Gelaze Flip Flop Fantasy

Hey Everyone! I spent today working on that gel mani with foil. Oy. I will have a post all about it later. I am probably going to be doing a lot of manis with the same base and then stamping over them for a bit. My helmers are all tucked behind the bed crammed into the small bedroom right now. I don't have much access to them though I do have some stragglers that are out and about. I also have been keeping a gel mani on to help my nails grow out their damage and not break while I am at the kennel on the weekend. I have still had some breaks and the gel only lasts about a week with all the kennel work. 

Today I have a post with the new Gel polish line from China Glaze. The line is called Gelaze and actually doesn't require a base coat which is kind of nice. I picked two colors up when they were on sale at Sally Beauty Supply last month. You know I had to give them a try since China Glaze is one of my favorite brands.

The first one I used was Flip Flop Fantasy. I actually do not have this one in the regular formula but since I had wanted it I decided I had to have it in the gel formula. I think it is close to the color of the regular polish but since I don't have it I can't compare it. My pictures do not do this polish justice at all, it is much brighter and prettier in person. My camera kinda freaked out a bit though.

For the accent nail I used Elevation polish Huangshan. I loved these two together! 

I wish my pictures had come out a little better to show you how bright and fun this mani was. I am going to do another mani using it soon because I did not have good results with this one at all. My thumbs were chipped within 2 hours and the entire mani didn't last more than 4 days. I found the polish rather thick too. I was not really happy with it but I was also trying a new technique that I had read about where you put acrylic powder on your layer of structure to give it added strength. I will try again when I can judge it on my normal technique.

As a side note I didn't notice that there was any more strength with the added acrylic powder as I usually get with just the structure gel. I did one hand with the acrylic powder but then I was running late so I did the other hand with just structure gel. I didn't notice any notable difference between the two but the acrylic powder hand took much longer to soak off.

I stamped a design on the other nails the next day with Pueen plate Pueen 08 from the 25F set. I used a standard black Wet n Wild polish I had with me.

I loved this mani but I kept wanting to add more color to the stamping. It started to lift and come off so I had to remove it before I got a chance to add anything.

That's all for now :)

Thanksgiving Manis

Hey Everyone!! Again!! I am wrapping up my fall manis so we can move into Winter manis. Today I am combining the last two of the week.

First up is my actual Thanksgiving mani.

I started with a base of Finger Paints Bare No Secrets then Oopsie Daisies Apple Picking on top.

I used various different colors for the stamping. I used Bundle Monster plates BM-H12 and BM-H13 for the stamping.

The Indian head piece came out better on this hand because I painted the feathers properly. I didn't realize that until much later.

My Pinterest turkey cake balls failed so I ended up with these.

Still cute.

Especially when I packed some in this little container.

My other Fall mani included Snoopy which I love.

I used a base of Elevation Polish Street Side, NYC on my middle and ring finger. 

I used Girly Bits Black Eyed Susan on my index and pinky.

This is Street Side, NYC on it's own. Such a cool color.

I made a stamping decal with Bundle Monster Plate BM-H11 of the pumpkin and used China Glaze Riveting to fill the pumpkin in. I used my Snoopy Scarecrow waterslide decal from LuckyStarStyle to round out my Fall look.

That's all for now :)

Fall Mani

Hey Everyone!! I hope everyone has enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday, Hanukkah, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and whatever else has been going on these past few days that you celebrate or take part in. We had a nice Thanksgiving and a quiet time after. T has been with his father and C has been working so it has been pretty quiet. Yesterday was a perfect rainy, movie watching day.

This was one of my fall manis that I did probably for Tuesday. I don't remember which day at this point. I think it was Tuesday though because I was making cake balls and too busy to change it or take pictures of it.

For my middle and ring finger I used a base of Elevation Polish Tettegouche with Oopsie Daisies Ganache over top. I then stamped on it with Maybelline Classic Camel. 

For my ring and pinky I used a base of Classic Camel with Pahlish Bixby Canyon Bridge over top. I stamped on it with SpaRitual I Feel the Earth Move.

I used Bundle Monster plate BM-H11 for the design on Tettegouche. Classic Camel didn't cooperate very much with the stamping because it dried so fast. I was a little too slow so not all of the images are good.

I used Bundle Monster plate BM-H12 for the leaves pattern on my index and pinky. It is rather hard to distinguish. 

We have had a lot of overcast and rain this past week which didn't allow for a lot of outdoor shots. 

At least it made it cooler outside with all the rain and "cold fronts" that rolled through. It didn't do much for my pictures though.

That's all for now :)

Epidote and Quartz Monzonite and more.

Hey Everyone!!! Is it Friday yet? I can't believe it is already almost Thanksgiving. Where is the time going? My baby's birthday is this weekend and he is turning, gasp, 15! I can't even believe it. Today I have a mish mash post for you all.

First up I have a recent picture of Charlie the broken puppy. He is all better, physically anyway. He is nuts. Completely crazy. I love him though and he can be super sweet when he isn't being a maniac. He loves stuffed animals and prances, yes prances, around with his babies proudly showing them off. He is a nut.

I was supposed to include these pictures in the post I did for Elevation Polish Epidote but they weren't edited at the time. I wanted to try Elevation Quartz Monsonite so I used it as an accent nail for my Epidote mani.

I love this combination so much. Quartz Monsonite is a great glitter topper that features an array of colors. It has wine, black, gray and neon microglitter and a red shimmer. I love that polish. I need to try it over all different bases but I did like this combination a lot.

I wasn't able to get any sun shots but you can see the holo in Epidote inside too.

I really love this combination of colors but would never have thought to put the neon yellow in there. I am so glad Lulu is smarter than I am. 

I think I need to try this over a nude or gray base next.

I love this combination so much I made some earrings out of it. 

I had started to make my nails pointy again but then all my points broke off. I am having a wicked case of peelies and my nails are horrific. I have no idea what to do with them at this point. I am considering a gel mani which would be on the boring side for the blog but might help them grow and not break. We will see.

Another one of my polish jewelry projects was a couple of pendants. For some reason H is way too into the mustache thing and wants all things mustache. I decided since her favorite color was purple I would make her a polish pendant with a mustache. 

I was talking to a friend and her daughter is about the same age and H and also heavily into the mustache scene. She even had her birthday party with a mustache theme. I made her the pink pendant since her favorite color is pink.

If someone could explain to me what the deal with these teeny boppers and mustaches is I would be happy to hear an explanation. When I asked H she has no answer she just likes them. I told my mom about this fad and she about fell off the couch. I am thinking maybe we should start a fad where everyone likes big toes and make millions of dollars with big toe merchandise. Seriously, we could make it happen! I mean, mustaches? Why not big toes? And remember I said it here first so don't steal my big toe idea!!! 

That's all for now :)

Stay Behind, Catch a Wave

Hey Everyone!!! Happy Monday!! I hate those mornings when you know you have to get up early for something and end up waking up insanely early and unable to go back to sleep. That was me this morning. I have been up since around 6am. Luckily I am not TOO tired but that may change by the afternoon. It might be a two coffee kinda day.

Today I have an awesome mani to show you! I LOVED this mani. So so much!

I used Illamasqua Scorch as my base. This is my second Illamasqua polish that I own and the first one I have tried. I don't know if they are all like this but if they are I am going to need more. A nail board friend snagged this for me from Sephora in JCPenny on clearance because my store didn't have any. White polishes are usually a PITA to work with but this was an easy two coats full coverage gorgeous off white dream. The picture was taken inside so it looks more gray than white but omg it is awesome.

Elevation Polish Stay Behind, Catch a Wave. The label says just Catch a Wave but I would imagine it would be hard to fit the whole name. This baby is amazing. I had been wanting this polish since it came out but just recently was able to finally snag a bottle. OMG just go buy it because it is awesome!

Catch a Wave is a gorgeous glitter in a slightly blue tinted base. I didn't realize the base was tinted until I put it over Scorch actually. This baby has a TON of glitter and 5, yes FIVE, different circle glitters in there. It also has iridescent hexes and holo micro glitter in teal and green. The circle glitter is white, blue and teal.

I did two coats of Catch a Wave over two coats of Scorch. I LOVE the color Catch a Wave's tinted base turned Scorch. Such a pretty tint.

Catch a Wave was a bit on the thick side so next time I use it I am going to add thinner. There is a TON of glitter in this baby so I am not surprised it is a little on the thick side.

There is so much glitter in this polish! I could not stop staring at my nails.

I took a ton of pictures because it is so pretty. I know, a lot of them look the same but how can you resist staring at that gorgeous blue glittery goodness?

Something about the iridescent glitter makes this mani even more awesome.

This is one of those polishes I could just stare at all the time. I should probably keep the bottle on my desk so I can always see it. I can't believe I waited so long to get it.

I need to make a necklace with this combination and wear it all the time.

Stay Behind, Catch a Wave is from the 180 degrees South Collection and is currently available on the site.

Elevation Polish is quickly becoming one of my favorite brands. I have loved every polish I have tried so far and there are several I have my eye on still!

If you don't have this polish and you like glitter you NEED it! You will not regret it!

That's all for now :)