NOTD Apr 29/12 - blue and purple glitter

I have several glitter polishes that I am embarrassed to admit, I've either only used once or NEVER used at all. It seemed like a bit of a travesty to me, so I knew I had to use one of them finally! This one was a great first candidate, I absolutely love it! It's Icing's Bedazzled... tiny blue and purple micro-glitter. This one would take a lot of layering to be opaque, but it looks fantastic layered! I put it over Essence Let's Get Lost, a rich teal shade. This is two coats of each polish - I'm in love with it! So sparkly and deep and rich!

NOTD Apr 24/12 - blue and white micro-dots

Today my nail art came by pretty much fluke... picked a colour to paint my nails (Essence Walk On Air) and then I originally intended to try doing tiny dotted pinstripes on my nails and add some kind of floral on top, but the dots turned out looking less like pinstripes and more like.. well.. dots!! So I left them as they were because I really liked the way they ended up looking on their own! Sometimes simplicity wins. :)

Birthday NOTD, FOTD, and OOTD!

Yup that's right I have a triple threat for you today, on my birthday!! Going to be having a party at a friend's house tonight so I'm all ready to go, and I'm going to be going for a pampering pedicure in around an hour! Can't wait!

First up, my NOTD! I loved this design everytime I saw it (in many places!) and I decided to try it out! I like how it turned out! I wasn't going to do the glitter topcoat but once I finished the rest of the design it seemed to need it!

Next is my FOTD! I've been tanning with the amazingly awesome St.Tropez Mousse Bronzer and I wanted something bronzey and glowy to compliment it.

 

Main components in this look were L'Oreal Color Infaillable eyeshadow in Sahara Treasure, along with Urban Decay Smog and Darkhorse. The cheeks were Essence Silky Touch Blush in Babydoll and a new highlighter I got in the latest Sephora 500 point perk, which is Too Faced Shimmer Veil. 

PS - the new 500 point perk is AWESOME! I've been holding off redeeming mine for months because I didn't like anything they were offering, and MAN am I glad I did! It's the Too Faced Naked Look mini palette - it has two eyeshadows (Pink Cheeks and Lap Dance), a blush (but I think it's more like a highlighter, called Shimmer Veil like I said...) and two lip glosses called Air Kiss and Pink Swan. Normally I'm not huge on in-palette glosses but these two blended together are sooo gorgeous, I'll just make sure to blow away all the powder fallout so it doesn't get in these beauties! I'm also wearing them in the pic. :)

Last but not least, my outfit for today! I bought this gorgeous coral sheer button-down top from Dynamite last week and saved it for today because I loved it so much! Worn over a lace trimmed low-cut black tank top and simple black leggings, and with a simple long gold chain! I'm also wearing silver metallic braided sandals with it - booyah for mixed metals!

 

 

Have a great weekend all! I'm off to celebrate the big 24!!

A nail polish survey!

 So I'm the kind of losery-loser who actually Googles "nail polish survey" to find something to do. No, I didn't stumble across this on a blog - I actually sought it out! LOL But here we are, I had fun filling this out!! Hope you enjoy reading!

How many polishes do you have in your stash?
Last time I counted it was at juuust under 99 (including 2-way nail art polishes) so I can safely say by now I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 115-125.

Which brand do you own the most of?
I would guess probably Sally Hansen, especially since they have so many different lines of polishes!

What colors do you own the most of?
Pinks and blues.

Do you have a color/texture you do not own?
Holographic! I don't own a single one even though they're so trendy!

What's the one polish you always pick up to lift your spirits?
Something sparkly, I really like to top almost anything with LA Girl Glitter Addict in Explosion - big silver hex glitter with small speck silver glitter.

What polish do you keep looking at and wondering why you haven't gotten rid of it yet?
There's a couple, mostly ones that were all thick and gummy and almost empty, to the point where even if I fixed them with thinner I can barely get the brush to touch the polish, and then I buy a new bottle of the same shade but still don't throw out the old bottle. Sad to say this is the case for a few shades! Finally ditched one the other day but it was only a start...

Franken any? or I'm nervous to try it?
Not yet... I guess it sounds intriquing but I'm not yet bored enough with the polishes I have to try to create new ones!

Do you franken for new/original polish ideas or franken for polish you won't be able to own?
If I did franken I would probably try to create new shades - I might try to recreate a HTF if some really obvious mix popped out at me though.

Go-to Base Coat?
Sally Hansen one... Insta-something LOL I don't look at it that closely! It's in a clear bottle with a red cap.

Go-to Top Coat?
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Topcoat. I've never used Seche but from what I've read about it, it sounds exactly like this stuff but the SH is cheaper.

What's your sexiest polish?
Hmmm I don't know really!! I think my personal definition of sexy is a little different... I don't know if I would pick any of my polishes off the top of my head but when I think of "sexy" polish I think of a bright (but not neon) pinkish-coral shade contrasting tanned skin, I love the look of that. So, yeah! :p

Nail Design:

Stamping vs Free Hand?
Free hand! At one time I badly wanted to get a Konad kit but as time has worn on I'm kind of glad I didn't, I prefer the freedom of creativity you have with freehand art and the satisfaction you get from executing a design well and seeing your skills improve over time!

Bling me, baby? or No bling for me, please!
Bling is fun!! I've got some rhinestones and plenty of glitter polishes! Next to creme, glitter is my favourite polish finish!

I consider my nails basically nekkid if they don' t have some kind of design?
Most of the time! LOL Yesterday was the first day I'd worn a solid nail colour in probably about 9 months! I think I want to get into the habit more often though... I'd like to rotate nail art and plain polish, since I do have so many lovely shades that should get to shine on their own!

My favorite plate/tool/technique?
My favourite technique would have to be glitter gradients, leopard (FYI - I based my most recent incarnations of freehand leopard print on what the Konad leopard print looks like! It's so easy, try it!!) and sponge gradients. I'm not interested in water marbling personally!

What I haven't tried and want to within the month?
Oooh good one!! I make no promises about how soon I will actually try these but I have aspirations for tape nail art - I did actually try it once, disaaaster! I learned to let a day pass between polishes just to be on the safe side!

Purchase/Lemmings:

The one elusive polish you want and can't seem to get?
GOSH Holographic - I guess I figure if I'm gonna try the trend I want to start with the original! But goood luck! LOL

What was the last nail related thing you bought?
I bought a new bottle of top coat today.

How many nail related hauls have you bought in the last 7 days (on-line/in-person)?
Just that one actually!

If you've ever been on a no-buy, how long did it last? Is that what you planned?
LOLwut? (read: nope!)

(and one question to grow on) Hobby? Addiction? Compulsion? Passing Fancy? Love?
Hobby for sure, addiction aaalmost (I can sometimes restrain myself quite well). Love, yes!! It's lovely to have something that's a creative outlet for me that I can carry with me everywhere and share with everyone I meet!

NOTD Apr 17/12 - lime green leopard

Really simple design here but one of my favourites - leopard print on nails is just my weakness! I had to try out one of my new Cherimoya polishes and I knew this would be the perfect background for a leopard print.

Etsy sale :)

Just wanted to add a quick note that until this Friday only, there is a sale at my Etsy shop for 10% off because Friday will be my birthday! Wanted to spread the fun around! Find the coupon code in the description of my shop and use it to get your discount this week!

:)

NOTD Apr 15/12 - green and gold half moons

These nails came together really quickly - I just wanted to use one of my new Barielle polishes, Date Night! I painted my nails with it and did the ring fingers in Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gilty Pleasure, and then painted half moons with the opposite colours. I just used a paint brush to create the halfmoons, it was actually easier than I thought it would be! I'd like to get some of the little round hole-repair stickers to try out this design a bit more though.

 You may notice this is my rarely seen right hand! I broke the pinky nail on my left hand and it is the tiniest little nubbin, right down to the quick. :( While I wait for that to regrow you may be seeing more of righty here!

Date Night was a dream to apply, the polish was a perfect texture, two easy coats. It looks even more gorgeous in real life!

NOTD Apr 12/12 - khaki and gold glitter

Just a really simple mani today, I took off my acrylics last night so I wanted to do something very simple and quick on my nails. I did a couple coats of my new Essence polish High Spirits, which is so pretty!! Very subtly shimmery khaki green! Then I added a couple coats of LA Girl Glitter Addict in Synergy. Technically, it was 1.5 coats... one full coat and then I fished out and dabbed on some more of the hex pieces because they're few and far between in the glitter. Lovely colour but that's my only gripe about it... the silver glitter from their line is PACKED with hex glitter so I don't know why this one isn't when it seems to be the gold equivalent!

NOTD Apr 9/12 - Russian Opulence (Jewel Encrusted)

These nails kind of came together without any plan.. I just kept adding elements until they looked finished to me. When all was said and done, they had kind of a Russian opulence feel to them, all sparkly and covered in rhinestones. Obviously, these were made on a set of falsies!

I feel very fabulous wearing these!

Rhinestones were generously provided from Born Pretty store!

NOTD Apr 6/12 - Matte glitter

I wanted to test out a couple of newbies in my collection for this mani! I used one of my new Barielle polishes, Do Unto Others, for the base. I also picked up my very first matte topcoat today - finally!! I couldn't find one anywhere, and then finally I saw one by Gosh in Shoppers Drug Mart and I snapped it up! I've always liked the look of matte glitter manicures, so I gave it a shot and I love it!

Under the bright light I took the picture in the manicure looks a little shinier, in real life it's even more matte than this! I really love this look and I definitely want to try out other colour combos for it! I love how soft matte topcoat makes your nails feel too, so cool!

Colours used:
Barielle in Do Unto Others
LA Girl Glitter Addict in Explosion
GOSH Matt Effect Top Coat