Black and Silver Stamping

Tonight's mani is one that I'm just soooo proud of.  I haven't had stamping come out as lovely as this in a long time.  And the fact that I have them on Cuties just makes it all that much better!  Cuties is the term I've dubbed nails that are intentionally short.  Nubs tend to have a negative connotation, so I've decided that Cuties should be the term we use for those nails who are short on purpose!  I know that I, for one, enjoy wearing my nails cropped low sometimes.  Whereas, there are others who will only wear Cuties - such as my lovely friend Sara from Born For a Storm!  When I wear Cuties, I tend to like to wear them with vampy colors, which is what I've done with this mani!  So, without further ado, let's take a peek at Chanel Cosmic topped with stamping using Color Club Harp on It.

Purchased by Me

I started with a base of two coats of Chanel Cosmic, which is a gorgeous black creme loaded with irregularly shaped silver holographic glitters.  Two coats was perfect for this polish and didn't require much cleanup.  While it's a lovely polish, I sincerely wish that it was a little more jelly so that you could see the glitters a little more easily.

To top it all off, I decided to use Color Club's silver holo, Harp On It, from their 2013 Halo Hues collection.  It's an absolutely lovely silver holographic, and it stamped really well.  The image transferred easily without drying onto the plate or stamper.  

I used regular Elmer's glue around my cuticles to make cleanup easier.  With this, I was able to just peel off the bits of stamp that got onto the skin around my nails.

I topped everything off with KBShimmer's Clearly On Top, which didn't smear the design.  Dry time with the topcoat was quick.

I know this isn't exactly winter-themed, but I did really love this manicure.  It lasted almost 5 days, which was fantastic because I just didn't want to take it off!  Have you ever had a mani you wanted to wear for as long as possible?  Tell me what it was in the comments!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  For those who don't, happy belated Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Festivus, Happy Solstice, Happy Yule, and just a plain old Happy End of the Year to everyone!  Normally, I do comparisons on Thursdays, but I'm going to show you guys a few of my Christmas manis from this year instead!

Purchased, Gifted, or Made by Me

Christmas Ornament Mani

I used three Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers as well as a gold Sephora pen for this design.  For the undies, I used Untrodden Snow.  For the holly and leaves, I used Mickey Smith Defending the Earth and You Just Want to Mate?!  I modeled this manicure after my all time favorite ornament that we used as our inspiration for all of the decorations in our house!

Christmas Tree Mani

I apologize for the photos on this one because, honestly, I took them with my iPhone, lol!  Here, I used Literary Lacquer's 1000 Christmas Trees and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Grandpa.  To make the Christmas Tree, I used some striping tape and the LL.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Mani

For this manicure, I decided I'd go with something bright, flamboyant, and not quite Christmasy, per se.  For this mani, I used Smitten's In October We Wear Pink topped with accents of Lynnderella Sugar Plum Pink from the 2012 advent LE collection.  This is another pic taken with my phone, which I haven't quite mastered due to my shaky hands.

Tacky Winter Sweater

I did another untraditional mani, but this time I went with a polish based off of the love of tacky winter sweaters, which happens to be the name of this polish!  BEGL Tacky Winter Sweater is a hot pink crelly base packed with snowflakes, diamonds, and glitters in various other shapes.  And yet another mani taken with my phone instead of my real camera!

Matte Glitter Gradient

For this mani, I used OPI Feel the Mo-heat-toes Green topped with a glitter gradient with Lynnderella Merry Ferry, and then topped with NYC Matte Topcoat.  Again, I apologize for this photo because I took it on my phone!  Here, I'm showing off my mani with a lovely beer by the Bruery called Seven Swans a Swimming, which is an amazing Belgian Quad!

Christmas Skittles

It's a very Lynnderella Christmas!  For this look, I used BEGLs, and RBL, an OPI, an EvP, and a metric-butt ton of Lynnderellas!  From thumb to pinkie - OPI L.A.M.B. topped with Lynnderella Change; BEGL Grandpa topped with Lynnderella Happy Holodaze; BEGL Siren's a Special Snowflake topped with Lynnderella Holo-day Hearts; RBL Gondoliere topped with Lynnderella Fire in the Jelly; and Elevation Wuyi Mountain topped with Lynnderella the Mindful Heart.

Candy Cane Tape Mani 

For this mani, I decided to go with a classic look that I've been seeing around town (i.e. on IG by Nail Polish Wars and Pointless Cafe- I know there have been more, but I can't find them now!).  I used two coats of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Dogwood because it has that shimmer that really makes it look candy-like.  I then topped it with Seche Vite, used my striping tape to tape off some lines, and topped that with BEGL You Just Want to Mate?! and another coat of Seche Vite.

I hope that everyone has a lovely and safe holiday season!  May your new year be better than you expect and happier than you hope!

Game Day Mani: South Carolina

As I mentioned two weeks ago, now that Pretty Little Liars is over, I'm going to start using my normal #RedCoatTuesday slot to honor a different Red Coats - the University of Georgia!  [For those not in the know, UGA's marching band is called the Redcoat Band, which I was in for two years in college!]  So, every Tuesday, I'm going to share my team spirit!  Last week was a by-week, so I didn't do a spirit mani, but I was back on track this week!  It was a crappy game that made me sad, but I'm glad that I had BEGL taxes to take some of my attention away from the horrible defense.  Anyway, enough with the football talk.  Let's get back to polish!

Purchased by me.

For this weekend's mani, I decided to go with something classic and yet still not super boring and plain - a French mani!  I actually took this look from Ashley over at Plump and Polished.  Hers is a bit different than mine, but I really liked that extra pop of color she added in underneath the main tip color!  For this look I used Elevation Polish SBPs in Rococo and Last Stop... Siberia.

Rococo is a lovely blood red with red and gold shimmers, and LSS is a black with purple, blue, and copper shimmers.  It's also glow-in-the-dark, but the gitd pigment settles.  I didn't really want to have gitd stripes, so I didn't shake it up and mix it back in.

First, I painted my base coat, which I used KBShimmer's Basic Training because I didn't want this mani going anywhere since I painted them two days before the game.  I love using Basic Training when I want a mani to have sticking power!  While I love my normal base of Quimica, it does tend to peel off a little more easily than a real base coat.  I then painted on Rococo on top of the base coat.  I don't have perfect application when it comes to smile lines, so I had to do a fair amount of cleanup.  I took the rest of the base coat off with the extraneous red, but that was by design so it wouldn't look patchy.

Next, I painted on a small stripe of LSS abutting Rococo.  I didn't do it with a striper, so I ended up doing the same type of cleanup that I used on the red.

Last, I added a coat of my beloved Quimica over the bare part of my nail and over the tips, and I then added a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top to finish it off.  I'm really happy that there wasn't any smearing, either!

All in all, this mani was nice, but I was a little bored with it.  I thought about adding something else like a decal, but I ran out of time.  You can purchase Elevation polishes at her site here.  Unfortunately, these are both small batches, so they won't be back.  So, what do you think?  Do you like French manicures, or do you think they're old fashioned?  They used to be my thing for a long time, but my nails hadn't been long enough in recent years to really do them anymore.  It was nice to give it another try!

Game Day Mani: Clemson

Now that Pretty Little Liars is over, I'm going to start using my normal #RedCoatTuesday slot to honor a different Red Coats - the University of Georgia!  [For those not in the know, UGA's marching band is called the Redcoat Band, which I was in for two years in college!]  So, every Tuesday, I'm going to share my team spirit!  I apologize to anyone who doesn't like UGA, but at least red and black are pretty together!  Tonight's mani includes stamping, decals, and Swarovski crystals!  Let's take a look!

Purchased by me or given as gift.

First, though, here's me, Mr. Blue-Eyed Girl (would that be Hazel-Eyed Boy?), and UGA VI in our Redcoat uniforms.  Band geek and proud!

I used the following items for this mani:

Cult Nails Tempest, Cult Nails Nevermore, Cult Nails Kiss, Konad White, Konad Black, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Cheeky plate CH52 from their Summer Collection, Nail Dot water decals, Nail Vinyls, and little red Swarovski crystals I received as a gift!

I started out by applying my undies, (thumb to pinkie): Nevermore, Tempest, Tempest, Kiss, Nevermore.  Next, I stamped onto my thumb, index, ring, and pinkie fingers using the Cheeky plate.  For my thumb and pinkie, I did a double stamp using Konad White and Cult Kiss, which actually stamped really well.  On my index finger, I stamped using the Essie.  Lastly, I used Konad Black and White on my ring finger over Kiss.  This was my first time doing the double stamp, which came out better than I had anticipated!

Next, I used the little G water decal from Nail Dots that I applied over the silver stamping.  I like these little decals, but they always tend to wrinkle and stick up around the edges, which is not so awesome.  I ended up using an extra coat of topcoat to smooth it down.

Then, after I waited for my coat of Tempest to dry on my middle finger, I applied the Nail Vinyls and painted on Kiss and Nevermore.  This was probably the best Nail Vinyl mani I've ever done!  I think it's because I waited long enough for my base to be 100% completely dry and removed the stickers as soon as I put the paint down without letting it dry.

Lastly, I added on the Swarovski crystals and added another layer of topcoat.  I was actually really surprised that most of these crystals lasted for two days, and I only lost two!  I'm not normally the type of person who likes doing anything that sticks up on my nails, but these aren't that bad or inconvenient.

All in all, I was so pleased with the outcome of this mani!  I highly doubt I'll be doing anything this elaborate for future game-day manis, but I wanted to go all out for the season opener.  Do you follow any fall sports?  Do you like to do fun manis to show your team spirit?

Pretty Little Liars: Rainbow Honey Sample and Annual Emotion

Tonight's post is going to be a combo just like last week's where I combine both my #RedCoatTuesday post with a Summer of Untrieds post!  As per my usual, I haven't seen tonight's episode and won't be able to until sometime tomorrow or later tonight, so no spoilers please!  Today's Summer of Untrieds theme was Rainbow Honey, and I chose a red polish, fortuitously apparently, that also doubles as my Pretty Little Liars Mani!  So, let's get to it, then!

(Source)

The rules are easy!

• Paint your nails red, do your lips red, do a shadow design in red, or do anything beauty related that is mostly red.
• Add your blog and photo to the inlinkz!  If you don't have a blog but do have an IG, you can check this link for directions on how to use your IG for inlinkz.  If you don't have a blog or IG, you can just add your photo to the linkup or send it to Color Me So Crazy, and she will get them up for you!
• Use the #RedCoatTuesday tag when you share your photos on IG, Twitter, or Facebook!

For the Rainbow Honey challenge, I chose an unnamed sample I received from a random blog sale and Annual Emotion, which came out last December.  I got bored easily with the plain silver foil, though, so I went ahead and added some stars using @Teismom's Nail Vinyls.

The unnamed sample polish is a cherry red with red and silver micro-flakies with bits of silver holo particles.  It built up very easily in two coats, and I didn't need to use any extra topcoat to help smooth down errant glitters.  Dry time was pretty average even using a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  

The particles came out of the bottle easily and spread across the nail without needing the dab method or other placement.  The consistency wasn't bad, as it wasn't too thick nor too thin.  I didn't need to add in any thinner, which happens often for me with Rainbow Honey polishes.  The consistency stayed nice and fluid the whole time I did my mani without any further thickening or clumping.  Application was easy and didn't require cleanup at all.

Annual Emotion is a silver foil with a touch of linear holo in the base.  The first coat covered pretty well, but it's definitely one of those polishes that you need to carefully apply or it will drag and bald.  Make sure you wait until each coat is dry before you apply the next coat.  I ended up using three coats to ensure there weren't any bald spots in my photos.  Otherwise, the consistency was a bit more fluid than the sample, and required a bit more cleanup.  Dry time was average between coats and was fairly quick with a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.

The Nail Vinyls were easy to apply, but make sure your polish is completely dry before you use them.  I always make the mistake of trying to use them before my polish is dry and, inevitably, have to redo at least one nail.  Someone in one of my Facebook groups recommended taking the vinyl and pressing it on my palm once or twice before applying it to my nail, and that helped me keep the stickers from pulling up my polish too badly.  I used one coat of the sample over the vinyls and quickly removed the stickers so the fresh paint wouldn't stick to the stencils when I removed them. 

I really like how unique these polishes are in my collection.  The silver holo is the only one I own that's more foil than holo, and I wish that the holo was a bit stronger even in the sunlight.  The flakies in the sample were dense without looking cluttered.  All in all, I truly enjoyed the look of this mani!  

You can purchase Rainbow Honey polishes at their store.  Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for news and updates.

(Source)

Guest Post: Lit from Within with Nail Art and Cameo Colors Lacquer

I'm almost finally done with my current work project, so this will be one of the last guest posts for a bit.  Tonight, I have the super awesome Nidia helping me out!  She is always up for helping out when I put out the call, and I love her sophisticated and easy to recreate nail art.  Make sure you check her out at her blog!


Hello! I'm Nidia, and I run a little blog called Lit From Within.  I love doing nail art, and I've brought a little here today to share with you. I started with Cameo Colors Lacquer Welcome To The Universe, a slightly iridescent blue with a soft holo. If you read my blog, you may remember that I wore this mani to visit the Salt Room Millenia with the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida.  Well, I added some nail art!

This nail art design is inspired by one I saw on Nail Art Gallery by Nails by Amy of Perfect 10 Nails Salon.  By that evening, I'm sure I already had tip wear or dings or something, because I seem to be incapable of wearing the same polish for longer than a few hours.  So, I covered the bottom 1/2 of my nails with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

With a white striper, I painted a horizontal line just below the edge of the black tip, and then painted the large swirls on either side.  In the top inside section, I painted the remaining half-swirl.  

Then, with a dotting tool, I made black dots in the 'V' of the top of the swirls, and then made dots with Welcome To The Universe in the black at the bottom of the 'V'.   Don't forget your favorite topcoat to seal in your design and make the layers blend together.

This nail art might work better on longer nails, but you can make it work with nubbins if you keep the proportions. It's a little busy, but the boldness of the white keeps it clean. I can totally see redoing this for the holidays with a nude/red/black theme, or adding in a gold or silver.

Bottle shot:  Cameo Colors Lacquer Welcome To The Universe, Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, and a white nail art striper.

If you liked this nail art, and enjoy other beauty stuffs, please feel free to stop by my Facebook page, check out my Twitter, Instagram, or check out my blog, Lit From Within.  Thanks for reading, and thanks, Julie, for having me!

Happy Memorial Day!

I know it's a day late, but I wanted to post my Memorial Day mani and to take a moment to think about those individuals who died while protecting our freedoms and to say thank you to the families who have lost their loved ones defending our country.  What you've lost cannot be repaid, but know that both their and your sacrifices were not for nothing.  My sincerest and deepest condolences to you all.

And now I feel that a stupid manicure really isn't important in the grand scheme of things if you really think about it.  That being said, I'll just make this a quick photos only post.  On my right hand, I used Emerald and Ash Mei Scattering (a white jelly with a super duper subtle holo shimmer, which is also my #1 favorite white jelly), topped with Sonnetarium Snowfall, and then stars made using nail vinyls by @Teismom using Lynnderellas Nail Bed of Roses and Mermuse.  On my left hand, I used Chanel Bel-Argus under Lynnderella Bibbitty Bobbitty Boo Blue, Cult Nails Kiss topped with Lynnderella Love Letter to be Red, and Cult Tempest topped with Lynnderella Tidy Whities (I wish now that I had used Mie Scattering again, but c'est la vie, I suppose!).  All polishes in this review were purchased by me or were gifts from friends.