Dove/Sweet

This morning Barilla had me over for a fun nail party to play with all her new swag!  She has about 10 times as much colors as I and always has the latest stuff and was gracious enough to have me over to play!   We decided to just use our imaginations and see what we came up with!  She got going with an amazing manicure that I must replicate in the near future, so go check out her blog!  Here is what I came up with....

I love it!  This was my first experience with Zoya colors and I will be roving the Internet for these very soon!  They go one so easy and usually only need one coat.  I did a play on tip work, with a dot produced with a dotting tool that she gave me as a GIFT!  Yea for goodies from my friends!  She gave me some other things I will blog about later.... 

The colors are, again both Zoya.  Dove, the grey coat and Sweet, the pink coat.  Both are cream coats and they are luscious!  I loved them so very much, I think Dove will be my first Zoya acquisition, as a matter of fact!  Not a manicure I would wear everyday, but I love the color mix!  Thanks miss Barilla!  I loves ya!

French Tip/American Manicure

I'm showing you one of my only free hand techniques!  I can actually do a french tip free hand!  But even more than that, I wanted to share this find with my nail friends! 

It's the Orly French TIP manicure brush that really helps you do this one free hand.  It is very small and thin, just the right width of the tip that you want!  It's not wide like a standard brush, so it also doesn't use more product than you need at application.  Here I have paired it with the Orly Bare Rose for the perfect "American Manicure".  It's just a french with a pinker nail bed.  I like it better for some reason, I guess it's just preference!  Here is how it standardly turns out....

Fast and easy, and you can always head over to the nail isle at Sally's and grab some guides if you need them!  They are really cheap and you can get a ton!  This is a really nice summer manicure, too.  Let me know if you have any questions about this so you can do one yourself!

Kristy



Secret Peri-Wink-le/Beware

Hi all! 

I wanted to feature this glitter coat, not only because it's phenomenal, but because it's easy to find and inexpensive!  Everyone should have a good glitter coat, and Beware by Pure ICE is a very good one.  It goes over just about anything well (also see my Preds mani blog) and it's very easy to apply, and almost as importantly, easy to remove.  I wish I had a dime for every time I used a glitter coat that seriously was a full hour to remove!  This one is as easy to remove as a normal coat.  Check it out over one of my favorite blues, China Glaze's Secret Peri-Wink-Le.

DElightful! 

Another great aspect of this glitter coat is that, even though I advise it (as always), you do not HAVE to use a top coat.  It's very flat upon application and will not catch your hair or clothes!  It's just really tiny! 

Enjoy!



Black Shatter/Custom Kicks

And here I go with my Shatter blog post!  I'm sure I'm really late in the game, but I found the perfect undercoat, and well, I have the week off, so yea, 2 blogs in one week! 

I lucked out and scored this bottle of black Shatter from a friend that was frustrated with it.  I did a bit of practice and found it to be actually pretty easy to apply.  I have not tried any other brand of shatter and cannot find the other colors(much to my disappointment!) so that's the extent of my experience with this product.  This is the OPI Shatter, I think from the Katy Perry line.  It's a pretty cool effect, and I would love at least the Silver Shatter as well.  I am out of work until this Monday so I do not dare darken a Walgreens door in an attempt to find the other brands or colors....  Maybe next month!

And the undercoat?  It's China Glaze Custom Kicks.  I love this aqua green love machine!  It's soooo pretty!  Only one downside:  The removal of this color is tricky.  You MUST use a base coat or your nails WILL turn green and yucky.  Heck, even if you use a base coat they may turn green and then a yicky yellow....  BUT it's kinda worth it.  Just buff um up and they are like new, right?  Well, I applied an extra thick coat of base, so we shall see how it comes off this time.

These 2 are a match made in 80's Heaven!  Just beware and use a base coat.  The Shatter comes off easily for me, I mean, it's not really a nail polish, it's just a treatment coat.  It's a breeze!  You want to make sure that your undercoat is totally and completely dry before applying the Shatter, and you want to apply a relatively thin, and really quick coat.  This stuff dries fast, and you don't want to polish over it once it's begun to do it's "Shatter" thing.  Like I said, it's not lacquer coat, so you MUST use a top coat with it, and again, I suggest Sheche Vite.  Let me know if I can answer any questions for you!



Electric Pink

Okay, so my inspiration this week came from a baby shower I attended last week.  All the ladies were wearing these wonderful corals, and I don't normally like corals, but they looked so summery.  I have been on a big summer look kick these days, so I had to get into one of those corals. 

I found this number late last season and was only able to wear it once before I had to put away the feet from the cold.  BUT I will be wearing it this year, heck, I may have to buy a new bottle!  This is the most amazing coral I have ever found.  First off, it's call Electric Pink, but it really does prove like a coral or than a pink.  Second, it's BRIGHT, but not orange in any way!  I love love love it!  So great I made the carpet match the drapes(toes and nails, gutter dwellers!)! 

And I know this is odd for me, being an OPI girl, but this is a Revlon color.  Not that they are much cheaper these days, those just usually don't go on as well to me and are not great in the longevity department.  But Revlon has it's great exceptions(Vixen is another that in the prune color battle, won over Channel for me!). 

If you have been one that has steered away from corals because you are just not an orange fan or don't like that look, give this one a shot.  It's a cream, it's a 2 coater and it's fabulous for toes!  Keep it coming Revlon!  Good job! And of course, you can get this at any pharmacy or Wally World!

What's your favorite summer color?



That's Berry Daring

Thank God that summer is well on it's way!!  It's been a long winter, folks, but let's dig out those flip flops, scrub off those hoofs and get out the bright, loud and lovely colors.  Nothing says welcome warm weather like 10 perfectly coiffed toes beaming out over that wonderful "flip flop" sound! 

I decided to dig myself out of the doldrums of life and pep up my mani with my 2 favorite new acquisitions! My fellow nailafile Rachel and I took a special trip to Ulta and these are 2 of the 5 I got for a petty $20!

 And without further ado I give you.....

It's the best pink I own, and folks, I own some pink!  I am a cream coat sucker, and this totally has my in it's wonderful, dreamy clutches!  It's a pink that can sometimes look like a red:  Perfection.  It's OPI's "That's Berry Daring"!

This amazing double coat, covered in (THANK YOU, MISS RACHEL!! I actually did a little glitter coat dance when I first applied this!  You would have been entertained) Wet 'n Wild's amazing "Party of Five" glitter coat is a perfect spring coming out present for you and your fingers and toes!  

Just check it out!

The picture does not do it justice, but it looks pretty good.

With Summer coming, who knows what's next, but it's sure to be full of color!!!  TTFN all of my daring friends!

Seche Vite... O la la....

There is a new love in my life. I have been searching and searching and finally I have found what I've needed all along.  I've tried them all; the cheap ones, the expensive ones and somehow this one eluded me.  But no longer!  I have found the PERFECT TOP COAT!! 

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat is the latest and greatest manicure love of my life.  It's medium range, available everywhere....  I have no idea how I never found it waaaay before now.  It DOES dry fast, it DOES NOT get gloppy and it is the PERFECT finish to every color EVER! 

Seriously, do yourself a favor, splurg the like, $5.99 for this top coat.  You will not be disappointed, and I promise that.  And when I say fast, I mean like one minute fast.  Can I get a witness?  It is the best top coat ever and I will shout it from the mountain tops...  I LOVE SECHE VITE!!!!

As far as base coats go, and we all know that they are just as, if not more important as a top coat, I suggest OPI's Natural Base Coat.  It looks like it has a pink tint; it does not.

 Also dries SUPER fast and though it is, at most places, a bit more on the pricey end, it lasts FOREVER and your nails will thank you by never turning yellow or tint red.  It looks at blacks and blues and says, "Bring it one!"  Works like a charm, everytime.

I know that we all toot on about these polishes and they can lighter the load in your wallet, but if you love your nails, you have to protect them (AKA the base coat) and you have to keep all that pricey polish on as long as possible, looking a good as possible (AKA the top coat).  So, ladies, buy all the cheap colors you want, but when it comes to these two, take my advice.  You will feel better all around for doing it!  Especially the mommies out there!

TTFN and nail love love to all!