Rawr!

This is Nicole by OPI - Dandy Lion stamped with Konad and filled in with Revlon - Copper Chrome and China Glaze - 2030

Snowflakes

I got festive! I did nice winter mani for myself (and for all you!)

This is China Glaze - Frosty layered over a base of white creme. Then I stamped snowflakes with Konad plates M59 and M70 and China Glaze chrome shades in Harmony, Millennium, Devotion and Awaken.

What do you think?!
Elaine
:c)

Gold and Diamonds

Hello!

So I think I am just too cute. Look what I came up with using an Orly Foil FX shade, Rage:

So what I did: I started with Rage which is this incredible, shimmery, molten metal, foil, rose gold. Then I stamped "twinkles" and diamonds with black polish and Konad plate M14. "Big deal, Laine. What is so damn cute about that?" WELL!! This is what. I added prismatic glitter to the diamonds with Cover Girl - City Lights top coat and that made the diamonds look like they are twinkling! CUTE!

(Blurred to show the holographicness)

What do you think?

:cD
-Elaine

Lohan Nails

So Lindsay Lohan is going to jail. I am not here to talk about that in any way, shape or form. What I am here to talk about, however, is her nails in court the other day. They were brought to our attention because apparently they had profanity written on them. Observe:

Photo courtesy of Perez Hilton

I am not here to talk about the profanity though, either. What I am here to talk about is the colorful, airbrushed design she had on! I decided I wanted to take a stab at a recreation and this is what I came up with:

Interested in how I did it? It was mostly a matter of sponging, which I have never done, and it turns out, it's not that hard! Here is what I did:

1) I painted all my nails with a white cream to start.

2) Next, I took one of the three colors I was going to sponge with and started sponging! Which color you start with isn't really important. I just started with pink by chance.

3) Continue sponging with the other two colors. I intentionally did all nails different. Some have more orange, more pink or more blue, and all have the colored spots arranged differently.

4) Next, I stamped white flowers with Konad plate M65 on all nails.

5) Lastly, I applied topcoat and cleaned up my messy fingers with remover and an orange stick wrapped in cotton.

There are several different sponges that you could use but I used a cosmetic wedge to accomplish my sponging.

The shades I used: Diamond Cosmetics - Tranquility, China Glaze - Sugar High, KleanColor - Mango

Side by side, how do you think I did?

Have a fantastic Friday!
-Elaine
:c)

Don't Like Your Mani? You Can Fix It

I was high on life the other day. I had a nice meeting, I went on a shopping spree, and it was a gorgeous day so I layed out (in the new blurple bikini I got on the shopping spree!) and I thought some neon nails were in order. I decided to go with Color Club - Ultra Violet, a neon purple. I thought it would be amazing but it just didn't wow me. I think that it just wasn't working with my red skin. I didn't want to change it. I wanted to like it. I wanted to give it a chance. So I decided to start digging through my stash to find a way to spruce it up. This is what I came up with.

I added some flowers with white NP and Konad plate M65. Then I took it up yet another notch with a coat of Cover Girl - City Lights, a holographic glitter top coat. I really like that! I actually have had it on for 4 days and still plan on wearing it for at least another.

I appreciate the shade more like this. I love the delicate, full coverage flower pattern and the glints of rainbows from the sparkles. Plus when the blue shimmer in Ultra Violet flashes at me I get completely entranced .

So if you have a nail polish you want to love but it just isn't working for you, there may be a way to help it be more desirable!

-Elaine
:c)

Marilyn Dragonfly

Hi! I am so excited about my manicure today. First off, I was very excited about the base color I chose. I got my Zoya exchange package yesterday with 16 new Zoyas! WOO HOO! And the first one I put on is one I actually had to throw in at the last minute by swapping out one other one I had on my list to get it once I saw Scrangie's swatch of it: Marilyn. It is a soft pink, with a hint of peach, and a pearl finish. Super pretty. Super unlike me... but super pretty!

Then I had to snaz it up. So did some Konad stamping. I used plate M5 and Revlon - Punch Chrome and China Glaze - Adore.

Close-Up

Thumb

What do you think?!
:cD
Elaine

On Ogre of a Polish

I recently had a wonderful swap with a lady in Israel and she sent me an awesome, unique and wild bottle of polish. This this is so cool for so many reasons. First off, the color is a murky, lime, Shrek green. In fact, if it met the new release from OPI it would say "Whoa, whoa... Who the Shrek are you?"

Besides for the color being reminiscent of an ogre, the bottle totally is too. It has to be the ugliest bottle in my whole collection. It is not attractive in the least... and yet that is what makes me attracted to it! It is bizarrely tall, and big, and looks like a big oaf next to my other bottles. Observe:

It towers above my OPI and China Glaze bottles and even Orly which I find to be rather large.

Here it is in two coats. Nice, smooth, even formula. And I love the slime, pea green on. But there is more...

I added some Konad stamping with plate M70 and China Glaze - Awaken, a black chrome. LOVE IT!!

What do you think?
-Elaine
:c)

Halfmoon on Fire

Hello again! I have a awesome mani for you today I have been dying to do for a while. I thought of it one day months ago. Don't know what took me so long but it's alright. It's here now. I just wish I had some sunlight to take some nice pics. It's really cloudy outside.

I started with an orange base. I had that on for a few days actually. Then I did my cut-in-half-re-enforcer trick to hide the bottom portion and painted the nail with China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky.

I was planning on stamping immediately so I put on a coat of Seche Vite to set that so I could stamp without smudging and used Konad plate M63 to stamp the "flames" if that is what they are, and aligned them with the curve of the halfmoon.

Photo Courtesy of Konad USA

I was very concerned about my alignment. I really didn't think that I would get it right because I am not the best at getting my stamps exactly where I want them, but this didn't turn out too bad! I really like it.

What do you think?
Elaine
:c)

Lainey's Pad

That doesn't work that great, huh?!! XD
I was thinking about "Lily's Pad", the green shade from Piggy Polish. Once I get one name stuck in my head for a franken or mani it is hard to change it so that is what I am going with!

I wanted to play with the lily pad and flower stamp on Konad plate M66. I decided to go with a blue base for the water and then wanted the pads randomly strewn across my nails with one nail having the water lily on it. Everything went according to plan, except for the fact that I streaked the lily pads when I put on top coat! Argh! **No more Konad for you Diamont!!**

I used Diamond Cosmetics - Tranquility for the base. This mani is ONE COAT of Tranquility, by the way. Amazing formula. Then I stamped the pads and flower with Konad special polish in green and white.

And I took my "pond" on a trip fishing with my dad. Here they are on the creek.

And here they are with my catch! My first catch of the year! A 10 inch brown trout! Yay! Sorry if you are not a fan but I am a fisherwoman. I would never hunt animals, however. EVER. But fishing is awesome. Oooh. That just made me think of a awesome pic I have from a couple years ago:

This is a different kind of "striper" than I usually show you. This is a striped bass I caught on the Hudson. It was 25 pounds! Krazee!!!!

So, what do you think of my pond?!
-Elaine
:c)