OPI: I Theodora You Dotticure

Easter is this weekend people!  I have big plans with the family so I am popping in to share my cute Easter inspired dotticure.  I have been wanting to do one for a while, but when I am in a slump, it never enters my head.  I need to start keeping a list of techniques I wanna try.  Anywho, I also picked up OPI I Theodora You  (from the Oz the Great and Powerful Collection) when I went to Ulta this week.  It's a cute light pink jelly.  I will def have to use this one for a jelly sammie.  I did 2 coats and of course you can still see some of my nail underneath, but that is kind of to be expected.  I grabbed China Glaze For Audrey and Happy Go Lucky for my dots.  Kind of the only options I had, I don't have a lot of pastels.  So I gotta work with what I got ;)  Here is how it turned out.  Pretty good I think.  I have seen better, but for a first try, I am happy with it.

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  OPI I Theodora You (2 coats)

Dots:  China Glaze For Audrey and Happy Go Lucky

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Easter plans this Sunday?  Got a cute mani in mind?  Share :)  Have a great weekend all! 

XOXO  Mandy

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 :)

Let it Snow!: Snowflakes

Hey everyone, happy Friday!!  It's time to get back to some challenge mani's.  You probably remember I did the Spring and Summer challenges.  I started the Autumn challenge, but things were hectic around here and I dropped out :(  Now it's time for the Winter Challenge!!  Our group has named it the "Let it Snow!" Challenge.  Here is what we are going to be doing

Alrighty, here we go.  First challenge is snowflakes.  Who doesn't love snowflakes?!?!  I am really happy with how my mani turned out.  Blue, sparkly and of course full of snowflakes.  

See......

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  China Glaze Dorothy Who? (2 coats, no underwear)

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM323

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special White

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I actually did this a few days ago and I am still wearing it.  No chipping and still as pretty as the day I did it.

I am excited to do this challenge, be prepared for a new challenge mani every week :)

Don't forget to check out the other gals doing the challenge.

Nail Art Contest: Stamping Skills

The weekend is over, Thanksgiving is now behind us.  But there is still a ton of food in my fridge.  We will be eating Thanksgiving dinner for a week, LOL.  But now that the long week of no school is over, I can get back to some regular posting.  At least I hope so.  Before we left for the weekend I saw a nail art contest I wanted to enter.  It is based on stamping so it's right up my alley :)  I have wanted to do a few in the past, but never found the time to create the nail art and enter.  

I did a design a while back and although I wished it had turned out a little a better, I get compliments on that design a lot.  It was even picked out of my older photos by a fellow blogger as one of her favorites to share on her FB page.  So I decided it was time to re-do this one and make it a little better.

Here is the old design:

I didn't change much, just did added the glitter before stamping and added some fun rhinestones on my accent nail.  Here is the new one:

I think a couple slight improvements made a big difference.  I even like the length and shape of my nails better now than when I first started blogging back in March, which is when I originally did this mani.

Products used:

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Glitter:  China Glaze Fairy Dust

Stamping Plate:  Konad M57

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black

There are lots of great entries in this contest, wish me luck!

The deadline to enter is today, but if you are interested, go HERE

Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and aren't too bummed to go back to work today, if you indeed did go back to work today LOL

Guest Blogger Friday: Lace & Lacquers: Halloween Inspired Saran Wrap Nail Art

Sooooo, I had put Guest Blogger Friday on hold because I was doing a Halloween nail art challenge that posted every Friday, Weeelllll, you can see how well that turned out.  I am such a slacker :(
Lacey graciously agreed to guest post for me.  She went with a Halloween theme since it's October.  I thought I better share before Halloween passes us by.  ENJOY!!!

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Hey guys! It's Lacey from Lace & Lacquers! I was asked a few months ago by Mandy to do a guest post for her in October, how nice of her to think of me! I figured since it is October, a good old fashion Halloween manicure was perfect for this post :]

Here's what we'll be creating today:

One fun, Halloween looking manicure and for those who like gore - I got a manicure for you, too! After the jump I'll show you more pictures, tools I used and a short tutorial how to recreate this look.

Guest Post from Reflections, Sassy Nails, and Silly Diversions!

Hey all!  I have another guest blogger for you.  This is Carrie, she is awesome!!  She is sharing a fun summer mani today.  I know it's Fall, but around here, we are still getting a lot of sun and high temps.  Check her out!

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Hi guys! I'm Carrie, I blog over at Reflections, Sassy Nails, and Silly Diversions. I am also the face behind Sassy Lacquer.

I have something very summery for you today.

I used China Glaze I'm with the Lifeguard (green) and flip flop fantasy (pink) which looks peach but the camera was spazzing out on it, lol. I was trying to go for something different and kind of abstract, but ended up with a flower on my ring fingers and mickey ears on my other fingers!!!

Don't forget to come visit me over on my blog, I don't write as often as I used to but I am getting back into the swing of it, hopefully!

I also have some new collections coming out soon!! You can keep up to speed on my FB page.


Thanks for stopping by and checking out my summer mani!

Carrie

Teal Tuesday: Mani Swap

This weeks Teal Tuesday is an awesome one.  I was very excited to be a part of this week's challenge.  Our creator came up with the idea of recreating a mani from other gals and incorporating teal in the design.  Sign me up!!!  The best part?  We had to keep it a secret.  I love surprises!  

I was matched up with Samantha from Polished Art  She has some great designs on her blog.  It was hard to choose one.  Well, I actually did two.  I failed at the first one :(  But with lots of ideas on her blog, it was easy to pick another design.  

Here is a picture of her design 

Click HERE to see the original post

I am a huge fan of glitter and I just happened to have some cute stars that I got at Sally's a little while ago.

Here is my re-creation

Base Coat:  Elmer's Glue
Glitter:  China Glaze Atlantis (2 coats, no underwear)
Black Stars from Sally Beauty
Top Coat:  Seche Vite

I did this mani and this morning and I am loving it!!  Thanks Sam for the great design.

Happy Tuesday y'all!!

My current giveaway ends tonight, go ENTER!!

 

Don't forget to check out the other gals doing the challenge too :)

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

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 :)

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!

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 :)

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?

Code n.2

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!

Guest Blogger Friday: WalkInMyEyeShadow

It's Guest Blogger Friday over here.  Today Natalie is joining us from WalkInMyEyeShadow.  She is a newer blogger and has some great stuff to show you.  Go check her out!!

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G'day all!

My name is Natalie Elise and I am a beauty blogger from Australia. Most of my time is spent either researching makeup and nails or blogging on my website, WalkInMyEyeShadow. When I was asked to do a guest post for Mandy's Polish I was really excited so hopefully you enjoy my mani and please check out my blog.

For my guest post I wanted to create a manicure inspired by peacock colours. My favorite colours are teal and purple and I wanted to bring those into a manicure, and this is what I came up with.

Here are the supplies I used for this manicure.

As a base colour I used China Glaze "Shower Together". I then applied stripes of colour across the background using various peacock inspired shade from LA Colours Art Deco. The colours I used were Magenta, Vibrant, Dark Blue and Forest Green.

I then added a little bit of sparkle by using the glitter stripers in Blue Glitter, Teal Glitter and a purple glitter striper that I don't know the name of. This is how it turned out

I then stamped a design from Mash image plate 49 with China Glaze "Metallic Muse", and this is how it turned out

Hopefully you have enjoyed my guest post here on Mandy's Polish, I would like to thank Amanda for giving me the opportunity to become known by a wider audience and look forward to hearing any feedback you have for me. Please check out my blog for more looks and reviews.

Teal Tuesday: Feathers

Afternoon lovelies!  When I logged in today, I saw that I now have 160 followers, YAY!!  I am so excited to have you all with me :)

This weeks Teal Challenge is feathers.  I have to admit, I was not in the mood to do my nails these last few days.  I had on a gorgeous glitter that was wearing very well.  I just didn't want to go through all the effort to remove it.  I am just one tired mama!  But, I decided it was time to change my mani.  I had an idea all planned out.  A pretty teal holo and some gold stamping.  Complete FAIL!  The holo didn't want to dry :(  Then the furniture guy showed up and I had to unlock the gate, we have a pad lock.  Two nails ruined right there.  So I decided to start over and go simpler.  I did just one coat of CG Adore and stamped with a feather image using Konad Special Black.  It's simple, but cute.  I like it :)  You?

Base Coat:  Rejuvacote

Base Color:  China Glaze Adore (1 coat)

Stamping Plate:  Bundle Monster BM214

Stamping Polish:  Konad Special Black

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

So I started using a new treatment called Rejuvacote.  So far I love it.  You apply as your base coat and add a top coat each day.  It's nice and thick and shiny.  So I thought I would try to use it as a top coat over stamping.  No go :(  You can see that the image on my pinky is smeared.  I will be sticking with my Seche Vite for stamping mani's.  But, tomorrow, I will be adding my Rejuvacote on top :)

Happy Tuesday!!!

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?  

Stamping Test

I have used quit a few polishes lately that were one coaters.  Naturally, I wanted to see if they would be good stamping polishes.  Since I am Going Naked this week, I thought it was a good time to do a test before I change my REBUILD.  Here are the ones I tried

Zoya Noel, Confetti Rock the Night Away, SC Midnight Blue, CC Revvvolution, CG Agro

I decided to do the same as my last Stamping Test and used the Zebra image on the Konad M57 plate.  I was very hopeful for these polishes, but was quit disappointed.  The test images are in the same order as the polish pic above, starting with the pinky.  Looking at both pictures, I guess I did this backwards, OOPS!

Thumb:  CG Agro_This one worked ok.  It looks pretty crisp, but there are some bald spots.  Could be operator error

Index Finger:  CC Revvvolution_ I am sure that I have seen this one stamped before.  I kind of feel the same way about it as I do Agro.  It might work.  Maybe with a different image?

Middle Finger:  SC Midnight Blue_This one actually stamped pretty well.  It's just not as dark as I had hoped.  

Ring Finger:  Confetti Rock the Night Away_This is such a great one coater.  I had high hopes for this one.  As you can see, it does not work at all :(

Pinky:  Zoya Noel_I remember this one being so awesome when I first used it.  High hopes for this one too.  Failed, again :(

Of these 5, I would say that Agro and Midnight Blue stamped the best.  Revvvolution might work out, but I think it will take some trial and error with that one.

Will be on the look out for more great stamping polishes :)

Don't forget to check out my current giveaway HERE

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

China Glaze: Material Girl

So, it's Sunday.  I don't have an Adventures in Stamping Challenge for you.  This weeks theme was "inspired by music"  I am not gonna lie.  I didn't even try to come up with some thing.  I was so busy these last few days it just wasn't gonna happen.  But, I do have a pretty glitter mani to share.  This is Material Girl from the China Glaze Eye Candy Collection.  I only did 2 coats and it covered very well.  SUPER shiny and sparkly in the sun.  I was very disappointed when it started to chip/peel by the end of the day.  I had 2 more chips the next morning :(  Needless to say, this mani lasted less than 24 hours.  Not sure if there is some thing different I can do next time.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.  Thanks!!  Here is how it looks when it was all pretty

Base Coat:  Seche Retain

Base Color:  China Glaze  Material Girl

Top Coat:  Sech Vite

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