2012 Challenge: Valentines NOTD

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I hope you have had a lovely day doing whatever it is you love the most with those you love the most. 

Mr.Polish bought me some polishes that I have been wanting for Valentine's Day. I knew he was getting them ahead of time because otherwise I probably would have picked them up myself. He figured that because they weren't a surprise I was going to have to work for them, so he created a scavenger hunt for me, haha. Lots of fun! Did your loved one(s) get you any polish today?

Here is my Valentines Day Nail of the Day! (Can you believe it, I am actually posting a current mani?!?)

Sally Hansen Bubblegum Pink

2 thick coats, no topcoat

Bubblegum Pink is a light pink polish with white shimmer. I found this polish to be quite thick and rather difficult to apply. I will add a few drops of polish thinner to Bubblegum Pink the next time I use it.

Dots:

Dark Purple - OPI Funky Dunkey

Light Purple - OPI Do You Lilac It?

White - Wet'n'Wild French White Creme

Silver - Wet'n'Wild Silvivor

I added some polka dots to create a fun, different mani. I'm a huge fan of dotticure's and I have proof ... the last 3 mani's I've done have been done in this style, and all with hints of pink to celebrate Valentine's day. (You will see them this week!)

What was your mani today?

2012 Challenge: Half Moon Mani

I'll be honest, I really didn't want to post this but I haven't had the opportunity to try this challenge out again so it will have to do.

Sally Hansen Limestone

 3 coats - no topcoat

I started with a base of Limestone which is a bright lime green crème with yellow undertones. Application was good, 3 coats to be opaque.  I took those circle reinforcements and attached them to my nail as a guide for the half moon shape ... it wasn't successful. I ended up taking a striping polish and touching it up, which wasn't all that successful either.

Maybelline Onyx Rush

Maybelline Onyx Rush, 1 coat - no topcoat

Onyx Rush was watery and applied unevenly which you can see from my photo's. (I'll be sticking with my trusty Wet'n'Wild Black Crème as my fail-proof black polish, thank you very much.) I'm not sure that even Seche Vite could have helped this. *big sigh* You can't win them all.

2012 Mani Challenge: Newspaper Nails & Essie "Brooch The Subject"

Today I have a mani that I am so excited to share with you. Newspaper nails! I first saw this last spring and have been wanting to try it ever since. I'm very happy that it was included in the 2012 Mani Challenge because it gave me the opportunity to try it out.

I first started with a nude polish, I chose Essie Brooch The Subject from their Winter 2011 collection. I probably should have chosen a light grey, but hey - my nails, my choices, right? ;)

Brooch The Subject, 3 coats - no topcoat

I had slight application issues with Brooch The Subject, but nothing too dramatic. It wouldn't quite level out on my ring finger, but I could deal with that because I knew I would be newspapering over it and adding a coat of Seche Vite...

Newspaper ink + 1 coat of Seche Vite

This mani is ridiculously easy. Do you have either rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide and a newspaper? Good, you can do this mani.

In the directions that I read online, it specifically said "rubbing alcohol" but I only had hydrogen peroxide on hand and decided, what the heck, might as well, right? I tried it and it was excellent. Here is my quick tutorial:

1. Paint your nails a light base colour, let dry.

2. Cut out little squares of newspaper.

3. Get a piece of paper towel wet with rubbing alcohol/hydrogen peroxide.

4. Press your newspaper square onto the wet paper towel, ink side facing the wet towel.

5. Gently press the newspaper square onto your nail lightly pressing on all sides.

6. Remove, let dry, add your topcoat of choice.

Important note, do not get your hands/nails wet before applying your topcoat: the newspaper ink will come right off! Also, your fingertips will probably be a bit inky, so wash your hands after your topcoat dries. I tried doing some cuticle clean up with polish remover and it was a no-go. Simple soap and water worked best.

I LOVED THIS MANI! Did you?

2012 Mani Challenge: Color Block

I did this mani challenge a couple weeks ago but forgot to post it until now. Next month I will try and space them a little bit better, but honestly, I'm just glad I got them all done! Onto the mani.

Source

This was my inspiration picture. My creativity isn't 

that great so I work best with a little inspiration.

Now onto my 2 different versions of the Color Block mani.

 No top coat on either of these photo's.

Gold: Orly - Glitz
Green: ACO - Jungle Green
Purple: L.A. Colors - Nuclear Energy
Orange: ACO - Miami Heat

I saw many different interpretations of this mani, but decided to draw my inspiration from fashion instead. To me, the Gucci version is what I immediately think of when I hear "color block" so that's what I decided to do mine like.

It's somewhat difficult to describe the polishes because of the small space they take up in this mani, but I will say that Orly Glitz is an absolutely gem of a polish. Beautiful, striking, glamorous. It applied nicely and dried quickly. The shimmer is just stunning. I really like the mix of crème and shimmer in this mani, it definitely stands out.

Color Block mani - have you tried it yet?

2012 Challenge "Plaid" and Pink Wednesday

You might have noticed that I took down the "On Wednesday's I Wear Pink" banner. I did this because I was finding it difficult to commit to two different colour-coordinated days. That being said, should I ever swatch or wear pink polish I will aim to post it on Wednesday, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't have a pink mani to post every Wednesday. My apologies to those who really love PW however I just do not wear enough of that polish colour to justify it with a specific day.

That being said, I have combined PW and my 2012 Mani Challenge. I made a tab up above dedicated to this challenge and have adjusted it slightly to my preferences. (Specifically, I took out the dates and listed them under the month so I can post them at my leisure rather than having such a specific time constraint.)

Onto the mani!

 L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer in Flashy Fuschia, 3 coats without topcoat

Flashy Fucshia is the most perfect shimmery hot pink. Seriously. A dream to apply, nice formula, opaque at 3 coats. Bright and beautiful. After the base colour I took my L.A. Colors Art Deco polish stripers in White and Black as well as my Nail Star Two-Way Nail Art Pen in Purple to make a plaid design.

I cringe a little at my "plaid" design. I only posted one photo because I'm very self-conscious of this mani and promptly removed it after snapping a couple shots and running upstairs to show Mr.Polish who said he "liked it". Pfft. Anyway, there it is.

Are you participating in the 2012 mani challenge? I would LOVE to see your 2012 challenge mani's! I will post others who are doing them at the bottom of my challenge posts. Let me know in the comments if you would like to be included!

2012 Challenge: Icing "Secret Stash" French Mani

Happy Sunday! Today I have a mani that I wore for all of 5 hours before cringing one too many times and literally scraping it off my nails. (Terrible, I know.) The second 2012 Challenge mani I have for you is a french tip mani. I don't usually like the traditional french tip so I made it my own and used pink and black. 

Secret Stash, 2 coats

I will admit, I hate the nail sticker and rhinestones. I thought it would jazz things up but I ended up hating the result. I was literally running out the door after taking the last photo and didn't have the option of taking it off. Anyway, by the time I was heading back home half the mani was destroyed by yours truly. I picked the stones and stickers off and was scraping the black tips off. I used the Two-Way Nail Art Polishes and let me just say it: they are terrible. They dry horribly and it's possible to scrape the polish off even 3 hours after applied, even with a nice coat of SV on top. I'm disgusted.

Onto the good parts of this mani. Icing Secret Stash is the most perfect pink polish. It is so vivid - it's what I think of when I think quintessential pink. The second good part was the I free-handed the black tips and I feel like I did a relatively good job, considering how goopy and messy this nail striping polish is. I wanted a really thin black line but because of the terrible consistency of the polish I had to make it slightly wider than I had wanted. Oh well, for 5 hours of wear, I can deal.

[EDIT: I would classify this polish as a jelly crème consistency. Thanks to StephanieLouise who asked me that in the comments - I forgot to mention it! I consider the jelly crème to be another good thing about this mani - it's a great finish!]

Black tip french mani - they're still on my "cool" list. Are they on yours?

2012 Mani Challenge: Cosmetic Arts Silver Belle (Linear Holo!)

What a beauty I have for you today: my very first linear holographic (or "prismatic", as I've read somewhere recently) polish. I came across this beauty yesterday at Winners after I snatched up the charcoal version at a different location. I went back this morning for the second bottle of it because ... just wow. I will admit, it isn't Gosh Holographic (I wish!) but because I can't get my polished fingers on a bottle of that, Cosmetic Arts' Silver Belle will fill the lemming ... for now. ;)

I didn't use flash for any of these photo's.

 Outside

 Outside, blurred shot for effect ;)

 Outside

 Indoors, hall "spot" light.

 Indoors, hall "spot" light.

In the car, sunlight coming through my dirty window. ;)

*deep exhale* Wow. I'm impressed.

I used two coats of Silver Belle and I did notice that there were some slight bald patches, very minor, but evident if I turned my nails a certain way. I have heard that using a top coat on holographic polishes can dull the linear effect so I decided not to risk it and left it alone.

As of this moment, I have been wearing this polish for over 7 hours and have noticed some very slight cracking and a few minor chips, nothing too serious but definitely worth mentioning.

My little ramble, feel free to skip if you like ... ;)
People have no idea what they are passing when holographic polishes are just sitting on their little display. When I went to the first Winners last night I found the charcoal version behind another polish and stared at it, disbelieving. I turned the bottle this way and that way examining it closely and started whisper-yelling for Mr.Polish to come over and see what I found. He looked at it with a blank expression, highly doubtful that the  polish I was holding would actually turn into rainbow glory on my nails, but lo and behold, I stand victorious. (Ever the drama-queen ... nothing changes, hehe.) Anyway, 45 minutes later we find ourselves back at our usual Winners location and Mr.Polish has a huge smile on his face and he is holding out his hand. Silver Belle is proudly tucked in his grasp. Well done, sir. Well done. My man is learning.

Does your partner ever surprise you with their polish knowledge?


PS: I'm now doing the 2012 Mani Challenge which you will be able to check out in the tabs below my header. I've adjusted it slightly to my preferences, mostly for scheduling purposes. This mani is the first challenge, completed!