Tag: Fingernails
A Unicorn in Lederhosen
I ended up with this fantastic “Unicorn in Lederhosen” ornament at Chinese Christmas last year…AKA White Elephant for everyone else. (It’s not racist since we ARE Chinese?) Anyway, my cousin Kate knew I would absolutely steal this from anyone who picked it, but I got lucky and picked it first.
This is a glitter gradient with Funky Fingers “Triple Dog Dare Ya” over Nanacoco “Illusionist”. “Illusionist” was a bit thin, so I used two coats. I am in lust with the fuchsia and blue glitters in “Triple Dog Dare Ya”. I need to make it a permanent part of my glitter rotation.
For some odd reason, the tips started chipping immediately – even with the Sinful Colors Base Coat and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. Next time, I’ll use Orly Bonder with the Nanacoco.
Barbie Bride
Forget the Ugly Christmas Sweater – now I feel like a beautiful Barbie Bride!
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure “Sweet Talker” is a pale, pale pink.(I got it in my Allure Beauty Box a few days ago!) It’s a thin, milky polish and was still streaky after the second coat. I might have been able to get a smooth finish after three coats, but since I knew I was gonna put Julep “Chatoya” over it, I didn’t bother. (It will be relegated to the “undercoat only” pile.) Julep’s site describes “Chatoya” as a bright platinum glitter top coat, but upon close inspection, it’s a mix of silver and rose gold glitter – and absolutely stunning. Again, I used the Sinful Colors Base Coat and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash, which is quickly becoming my go-to combination.
Although I didn’t have it in mind when I picked this nail polish combination, it perfectly matches my vintage Barbie Bride ornament, which also adorned my wedding cake oh-so-long-ago. (Poor Ken is hidden behind my hand.) I can’t wait to show off more of my Xmas ornaments…
Ugly Christmas Sweater
Behold…the nail polish version of the Ugly Christmas Sweater.
My husband does NOT like this at AT ALL. All he would say is that it’s “not pretty” – which is just him being nice. It’s beautifully hideous if you ask me…
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I used just a single coat of Sinful Colors “Sugar Sugar” and a thick, goopy coat of Funky Fingers “Fra-Gee-Lay”. Sally Hansen Diamond Flash smoothed down the goopy, stacked glitter. My husband said it felt like modeling clay after it dried – smooth, but rippled.
Isn’t that cupcake ornament cute? My mother-in-law gave it to me a few years ago. I just wanna lick it!
My Sharna
This is Julep “Sharna” from this month’s Maven box. I absolutely adore the fine, sharp texture of Julep’s microglitters. I’ll never add a top coat because I love the sandpapery feel of the glitter. I used Orly Bonder for the base coat – it does a great job of keeping the tips from chipping.
I’ve never heard of anyone named “Sharna” – but then I googled it and saw that it’s the name of one of the dancers on Dancing with the Stars. Hmmm…what an odd name.
Marsala
So Pantone announced their 2015 “Color of the Year” – Marsala, described by Pantone as ‘a naturally robust and earthy wine red‘. Well, aren’t you so fancy, Marsala? Personally, I think it’s just an excuse for Sephora to sell makeup…but what do I know? I’ll go ahead and play along, I’m throwing my Marsala into the ring…
This is Sinful Colors “Hot Chili”. It’s definitely an ‘earthy wine red’, but also has holographic gold glitter. It’s not a smooth polish and really needs a good top coat – I used Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. For some reason, my thumb really started to bubble underneath the top coat and remained rough, but the rest of my fingernails are as smooth as glass. I wasn’t all that good at chemistry, so I have no godly clue why. Oh yeah, Sinful Colors Base Coat first.
I admit, I might be tempted if Sephora comes out with a Marsala set like the one that came out last year for Radiant Orchid. It doesn’t take me very much to be tempted by makeup – does Sephora take direct deposit?
Wait, What?
Remember that migraine? Turns out it was caused by a raging sinus infection. I finally broke down and went to Urgent Care today and got antibiotics…hoping to be back to normal soon…
Speaking of normal – this paint job isn’t. The colors in the bottle look nothing like what happened on my nails. I’m not complaining – it looks cool…but not what I expected.
Since I was feeling like crap, I did the bare minimum: one coast of Sinful Colors Base Coat, one coat of Sinful Colors “Mint Apple”, one coat of NYC Crystal Couture “Fashion Queen” and one coat of NYC “Grand Central Station”. (Although there’s a bit left in the bottle, I won’t be able to get it out without a fight – RIP “Grand Central Station”.)
“Mint Apple” was much more sheer than I thought it would be. I was surprised that “Fashion Queen” turned straight up gold on my nails – I was expecting a more orange sparkle. Now I know…
Diamond Steel
I am fighting a migraine. If I am very, very still – the pounding almost subsides.
Sinful Colors Base Coat.
One coat of a nameless steely My Beauty Spot.
One coat of Sinful Colors “Queen of Beauty”.
One coat of NYC “Grand Central Station”.
Diamond Steel.
Nail Party – Mermaid Nails
My BFF gets her nails done at a salon, so we never get to have nail parties…but last night, I got to have one! Beth & family stayed over after stuffing our face at Thanksgiving, so after the boys and kids passed out, we got to have a nail (& wine) party!
I went for a mermaid look with Sally Hansen Glitter Effect “Court Jest” over 2 coats of Sinful Colors “Calypso” – a midnight teal creme. It was a one coater and I shouldn’t have done 2 coats, but I did and it got rather gloopy around the edges of my nails. Oh AND maybe because of wine. I am not a wine person, but Beth introduced me to White Lambrusco. I can drink that shit like a Capri Sun…which we did, out of sippy wine cups. Again, Sinful Colors Base Coat and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash for the top coat.
I wish I had grabbed Beth before we left because she did a really cool manicure with Butter London “The Black Knight” and essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above”. We had so much fun – I can’t wait to do it again!
Tarnished Chameleon
The gold to green shift in Revlon “Chameleon” reminds me of the tacky 70s tarnished brass fixtures in the trailer house I grew up in…to this day, I can’t stand the sight of brass fixtures – but I love it on my nails!
“Chameleon” is sheer, but I got good coverage in 2 coats – no VNL.
To get different looks, I used 2 different top coats that I thought would look dramatically different – but for some odd reason, they look EXACTLY the same. I can barely tell them apart. I used Butter London “Brass Monkey” on my thumb, middle finger and pinky. I used Sinful Colors “Twilight Twinkles” on my index and ring fingers. What the hell? “Brass Monkey” is iridescent CLEAR flakies and “Twilight Twinkles” is opaque gold shards! I used the Revlon Quick Dry Base and Top Coats, which for some reason caused HELLA bubbles with the top coats – especially the Butter London. I guess they don’t play well together…
Forget Red
I feel like my nails have been dark and goth for weeks…I felt the overwhelming urge to go girly and pink.
This is my new Sally Hansen Glitter Effect “Rogue Red” over Sinful Colors “Forget Now”. “Forget Now” is a Barbie Magenta pink with violet and blue glass shimmer. It is fairly sheer, but two coats gave nearly opaque coverage. (There was something weird about this bottle of “Forget Now” – there were black squiggles in the bottle, like metal shavings. I just smeared them off the brush on a nearby piece of junk mail. Very odd.) “Rogue Red” is pale red and pink jagged glitter. On a barely pink tinted base. On a naked nail, you wouldn’t even be able to tell that there is a touch of tint to the base.
I used the Sinful Colors Base Coat and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash for the base and top coats.
I painted my toes with just “Forget Now”. My toenails were stained from Zoya “Remy”, so there is a bit of a purple tint at the end of my toes that “Forget Now” couldn’t hide. I could have used the glitter to hide it, but I avoid glitter on my toenails – ain’t nobody got time fo dat! Until I can figure how to get my toes into a dip-it, that is…