Lacquistry's "24k Shredded" & Orly "Buried Alive"

I had to attend a pretty important/formal meeting at work, so I needed some plain nails.  I thought a dark brown-ish Autumn mani might be appropriate, and I found my untried Orly "Buried Alive" in my stash.  Look at the beautiful golden shimmer in this!  

This is 2 easy coats and they went on super-smoothly!  <3

As soon as I got home on Friday, I had to spice it up.  I used a Bundle Monster plate and stamped it with gold Pure Ice "Jaguar", and really blinged it out with another untried in my stash, Lacquistry's "24k Shredded":

 

BLING!!

Plaid Nails, Cuz It's FALL!!!

It is over 95 degrees here in So Cal.  According to Google, Autumn started two days ago!  So I figured I'd help the weather remember that it's supposed to be COOL in Autumn.  I took inspiration from one of my soft wool scarves from Scotland for some extra cold-weather juju, and here's my first try at plaid nails:

I <3 my plaid nails!!!  I think I'm getting better with my stripers, too!  The base is China Glaze "Recycle" which is a perfect medium grey creme, IMHO.  

I even tried wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt this morning to really make it feel like Fall, but it's gotten so hot that I've changed into shorts & a tank top :-(.  Well, at least it's not over 100 degrees today.   

Giveaway for My International FB Fans!

I am currently giving away a bottle of awesome nail polish for my U.S. Face Book fans, and I felt horrible that I couldn't include my wonderful International fans because of the issues I've read about with shipping nail polish internationally.

Therefore, I am opening a giveaway just for my International fans!  The prize is a 2-pack of Sally Hansen "Salon Effects" nail polish strips:

Again, I just want to thank you for being a fan of my Face Book page, and I'm grateful for your support!

OK, on to the giveaway:

The giveaway starts NOW and ends on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 12:01 a.m. EST.
  The giveaway for these Sally Hansen strips is open for International fans ONLY!  Click HERE to enter my U.S. residents giveaway!

I will announce the winner on my Face Book page (of course) and here on my blog.  If the winner does not contact me within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

To enter via the Rafflecopter thingie below, you must be an International fan of my FB page...that's it!!  Because this giveaway is a "thank you" to my FB fans, I am not requiring you to follow my blog, but if you'd like to, please do! ;-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lacquistry Giveaway for My U.S. Facebook Fans!

I recently noticed that I have over 350 fans on Facebook, and as of this post I have 361!  It's overwhelming to me that 361 people care about what I have to say about my nail art, and I'm flattered and honored and am very thankful.

As a way to thank my loyal fans, I am giving away a brand new, never-used bottle of Lacquistry's "I Make It Rain (Leaves)" from her "Sweater Weather" Fall Trio collection.  I was lucky enough to snag both of her Fall Trio collections, but I have seen lots of comments from people who were disappointed they couldn't get Lacquistry's polish for one reason or another.  So, I'd like to offer a chance to you!

Since you're a fan of mine, you already know how much I love Jenna @ Lacquistry not only for her genius polishes, but because she is truly an awesome person.  I've had the privilege of working with her on some custom orders, and with every convo back and forth, I am made more certain that she is genuinely selfless and caring, and the world desperately needs more peeps like her.

Why am I going on and on about Jenna again?  Because I would like the winner of this polish to know a little bit about the person who created it, and because it is her giving spirit that inspired me to offer this polish to you!

OK, on to the giveaway:

The giveaway starts NOW and ends on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 12:01 a.m. EST.
  This giveaway for "I Make It Rain (Leaves)" is open for U.S. residents ONLY!  Click HERE to enter my International fans giveaway!

I will announce the winner on my Face Book page (of course) and here on my blog.  If the winner does not contact me within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

To enter via the Rafflecopter thingie below, you must be a U.S. fan of my Face Book page, and a fan of Lacquistry Nail Polish's page...that's it!!  Because this giveaway is a "thank you" to my U.S. FB fans, I am not requiring you to follow my blog, but if you'd like to, please do! ;-)

GOOD LUCK, AND THANKS AGAIN!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Serum No 5 "Day Glow"

I saw THIS POST on Nailblog.net, and I absolutely knew I HAD to have "Day Glow" by Serum No. 5!  It was like, the BEST glow-in-the-dark polish I had ever seen!  So I trotted on over to the Serum No. 5 ETSY SHOP , and was in luck because "Day Glow" was in stock at the time.  I debated the high (for me) price for just a minute before pressing the "purchase now" button, and I'm soooo glad I did.  I understand this polish is selling out almost instantly once it's stocked.  So, here's what I got for my troubles:

Pretty, right?  This is 3 thin coats with top coat.  Each coat dried pretty quickly, and although it's still a little streaky, it's not too bad.  It's a nice bright frozen-lemonade yellow which I liked wearing alone.  But it was just a little too plain for me.

  So I did a water marble.  I used Sinful Colors "Black on Black" and a Sally Hansen top coat I had...apparently it's the only one I own which is not "Fast Dry".  Still, it was kind of sketchy, and I'm going to have to find a nice clear polish for water marbling (I'm open to suggestions!).  And yes, I am purposefully stringing you along before I bust out the awesome glowing pics ;-)

Like I said, kind of sketchy.  But I think it looks a little spooky, which is pretty cool!

OK, OK, I put my hand in the sun for about 5 minutes, locked myself in the bathroom, and this is what I saw:

These are UNEDITED pictures!  This stuff is AMAZINGLY bright.  Cool, right?

"Day Glow" is currently sold out, but according to the Etsy Shop announcement, it will be re-stocked on October 1.  I got mine for $12 + $3 shipping at the beginning of August.  I suggest shop-stalking to get your hands on some! :-)

"Dragon" & Lacquistry Fall Polishes (lotsa pics)!!!

So last night I finally tried out my dusty A England "Dragon".  It's sooo beautiful IRL, these pics don't do it justice:

Super-smooth, this is 2 coats of holo gorgeousness!  Totally reminds me of dragon scales, which is cool because I'm on Book 3 of the Game of Thrones series "Song of Fire & Ice", in which dragons have returned! :-).  My nails remind me of Daenerys's dragons, and I love them!!!

When I got home after work tonight, I discovered my Lacquistry Fall Collection polishes in the mail!!! YAY!!  I was lucky enough to snag all 6 polishes when Jenna re-stocked her shop, so I am a super, super happy girl!  I immediately picked out 2 of my faves and I smothered the "Dragon" in spectacular autumn-ness:

 Goes great w/Pumpkin Ale!

 Playing in the leaves Jenna included in the envelope!

These are "Pickin Punkins in the Patch" and "Corn Maize" <---clever name!!  2 coats of each totally coated each nail in glittery goodness!  I topped 'em with Gelous and then Seche Vite to make 'em smooth & shiny!  You have eyes, so there's really not much more to say about these fantastical autumn glitter bombs!  I'm soooo excited to get these Lacquistry polishes inspired by my favorite season!    

I know I sound like a total broken record, but Jenna is a polish genius!  She's an amazing person full of integrity and chock-full of talent, and she truly cares about her art and her customers.  I'll gush all day long about her & her polish...just try to stop me! ;-)  Unfortunately, her Fall Collection has sold out, but keep an eye on her FB Page for an announcement on when her Halloween Collection will be released.  I. MUST. HAVE. THOSE!

Shifty "Facets" by Ninja Polish

I had been seeing all the awesome pics and reading the raves about Ninja Polish's "Facets" polishes, and I was intrigued.  They are gorgeous multi-chrome polishes with multi-chrome glitters in them!  How can you go wrong?  At $11 each, they are above my usual "per polish" price limit, but they seemed like magic, I couldn't resist the influence of the insane blog pics, and I ended up buying all 3!!

I tried out "Color Changing Garnet" and "Alexandrite" in this mani, which started with a black base of China Glaze "Liquid Leather".  I cut strips of painter's tape with a pair of scrapbooking scissors for a bit of design, stuck it diagonally across each nail, and painted each polish on either side, swapping the placements on my ring finger:

A thousand curses on the limitations of my stupid camera for not being able to capture the amazingness of these color shifts!!!  "Garnet" changes from an autumn-red, to gold, to green..perfect for fall!  "Alexandrite" shifts from emerald green to purple.  And something else amazing: there's pink glitter in "Alexandrite", but it only shows up when the polish shifts to purple.  AWESOME!!  There is so much going on here with all of the color changes, it's hard for me to stop staring at my nails.

Unfortunately, the "Facets" collection is sold out right now, but when you hear about a re-stock, you had best RUN to get these.  Keep tabs on updates on the Ninja Polish FB Page.  These are TOTALLY worth every penny!!  

Scales on NOPI "Mer-maid For Each Other"

I read a review of Nicole by OPI's limited-edition, only-available-at-Target duochrome polish called "Mer-maid For Each Other" on Nailblog.net.  And after seeing the pretty pictures, I ran out to the local Target and snagged the very last one they had!

I didn't leave it on alone very long, and only snapped a few camera phone pics:

At the beach (oh, so appropriate!)

 With Pumpkin Spice Latte:

If you look closely, you can see the duo-chrome effect from green to aqua blue.  It's much cooler in real life.  This is 2 coats of MFOE with a top coat.

So what to do to spice up a mermaid manicure?  Add scales, of course!  

With flash (you can see a little of the aqua blue here):

And it goes perfectly with the yarn of the scarf I'm currently knitting:

 With flash:

 

Look at how different the MFOE looks here than it does in the first pics!!  Awesome color shift!

I used Sinful Colors "Hot Spot" to stamp on the scale pattern from Mash plate #39.  It stamped wonderfully, but the design wasn't wide enough for my thumb, which is why it looks a little wonky on the edge.  I absolutely could not capture any of the color shift with this lighting set up, so you'll just have to take my word that when the MFOE shifts to the aqua blue, it also goes really well with Hot Spot too.  This manicure makes me happy! ;-)

KB Shimmer "Elle"

I have neglected my polish-posting this week, so I am ALMOST behind on my Alphabet Challenge with Lustrous Lacquer.  We're on the letter "E" this week, and today is the last day of the week, so I'm barely making it!

I looked through my "untrieds" and actually saw a few "E" polishes.  But "Elle" from KB Shimmer has been languishing long enough, and today is her day:

 With flash:

Very pretty and subtle...well, as subtle as a glitter bomb can be!  This is 3 coats topped with Seche Vite.  Each coat applied smoothly and was super-packed with glitter, as per usual KB Shimmer perfection.

Elle is part of the "Circus Collection" and is inspired by performing elephants.  You can order it HERE.  I think it's very elephant-y!

Revlon's Scented Polish & NoHolos Limited Edition "Black Hearted Love"

After reading THIS POST from Nailblog.net, I got curious about Revlon's scented nail polishes.  I had actually seen them before, but passed them up since it seemed such a crazy thing, to intentionally inhale all the chemicals polish is made of.  And anyway, how good could they get a nail polish smell?  Turns out, pretty good!

I picked up 4, one of which is "Passion Fruit", a pretty berry creme.  Now, I'm not sure what a passion fruit smells like, but I liked the color.  I paired it with Zoya "Raven", and got a simple little mani:

The polish had the normal chemical polish smell while wet.  But when it dried, it had a sweet, candy-like scent!  I could smell it even without putting my hands close to my face!  Even hubby was impressed!  I love quirky polishes like this!

A week ago, Nati from NoHolos Frankens & Nail Art Blog posted on her FB Page  that she had made some Limited Edition frankens, and was putting them up for sale.  I was instantly intrigued by "Black Hearted Love", which she describes as "Berry purple jelly base with red shimmer, like exposed viscera in the noon sun. Purple, red, and black glitters of varying shapes and sizes (including black hearts) float in this sea of rotten love."   LOL!  Love it, so of course I had to buy it!!

I got it super-quick, and it seemed perfect to go over my boring little scented mani:

 In the shade:

Wow, how pretty is this???  2 coats, and it's so blingy in the sun.  My only regret is that I didn't have a glue base coat, so removal is going to bite :-(

Nati still has some frankens left!  I had the high honor of being her first customer!  YAY!  Check out her FB page for the details! :-)