watery. I think this was 4 coats of Moonlight Beach.

Moonlight Beach applied very nicely. I love jellies so I was totally loving the way it looked even though the gradient was not working out. 

Zoya Dove stamped fairly well too. The sharks came out a little light but you could see them and make out what they were so it wasn't too light. 

That's all for now :)

July 4th Festive

Hey Everyone!! I finally have my July 4th mani ready for posting and I figured I wasn't doing anything else exciting so I mind as well get it up for ya. I actually really loved the flag mani this year and was pretty decently satisfied with the other hand. I was way too tired to finish the other hand in flags so I decided to just  do some festive red, white and blue designs.

I used Sinful Colors Hot Hot Heat, Snow me White and Wet N Wild Cabo Cruise.

Cabo Cruise is over white for the flag mani. I used a base of Snow me White and then striping tape to do the red stripes.

For my other hand I used the same polishes. I used Artsyfartsy Crafts glitter squares for the index finger flag. I placed them on the nail with a dotting tool.

I used my new Cheeky Jumbo plate Wild at Heart for the middle finger. Cabo Cruise stamped very very lightly which surprised me a bit.

For the ring finger I used some craft glitter in blue, red and white though you can't see the white at all. I used my July 4th franken for my pinkie. None of the stars decided to come out and play on that nail but they were on my thumbs which matched my pinkie. I didn't take a picture of them sadly.

I was really excited about the way it came out this year.

We didn't really do much else for the 4th but cook and eat. I didn't even see fireworks and it did rain for awhile. I enjoyed the day though.

I made another flag cake for my son since he missed out on the first one so I have pictures of that for you.

Plain white on the outside but on the party is on the inside of this huge cake.

An American flag!!! It still didn't come out perfect and I don't think I will be making this one again but it was pretty cool.

It was also really yummy.

Bruce was sitting at the table waiting for his piece of cake.

That's all for now :)