China Glaze Agro with Devotion

Yesterday I showed my Mani using China Glaze Agro, you can see it here.  I decided last night was a good night to do some stamping and I had yet to try the polishes I have from the China Glaze Romantic Collection.  Which are supposed to be great for stamping.  My first choice was Chords.  Colors seemed good to me.  NOT!  Agro is too dark.  So the stamped image didn't hardly show at all.  Back to the drawing board.  I picked out Devotion from the same collection and was hoping it would work out.  It did!!  I quit like it!

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Color:  China Glaze Agro

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM225

Stamping Polish:  China Glaze Devotion

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Hunger Games: Agro

Hunger Games the Movie came out last week.  I have seen a lot of cool mani's inspired by the

movie.  Mine isn't inspired by the movie.  I haven't read the books nor have I seen the movie.  I 

would like to, but we shall see.  That being said, I did get some of the China Glaze polishes :)

I already posted about Stone Cold, you can take a peek if you like.  Back to Agro.  This is an awesome 

color, and opaque in just one coat.  Which means, this could be a great stamping polish, more on that later.

Here is the basic mani

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Color:  China Glaze Agro (1 coat)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I just couldn't leave well enough alone!  I decided to add some glitter :)  I used Wet N Wild 

The Gold and the Beautiful.  This polish is jam packed with gold specks.  I used a sponge to do a 

gradient look.  Well, I tried hahahahaha, I forgot how dense this one is and so the gradient isn't perfect. 

But I still like it.  You?

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Color:  China Glaze Agro (1 coat)

Glitter: Wet N Wild The Gold and the Beautiful

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Hope you enjoyed my Agro Mani's

Happy Friday!!

Max Factor: Fantasy Fire (3 ways)

I participated in my first swap this last week, SQUEAL!! It's really cool. I received Max Factor Fantasy Fire from a gal over in the UK and I sent her a Sinful Colors Neptune. There has been a lot of hype over the Fantasy Fire, so I just had to see it for myself. It comes in a very small bottle. I was warned it was small, but I didn't think it was this small judging by the other pics online. Needless to say, It's a cute polish in a cute little bottle :) I decided that I would layer this over black because it's pretty sheer. Black is my go to layering color. After putting FF over the black I quickly realized it looks nothing like the swatches I had seen on other blogs. But I still loved it. Seems the black brings out the reds in the FF.

Taken outside in Direct Sunlight

After looking online again to see how others applied it, I decided to try it over Purple and Blue. 

This pic is FF over Sally Hansen Insta Dri Pronto Purple.  Which basically just makes a nice sparkly 

purple LOL

Taken Outside in Direct Sunlight

Now for the Blue, this is FF layered over Sinful Colors Midnight Blue.  Now this pic is not true

to color :(  It looks really blue, I could not get my camera to pick up the purple undertones. 

I was so frustrated that I gave up taking pics outside.  I tried indoors and still no luck.

This is the best I could do.  Imagine this as a blue and purple duochrome.  It's very pretty and my husband

like this one the best

Taken Indoors

After trying this over 3 different bases, I have to admit that I like it the best over the black.  I do gravitate

towards the darker colors anyway.  My 2nd choice is layered over blue and then the purple is in last 

place.  

Do you have this pretty polish?  Plan on getting it?  Any suggestions?

Comments are appreciated

Happy Thursday!!

Teal Tuesday: Animal Print

It's Tuesday!  So that means I am showing you  a teal mani today :)  This weeks theme is animal print.  I had 3 choices as far as I am concerned.  Zebra, cheetah and snakeskin.  I felt the zebra would look best with a teal background.  Then I decided I didn't want to just paint my nails and stamp a zebra print on it.  So I did a little Youtubing (yes that is a word) and came up with my design I have for you today.  French Tip Zebra Mani!
I am loving it.  Super simple to do too.  I just used my guides to do the french tip.  Did a coat of Seche Vite.  After it was dry, I put my guides back on to stamp.  I just made sure not to let the stamp go past my guide.  Added another coat of Seche Vite and Voila!  Zebra French Mani.

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Tip Color:  Kleancolor Metallic Aqua

Stamping Plate:  Konad M57

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Check out what the other gals are doing

Nails Beautiqued

Geeky Owl

Gaga For Nails

Fancy Phalanges

Color Splash Nails

Gnarly Gnails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Persistent Glitter

No Holos

Adventures In Stamping: Black and White

It's Stamping Sunday over in AIS and this weeks theme is Black and White.  Seems pretty easy right?  Well, not so much.  I had my design all picked out in my head and got to work.  I figured a lot of gals would be starting with a black base, so I chose to do a white base.  Besides, my black seems to stamp better than my white.
I used OPI Alpine Snow for my base, you can see my thoughts here and my Konad special black for the stamping.  I taped off my nails in a diagonal to do the netting design from my Konad M57 plate.  That was super simple and came out great.  I was quit pleased.  I used the little flowers from the same plate across my nail.  This part got kind of tricky.  I had to stamp 3 flowers on each nail.  Not a big deal.  But I like to clean my plate after each stamp and so I had black all over the place.  Even managed to get some on my white base color :(  So after stamping and cleaning up the white and my cuticles and my finger tips, this mani took about 2 hours.  I added my top coat and called it done!  But when I woke up the next morning, it was just too plain.  The white was so WHITE!  LOL  I decided to add a coat of CG Fairy Dust.  In retrospect, I should have added the glitter over the white before stamping.  Remember when I said I was still learning?  Learning point right here :)  All in all it's an ok mani.  I don't hate it, but I don't love it.
And now the reveal!

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Color:  OPI Alpine Snow

Glitter:  China Glaze Fairy Dust

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black

Stamping Plate:  Konad M57

OPI: Alpine Snow

Prior to really getting in nail polish, I had some fun with just painting my nails and using a dotting tool to make cute little flowers.  Since I didn't want to spend a lot of money on polish, I picked up a black and a white L.A. Colors from my Dollar Tree.  Couldn't hurt to try, right?  Well, the black is fine, the white?  It totally sucked!  LOL  Sooooo, I am on a quest for a great white polish.
During my last trip to Ulta I picked up a pack of OPI Minis.  Too Cute not to get.  Inside are a few colors I wanted to try, including Alpine Snow.  Today is testing day :)
At first I wasn't too happy with it....very streaky.  So I decided to do thicker coats.  Even in doing that I still had some bald spots and needed to do a 3rd coat.  Seems like a lot.  Maybe not?  I don't have a lot of experience with whites.  Here is what it looks like:

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Color:  OPI Alpine Snow (3 coats)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Thoughts?  Advice?  Suggestions?  Comment and let me know your favorite white.  It might end up being my favorite white too :)

Thanks for looking and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Milani 3D Holographic: Hi-Res

Spring has sprung!  I don't normally do light flowery nails,  but I thought spring was a good cause.  Plus, I just got a new polish I wanted to try out.  I have heard of the Milani 3D Holographic polishes and have been wanting to try them out.  I didn't own any Holo polishes and this is a good place to start, at least I think so.
In the store I was a bit worried about the lack of holo effect so I picked up 2 to try out.  Last night was testing night.  I layered Hi-Res over black polish to get a nice opaque color.  The coverage was pretty good :)  Then this morning I couldn't decide on what kind of stamping I wanted to do, flowers or butterflies?  So I decided to do both!

I was pleasantly surprised when I went outside to take pics.  Nice sparkly holo nails, YAY!!  Not as holo as a lot of other polishes, but this is quit pretty out in the sun.

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Colors: L.A. Colors in Black and Milani Hi-Res

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Stamping Plate (Flowers): Bundle Monster BM 221

Stamping Plate (Butterflies) Bundle Monster BM 205

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special White

China Glaze: Love Marilyn

As you might know, my favorite color to paint my nails is red.  So when I saw this polish, I HAD to have it!! It's red, sparkly and named after Marilyn Monroe.....what more do you need?
This particular polish is super stinky, I find that most glitter polishes are.  It's packed with red and silver glitters and took 3 coats to cover my nails.  This is by far the most sparkly mani I have ever had.
Enjoy Marilyn in all her Sparkliness :)

Base Coat:  Nail Envy

Base Color:  China Glaze Love Marilyn

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Teal Tuesday: Glitter Freestyle

It's Tuesday which means I am showing you a Teal Mani. This weeks theme is Glitter Freestyle. I Don't have a ton of glitters that go with teal or even a teal glitter. I have been wanting to try a glitter gradient and thought this would be a good time to try it out.

It didn't come out exactly how I planned.  I think because this type of gradient looks really good on either a dark base coat or a bare nail.  Either way, I gave it a try, it didn't turn out too bad :)

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Color:  Sally Hansen Insta Dri Mint Sprint

Glitters:  Pure Ice Oh Baby, China Glaze Fairy Dust & Color Club Starry Temptress

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

EDIT:  I had this post ready to go last night.  When I woke up this morning, I just wasn't too happy with my nails.  So I decided to add more glitter and some stamping :)  I like it much better now and can wear this mani for a few days now.

Stamping Plate: Shany SH20

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black

Check out the other gals in the group

Nails Beautiqued

Geeky Owl

Gaga For Nails

Fancy Phalanges

Color Splash Nails

Gnarly Gnails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Persistent Glitter

No Holos

Hunger Games: Stone Cold

Seems everyone is familiar with the Hunger Games books and the movie coming out.  I however had never heard of it.  I probably wouldn't have heard of the China Glaze Hunger Games Line if it weren't for PAA
I was excited to get Stone Cold, a gray matte with a little sparkle.  I don't have any matte's so this was a biggie for me.  I was able to order a couple on sale with free shipping, YAY!!!
So here is my take on this polish.  I don't love it, and that makes me sad.  I do think that with a little more practice, I will grow to love it.
I put on my first coat and was a little surprised how uneven it went on.  I used a thicker 2nd coat and that helped a lot.  You have to be real careful when cleaning up your cuticles, if you get polish remover on your nail, it will take off a bit of the top layer and you will be left with a silver spot in your polish.  You will notice that I have a few of those.
It's totally weird not to use a top coat, if you do, you will make this a shiny finish.  Wondering if I needed to use a matte top coat.
Thoughts?  Suggestions?  All are appreciated, Thank You!!!

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Color:  China Glaze Stone Cold

Top Coat:  None

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St. Patty's Day Mani

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day.  Will you be celebrating with green beer?  A special dinner?  I am embarrassed to say that we do neither of these things.  And I am married to an Irish Man!!!  Obviously he doesn't mind much.  Although I know he would like a traditional corned beef hash one of these times.  This holiday just creeps up on me EVERY year!
So, in honor of St. Patty's Day, I did a themed mani last night.

No Flash

With Flash

I wasn't too excited about the green when I first put it on.  Thankfully, after the glitter top coat, I was in love.  I love how this turned out.  

This was also my first time using my new Bundle Monster plates.  I know this isn't exactly a 4 leaf clover, but it looks like a bunch of clovers and I thought "hey, it's my St. Patty's Day Mani"  :)

Basecoat:  Seche Rebuild

Base Color:  China Glaze Holly-Day

Top Color:  Wet N Wild Fast Dry The Gold and the Beautiful

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM 16

Stamping Polish: Konad Special Black

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Glam Polish Giveaway!!

Glam Polish is celebrating 1000 followers with an OMG Giveaway!  This is soooo awesome.

 Head on over to 
Glam Polish to Enter!

Teal Tuesday: Stripes

Yes, I am a member of another group on FB called Teal Tuesday  The idea behind the group came from Pink Wednesday.  The founder, Missy Robinson, decided Teal wasn't getting any love.  I have a few teal polishes in my stash and I thought this would be a great way to use them.  If you don't know what to do with your teals, or even turquoise and such, come and join us!!

This weeks challenge is stripes.  Which is very fitting because I have never tried a striped manicure and I have a few striper polishes I have never used.  So thank you Teal Tuesday for getting me on this!  Oh, I just wanted to let you know that I purchased my striper polishes at the Dollar Tree.  Can't get any better than that AND they worked beautifully!!

Basecolor:  China Glaze Beauty and the Beach and Fairy Dust

Stripes:  Black, White and Silver

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Check out the other gals in the group

Nails Beautiqued

Geeky Owl

Gaga For Nails

Fancy Phalanges

Color Splash Nails

Gnarly Gnails

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Monday Challenge: Picture with your pet

I recently joined a group on FB called Polish-Aholics Anonymous  It's a great group of girls to talk polish with, swap polishes or even have an over seas buddy send you some thing special from their neck of the woods.
Challenges are every Monday.  This week's?  Take a picture of your Mani with your pets(s).  Could be any Mani and if you don't have a pet, you can use a stuffed animal.  I have 4 mini doxies.  Rosebud, Marbles, Pinky and Harry.  However, EVERY time I take a picture of one of them, they look like devil dogs with their glowing eyes.  So I opted not to use them in my photo.  Instead, I got a cute little rubber ducky from my kids' bath tub.

This mani is actually for another group challenge tomorrow.  I will explain then.  Until then, enjoy my little rubber ducky :)


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Adventures In Stamping: Circles (FAIL)

I recently joined a group on Facebook called Adventures in Stamping. It's a great group and I love all the gals in there. I am having so much fun! We do a new challenge every week, and this week, it was circles. Seems easy right? Just pick an image plate that has a circular design and stamp! Well, I have a few plates with circular images on them. But, I haven't done a half moon mani before. So I went with my Red Angel 110 plate. I was excited to try something new. I had already painted my nails (for another group challenge) and picked my stamping colors. SH Insta Dri "Wined UP" and Orly "Dazzle" First off, I had a hard time stamping the image in the right spot. The more I went along, the more I didn't like it :( I chose "wined up" for my ring finger to give it a little pop. It pops! I actually love this color. First time stamping with it. However, when I was all done, I didn't like it one bit as a whole. I decided to still take pics and show my failure to coordinate colors and stamp an image on the center of my nail. See for yourself:

I will be removing my mani either tonight or tomorrow. I just wanted to show you my fail so that we can all either laugh at me or you can tell me I am doing ok and keep on going :) Either way, thanks for looking!!

Basecoat:  China Glaze "Beauty and the Beach"
          China Glaze "Fairy Dust"
Stamping Plate:  Red Angel 110
Stamping Polish:  Orly "Dazzle"
                           SH Insta Dri "Wined Up"


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Stamping: Stars

 I have been experimenting with different ways to do a nice french tip.  I have used scotch tape and the french tip guides you can buy at the regular store.  I actually ordered mine off eBay.  Super cheap and I got a bunch.  Placing them can be a little hard because you want to make sure that the curve of the sticker is in the right place.  No one wants a crooked french tip, right?  This is the 2nd time I have used the guides.  Not too bad, took longer than I expected.  But the end result is nice.

Polishes used:

Basecoat:  10 Professional #409 Starlit

Tips:  China Glaze Blue Years Eve

Stamping Plate:  Shany SH12

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special White

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GIVEAWAY: From The Nail Junkie

A fellow blogger is hosting a giveaway, YAY!!  Who doesn't love free stuff?  Head on over to her blog and enter!!

Luck O' The Irish Giveaway

Favorite Color Polish: Mine is Red

I think everyone has a certain color that looks great with their nail shape and skin tone.  Personally, for me, I think anyway, it's red.  I have such pale skin and just looks so perfect.  Especially on my toes.  I can't remember the last time I got a pedicure and didn't have them painted red.

So here is my mani with Essie "Shine of the Times" over Confetti "Rock the Night Away"

Love how the Essie changes color depending on how the light catches it.

Oh and I just learned how to make a watermark today.  Isn't it lovely?  I will make sure not to add it over the nails if at all possible.

Happy Wednesday!!

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