Pacific Beach Butterflies

Hey Everyone! I am hoping I can actually get this written up before the stupid page freezes on me. I have attempted it twice already but my computer is lame and uncooperative. I just finished reading a book. I started yesterday and since it was slow today I was able to read and finish it. Luckily there are 4 more in the series and I actually have them all ready to go lol I am also hungry.

American Apparel Pacific Beach is the first American Apparel polish I have used. I bought three of the sheer polishes awhile back when they were on sale. I don't and probably will never shop at American Apparel and their website is quite out there for my tastes but I needed these jelly polishes. I will say that they do have nice polish but that is about the only thing I would buy from them.

I wanted to create a jelly stamping sandwich. I used Konad plate M66 for the stamping. I used some of the flowers and the butterfly.

This mani was not exactly what I wanted it to be but it was still decent. I started with a base of Pacific Beach and then stamped flowers and repeated. The butterfly was an after thought when my flowers didn't achieve the floating look I wanted.

I used Sinful Colors striping polishes in white and black (I don't remember the names for those) for the stamping.

The desired effect would be the flowers looking like they were at different depths but the actual effect is lacking that depth. This mani also chipped REALLY fast. This was one of those manis that I started, stopped and removed and reattempted about 3 times. I put a nice dent in my bottle of Pacific Beach trying to get the look I wanted.

I do like the color.

I am going to bet that a normal jelly sandwich with glitter would be great with this polish. Heck, someone that knows what they are doing could pull off the look I was attempting. I am going to have to give it another try, maybe. For now I will just look at the pretty color lol

That's all for now :)

The Fudge is Forbidden but the Bamboo Isn't.

I was going to make this a long post with some displays I have seen and my weekend haul but I am still excited and chipper so I decided to break it up into two posts. Today is my anniversary with the bf. We aren't doing anything big deal-ish but I am still excited. I guess maybe we will go out to a nice dinner (just the two of us) this weekend when my son is with his dad. I have to make him a card when I clear off my desk. I am not really too cheap to buy him a card (you know you were thinking that lol) I had an idea for this card of using the first picture we took together and the picture we took at the wedding in NC but I have to work on it. I also have to run the straightener through my hair (he likes it that way, me, not so much) I guess. So much to do so little time.

ANYWAY, today's mani is Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle in Forbidden Fudge stamped with Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen in Green Chrome. I used Konad plate M66 for the bamboo.

I bought this polish soon after it started showing up in stores but hadn't tried it until now. It is a very pretty shimmery brown and I love the name hehe.

This may be my favorite Konad plate so far.

I was surprised to open the Forbidden Fudge bottle and see the wide brush. I guess it has been awhile since I have used a newer Sally Hansen polish. The brush annoyed me a bit at first but I got used to it. I used two coats of Forbidden Fudge. I definitely needed two coats but I could have probably gotten away with one thick coat especially since I was stamping over it.

I love the nail polish pens for stamping. They keep everything pretty neat. I wouldn't buy the pens to actually paint my nails but they are great with stamping.

I attempted a new method for cleanup so I have to apologize for the horrible cuticle area craziness. Darn that macro! This is the mani I definitely shouldn't have shot with my mom's camera because it is very unkind. I had tried to clean up with a sponge tipped thingy and it did not work at all (as you can see). My elf brush is M.I.A. otherwise I would have used it. So much easier to work with.

This polish really never looks almost black even though in some of these pictures it does.

I like the combination of Forbidden Fudge and Green Chrome. I would like some fudge now too!

That's all for now :)

Arizona Ice Tea wannabe

Today I have my rehearsal dinner mani. Unfortunately not only did I not make it to the rehearsal but the mani didn't last that long anyway. Note to self: don't let the bf pack and since he isn't allowed to pack don't do mani before packing. I woke up early so I could do my nails before having to leave to the airport. I figured that while I was doing my nails he could pull out the clothes that needed packing. I didn't anticipate him totally freaking out because nothing would fit in the bag the way he wanted it to. I walked into a room with clothes everywhere and a bag overflowing with only his clothes lol. I thought I over packed! By the time I was done packing I already had a chip which was not cool at all!

I had a great plan for the mani using Jordana Mint Candy as the base. I was going to use Sephora Brownie for the branches and either Orly Spark or Loreal French Tip White for the flowers and those little fimo flowers.

I used the top left image on M66 for the design.

Luckily trying to take all these pictures actually distracted me from freaking out on the plane ride. I am sure I won't be posting many nail shots from a plane lol. I ended using the white for the flowers and then using Spark to put a yellow center in the flower. I used one fimo flower on each middle finger to give it a little extra kick.

Planes don't provide the best lighting for these pictures. Most of the pictures were either too bright or two dark.

I had put some Burt's cuticle cream on earlier so my fingers are shiny.

This mani reminds me of the Arizona Tea cans. I didn't get to take my pretty mani to the rehearsal dinner because we got incredibly lost on extremely dark roads in North Carolina. The girl that gave us directions didn't do a very good job and we ended up about 100 miles out of our way past our destination. It was a long night! I think by the time we made it to our destination I had only a couple fingers left with polish on them. It was nice while it lasted though. The fimo flowers didn't bother me as much as I thought they would. This means I must have more!

That's all for now :)