Vinyl Remix - Test Drive

So I was scouting around Wal-Mart's polish section (imagine that!), and I snagged my 2 NYC "Grand Central Station" clear top coats that another blogger (sorry, can't remember who) said is better than Seche Vite!  Anywhoo, I was looking through the Maybeline section and saw a bunch of these Pure Ice sets (go figure):

I had never heard of these before, and I was intrigued!  All of the shrink-wrapped sets were black and white, but with different colored labels on the black.  So, what is "Art In Motion"?  Doesn't say, but the word "MAGIC" is all over, an I'm a sucker for magic, especially if it's in a bottle of polish!

Here's what the back says.  Hmmm, still not exactly sure what it does.  But the design on the little record (which is also a nail file), is a hint!

So, I rushed home, removed my Zoya mani (which came off very easily and cleanly...add me to the "I love Zoya" band-wagon), And put on the white base coat:

This is two coats.  Went on just fine.  I let this dry, then busted out the black polish.  The "tips" under the label say to brush "a wave, half moon, heart, diagonal stripe, or straight" lines.  So, I did.

 And it WAS magic!!  Look, it made pink, and black crackle over that!  Very fun fun fun!  And it crackled pretty well! 

I guess Pure Ice wants you to buy other colors, and then fill in the white areas with those for a complete design.  So, my final verdict is that it was really fun to watch the design appear, but I would rather just use my own pretty polishes under my own black crackle.  Each set is like $7.00, and it was thoroughly entertaining! 

Will you be trying these out?

A Zoya / Plasma 2-fer

So Plasma Plays in 21 Ways says that for my next mani's, I must "12. Pick a Green" and "13. Add a Layer of Polish Over That Green You Think Doesn't Go with It".  So I looked in my stash for green:

Sorry the pic is crooked!  Anyway, the point is that I had a bunch to choose from, right?  But I really wanted to try one of my new Zoya's, so I went with "Shawn":

How pretty is that?  This is 2 coats with no top coat.  It was super-shiny, and I love this military green color.  I had to get used to the consistency...it's kind of thin, but not really (it doesn't pool at the cuticles), but the more I brushed it on, then I would get bald spots, like the polish was already drying, but it wasn't dragging or clumping.  So I just stuck to 2 thin coats & it's marvelous.

So, what will NOT go with this?  I figured everything would, but then I saw Zoya "Opal", an aqua-ish flakie top coat.  And even though they are both "green", I think they totally do not work together.

So, after 1 coat of Opal over my lovely "Shawn" nails, here's what I got:

Well, not the best, and not the worst either.  I would love to see "Opal" on a dark teal, or light aqua!  It's not great on "Shawn".  But I got to try my Zoyas, and I love them!  Mission accomplished!

So, check off #12 and #13!

My Very First Zoyas!!

I've heard so much about Zoya, and how wonderful it is, that I had to check it out.  When I first visited their page, I was not disappointed!  After drooling over the TONS of colors, I then realized that each polish was $8, which is out of my price range for non-Indi polishes.  But I saw that they had periodic specials, so I put colors in my cart, but didn't buy...yet. 

Then, Zoya had their Earth Day promotion, where you get 50% off polishes, and you send back non-earth friendly non-Zoya polishes for them to dispose of properly.  Like I said, they have TONS of gorgeous and unique colors, but I managed to whittle it down to these (for now):

 no flash

with flash

Yes, those are Summer collection ones in the front...I'm weak in the face of all of those bloggers posting about them!  And, YES, they are as gorgeous as they all say they are!  Some of these polishes have super-pretty shimmer in them, but I think the cremes are just as lovely!  I can't wait to try them...I see a water marble in the future! 

After seeing the color spoon of the Summer collection in person, I'm convinced I must get them ALL!  I'm also wanting to try the 2 oz of their polish remover I got too...So, I'll definitely be watching for the next Zoya special offer. 

I believe my next mani is supposed to be green.  Hmmmm....

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "11. Pick a Color You've Never Worn"

This way to play was an easy one...or so I thought!  I have sooo many gorgeous polishes that I haven't even tried yet, I was really excited about this one.  And then I had to decide!  Ugh!  So, I figured I wanted to try some of my lovely Indies, but I couldn't pick just one... 

This is Pretty & Polished's "Black Swan" and Darling Diva Polish's "Divalicious" tipped with Lacquistry's "And Miles to Go Before I Sleep". 

In the sun!!!

OMG, right!?!  I love holographic polishes!  This is two coats of each, and they went on so smoothly!  And I haven't met a Lacquistry polish I didn't absolutely drool over!  I really think this looks like light reflecting off snow, which is exactly how she described it.  LOVE!!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "10. Ombre"

As I mentioned in the post about #7 in Plasma Plays in 21 Ways, I'm still not clear on the difference between a "gradient" and an "ombre".  So, I'm going with "gradient" is with different shades of the same color, and "ombre" is different colors. 

As I also mentioned previously, I'm not so crazy about the whole sponging process to get the polishes to fade into one another.  It results in TONS of layers that don't dry.  WELL, in doing my research (aka drooling over gorgeous nail art pics on the net), I found two things that made me feel better about this whole process:

1. I saw the Eastern Night Cocktail's pic
2. I figured out that the sponge should be WET

That last bit of news was a total "DUH" moment.  My sponge kept soaking up my polish, rather than patting onto my nail like everyone else's, and I couldn't figure it out.  Thank God for YouTube!  :-)

So, that mani is like, totally gorgeous, right?  And I am loving the matte finish more than I should.  So, here's my version:

The first and last are without flash.  I really like the gradient effect under the matte finish!  This mani looks waaaay better in person.  I used China Glaze "Seduce Me" and Sinful Colors "Let's Talk" topped with NYC Matte Top Coat.  After I added the normal top coat dots, I regretted them, and I should have left them off...I need more dotting practice!  Live & learn!

Speaking of learning, this time after I polished my nails with the red, I polished a layer of purple on the top part of my nail and let it dry.  Then I sponged (with a WET sponge) purple a little further into the red.  Then I took a little polish on my polish brush and "pounced" on the obvious line between the polished-on purple, and the sponged-on purple to even things out.  This technique worked MUCH better for me, and made the whole process bearable.

YAY for matte ombres!!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "9. Ruffian!"

My friends recently sucked me in to Pinterest.  So I was looking at the Zoya pics, and found this gorgeous Ruffian by the Girlie Tomboy.  I really don't like the Ruffian look, much like the half-moon mani, but I really liked this one.  So, here's my version:

I used NYC In a NY Minute "MoMa" and "Pier 17" and Pure Ice "Silver Mercedes".  This was actually my second attempt, as the first was total fail.  I say it's cute, but not worth the effort. 

Do you like Ruffians?

MY FIRST GIVE-AWAY!!!

Ever since I've started seeing pics of Revlon's "Whimsical", I've been searching the shelves of every store I visit to see if it's there.  This has been going on for months, and I had all but given up hope.  But then, yesterday on lunch break, it occurred to me to visit the nearby K-Mart.  And my search was OVER! 

And not only did I find one, but there were TWO!!  So, I scooped them both up, thinking I could share with my fellow polish-addicts, who have helped me grow my addiction beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

So, to win this brand-new bottle of the elusive "Whimsical", just CLICK HERE to "Like" my FaceBook page, and then COMMENT on my FB pic that looks just like the one above.  I'll be picking the winner from those FB commenters on April 27, 2012.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "8. Get Your Stripe On"

I was apprehensive for this mani.  Plasma Speedo's "Plasma Plays in 21 Ways" says I need to do a stripe mani for #8.   I have several bottles of "stripers", but I haven't used them for a bona fide design...just outlines under a french mani tip. 

So I searched You Tube for inspiration, and saw THIS VIDEO.  So here is my attempt at weaving lines:

Yeah, nothing like the video, and totally sloppy, but I'm happy with it!  They look much better in person at arms' length ;-).  But I'm proud that I tried it, and I know I just need practice to get better.  I really dig the colors too! 

The red nails are a not-named polish from "Love and Beauty" and a black Milani art striper.  The accent nails are Pure Ice "Silver Mercedes" topped with "Toro" from Red Carpet Lacquer.  I also added a coat of Dollish Polish "Putting on the Ritzzz", cuz it needed just a little more black glitter than "Toro" had.  All in all, I think I'm keeping this one around a while!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "7. Do a Gradient of 2 Colors or More"

I've never done a gradient, although I've seen some on YouTube.  I've tried sponging before, and I didn't like it because it seems as though the sponge soaks up all the polish, and I have to tap forever to get any results.  Not worth it.

So, I figured I'll try it again.  I watched videos, and I was all ready to try my gradient.  But then I noticed that "gradient" and "ombre" were sometimes used interchangeably in a lot of the videos.  And "gradient nails" and "ombre nails" look suspiciously similar.  Hmmm...Well #10 on Plasma Plays in 21 Ways, it says "Ombre Nails".  So what's the difference? 

I couldn't figure it out.  So, I'm going with "gradient=same shades" & "ombre=different colors".  So here are my nails:

Cult Nails "Sandbourne" & "Tulum", tipped with Sinful Colors "This Is It".  I know the gold doesn't look like it's part of the same shade, but it is!  "Sanbourne" & "Tulum" have golden shimmers in them! 

I still don't like this method.  My tips took FOREVER to dry, even with Seche Vite...I guess that's because there were at least 8 layers of polish there!  And they still got a little ruined cuz I had to use the restroom when they weren't completely set!  Ugh!!!!

So, if you know the difference between gradient & ombre, please share!!!

Fantabulous Giveaway!!

There are no words to describe the awesomeness that is this give-away from "Vintage Musings of a Modern Pin-Up".  Click here: http://konadlicious.blogspot.com/2012/04/konadlicious-500-awesome-3000-followers.html

I'm soooo hoping for that one-of-a-kind Lacquistry polish!!

Historical Nails

I'm going to the Renaissance Faire tomorrow, and I always dress in costume.  And I mean historically-researched, appropriate sewing techniques & linen/silk/wool materials.  So, behold my historically accurate nails:

Blasphemy, I know, but it must be done.  I'll be back to my normal polished state when I get back home.  I promise! ;-)

Besides, I got my newest KB Shimmer order & my Julep Spring Mystery Box to show you tomorrow, too! 

And even more Indie nail mail...

Look at how freakin' exciting this package was!!!

I LOVE how much attention is paid to the packaging of these polishes!  How could you not love them already?  But wait, look at this:

These are "Toro" and "Hitter" from Red Carpet Lacquer!  These are some freakin' awesome glitter polishes!  Look at them!  Holy Cow, these are amazing!  Click that link to see for yourself...she takes much better pics than I.  I'm sooo happy with these!!!  Happy dance!!!! :-)

I've also sent a request to the fantastical Jenna at Lacquistry for some custom polishes.  I've got some beachy ideas, but I haven't heard back from her yet, so we'll see if they're do-able.  I can't tell you how excited I am at the prospect of having such a talented artist make polishes just for me!  Wow!

BTW, I still have the same dark mani, and it's showing some serious wear, but I'm too tired to change my polish tonight :-(  I'll let you know when I get something new on the nails!

Indie Nail Mail

I still have my dark flower mani, so today I will show you what came in the mail:

This is from a great new-to-me Independent Shop on Etsy called "Darling Diva Polish".  These came individually wrapped in bubblewrap and tissue, so they were like little presents!

Little presents of lovely nail bling!!  These are "Xanadu", "Divalicious", and "Grand Dragon".  Sorry I couldn't get a good pic of the glitters, but they are amazing!  YAY!

Look at the fantastic holo in "Divalicious"!   This pic is closer to the actual raspberry-ish color it really is.  Super-gorgeousness!!  I'm so glad I found another fantastic indie polish maker!

And I also got a couple of much-coveted polishes from "Whimsical Ideas by Pam".  Here are Kismet's Pajamas, and the infamous Peanut Butter & Jelly:

These are as amazing as everyone says they are!  I want to put these on NOW, but I'm going to stay true to Plasma's 21 Ways to Play.  I'm so glad I splurged and got these, though - I was really debating because of the price, but they are sooo totally worth it.  I love that Kismet's PJ's are named for her cat...I don't know why that charms me so much!

These packages were awesome!  And I'm still waiting for orders from 3 other Indie polish peeps, my first order from Cult Nails, and the Spring Mystery Box from Julep.  I am so glad there are so many wonderful polish options for us fanatics!  :-)

Plasma Speedo's 21 Ways to Play: "6. Stamp Some Metallic Polish on the Dark"

So yesterday I made some really bad choices.  I washed my car.  By hand.  My hands.  And I Armor-All'd everything.  And I also made a turkey dinner with all the fixin's, which of course means a lot of cleaning up along the way.  Which all equals wear and tear on the tips of my dark mani.  :-(  So I had to touch up the tips a bit before stamping.

This was my first real stamping foray, and after a few false starts, I got the hang of it!  This was really easy and fun!  The hardest part was finding a metallic polish that would show up against the black.  Take a look:

I LOVE how the flowers came out.  Check out the Lacquerologist's Springy Flowers Mani, which was my inspiration!  I used a lavender Wet n Wild metallic, and a Sally Hansen's Raspberry Chrome polish for the stamping, and they stamped very well and look really cool!  The best part is that they looked good messy-style.  I was super-excited about how it came out.  Then I tried adding silver butterflies with Pure Ice "Silver Mercedes".  But some butterflies came out better than others, and at the end of the day, I think I should have left well enough alone.  Well, live and learn!  

I'm still happy with this design, and will try something like this again.  Stamping is fun!  Thanks to Plasma Speedo for inspiring me to try different nail stuff with her Plasma's 21 Ways to Play!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "5. Go Dark"

I have a bunch of dark colors that I haven't yet used, so had to go through a few before I settled on one.  But I was also thinking ahead to #6 in the Plasma Speedo's "Plasma Plays in 21 Ways", which is to stamp a metallic color over the dark mani.   I've got some metallic purples & pink, so I colored my nails with this:

This is a polish I picked up at Forever 21, and sadly, it has no name. But it is a beautiful dark black with subtle purple shimmer and I had full coverage after 2 coats.  Sorry the shimmer is hard to see in the pic, even in sunlight, but it's there in person.  I've been very happy with these Love & Beauty polishes so far!

I got my stamping inspiration/idea from The Lacquerologist's "Springy Flowers" mani.  It's sooo cute, but I'll be doing it in a kinda bizzarro way, since her's are on a white base and mine will be on black.  I hope it works out!

In other news, on my way home from dropping off the boys at school, I HAD to stop at CVS to see what they had:

My aqua-ish little haul.  I know they all look the same, but they're not!  L-R: Spoiled's "First Class Only", "Use Protection", "Deeper Dive", "Good Karma", and "The Parking Meteor Expired" - you have to see the little purple/teal flecks in this in person!  These are all beautiful and totally remind me of SCUBA diving in the Mexican Caribbean.  Ahhh, que nice!

And I'm totally blaming The Crumpet & her friggin' awesome Blue Mosaic mani for my recent acquisitions!  I loved her mani so much, I was instantly jealous of the range of teals she had.  So, now I've got my own! :-P

OK, so #4 here is only going to last till tonight.  I've got to puruse my stamping plates now...

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "4. Execute a Half-Moon Mani"

I am totally diggin;' the light spring pastel colors that are out right now!  I didn't think they would look good on my darker skin, but I found some I really like.  So I figured it was time for #4 in Plasma Speedo's 21 Ways to Play, Execute a Half-Moon Mani:

I should have cleaned up the cuticles before the pic, but I wanted to take it in this last little bit of sunlight so I could capture the sparkly top coats of China Glaze's "Fairy Dust" and Sally Hansen's "Disco Ball".  I must admit, I'm not a fan of this style of mani, which is why I decided to really try to go different with the shatter layer.  Meh.  I actually liked it better before the half-moon:

Well, this one will be on today & tomorrow, and then I'm moving on to #5 Go Dark.  Oh yeah!  Speaking of dark, my toes got a couple of new coats today too:

The base is a no-name black shimmer polish from Forever 21.  It was actually nice and thick, and was opaque in 2 coats with lots of silvery shimmer.  Not too bad for $1.  The crazy glitter on top is "Endangered Blue Loon" from Windestein.  This Etsy shop is really cool, and their prices are amazing.  "Blue Loon" is $5 for a full bottle, and I picked up "Into the Wild" and "80's Deco" for $6 each.  And shipping was super-fast.  Click that link!

Have a Happy Easter!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "3. Polka Dots"

Easter is around the corner, so I HAD to do a cute mani for it!  First I saw this You Tube video from CutePolish: Cute Bunny Nails.  I LOVE her cute, short, simple tutorials!  I've got a few more on my "to try" list.

So, I also have a bunch of new polishes that I have not yet tried.  And I got new dotting tools too.  And I've got #3 of Plasma Plays in 21 Ways I still need to do.  Here's what I came up with:

How flippin' cute is that?  Yes, I know my bunnies are kind of lame, but for a first try, I'm calling it not too bad at all.  That Cute Polish girl really knows how to make this stuff look waaaay easier than it really is.

Here are the polishes I used:

I also got some new nail mail, but I'll share that another day.  Soooo, what do you think???

Polish Giveaways

Hightail it on over to Smashley Sparkles for a chance to win China Glaze's GR8 gold holo in her 600 follower giveaway!  Looks awesome! :-)

And here's a chance to win a Revlon's Whimsical and Sinful Colors Cinderella from Bethany on A Plethora of Nails First Giveaway.  And she says this is a "little" giveaway!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "2. Add A Layer (of something) to That Nude"

Well, that's basically what #2 says.  Check it out yourself here: Plasma Plays in 21 Ways. 

I looked through my shimmers/glitters/flakies/holos, and found what I think is PERFECT with my nude mani:

Lacquistry's "Tepes"

I LOVE this!  The "Dress Me Up" is the perfect pale backdrop for the glittery gorgeousness that is "Tepes".  I need a bit more practice with my French Tip free-handing, but I'm likin' it!

I've already got grand plans for #3, which is "Polka Dots", but I love this mani so much, it's gonna get to stick around a while.  Have you started your 21 ways to play?

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "1. Rock a Nude Shade"

Here are my "nude" nails for Plasma Speedo's "Plasma Plays in 21 Ways".

This is China Glaze "Dress Me Up" from the Hunger Games Collection.  It's a perfect pinky-beige, and I'm calling it a nude :-)

Gorgeous as this is on its own, it's kinda tame for me, which is why I'm already thinking of the 2nd way to play: "Add a Layer of Shimmer/Glitter/Anything You Choose, To That Nude". 

Excuse me while I go stare at my polish stash to figure this one out... :-)

Idears to use my newly-grown polish stash

I think I'm on polish over-load.  I've got so many new, gorgeous polishes that I can't decide what to put on next.  And there are so many options for techniques to apply said polishes, that I'm finding I'm falling into "paralysis by analysis".  So, enter this life-saving post: PlasmaSpeedo: Plasma Plays in 21 Ways

So, I'm totally on-board with this!  I'll start today with "1. Rock a Nude Shade".   Sounds like a plan.

I got my camera to work, so here are my newest additions:

Lacquistry's "Oh Yes I Did", "Donald Trump's Iguana", "Cotton Candy", "Paean of the Bells", "A Friggin' Circus", and "Winter No. 1".  As you know from my previous post, I've already broken into "Paean of the Bells"!  Super-fantastic glittery beauty!  LOVE me some Lacquistry!

And with flash!  Sparkly!

Here are my Pretty & Polished goodies:

I got "Jawbreaker"!  Happy Dance!!  And the little guy is "Amazing Technicolor Top Coat", which is all the glitters left over from her polish-mixing thrown into a One-Of-A-Kind little top coat...re-using & recycling always makes me happy! ;-)

And on the way home from breakfast, I had Hubby to stop at Walgreens so I could see what I could see.  And I saw these:

How pretty!  The pink is "Pink Forever" and the gold is "This Is It".  I love the bonus little rose!

OK, so that's it for now.  I've got to start soaking my glittered toes & fingers in acetone...:-)