NOTD: Merry Birthday to me!

Hello!  With all the holiday wossnames going on & the home WiFi that my computer Does Not Talk To, I’ve been a bit remiss with my posting duties.  I’ve been doing my nails & taking pictures of them, it’s just that I’ve had precious little time to blog.  Also, PHEW that I have no readers, since I realized that in my last post, I left in a placeholder that I’d meant to replace with real content.  La la la, you never noticed that, it’s all fixed now.

My birthday is only a few days after Christmas, so I put on a few coats of China Glaze’s “Naughty and Nice” to tide me over until it was time to do a sparkly manicure.

You might have noticed that the pictures in my last post weren’t quite the same quality as the rest of the images I’ve been posting.  As far as I can tell, the culprit is my snazzy new Christmas camera.  It’s cute and green and waterproof (!!!!) but it just doesn’t capture images, especially at close range, as crisply and beautifully as my DSLR. 

 Little camera on the left, fatty camera on the right.  Interesting, isn’t it?  I think, whenever possible, I’m going to try to stick to using the big camera for my blogging.  I like the results so much better.  This is what the little guy looks like:

 And here’s the other side (Plus another shot of Naughty or Nice), with bonus big honkin’ camera in the screen reflection.

 By the time my birthday rolled around, I only had minimal tip wear and it seemed a shame to remove polish that was good and intact, so I did a gradient on my tips with China Glaze’s Mrs. Claus.  I’m really fond of this combination.  Since the two polishes came together in the Merry Mint gift pack, it’s nice that they play well together.

 On my birthday I also received a surprise package that I’d sent myself… a Konad stamper!  I’ve been dying to try out Konad/Fauxnad nail art, so I ordered the Bundle Monster plates, a Konad stamper, and Konad plate M19 (the French tips) from Amazon with some of my Christmas money.  I’m still waiting on the Bundle Monster plates, but the other two are already here & my next manicure uses that M19 plate.  I’ll post a review of everything once I get the rest of the plates… the preliminary results are looking good, though!

 I'm so excited for the rest of the plates to come!

Cast of Characters:

• Sinful Colors Basecoat
• China Glaze Naughty and Nice ($5.99 @ Sally Beauty or $6.50 at Ulta.  This is a fun color... it's a dark, vampy burgundy color.  It applies with a jelly-like consistency, and takes 3 coats to build up to a suitable opacity.  You can see that I had some trouble applying it neatly... the picture at the very top is overexposed in sunlight so you can get a better idea of how it actually applies.  Although this color looks very dark in low-light situations, I don't think it's quite dark enough to appear black.  I like it.)
• China Glaze Mrs. Claus
• Seche Vite topcoat

Method:

• Start with clean, dry nails & a well-ventilated space.
• Put on your basecoat, let dry.
• Paint all your nails with Naughty and Nice.  You'll probably need three coats.  Let dry.  If you want, you can slap on a coat of Seche Vite now and walk around with this color on until the tipwear starts to bug you.  Then...
• With Mrs. Claus, wipe most of the polish off the brush and paint a very thin coat about halfway up the nail.
• Repeat with slightly more polish on the brush and only go a quarter of the way up the nail.
• Dab a bit more on the very tip if it doesn't look like there's enough.
• Top everything with a coat of Seche Vite or your favorite quick-dry topcoat.  Two coats of topcoat would even things out more, but I was in a hurry & only did one.  You should probably wrap your tips though, by tapping the side of the brush along the tip of each nail before putting on the rest of your topcoat.  The glitter from Mrs. Claus has a pesky tendency to hang over the edges of the nail and be sharp, which I don't like very much.

Nails & Fails of the day

A belated Merry Christmas & early Happy New Year!  I had a good Christmas and I got some good presents… mostly kitchen-y stuff, but I also got a new point&shoot camera!  The pictures in this post were taken with that camera… sorry about the sub-par quality.  I’ll still be blogging mostly with my good camera, which is a Canon Rebel XSi.  The little one is just fun because it’s pocket sized & waterproof!

On to the nails…

 Over the holidays I did two designs, both with basically the same colors.  The concept was OK for both… but the execution on one of them left a lot to be desired.

When I was at Ulta a couple weeks ago they were having a buy two/get 1 free sale on China Glaze, which I used as an excuse to pick up a bottle of Ruby Pumps and Matte Magic.  As my “free” polish, I decided to get Midnight Mission from the Vintage Vixen collection, so that’s the central color in both these manicures.

Cast of Characters:

• Sinful Colors Basecoat
• China Glaze “Midnight Mission” ($5.99 @ Ulta.  This color is a gorgeous dark blue with tons of silver microglitter (am I using the term correctly?).  I only needed two coats to get full coverage, and I could almost get away with one.  I love it… it reminds me of a winter night.  I’m going to have to try wearing it a few more times this winter.)
• Jesse’s Girl “North Star” ($2 or $3 I think @ CVS pharmacy… or maybe Rite Aid.  I bought this polish 2 years ago, so I’m a bit fuzzy on the specifics.  It’s a really glittery metallic silver… super dense & tiny silver glitter in a silver base?  A clear base?  I’m not sure.  It’s very pigmented, though.  The only real problem I have with this polish is that it’s in a rectangular bottle with a rectangular lid, and dudes, the lid does not line back up with the bottle when you tighten it.  I know it’s a little gripe, but man does it ever bother my obsessive tendancies.)
• NYC “French White Tip” ($.99 @ just about anywhere nail polish is sold.)
• Sally Hansen Diamond Strength “Diamonds” ($?? This is an old bottle… check out the chipping on the lid & how yellow the polish looks!  It still goes on clear enough, though.  This is a (nominally) clear polish with lots of tiny silver glitter & maybe translucent glitter too?  Point being, sparkly!)
• Seche Vite topcoat
• Dotting tool

Method:

• Start with clean, dry nails & a well-ventilated space.
• Put on your basecoat, let dry.
• Paint all nails with Midnight Mission.  I only needed two thin coats.
• Dab a little bit of North Star on a clean piece of paper.  With the dotting tool, pick up a little polish and make a crescent of dots along the cuticle and outside edge of the nail.  Re-dip the dotting tool as needed, and wipe it off after every two or three dips so that polish doesn’t build up on it too much.
• Top with Seche Vite or the topcoat of your choice.

…Um.  Those are the fails.  I was inspired by Tartofraises’ Noel nails.  Unfortunately, I am not crazy skilled like she is & my nails aren’t nearly as long, so instead I got kind of messy nails.  I’m sure someone more ambidextrous than me could make something like this work… but not me, yet.

NOTD: Christmas bling

While I was out Christmas shopping over the past few days, I stopped into a Sally's and found the China Glaze Merry Mint gift set for $6.99, which seemed like a pretty decent deal, since individual polishes cost about $5.99 usually anyway.  I picked up 2, one for a friend and one to test out and perhaps give away.  I'm still undecided on the other color, Naughty and Nice, but I think I'm keeping this sparkly pink.

I've seen some debate about Mrs. Claus... The main complaint is that it's not Christmas-y enough.  I think it's wonderful, and couldn't be a more fitting color for the name.  I'm sure that Mrs. Claus, with her white curls and fur coat, would rock this color.

Cast of Characters:

• Sinful Colors basecoat
• China Glaze "Mrs. Claus" ($5.99 @ Sally's Beauty or $6.50 @ Ulta.  This color is a pink jelly packed with silver glitter.  The glitter settles at different depths, giving the illusion that it's made up of many different pink shades.  The color is difficult to describe.  In some lights it's sort of a pale red... not really pink, just red with some white added to it.  In other lights, especially under compact fluorescents, it looks neon pink.  Either way, it's sparkly holiday fun... and will be wearable well into spring, too!)
• Seche Vite topcoat
• Scrapbooking rhinestones ($2.99 for two sheets at Michael's a while ago... I can't find them on the website.  They were on a big seasonal endcap at the store when I got them.)

Method:

• Start with clean, dry nails & a well-ventilated space.
• Put on your basecoat, let dry.
• Paint all nails with Mrs. Claus.  I used 3 coats for a more dimensional look, but you could get away with just two.
• Paint all nails with Seche Vite.
• Dab an extra bit of SV where you want to put your rhinestones and place them there.  Press down firmly to secure.
• Top all nails with another coat or two of SV, flooding around the rhinestones rather than painting over them.  Don't worry if you get polish on your skin, you can clean it up later with a little acetone and a paintbrush.  I ended up with 3 coats of Seche Vite total, and my nails still feel ever so slightly textured.  You'll probably want at least two... since this is glittery, it really eats topcoat.

One more picture, to give you a better idea of how far the rhinestones stick out.  Today is day 4 for this manicure, and it's still going strong.  I have a little tip wear on my right index finger and my right thumb, but given all the baking, cleaning, and gift wrapping I've been doing, it's excusable.  I'll probably take this off tomorrow to put on something fresh for Christmas eve & Christmas day.  I added the rhinestones later, as if this polish wasn't sparkly enough already, and so far they've been holding on for an entire day, which I think is pretty neat.
Try adding some bling to your holiday look by putting rhinestones on your tips.  And let me know how it turns out.

NOTD: Moody & green

Today's nails are once again a hair too bright for the winter.  I wanted to do something a little more seasonal, but it's been so grey and rainy that it's hard to put on a dark color.  This is the other one of the Claire's Mood polishes I really like.  The color change is much more dramatic than Calm/Wild, and I even get a gradient/funky french effect on my smidgens of free edge.  However, the yellow color is a kind of funky neon, so I have to layer it with something to get it to look good on my hands.

 Cast of Characters:

• Sinful Colors basecoat
• Claire's Mood Polish in "Happy/Earthy"
• Sinful Colors "Call You Later" ($1.99 @ Walgreens... I love all the Sinful Colors glitters, and for two bucks you really can't beat the price.  This one has medium-smallish green hex glitter, small green round glitter, and very small gold glitter. It's a little thick, but it makes up for that by being very densely packed with glitter.)
• Seche Vite Topcoat

Method:

• Start with clean, dry nails & a well-ventilated space.
• Put on your basecoat, let dry.
• Paint all your nails with Happy/Earthy.  Many many times.  I feel like I owe you a warning here... this is not a two coat polish.  This is barely a three coat polish, and if you usually have visible nail line issues, you might want to add a fourth.  The formula is decent, if a bit thin, and it dries extremely quickly to a neon/matte finish, so it's not like it'll take much longer than 2-3 coats of some other polish, but consider yourself warned.  The other caveat is that the warm color, which is the yellow, is somehow more sheer than the green, so even if the polish looks opaque while your hands are cold, you may find you have surprise VNL when your hands warm up.
• Paint all your nails with Call You Later.  I only used one coat, because I thought more might overpower the base color.
• Top all your nails with Seche Vite and let dry.  I ended up using 2 coats to smooth out the glitter.

And one final picture for the hot/cold comparison.  Index and middle fingers have been dunked in hot water, ring and pinky in cold.
Happy polishing... hopefully I'll have some real nail art for you next time!

NOTD: Playing with Mood Polish

I told you they wouldn't be seasonal!  When these come off, though, I'm going to try to get back in the holiday spirit.  My parents asked me to come hear their Christmas concert tomorrow and then I'm singing a surprise Halleluia Chorus and a Christmas Eve service... so I suppose I'd better get my Christmas spirit going a little stronger.

I think my short break from holiday spirit is excusable, though, just because this polish is so much fun.  It's Claire's Mood Polish in Calm/Wild, and it changes color, pretty much instantly, based on the temperature.  Now, supposedly on normal warm-blooded people, if you have any free edge on your nails it'll stay the "cold" color, while your nail bed turns the "warm" color, making a cute & easy funky french.  Unfortunately, if your apartment has no heat and you are apparently part lizard, like me, your nails will look more like the top picture... sort of a medium magenta color with a slight gradient.  In the picture above, I rinsed my hand with cold water and then dipped my first two fingers in a cup of hot water, so you can see the color change.  It's pretty dramatic.  I wish they had more winter-y colors, though, because seeing your tips change color every time you wash your hands or go outside or pick up a cup of cocoa is pretty fun.

Cast of Characters:

• Sinful Colors basecoat
• Claire's Mood polish in "Calm/Wild" ($5 at Claire's... although they're almost always having a bogo on cosmetics, so pick up another one too while you're there.  My favorites are Happy/Earthy and Flirty/Shy.)
• NYC Black Lace Creme ($.99, almost anywhere nail polish is sold.  I'm not a huge fan of it, but it's cheap and works OK for art purposes.)
• Seche Vite topcoat
• Dotting tool and/or mechanical pencil (and I must say... I kind of like the pencil more.)

Method:

• Start with clean, dry nails & a well-ventilated space.
• Put on your basecoat, let dry.
• Paint all your nails with Calm/Wild.  The application on this polish is pretty good, but it's extremely sheer, so be prepared to use at least 3 coats to get it opaque enough.  It dries very quickly, though, so even with lots of coats it won't take too long.
• Get your black polish, a piece of paper or plastic (I either use scrap paper or old gift cards... this will be your painter's palate) and your pencil/dotting tool ready.  It may also be helpful to have a paper towel to wipe your dotting tool off on so it doesn't build up too much polish.
• Make hearts on your chosen fingers:

• Dab a bit of black polish on your palate and use the dotting tool or pencil to make 3 dots in a mickey-mouse-head formation on your nail.
• With the pencil, drag through the dots lightly to make a point at the bottom and smooth out the sides.
• Once you've made all the hearts you want, let them dry slightly and then slick over everything with a layer of Seche Vite.  To avoid smearing your designs, use a generous amount of polish and glide the brush lightly over the top, avoiding pressing the bristles all the way down to the surface of the nail. 

One last picture, the hearts on my right hand.  I'm right-handed, so I think if I do freehand art, you ought to see what it looks like drawn with the left hand too.  The hearts were actually pretty easy... they're a good starter shape if you're just starting to do nail art.

Happy polishing 'till next time!

NOTD: Starry Skies

Here are my nails of the day... a bit late, since by now I've already taken them off and put on something new.  These lasted a good 4 days before I had enough tipwear that I felt like I needed to change my polish, though, which was nice.  They remind me of a starry black winter sky, or lights hanging off the edge of a roof at night.

Cast of Characters:

• Sinful Colors Basecoat
• Sinful Colors "Secret Admirer" ($1.99 at Walgreens, $1.00 if you can get it on sale.  I adore this color.  It's black packed with fine silver glitter.  If you're careful, you can get total coverage in one coat.)
• Sinful Colors "Queen of Beauty" ($1.99 at Walgreens, same as above.  Round silver glitter in a clear base.)
• Seche Vite topcoat

Method:

•  Start with clean, dry nails & a well-ventilated space.
• Apply basecoat to all of your nails and let dry until tacky at least before starting.
• Apply Secret Admirer on all your nails.  I used two thin coats.
• With the tip of the brush, dab Queen of Beauty on at the cuticles and fade out in a gradient.
• Slick Seche Vite over everything to make it smooth and shiny.  I ended up using two coats to eliminate some of the grittiness from the glitter.
• Done!  Enjoy your sparkles

One extra close-up, selective focus so you get a good idea of how blingy this is.  It's super sparkly, especially in the sunlight.
I'll share my new (if rather unseasonal) nails tomorrow.

Guest NOTD: Holiday Mani

Guest nails today! I did this mani for my friend Kate. We just got the casting for the spring opera and needed some sparkles to keep our minds off the disappointments. Kate wanted alternating red-gold-red-gold-red, but I talked her into something a little fancier... oh, and I might have been inspired by these nails by Emerald Sparkled, too.

Cast of Characters:

• Sinful Colors basecoat ($2.99 @ Walgreens... I've been using this pretty consistently and haven't had any discoloration. It's a sheer beige, dries pretty quick, and seems to do OK for wear... not that I have much to compare it to, and I change my polish pretty regularly anyway.)
• Seche Vite topcoat ($too much @ Sally Beauty, although I've also seen it at Ulta and Target. I haven't had any shrinkage problems with it so far.)
• China Glaze Ruby Pumps (Red. Sparkly. Nothing else to say here.)
• Orly Glitz and Glamour (From the holiday collection. Gold foily love.)
• Scrapbooking flat-backed rhinestones $2 or $3 at Michael's. I bought these for a photoshoot months ago and thought of them for this mani, and they were a perfect match. They come attached to a sticky backing, but they peel off fairly easily. I just pressed the de-stuck rhinestones into wet topcoat.)

Method:

• Start with clean, dry, nails & a well ventilated space.
• 1 coat of base coat on everything - I like to let it dry until it's at least tacky before putting on the next color of polish.
• Get your bottles of polish ready. One coat of ChG Ruby Pumps on the thumbs and ring fingers, one coat of Orly Glitz and Glamour on all the rest.... let everything get at least tacky again, repeat. I ended up using 3 coats of Ruby Pumps and 2 coats of Glitz and Glamour for opacity.
• Topcoat the red nails with Seche Vite (SV) to avoid bumping them.
• Working one nail at a time, put a dab of SV where you want the rhinestone to go and press the rhinestone down firmly on top of it. They're really small and hard to pick up... I used a moistened Q-tip, which worked quite well.
• Once all the rhinestones are applied, finish those nails with a coat of SV. I ended up just painting over the rhinestones, although I think it would be better to flood around them... Kate's nails were just way too tiny to manage that with a normal fat brush.

Aren't they shiny and pretty? Sorry for the poor cleanup... I got what I could, but she has teeny tiny nails and my smallest brush is still too big to get in really close to get the extra off. I'm not sure how long the rhinestones will stay... I'm thinking I'll have to try a variant of this on myself!

What do you think? Would you wear different colored nails, or would you want everything to be matchy-matchy?

(old) NOTD - Penguins!

Nails of the day from earlier in the week... base color is Claire's Mood Polish in Lonely/Loved, tips in NYC French White Tip. The penguins (on rings and thumbs of both hands...) were painstakingly dotted in with a mechanical pencil tip and NYC Black Lace Creme, more French White Tip, and Petites Mango. Everything was slicked over with a layer of Seche Vite.