Bling Bling Aquamarine

 

This is my favorite aqua contribution to my nail fanatic group. In honor of the gemstone I used Sally Hensens Xtreme Wear The Real Teal with Massini Studio M Special Effects. It is just pure glitz.This next one is Studio M Whose that girl and then the covered it with Studio M Magic Attraction. I loved this theme for some reason blues and teals are really becoming my favorites.

Long break full of faliure

Sooooo I was off playing and ignoring my nails. I also relapsed (sad face) but I am back on track. Did I ever tell you that I used nail polish as a way to quit smoking. So this whole time I have been under my porch with chipped unpolished nails smoking like a hobo. Anyhoo while I was binging I tried to sponge my nails which turned out just awful. I also tried a wet and wild color called poppy it was the prettiest color but the worst application ever! Then to top it all off I broke several nails. I am starting over today.

Light it up for a BUCK!

 WOW! I have to give this cheapy polish its dues.  

This is Wet and Wild-Sparkling Enchantment it was .99 cents at CVS. I only applied 3 coats (very messily) with no base color or base coat just to check it out. I am shocked at the glitter coverage, it is pure bling! I never liked glitters in the past but I have learned to love them after seeing on other blogs and LHCF how beautiful they can be. I have to use a really thick top coat so I feel secure in the knowledge I won't have some stray piece on my face somewhere. For this I tried another affordable polish Sally Hensen's Mega Shine Extended Wear Top Coat it was 6.99 also at CVS. Those stupid reward bucks always hook me in, I have a love hate relationship with CVS. It's next door to my house and while it's no Meijer ( I ♥ Meijer)...*cough*... it ..IS ...NEXT ...DOOR ..to my house. 

So this mega shine stuff boasts "no more smudges dries in 60 seconds" and truthfully so far so good. Poshe is really only about a dollar more and it may look like a smaller bottle but it weights in at .5 fl oz while Mega shine come in at .43 fl oz. but as most of you know I am mad at Poshe, Poshe is DEAD to me.

Purple for Women's History Month

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it"

~Alice Walker

This is Massini Studio M- Sweet Dreams, I love this color. I forgot how much I like purple till I swatched these two new polishes. So I figured in honor of Women's History Month I'd share some of my favorite quotes that have the word purple and were written by women. Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple and won a Pulitzer Prize. Jenny Joesph wrote the poem Warning, I will post below, that inspired the Red Hat Club to form. I love her message, it makes me look forward to my good old days as a crone.

This next polish is Massini Studio M- Frenzy it is awesome and I think its my new favorite but I'm trying to make sure all my polish feels equally loved. I applied Massini Studio M-Magic Attraction over it on the ring finger. Can you believe that is only one coat?! I love Studio M glitters!

WARNING
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens . . .

~Jenny Joesph

Random fact: 

My favorite flowers are lilacs (also purple) and they were once thought to ward off evil. 

They were planted to protect fields and people  from misfortune.

March Haul!!! :)

This is my haul this month, I wasn't supposed to get colored polish. I am low on top coats and base coats and I told myself over and over again on my way to the store what to buy, but did I listen?! Nooooo! I took the top coat out of my cart just so I could afford another polish. At least I stuck to the budget even if I didn't get what was on my list. Some of the colors were on sale, so thats how I'm rationalizing this. I also needed something spring, and plus I haven't posted enough this week so these will give me something new to swatch. Ok that's good enough, I've convinced myself I did the right thing. :)

Top row 
Studio M*-Thunderbolt, Studio M-Sweet Dreams, SH Insta-Dry-Mint Sprint, Studio M- Sexy Siren, Studio M- Tru Passion

Bottom row 
Studio M-French Tip (so excited to see if this works with my Konad), Studio M- Frenzy, SH Insta-Dry-Sonic Boom, Studio M- Neon Greenlight, Studio M-Whose that girl, Studio M-Honey Love, Studio M- Gold glitter


I normally like a big brush but not with the Sally Hensen Insta-Dry its just TOO BIG!


*Studio M is Massini from Mejier its their newer label but the same company and product quality.

Celebrating the Sun!!!

I've been outside in my garden, and my nails are covered in dirt. So here is a blast from the past, Orly Enchanted Forest.  In Honor of St. Paddy's Day I unearthed this from my old photos. Orly has such a great application and I love Orly Bonder. On a side note this Sally Hensen Xtreme Wear holds up great I didn't use top or bottom coat and I didn't wear gloves to work in the soil and it still hasn't chipped. I did cover it with Duri yesterday but for such a cheap polish it really holds up! :)

Go Buckeyes! O-H......I-O!

Did this mani during the game on Sunday, while the Buckeyes killed Minnesota. I looked up the exact colors, Pantone 429 and Pantone 200 and matched them to polish. I giggled the whole time, I love how hardcore we are around here. It's a trip, people will correct you and say "It's THE Ohio State University don't forget the, THE." And you gotta love the Brutus The Buckeye FULL SIZE statues (yep, over 30 of 'em, bigger than people!) scattered through out the city, dressed as a variety of things, my favorite is Super Brutus but The Tin Man is cute too! There are so many more, at Brutus On Parade, and it raises money for one of THE OSU Libraries. I didn't realize the quirky things I had missed about the mid-west, until I moved back home.

 

I used my new Konad plate, AGAIN. I'm like a dog with a new bone and my other plates are jealous.
Sally Hensen Xtreme Wear- Cement Gray and Massini- Special Effects with plate M63.

I also ordered some Fauxnad plates off Ebay it the wee hours of the morning, so let the count down begin. I forget which country they are coming from but it will be at least seven business days. Plenty of time to tell you all about them, but so far they sent me a personal response to my email and that is a good sign. :)

Whoopie!!!! There are CRAZY giveaways going on! Part 2

There were some many giveaways I had to split things up so this is part 2. I really should put one of those pages on the side that sticks there for giveaways. Hmmm I wonder how that works, I will research. Anyhoo, the first is a Mega giveaway hosted by Lyra at Nail Junkie. Look at this haul! It will be like Christmas for anyone who wins this. I love her blog she always makes me want a Konad plate I thought I didn't need.

Next is a giveaway from AllYouDesire. She is a great blogger celebrating her 500 well deserved followers. I love that sometimes she uses jewelry to inspire her designs and shows a picture of both. She is uber creative and sees inspiration everywhere. Here is my favorite mani of hers

And drum roll please....The last giveaway is from A Dash Of Sparkle she has a great blog filled with personal experiences and polish. She also host a lot of great giveaways, this being the most recent. I love OPI, I think I am one of the few rare people that love the big brush, so I really hope I win.

Whoopie!!!! There are CRAZY giveaways going on! Part 1

I just found this giveaway and HURRY it ends tonight! This is from the blog Romika's Nails she is celebrating 100 followers! She started her blog because of her daughter Michèle over at lacquerized and they are two amazingly creative Dutch ladies with perfectly shaped nails! My mother's best friend was Dutch, a great lady who also had perfect nails. I loved the way she said vitamins when I was little and she had the best laugh. These Heromè products are intriguing, Good luck everyone! but I secretly hope I win LOL :) Romika uses lot of gems and neat nail art with unbelievable precision and Michèle has swatched every color I want and don't have. I just drool when I look at her page, plus she's a technology Queen, I bow to her. Her blog is a internet fantasy, her pictures are so sharp and her blog is so seamless....wow....she is my blog hero right now.

This next give away is from a blog I have read for awhile, The Manicured Manatee. She is who turned me onto China Glaze Matte Magic and made me want to like glitter. I have now bought a few, I have yet to wear them but because of her blog I might! I just have a phobia of it sticking to me, you know like stripper dust on your nose. You should really check out her blog, she's a LAUGH RIOT and has some killer swatches!

I found a few more I will post in a bit but enjoy these 2 for now. Hurry they both end soon! Happy winning!

Happy Early Saint Patrick's Day!!!!

And lame shamrock nail art to all!
It was my first time trying to do anything other than a heart or line free hand.

Here is a little know fact about me. I went to Catholic School for lower and middle school. These were our school colors gold and green, we were also the fighting Irish! So when I think Irish, I think peter pan collars, plaid jumpers, and chocolate milk with fish on Fridays. I really should have done plaid but this is my new plate M63 and I just had to use it! This Orly-Solid Gold and Massini-Fall promo aka Muddy Swamp. Massini you FAIL on naming polish there are like 6 fall promo shades all named exactly the same thing as much as I LOVE you, its annoying I had to name it myself. Its a weird green but I found out the other day it just looks green check out what it does when you mix it with white.

I will so have to franken with this, I wish I had bought more than one bottle.  For the moment I only want 2 more I saw on Ebay for $6.99 each with free shipping M77 and M64. I told myself to hold off on buying them till Monday because they won't ship on a Sunday. I am secretly hoping I forget, I did just get a plate in the mail 14 hours ago LOL. There is no way this is staying on till the real Saint Paddy's day. Its just okay, as I've mentioned I'm a member of Nail fanatics over at LHCF and today starts Green and March Madness college basketball week, so I have to try to somehow rock the Buckeyes!

Amusing Disaster

So I went to paint my nails I was using the Klean Colors-Neon Yellow. While I was waiting forever for it to dry I turned on that new show Who Do You Think You Are, the Emmitt Smith episode.... Mistake.... I cried like a little baby, I mean I sobbed and started wiping my face. Yep, forgot my nail polish was wet and now I look like one of those football fans with face paint on my cheeks. I hate having to use acetone on my face but what else can I do? The show was so compelling I didn't even notice till it was over. I looked at my nails and wondered where all my polish went. I think my face must have frozen with a look of horror as I realized what must've happen. I even have polish on my eyelashes! I will start over later and take pictures, right now I have a moisture mask on my face to help contradict the use of acetone.

I love my face mask recipe, so here it is, I measure nothing so this is approximate.
Yogurt (better is better but use what you've got. I'll even use stuff that has expired)
Honey
Neem (Indian herb about a ts maybe a little more)
Turmeric (small pinch)
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil (about a ts)


BTW: I now love Emmitt Smith, his eyes twinkle!!!! I always love people whose eyes twinkle and he seemed so kind. I want one just like him! ;)

Insomniac seeing Plaid

I have never been able to sleep well. I get cat naps or I go till I crash, its always been this way. When my father was alive and I was little, he would catch me reading books by the light of my alarm clock. He would let me get up and read next to him, while he made overseas calls. If I was still up when he was ready for bed he would walk me back and forth to the mailbox (we had a long driveway) and we'd talk till I got sleepy. He never got angry about it, we'd just let my mom sleep and as long as I was ready for school in the morning he was quiet about it. He was the same way, it has to be genetic so I think he just understood. Truthfully, I think he understood me better than anyone ever has.
Anyhoo on to the good stuff. This is my new Klean Colors-Dark Brown with Konad M60 on the ring finger. I stamped it once with Wet and Wild-Dreamy Poppy (the .95 kind) and the stamped again with the same image in Sally Hensen's Xtreme Wear-Mellow Yellow. My first impression of Klean is the application is great but thick and slow drying. Next time I will try to put it on more thinly, a challenge for me. This Plaid image is so difficult it takes crazy practice. The lines have to go on the stamper straight and on your nail and then you must have a smooth application which I'm missing. All that aside I love it! I want to do it on each nail but I really think it's best for me to let it be. I had to go through all my stamping pink polishes to get to this one the brown kept changing the pink funny colors. I have to get more of this Sally's line with stamping it never fails.

Small haul

I found Klean colors in Ohio!!!
Normally I dislike Rose Beauty Supply, even though it has the best name ever. The employee's, in the past, have been rude and the store is overpriced but today was different. I don't even know what made me stop, I was on my way to Meijer (my favorite store and the best store ever!) they carry Massini, I was fiending and wanted a polish fix. Seriously, it was like autopilot, I left the post office and suddenly I was on 70 east bound just boppin away to the radio like it was my plan all along. I wasn't even going to the closest location but this path lead me right by the BSS. Grumbling under my breath when I got there, telling myself to give the place 5 minutes and if I saw nothing, leave. Then while recovering from the shock of a friendly I saw the display.... Klean Nail Polish in person! I have never tried it before, never even seen it in RL but I have been dreaming of this yellow ever since I saw it swatched.  It was a sparse collection but there were the basic colors, pinks, reds, 1 yellow, 1 orange, some browns and a few glitters priced at $1.99. I purchased the Dark Brown with the Yellow Neon and a Huge bottle of acetone ($5.00). I plan on swatching the Dark brown first since it's still chocolate week over at LHCF. They also had NYX eyeliner and the lady said she'd look into getting eyeshadow, this place MUST have changed hands.

That random little wooden bottle is Tea Tree Oil, found at Meijer on clearance at 90% off now $1.49.
I <3 that store, if it were a cute guy I'd marry it! ;)

The best giveaway I have ever seen!!

8 count em, 8 konad plates! :)

Painted Lady fingers is giving this set away the contest ends March 19th so go over to her blog and sign up. So far my favorite plate is M77 it not my style really, but for some reason those feathers just give me ideas. 

I hope I win! I hope I win! I hope I win! I hope I win! I hope I win! I hope I win! I hope I win!

Morning manicure

I woke up and was just not feeling the orange, I'm glad you get 50 applications in a bottle because I used this stuff like lotion. This blue is so vampy I love it and it dries super fast. That's the main reason I used it, the speed, this is only 1 very thick coat. I apologize because its another Massini- Ballroom Blue and I know that's not available to everyone but the flowers are Sally Hensen's Xtreme Wear- The Real Teal with konad plate m57. I might put flowers over every nail but not right now. I have to go the the post office to mail some things to some great ladies over at longhaircareforums.com . I have a idea tropical konad idea brewing that I might try later I'll keep ya posted.

This close up picture kinda freaks me out but I did it so the flowers would show.

100 days till Summer!

Oh how I miss the sun. The warmth. The flowers.......
So I painted my nails my brightest color this is Orange Sunset by Massini. It's Day Glow Orange in person but on camera it turns a Coral color and I have no idea why. Now this baby is a neon, a new camera is on my wish list. I want to do a design over it but I am just looking at my polishes thinking what color could possibly go with this? What do you think? All I can come up with is with is white but that just seems to boring for a color this bright. I guess I'll sleep on it and maybe my new plate will arrive with the mail.
So excited for the M63 konad plate I ordered but its on back order (curse you back order! *fist-shake*).
I love hounds-tooth and the full plate images are just way too much fun. :)
Perhaps I should just let this color be, when ever I have a new toy I go a little overboard. Right now I want to put konad designs on everything and then cover it with my new bottle of China Glaze matte magic

I am going to try to retake this photo when the sun comes out maybe it will look orange in natural light.

Massini's Spring Line!!!!!!

I love Massini in a very deep and spiritual way. 

This is the new line it only has one glitter :( but it is lovely its just simple called "pink glitter". Its a pink with iridescent glitter check it out, 4th from the right. I will try to swatch it soon, I love pinks. This new line is a little bit of a let down because everyone seems to be doing the same thing and you can usually count on Massini for something different. They did just add some new colors to the standard line mostly teals and holo's so that makes up for my disappointment. Plus Massini brings out a new line every 45-60 days so something great is just around the corner. I do want the last two, the gray and green but everything else I think I already own in Orly.

Hurry up spring!

This is my NOTD from yesterday and I loved it but then I used my Poshe quick dry and it turned the flowers YELLOW. All the time it took for me to find a cheapy white to replace my konad white and now this. Poshe you FAIL! I have to find another quick dry I like, because Poshe has failed me before. Anyway enough rambling, this is China Glaze flyin high with Sally Hensen 1 natural white as the konad polish. I used the flowers from plate M57.

This is the best white I have found so far it comes in a kit for French manicures. Each kit is called Sheerly "something" this one came out of the Sheerly Mauve set. You have to paint the whole image with excess paint for it to stamp well, but its soooo cheap I've even seen it at the dollar store.

My first post

Today has been a stellar day!!

All the things started by my hands are turning out well. The seeds I started inside have finally sprouted and I got a compliment on my NOTD at the bank, I should be a konad sales person.

I have decided to start blogging my manicures. I am a polish addict and most recently I have been obsessed with konad.... Obsessed!!!

These are my nails from today. Plate m60 I used Massini*-Catwalk as the konad polish and its done over China Glaze-Spontaneous.

*(massini is the house brand for Meijer a mid-west grocery chain)