Neon Week - Cosmetic Arts Explosive

Helloooooooo my lovelies!

I'm so sorry to have abandoned you over the weekend.  I had a going away party Friday (miss you Olive!!), a wedding on Saturday and a "welcome back" party on Sunday.  I'm all partied out!  I'm also very tuckered out and am in need of a pick-me-up, so I've decided to rock neons all week :D  I'm hoping to get at least 4 mani's done and posted this week, 5 if I'm lucky ;)

 Colors Used: Cosmetic Arts - Explosive, China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy, Wet n Wild - Nerd Alert Screech, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond, Lush Lacquer - Clowning Around

Explosive is the first neon polish that I ever bought back when I started my polish journey.  I found it at Ross for $2-$3 and figured if I didn't like it, it wasn't the end of the world.  I fell head over heels for it and that is where my love for neon began.  I have to admit that I am not into neon fashion, I think it looks ridiculous lol.  But I looooove me a good neon polish!

I started with a white base on all of my nails.  White polish just really helps neon colors *POP!*.  I've also found that it helps me to even out streaking that can occur if I were to use the neon alone.  Index finger was done with a striper and a lot of patience.  Middle finger got 2 coats of Clowning Around and the rest of my nails got 3 coats of Explosive.

On a sad note... I broke my bottle of Explosive when trying to get it open, snapped the mouth of the bottle right off (just call me Miss Hulk lol).  Thankfully I saw China Glaze's Sun Worshiper (a comparable color) at my local nail supplier the other day and since they sell CG's for $2... well, I'll call that a win!

Alrighty, I'm off to go catch up on some house work *bleh*.  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and that Monday didn't treat you terribly :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Step Into Summer - Skittle

Howdy, howdy, howdy!

Quick post today.  This is my interpretation of "Skittles" for the Step Into Summer Challenge.  Seeing as this challenge is summer themed, I busted out some neons...

 Colors Used (L to R from thumb): China Glaze - Pool Party, Cosmetic Arts - Explosive, Savina - Power Up, Lush Lacquer - Clowning Around, Color Club - Mrs. Robinson

I started with a white base on all of my nails, then I layered on my neon polishes.

I'm pretty sure they all got 3 coats, for opacity and smoothness.  Clowning Around was 2 coats (I really need to give this pretty a break lol).  I topped all of my nails with Hard Candy's matte topcoat.

Seeing as Summer is around the corner, I posed with my sunglasses for the occasion ;)

Be sure to check out all of the fun mani's below !

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Neon Skittles Mani

Hello hello! :D  Yesterday was such a crazy day!!  Between going to the bank, shopping for a car, purchasing a car, going back to the bank aaaaaannnndd we had a singing gig in the evening... I'm pooped!  We did end up getting a car that's within our budget and we're really pleased with it, so it's a great thing.  Downside... I had no time yesterday to do any chores!  So I'll have to keep this post brief... again... the second day in a row... I'm sorry :(

For today's mani, I wanted to play with the neons in my collection...

Colors Used: Love & Beauty - Orange, Cosmetic Arts - Explosive, Savina - Power Up, Ulta - Blue Streak (not a neon), Sinful Color - Dream On

I really don't have much to say about this mani.  It's very bright and fun, which is why I decided to do it in the first place haha.  I will say, if you've never used neon polishes before, they are thick and can be tricky to work with (the Savina is a bear!).  

So yea... I guess that's it... because I'm super lame and have to go be domesticated and stuff lol.

Until next time!

Stef <3

Bleedin' Purple and Gold :)

Hello, hello, hello!  I'm hoping the week has treated you all very kindly (and if it hasn't... remember that Friday is just around the corner!)  :)

We finally got some rain yesterday, although pre-storm we had some mucky-swamp humidity going on.  It was gross!  I don't know how Floridians do it!!  Anyway, onto the mani...

Today's nails are inspired by my all-time favorite basketball team... the Lakers :D  Now, my boys have had it hard this season and it seems like one bad thing happens after another.  My favorite player, Derek Fisher, was traded this season and I'm still pretty upset about it :'(  I could go on and on about how amazingly wonderful that man is but I'll refrain.  His being traded gave me the true inspiration for these nails (he will always be Laker #2 in my book!).

 Colors Used: Cosmetic Arts - Explosive, Sinful Colors - Dream On, Sinful Colors - Snow Me White

I really like the way they turned out!  I'm going to be pretty sad when I have to take them off lol. I do have a couple of comments (questions?) about this mani.  I currently have 4 neon polishes in my collection and they all paint really streaky and the finish is flat (I wouldn't necessarily call it a matte finish, but it's very dull).  Is that normal for neons?  I haven't seen a lot of the nail bloggers talk about the formula with these polishes and I'm a little curious o.O  That being said, a top coat is my best bud when I use my neons hahaha.

I'm going to be painting some friend's/family's nail in the next couple of days so those will probably be the mani's you will see over this weekend.  And it looks like I'll have a fairly full schedule so if I miss a day I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me!  ;)  So, what do you think??  I love how bright and fun they are!!

Until next time!

Stef <3