Short Ski Break

I'll be taking a short ski break from blogging. And by short, I mean two or three days, so yes, short. It didn't feel right at least leaving you guys a note letting you know where I'm going though.

I'll be in Breckenridge with a bunch of friends. Skiing, snowboarding, and hot-tubbing in the snow. There's also a small winter festival happening throughout the week, and it'll be topped off Saturday night with a chili cook off. It's in honor of Ullr, the Norse god of winter. He was Thor's stepson. I'm generally expecting drunk festivities and good times. Like a mini Oktoberfest with viking hats and snow. Damn I wish I had a viking hat. I'm not the best skier (yet), but anyone looks good going down a mountain in a viking helmet.

So, stay tuned, but don't expect anything for a few days. In the meantime, enter my giveaway if you haven't already! I'm giving away the Color Club Foiled collection (swatched by me here).

New Year's Eve Nails

A little late in the day to post this, but this is what I'm wearing tonight. We're going dancing in Hillcrest at Eden. Should be a fabulous time!

I used Zoya's Ginessa as the pearly white. Here you can see it before adding the embellishments.

Then I stamped with Black on Black from Sinful Colors. The plate was Konad's m64.

Finally, I glittered it up with Uninhibited from L.A. Girl, the Glitter Addict collection. By the way, I stopped by a Rite Aid last night for non-nail related business, and stumbled upon an entire display of these awesome polishes. I picked up a bunch, so in addition to the ones my sister gave me for Christmas, my collection is young, but large! If you live near a Rite Aid, see what you can grab, because these all rock.

Sapphire

Today's manicure is using two of the newest additions to my collection. Yesterday I bought a paint palette from Urban Outfitters containing some pretty awesome metallics and shimmers. I don't usually go for metallics, but these stuck out, so I bit the bullet. As you can see, they're all pretty gorgeous.

I used the unnamed blue you see in the package, and topped it off with something I had forgotten I wanted, Sapphire Sparkle from CND. Holy crap does this topcoat add some serious pretty to any polish.

I mean, the blue was great on its own, but one layer of Sapphire Sparkle really brought it out. You may have seen this beauty before, on Lacquerized and her post comparing the effect created by Sapphire Sparkle to a beetle. She's right! It's gorgeous!

I have Andy's mom's trainer, Robbie to thank for this amazing polish. She really hooked me up with some CND greats. You'll be seeing more soon.

You'll also get to see the haul I scored over the break, in full after I return, sometime after the third.

Don't forget that I want to host a giveaway when I reach 100 followers! I'm still deciding between glitter, and non-glitter as the prize. Any opinions on which I should go for?

Ahoy Glitter!

Another witty title, another short vacation post. Polishes used are China Glaze's Ahoy! and Essie's As Gold as It Gets, topped off with China Glaze's Matte Magic.

Also,  in other news, I will be hosting my first giveaway as soon as I hit 100 followers, which is only 10 away. I already have lots of lovely followers on Tumblr, and they too will be included in the giveaway, but since this is my main outlet for sharing nails and stories, I'll wait for this number to reach 100 before I start. Invite your friends, tell your loved ones. Old and new followers will be welcome in this upcoming giveaway. Stay tuned!

Glitzy Grinch

Another short vacation post, but with some pretty gorgeous manicures.

The first is one I did to celebrate both my birthday and Christmas. I used RA stamp #119, China Glaze's Icicle as the base (which you can't really see), Color Club's Sugarplum Fairy for the amazing glitter, and Black on Black from Sinful Colors as the stamping color. Init purty?

The second I did today, and will probably stamp on top of later, but I just couldn't touch Beige Blast (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) yet. It makes everyone's fingers look elegant, albeit after four coats. It reminded me of Nugget, my little kitten, so I attempted to get a shot with me holding her.

This is the best I could do, given her wiggly kitten nature.

Finally, here's a little exclusion-ing via Photoshop to highlight that beige beauty.

Birthday Nails

Yesterday was my 24th birthday, so I needed to do a manicure I would love, regardless of what some readers might think of it. I've always loved bright colors, and pastel shades of those colors hold a special place in my polished heart. So I did a simple skittle manicure consisting of some of my new pastels from China Glaze's Up & Away collection. I love them all, but these won out, making a sweet little rainbow of colors on each hand.

I used:

• Sugar High from China Glaze on my thumbs
• Lemon Fizz from China Glaze on my index fingers
• Re-Fresh Mint from China Glaze  on my middle fingers
• Light Mist from Savina on my ring fingers
• Something Sweet from China Glaze on my pinkies

Just a sweet, simple little manicure I threw on before going out and getting a tasty breakfast with Andy. Later on I added black tips, but I didn't like the straightness of the tips enough to show you. I was too impatient to tape, so freehanded them. They don't look bad from far off, but up close they're not the best.

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas Manicure

Vacation's going great! It's beautiful in Encinitas right now. I'm drinking it all in, and today, finally had a little time for a manicure. It look longer than I expected it to, but it's pretty great. Unfortunately I don't have my usual light set up, so my pictures won't look quite the same. I hate that. But enjoy these nails!

I used Artsy Crafty (Color Club) as the base, stamped with Cherish (China Glaze) and then added the berries using Gleaming Red from My Nail Graffiti's collection. The stamp is a Bundle Monster one, from plate 14. I was upset, because originally I wanted to use the Red Angel holly stamp from plate 121, but I couldn't pick it up no matter how hard I tried. It was driving me nuts, so I gave up in favor of a different holly design. Sad to say it's the first time I've been unhappy with Red Angel. To be fair, it is the thinnest pattern I've ever seen.

Happy Go Lucky Circus

Drink in today's manicure because it will be the last scheduled one for a few weeks. I'll be travelling to land of beauty, sun and polish...Southern California. Andy's family and the majority of mine live there, so Christmas, New Years and my birthday will all be celebrated there. I've packed up my polish and supplies into a rather heavy to-go container, hoping I don't wind up missing a polish I left behind here in Boulder.

But like I said, with so much going on, I won't be dedicating every day to polishing. I'll do my best, and squeeze it in where I have time and feel like doing it, but today's may very well be the last until the beginning of January.

To celebrate the festive 17 hour drive we have to look forward to tomorrow and Sunday, I chose what some might consider to be an obnoxious amount of color. I absolutely love it, seeing as yellow's my favorite color. What're your thoughts?

I used China Glaze's Happy Go Lucky and Essence's Circus Confetti. It's so beyond fun to wear this manicure, and I'm a little upset I used it early. It's a totally appropriate birthday manicure, but when the day comes, I'll probably match my nails with what I'm doing.

So ladies, farewell until Monday at the earliest, January at the latest!

Polish on!