May TPC - Day 4

Hello, lovelies!

It is the last day of the May Tri Poish Challenge and I must say, I will not be missing this color combo lol.  This month was soooo hard!  Anywhosie... on to the main event...

 Colors Used; Sally Hansen - White On, Orly - Dazzle, Julep - Taylor and January, China Glaze - Fairy Dust

Well, hello there R2!

 

 I'm so glad my nerdy instincts kicked in when I was trying to think of my last 2 mani's for this challenge.  For reals... you almost got polka dots and stripes again.  Really.

R2D2 was free-handed with a striping brush and dotting tools.  I sponged a little bit of Dazzle to the rest of my tips and then topped them with Fairy Dust.

  (I just had the realization that I'm assuming you, my redears, know who R2D2 is.  If you do not... I am so very sorry, but you need more Star Wars in your life!) 

Nerd life!

I'm sure someone out there remembers that I have not finished the Hobby Polish Blogger Challenge for May.  It's on my list and I've got one day to do it so :P   Be sure to check out the other ladies' nail art below and I hope you have a glorious day :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Not All Nail Stickers Are Created Equal

Hello, dearies!

Quick post for you today.  I decided to play with some nail stickers that I had stashed away in a drawer...

 

 Colors Used: China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise, Rimmel - Black Satin, OPI - DS Coronation

So my thumb is a nail sticker from Kiss.  I picked this up last July at a CVS.  The other sticker is the glittery ombre on my ring finger.  This is an H&M product that I picked up a couple of months ago.  

The reason for this posts title is that although the blingy Kiss sticker feels much more solid on the nail, the H&M stickers are extremely pliable and easy to shape. I just like the look of them better...

As a side note... I'm so glad I bought Turned Up Turquoise!  It's incredibly versatile and gorgeous with every pairing I've done :)

Short and to the point today haha...

I'll have my final mani for the May TPC up tomorrow, yay! (Hint: The force is strong with this one...)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Disqus

Hello lovelies!

I just wanted to let you know that I will be using a new platform for comments on my blog.  I can't always respond to comments right away, but I do get to them all (at least I really REALLY try to!).  Disqus allows you to recieve notifications of my responses and the responses of other bloggers you follow.  It's pretty neat actually. 

It's going to take up to 24+ hours for Disqus to import all of my blogger comments onto it's platform, but they are not gone I promise!  If in a few days it looks like this isn't working out for us, I'll delete it and we'll go back to Blogger standard commenting.  I'm just trying something new :)

I hope you all have a fabulous evening :D

Until next time!

Stef <3

May TPC - Day 3

Hellooooo!

I hope you don't mind that I took a one-day-hiatus from blogging.  My hubby and I hardly ever get a day off together, so we took full advantage of it.  Woke up and had coffee with our first sleepover guest, we watched some Doctor Who, went over and visited his parents, then came back home and barbecued with my parents.  It was a fantastic day :D  Speaking of Doctor Who...

 Colors Used: Elf - Sea Scape, OPI - Skull & Glossbones, Julep - Taylor and January, Sally Hansen - White On

Eeeeeeeee!!  I am over-the-moon with how this turned out :D  We've been binge watching the Doctor for a couple of months now (half-way through season 5), so I thought what better use for the color blue than the TARDIS?

 

 I was a little skeptical about using the red and grey as nebula' but they turned out surprisingly apropos.  I'm loving these nerdy nails *sigh*. 

I'm excited to share Day 4's mani with you.  While it's not as intricate, it is equally as nerdy lol.  Be sure to check out the other lovely manicures below :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Nailed It's Faded French

Happy Sunday!

Today's mani is inspired by a fabulous tutorial I saw on Nailed It.  I was planning on wearing this to church, but immediately mucked it up while at Target helping my sissy-in-law build her wedding registry.  By the time I got home, I was waaaay to tired to start over.  It was a lovely mani regardless lol...

 Colors Used: Julep - Audrey, Sally Hansen - White On

 An ombre french manicure?  What a great idea!

I do wish I had dabbed on a little more white polish to really differentiate between the 2 colors, but if you love doing an ombre mani... this is a cinch!

The down-side to this mani is that Audrey is so sheer that I had to use 3 coats for opacity.  That mean it took forever to completely dry.  which actually means it never go to completely dry because an hour after doing it I messed it up.  A couple hours after that, when I got back home, it was still pliable... I got peeved and took the whole thing of lol.

I'm going to try this look again next Sunday with a different pink polish.  I'm excited to see how it goes :)

A final thought... I wish it were Tuesday so that I can share my next TPC mani with you.  I am SOOOOO excited about it!! (Hint: It's for my "Whovians"!).

Until next time!

Stef <3

What is This?

Hello, dearies!

Sooooo I am in a bit of a pickle.  I have quite a few mani's that I did/photographed before purchasing my light tent.  Now that I have it, I don't want to post those poopy old photos lol.  So that means I created another mani of randomness because I was uninspired but wanted to shoot something new in the tent.  I've heard this randomness referred to as a skittlette?  I don't know what to call it, other than odd...

 Colors Used: Color Club - Mrs. Robinson, Charlotte Russe - Smoulder, OPI - Coronation and Which is Witch?

I literally was about to head out the door to a birthday party, so I painted my nails in a random pallette.  When I got home I decided to bedazzle them haha.  Mrs.Robinson and Smoulder were 2 coats while Coronation what 3....

 (L - with flash, R - without flash)

I used a straw dipped in my polish bottles to get the splatter effect on my index finger.  The skull is an H&M nail sticker.  I used a cheapy kitchen spnge to do the ombre on my ring finger and used a striping brush for the details on my pinky :)

"Maaaaaahh... I'm going to get you!!"

I've finally realized what is so fun about ombres, so just expect to see them popping up more frequently.  Like tomorrow. :P

Until next time!

Stef <3

I Got My Light Tent!!!!

Yaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!  It's here, it's here, it's heeeeeeerrrre!!!!!  I'm just going to show you pictures now hahaha...

 Colors Used: Julep - Denver, China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy, Orly - Dazzle, Sally Hansen - White On, Hard Candy - Black Tie Optional

My photos are drastically different from before and I'm going to have to adjust BIG time!  I'm not comepltely sold with what I've done here but it's a step in the right direction :)

Denver and Fantasy both got 3 coats for base colors because they were a little streaky, while Dazzle and White On were 2 coaters.  The bow is a nail art sticker that I got from my local nail supply store.  All of the righting is in a language I can't read, so I don't have any onther info to offer about them :\  I free handed the striping and then applied my black/white glitter as accents...

I love this mani so much that I'm going to wear it for another day hahaha

Yayyy pretty picture!!

I have to say a huge thank you to my a,azingly wonderful husband for supporting me and loving me enough to put up with my crazy obsession <3

 Until next time!

Stef <3

May TPC - Day 2

Good morning, lovelies!

It's Day 2 of the TPC and I decided to finally attempt a nautical mani.  I used my red,blue and grey polishes.  I also threw in a freebie color; white...

 Colors Used: Julep - Taylor (blue) and January (red), OPI - Skull & Glossbones (grey)

I like this one!  Lol...

I started with my base colors, Taylor and January being opaque in 2 coats while Skull and Glossbones took 3.  I taped of sections of the grey and painted blue over them to achieve some staright-ish stripes haha.  The anchor was free-handed...

I'm anchored!

I'm excited for next weeks TPC manis, I'm going nerd :D  I just hope what I envision and the execution are copacetic!  Be sure to check out the other ladies beautiful creations below...

Until next time!

Stef <3 

Sour Solitaire

Good day, dear hearts!

Today's manicure is one that I did while playing with some new textured polishes that I bought over the weekend.  I have been striving for a really fantastic ombre for a long time now.  I thought I'd give it  a whirl with textures...

 

Colors Used: OPI - Solitaire, Sally Hansen - Sour Apple

Solitaire is from OPI's newest sand collection, The Bond Girls.  Sour Apple was just recently realeased in SH's Sugar Coated collection...

I really am in love with both of these polishes!  Alone, Solitaire is just elegant.  She is frosty and glittery all at the same time.  Sour Apple is the complete opposite with it's creamy minty color and matte finish.  I wish the ombre popped more in the pictures as it did in real life.  I loved rocking this mani :)

I know textured polish isn't for everybodybut I've definitely got the bug lol.

Guess what?  I finally got some inspiration for the TPC this month and it's not patriotic!  Yayyyy!!  Lol stay tuned :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Eat, Drink & Be Alice

Hello, lovelies!

I have another indie polish brand to share with you :)  I discovered Spellbound Nails while skimming through pretty polish shops on Etsy.  The duo set that I bought is inspired by Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland...

Spellbound Nails - Upelkuchen and
Pishsalver

I have always loved Alice in Wonderland  so of course I had to have these adorable polishes!  I adore the book and watched the animated film a bazillion times as a child.  I was turned off by the look of the most recent film adaption, but having never seen it, I don't have an informed opinion lol.  

Here is Ashley's description of these polishes (super cute!)...

"Upelkuchen are the cakes that make you grow. To represent these I created a confetti cake style polish. Various sizes and colors of glitter suspended in a cream colored polish.

Pishsalver is the potion that will make you shrink. I used all white hex glitter in various sizes to give this polish a dreamy quality.

While each polish comes with it's own tag that hangs around the neck of the bottle telling you to 'Eat Me' or 'Drink Me' it is advised that you DO NOT EAT OR DRINK THIS NAIL POLISH! It is made for your nails and nothing but your nails!"

Here's what I did with them...

I used 2 coats of Upelkuchen (Eat Me) and layered 1 coat of Pishsalver (Drink Me) over Sally Hansen Butter-Fly Stroke.

I'm a happy lady *sigh*

You can purchase this set and other lovely polishes from Spellbound Nails Etsy Shop :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

May Tri Polish Challenge - Day 1

Hey there, darlings!

Now begins my monthly challenge by the Crumpet.  I believe this is my thrid month of participation and it's probably going to be the toughest.  The colors for the month are are red, glue and grey.  As far as inspiration goes... I got nothin'!  Lol I decided to give the Peter Pan collar a whirl and I hate it...

Colors Used:  Julep - January and Taylor

I don't like it... at all. 

I'm hoping inspiration strikes soon because I really enjoy doing this challenge.  All I have floating around in my head it patriotic stuff and that's just not my thing

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Neutral Skittle

Hello, dolls!

I have another subdued-ish manicure to share with you today.  "Two nude mani's in a row??!!", you say... I promise I'm not a pod person ;)  I've been doing so many bright/crazy mani's recently that I decided I needed a "palette cleanser"...

 Colors Used (L to R): Julep - Ginger, Love & Beauty - Beige, OPI - Goldeneye, Love & Beauty - Ginger, Love & Beauty Nude

Man oh man, I cannot wait to get my light tent!  I'm sooo incredible frustrated with how the lighting in these pics turned out... grrrr...

 Anywhosie, these are all 2 coaters except for Goldeneye.  3 cotas for that  one.  I had seen a mani on Pinterest that used different nudes and a glitter to create a skittle and I loved the idea.  I've tried to figure out who originally did the mani, but the pin leads nowhere and I can't really red the watermark :(  It's a great mani tho hahaha...

I will have my first installment of the May TPC up tomorrow.... that's all of the new news I've got for ya :P

Until next time!

Stef <3

Church Mani: Peachy Polka

Hiya peeps!

I have to pre-face this post with some news.  I posted on Facebook yesterday that if I reached 100 followers on Blogger, my hubby would buy me a light tent kit from Amazon.  Well...  I'M AT 100 FOLLOWERS!!!!!!  Thank you to Natalia for being #100 and thank you a million times over to all of you that find my blog amusing enough to follow :D

Today I went back to the basics.  I haven't done a polka dot mani in a little over 2 weeks, which is really impressive for me considering how obsessive I am about them lol...

 Colors Used: China Glaze - Peachy Keen, Sally Hansen - White On

Peachy Keen is a polish I've been trying to track down for about a month.  I finally got my hands on one this past Friday and it did not disappoint!

I applied 2 coats of the peach-ness to my nails and then, with a small dotting tool, applied a sparse smattering of dots.  I topped it with OPI's RapiDry Top Coat and immediately smudged it... not all that surprising for klutzy me haha.

Thank you all again for reading and commenting and just being awesome!  My followers truly are the best ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Let's Play Catch-up!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I promised you stories for Friday and then I didn't post anything.  I have a good reason for that... I was EXHAUSTED! So here is a full run-down of my life the past few days (with pictures included!)...

Tuesday - Indie polish nail-mail!  This is a polish that I bought from Gnarly Gnails' Blog Sale.  I've seen swatches of it on the interwebs and thought it was such a pretty blue with lots fun thrown in!
 

The name of this polish is Seuss and it is from Whimsical Ideas by Pam.  I believe I am wearing 2 coats?  I can't remember :(  Either way this lovely polish is a blue jelly base with large silver hex glitter, medium red hex glitter, and small bits of blue glitter as well.  

I loved wearing this polish, but it was a nightmare to take off *sigh*.  Curse you glitter!!  Curse you ten-fold!!!  Info for purchasing this polish can be found on her Facebook page :)

Wednesday - I hosted a nail party at my place, a first for me.  The party started at 7:30 p.m. and I managed to complete 8 awesome manicures by 11.  I forgot to take pics of the manis before everyone left, but I got tagged in a couple of photos from my lovelies afterward...

My fellow singer/alto bestie requested jazz inspired nails.

My sissy-in-law wanted an anchor.  I couldn't get Sally Hansen's Golden-I to cooperate though, so she got lace instead.  I think she liked them ;)

The party ended around 2 a.m. after 50 billion hilarious rounds of Heads Up (an app created by Ellen DeGeneres that I highly recommend checking out).

Thursday - I rehearsed my children's choir for end-of-the-year concert.  I then ran around working in afternoon childcare. Theeeen I directed the children's choir in their performance from which I went straight to my own choir rehearsal (I didn't get to stay for the end of the kiddos concert *sniffle*).  I got out of rehearsal at 10 p.m. and made it to an 11 p.m. showing of Star Trek: Into Darkness with friends and fam (It's a-mazing by the by!!!).  I did galaxy nails for the occasion...

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite sponging mani to do.  It's so much fun :D

 

Friday - I went to a new-to-me nail supply store with the Fashionista and spent a lot of money lol. Then I went to work and worked some more. After work I went to Target (again with the Fashionista) and spent more money.  I came home, ate pizza, drank wine and caught up on my TV shows with my hubby.  Then I crashed... hard!  I slept like a rock last night haha.  Here is a pic of my haul from Cali Beauty Supply...

So many goodies!!  I'm thinking I'll do a full haul post sometime next week, if you're interested?  Lemme know!

Somewhat of a lengthy post and I thank you for sticking it out hahaha...

Until next time!

Stef <3