Nail Art

   Here is a manicure I created using the new Sally Hansen Color Foil polishes.  They were perfect for this technique, which is much simpler to create than you might think!  Yes, this is the art that was originally meant to go over Raven.  But this base color was more fun - it glows in the dark!

Swatch & Review

   Hello, princesses!  Are you curious about the I Love Nail Polish scattered-holographic effect topper?  I was, so I bought it and tried it over China Glaze Recycle (which is a perfect grey creme that I should have owned sooner, I used 2 coats).  My Private Rainbow (S) is a subtle rainbow-sparkling polish.  My camera muted the effect, which is a bit stronger than in my photo, but it certainly isn't anything linear.  It's like China Glaze Fairy Dust's even daintier sister.  I really enjoyed wearing it, and can't wait to see what it looks like over more... shall I say colorful? polishes.  What do you think of it?

Swatch & Review / NotD

   Here is a quick swatch post of my nails from this weekend.  I did them in our hotel room so I didn't have my usual lighting setup.  Not the best photos but this was a really simple combo, so I'm letting them pass.  I used 2 coats of My Pointe Exactly from the OPI NYC Ballet collection, which is a sheer grey jelly.  My nails were more grey-toned than they appear here.  Then I used 2 coats of I♥NP Silver Spoons, and I used one more coat of My Pointe Exactly on my ring finger to create a jelly sandwich.  These nails were subtle but very shiny!

   My Pointe Exactly is a very good neutral jelly that I am so glad to have finally found in stock on Drugstore.com.  Glad I picked it up because it will definitely see more use in both French manicures and layering for "jelly sandwiches".  Coverage is quite good.  Also, I think I have finally made peace with OPI's wide brushes; we didn't get along before this.  The above photo shows my results without any clean-up!

   Silver Spoons is unique among silver glitter topcoats thanks to those awesome little silver shards!  They aren't gigantic, lay flat and don't create texture on the nail.  (If I could find a topper of just these well-behaved silver shreds I'd be quite pleased!)  The silver microshimmer also has a wonderful sparkle that I love.  I was surprised at needing two coats for good coverage, however.  Sadly this polish is discontinued and gone forever... sorry!

   I wish I could have better captured the sparkle and shine of these nails - you'll just have to imagine it!  The look reminds me of Cinderella for some reason...  What do you think?

Swatch & Review

   Here is another polish from the Different Dimension Love's A Punny Thing collection.  I was happily surprised when Missi chose my name "A Love Hue" for this polish.  It fits it more perfectly than I would have thought!  I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls as my base, a super-pale grey creme.  My nails above have one coat of A Love Hue over top, and I adore it!

   This polish is a mix of pink glitters, mainly this perfect holographic rose color.  The larger pieces are squares and hexes, and there are lots of teeny glitters in both the rose color and a deeper pink.  It makes for a perfect blend, all floating in a clear base.

   Here I took a macro of my thumb because I was trying to show the depth of the glitter at 3 coats.  While it doesn't reach opacity it is very dense, and would probably appear opaque if you put it over a matching pink base.

   Once again this is 3 coats of A Love Hue.  Pictures don't come close to showing just how sparkly and eye-catching this color is.  The formula is very good.  You get a lot of glitter on your nails even at one coat, and that is how I will wear it most.  I was happy to see that even three coats didn't become a top coat devouring mess.  The formula is thick enough that it never feels gritty and always spreads evenly.  Whether you paint just one one coat or layer it on for glitterbomb nails you would need two layers of top coat for it to be perfectly smooth, but I'm just wearing one for these swatches.

   What do you think of Different Dimension A Love Hue?  I personally love it!  It has taken first place in my collection for favorite pink glitter topper.  You can find it at the Different Dimension shop at etsy.

Swatch & Review

   I get to share a totally purrfect nail polish with you today.  I'm letting the cat out of the bag on Different Dimension Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty.  So, let's see what the cat drug in, shall we?

    I used two coats of Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty over China Glaze Pelican Grey.  Pelican Grey is just a whisker darker than the grey base of Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty.  They work very well together.

   Today I'm happy to share a manicure using water decals that were sent to me for review.  I have to apologize, though, it's terribly late.  Two types of decals were sent by KKcenterHk earlier this year, but they showed up during the last-minute cramming for wedding preparations and right before my husband and I got the chicken pox - awful timing!  So they got packed away for later.  Anyway, I was given the chance to try nail decals for the first time ever in this way.  I'm happy with what I came up with using their cute bow design!

Product page:  N.NAIL Water Decals: WDBLE1345

   Keep reading to see how I created this mani and my thoughts on the water decal-ing process!

   It has been awhile since I've done any sock hauling.  The truth is, I have a lot of socks.  I don't really need anymore.  I'm trying to "use up what I have".  But I couldn't resist picking up a few things on clearance from SockDreams - my favorite Online sock store.  I've been shopping there a looong time... since before the site was even called SockDreams, before they started a successful physical store up.  They've come a long way.  Here is what I picked up:

   The green toes peeking out up top aren't for me, but they were going to feel left out otherwise.  (;  The K. Bell socks are really awesome, really more of a net tight and sock hybrid, because they are open-work but made of cotton and thus rather thick.  These fit great and I love the lace trimmed tops with their little bows.  The Betsey Johnson tights were on my wishlist and I just love them!  Perfect color, cute design - they are so me!  My two new additions from Foot Traffic are awesomely pretty rose tights and really cute toe socks with stripes of pink, purple, and black.  Also very me!

   The other nice thing about this haul was the amazingly fast FREE shipping!  Seriously these were going out the very same day I bought them, within just a few hours.  SockDreams is so quick and their customer service is superb.  For example one time I accidentally ordered a pair of socks in a color combination that I already had (guess I really liked them), so I E-mailed asking if it could be changed and just like that I got a response, it was fixed, and my socks were on their way to me.  I highly recommend their site to everybody.

   www.SockDreams.com

   I'm a collector of socks, for sure.  Trying to keep myself within the bounds of reason, though, which is more than I have done in the past.  What about you?  Any quirky accessory that you love to hoard? 

   I'm at the point where I have so many new polishes that I can hardly decide what to put on my nails next!  I made my first Cult Nails order last month and finally decided to ignore all the other new things and try a full mani in the color My Kind of Cool Aid.

   It is definitely My Kind of Color!  In most lights it looks a little darker than this.  A muted, greyed-out lavender with silver shimmer.  The shimmer shows more in the bottle than on the nails, but it gives the creamy polish some character.  Also this doesn't dry very shiny on it's own, but a top coat glossed it right up.

   I added a few star paillettes to some of my nails!  And there is my thumbnail, steadily growing back out...

   Even though it has a big round cap it was still pretty easy to paint with.  Not the most comfortable, but not bad like I expected.  I really loved the formula on this.  It was easy to work with and didn't destroy itself or create bald spots.  Also, the coverage on this polish is awesome.  Here it is at just one coat:

   Isn't this gorgeous?  My of my Cult Nails polishes were.  I picked up Time Traveler for my Mom so I don't have that one to show you (though I've seen it on her nails and can tell you that it is the prettiest deep navy-sapphire-blue).  I have Feel Me Up, Clairvoyant and My Kind of Cool Aid.

   Sadly I shouldn't have risked buying Feel Me Up.  It is not a yellow I will wear, so I'm leaving it brand-new and hopefully I can swap it.  (Anyone interested in this color?  It is currently not available from Cult Nails.)  Clairvoyant is awesome, of course.  Mom got a bottle of that, too.  I might have to do a full flakie manicure next!

   Anyone else use Cult Nails?  I guess I'm late to the party, but I am really impressed!