Guest Post

Today I am guest posting for lisas nail obsession.

Go check out her post HERE with all the details :)

TTFN!

XOXO Mandy

NCC~April~Pastel~Week 3

It's time share another pastel mani from the NCC group.  April is pastels and here is my 3rd mani

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote
Base Color:  Zoya Arizona
Stripes:  Pink and White from L.A. Colors
Top Coat: Seche Vite

So, you are probably thinking that this doesn't really look pastel.  When I did my base, I had no idea what I was going to do but a light orange would be fun.  After adding the pink stripes, it quickly started to look like a bright neon mani.  Adding the white gave it more dimension and even though it may not all be pastel, I really like how this one came out :)

Another quick shot in the shade.
 As always, check out the other ladies doing the challenge with me.

Happy Wednesday!

XOXO  Mandy

NCC: April~Pastel~ Week 2

It's challenge mani day!  If you remember The Nail Challenge Collaborative, then you know we just started a new series where every month is a new theme.  April is pastels and here is my week 2 pastel mani.

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Zoya Neely

Nail Art Stickers (eBay)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I have had these nail art stickers for quit some time now.  I received them as a "sorry you didn't receive your striping tape order, here are some stickers and a replacement is on the way" kind of thing.  They sent a lot too!  Soooooo, with it being pastel month, I thought it was a good time to try these out.  And I have to say, I am really liking them.  They make a plain mani cute and summer-y.  

I had a really hard time photgraphing this mani and didn't know if it was going to make it to the blog.  I tried all kids of light sources, angles, indoors, out doors.....nothing was looking good.  This is the best I could do.  Here is another shot

 Not the usual pose, but I was getting desperate!  

Well, there you have it, a simple, cute and fun pastel mani.  Don't forget to check out the other ladies participating in the challenge :)

XOXO  Mandy

2nd Day Nails: Matte

Soooo, I recently shared my review of Copper Waters for BadAss Polish, you can check it out HERE if you missed it.  I really enjoyed the look, but of course, I wanted to change it up a bit.  As I was walking through my bedroom, I saw my matte top coat, so that was that, matte it was!!  I love the look of matte glitters and this was no exception.

Please forgive the tip wear, I used a cheap drug store polish as my base, Wet N Wild Ebony Hates Chris.  I don't think I will be using this one any more.  It always starts to wear off about the 2nd day.  You will notice that my ring finger with Essie Good as Gold has no tip wear or chipping.  

I need a good black, any recommendations?  I picked up Sinful Colors Black on Black, we will see if that one holds up any better.

Glitter toppers are so fun and you can do so much with them.  Right now, I am loving the matte glitters, I am sure there will be more in the near future ;)

Happy Hump Day!

XOXO  Mandy

BadAss Polish: Copper Waters {Review}

Evening ladies!!  I had planned on doing this post this morning, but I go wrapped up in getting Birthday Club polishes put away and re-organizing some baking stuff to make room for more crochet stuff.  Yeah, lots of moving stuff around today.  I am not quite done, but I will prob get to it again after the kids go to bed.  So for now, here is my review for BadAssPolish Copper Waters.  This is a new addition to the core line.  It's a mix of blue holographic glitter with copper glitter in a clear base.  It's quite pretty.  Check out the bottle:

I swatched this baby over quite a few colors and it was hard to choose my base to show you.  In the end I went with black and gold.  I did just one coat of my base colors, Wet N Wild Ebony Hates Chris and Essie Good as Gold along with one coat of Copper Waters.  I topped with a coat of Seche Vite and I was good to go. 

Isn't it pretty?  The formula was great and I definitely didn't have to do any fishing here.  You could do as many coats as you like, but I like to see the base color under this one.

Here are a few more pics for your viewing pleasure :)

I am enjoying all my BadAss Polishes.  

Copper Waters is not yet available, but will be soon in their Etsy Shop

In the mean time, check them out on Facebook, Amy likes to give away a bottle before you can buy it.  Also Facebook is where you will get all updated info, including release dates.

Hope you have a great evening, I am outta here!

XOXO  Mandy

Pretty & Polished: Bashful Bouquet (2 ways) NCC April~Pastel~Week 1

Afternoon everyone!  I am excited to be back into my challenge group again, known as The Nail Challenge Collaborative.  We have done weekly themes for the seasons all through last year.  I unfortunately, didn't finish the last 2 :(  April marks the 1 year anniversary of the group and I am excited to still be here and join the new challenge.  Things have changed a bit, and I quite like these changes.  It will make it easier for me to keep going with the challenge themes.  Instead of having a pre planned weekly schedule, we are going to have a them for each month.  We can do what ever we want each week of that month for the theme.  Make sense?  Ok, so our first ever challenge was a pastel one, wanna see mine?  Click HERE,  little nutty huh?  That was back when I first started blogging.  Any who, since our first challenge was a pastel one, the theme for April is pastel ;)  I have been saving this polish for this challenge cause I find it very appropriate.  Pretty & Polished Bashful Bouquet is a mix of pastel glitters in a clear base.  FUN!  I did my mani 2 ways, glossy top coat and matte top coat.  Which do you like best?

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Zoya Shelby (2 coats)

Glitter Topper:  Pretty & Polished Bashful Bouquet (1 coat)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite (glossy)

Top Coat:  Essie Matte About You (matte)

I prefer the matte look.  It's so soft and pretty.  I often forget about my matte top coat.  I think I am gonna leave it next to my Seche Vite so I can see it all the time :)

There are a few of us doing the NCC challenge.  Please head over and visit their blogs, great stuff!!

XOXO  Mandy

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