Orly Fresh with a Leprechaun

Hey Everyone. I think I need a nap. I am suddenly sleepy. It is pretty slow at work so that doesn't help all that much. At least it is almost Friday!

I am still catching up from St. Patrick's Day so today is another green mani. 

For this mani I used a base of Orly Fresh. I love this green. It is bright and squishy and so fun. I used three coats for this mani.

To stamp I used Mundo de Unas #19 Bronze and Sinful Colors black polish.The black wasn't thick enough to be dark enough over the Bronze but I couldn't get my placement right to double stamp it. 

You can see in the picture above where I tried to double stamp the Leprechaun. 

I used Messy Mansion plate MM04 for the designs on this mani. It was fun and festive but I think my nails are a little too small for the knot work to show really nicely. 

That's all for now :)

Happy New Year

Hey Everyone!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I started my new year off with a bad headache. I woke up with it. You would think I actually partied and drank last night but I did neither. I couldn't sleep though and that probably contributed to the headache. It is seeming to go away now though, thankfully. I am dying to get this mani off my nails and get a new one on but I had to get some pictures edited first. I think I will probably have some holiday themed posts for the rest of the week then I should be caught up and out of the green and red. We will see how it goes, especially since I don't even know what day it is.

I figured I would start the new year off with some cute animal pictures. 

Bruce and Neil don't get along very often but warm laundry will bring them together quickly. No matter where you put the fresh out of the dryer laundry Bruce will find it and make himself comfy.

I took this picture of Charles today. He is so handsome, too bad he is completely crazy.

I wasn't thrilled with the outcome of my New Year's Eve mani but we were heading out the door for errands so I couldn't redo the whole thing. I was in no mood to try again when we got back so it stayed. It looked nicer in my head.

I started with a base of Orly Black Pixel from their 2013 MegaPixel FX Collection. I picked this bad boy up just a few days ago in Sally's clearance on clearance sale. I thought it would be perfect for New Year's Eve and it was. It is textured but I planned on using top coat over it so I didn't pay much attention to the texture aspect of it.

I used Bundle Monster plate BM-H14 for the stamping. I used Essie No Place Like Chrome to stamp the designs. I used the clock, the fireworks and the confetti designs.

I am still having some trouble with my xl squishy rectangle stamper. I primed it as recommended on one of the stamping groups but I am still having some issues. 

I used Color Club Harp on It and stamped over the silver to give it some subtle sparkles. You can barely see the holo though. I was sad that it didn't show through more.

For some reason this mani was completely trashed very quickly. I had lots of chips and tip wear and I have no idea why. I guess running errands was tougher than I thought.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year!!!!

That's all for now :)

Monday Blues: High on Hope

Hey Everyone!!! Ok, I am back. We had a long week last week and I didn't get to use the computer at all to edit pictures and post. T finished his project though there was drama with it at the end. At least it is done and things are calmer on the school front. We went out of town for my cousin's baby shower for the weekend so that was crazy. A dear family friend passed away this past weekend so we have that going on too now. It is a bit crazy and things haven't exactly gone as planned. I do have today's Monday Blues post though. I also have a super exciting three day posting of Oopsie Daisies Sanderson Sisters Halloween Trio. I was going to start that today but things just didn't work out. My ear and throat also are hurting right now so I am hoping I am not getting sick. We will see. This post is going to have a ton of pictures.

 

Today's Monday Blues polish is Orly High Hopes from the 2013 Spring Hope and Freedom collection.

This is three coats of High Hopes. 

I would describe High Hopes as a perfect denim blue with pink/purple shimmer. 

This baby looks awesome. 

I thought I was having problems getting the shimmer on camera but when I looked at my pictures on the computer it showed up quite well.

I love this polish! The shimmer is so pretty and I love the shade of blue.

That's all for now :)

Swamp Thing

Hey Everyone!! I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I am slightly cranky. Then again, it could be due to stupidity of others that greatly annoys me. Either way I am just ready to go home and ignore the world. Sadly it is not time for that yet. I ordered a couple of Zoya polishes from their BOGO event using my gift card. I saw pictures of Dhara and could not resist. Now I am just hoping their system takes the gift card and doesn't reject it for some reason. We will see I guess. OK. I better get going since I have to go do warehouse orders. 

I started this mani with Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Swamp Thing as a base. Their site describes it as a Drab Olive Green. I love it! It is a great swampy green color.

I attempted to stamp with Orly Glitz and Glamour but that didn't end up going so well. Glitz and Glamour was from the 2010 Tis the Season Holiday collection.

I used the paisley pattern on Bundle Monster plate BM-315. 

First up are some pictures of Swamp Thing before I attempted to stamp it. 

I used three coats. I love this color.

The formula was nice on this polish and I had no problems. I got this one back when the brand was changing bottles and having a sale. It is my first Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics polish and I am quite pleased.

I can see this polish working well to make a camo mani.

Here is where things went wrong. Glitz and Glamour is not a good stamping polish. It actually didn't look too bad because the sparkle and gold went well with Swamp Thing BUT unless you closely analyzed the nails you couldn't actually see the pattern.

Of course the macro shots are going to make me look like a liar in some of these pictures. In person trust me when I say most of the time you couldn't distinguish what was stamped on the nail.

I did really enjoy the sparkle the gold brought to this mani though so I kept it on and didn't redo the mani.

I am going to have to try another mani with Swamp Thing and some gold stamping. I think it would look great together.

My hands look really weird in these pictures. 

I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow! It has been a long week :) I hope everyone has a great weekend.

That's all for now :)

Does your Sexy Sundress do the Monster Mash?

Hey Everyone!! Thank goodness I have decent one handed typing skills because Captain Neil has decided he WILL sit with me at the computer. I only have one hand free so this could take awhile. 

Today I have a great green mani for you. I loved this one and kept it on for a couple days. 

Orly Monster Mash and Finger Paints Sexy Sundress. Monster Mash is a Flash Glam FX line and was from Orly's 2012 Halloween Spellbound collection. Sexy Sundress is from Finger Paints 2012 Summer in the City Summer collection.

I used Sexy Sundress as a base and then dabbed Monster Mash along the tips and up the side of each nail. It made for a funky french manicure type look with a kick.

I was very anti the Orly Flash Glam FX polishes and truth be told I only bought this because it was clearance on clearance time at Sally Beauty. Every single Flash Glam FX polish I have ever seen in store has been separated and cloudy with a lot, if not 90%, of the glitter sunken to the bottle. That pretty much turned me off the these polishes. This particular color does have the separating issue but the glitters didn't all sink.

I will say though that Monster Mash had always caught my eye because of the color and the little bar glitter. I actually was amazed by the sparkle that this polish shows off when it hits the light. It is really pretty and I am so glad I got it. Especially at the price I paid lol

Sexy Sundress is an awesome bright green. I was just in Sally the other day, big surprise, and was able to compare it to China Glaze Def Defying. I had wanted Def Defying from the 2012 Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection but after putting it next to Sexy Sundress I found that I don't need it. They are pretty much dupes.  

I had to get some pictures in the sun so you could see the sparkle but it really didn't translate on camera. Trust me when I say this polish is worth it! So sparkly, so pretty.

I love these colors together and this was one of my favorite manis I had done recently. 

We happened to go to brunch with my dad's cousin and her husband. He is a dermatologist and was so very funny. He said to me in the middle of brunch that he has a very thick book at home filled with pictures on all the different nail fungus that are out there. When he goes home he can see if my nail fungus is in there if I wanted. I laughed so hard! THEN when we were in the parking lot talking he pointed out a car that was in the parking space near us that was almost the same color as Sexy Sundress. It was a very fun brunch!

I think I ended up wearing this mani all weekend which is shocking. 

Unfortunately when I took it off I found that it stained my gelish mani. I didn't use basecoat under this mani since I never put a basecoat on over gel manis. I am going to start though because this was CRAZY! 

I actually would have not even cared because it looked pretty even though it was stained but you can see the big chip on my index finger where the gel mani was lifting. It was actually my nail that peeled and took gel with it. This gel mani lasted 11 days which is pretty good for me. I am going to assume that Sexy Sundress is going to be a staining little beast so be careful if you wear it. Hmm now I wonder if Def Defying stains as well. If it is still there during clearance on clearance it might find itself coming home with me. In the name of science I must compare them and see if Def Defying stains! I have no willpower.

In a random note of the day I tried to organize my overflow this weekend. I have a rubbermaid tower with three drawers where the overflow lives. I think it is safe to say I need another helmer! 

AND because the day was so pretty Sunday I took a picture of the sky for you.

That's all for now :)