Berry Sweet Feat. Color Club's "Very Merry Berry"

Good day my neglected lovelies. I'm going to admit, you have not seen a recent post due to a high volume of holiday lazyness. Yes, yes, the holiday season is supposed to bring out the busy bee in all of us and force out an ungodly amount of productivity. Yea, so far not happening. I have no plans to run around like a decapitated chicken, thank you. I don't have a lot to say, due to the fact that i'm ashamed of my sloth, so i'm going to get right to the nails.

For this mani....
Finger Paints "Pretty as a Portrait"
Orly "Twilight"
Color Club "Poptastic"
Color Club "Very Merry Berry" 

BEHOLD! My messy messy cuticles covered in the very lovely "Pretty As a Portrait" by Finger Paints. This is a pretty deep plum color like no other i own. Not only is this a classy color with a bit of spunk, but it also has a dreamy creme formula. As much as i adore glitter, i can never pass up on a good creme. It's a classic nail finish that seems to be rapidly fading in popularity amongst the glamorous glitters. I used two coats of this shade to kick stark my mani.

I don't know how many of you saw these in stores, but Orly has put out two light shimmer top coats for the holidays. This is the silver out of the gold and silver pair. "Twilight" is litterally the shimmer that's missing from any solid creme. It does not over power your color like a normal glitter but enhances its dimension by adding a subtle sparkle.

With a quarter of a foundation sponge i sponged on some of Color Club's "Poptastic," the name sake of the nifty neon collection Poptastic. I sponged this down about half way my nail. At this time i have a plum shimmer with a neon pink, turned not so neon going half way down. Looking at this picture makes me sad, because i had to chop off my nails and now i've got tiny nubbins. I miss my claws!

I have three amazing words for you right now. "Very Merry Berry." I searched high and low for the scented holiday Color Club glitters. This one dazzles with purple, blue, and pink convex glitters that add an unusual texture and an even more intriguing scent. I used this glitter over the whole nail to bring the separated components together. This is honestly one of my new favorite polishes ever. It's a huge pain to remove, but sooooo worth it.

Holiday Stars Feat. China Glaze "Ruby Pumps"

A lot of people who purchased the Holiday set from Sally's with the red glitter and two blue polishes were somewhat disappointed in their purchase when they discovered the shade names. This trio did not include three new special holiday polishes but some favorites among China Glaze lovers. This trio is made up of Ruby Pumps, used in the mani, Frostbite, and Dorthy Who? I was very excited about this because these were all polishes i've seen but have never really had room in y budget for, so getting all three for $8.99 was a score ;D I'm sure you'll soon be seeing Dorthy Who? and Frostbite making an appearance on my blog as i can not just let the lovelies sit.

For this mani i used....

China Glaze "Ruby Pumps"

Orly "Luxe"

China Glaze "Side Saddle"

I began with two glamourous coats of China Glaze's "Ruby Pumps." This red glitter sits in a red jelly base and unfortunately looks kinda gross in pictures. Much like China Glaze's "Emerald Sparkle" this is a perfect holiday color if you want super sparkle and festive color. I used this as the base color for my mani.

After my two coats of Ruby Pumps dried i took another China Glaze by the name of "Side Saddle." Like a chocolate syrup loaded with chocolate sugar glitter, this brown has an unexpected seductive quality to it. However appealing, i only used this on the tips because i did not want to upstage my glitzy red.

After my tips dried i took two sizes of dotting tool and Orly's "Luxe." With Luxe i made two curved rows of gold dots. The outside row i used the larger dotting tool and the smaller one for the inner half ring. Of course i got carried away and added a loppy star on each finger.

China Glaze "Grape Juice"

A few weeks ago i basically went on a blog sale shopping spree. I trolled so many blogs looking for the perfect sale and the best deals. Believe it or not, there is a way to get brand new China Glaze for $2.50 a bottle. You just have to search for it. This was a color on my wish list and i jumped for joy when i found it for sale! 

 

I was super excited for this, but when i began applying the irresistible lacquer, i found that i was going to take a few coats untill it reached maximum wow factor. Unlike the majority of polish, this one took a good even four coats to become fully opaque. It also seemed to not want to dry. It may have been because i was really impatient with this, but i still feel it has some formula issues.

Like any purple, this one was difficult to capture in a photo. However i fell that the above photo is most accurate to the true color. Imagine the perfect plastic grape that you rolled in tiny silver micro glitter. The picture to the right was taken indoors with flash. The flash gave this polish a darker look. The true color is more light and effected more by the silver glitter.

In the bottle Grape Juice almost looks like it could possible be a stunning holo. It's no OMG but it does have tiny particles of holographic glitter in it that can only be truly appreciated in the light of the sun.

One last picture to show you all the straight up purple amazing that is China Glaze's "Grape Juice" Over all i can say that this is a beautiful color but also has the consistency of juice making it very difficult to use on it's own. This would probably work fantastic over a similar purple of a cream finish. However if you're up for the challenge,using Grape Juice alone is worth the payoff.

Glamour Peacock Feat. Orly's "Lucky Duck"

Yea, i've been lagging for a while. It happens. But i'm back! And i brought with me an amazing mani. This color combo idea originally came from my boyfriend, who in reality had an entirely different idea of the end result for this one. Apparently, he wanted shooting stars...this is what i understood from what he was trying to convey. Of course i got carried away and did my own thing with this and by the end of the mani i had seven bottles of polish in front of me. I was impressed i was able to pack so many colors on to one nail. Also keep reading to see how i created this look. :)

Aiding me in the creation of this glamorous peacock inspired mani was the love fluff of my life, Ziggy. She really slept through the whole thing and awoke to a pile of polish on her. I thought it was pretty cute. She did not share the same opinion.

For this mani i used the following in this order

Orly "Lucky Duck"

China Glaze "Emerald Sparkle"

Icing "Irish Gold"

Color Club "Pucci-Licious"

Color Club "Chelsea Girl"

Color Club "Jingle Jangle"

Finger Paints "Sparkle Top Coat"

Never did i think i'd fall for a color like "Lucky Duck." I'm not typically a dark green person but with it's dreamy cream formula that applies perfect the first time. i could not help but swoon. I felt bad about using this one for a base because it was going to get covered up. This is one of the more unappreciated colors from Orly's Birds of a Feather collection, but i highly recommend it.

With a cut up foundation sponge i used China Glaze's "Emerald Sparkle" half way up my nail starting from the cuticle. This is another color i didn't care for, but again, it's pretty amazing. It's one of the more pure, full coverage glitters i have ever seen. This would be perfect for a Christmas mani :D

Again with a sponge i used Icing's "Irish Gold" to add contrast with the dark green glitter. The light green broke up the dark forresty look of this combo and prepped it for more color to be added. I found this bottle on a sale rack, the glitter tends to settle but there is so much of it, that it's not much of  problem.

From the Color Club Poptastic collection i picked out this brilliant purple called "Pucci-Licious." Even though purple is my favorite color, i don't use this one a lot because it is just so inyourface. I had to sponge this along diagonally starting from the tips and used a few layers to amp up the color. This is not a great layering color but it is possible, you just need some patience.

After the purple i used another Poptastic color called "Chelsea Girl," this is also a brilliant bright color similar to the purple but obviously blue. This color was sponged again starting from the tips trying not to cover all the purple. I also didn't worry too much about getting fuller coverage out of this layer, the glitter will fix it.

And glitter! From Color Club's Beyond the Mistletoe collection i pulled "Jingle Jangle" the more blue and purple glitter out of the collection. All the glitters from the collection are amazing but i think this is my favorite. I used a sponge to cover the last diagonal tips of my nails. You think i would be done by now right?.....

....Wrong! Last but not least, i used Finger Paint's "Sparkle Top Coat" to bring this mesh of color all together. I love this sparkle top coat because it actually brings a duochrome effect over whatever polish you use it with. I was pretty amazed by this. And after sponging my heart out and using as many colors as i could, i was done.

Break the Ice

In the spirit of the freezing cold, and the exciting addition of Snow Globe to my collection, i wanted to do an icy like mani. I thought a light blue would be perfect for the theme. Although some one also said it reminds her of the ocean. I still feel like its far more ice like.

For this mani i used....

Color Club "New Bohemian"

Color Club "Lumin-Icent"

Nubar "Baby Blue"

China Glaze "Snow Globe"

Summer Dreaming (Orange)

It not even a month into actual winter and i'm already ready for summer to come back around. Living in Southern California, by nature, i do not do well in the cold. My winter wardrobe consists of sweater dresses and tights. My water resistant shoe choices are virtually non-existent. Seeing the ground wet in the morning throws me in to a shock similar to an epileptic seizure. Driving in the rain is like a mission to the moon. I am a creature best suited for a warm climate, and i really wish i could just hibernate for the winter. Here's another lazy look, because i'm angry at the sky.

Orly "Oui" from Holiday Soriee

I should have snatched all the pretties out of this collection while i had the chance, but i was already dropping a pretty penny at Sally's but the time i saw this collection. Of course, after i laid eyes on Oui, i could not leave with out this amazing glittering gold purple. now if only i could figure out why they have to give these colors such ridiculous names. I can't pronounce any of them!

Indoor lighting with the flash brought out the purple in this shade, it's a lovely dark purple that hides behind the gold glitter. I wish this wasn't so loaded with gold, but i think that's what makes this shade unique. It kinda leaves me begging for more purple.

My Broken Nail in Baby Pink

Some of you may have already seen my broken nail and i know many of you may prefer not to see it again. It's not gory, but it sure dose strike a heart string. My ring finger nail got a crack in it, and the rest of it got torn off when it got caught in my hair in the shower. I was sad. I had tried to hang on to it for a while. but it just wasn't meant to be. However, i'm happy to say that the nail is already growing back and is hopefully on it's way to a quick recovery. My right hand looks like such the misfit compared to the perfect nails on my left.

As you can see, this was quite the loss. The entire nail did not come off all the way through the break. On the right it peeled off a layer so none of the finger under my nail was exposed. Thank goodness.

Don't Be Koy Feat. China Glaze "Jamaican Out"

Imagine Feat. OPI "Not Like the Movies"

Good day lovelies! Its a rainy Sunday and i'm inside doing my nails, trying to think up the perfect gift for my secret santas, and chilling with my kitty. It's an alright day. It seems like this week had been non stop madness and some big things have happened. Many of them keeping me from blogging >.> But i'm doing my best, and that's all i can do. :) Has the holiday madness started to approach you yet?

For this mani i used a couple OPI polishes that were graciously given to me by a co-worker who i'm slowly trying to turn into a fellow polishaholic.

Color Club "Twiggie"

OPI  "Turquoise Shatter"

OPI "Not Like the Movies"

OPI "Last Friday Night"

I first started with OPI Not Like the Movies. This color is weird, and that's the end. Its not for every one, but i found it intriguing enough to used as a major color.

Not Like the Movies is a silver shimmer with a subtle green duo chrome. Its defiantly reminiscent of the silver light sensitive emulsion found in old school film. 

Earthy Diamonds (Nails)

I was very pleased with this mani. I did this in my BFF's parents bathtub. He was dying his hair, i needed to do my nails. I was shockingly surprised at how well this turned out. And even more surprised about how difficult this was to photograph. This picture also makes me sad, because the ring finger pictured....is now broken down to a tiny nubbin. :(

For this mani....

Color Club "Boho Mojo"

Color Club "Perfect Mol-Ten"

Color Club "Covered in Diamonds"

Color Club "Nouveau Vintage"

I began this with two coats of Nouveau Vintage from the Color Club Back to Boho collection part B. From what i've seen this is a preety close color to OPI's "Warm and Fozzy" But i don't own that one....so what ever