Playing Catch-Up!

I feel so badly for neglecting my poor little blog!  But I have been very busy painting my nails, and spending waaay too much money on new nail polish that I can't fit into my current storage situation...guess it's time for a new storage situation ;-).

Anyways, here's a quick look at what I've been up to since my last post...

I entered this mani into the "Wedding Belles" contest hosted by Dazzle Dry Quick Dry Polish.  I used China Glaze "Dress Me Up", then stamped and painted pointed french tips with CG "White on White", then hand-painted roses with CG "Fifth Avenue" & Pure Ice "Love".  This is the first time I actually did a mani with a particular contest in mind.  I think they came out mah-velous, but the other entries are pretty awesome, so we'll see how I do...

Anyway, those didn't last long, cuz I wanted to use some of my newest Darling Diva Polish "Sugar and Spice".

This is the Pure Ice "Love" with a Pure Ice purple shatter (sorry, I'm too lazy to look it up right now), and of course the others are covered with Sugar & Spice.  I LOVE the butterflies in this polish!! And they were actually pretty easy to get on to my nail...I only had to go fishing for 2 nails.  2 nails even had multiple butterflies.  Anyway, this was a SUPER-girly mani, which, I guess, is appropriate for this polish :-)  BTW, I love her little saying on the bottle: "The Happiest Girls are the Prettiest Girls. Be Happy!"  AMEN, Sista!! 

My current mani is going to be removed as soon as I finish this post.  I painted Cult Nails "Iconic", and then topped it with Essie "Shine of the Times" flakies top coat.  Then, I took off to the Colorado River for a weekend of fun.

It was pretty in the sun, and reminded me of red dragon scales.  But, the River is not the place for a nice manicure, and this is how my nails look now:

Yup, I ripped my thumbnail off, and my ring finger is chipped.  And this is my "photo" hand!  And I was planning on entering a "Star Spangled" contest.  Grrrr.  Anyway, I've cut them all down, although not as short as that thumbnail.  Short nails make me want to do dark mani's >:-)

I've also hit Sally's, some blog sales, and Zoya's website lately, so now I have Orly's "Dark Shadows" collection, some more China Glaze "Hunger Games", 9 more Zoya's, another Lacquistry (woot-woot), and some other Indie's.  I also discovered Utopia's Polish on etsy, and she is my newest favorite indie!  Her glitters remind me of Lacquistry, so there you go! ;-)

OK, that catches you all up.  I'm not sure what I'm doing for my next mani, yet....

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!!!