Limit Your Candy Shop

Happy Friday everybody! Hope you all have great weather and weekend plans ahead. I will be doing anything other than the packing I should be because that's how I roll.

Today's mani was a total unplanned accident but I'm liking it, mistakes and all. I started out with two nice coats of Revlon Bare Bones because I was planning to try newspaper nails for the first time. Then an attack of lazy hit and I didn't feel like hunting for my rubbing alcohol in my office upstairs. Yes, I keep rubbing alcohol in my office don't judge me. (If you're really that curious, I use it to clean gemstones after I set them.) So I started thinking of what I could do with a neutral color already in place. Sparkles of course! Pardon the super dry skin, I'm having hydration issues apparently.

Polishes used:

• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Revlon Bare Bones
• Claire's Cosmetics Candy Shop

After fighting with the scotch tape for this, I am seriously jonesing for some honest to goodness striping tape. This was the first time I tried triangles of any sort with tape and they were kinda tricky to line up. Looking at it now I probably would stick a rhinestone in the middle to hide that part but eh, lesson learned for next time. I do really like how it turned out overall though, it's a nice bit of sparkle without the overwhelming glitterbomb that Candy Shop can sometimes be. One thin coat over the thumb surprised me too since I haven't used this as a layering polish yet, I'm liking it. It gave me quite a few ideas of polishes I'd like to try it over now. 

I have a list of brands I'm planning to look for on vacation. My husband thinks it's sad but whatevs, I know you guys understand :P

Mint Apple Summer Foliage

Hey everyone! I apologize in advance for the following photos. It was gross and rainy and for some reason this mani was a total pain in the butt to photograph. I'm sure you'll get the general idea, it's just not my best. I need camera lessons or something.

I was feeling an urge to use my Sinful Colors Mint Apple with some stamping today. I knew I wanted to experiment with colors I normally wouldn't think to put together, so after some digging around in my polish boxes I came up with teal, yellow and copper. I actually really loved the way the bottles looked together, color on the nail looked totally different. Take a look!

The rarely seen right hand. I apparently do not understand how mirror images work but I like how the stamp placement changed the design so I wanted to show you all.

Polishes used:

• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Sinful Colors Mint Apple
• Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow
• China Glaze Harvest Moon
• Red Angel stamping plate RA-119

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Harvest Moon for stamping. It is such a gorgeous super pigmented foil, I wish it was sunny so you could see the massive sparkle it throws as well. I'm not digging how these pics gave me lobster hands, in person it actually made my hands look not ghostly. The yellow I sponged onto the corners before stamping. It took on this greenish hue over the Mint Apple which I didn't intend but I like it. I considered going over it a second time to get the bright bottle yellow but I decided to leave it alone, it looked more like foliage. It's almost like celery leaves. Overall it has a different feel on the nails than it did looking at the bottles but I still like it. I also really like the general design idea and I will be trying it with different colors for sure. Have you guys ever picked out colors that translated totally different on your nails?

On The Road With A Master Plan

It's a Monday. Hate it, want sleep, lasagna, blah blah blah, Garfield. You know the drill.

For today I have some more fun with crackle polish for you all in the form of some nail art. At the end of this month I'll be heading home to NY for vacation and I am beyond excited. The only crappy part is the 6 hours in the car with dogs panting in my ear, bleh. Well, one dog panting in my ear, the other doesn't understand she is small and will be barking at every tractor trailer we pass. So to pump myself up to start getting ready for the trip, I did some road trip nail art!

Before the crackle and clean up. I am a very messy painter.

Polishes used:

• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Essie Master Plan
• Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow
• Maybelline Color Show Shredded Carbon Frost
• Kiss Nail Art striper in white

I have to say this came out even better than I had hoped. It was a nice quick mani that looks like it took a lot longer than it did, I love those! I'm also pretty happy with finding another fun use for my new crackle love. These may not make the day of dog breath any better but they certainly make me want to actually pack before the morning we leave for once. I am the worst packer ever, seriously. Also don't ever ask me to help you move because I will throw things into garbage bags and call it packed. No one ever taught me about suitcases, okay?! All in all, these motivate me to get my butt in gear and do things I need to do but don't want to. What motivates you guys to get stuff done?

Neon Crackle Madness

Happy Friday everybody! I am feeling better today and I bring you many pictures, both of the nail and canine variety. Let's get started, shall we?

Today's mani was a result of my refusal to give up on crackle polishes. Some of you may recall that a certain gold crackle polish made my first crackle encounter not so spectacular. But I knew deep down in my little polish-filled heart that it couldn't be the end. There had to be more! I'd seen pics of people with crackles that worked so I knew it was possible. Was I too stupid to use one? Entirely possible but not likely. So in the spirit of denial I blamed the polish and went out and bought another. The end result? Success! I knew it!

Polishes used:

• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• China Glaze Celtic Sun
• Wet n' Wild Sunny Side Up
• Maybelline Color Show Shredded Carbon Frost

I know the neon gradient isn't anything new but I just wanted something bright to show off the black crackle. So far I have two of these Maybelline Color Show polishes and I love them. This one, Carbon Frost, was so easy to work with. With my Sally Hansen crackle I had to fuss over just the right thickness and just the right brush stroke and even then I felt like it was a 50/50 shot at it working. With this one it didn't matter. As you can see on my ring finger I did a thinner coat for smaller cracks just to test and it still cracked well enough to see the gradient underneath. I'm not sure if it's a difference between brands or the fact that this is a solid creme where the Sally Hansen was a shimmery kind of foil thing, but I love this crackle. If I had encountered this one before the other I would certainly own a lot more of these types. I think I've learned my sparkly lesson, cremes for me when it comes to crackles. Do you guys have any crackle preferences?

I didn't forget I promised you all puppies, but in the interest of saving space I made a jump cut.

Follow this jump for puppies!

Swatch Day - Pure Ice Pink Ice

Hey all! Today I was planning on a crackle experiment but I still feel gross and therefore lazy and so you get a swatch day instead. I promise I will bring you crackle fun on Friday. And puppies.

This is Pure Ice brand Pink Ice. It's a super shimmery sheer baby pink that I normally wouldn't have picked up. The only reason I did was because I was looking for something light and dare I say girly for a change. Wanna see? Yeah ya do.

Bonus since I feel bad for the unexpected swatch day, my cat giving me the disapproving glare. He gives me that mental facepalm look a lot, I'm pretty sure he's embarrassed of me.

As you can see Pink Ice is pretty sheer, the above pics are four coats with base and top coat. (I just typed "four cats", my subconscious is turning me into a crazy cat lady!) I probably could have stopped at three coats but I got curious. There was still a tiny bit of visible nail line but it wasn't noticeable in person after the third coat. The formula was good with no streaking or pulling and a good consistency for such a sheer polish. This sucker is packed with so much shimmer you don't even know, I had glitter particles all around my fingers that would just NOT go away. Even after clean up you can still see them in the pics. If you are careful while painting I'm sure you wouldn't have this problem, I however am a very messy painter and on top of that I had hiccups halfway through my camera hand. My husband thought it was hysterical to watch me try to paint my nails with hiccups. I thought it was hysterical to leave the sugar out of his coffee the next morning. Yeah that's right, payback is a passive aggressive bitch in the form of a sluggish morning. Anyway, at just under $2 a bottle at Walmart I can't help myself when it comes to the Pure Ice polishes and I'm not often disappointed. These people know their small glitter and shimmer. So if you like soft pinks and lots of sparkle for a good price, this polish is for you!

I just realized I don't own a single creme by Pure Ice so I can't say anything about those. How about you guys, any Pure Ice cremes you just love?

Summer Stripe Kitty

Hey all! After seeing this amazing guest post on Sekhmet's Purple Castle by the super talented Carol from Colores de Carol, I knew I could put off Hello Kitty nails no longer. Acquiring an adorable light shimmery pink really didn't hurt either. I know this french tip kitty has been done but I wanted to try it, I have yet to get my hands on the stamping image with Hello Kitty so I had no choice really. I smudged the crap out of it with top coat even though I waited what felt like forever but I still loved how it came out. Take a look!

Polishes used:

• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Pure Ice Pink Ice
• Sinful Colors Hazard
• Maybelline Color Show Go Go Green
• Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby
• Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow
• Kiss Nail Art stripers in white, black, silver glitter

I started off with 3 generous coats of Pure Ice Pink Ice and it was so cute and shimmery that it just screamed for a Hello Kitty of some sort. I also had an urge to make stripes so I picked some summery shades to go with it and striped away. Go Go Green is probably my current favorite green that I own, it is such a gorgeous  bright kelly green (and being a Kelly how could I possibly not love it?). I should really swatch it on it's own for you all because it's just an all around great polish as is Pink Ice. 

I apologize for the super late post today, I've been feeling like crap. As such I will now return to my nest of blankets on the couch for the rest of the evening with my bottle of water. Hope you all had a better Monday, thanks for reading!

What Not To Wear - Nail Edition

Today is a day of fail. Unless you really love neon colors swirling together until they make you want to puke. In that case you'll love this mess.

I was wondering what to do for today and decided an experiment with neons would be summer appropriate. Started out with a white base so I don't use a million coats of neon color? Check. Feeling like I know what I'm doing. Admire said neon and think "this is so freakin bright... it needs stamping!"? Check. Have the stupid idea to stamp over one neon with two more neons? Check. This is where the slow-motion scene of horrible impending disaster starts. It's already happening and it can't be stopped! Abandon all hope, ye who read on.

Lobster hands, thanks a lot artificial light.

Polishes used:

• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Essie Blanc
• China Glaze Celtic Sun
• Sinful Colors Hazard
• Sinful Colors Dream On
• Red Angel stamping plate RA-106

So imagine these pictures only like ten times brighter, in person it is bordering on obnoxious. It's like Toucan Sam took some acid and puked Fruit Loops on my fingers. Also good luck getting that mental image out of your head today. I would like to formally apologize for any bouts of vertigo or horrible 80's flashbacks my nails may have caused you. I will be removing these as soon as the combination of colors and acetone fumes stop making the room spin >.<