Hubby's Picks and a new nail shape (HP22)

So I've sported the squoval nail forever I think and I've been toying with the idea of a more rounded tip. My friend looked at me and said it sounded old lady, but when she saw the finished result she loved it and I think I do too.

So I give you Hubby's Picks and my new nail shape (it was a good one this week!)

Layers, layers, and more layers! I didn't want to go typical and put the crack on top so that was probably the biggest challenge in this look.

I really love how Rimmel Burgundy Flirt really glows out from under China Glaze Crackle Crushed Candy. It looks so amazing on it's own I am going to rock that look on it's own another day.

So from base up: A coat of Rimmel Burgundy Flirt (a wine colored jelly and so delish) and then a THIN layer of China Glaze Crackle Crushed Candy (thinner coats = smaller and finer cracks). I topped that with a top coat to get a smooth surface and then used a striper to get a gentle curve that I then filled in with Julep Maggie. Next I did dot in OPI The Spy Who Loved Me.

It didn't feel quite complete so I went back with Butter London matte top coat to create another gently curved line and presto! A lovely layered manicure of mixed prints. The last image is an odd focus but I really love how it shows off the look.

Thanks so much for reading - have you ever changed your nail shape? How did you feel about it?

Hubby's Picks - it's a good one! (HP22)

So I asked Hubby to pretty please grab colors but then realized he was running late so I said it was ok to wait till later. Despite being late to work he stopped for a moment and pulled out colors - but he told me he's only picking if I do something as awesome as last week. Basically I have my work cut out for me. Yay challenge to skills...especially since one is a crackle!

We have Julep Maggie, Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Burgundy Flirt, China Glaze Crackle in Crushed Candy, and OPI The Spy Who Loved Me. In addition I have reshaped my nails which felt somewhat odd to do, but I like it! Hope you are all surviving the weekend - I know I'm ready for the weekend! Take care :)

For the love of coffee

It's been a bit since I've done a coffee manicure and I saw this ultra cool technique on Pinterest that led to a dead end tumblr log of pictures. So I had to figure out the technique myself and I'll do a tutorial once I have a new lightbox.

Photos aren't very good because, well, the sun is missing :( The effect feels like coffee splashing in a cup. Sadly my decal tore when I was applying it. It's hand painted so it didn't hold up to my attempts to reposition it.

Base color is Essence Oh De Prep and the copper is an unnamed from Maurices. As you can see I need a little more practice on the dots for the joining areas and practice I will. I love this effect and it's not very hard to do. Have a great day!

Megan Miller Latte: The ugly polish I love

So I bought this one forever ago because I wanted to try a Megan Miller and it happened to be named Latte. The color is, in my opinion, ugly. It's exactly the shade of a latte but somehow the ugly hue. I don't know how to explain it but there it is. In addition it's an odd formula - somehow not a jelly but not a creme but not a crelly either. Very...odd. It paints smooth and self-levels but I can't paint it out too much or it does this strange stretching thing. I get the sensation of that weird colored packing tape that used to be used on boxes. Yet I love it. I don't really know why:

The bottle itself is uber cute but I'll probably never buy another of this brand. This is two coats with no topcoat.
Just for fun I thought I'd add some chunky stripes in various directions in Sonia Kashuk Emerald City. I bought this one hoping for an emerald but got a blackened forest green instead. Sad but it looks really nice over this Megan Miller.

 I know, I know - another oddly subdued manicure but I'm really enjoying exploring these looks. Totally new for me!

Dripping in holo (HP21)

Hubby's Picks consisted of a holo, flakie, shard, and glitter. What a line up right? I was genuinely stumped until I was cruising through Pinterest (the mother of all great ideas and the beginning of all epic fails....not this time though!). Yay inspiration:

The only shame is that since this is with the semi-dud version of Color Club Worth the Risque the holo is very subtle instead of in your face awesome. The peachy coral is the flakie Attina by Sea Lore (3 coats of amazingness), the blue fine glitter is Strapless by Pure Ice (3 coats), and the drips are the holo Worth the Risque by Color Club and there are shard accents are Color Club Diamond Drops.

The holo comes out a bit on the thumb and it's actually stronger in real life but it doesn't play with the camera. This one turned out to be fun and different and I really love the colors together. Hubby thought it was the best one yet. What do you think?

Water Spotted with Fantasy Fire

Hello lovelies how goes your afternoon? Mine is coffee-less (I'm working on cutting back right now) but I have a super cool manicure on to make me feel just as awesome as my fully coffeed self! Behold my water spotted:

Now I've tried OPI Spotted and the effect is similar but not the same. I started with Julep Taylor - a gorgeous blurple with one of the most pain in the arse formulas I have ever had the displeasure of working with - topped that with two thin coats of Max Factor Fantasy Fire (one of my most prized possessions) and then created the effect with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lacey Lilac. You can do the top part with any saturated polish really. Also I didn't have spray hand sanitizer so I found an old bottle of cheap body spray (first two ingredients were water and alcohol) when I saw that Nailderella had done that to create her effect. Genius! Now for OVERLOAD time:

In the wonderfully overcast and rainy state of Oregon getting Fantasy Fire to come out and play fully is a tough thing to do and this is actually even prettier in person if you can imagine that ;) What color combos can you see yourself trying this look out with?

Hubby's Picks is baaaaaack! (HP21)

Well a loooong break from Hubby's Picks but we're back and he's right back to challenging me. Check out this line up:

From top to bottom we have Sea Lore Attina, Pure Ice Strapless, Color Club Worth the Risque (dud version), and Color Club Diamond Drops. Only one opaque polish in the lot. He told me I should be thankful because he picked complimentary colors o.0. Silly boys <3 Be back on Sunday with the finished result!

Nail Art Society January 2013 Bag Review

Here we are again - Nail Art Society bag came in the mail today and, well, they switched who they buy mailers through apparently (they posted up that they did on their Facebook wall). Fearing the worst I went to grab my bag and sure enough it's wide open. So I'll jump right in:

The package:
 The mailer is definitely cheaper and the loss on the adhesive shows such :( Lucky for me all of my items were still in the bag - miracle though as they didn't even bother to tape shut the smaller bubble wrap bag that they dumped the items all into. Last month had everything all nestled safely together in bubble with no room to bump or break and was secured with tape. *Facepalm* I'm not even sure they're trying at this point.

Contents:
1. One Layla Magneffects in Silver Galaxy (you got one random polish from this line and I, of course, got the only one I own from them)
2. Cherimoya Nailed It! nail art pen in Black! (it's a striping brush and not a pen)
3. Swarovski flatback gems in sizes SS9 and SS7 - 12 clear and 2 smokey black
4. Stella Beauty Products tweezers

Pros:
1. Layla is actually a pretty well-known and spendy polish so the value actually really comes out in this aspect retail-wise technically.
2. The card with the curated look instructions actually has images of the look on the reverse this time.
3. The look is a simpler version of the chunky bling looks being pulled off by major celebrities. The look is cohesive and feels very well thought out (thank you ES Nails!)
4. The striper has a nice brush so it was easy to do the look on both nails. 

Cons:
1. Packaging was TERRIBLE! :(
2. While this is a Layla it's a much older collection Layla and these can be found in clearance bins for a couple bucks.
3. The striper came apart pretty fast - I can glue the brush back into the cap but it's definitely indicative of a cheap product.
4. While technically Swarovski flatbacks aren't rhinestones they give a slightly blingier version of last month's look. The addition of stripes is nice, but it's just odd to get a similar look twice in a row.
5. Once again there is not a single product from the advertised brands on their site. Well unless you count the crystals from the banner that is.
6. Magnetics are not trending and have not been for quite some time. Had it been one of the new Essie snakeskin polishes it would have been a different story. I saw one blogger mention that it seemed this subscription service would be nothing but old looks with past trends and it's shaping up that way.

In conclusion the 19.95 value is technically there but the trend value is not. Rumor is that the code NAS10 will allow you to try the service at the intro price of 9.95 so if you want to give it a go then click here (not an affiliate link).

Now for the look itself:

The weather is cold and my cuticles aren't the nicest - I had to photoshop out a nail owie :( But you get the idea. It did say to cover the nail with stones but there really wasn't enough to accomplish that and I like this look better. Also I switched the accent nail to the ring finger.

Anyhow let's cross our fingers for next month! If you'd like to watch the video I did (it has last month's review in it too) Click Here.

I give you manequin hands

I know right! On me of all people. But I bought Rimmel French Manicure Pro in French Rose back when I first started collecting simply because as a newbie you have to have all styles right? Needless to say I never used it until just recently. I can not get over the stunning simplicity.

Application is three coats and it's so gorgeous! I don't understand why I'm so drawn to how simple it is. The accent is messy, sadly, and done in Essie Licorice and an unnamed copper color from Maurice. The tape method is flawed but I'm working on a fix for it.

Weirdly awesome right? What do you think about this style?

Nail Art Society alternate look from December box

So I said I'd post some alternate looks for the contents from my December 2012 Nail Art Society box - I'm working on one more with the other polish I got.

So why a pedicure? Well I personally LOVE using rhinestones on my toes. I have no real idea why but I do and I kind of played with the idea they had on the reverse of their idea card using the bigger stones and filling in with some of the smaller ones.

Also it's cold outside. And rainy. But it stopped for a moment and, without giving it a second thought, I ripped my socks off and went barreling outside. Into the cold, wet grass. o.0 Ever wonder how far you'll go for your blog?

Yup - I will stand barefoot in the cold for a couple of good light shots. Now that is dedication.

Back to the pedicure. The polish is Cherimoya Mystery which is a matte polish but I love how vividly glowy it becomes with topcoat. The Stella rhinestones are totally awesome but kind of lose their iridescent edge when topcoat goes over them.

Also I tried cropping in on just the nails and pedicure pictures look super awkward out of context. Try it out. Seriously weird.

Be back later this week with Hubby's Picks. I think he's excited to get it back in motion so we'll see what he decides to challenge me with.

Born Pretty Two Way Nail Art Pen Review

Good morning lovely readers! Today I have the other item I selected to review: a two way nail art pen in black! I've been very curious about these for some time so I jumped at the chance to review one when Born Pretty Store asked me to pick two items to review. I went with black because the other color I picked was super mod and I wanted to heighten that look. First a closer look at the pen and striper brush itself:

The pen itself is kind of bulky (slightly larger then a double sided marker). I thought one end would be the pen and the other end would be the striper but that wasn't the case.

So the cap pops off to reveal the pen and can be attached to the other side to keep the elongated pen feel for ease of drawing. The "pen" is a tiny metal tube that the polish runs through. The polish is smelly but is actually just the right thickness so that manipulating the pen to draw with is very easy and smooth. This will not turn you into an artist, however, and it's going to take me several manicures to master this new tool.

Put the cap back on and then twist the area below with the indents and you get the striper brush. Here's the MEGA design flaw. It's a marker-like tube...that you have to balance while trying to use the striper. It's not impossible but not overly practical. The brush itself is like any other striper I've used coming to a fine point and works excellent (also I need more practice).

Onto the good stuff: The mod design! I just LOVE this look so much!

I played with the pen a bit - you don't really have to squeeze to get the polish to flow so if you just hold it down it beads at the end for perfect dots. I experimented counting to get smaller and larger dots and it works like a charm. The more up and down you hold it the quicker it flows. Super fun! The stripes along the top are the striper part. Again I was so focused on not tipping the marker over that I had a hard time getting straight lines.

Overall the price is 3.96 which is what you'd pay for a striper alone so this is incredible value. The black is super pigmented (not sure about the other colors but from what I've seen it's a pretty good guess that they are too).

If you hop over to check these out be sure to use coupon code EBL91 for a 10% discount (they always have free shipping world wide). Hope you enjoyed and I'll be back with more nail art soon.

Born Pretty Sweet Candy Polish #32 Review

So I'm JUST getting over being sick (for WEEKS). I got another package from Born Pretty Store to review and this time I got to pick two items! This first one is this super amazing polish in number 32 from their Sweet Candy polish line. All images are two, thin coats without topcoat:

On the site it looked more honeydew melon colored but this has stylish mod runway color written all over it. I just love it! I'm a little lost on why the label says BK though....

It's a neon green with yellow tendencies though much less then most spearmint colors. It actually feels unique and it's a mod shade I can totally rock!

As you can see it becomes quite cool in shade and warms up supremely well with direct sunlight.

Check out that brush! This is where I was expecting the cheapness to come out in full swing. You can almost count on a terrible brush with stiff bristles you have to fight to get a good sweep of polish on the nail. Not with this one. Medium length brush with the perfect stiffness and a high bristle count with no flyaways. Made application perfect!

What I love:

• The bottles are 8ml making them a perfect try-me size at 2.95 with free shipping and a wide array of creamy and nude shades.
• Dries supremely fast with a beautiful medium gloss.
• Two coats brought the shade to full opacity and it self leveled despite the fast dry for an even, no-streak finish.
• Brush is as near salon quality as a cheapie can get.

What I don't love:

• The smell. Sadly these have an odor to them - nowhere near as strong as a Kleancolor but there none-the-less. It will not be deterring me from ordering more of these though!
• No idea if these are 3 free or not. I can see on the back that DPB is mentioned but all the rest is caricatures so I'm thinking it probably is.

If you head over to order these be sure to use coupon code EBL91 for a 10% discount (and free shipping always). If ten of you do orders using this code they will sponsor a giveaway through my blog! How cool would that be?

I'll have another review up of the second item I chose (nail art this time) so stay tuned!

*Product was sent to me for my 100% honest opinion*

Happy New Year!

So the Mayans were wrong (there was a few issues with the December prediction anyhow - leap years anyone?). We are now in 2013! Which means break out the bubbly, throw the confetti, and count down to an awesome year. As a nail blogger I am totally stoked to see what ends up trending, how major brands handle seasons and holidays (traditional or non-traditionally with their color choices), and what 2013 holds for finishes.

Base color is NYC Skin Tight Denim (such a pretty cheapie) with a variety of toppers. Writing and outlines done with Migi Nail Art pen in white. Fireworks stamping is done with colors from the Color Club Foiled set. Thumb topper is Essie As Gold as it Gets, ring finger topper is Essence Circus Confetti (see what I did there ;), and pinky is Essie Pure Pearlfection. The "champagne" is Julep Sienna.

I think the big thing this coming year is going to be playing with finishes. We're seeing more collections releasing the bumpy textures (Liquid Sand by OPI and Pixie Dust by Zoya - one has to wonder if China Glaze is planning to climb aboard). I wonder how this trend will translate into drugstore brands...This is by no means a new trend (look up Pebble Beach by Cherimoya) but it's finally catching.

As for my New Year's resolutions I decided to talk to Hubby so he and I could work together this coming year. I used to be hugely passionate for reading and haven't gotten to read hardly at all this past year. So books (one a month - and we've started a Sci-Fi reading club - expect inspired by manicures for these), health (not weight-loss but work out goals - I've agreed to help teach a running class so themed 5k's are in this blogger's future including the Dirty Dash - Hubby is doing it too!!!) and family outings topped our list. It's going to be a super fun year!

As for this blog. I am hoping to buy a lightbox for the coming dreary months and get some better photos happening when nice, natural light isn't available. I'm hoping to start writing some tutorials, bring Hubby's Picks  to a regular feature again, and to host another nail art contest. I foresee some more reviews in my future but I refuse to let those become the main attraction. Other than that more nail art fun coming!

So there you go! What are your resolutions for the coming year? Are you excited for what 2013 holds?

*I photoshopped out a hangnail on one of my nails - I stay away from photoshopping normally but I do understand you are interested in my nail art and not my nail owies*