Textured Dots

With Summer ending and Fall beginning, I always get a little confused as to exactly what colors to put on my nails.  Summer colors, winter, fall, between fall, who knows.  In all that confusion, I decided to dabble in a little more nail art.  My nail art obsession is dying down as I get older but I do still have the urge every now and then.  This was created with my textured polish that has been on my shelf for sooo long Zoya's Dahlia, which is one of their Pixie Dust polishes and Zoya's Kerry which is just a metallic gold polish.  This look lasted quite a while so I can tell you the lasting polish on the Pixie Dust is great so if you don't own any.... GET IT!!

Purple Pinstripes

It wasn't until I did my collection database that I noticed my love for purples.  I have more purple polish than any other color in my collection.  Lilacs, dark purple, mauve, violet, amethyst, magenta etc... all in my collection.  So it is no surprise that this past week when I went to pick a color from my untried list, I had many purples that are sitting there waiting to be used.  Sooo I combined four three of them to create the look below, nothing profound just a base coat of Butter London's Molly Coddled, striped with Zoya's Mira and highlighted a certain points with Orly's Be Brave.  

Review - China Glaze Real Nail Polish Appliques in Cherry Blossoms

Hey Ladies, 

Back today to do a review on the China Glaze Real Nail Polish Appliques in Cherry Blossoms.  I purchased these from Sally Beauty Supply.  They were on the reduced table with a red sticker for $3.49, and they were on sale for half off everything on the table so I paid about $1.73 each for them.  I purchased seven of these in all in Loop Hole, Sneaky Snake, Jane Loves Tarzan, Beyond Baroque, Ferr-Ocious, and Seeing Stripes. The retail price for these are about $6.99 average.  I originally placed these appliques, carefully following the directions on three fingers on each hand.  As you can see from the pictures below, that did not last long.  I found these to be not as higher quality as some of the cheaper brand nail covers.  Within the first two hours of regular wear, one of them was wearing off.  I had a difficult time with one trying to peel off and one began popping up.  Finally, I peeled those off and reapplied a thick top coat on the two nails left.  These did not last more than four days without significant wear.  My personal opinion is I will use them as an accent nail every now and then when I want something special, but they really did not live up to the hype, or the quality of the Sally Hansen ones.  I would only purchase again for variety and if they were on sale at a great price.  Nails shown below are with Zoya Lisa, which is an older Zoya but simply beautiful.

photo courtesy of www.byple.com

Funky Rock Star French Manicre

Keeping up with the manicures I do is one of the hardest part of blogging to me, besides just remembering to blog.  This is strictly a hobby for me and by no means a full time commitment.  I do love it though and really love when people give feedback, which I rarely get.  I did this look a couple of weeks ago, it is a play on the half moon/french manicure, but not.  It was done totally freehand and I did not use the little circles.  I took the second color all the way to the tip so its not really a half moon.  I got this idea from a couple of you tubers and a you tube video that came on before watching a video.  You know one of the previews that you have to hit skip intro on.  It came out cute but the polishes were not the easiest to deal with, mainly the Julep one.  I used Zoya Carmen, Julep Otte, from the Trina Turk collection and a random silver striper polish.  I hope this inspires someone and you all enjoy.

Playing With Layering

I am starting to experiment more with layering.  I do like the look of layering, I just simply forget that you can create awesome combinations simply by using multiple colors.  I get so busy trying to get through my unused polishes, that I forget to experiment and use what I have to create great combos.  

I began this combo with two coats of Rainbow Honey's Kawako.  I then added one coat of Sinful Colors All About You, this color is very sheer so I normally would not use it alone and got tired of staring at it on my shelf.  I think it came out gorgeous but wanted an extra little something so I added one coat of Zoya's 18k gold top coat.  I love the look and plan to do a lot more layering in the future.  

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Zoya Arizona/Revlon Steel Her Heart

 I created this look out of a the want to use a couple of polishes that have been in my collection forever and have never been tried.  Inspiration can come from all kinds of places huh?  Nothing special and please excuse the tip wear, these nails were about four days old when I took this picture, because I was not really impressed with the outcome.  Simple to do, just a dotter and a striper and some polish.  I appreciate all that check out my post, I am not a professional and only do nail art for my satisfaction, but the acceptance from the  blogging community has been nothing but positive.  THANKS SO MUCH!!

What's In My Stash -Zoya Part II (the untrieds)

Part II of my Zoya collection is showcasing all the polishes that I have that I have not tried yet.  I just have so many polishes, that rotating them is a challenge (one that I am totally up to).  Enjoy!

Greens: Josie, Ivanka, Logan, Edyta, Cynthia

Gray/Black: Kelly, Tao, Dahlia

Purples: Kendal, Caitlin, Nova, Tru, Neeka, Faye, Juno, Paloma

Blue: Blu, Kristen, Rocky, Jo, Skylar, Feifei
Charla, Hazel, Ibiza, Frida

Red: Carmen, Lisa, Delilah, Astra, Isla, Kalista

Kerry, Solange, Piaf

Coral/Orange: Cassi, Willow, Arizona, Ginger, Tiffany

Pinks: Erika, Gie Gie, Sweet, Shelby, Rory, Tinsley, Kimber

and Buffy

What's In My Stash - Zoya Part I (Polishes I've tried)

I have noticed a lot of ladies do a whats in my stash blog post or video on YouTube to highlight their growing collection.  I thought I would start a series of post showing you my collection.  I am beginning with the one I have the most of which is Zoya.  It is no secret that Zoya is my favorite nail polish brand.  I love everything about them, the earth friendly products they make, the colors, names, bottles, etc.   I have an AWESOME Zoya collection and it continues to grow with many on my wish list.  I will begin with the polishes I have tried already in my collection.

Browns/Neutrals:
Dea, Godiva, Jana, Dulcinea

Blues: Yummy, Tallulah, Crystal, Marina

Greens: Tracie, Gemma, Midori, Yara, Meg, Wednesday, Zuza

Metals: Trixie, Jules, Ziv, Freja, Richelle

Yellow: Pippa

Orange/Coral: Amber, Gabrielle, Jancyn, OC Cooler, Myrta, Elke

Black/White: Christinna, Purity, Raven, Storm

TopCoats/Special: Gilty, Sparkle Gloss, Maisie, Chloe, Opal

Purple:  Harley, Marley, Malia, Nimue, Hope, Carly, Aurora,
Daul, Jem, Katherine, Ki

Pink: Barbie, Cheri, Ali, Lolly, Kissy

Connect The Hearts/Dots (step-by-step)

Lacquer Lovers

Hope everyone is well and still painting their nails.  I am currently wearing this cute look which utilizes two colors as a base: Color Works Myrtle Beach Purple and Zoya's Ali.

Step 1 - Paint all nails except one one color (purple)
Step 2 - Paint an accent nail on each hand (pink)
Step 3 - Take a nail striper one with coordinating colors to the manicure and make a angular V on each nail.
Step 4 - Paint the inside of each V with the opposite color of the base.
Step 5 - Outline the V with dots in the color of your choice, (white)
Step 6 - Apply small glittered hearts or draw hearts if you like
Step 7 - Apply a top coat

Voila:  

Dots Galore

On my nails this week is a quick manicure done with just dotting tools, and various nail art colors.  I used Orly's Purple Pleather for the base and used dotting tools in various sizes to create overlapping dots.  Those colors were Zoya Ali, Zoya Raven and Zoya Arizona.  I topped it all off with Zoya's Sparkle Gloss topcoat. Very cute and easy manicure.  Have a great week.

Lolly Lolly

Quick Look:  This is Zoya's Lolly, which is a matte color all over the nail, then sideswiped with Orly's Cupcakes and Unicorns at the top.  I then went in with a silver striper to accent the border where the matte and glossy meets.  Something relatively easy and cute that you can wear on the go.  Also, my nails are growing back nicely, but I'm kinda over long nails for now, I'm thinking of cutting them down.  I cycle like this sometimes.  Hope all is well with everyone and your new year is going as planned.  Stay blessed... Pam

Candy Apples??

Yeah I don't know why but this look reminds me of apples, candy apples that is.  I created these cute and simple nails by starting off with my nail prep, protein base coat and 2 sheer coats of Revlon's sheer buff.  I then used Zoya's Storm as a french manicure tip and applied Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar after it dried.  Sugar Sugar is a gorgeous red from Sinful Colors that compare to Zoya's Isla, at a much more affordable price.  After those both dried, I applied silver splotches of OPI's Spark De Triomphe, which is gorgeous btw.  Sealed it with a top coat and it was all done.  I hope you enjoy:

My First Jelly Sandwich

It's not pretty but here it is, my very first Jelly Sandwich.  I know, I'm super late but I have so many untried polishes that I have to get a system in order to use them all.  I must say that it was quite different than what I anticipated.  I used Zoya's Katherine, Orly's Too Fab and Orly's Be Brave.  The jelly polish applied fine on the first coat, I attempted to do thin coats but it's hard with this consistency.  I then used the Orly's like a gradient and applied two  more coats of Katherine on top.  Now I have always heard that Jellies took forever to dry, but this actually dried very very fast.  I had some clumping on my tips and could have waited a little longer before applying the glitters, but otherwise it was fairly simple, even my husband asked, what kind of polish it was it was different.  I will keep practicing and working at it.  I am getting addicted to jellies now, almost as bad as glitters.  Speaking of glitters, I purchased six Icing glitters today for the first time.  I actually bought a couple of dupes so will save those for an upcoming give-a-way soon.

Reviving Short Nails

Hello everyone,

I have been a little MIA since my last entry in the 31 Day Challenge, but I have a very good excuse.  I had major nail accidents when putting up Christmas Decor at work.  I know, "BE CAREFUL" but after putting up 6 trees throughout the building, loads of garland and fluffing many wreaths, my nails really suffered.  I broke two one day then another the very next day, so I decided to cut them down and enjoy the short nails while they grow out.  My intention in this time is to try and focus on nail art and creative looks for short nails.  

Today I have for you the beautiful Zoya Ziv.  This polish needs nothing else to stand out, OMG it is beautiful, applies like a dream in two coats and last like you would not believe.  I got really no tip wear at all after 5 days.  I present to you the beautiful ZIV:

Ziv is part of Zoya's holiday collection available at Zoya.com

31 Day Challenge Day 25 - Inspired By Fashion

Elie Saab Spring 2013 rtw -
photo via imaxtree

My fashion inspired manicure is based on Elie Saab's Spring 2013 collection.  I found this dress online and thought the pattern was really pretty and simple to recreate.  I used all from Zoya:  Zuza, Shelby, Tallulah, Reagan, and Christinna along with a black nail striper.

Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner

-Kat at Hooked On Polish

-Diana at Nails By Diana

-Meredith at Perfectly Polished

-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails

-Cee at Absolutely Cee

-Sam at Polished Art

-Nail Narcotics

-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed

-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches

-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful

-Mixed Mama

-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine

-Patty Greenberg

-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa

-Mari at Nailista

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L

-Gini at Sassy Paints

-Chameleon Stampede

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish

- Robin Sparkles

31 Day Challenge Day 15 - Delicate Print

Whew I can't believe we are only half done with this challenge, I never thought it would be so well challenging to keep up with.  Delicate print was difficult for me cause I had not idea what to do.  I thought long and hard about it and decided to just create something off the top of my head.  I tried lines with curves, sorta lace like, but it did not come out to well so I switched to dots.  Hope it is okay and meets all the guidelines tehe.  I used Zoya Barbie, Sally Hansen Insta Dri Night Flight and Wet N Wild Starstruck.

Fellow Challengers

Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner

-Kat at Hooked On Polish

-Diana at Nails By Diana

-Meredith at Perfectly Polished

-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails

-Cee at Absolutely Cee

-Sam at Polished Art

-Nail Narcotics

-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed

-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches

-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful

-Mixed Mama

-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine

-Patty Greenberg

-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa

-Mari at Nailista

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L

-Gini at Sassy Paints

-Chameleon Stampede

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish

- Robin Sparkles