Xhilarated Nails

I haven't mentioned this yet, but this weekend, I'm going to Vegas with some friends and Andy. We'll only be there for two days, but I'm sure we all expect to pack as many adventures into those days as we possibly can.

Ramping up for Vegas required some serious accessorizing, from sunglasses to bathing suits to outfits. One of the dresses I bought was actually designed as a coverup for a bathing suit, but the way it fits on me makes it a sexy dress.

Awesome striped zig-zag patterns totally inspired be when I walked by my closet today, so with White On (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear) and Four Leaf Clover (China Glaze), I created this manicure.

I'll keep working on my free handing abilities, if you keep promising to be so kind! Seriously, I had a less than glamorous day yesterday but reading the kind comments for the past couple of posts, seeing the amount of reposts and Likes, really brightened up a dreary day. I know I hardly ever respond to comments, but it doesn't mean I don't love them. I'd like you all to know that I read each and every one of them. So thanks guys!

Sunflowers in the Sun

My nails are still not the right length and my cuticles are still dry and wounded in some spots. However, I couldn't bear bare nails any longer. Fed up, I posted on Facebook this morning, calling upon my fans for what design to create. The respondent asked for flowers or blossoms of some sort, and since it has been absolutely gorgeous and sunny all day, I decided to do sunflowers. I'm pretty pleased with the results too.

The base for this is Suzi Says Feng Shui (OPI). The petals were done primarily with Design Yellow (Color Madric), but then I added a tiny bit of Me First, a neon yellow from Sinful Colors. The seeds were dotted on using another OPI, Get in the Expresso Lane.

Pastelized Housewife

Don't these colors remind you of a kitchen in the 50s? The pastel greens and blues that colored the walls, the peach color for the toaster and rotary phone. The gold represents the ever-beautiful housewife, cleaning and cooking in heels and crinoline.

It also reminded me of a bracelet I hardly ever wear.

Both time consuming and difficult, my patience was wearing thin by the end of this manicure. The cleanup was dreadful, as it required more than a few coats to reach opacity, which means goopy taping messes. Honestly, when I started this, the lines were going to be covered by a stamp, but with the goop, I opted for a more complete coverage using Gold Digger (Color Madric). The two China Glazes, Re-Fresh Mint and Peachy Keen do pair well together though.

Guest Post: Embellished Nails

So today was supposed to be my guest post over at Embellished Nails. She went on a cruise for a while, and asked for some guest posters. So ahead of time, we all sent in our posts for her to set up. Mine went through...mostly. Unfortunately, I don't see the images, which, let's face it, is the best part of nail blogs!

So, if you care about the story behind these nails, head over to Emily's blog for my guest post.

Since the images aren't working over there, I'll put them here. In honor of Emily's cruise, these are my sailor nails!

Valentine's Day Manicure: Day 3

Yesterday was awesome. The mountains we ski at got a few inches (5 the night before we came) of snow, so we went up to Breck to get some runs in. It was a great day, and powder is so much better than slippery, icy slopes. I even hit some jumps.

Then we went out to Denver for the bars.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted today. After thinking about what I wanted to do for my nails literally all day, I finally mustered up the energy to create my third Valentine's Day manicure.

I used the awesome franken polish Leslie gave me here over Something Sweet (China Glaze). I really love the way the glitter is sandwiched between the two colors, making it feel more smooth. It was really stunning on its own, but I couldn't help myself. I added black pinstripes to half of my nail using Time Off (Sinful Colors) and still wasn't totally happy, so I striped in the pink lines using Am-Ore (Color Madric). I added a heart on my index finger as well using the same colors, and finally tipped each nail with a very thin black french manicure. I think it all came together quite nicely.

Now if you'll excuse me I've got a date with the couch and a fluffy pillow.

Stitched Together

I'm sure there exists somewhere a Hallmark card about stitching two things together that somehow relates to hearts and Valentine's Day, so use your imagination to connect that to my second Valentine's Day manicure while I dose off to get ready for skiing in the a.m.

This manicure took painfully long to complete, and I blame it on my impatience to let things dry before taping them off. I had to take off and redo my left index finger 4 times before I finally got it right. Darn Pointer!

The lighter pink is Soul Mate (appropriate for this holiday) and the darker is Feeling Great, both from Sinful Colors. The white stitches are French White Creme (Wet n' Wild). The pinks were done with the tape, and the stitches were a tiny striping brush. I'm growing more fond of the brushes I have, but I'm not sure I'll ever use the longest brush. It seems so unwieldy, but maybe I just haven't found its use yet.

Goodnight!

Take the Load Off

Two days of skiing did a number to my limbs. All I wanted to do all day today was sit down and take a load off. Tired eyes and tired legs need the time off.

Bare all this in mind when reading these polishes names.

Elegant and simple, this manicure was inspired by my friend Tammy, who said she had seen something similar on Pintrest. I haven't been able to find the image she was talking about, nor do I know which colors they used, but I used Illamasqua Load and Sinful Colors Time Off.

I know, so clever. About as clever as I can get without overstimulating my tired brain into a state of malfunction.

Holo Glitter & Flakie Extraordinaire!

Last night I had only one piece of this manicure in mind...the flakies. I collected all five of the Finger Paints Effects polishes, and hadn't used them yet. I could've put them over black, but who hasn't seen that? (If you haven't, you need to look at blogs more.) So, inspired by my good friend Jen who I got to see today, I chose purple. Originally, all I wanted to add to the purple (Grape Pop, China Glaze) was one of the flakies, Twisted. As I was pulling Twisted out of the drawer, I grabbed Asylum instead, and thought that too belonged on the purple. One thing led to another, and after an hour of polishing, I created this agglomeration of glitter, holographics and sweeping joy. 

Heh...overboard? I just couldn't stop myself! So the final tally for polish usage came out to be five (not including my base and top coats). The holographic stripe is Hologram Glitter by Color Madric, and the black is Bad Chick from Sinful Colors. Both are striping polishes with the itty bitty skinny brushes. I can't get enough of those and dotting tools lately. My poor stamps are feeling a little neglected I'm sure. Don't worry guys, I'll get back to you.

Birthday, Christmas and New Year Haul

The end of the year is always full of some serious celebration for me. With a birthday right before Christmas, Christmas itself, and all the celebration and hangovers that accompany New Year's Eve, there's a lot to be happy about. In addition, I have gifts and presents to celebrate over that I know you all will also appreciate. Of course, I recieved some lovely non-nail gifts and love from my family and friends that are also reason to celebrate, but since this is a nail blog, I'll just share those with you today.

Get ready...it's picture heavy!

First up, these are the gifts my sister gave me. She understands nail polish more than anyone I personally know, so you can only imagine my joy opening her gifts. She gave me tools:

...dotting tools

...striping brushes

...and a glass nail file.

She gave me the Butter London Dressing Table duo, Black Knight and Tart with a Heart. Unfortunately, the dressing table suffered a fatility during the 17-hour car ride, so it won't be making an appearance in today's shots.

She gave me some amazing nail art brushes I've never heard of, but definitely want more of. The formula on all of these is great, and only requires one coat. That's practically unheard of with brighter striping shades. All of these are from a company called Color Madric. They're all sort of metallic, not matte as their bottles seem to indicate.

Shown here is Design Yellow, Green, Ocean Blue, and Hologram Glitter.

Hologram Glitter really is holographic, as I tried to capture here.

Shown here are the metallics from the Metal-licious collection of Color Madric brushes. These colors are Am-Ore, Platinum Rush, Lead to Riches, Metal-Licious, Iron I Lovely, and Gold Digger.

These all appear metallic, as their collection's name suggests.

She gave me part of L.A. Girl Glitter Addict collection, including the elusive Uninhibited I've been craving since I saw Rie from Nails and Noms use it.

Shown here are Uninhibited, Jostle, Animate, and Celebrate.

A few days after getting these, we stopped by a random Rite Aid to get Andy some contact solution, and I saw a glittering display of five more colors from the collection!

I added Eutopia, Nostalgic, Purge (a new nail polish name favorite in my book), Synergy, and Provocative to my infant collection.

Now it's a glittering grand collection!

She gave me some polishes we had talked about over the phone. These are randoms I mentioned liking that she had cheap access to out there in So-Cal.

Shown here is Sea Gurl from ORLY, Good Witch? from China Glaze, Cleopatra also from China Glaze, Glass Slipper from Sally Hansen Diamond Strength (one I actually snagged for myself), Lady Luck from Sally Hansen Gem Crush and January from Julep. She didn't like that color on her, so I took it off her hands. To top this load of polishes off is the amazing Load from Illamasqua. Look at it back there. Beautifully raunchy.

Rounding out my sister's amazing gifts is my first bottle...or bottles rather...of Seche Vite.

Look at this monstrosity! It's so much top coat, I don't even know what to do with it! 4 ounces!

So that's it from her...but fear not, my haul has not ended! She did an unbelievable job of making my Christmas gifts a thrill to open. Thanks Sisser, I love you!

I mentioned in Sapphire that Andy's mom's trainer, Robbie really hooked me up with some amazing CND products. Here they are!

She included in my bag of goodies some nail care items including some tasty CND Solar Oil (a cuticle conditioner), Scentsations lotion minis in Sparkling Champagne and Clementine & Mistletoe. They smell awesome! There are also several samples of CND's Spamanicure hand lotions, in Citrus Soothing Creme and Almond Hydrating Lotion. I absolutely love the smell of the almond lotion. Finally, there are a few nail buffers, showing their support for breast cancer research with the words "Nail Community Cares" written on them.

She also included some amazing colors, including Smoochie (#518), Sapphire Sparkle (#561), Plum Truffle Sparkle Effect (#586), and Plum Truffle Colour (#585).  You've seen Sapphire Sparkle already in Sapphire.

Thank you again Robbie, I love everything!

Last but not least! We have the polishes I bought myself.

You've already seen the Urban Outfitters collection I picked up here, but here's a few more shots of those beautiful bottles.

I also snagged the entire Finger Paints Special Effects collection today at Sally's!

 Not much to look at when they're in the bottles, but I'm sure you've seen them used by other ladies. My favorite shots are from Jen at The PolishAholic, from this post showing each on its own, and this post showing them all layered together. Oh many these are going to be fun to play with!

So that's it. Can you feel my excitement through the screen? It's radiating!