Let it Snow!: Christmas/Holidays

Happy Thursday, it's challenge mani day!  This week's theme is Christmas/Holidays.  Nice and simple and fun.  Which is good the week before Christmas.  I have been so busy baking and wrapping and taking care of kids I haven't really had time to do my nails.  So easy was definitely on the menu for today.  And what is easier than a holiday base coat and a nice stamp?  Nothing!  LOL

Here is my Christmas/Holiday mani

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Colors:  Sinful Colors Hot Hot Heat (1 coat) and Essie Good as Gold (1 coat)

Stamping Plate:  Cheeky CH16

Stamping Polish:  Sinful Colors Hot Hot Heat and Essie Good as Gold

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I am gonna keep this short and end my post here, I have dinner I need to make :)

   

 Don't forget to check out the other ladies doing the challenge with me

Let it Snow!: Ugly Christmas Sweater

Thursday is the typical day of the week that we share our challenge mani's from the Let it Snow! Challenge.  I am gonna try real hard to keep on that schedule.

This weeks theme is Ugly Christmas Sweater, should be pretty easy, right?  Except I didn't want to have an ugly manicure.  I do wear my mani's for a few days before I change it.  Unless I have had some horrible chipping.  

In general, all Christmas sweaters are ugly to me.  No offense if you wear them.  They are just not for me.  Coming up with a design was kind of hard.  There are so many possibilities!  Lots of super ugly sweaters and some not so bad.  I went with a not so bad design.  Remember, I am wearing this for a few days.  

I have been on a red kick so that is where we start.  I chose Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby as my base, I know, been using that one a lot lately, but it's right there in front of me :)  And to make my ugly sweater a cute mani, I added some snowflakes :)

I used my Konad M59 plate and Konad Special Polish in White.  There are 2 snowflake designs on this plate, so I randomly placed them on my nails.

I topped with a coat of Seche Vite and voila!  A cute Ugly Christmas Sweater mani.  My nails are so smooth and shiny, I can't stop rubbing them.  What do you think?

Here is a recap of the products I used:

Base Coat: Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

Stamping Plate:  Konad M59

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special White

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

There you have it, my Ugly Christmas Sweater mani.  Please check out the other girls doing this challenge with me :)

Let it Snow!: Inspired by a holiday movie, song or carol

Yay for Thursday, cause that means it's almost Friday!  It's challenge mani day, yay!  I am in a really good  mood this morning.  I got up early, took a shower, did my hair and makeup and then went to my son's school assembly where he was awarded student of the month.  I am one proud mama!  And, I feel all pretty cause I got fully dressed today.  Not an every day occurrence as a stay at home mom LOL

OK, this weeks Let it Snow! challenge is a mani inspired by a movie, song or carol.  I am not gonna lie, I don't watch Christmas movies, listen to Christmas music or have anything to do with caroling.  I am not a Grinch,  I love the holidays, I am just not into the movies and music.  I am weird, I know.  That being said, I chose to do my mani based on a cartoon I used to watch as a kid.  I can't remember the name, but it was about frosty the snowman.  All the kids trying to get him to the north pole so he doesn't melt, cute movie. 

So with out further ado, here is my snowman mani:

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color: Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

Glitter:  China Glaze Fairy Dust

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM 318

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special White

Snow:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White (applied with a sponge & dotting tool)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I hope you are have an awesome day, and don't forget to visit the other girls participating in the Let it Snow! challenge :)

Pretty & Polished: Love Always, Candy Cain

I feel like it's been a while since I posted.  I don't usually post on the weekends, it seems every one is out and don't really take the time to check in on the blogs they follow.  Which is fine, I am totally guilty of that!  It was a 3 day weekend so I guess it has been a while LOL

Today I am sharing the last of my P&P Holiday Collection polishes, Love Always, Candy Cain.  This one is gorgeous in the bottle and lovely on the nail.  It's a clear base jammed with red & white hearts, hex and micro glitters.  I decided to layer over black for a fun darker look.  My only complaint about this one is the white glitters all seem to hang out at the bottom of the bottle, even after shaking it up just before applying.  But that's ok, I have a few polishes I have to go fishing in.  It really isn't a big deal for me.  

Here is how my mani turned out:

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Wet N Wild Ebony Hates Chris (1 coat)

Glitter:  P&P Love Always, Candy Cain (2 coats)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

A nice bonus to this polish is that it will also be great for Valentine's Day.  Layer over white or pink and voila, V-Day mani!

Happy Tuesday!!

Pretty & Polished Happy Holodays Duo

Pretty & Polished has a Holiday collection coming out this Friday the 9th.  I was fortunate to be able to purchase some in a pre sale to review.  So I have for you today the Happy Holodays Duo, which consists of a ruby red holo appropriately named Ruby, and a red and green glitter simply known as Glitter Topper.  Easy right?  I had to pick up this duo when I saw it.  It's right up my alley and has the things I love the most.  Red and Glitter!!

Let's get started.  Ruby is meant to be the base color, it's an awesome ruby red.  It went on smooth and was opaque in 2 coats.  As I was putting this one I was falling in love, I LOVE this red holo.  It's not super holo like the new Color Clubs or the Brazilian Jades, but it has just the right amount to make me happy :)

Here is Ruby alone:

Next up is the Glitter Topper.  This one is soooo pretty in the bottle.  It consists of red and green hex & micro glitters in a clear base.  It's jam packed!  I did 2 coats over Ruby as was very pleased.  This topper is not sticky at all and spreads nicely.  When I was done I looked at all my nails and I just have to say that I am so glad I picked up this duo.  I have a business Christmas Dinner to go to next month and this is the combo I will be wearing.  I am loving this!

Here is Ruby with Glitter Topper:

Isn't it just awesome?!?!  Well, I think it is.  Of course this is much more sparkly in person.  Seems no camera can capture all the sparkles of wonderful glitter polishes.

If you are looking for something fun and glittery for the holidays, this is a great duo.  The glitter topper will look good over a black or gold polish as well.  I will have to give that a try.  Lots of fun to be had with these :)

If you already have some Pretty & Polished polishes, then you know the polish is great and the customer service rocks!  

Just had to share one more pic LOL

Happy Thursday!!

Orly: Rock It

Today is just a swatch post.  I LOOOOOVE this color.  A friend and I were out dusty hunting and of course had to go get pedi's.  When looking for a color for my toes, I always go with red.  Orly Rock It caught my eye and I am so glad I used it.  I wasn't able to purchase it from the salon, so when I saw it on a blog sale, I had to snag that baby!  I am so glad I did.  Rock It is a reddish pink with a gold shimmer and it's beautiful.  Two coats for full opacity.

What do you think?

Don't forget, I am hosting a "just because" giveaway, come check it out HERE

Enjoy your Thursday <3

Guest Blogger Friday: Nail Polish Lane

Welcome to another Guest Blogger Friday!!  I am enjoying all the fun Friday mani's.  This week Belén so graciously offered to share her talents.  She has a great blog, don't forget to go check her out :)

*********************************************************************************

Mandy gave the opportunity of doing a guest post, and I am so happy! I'm going to introduce myself: I'm Belén, from Nail Polish Lane. I started my nail polish obsession about eight months ago, even though I always enjoyed painting my nails with solid colors. I started my blog a few months ago, but I started being very active in August, because I was doing the 31 day challenge!

Now to the mani! For this special occasion I wanted to show you Accessorize Pink Spice, a really beautiful nail polish that I got in the UK. It is a multi-chrome between pink, gold and orange. It is so cool! I wanted to add something, but I didn't want to cover that awesomeness, so I decided to add a little bows with the technique I learned in the Wah Book of Nail Art from Sharmadean Reid. I used nail art pens that I got in Accessorize as well to draw them. They didn't come out perfect, but I got a LOT of compliments and it is easy to do, you just need a little bit of patience. I hope you enjoyed my entry. Have a great day!

Fall into Autumn: School Spirit

This weeks Fall into Autumn Challenge is School Spirit.  I take that to mean any school you are attending, attended or even your kids' school.  I have been out of school for a long time.  This year my oldest, 5, started kindergarten, so I am doing his school colors.  They are the Knights with the colors of Blue and Red. I have been wanting to try a few different techniques/polishes so this is a combination mani.  I went with a red base using Sinful Colors Hot Hot Heat from the new metallic line, it's a nice one coater :)  I have had the Finger Paints Flakies for a while now and have to even swatched them!  So flakies for this mani too.  I did 2 coats of Motley over my red base.  I let that dry over night.  It was getting late and taking too long to dry.  I was tired, so I carefully went to bed.  Today I got out my striping tape (new for me) and tried a simple design.  It didn't take too long to do and then applied a single coat of Sinful Colors Midnight Blue.  A nice one coater there too.  Next, I took off the striping tape.  It isn't as clean and crisp as I had hoped, but I think it's pretty good for my first try.  Added a coat of Seche Vite and done :)  What do you think?

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Sinful Colors:  Hot Hot Heat (1 coat)

Flakie:  Finger Paints Motley (2 coats)

Top Color: Sinful Colors Midnight Blue (1 coat)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I will def keep practicing with my striping tape, happy Wednesday <3

Fall into Autumn: Apples

I have another Fall Challenge Mani for you today.  Number 2 is apples.  I had a hard time deciding what to do.  A lot of gals did a similar design, which is what I was planning in doing as well.  In the end, I decided it didn't matter if all our mani's looked similar.  Great minds think a like, right!?!?! So, here are my apples :)

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Red Apples:  Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Red Carpet

Green Apple:  Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Ivy League

Stems:  Sinful Colors Mercury Rising (applied with  a dotting tool)

Leaves:  Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Green With Envy (applied with an art brush)

Top Coat Seche Vite

These are fun to wear, I am enjoying them.  I wish they had turned out just a little bit better, next time!!  Have you tried an apple mani?

Lazy Days of Summer: Summer Days and Summer Nights

Happy Labor Day!!!  I am sharing 2 Summer Challenges with you today.  I am behind and trying to catch up.  Numbers 11 and 12 are Summer Days and Summer Nights.  Where I live it's pretty damn hot during the day.  So I decided flames were appropriate LOL  The evenings are kind of cool with clear skies, which is why I chose Galax-E from Pretty & Polished for my Summer Nights Mani.  Super simple and to the point :)

Summer Days

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Milani One Coat Glitter Red Sparkle 

(one coat, really!)

Stamping Plate:  MASH 48

Stamping Polish:  Sally Hansen Insta Dry Silver Sweep

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Summer Nights

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Pretty & Polished Galax-E (2 coats, no underwear)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

There you have it, 2 challenges in one.  I hope you enjoy  your Labor Day :)

Guest Blogger Friday: Karinea0a

Today's guest blogger for Guest Blogger Friday is Karine from Karinea0a.  I am so glad she joined the series.  We did the Spring Challenge together and are now doing the Lazy Days of Summer.  I enjoy her mani's very much, I am sure you will too :)

*********************************************************************************


Hello Lovelies!

My name is Karine and I'm very excited, although nervous to talk to you today :), this is my first guest post and I am truly honored that it came from a polish sister. I was introduced to Mandy via a Spring challenge, and let me tell you, I thought a long time about what I wanted to do as this lady got skills! Today, I am showing you a simple striping tape nail art. It's summer and pink never gets boring during this season, so I choose the Essence duo Shopping Trip In Soho and Party All Night Long. On to the pics!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it :)

Lazy Days of Summer: In the Garden

We all know that I have been a slacker lately.  But I have some good news, I have a new challenge mani for you :)  I went and got a mani/pedi recently and decided to amp up my otherwise crappy mani to a challenge mani.  Seriously, I am so mad at how bad my cuticles looked when I left the salon.  I thought it was just because she got too close to my cuticles when she was painting.  Not the case.  So I apologize for a not so great polish job.  But that isn't really the star of the show here any way.  I just got some of new Essie Mirror Metallics, which means more stamping polishes for me!!  I had been looking for a good gold and the Good as Gold in this collection is great!  

The inspiration for my mani is my own yard.  I don't have a garden or fancy flowers.  I do have a lot of rose bushes that line the front of my house.  They are so pretty when in bloom.  So I decided a rose garden mani was it. Plus, my nails were already red, perfect!  I have no idea what the brand or name of the red polish is, it was an off brand in the salon.  It does remind me a lot of A England Perceval.  I have a post on that lovely HERE

Alrighty, so here it is :)

Base Coat:  Unknown

Base Color:  Unknown

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM 306

Stamping Polish: Essie Good as Gold

Top Coat:  Unknown

I took this photo in the shade so the sun wouldn't wash out the gold.  I wore this for a couple days, I really enjoyed this mani :)

Lazy Days of Summer: Dotting Tool Summer Fun

Trying to get back on track after a few weeks of almost non existence is kind of hard.  I have been in a funk for a little bit and hoping that posting will get me back on track.  I decided to start with a challenge mani.  I am pretty behind compared to the other girls.  A lot are just zipping through :)

I am on number 7, Dotting Tool Summer Fun.  Seeing how I was in a funk when I did this, I decided to keep it simple.  Here is my cute summer flower mani

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Zoya Sarah

Flowers:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Green w/ Envy

and China Glaze Happy Go Lucky

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I loved wearing this design, so cute, simple and of course, red!

Lazy Days of Summer: Flip Flops

Challenge #4 for Lazy Days of Summer is Flip Flops.  I thought for a sec and decided I wasn't in the mood for bright or neon nails.  Besides, when I think of flip flops, I think of my black sandals with some awesome red toes.  One of the favorite pedi polishes is China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  I WILL be getting a back up of this color.  I hope they never discontinue this one.  

Here is my interpretation of a flip flop mani, it's very subtle and I am in LOVE with this red!!

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM309

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Check out the other gals doing the challenge

A England: Perceval

If you follow me on my FB Page Then you know that I recently got some A Englands when Ninja Polish got them back in stock.  I immediately tried out Perceval, a gorgeous red.  You know, cause I LOVE reds!  It went on so smooth.  I could have gotten away with just one coat, but did a 2nd one for good measure.  I love love love this one.  

Base Coat:  Seche REBUILD

Base Color:  A England Perceval

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Teal Tuesday: Marble

This weeks theme is Marble, any type.  I am such a procrastinator, I waited until last night to even attempt this one.  I knew I didn't have time to do a water marble so I thought I would do it with my dotting tool.  FAIL!  It didn't come out anything like I had hoped.  So I tried again, FAIL!  Hahaha, see a pattern here?  Then I decided I would do different patterns of black and white on my nails then use a turquoise glitter to marble in, FAIL!  So I decided to sponge on my glitters.  I ended up using Finger Paints Art you Wondering? and Romanticism Ruby.  You can see some of the white by mt cuticle :(  But I surely wasn't going another round with this mani.  This is what I ended up with

I am really bummed with how the polish looks around my cuticles, but what can I say?  If I had this to do over again, I would just use an all  black base.

Base Coat:  Seche REBUILD

Base colors:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White / Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris

Glitters:  Finger Paints Art you Wondering? / Romanticism Ruby

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Pirate Nails

It's been a pretty polish boring over here.  After having to cut my nails down, nothing looks good.  Sunday we had a pirate party for my son's 2nd birthday.  I HAD to do something fun to celebrate.  I did the best I could with my short little nails.  Plus, I had just gotten CG Ruby Pumps, LOVE IT!!  Here is what I came up with

Base Coat:  Seche REBUILD

Base Color:  China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Stripes:  Kleancolor Metallic Yellow and L.A. Colors Black Striper

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

What do you think?  

ASBMF #3: Glitter Sammy

It's time for another April Showers Bring May Flowers Mani.  Today I am sharing a glitter sammy.  I had heard of these, but never done one or even knew how to do them.  After a little googling, I found out they are super simple.  Or so I thought!  The technique is layering glitter polish with a jelly type polish.  Of course I have a few glitters laying around, not jellies though.  I did a little more googling and discovered that a gorgeous red I have is a jelly, YAY!!  No need to buy more or try to make one.  I chose to use CG Snow globe for my glitter.  It took me 2 tries to do this and I am still not even sure it's right.  I did a coat of SH Extreme Wear Red Carpet, a coat of Snow Globe than another coat of Red Carpet and topped with SV.  Seems easy enough, right?  Well, the 1st time around I wanted to make sure I had LOTS of glitter, so I did 2 layers.  But I didn't wait for it to dry, so after I added my top coat of Red Carpet, it was super squishy and any little nudge left a huge hole in my nail.  Failed attempt number 1.  The 2nd time I just did one nice thick coat of the Snow Globe and let that dry completely.  As best I could.  This stuff takes forever!  Aaaaand I had to get my kids ready go pick up my son from school.  So had a couple dings.  I just smoothed it out the best I could.  I wasn't going for round 3 LOL  After I got home, I layered on the Red Carpet and topped with SV.  I think it looks ok.  It isn't perfect cause of the dings, but I refuse to go at it again.  I may have to get some more jellies in my collection and try this again.  Until then, this is what I ended up with.

Base Coat:  Seche Retain

Jelly Color:  SH Extreme Wear Red Carpet

Glitter:  China Glaze Snow Globe

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Thoughts or suggestions?



Check out the other Gals doing the Challenge:
Hannah (Our Creator) from Polished Prisms
April from Munia's Nails
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!

Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Sarah from All This Polish

Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 

Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind

ASBMF #2: Lady Bugs

Today I have the 2nd challenge from the April Showers Bring May Flowers Challenge, Lady Bugs.  Yet another nail art task I have yet to try.  You are seeing my first attempt.  It's ok.  Not great, but I am happy enough with it to wear it for the rest of the day :)

The process I used was this:

1.  Red french tip (2 coats with sticker guides)

2.  All red accent finger

3.  Holo top coat over all red polish (2 coats)

4.  Stripe down center of accent finger

5.  Black dots on all red polish

6.  Black accent over french tips (by hand)

7.  Top coat over all nails

8.  Added black french tip on accent finger

9.  Added eyes to my lady bug

10.  Top coat over accent nail

Seems like a lot of work.  It kind of was.  I think it will go faster if I try this design again.  There are a couple things I would change, like adding the spots after doing the black tip on the accent nail.  I would also pay more attention to the placement of the eyes.  She looks a little cross eyed LOL  You learn by doing, right?  What are your thoughts on this design?

Base Coat:  Seche Rebuild

Red French/Accent Nail:  Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

Holo Top Coat:  Made by Me :)

Black:  L.A. Colors Striper

White:  L.A. Colors Striper

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

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