Mixed print for Easter and Spring

Two things. First I'm totally not ready for Easter. Seriously I ran to the store at midnight last night just to put baskets together for the kids. Today we're swinging by the store to pick up the desert we're supposed to bring to the family get together. Woefully unprepared.

So yesterday, in between all the hustle and bustle, I was attempting roses. I keep seeing these super cute mixed print manicures featuring roses. I, um, painting flower-like things? Basically I need a little more practice on the technique. However, I am at least facing this unprepared day with a manicure. I'm sure you can attest to how that can be a huge help.

The second thing. I never wear yellow. So I'm a little bit proud I stepped outside the box and wore it, because I love the color combination! The four colors I used are Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, Sally Hansen Green Tea (the mint), Zoya Cynthia (the blackened teal), and Essie Mojito Madness for the leaves.

Happy Easter and Spring everyone!

Rimmel French Rose jelly sandwich

Do you ever go back and just pull out your older polishes? You know those cheapies that set you on the journey toward nail obsession? I didn't really mean to start digging, but I did and came across my bottle of Rimmel French Rose. It's a super sheer french manicure color. Barely a peachy-pink tint to it. I don't even remember why I bought it. BUT it dries shockingly fast with a flawless formula so I love it.

I decided to do two coats of French Rose for the base to give it a little more opacity. Then I sandwiched Sally Hansen Twinkle, Twinkle between that and one more layer of French Rose. I love the speckled look and the French Rose is sheer enough to let the sparkle come through. I accented with Sally Hansen Green Tea for the sweet hearts.

I also can't help but love the the peek through of the nail line. It somehow adds to the sweetness of this manicure. Want to hear the best part? This is three days of wear!

How do you feel about the more delicate looks on nails? Is Rimmel a go to brand for you?

Stamping illusions and bonus Nerdlacquer pictures

So I've been super into my bottle of Orly Winter Wonderland lately which is funny because I bought it last winter season and never used it till hubby picked it for a hubby's picks this last summer. Basically it's silvery white foil shards in a clear base but so packed one coat evenly applies the shards so no clear base really shows. It's a GREAT wintery addition to nail art (it's fairly sheer even up to three coats). BUT with some stamping it can easily be worn on it's own (no undies) on nubbins. And a rhinestone just because I can.

The stamping helps mask the sheer element brought in by the polish itself. There's still noticeable nail line but it doesn't feel like it interrupts the manicure anymore with the stamping there.

This was a super fun manicure to rock and pretty easy to pull off too. I bought cheap rhinestones on Ebay and I do recommend buying slightly better quality even it means it costs a little more. A lot of these ones have little plastic edges that I have to clip off before applying.

Now for the Nerdlacquer. Why not a separate post? Couple of reasons: One I personally hate reading post after post of polishes I can never have. It's frustrating as a collector to find something you fall in love with but can never have. Two I've read lots in various forums that readers feel the same. BUT a friend of mine got a decant of Nerdlacquer All of Time and Space and let me use it! I used Sally Hansen Green Tea under so as not to use too much. I just want to be able to look back as this beauty and know I finally got to wear one of her amazing polishes.

There you go! Two fabulous manicures and I can now cross off wear a Nerdlacquer from my bucket list. ;) Until next time!

Minnie me Polka Dots and Hubby's Picks!

Good Thursday evening everyone! I'm still having a crazy week...month....summer. You may or may not know that I'm a graphic designer and recently jobs have been coming in. This is really great except it's very difficult to research, sketch and conceptualize with a 7 year-old, two 6 year-olds and a potty-training 3 year-old constantly wanting something. Finding the balance between mommy, manicure artist, and graphic designer is proving to be hectic on a good day. Throw in momma's usual made from scratch meals and freezer cooking and I'm pretty much at insanity level. BUT I'm happy too....it's an odd mix!

At any rate I ordered OPI Miami Beet in hopes that I'll be able to one day order Whimsical Ideas by Pam Peanut Butter & Jelly to wear over the top but oh my goodness this polish arrived and it was so much more amazing in person then on screen!!

I dotted in Sally Hansen Complete Manicures Green Tea and then dotted on that in OPI I'm OK, You're Bouquet. In case you're wondering I did this on my other hand too. Now for Hubby's Picks!

Sally Hansen Purple Pizzazz, OPI Pros and Bronzes, Orly Winter Wonderland, and Julep January. Why on God's green earth is there instant coffee in there you ask? It's the end of the month. And I'm out of coffee. And I already told you about how hectic things are. What's worse? I drank it with milk for lack of creamer :( Sad life right?

In closing I want to apologize to all you great gals out there. I haven't been frequenting or commenting on blogs like I used to. I'll be back up to speed come start of school when two of my cutie pies step onto the yellow bus of freedom!

Hubby's Picks: You call this a challenge?

So my hubby came up with an idea for a regular post: he goes through my nail polish and picks anywhere from 2-6 polishes and I have to come up with a manicure using ONLY the polishes he pulled out. He's going to pick every Wednesday and I have till Friday to come up with something and then the post goes up on Saturday (day late on week one obviously cause we were working out the details). He's fascinated by my creativity and wants to challenge me. Well he's going to have to try harder:

I've been wanting to try out a mixed prints mani and when I saw the holo I knew the time had come. Here's the lineup he picked out:

We've got China Glaze FYI, Julep Selena, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Green Tea. Phenomenal! I would never have picked this trio but I freaking LOVE it!

All are natural light except the last one there. I used a variety of dotting tools and striping brushes to pull off this look and I did it on my other hand too only I reversed the colors. I love this manicure so much I don't want to take it off! I did 3 layers of FYI for my base and topped off with 2 layers of OTD for topcoat and we're on day three and still no chips!

In unrelated news my 3 year-old son loves to have me paint his nails but won't let his sister dress him up as a princess. The standards this boy has are odd.....

Grab your Green Tea and I'll tell you why I've been MIA

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicures Green Tea is a polish I picked up on incredible clearance ONLY because I'm a sucker for clearance. I've never expressly wanted the color but when I tried it on I fell in love and now I've got two more greens on the way in the same family. Isn't amazing how that happens?

My photos are a little different because we moved. New house, new lighting and I am relearning how to capture my photos the way I want. I think it's time to give in and make a light box, but I am lamenting the loss of the incredible lighting in my other house. BUT this place is a zillion times better in most every other way :)

The accent finger is Nicole by OPI in Fabulous is My Middle Name and it is the only Kardashian line color I wanted and I fell in love with it before I knew it was a Kardashian color. But that dusty tealish-grey is so cremey and gorgeous!!! Dry time is amazing, formula is amazing - the color is outstanding. You NEED this color. It's a great cleanser without loosing color.

I'll be back to posting more - I hit 100 followers just by being me. I've done one giveaway but I've worked to build readership through fun manicures instead of giveaways which I'm kind of proud of <3 I DO want to celebrate and am working on what that will entail. Until next time ;)