i caved.. OPI Black Shatter

I caved!!! I totally did.  I've seen TONS of shatter/crackle manicures lately, and to be honest only a few have actually looked like something I would wear.  There's a difference between liking something and liking something enough to wear it.  Most of them are really pretty and unique, but ultimately not for me.

I didn't want to write off shatter/crackle without at least trying it, and I figured somewhere down the line I would pick one up and give it an honest effort.  Well I went to Harmon's on my lunch break and saw one bottle of it left and something inside me went off.  I held it for a while, and walked around with it - debating SO hard.  And obviously, I caved. Here is what I came up with!

Two coats of Orly "Nail Armor" - Two coats of OPI DS "Divine"
One coat of OPI "Black Shatter" - One coat of Sally Hansen
"Hidden Treasure" with a topcoat of SH Insta-Dri

Hidden Treasure doesn't look as nice here as it does in real life.  It realistically adds an extra sparkle and shine that just wouldn't photograph for me.  Since I don't know when the next time I'll be able to have free time during daylight, I had to use indoor flash.

OPI DS "Divine" GORGEOUS.  Almost didn't want to cover it!

A delightful bright magenta holo!

Before HT and the TC - a surprising leathery finish!

The verdict? Well normally I know myself pretty well and know when I won't or will like something, but actually.. I DON'T HATE IT!  It's actually alright!  Black Shatter is a unique finish and I obviously don't have anything like it - so it's a nice addition to my collection.

I've seen the China Glaze crackles and the only one I would consider is the pink one.  The rest are OK, except the white.  I haven't seen anyone pull it off in anything that is even slightly aesthetically pleasing, IMO of course. People with hi-res photos, you can see how its not 100% opaque so the base color tends to poke through.  I don't like wearing white polish except for accents anyways, so no real surprise that I don't care for it.

What is your final opinion on the crackle/shatter craze?

guest nails x3

Well I haven't posted at all this weekend, so to make up for that and to ease my guilty conscience, I am posting 3 guest nails that I've accumulated over the past few weeks.  I took the pictures right when I was finished but not showing them til now. I hope you enjoy these pretties!

These are the roomie's nails.  A base color of Funky Fingers "Mad Hatter", three coats I believe.

Pretty blues (=  We topped it off with two coats of a sparkly topcoat of China Glaze "Blue Hawaiian".

As cute as this was, it chipped the next day when she was washing dishes.  Not just a little chip, but basically sheeted right off her nails.  Sad sad!

These are my sister's nubbins.  She expressed interest in growing them out and asked me how to.  I explained to her she needed a constant manicure and before she knew it, they'd be longer than she expected!

This is 3 coats of Funky Fingers "Cheshire" and I used some Art Club polishes to the little designy lines on her ring finger.

Last but not least is my BFF from grade school.

This is two (or three?) coats of China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" with Orly "Liquid Vinyl" for the tips.

Incredibly, I am only 3 followers away from my milestone making 50!  As promised, there will be a giveaway once 50 is reached.  However, it will have to be scheduled around my pay period, lol.  So if 50 is reached before I get paid again, then I will make a notice about the giveaway being stalled a little bit until that day comes.  I have most of the stuff for the giveaway already, but I've never sent nail polish before and I haven't a clue how much shipping will be.  It was also be a USA only since it is my first and I don't want to overwhelm myself quite so soon!

Also a TOTAL DOLLFACE from MUA sent me a polish I've been FIENDING for!  Much more then a lemming, much much more.  I'll keep you on the edge of your seats until it arrives.

Thanks for reading & as always, images are clickable for enlarged detail!

funky fingers "voodoo"

Ohhh I love it!  I normally don't go for any type of dark colors.  I love bright happy pastels and such, but this one weaseled a way into my heart!

"Voodoo" is a black jelly base with teeny tiny little copper.. glitter?  Is that glitter?  I'm still trying to learn how to identify all elements to a polish but these little shiny pieces seem smaller than normal glitter.  Whatever they are, they're copper.  And pretty (=

This was taken outdoors.  You can see the sparkles better.  Click to enlarge this one for sure because it really is a stunning yet subtle added element to the polish!
 

Anyways,  what exactly is the sparkly element of this polish actually called?  Thanks!!

ugly mani; cute kitty

U-g-l-y you don’t got no alibi, you ugly YEA YEA, you ugly! Atleast, this manicure is.  First off, in the lighting of my room, the basecoat is pink.  I went outside today and its freaking fluorescent orange.  Two things I don’t like; fluorescent and orange.  I wanted to rip the polish off my nails so bad haha.  Anyways, figured I would post it since I did it, ha.

Base coat is two coats of L.A. Colors Color Craze and I don’t remember the name as I threw out the packaging already.  I assumed the color name would be on the bottle somewhere but it isn't!  The color name was not relevant to the color itself; it was some kind of high wire or electrical current type of name.  Not “Fluorescent orange”, either way it had me fooled.

On top of the basecoat I used a Q-tip (Learn from my mistakes, DO NOT USE Q-TIPS FOR DOTTING) with ORLY “Liquid vinyl” to create the flower shape.  I used a paperclip to make the little dots, which works really well.  

For the inside of the flowers I used ORLY “Green apple”, Funky Fingers “Cheshire” and “South Hampton sea foam”.  They covered nicely and quite opaquely over the black so that was nice to see.  I used Sally Hansen “Confetti” and Insta-dry top coat to seal and cover the designs.  

Since this mani sucked so much I decided I needed to brighten the mood (=  My brother lives in California on his own but had acquired two kitties when he lived in Las Vegas.  Anyways,  he was having trouble finding places that accepted pets so he sent his kitties on an airplane a few months ago to the sweet land of New Jersey to live with us. 

The little bugger in this picture is Frank, aptly named after Frank Zappa.  We are convinced he is part ragdoll because he’s so floppy.  I guess you would have to know him to know what I mean but this cat is ridiculous. He literally looks around to see what kind of trouble he can get into.  Anyways! He has his ADORABLE moments, like today, when I heard some noise on my bed behind me.  I turned around and see Frankie burrowing under my comforter as usual.  Ten minutes later I turn around and he has literally tucked himself into bed and went to sleep!  Most cats I have seen HATE blankets, but no, not Frank- he prefers!

1.. 2.. 3.. AWWW. look at his dirty nose xD his sister has spots around her nose too.

Hope you enjoy & all images are clickable!

marble swatches

ive been playing around with marbling a lot to figure out the best techniques. i still havent figured that out but i did make some cute color combinations lol.

im starting to think marbling would be a great idea for highschool girls going to a pep rally or something along those lines. i made one (not shown) of virginia tech's colors unintentionally. a lot of school colors would look nice marbled. i was thinking my own highschools colors. since i transfered my junior year i have two sets. the first was silver and navy blue and the other was gold and blue. just a thought!

heres what i think when i see these samples: halloween (spiderweb nails), cotton candy and summer! im going a pineapple mani soon, ill show pics later this week.  i love the results!! sorry though, i cannot remember which brands or names these are.. i was just mixing and matching haphazardly. enjoy regardless. click for enlarged detail! (=