Jelly Sandwich with Sinful Colors "Gogo Girl" and SH HT

I love the look of jelly sandwiches and I am happy to show you this one.  While I'm not too crazy about reds (mostly because I don't wear them well - I love them on others!) the extra sparkle made this a bit more bearable for me.

When Walgreens was having their 99 cents sale on Sinful Colors, I picked out a few that I normally would dodge and Sinful Colors "Gogo Girl" is one of them.  But I think everyone should have a bright red jelly.

Anyways, for the sandwiched part, I used Sally Hansen "Hidden Treasure".

Two coats "Gogo Girl" - One coat HT - One coat "Gogo Girl"

I had a difficult time trying to photograph this.  The sparkle barely shows through on camera.  It was so attention grabbing in person though.  Maybe two coats of HT would've been more effective but I don't want to waste that beauty.

You can see it a little better here, but barely.  The sun was setting and all.

So the Hurricane Irene will be full force here in a few hours.  I think the anticipation is exhausting.  It's Saturday night and I've been waiting since Thursday afternoon (that's when I started hearing about it frequently).  Just sitting and waiting, it was quite ominous outside today.  The air was heavy, the sky was kind of dark.

Avon "Wicked" + "Gunmetal" Swatch and Review

My friend the Avon rep bought two polishes from herself to keep at my house because I am her official unofficial manicurist.  The two colors she picked are not my personal bag, they're dark and vampy and I am cremes and pastels but I decided to swatch them anyways to see what they looked like.  And we're off..

Gunmetal - One coat.

I thought this was a one coater but that's because the crappy lighting in my room tricked me.  You can see bald spots but under standard lighting it looks fine.  This applied smoothly but as mentioned before, most definitely a 2 coat kind of color.  I didn't hate this on me!  It made me feel a tab rebellious actually - LOL.

"Gunmetal" Indoor, flash.

The other polish she picked completely surprised me by being a one coat wonder.  I think I have maybe 10 of these total, and they're mostly holos and the super pigmented WnWs.  Anyway, this is an honest to goodness one coater.

Indoor, flash

Indoor, flash

OPI Silver Shatter - Indoor, flash

This was difficult to photograph but we haven't had much sun lately.  I work with what I've got, and I've got rain and monsoons, lol.  As I said before, this color is not for me.  It's really pretty, especially in the bottle.

If you're interested in these colors you can go through my own personal Avon lady, Coryn, by visiting her website HERE.  She does ship in the US.  Most countries have their own Avon site, as well.

OPI DS "Elegance" + Sinful Colors "Pinky Glitter"

The mani I am showing you today was actually one I did on one of the Counselors in Training at work.  I brought some polish with me and did a couple quick paint jobs on my break and when I finished this one I decided it actually needed to be on my nails.

I had never heard of the OPI DS colors until I stumbled upon a goldmine at my local Harmon.  They had an absolute boatload of them all on sale for $4 due to an huge shipment.  I have a total of 6 of these and I looove them.  This is probably my favorite.

OPI DS Elegance - 2 thin coats

Oh man I love it.  There is nothing bad about a pink holo!

Indoor Flash

And then to add the final touch, I put on one coat of Sinful Colors "Pinky Glitter".  It brought such a fun aspect to the mani.

I have a real love-hate relationship with glitter at the moment.  I love how it looks but I get aggravated with how easily it chips.  And the the removal is always a PITA, even with the foil method.  This was fairly easy to remove though since the base coat and OPI was underneath.  It didn't chip on me either since it was a single, thin coat of "Pinky Glitter".


Just a few things I wanted to mention:

-I've been trying different lighting scenarios.  I really don't have much time by the time I get home from work to get natural sun pictures.  I like to unwind a bit before hitting the nails so what I've been doing is using the Dual-Stabilization mode on my camera and going underneath the fluorescent lights in the basement; that way no flash is used.  The other pictures are indoor + flash.
-I got my first Helmer this week :D :D :D  A gift from Daddy for my birthday.  I got the white one and filled up four drawers and still have a drawer full on my Sterilte drawer set.  I plan to show all of this in an upcoming post.

Avon "Jade" + China Glaze "He's Going In Circles"

As usual I am excited about the post at hand.  My BFF has recently started selling Avon after years of being schooled by her grandmother in the fine craft.  I was browsing through the books and the alarms sounded when I hit the nail polish section.  I got a total of 4 bottles: two were my choice and she picked two to keep here since I always do her nails.  The polish I am showing you today was my first choice!

Avon "Jade" + China Glaze "He's Going In Circles"

I am reaaaally surprised by the formula on this.  For some reason I expected sub-par application and streaking.  This was two thin coats which is a miracle in itself for me, considering most of my manicures involve three at least!  Opacity was reached in two except my thumb but that was my own fault.  I didn't have nearly enough polish on the brush for my gigantic thumbnail and had to patch-polish it in the streaky parts.

Indoor Flash

I plan on posting the additional Avon polishes I got, along with pictures.  I don't think they get all the glory they deserve to be quiet honest.  I am not sure about wear length but I never really touch on that topic too much seeing as I change my polish very often.  If there happens to be major instantaneous chipping I will certainly inform (as I always do!) - but so far so good!

As for where you can find this beauty,  Coryn (my personal Avon lady), has a website which you can visit by clicking HERE.  She doesn't just do local face-to-face orders; she sells online and therefore ships across the continental US.  I got these on sale for $2.99.

And in true cat lady fashion, here is my babylove:

Essence "Irreplaceable"

Just a quick post before I head to bed.  My BFF Coryn picked this polish out at Ulta right before she dropped another one on the floor LOL. Oops.  Anyways I love this one. The formula is INCREDIBLE! This is 3 thin coats.

Essence "Irreplaceable"

There isn't a bad thing to say about this polish.  I am having trouble defining its attributes though, anyone want to give it a shot?  Thanks!

WnW "Behind Closed Doors" + accent nail

HALLO LADIES.

I wore this mani this weekend and looooved it.  I shy away from vampy dark colors because they do nothing for my hands but I couldn't resist after swatching them for you.  I used WnW "Behind Closed Doors" from the On the Prowl Halloween collection.  I also work at a daycare and we're not supposed to wear black nail polish (or lipstick...LOL) so I tend to obey that rule since I always get yelled at for wearing flip flops.  Just choosing my battles haha.

4 Coats of WnW "Behind Closed Doors"
1 Coat of WnW "Red Red" on the accent nail.

For the stamping I used my new BM plate 224 and used WnW Black Creme.  It was monsooning all weekend here so outside pictures was not an option.  We've gotten like 6 inches of rain in the past few days which is a lot for us, even our basement got some water -_-

Oh my rhinestones!

I've always always wanted a wheel of these but couldn't bring myself to pay the Amazon or craft store prices.  I got these from the bornprettystore for a sweet price.  They have a flat back which is perfect for nails and I secured these with a tiny drop of clear TC by using my dotting tool.

The tiny glitters were SO HARD to clean up I finally said screw it and just left them.  I mean really, how many times are you supposed to attempt clean up before giving up?  All the acetone was doing was turning the red glitter into silver glitter.

Color Club "Otherworldy" + polka dots

I got my first Color Club this week.  I have easy access to the Funky Fingers brand, which is run by the same mother company, so I have some dupes of some Color Clubs.  My first one was a beauty though, look:

Color Club "Otherworldy"

I really love the color and the formula was a breeze!  I also LOVE the bottle in comparison to Funky Fingers.  I wish they'd redo their bottle, its really up there with NOPI.

2 Coats.

There was still some VNL after two coats but I wasn't really put off by that.  I decided to stop because it felt like it was enough.  This color creates its own depth and the glitters are buried under the blue which looks really fun with the second coat that contrasts the depth.

I refreshed it with some polka dots. I used ChG "Snow" and a green nail art striper.

WnW On the Prowl Swatches

It's mid-August. So what does that mean? Halloween, of course.  Christmas in July and Halloween in August, I suppose. I saw swatches of these earlier this week and was immediately "on the prowl" for On The Prowl!

Only four from this really interested me, and luckily they were four that were still on the display.  I bought them at Harmon's for $1.79 each - a little cheaper than most places.

LEFT TO RIGHT:
Cougar Attack - Correction Tape - Tangled in My Web - Behind Closed Doors

I swatched these four polishes either over bare nails or over black or over colors I thought were suitable underwear. All polishes used were WnW brand.  The red is "Red Red", black is "Black Creme" and the orange is "Sunny Side Up".  Each of those are only 99. cents! All photos here are without BC and TC.

"Cougar Attack":

1 coat - 2 coats - 2 coats over black - 1 coat over black

I was so pleasantly surprised with "Cougar Attack"!  I was super close to passing on it after seeing it in the bottle, but decided since I was saving 60. cents "Hey, why not."  It's only 2 coats for opacity which is incredible for a glitter.  The dark jelly base certainly helps.  I like it best on its own.

"Tangled in My Web":

1 coat - 2 coats over black - 2 coats over SSU - 2 coat over red

 First off I apologize for the mess that is my ring finger and pinky.  I did not wait for them to dry, so there was streaking and smudging but it really didn't effect the outcome.  One coat doesn't look -that- different from two coats.  A bit of fishing is needed for this one; you need to try and load the brush up with as much glitter with avoiding all of the goopy clear base. (Which is hard to do with a black brush)  The possibilities of this one are really endless though.  Between frankening and using as-is, there is lots to be done with "Tangled"!

Also, this polish over black looks like Deborah Lippmann's "Funky Chunky".  And that being said - don't use it over black, lol.

"Correction Tape":

1 coat - 2 coats - 2 coats over red - 2 coat over black

Such a party glitter.  I have Milani "Gems" and WnW "Party of Five Glitters" so I really didn't need this one but it does bring a little something different to the table.  I'm confused by the name though, correction tape to me = dry white out on the rolly things.

"Behind Closed Doors":

Thumb is 3 coats.
From Left to Right:
1 coat - 2 coats - 2 coats over red - 2 coats over black

 LOVE this one.  The hex glitter was a little difficult to fish out. There is almost none on my fingers, but you can see it on my thumb.  I also prefer this one without underwear.  The dark gray jelly base creates depth!

Over all, these were great.  Drying time was nice, they're fun colors and versatile as well.  Their price makes me happy.

NOTE: There is A LOT of depth and detail to these polishes, I recommend you click to enlarge.

jelly sandwich mani with stamping

Hello everyone! I have a super fun mani for you to look at today. I hope it excites you as much as it does me.  A popular recent trend all over the Nail Board over at MUA is the "Jelly Sandwich" manicure.  This is one fad I will certainly indulge in as it produces beautiful results that last!

This is what I did, details further down (=

A "jelly sandwich" is a paint-job done by doing a few coats of a jelly, followed by a coat or two of a complimentary glitter and then that is sandwiched with another coat or two of the same jelly.  It makes your nails look like they've got a thick layer of delicious sparkles all over them.  My first attempt was a pleasant surprise.  This style of manicure is pretty goof-proof.

I used the second one from the left, "The Berry Minimum"

An adorable little set of jellies from Ulta made choosing my colors difficult because I wanted them all, but I finally decided on "The Berry Minimum" which is a bright magenta-y berry jelly.  After two coats of that, I put one coat of China Glaze "Bad Kitty", then one more coat of jelly followed by one coat of Out the Door.

It was more difficult for me to photograph this than a neon!  I haven't been able to take pictures in daylight so I have to work with what I've got.  This is pretty true-to-life.  If you click to enlarge you can see how the glitter is buried, or "sandwiched" under the jelly.  Such a pretty effect!

I wanted to add something else after wearing this for a full day so I decided to use my new Bundle Monster plates.  I used plate BM-225 and WnW Black Creme for the stamping.

I didn't do a perfect stamping job, and the bare spots really
showed, so I used my dotting tool to add some dots in the
areas that needed a little "something".

Please click to enlarge, the detail is amazing. The BM plates
are so crisp!

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did - What do you think?!

Confetti "Moonstruck" + SH "Hidden Treasure"!

Before we get onto the polish I have some sad and inconvenient news.  Yesterday I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  I have to wear a brace on my right hand for 1-2 months and then probably get cortisone injections.  There is a surgical option but I don't think it'll go that far.  Typing with a brace is hard, polishing with a brace is hard, writing with one is damn near and impossible and changing diapers for the kiddies at my job is actually impossible.

Last week my right hand went numb, mostly the fingers.  And four key fingers to diagnosing CTS were all going by the book.  My thumb, index finger, middle finger and half of my ring finger are all numb and there's some aching in my wrist.  It's pretty uncomfortable but bearable.  Right now I have my brace off because I needed to give it a rest for a little bit, but I normally won't be removing it.  That being said, posting may decrease in frequency or decrease in text.  I can post but typing is really annoying and difficult, so we'll see

Anyways, onto my NOTD! I saw this color on the NB at MUA but also on a coworker and when I went to pick up my brace from CVS I saw it was the last one and had to grab it!  For $1.99 you really can't say no, hehe.

3 coats "Moonstruck" + 1 coat OTD

Yes you read that right, Out the Door (OTD).  I am trying Out the Door for a bit.  I currently have two active bottles of SH ID red bottle but one has been causing bubbles really bad.  I figured I would give another TC a try.  OTD is about fifty cents to a dollar cheaper, depending where you shop.

It's muddy and murky but oh so pretty.  It's a strange color.
Kind of a gray with hints of lavender with some kind of
murky brown undertone.  It's unique!

Application was great.  After one coat I thought we were in trouble, it looked streaky and a little hopeless but this color took such a positive turn.  I am in love!

And we know I can't leave well enough alone, so after wearing this for a day I came home and added SH HT!  One of my favorite layering polishes, ever.  It brings something different to the table and I like that.

1 coat SH HT + 1 coat OTD TC

It's a rainbow (=

Love!

So what do you think about "Moonstruck"?  And what about the addition of HT?

"For Audrey" Lattice Nail Art + Tutorial

I have so many pictures ready to go but I couldn't decide which to post first, but I did, obviously.  I've been accumulating photos all week but finally sat down to resize and pick and there was a bunch!  Hopefully I'll be able to update regularly this week and get them all out!  Anyways, for now here is a manicure I did with one of my favorites.
 

Lattice Manicure

Two coats of China Glaze "For Audrey" and
actually, the ring finger is just one coat!

Then I added Cover Girl Boundless Color "Pink Twinkle"

"Pink Twinkle" looks amazing in the bottle but its super difficult to photograph on the nail.  It has been cloudy lately too, by the time I get home.  It's a pretty flaky.

Then I used a black striper to make diagonal stripes.

And then I went the other direction.

Then I used a dotting tool to dot the intersections with white.

I really thought this was cute.  I didn't wear it though because I already had FA on for a day or two and was getting bored, plus there were some chips from work.  I've decided to try to and add some kind of nail art or something to my plain manicures before taking them off to spice up my blogposts.  Truthfully, I like undecorated nails on me.  They make my fingers look longer which is something I want.  The decorations and heavy art tend to stubbify my fingers and I'd like to avoid that.  Cute accents on one nail or something is really fun and I wear that out and about but something like this, I'm not too sure about yet.  When my nails grow back a bit longer, I'll see.

As far as "For Audrey" goes - incredible application, amazing formula.  I can't believe I actually achieved a one coat nail.  IT CAN BE DONE.  This reminds me of why I love China Glaze so much (=  Speaking of China Glaze... HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW COLLECTIONS FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON? I can't wait!

citrus inspired fimo manicure

My love for yellow is growing and growing.  I did a citrus inspired manicure yesterday and loved it! On to the pics!

4 Coats "Bad Kitty" SH Complete Salon Manicure
1 Coat "Rock Out" Maybelline Salon Expert and SH TC

My two little fimo slices (=

Are those limes or lemons? I don't know. But I'm going with citrus. I used a drop of nail glue and then used my cuticle pusher to help hold them flat until they dried.  This nail did not have "Rock Out" on it.  The fimo hardened really nice with the topcoat over it.  They remind me of those pencil top erasers, I used to have them shaped like lemon, lime and orange slices xD

The sparkles show a little better here.  They look more white
without the flash.  Silver shows with flash.

Refreshing!

Thoughts?