Nfu-Oh NFU 61 Zebra Mani

Morning!  Or afternoon, depending on where you live ;)  Hope every one had a great Easter, I know I did.  It was a lot of work and a lot of fun.  So much so that I did practically nothing yesterday, I was pooped!!  But I am back today to share my fun holo zebra mani.

I got Nfu-Oh NFU 61 from a blog sale a while back, and now that the sun has been peeking out, it was a good time to give it a try.  In general you are supposed to use an aqua base for this polish, but I don't have one.  So I did a little looking around for other options.  A lot of people sandwiched 61 with Seche Vite.  If you don't use an aqua base or some alternative, this polish is very streaky and leaves bald spots.  Not pretty!  I used my normal base coat of Rejuvacote, did a coat of 61, then a coat of Seche Vite, another coat of 61 and topped with Seche Vite.  Get all that?  Next time, I think I will start with Seche Vite as my base and go from there.  See if it works easier.  But hey, it turned out just fine with a little finesse.  And because I can't leave a holo polish alone, I decided some stamping was in order :)

What do you think?  I used Konad M57 and Konad Special Black for the zebra print and Bundle Monster BM317 and Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Flashy Fuchsia for the bow.  Then topped with another coat of Seche Vite :)  

Today is the 2nd day of Spring Break and I am already going nuts, I plan on sharing at least 1 more post this week, hopefully 2, but we will see how things go here.

XOXO  Mandy

2nd Day Nails: Stamping

Good Morning all :)  It's time for some 2nd day nails.  This time I went with some stamping.  When I did my review for BadAss Polish on Monday, which you can see HERE, for their newest polish called Brew Crew, I was reminded of space.  I knew exactly what I was gonna do in the next day or so :)  So I got out my plates and found a fun space inspired one from Cheeky.  Here are my cute space nails.

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Sally Hansen Ebony Hates Chris and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep

Glitter Topper:  BadAss Polish Brew Crew

Stamping Plate:  Cheeky 46

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep

Top Coat: Seche Vite

Aren't they cute?  I am enjoying them :)

Have a nice rest of the week, I will be back with another BadAss Polish to share, so stay tuned!

XOXO Mandy

BadAss Polish: Brew Crew {Review}

Morning!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I know I did.  It was pretty busy but all in all, it was a good time.  Until I woke up Sunday morning and lost an hour :(  Some one please tell me why we still have to change our clocks every 6 months.

Less complaining and more polish!  Today I am sharing a lovely from BadAss Polish's new Baseball themed line, called "Take me out to the ball game"  Cute, right?  The first polish in the line was inspired by the Milwaukee Brewers called Brew Crew.  It's a clear base packed with blue, white and gold glitters.  Quite easy to apply, as have been all my BadAss polishes.  I am showing this glitter topper over a black and silver base, I LOVE IT!  It's so much fun and reminds me of space :)

Isn't it nice?!?!  I used 2 coats of Brew Crew to get this look.  You could easily do 3 or 4 to really pack it on there.  I have learned to have a little patience when using glitter toppers such as these.  I like to paint my base, let it dry for a minute or two and then do a coat of the glitter topper and let it dry for a couple of minutes.  Have you ever noticed that if it isn't dry enough, the second coat starts to pull the first coat and then  your pretty polish looks all a mess?  Yeah, me too.  So this time I waited about 3 minutes or so (about long enough to play a level or 2 of Candy Crush) between coats and not a mess of anything!  Patience really is a virtue when using glitter toppers.  

I don't really follow baseball, but that doesn't mean that a baseball inspired polish can't live with me.  

Baseball season is fast approaching, make sure to either grab this one or keep an eye out for your favorite team inspired polish.  BadAss Polish is good at capturing the team spirit in a bottle.  

You can check out BadAss Polish on Facebook or head to their shop on Etsy to purchase Brew Crew and other great polishes.  

Have a great rest of the week!!

XOXO  Mandy

Halloween

Hey every one, I know I have not been posting here much.  I am a slacker.  I apologize.  I was into some challenges and then it got so busy around the house I didn't have the time :(  So I have decided to pass on the Halloween and Fall challenges this time around.  I still wanna enjoy Halloween on my nails, so I am just going to do what ever I want when ever I want :)

 I had to chop off all my nails so designs are a limited right now.  What looks best on short stubby nails?  Dark vampy colors!  I had recently picked up a few of the Fantasy Makers polishes from CVS.  Perfect time to try them out.  I have one that is a black base with a ton of tiny purple glitter, it's called Rest in Pieces.  It looks so pretty in the bottle.  I wasn't too thrilled with it on my nail :(  It comes off as just a black polish.  If you look really close, you can see some of the purple glitters.  Oh well.  It covered really well in 2 coats and the RIP bottle is really cute.  So it's not a total waste LOL.  Here is what I came up with:

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Fantasy Makers Rest in Pieces

Stamping Plates:  Bundle Monster BM225 and Shany SH25

Stamping Polish:  Sally Hansen Insta Dri Silver Sweep

Red Rhinestones

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I am quit enjoying this vampy look :)

Go Pink Wednesday

As I am sure most of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I joined a group called "Go Pink Wednesday" where we will be wearing and sharing pink mani's every Wednesday in October to raise awareness.  I know, it's Thursday, but I just joined the group yesterday so I am starting today.  Better late than never, right?

I personally have not be touched by breast cancer, but that does not mean that I am not in favor of a quick cure.  Where you are a survivor, know a survivor or have never dealt with the disease, I encourage you to either donate to a cause or do as I am and try to raise as much awareness as you can.  

On to the pretty part.  I don't own hardly any pinks.  But I did have 2 that go great together.  I wanted some thing fun and up beat.  I went with a pink base, a glitter coat and of course some pink stamping!  Here is the final look

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Sally Hansen Insta Dri Presto Pink (1 coat)

Glitter:  Sinful Colors Smoking Hot (2 coats)

Stamping Plate:  Konad M57

Stamping Polish:  Sally Hansen Insta Dri Flashy Fuchsia

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I am loving how the zebra print pops over the glitter.  I used a coat of sech vite over the glitter before stamping.  Mostly to help it dry.  It was taking FOREVER!  I think that coat of sech vite is what is making the stamping pop like it is.  Either way, I am super happy with how this turned out.  I can't stop staring at my cute pink nails :)

I will be back next Wednesday with another pink mani for you, Happy Thursday!

This Is Halloween: Horror Movie

I joined a Halloween nail are challenge, YAY!!  There is a scheduled mani every Friday for the month of October.  So Guest Blogger Friday will be on hold while I am doing this challenge.

The first one is Horror Movies.  I don't watch a lot of horror movies.  I don't like or dislike them, they are just not on the top of my list.  I would rather watch a comedy and laugh my ass off than watch people be butchered and scared to death.  So when thinking of this challenge, I didn't pick a specific movie.  I haven't seen a horror film in a very long time.  But, there is always some body getting hacked up, ground up or chewed up, EW!  So I went with a blood drip mani.  All sorts of blood in a horror movie, right?

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White (2 coats)

Blood:  Sally Hansen Insta Dri  Wined Up (applied with a dotting tool)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

There you have it, my bloody mani, what do you think?  

There are a bunch of us doing the challenge, be sure to check out the rest of the gals :)

Oh, only one day left for my Giveaway, EEEEK!!!

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 :)

Lazy Days of Summer: Beach Theme

The April Showers Bring May Flowers challenge has morphed into a summer challenge called Lazy Days of Summer.  Here are the challenges

This is going to be interesting.  I have no idea what to do for most of these!  I did my beach themed mani.  Although it isn't like there is a beach on my nails, I love how this turned out.  I wanted to do some thing from the beach.  I wish mermaids were at the beach, so that is what I decided to do.  I got the idea from a fish mani is saw from Soguesswhat11.  I love her stuff!!  I didint' have a light blue, so I went with turquoise and dubbed this a mermaid mani.  What do you think?

Click to enlarge
Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Essence Choose Me

Glitter Tips:  OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air

Stamping Plate:  Mash 39

Stamping Polish:  SH Insta Dri Silver Sweep

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Check out Some of the other gals doing the challenge

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Stamping Test: Silver

Everyone is looking for the best polishes for stamping.  Konad polishes can get kind of pricey, if you don't know where to shop.  I believe that you should have a black and a white.  All other colors can be duped.  I purchased my Konad polishes from HERE.  Honestly, it's not that much more than a regular polish.  Especially when you are buying OPI for around 8.50 and China Glaze for around 7.00 in the stores.  I have been doing a lot of looking around for good stamping polishes.  It's very well known that the Sally Hansen Insa Dri's are great for stamping.  I have purchased more than a few of them.  There are quit a few youtube videos doing comparisons for black and white dupes.  Honestly, I will stick to my Konad.  But, Silver is another story!!  Every one is looking for a great silver and gold.  I haven't found the gold yet.  But I did get a few of the most popular silvers and decided to do a test.  I have the following polishes:

Orly Dazzle, SH I.D. Silver Sweep, Pure Ice Silver Mercedes & SH I.D. Gone Grey

 ( I know, not silver, but I had JUST picked it up and wanted to give it a test)

I decided to use a Konad plate so there were no discrepancies, Konad is the best, there are other great brands, I have a bunch of them, but Konad really is the best.  I used the zebra print because it's a good full image where you can see all the lines.  I used a base coat of WnW Ebony Hates Chris.  The test images are in the same order as the pic above.  Here is how it went:

Dazzle has more shimmer in it, but it stamps really well.  Silver Sweep and Silver Mercedes are almost identical!  For the price, get the Silver Mercedes.  My Walmart has them for less than 2.00.  Last is the Gone Grey.  I didn't think this was going to stamp at all.  It was a little watery, but to my surprise, it stamped pretty good :)

There you have it.   A few different polishes to choose from for your stamping pleasure.  Hope I was able to  help you decide which polish is best for you.  Thanks for looking and Happy Thursday!

Stamping Sunday: Easter Mani

Yay!  It's Easter!!  Hope everyone has a special day planned.  I know I do :)  This week's challenge over in AIS is Easter.  I don't have any plates with cute little bunnies or eggs.  So I thought I would do a little grass scene on all my nails. It was looking ok, then I decided to start over and do a little layering.  My grass was so cute, green and sparkly....then I started to stamp some flowers, bees and butterflies.  Let me just tell you, this is not the mani you will be seeing today.  It seriously looked I let a 5 year old stamp all over my nails.  It was terrible.  So I decided to go simple and more Spring-y.  I chose to do a pink gradient with a silver full image stamp.  This is by far the best out of the 3 attempts.  Is it Easter-y?  Prob not.  But I WAS going to go with a black mani and call it Easter at night LOL I was sooooo bummed with my first 2 attempts.  What do you think?  Don't the the polish missing on the side of my ring finger.  Got a little carried away with the acetone.

Base Coat:  Seche Retain

Base Color:  NYC Wall Street

Base Color:  SH HD LCD

Gradient:  SH Insta Dri Presto Pink and Flashy Fuschia

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM 224

Stamping Polish: Orly Dazzle

Top Coat:  Sech Vite

HAPPY EASTER!!

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

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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