Sorry about disappearing - have a mani to make up?

We went to my father in law's for the weekend. It was a TERRIBLE trip. I know I haven't posted and that's because my laptop bit the dust taking my mani folder with it, and our desktop can't read SD cards. Sooo I've been scrambling to try to figure it all out and came up with a solution today thankfully.

So I've been curious about the Essence Crackle and decided this weekend was the time to buy it! Hubby has been mentioning that he doesn't see me do crackle much anymore so we fixed that. Look at the blue shimmer in it! The formula is AMAZING but the dry time is meh. HOWEVER I would totally pick this over a Sally Hansen crackle anytime. The price is awesome (2.49 at my store).

I decided to toss some stamping and rhinestones in there for a bold but pretty mani. I love doing this combination because it makes for a "quick" nail art manicure.

The base color is Orly Emberstone which is a glass flecked red/orange beauty. The crackle is Essence Crack Me! Blue and I stamped with China Glaze First Mate.

I'm going to start delving into some more color swatching and comparison posts, but plan to stay true to my love of nail art. Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Retro sweater look: China Glaze First Mate

Hey hey so I realize I've been on somewhat of a Julep kick lately. Let's take a break and explore what else my collection has to offer:

Alright lets be honest here: I didn't have a retro sweater in mind when I did this. BUT I did own a sweater as an 80's child that this color scheme reminds me of. So there you go! I used a dotting tool to create the bubbled look. Isn't it fantastic?

 In order from base up: China Glaze First Mate then Megan Miller Latte then Orly Coffee Break (which I bought solely for the name) and last but not least is China Glaze Unplugged. Have a totally awesome day everyone!!!

Classic with a touch of jelly

OMG! Ok now that that's out of my system...I hit Sally's for the buy a Seche Vite topcoat get a china glaze for free and picked up First Mate. After two failed manis I pulled out an untried: Rimmel Orange Sunset which is an amazing coral jelly. I.AM.IN.LOVE!

First Mate stamps so amazingly - I love the classic look of the flowers and those flowing butterflies *heart flutter*

And now I'm off to continue packing...oh yeah we're moving! More on that later. Have a great day!