Sloppy Giraffe (Bet You Never Thought Of Those Words Together Before)

Happy Friday all! I want to be a sparkly giraffe when I grow up, so I can be tall... and sparkly.

Today I bring you the rare and elusive poorly stamped sparkly giraffe, careful it's shy. I had all these grand plans for today's mani but then a total lack of motivation hit as the week caught up to me and well... you'll see for yourselves.

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow
• Orly Prince Charming
• Pure Ice Don't You Wish
• Red Angel stamping plate RA-107

Now don't get me wrong, it's not awful. I actually grew rather fond of it. I was expecting I guess a different result from Prince Charming but oh well, I think the faded parts give it some more credibility as giraffe spots. Like giraffe street cred. Pardon my weird looking fingers, I overdid it on the cuticle cream. Better than not using any though, right? 

Starting tomorrow my packing efforts kick into high gear so posting may or may not be sporadic until the move is complete. Only a week and a half left aaahhhhhh so excited! Now then, while I go contemplate what exactly a giraffe needs with street cred, I leave you with some pictures of very unhappy Mr. Chewie with his e-collar.

I will end you for this, human.

Maybe after this nap though.

Purple Night Sky

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today is a super short post because I am busy watching over Mr. Chewie the kitty who got neutered today. He did just fine but is still pretty drugged up, it will be an interesting night when he notices what is missing.

As fascinating as missing cat balls are, I'm sure you're here to see some nail polish. So I bring you a lovely holo glitter on top of some super short nails because I am apparently not coordinated enough to flip a light switch without jamming my whole hand at it. Enjoy!

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Sinful Colors Amethyst
• Claire's Cosmetics Night Sky

This holo glitter is pretty stunning in person and I did a crap job at catching how much it really flashes. It's also surprisingly packed, to the point that you can get full opacity in 2-3 coats (I tried, it was amazeballs... ha, balls... sorry too many neutering jokes for one day). I apologize for the tip wear, I have trouble wrapping my ends with nails this short. 

To make up for the short/lame post I give you a pre-neuter sleepy cat amongst the packing supplies who has no idea what is about to happen. Thanks for stopping by!

Juicy Summer Colors

Happy Monday everybody! Now that the challenge is over it's back to normal posting schedule for me. I had a ton of fun with the challenge but I'm happy that I don't always post every day haha.

For today's mani I had to play with two of my newest colors. The first is a gorgeous orange from Claire's Starstruck Collection and the other is an L.A. Colors dollar store glitter find. I thought I was being all original with these two together but then not even an hour later I found pretty much the same thing on All Polished Off's facebook. Great minds, I tells ya. Do pardon the tip wear on these, I forgot to take pics until after I did a bunch of cleaning stuff and took a shower.

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Wet n Wild Sunny Side Up
• Claire's Cosmetics Little Dipper
• L.A. Colors Glistening Purple

I started with one thin coat of Sunny Side Up, a neon orange creme, but that was just to conserve polish since Little Dipper builds up quite nicely on it's own. After that, two thin coats of Little Dipper and one of Glistening Purple. I really loved the two of these together, it was so summery and juicy looking! I still have this combo on my toes actually. Little Dipper has a gorgeous golden flecked shimmer on it's own which I adore. I was afraid Glistening Purple was gonna be overwhelming but I found it was a nice amount of glitter per brush stroke. I'm pretty happy I found it at the dollar store (along with my new My Little Pony 2013 calendar, Rarity was my birthday month IT WAS MEANT TO BE!). Overall I loved this look and I'm glad I have both of these polishes in my collection.

Sorry for the short post today, I am super wiped out. It's my nap time. See you all on Wednesday!

Gradient Challenge Day Seven - Glitter

I can't believe this week went by so fast! Today is the last day of the Summer Gradient Challenge with Esme from Nail Addict. Huge thanks to Esme for all of her planning skills, I had a ton of fun trying new ways to gradient! Let's take a look at the schedule one last time and see what we've done all week:

And now without further ado, I bring you my last gradient full of glittery goodness! On to the pics!

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Sally Hansen Gem Crush Razzle Dazzler

For this look I wanted nothing to take attention from the glitter, so I went with just a base coat to protect the natural nail and the glitter. Kind of like my nude/metallic gradient from yesterday but for reals nude since it's natural nail showing. Scandalous, I know. I did this gradient with nothing but the polish brush, just brushing on the glitter starting at different points on the nail. It was super simple and quick and I really love the outcome! The Gem Crush polishes really build up nicely so I'm happy that I picked this glitter. I'm glad I tried this method, I think it will be one of my quick and easy go-to looks in the future. Not much else to say about this one, I'm liking it!

Before you go, take a look at Esme's glitter gradient end to our challenge! Hope you all have a great weekend and enjoyed our week of gradients!

Gradient Challenge Day Six - Any Color

Hey everybody, it's almost the last day of the summer gradient challenge I've been doing with Esme of Nail Addict already! Today is a free for all, any color is on the table. Actually a LOT of colors were on my table as I was trying to choose. Let's consult the schedule to see where we've been so far:

I was almost kind of overwhelmed with choices today since anything goes. Then I had a genius idea, I'd go for a nice neutral sort of look. Before I show my pics, I have to explain the awful pinky nail. I used a bottle of top coat I hadn't used in a long time and apparently I didn't clean it off well enough last time cause as soon as I swiped it left a huge red spot of old polish. So it's not bleeding glitter, it was totally me and my laziness cause I didn't feel like re-doing it. On to the pics!

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Revlon Bare Bones
• Nicole by OPI Sea How Far You Go
• Spoiled Shuffle The Deck

For these I went with a nice metallic into nude gradient and added my newest favorite glitter Shuffle The Deck. Aside from that pinky I loooove how these came out. So much gorgeous sparkle at every angle and I am super happy with how Sea How Far You Go compliments Bare Bones. Not much else to say about these, I just love em!

See what colors Esme picked for Any Color Goes day!

Since this was such a short post and I feel bad about being lazy for that pinky nail, I bring you kitty pics! I told you all I'd catch him eventually in the many boxes that have taken over the house.

See the wild Chewie in his natural habitat, stalking his prey of dog from the stealth of a box. 

The hunter has spotted his prey.

But suddenly, his cover is blown! Stupid human opened the top of the box! 

Oh well, a nap is just as good.

Thanks for stopping by, see you all tomorrow for the last day of the challenge with tons of GLITTER!

Gradient Challenge Day Five - Water Marble

Hi everyone! Today is water marble day in the Summer Gradient Challenge that Esme from Nail Addict and I have been doing. I can't believe it's almost over already!

I have been dreading today because I have never done a water marble before. I don't love my results but I don't hate them either. For a first attempt I don't think they're bad. View the following mani at your own risk.

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Essie Blanc
• China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le
• Wet n Wild Megalast I Need A Refresh-Mint
• OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise
• Nicole by OPI Sea How Far You Go

This was an adventure to say the least. I ran into a lot of water marble beginner challenges and it was a pretty steep learning curve. I expected it to be messy and a long process so that was no big deal. I guess I had some water issues because my polish didn't want to play nice and drag smoothly. About half of the time once I was ready to swirl the whole thing would catch and I'd have to start dropping in colors all over again. That got pretty frustrating real quick. Once I got into a groove and moved a bit faster that seemed to happen a little less but it did still happen. Then I was just a doofus and hit my already done nails on the side of the cup >.< No bueno. Eventually I got them all done though and added some dots for an extra bit of color (and to hide where I dinged my nails on the cup). I will say that I was so very very glad that I taped off my fingers first because that mess would have been an absolute nightmare. It did dry me out big time though as I'm sure you can see. Overall, it was fun to play with water but it is definitely a special occasion kind of thing for me. At least until I get more practice anyhow. How did you guys feel about your very first water marble experience?

Go see the water marble that Esme did for today's leg of the challenge!

Gradient Challenge Day Four - Pink Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everybody! It's day four of the Summer Gradient Challenge I've been doing with Esme from Nail Addict. I feel twice as productive since today's challenge color is pink. At least that's what the picture told me to do :P

For today's gradient I wanted to try a new technique. Normally I either paint directly on my sponge or I use the Nailasaurus method. But hey, it's a challenge so why not challenge myself to try something right? So I got out the lonely lonely fan brush and attempted this tutorial from Neverland Nail Blog. I still don't know how I feel about it but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Essie Blanc (base under the colors)
• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure I Pink I Can
• Sinful Colors Dream On
• Red Angel stamping plate RA-107

This was.... an experience. I am in total love with how my middle finger turned out, it is such a smooth gradient and I adore the subtle brush strokes that give it a painterly look. The other fingers, eh. I think there were a few factors to this hit and miss. First, I just need practice :P The fan brush I used was actually for normal acrylic paints and not a nail art brush and it did NOT like having polish on it, I think that was a very big factor. The bristles were way too stiff to begin with and they threw a fit and clumped up with polish. With a brush intended for polish I think this would have gone so much more smoothly. After a few do-overs though I kinda got the hang of it I think. Clean up was a big pain but again I blame the brush for not being flexible enough and I had to press down on like half my finger. After the gradients were done they felt kinda plain so I stamped on some leopard print with Dream On. I kinda like the stamping, it stands out more in person on the dark half of the nail than it does on camera for some reason. Well, it's pink anyways. I'm kinda glad this color is over.

Want to see what a nice pink gradient looks like? Go see what Esme did with pink for today! She is so much better with pinks than I am, I think we should all go visit and put mine out of mind >.<

Gradient Challenge Day Three - Blue

Hey everyone, it's Blue Tuesday in the Summer Gradient Challenge I've been doing with Esme from Nail Addict. Ready for a schedule graphic? I knew it!

Three days in and I am having a ton of fun with gradients! I seriously doubt I will ever be sick of this look, there are just so many ways to use it. When I started to think of blue for today all I could think of was the song Blue Monday and then I was sad it was Tuesday and couldn't make an 80's music joke. So instead of Blue Monday nails I bring you it's hipper, less angsty cousin Blue Tuesday.

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Essie Blanc
• Orly Snowcone
• Sinful Colors Midnight Blue
• Red Angel stamping plate RA-120
• blue rhinestones from a random dollar store set

This mani was a study in patience. As in I have none and therefore made more work than necessary for myself. I didn't wait long enough for the top coat to dry before I stamped (yes even with Seche Vite, I told you I have no patience) and I ended up having to redo two nails on each hand. The results were totally worth it though because I love these. I've never tried to accent stamping with dots or gems really and I am liking the effect. These make me think of ribbon jewelry with blue crystals. The way these little rhinestones catch the light is just so pretty in person, I think these may be my favorite nails of the challenge so far. Do you guys like using rhinestones or do you not like the texture?

Want more gradient goodness? Go see what Esme did for day three!