Falling for Nail Art: Creepy Crawlers

Hi everyone! Today's (or rather Sunday's) Falling for Nail Art Challenge was inspired by "Creepy Crawlers". I have always wanted to do a silver and black spiderweb mani, so I took this as an opportunity to make it happen. I started off with a base of LA Girl Black Illusion, which has those wonderful scattered holo shards throughout. Then I stamped using Bundle Monster H07 plate and China Glaze Millennium. It turned out just how I imagined (although it did not please my husband since he really hates spiders). I used the same image on all of the nails, but on the accent nails I chose to do the bottom half of the image that included the spider and on the rest of my nails I used the top half of the image which was just the web.

Thanks for looking everyone!!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne and LA Girl Sands of Time

Hi everyone! I've been pulling out more and more fall colors, and I really got a hankering to wear Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne. It is a dark olivey green with gold and pink shimmer throughout (and very good shimmer, not hidden like some RBLs tend to be). I thought it would look really neat with some textured accent nails, so I went with a textured glitter from the LA Girl Sandblast Collection called Sands of Time. I love the way it turned out.

Here is a close-up of LA Girl Sands of Time so you can see the texture better. I really like this one!

I thought this mani turned out rather chic. The textured accents are a good way to add a little pizzazz to a normal mani. Thanks for looking everyone!

Happy Hands Illusions, Michael over L.A. Girl Electric Coral

So...I'm sort of late to the party, but I just started watching Arrested Development on Netflix. I'm on season 2 now and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to watch it. I finally GET what everyone is always talking about. And I finally GET the names of the Happy Hands I've Made a Huge Mistake collection. After Kristi, the maker of Happy Hands, re-released this collection I had to grab a few. I actually ordered OPI A Roll in the Hague because I loved Samarium's combo with it and Illusions, Michael, but I just happened to be wearing L.A. Girl Electric Coral when my package arrived. It was a match made in heaven. 

Illusions, Michael has red, orange, and gold glitters as well as gold star glitters in a clear base. It was inspired by Michael's brother Gob, a wannabe magician who is constantly trying to wow everyone with his "illusions" (not tricks). This is 1 coat over L.A. Girl Electric Coral. The stars come out quite easily, but I did place them a bit because I wanted them on the flattest part of my nail. 

Here is L.A. Girl Electric Coral, from the 3-D Effects Collection, on its own. It is just gorgeous! It is juicy and jelly with holo bits floating around. I would definitely recommend picking this one up (as well as any of the polishes from this collection.)

Happy Hands Polishes are available from Kristi's Etsy Shop or her Big Cartel Shop. For international customers, Happy Hands polishes are also available from Harlow & Co., Mei Mei's Signatures, and Femme Fatale Cosmetics. I buy L.A. Girl polishes either from Rite Aid or online from Cherry Culture. 

A Few Holo Manis: Layla, Color Club, and LA Girl

First up is Layla Red Taboo. This is one of the newer Layla holos and the color is just gorgeous (though it is a stretch to call it red). The holo flame is nice, but not quite as strong as the older Laylas. I think that the saturated color might have a lot to do with that. This is two coats over Jessica Retro Revival Aqua Base. My Laylas apply like butter over Aqua Base (just wait for the base to dry for about 8-10 minutes first). 

Next is Color Club Cosmic Fate from the 2013 Halo Hues release. This is an orangey/coppery holo that I absolutely adore. I normally wouldn't go for colors like this, but it is so flattering and gorgeous. Like the other Color Club holos, this one has an excellent formula and a special base is not required for easy application. For those of you who can't find these in brick and mortar stores, Llarowe is now carrying Color Clubs.

Finally I have one of the new LA Girl 3D Effect scattered holographic polishes. If you haven't picked one of these up, I urge you to seek them out. They are my favorite drugstore find in ages. If you love the Zoya holos from their Ornate Collection or the piCture pOlish scattered holos like Kryptonite and Cosmos, then these will be an excellent cheap thrill for you (although do be aware that the purple, black, and red are dupes for the Zoyas). I picked up Teal Dimension, but I will be going back for more. This is two flawless coats of Teal Dimension. I found these at Rite Aid, but they are available at Cherry Culture as well if you can't find them in your area. 

Thanks for looking everyone!

Advent Calendar Challenge Day 10: Lights

So for this mani I did some Christmas lights on my nails. Someone asked me how I made my Christmas lights and it was pretty simple. I took a piece of painter's tape and folded it in half. Then I cut a "parenthesis shaped" notch out of the tape, sort of like I was making paper snowflakes. So when it is folded, the notch should look like this: (  But when you open it up, there should be a hole in your tape that looks like
this: () You just want to make sure that the hole is a good size for your nails (not too big or small). Then I placed the tape at different angles on my nails and dabbed on sparkly colors for the lights.

Blue: Hits Gato-mia with Jordana Blue Bash dabbed on top
Red: Zoya Kimmy with Dollish I Wanna Do Bad Things to You dabbed on top
Green: Zoya Ivanka with Orly Here Comes Trouble dabbed on top
Orange: China Glaze Riveting with L.A. Girl Glitter Addict in Flamboyant dabbed on top
Pink (on my thumb, but not pictured): Hits Cirandinha with Orly Bubbly Bombshell dabbed on top

For the base of the mani, I used China Glaze Fast Track with China Glaze Fois Gras dabbed on top with a makeup sponge to create a marbled look. I actually forgot to post pictures of that by itself, but it was really pretty. I used a silver striper for the metal base of the lights and a white striper for the cord and accents on the lights. 

I'm a little behind on the challenge, but I am still doing my manis. I had to take a few days off to do some non-Christmas manis so I will post those soon for you to give you (and me) a little break). Thanks for looking everyone!

A Few Drugstore Finds!

I recently picked up a few drugstore polishes when I was out and about that are gorgeous and affordable!

First up is Spoiled Are Mermaids Real. This is from the Spoiled line sold at CVS. They are made by the same company that make Wet N Wild polishes, and some of them are actually re-bottled Wet N Wilds. Although there are some really pretty colors in the line, the horrid brush has kept me from buying many of them (only the most interesting ones). This one is totally worth dealing with the not so amazing brush. It is a gorgeous purple with golden shimmery flecks.

This is 3 coats (I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats, though).

I have heard some people ask how similar it is to the discontinued Sally Hansen Arabian Night. Here is Arabian Night on index and ring finger and Are Mermaids Real on the middle and pinky finger. As you can see, Arabian Night is darker and a touch more blue toned purple with less blingy shimmer than Are Mermaids Real. I think they are both great in their own way, and it is worth it to have both to me, if you are lucky enough to find Arabian Night.

Up next I found 2 pretties at Rite Aid. First up is a polish from the L.A. Girl Fruity line called Blissful Blackberry. These polishes have a gorgeous glass flecks in jelly bases, and I actually went back and got 2 more from the set because I liked this one so much!

This is 3 coats (It was a little sheer, but buildable).

Last up was Color Club Metamorphosis from the Take Wing collection. This polish has a slight duochromy look in the bottle, so I decided to layer it over black to try to bring that out. It is a gorgeous teal shade in most lights, but it does occasionally flash purple/pink.

This is 2 coats over black.

I love finding treasures at the drugstore! Cheap thrills are always fun! Thanks for looking!

Some Red, White, and Blue Manis!

Happy Independence Day to all of you from the US! It is also my husbands birthday today so we are having some friends over later for grilling, drinks, and CAKE! Yay!

I did a few different red, white, and blue manis this week, so I thought I would share them all with you.

First up is my mani for today. It is Hare Polish Leap-Light Year with Star Tropics accent nails. This mani is so juicy looking. It is so fun and festive for the 4th.

Up next I did 1 coat of LA Girl Glitter Addict Celebrate over Misa Pour Me Something Tall and Strong. The Misa is a squishy blue jelly that I would recommend to anyone who is on the search for such a polish. Celebrate does have a few pink hexes in it, but overall it still looks patriotic I think.

Next we have a red and white mani that I wore on Monday as a shout out to my Canadian friends on Canada Day. This is Cult Nails Evil Queen with 1 coat of OPI Pirouette My Whistle and 1 coat ove Nubar white polka dots on top.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!! Thanks for looking!