Fall into Autumn: Football Nails

Happy Saturday!  Today I am sharing a challenge mani from Fall into Autumn.  This weeks theme is Football Nails.  I am not a sports fan, neither is my husband.  But, his family is from Pittsburgh, so by default, we are Steelers fans.  Now, I can't do crazy nail art so I decided to go with a color scheme.  Gold and Black for the Steelers.  Honestly, I waited until last minute to do this mani, so it isn't super exciting.  I used a gold base, a gold version of fairy dust (had to make it sparkly and girly) and then a black striper.  Super Simple!

Base:  Elmer's Glue (more info HERE)

Base Color:  Sally Hansen Gilty Pleasure

Glitter:  China Glaze Golden Enchantment

Striper:  Sinful Colors Black

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

So, what do you think of my football nails?  Is it football-y?  LOL

Guest Blogger Friday: Space Life Thoughts

Say hi to my friend Gwen, we met in a FB group and have been chatting and doing swaps ever since.  I was so excited when she agreed to do a guest post for me.  I love her blog and her mani's.  Make sure to stop by Space Life Thoughts to say hi :)

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Hiya!

When Amanda asked people to do a guest post for her I didn’t have to think about it. I decided I wanted to participate immediately. So here it is, my guest post for Mandy ‘s Polish.

I want to show you guys a pretty holographic lacquer. The summer hasn’t been very warm and sunny in the Netherlands but when the sun was shining for a couple of days I really wanted my nails to shine. This is three coats of Milani Digital. I sandwiched this color with a layer of Poshé topcoat after the second coat of Digital.

This polish is at its finest in the sun.  But it’s not dull at all in the shade. It would be perfectly fine to wear this color when there’s no sun at all!

Thanks for watching and I hope to see you guys at my blog sometime!

Fall into Autumn: Cloudy Days

Sooooo, last night I did the next challenge mani for Fall into Autumn.  I was excited for this one.  I had  a couple designs running through my brain.  A few of the other girls have already shared their mani's and some were very similar to what I wanted to do.  I brain stormed a little more, then went to you tube and did a little looking around.  There were a few cloudy mani's to get inspiration from :)  

Now, when you see the mani, you are only going to see one nail.  I was having a couple issues and then I was having more issues with my kids.  Hubby was working late and I just couldn't hang.  

Here is my lonely finger

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Essence Vampire's Love Into The Dark (1 coat)

Stamping Plate:  Mash 37

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special White

Grey: China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Cracked Concrete

Top Coat:  Essie Matte About You

I was very surprised at how well these little clouds stamped.  I think using my plastic Konad scraper is turning out to be much better than my old gift card.  I used the crackle as the grey accent cause I wanted it to be a little different and I wanted to see how much it would crack when using just a tiny bit.  I used a dotting tool to add the grey to the clouds.  Now, I let these dry for at least 15 minutes.  It took that long get my table cleaned up and deal with my little ones.  I chose a matte top coat cause I thought it would be fun and different.  I tested on a nail and liked it.  So I continued.  When I got to my hand I would be photographing, all went to hell :(  My poor little clouds were smearing!  Every finger except my pointer finger was messed up.  That is why you are only seeing one finger today.  I couldn't get a very good shot of my whole hand any way.  Like I said, it was a bad evening.  However, I think this one lonely finger came out great and this is what I hoped my entire mani would have looked like.

How many times have you been trying to do a special mani and everything just goes wrong?

Have you entered my giveaway yet?  You can do that HERE :)

Guest Blogger Friday: Polish and Such

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!  This week Amy is sharing a fun neon mani.  I love her stuff :)  Check out her mani and review for OPI Black Spotted

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Hello all!  My name is Amy and this is my first time ever doing a guest post.  I have my own blog which is Polish and Such.  I still consider myself pretty new to blogging but so far I really love it!  I am obsessed with nail polish hence why I have a blog.  I know Mandy from a polish group that I belong to and when she had asked for volunteers to do guest posts, I thought to myself....well I've never done such a thing.  I had contacted Mandy and told her I was interested but I warned her I was still kind of new to all of this.  She still was kind enough to let me do a post so....here I am!

I decided to do a funky manicure using OPI Black Spotted.  While I love this polish, I have decided it is not for me so I have since found it a new home.  My issue with it is that whatever base you use underneath, it needs to dry completely before you apply the Black Spotted.  If your base is not dry, the Black Spotted will have cracks in it.  I am just not one for patience and I know I won't use it due to this.  I did do one other post with Black Spotted on my blog and you can see it HERE if you'd like.  If you look closely you can see all the little cracks.

For this manicure, I was very careful to let all the polish dry completely before applying Black Spotted.  If you are lucky enough to get this polish on your hands, another tip is you need the smallest amount to get the effect.  A bottle would last you forever with how little you need of it!

The above picture was my base for Black Spotted.  I first started with a white base.  Then a made I kind of painted randomly each quarter of my nails.  The colors used are China Glaze Surfin' For Boys, China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, China Glaze Sun-Kissed and China Glaze Under the Boardwalk.  These are actually much more neon in real life...but neons are hard to photograph true to color.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  And a big thank you to Mandy for having me be a guest poster on your blog!

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

Giveaway Time!!!

I have been wanting to have a giveaway for a while now.  I always feel like I need a reason.  I had one when I hit 100 followers and told myself I was not going to do giveaways all the time cause I want people here to see what I have to offer, not what I can send you for free.  

When I logged in this morning, I saw that I now have 222 followers, YAY!!  So excited to have you all with me.  So I decided 222 was a good time to have a giveaway :)

I have for you today the whole Orly Dark Shadow's Collection!

The collection includes:

Buried Alive

Mysterious Curse

Grave Mistake

Decades of Dysfunction

This giveaway is open to US residents only.  However, if you have a US shipping buddy, feel free to enter.  I have no problem shipping to a 3rd party.  However, I am not responsible for the package once I drop it off at the post office.  This giveaway is open for 2 weeks so feel free to come back often to earn extra entries :)

To enter, just use Rafflecopter below and good luck!!!

EDIT:  I wrote in the rafflecopter widget that I reserve the right to add prizes as I see fit.  But of course, no one will see that cause it's hidden in the terms and conditions.  So I figured I should add it here.  I already have a couple things I am adding, YAY!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teal Tuesday: Something Sweet

It's that time of the week again!  

This week's theme is a fun one and gave me the excuse to do the cupcake mani again :)  You can see my first attempt HERE I love this design and I will prob do it any chance I get LOL

Here is my Teal Cupcake Mani

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  China Glaze For Audrey (1 coat)

Glitter Stripes:  L.A. Colors Glitter Striper, no name (3 coats)

Frosting:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Sprinkles:  China Glaze For Audrey (dotting tool)

Heart Toppers:  Sinful Colors Let's Talk (applied with a dotting tool)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I need more practice on my little hearts.  They were the worst part.  I hate that they are not all centered, but that is my OCD.  I am enjoying my cute teal cupcakes!

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 :)

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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

Teal Tuesday: Geometric

This weeks theme for Teal Tuesday is Geometric.  I knew which base I wanted to use.  I had gotten China Glaze Atlantis from Copious, for just a penny, and I had to give it a try.  I used the glue as my base.  You can get more info on that HERE  Then applied my base coat and 2 layers of Atlantis.  No underwear.  This covered very well and was opaque in 2 coats :)  Finding the geometric shape I wanted to stamp with was going to be a bit harder.  A few gals have already stamped some awesome designs and I have already used some other designs here on my blog.  I went with the design on the new Bundle Monster set BM320.  I LOVE the Atlantis with a design stamped over it.

Base:  Elmer's Glue

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Glitter:  China Glaze Atlantis

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM320

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

You are probably wondering why there is no polish on my index finger.  If you read my previous post, then you know how easy glitter comes off when you use glue as a base.  When I rolled on my image, I used a little too much pressure and it just came off, in one sheet LOL  So, if you use the glue method and stamp, be careful.  You don't want to peel off all your polish before you get the stamping done. 

I put on Atlantis yesterday afternoon, so far it has held up to normal wear and tear.  I am going to keep this on for a while and see how long it will last.  I will keep you updated :)

Pretty & Polshed: Hello Dolly and Easy Glitter Removal

Yesterday was my 6th wedding anniversary and I wanted something pretty and sparkly on my nails.  I chose P&P Hello Dolly.  It's a mix of purple, pink and white glitters in a clear base.  I chose not to use any underwear, I wanted to see how this one did on it's own.  I also wanted to try out a new technique for removing glitter polish.  I ended up doing 4 thin layers of Hello Dolly.  I prob could have done a couple more, but honestly, I had to make sure my nails were dry so I could get in the shower and get dressed for dinner :)

Here are my pretty purple sparkly nails

Base:  Elmer's Glue (more info below)

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Glitter:  Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly (4 thin layers)

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Now, onto the new removal technique.  If you follow lots of nail blogs, you have prob heard about using glue as a base so you can just peel off your polish.  I thought it was a great idea and this was a perfect opportunity to test it out.

I made my bottle of "glue base" a few days ago.  It's super simple, just clean out a polish bottle by swirling some acetone in the bottle and dumping out.  Repeat as needed to remove all the polish.  If your bottle has polish in it, dump the polish out before adding the acetone to clean.  Then you need to clean the brush.  Just pour some acetone in the cap, dip the brush and wipe with a paper towel.  Simple!  Once your bottle is clean and dry, add some glue.  I used regular school Elmer's glue.  Make sure to fill the bottle so that the brush is always completely submerged so it doesn't get dried out.  Here is mine.

All you have to do now is paint a thin coat of glue onto your nails.  Do not paint polish until the glue has completely dried.  You will know it's dry when you can no longer see the glue on your nails.  It dries clear :)  Make sure not to get any on your skin.  This may cause your polish to peel sooner than you'd like.  Once the glue lifts a little, it just peels right off the nail.  Quick note, if you are like me and like to apply a cuticle cream or oil before painting your nails, don't do it right after the glue.  It will come off.  Ask me how I know LOL

I decided to go ahead and use my base coat.  I figured if you are supposed to apply it every day, over polish, then surely a thin layer of glue wasn't going to prevent it from getting to my nails.

Next, paint your awesome glitter mani.  I recommend wrapping the tips of your nails.  This way you seal in the polish around the glue and you don't have to worry about bumping your nails and possibly having your glue release when you are not ready.

I only left my mani on for about 24 hours.  I showered, did my hair, got dressed, went to dinner, the mall and then to the movies.  No wear and tear where as before I may have bumped a nail and lost a small chunk of polish.

Taking this polish off was so stinking simple I can't even believe it!  I used a cuticle pusher that I got in a mani/pedi kit.  I love it because it's plastic, washable and safe for my nails,  not like the metal ones.  I will never use one of those again!  Here is mine, just in case you wanted to see :)

Using the angled end, I just pushed it under the polish and it came off in sheets!  It was so easy!!

Now, your nails aren't going to look all perfect and pristine when you take the glitter polish off.  At least mine didn't.  I had a little bit of glue left on a couple spots.  But all in all, pretty damn good for not having used a drop of polish remover.  My nails looked like this:

I washed my hands and applied a little cuticle cream and then they were like this:

( I have a couple repairs :(  please don't mind them)

I will never wear a glitter polish with out using my glue as a base first.  There is another bonus.  If you have any repairs on your nails, you no longer have to fear the glitter polish.  Since you won't have to soak your nails in acetone to remove the polish, your repairs are safe and intact when you use the glue method.  I don't know who came up with this, but I am so glad they did.  

Will you be trying out this technique?

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?

Guest Blogger Friday: Lacquered Libra

Good Morning and welcome to the first Friday Guest Post of September.  When I put out word that I wanted to start this series, I was excited that Kia offered to help.  She has some great mani's, this one is no exception!  She is AWESOME!

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Hi Lacquer Lovers!  My name is Kia from the Lacquered Libra and I'm here to do a guest post for Mandy.

Today I have a water marble to share with you.  I have just started having success with doing water marbles after trying for months.  So If you are having trouble, I say keep at it and it will happen for you.

The colors that I used are I Need A Refresh Mint and On A Trip, both Wet N Wild Megalast. The marble was done over a white base.

Special thanks to Mandy and her wonderful readers.

Feel free to check out my blog http://lacqueredlibra.blogspot.com/ and FB page http://www.facebook.com/LacqueredLibra.

Happy Polishing!!

Fall into Autumn: Back to School

The Summer Challenge has morphed into an Autumn Challenge,  YAY!!  Here is a list of what we will be doing

When I think of back to school, I think of school supplies, like most people.  So when quit a few gals went that route, I wanted to try some thing different.  I had no idea what I was going to do, until I saw a mani from a FB page that I love.  The Girlie Tomboy has a great plaid technique and I thought it would be perfect.  You know, for school uniforms! Seemed easy enough.  I was really happy with my design until I got to the end.  Mine is no where near as good as hers, but you can get the idea.  I will have to try this a few more times to see where I land.  Here is my Back to School mani

Base Coat:  Rejuvactoe

Base Color:  Sinful Colors Midnight Blue

Glitter:  NYC Starry Silver Glitter

Stripes:  Sinful Colors Striper in black

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Looking back, my base was prob too dark.  When I tried to do some silver or white lines, it just looked so out of place.  So I had to go over them with the black.  It's a technique in progress LOL  I will definitely be trying this again.

Thanks for taking the time to have a look see :)

Cupcake Nails

My niece's birthday was this last July.  I can't believe it has taken me this long to share my mani from her party.  I was asked to make her cake, YAY!!  She was having an Ariel party and wanted an Ariel head.  Sure thing niece!!  I was excited to make this cake.  But she was kind of a pain in the ass.  I had never used the Ariel pan before so I was learning as I go.  I have done character cakes before.  Sadly, the indentations for the lines on this particular pan didn't match up to the picture.  So I had to wing it a little bit.  I think it came out pretty good.  I am not too happy with the eyes, but that is where there were some discrepancies with the pan lines and the picture.  

I decided it would be really fun to have some fun birthday party nails.  Normally, I make cupcakes for parties.  Since I wasn't doing any for my niece, I decided cupcake nails were a must! 

These were super simple to do.  I did a pink french tip and then added the green stripes with a nail art brush.  Using a dotting tool I created the "frosting" with white then added the green "sprinkles" and pink heart "topper".  Cute and simple.  I am really happy with how these turned out.  I will definitely be doing this design again :)

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Pink:  Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Very Cherry

Green:  Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Green With Envy

White:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I really wish I had shared these earlier.  I hope you enjoy my cupcake nails and my Ariel cake :)
More of my baking creations can be seen on my FB page:  Mandy's Custom Desserts

Teal Tuesday: Ovarian Cancer Awareness

It's been a while since I was able to participate in a Teal Tuesday mani.  But this week I decided that I HAD to participate for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.  This didn't come out exactly how I had imagined it, but I still like it.  There are a few layers that went into this design.  All in all, I am pretty happy with it.  I may do a few more mani's this month.  Keep a look out :)

Base Color:  China Glaze For Audrey

Glitter:  China Glaze Fairy Dust

Stamping Plates:  Konad M60 & Bundle Monster BM321

Stamping Polishes:  Konad Special Black and Special White

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Will you be doing a special awareness mani this month?

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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: Thirst Quencher

So, I am really behind on my Summer challenges.  But I am going to try real hard to catch up so I can do the Fall Challenge.  This is #9, Thirst Quencher.  I don't know about you, but I seriously love water.  I know a lot of people who hate to drink water and I just don't understand.  On a normal day, that is all I drink.  However, once in a while I love me some lemonade or other citrus-y drink.  So instead of trying to do a mani about water, which prob would have been just plain blue nails, I decided to go for the citrus mani.  This is a fun design and I was lucky enough to have a friend over who wanted to help.  So she did my gradient.  Lucky me!!  Here is the final design

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Gradient:  Color Club Sparkle and Soar, Daisy Does it and Fly With Me

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM308

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special White

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

This was a fun mani to do, especially because I got to spend the day with my friend and do my nails :)