Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I have my Valentine's mani and what passes, for me, as nail art.

I wanted to do an extended french with a dark tip and some accent nails.

So I started out with OPI Steady as She Rose, a pretty light rose color.  Then I used tape and put on Chanel Malice on the tip.

I have to say if I had to pick just one polish for the rest of my life to use?  Chanel Malice would be it.  It is freaking AHHHHHMAAAZING.  Worth.  Every.  Penny.

For the ring finger and thumb, I put Shimmer Mary on top as an accent, then I used Milani Silver Striper to separate the two colors on the other nails. 

All told I was pretty happy with how this turned out.  For me this is pretty good!

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Say hello to my thumb!  She doesn't get very much play on the blog.

OPI can be purchased at Ulta.  Chanel can be purchased at Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus (I got this from their site, free shipping!).  Milani can be purchased at CVS.  Shimmer polishes can be purchased through their Etsy store.     

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Johnny Loves Dark Coffee

I found another combo in the recesses of my computer folders that I had done back in October, but I thought was still "fall" enough to include.  

I started off with two coats of Milani Dark Coffee, a beautiful deep brown that has great coverage in two coats.  Then I put one coat of Lacquistry Heeere's Johnny! on top.

I thought the glitter spread on this was fantastic and really added a great fun punch to Dark Coffee.  

Milani can be purchased at local drug stores.  Lacquistry can be purchased through her Etsy Store. 
 
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Hi-Res Calls Me Gorgeous

I have another one of Amy's Nail Boutique's beauties to share with you today, Call Me Gorgeous.  

I decided I wanted some pizzazz underneath, so I started off with two coats of Milani Hi-Res, a purple holo (my lightbox doesn't like to show off holos and it was night when I did this, booooo hisssss).

Then I put one coat of Call Me Gorgeous on top.  I loved this combo.  I loved how the teal and deep purple worked with the softness of Hi-Res.  

As with all of my Amy's Nail Boutiques, application was a dream and it was very easy to apply.  You need some Amy's in your life!!!    

 Milani can be purchased at any drug store, such as CVS or Rite Aid.  Amy's Nail Boutique can be purchased at her Etsy Store. 

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Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

Today is pregnancy and infant loss awareness day.  I honor all of those mothers who have had to say goodbye to a sweet angel.  Sadly, I know too many of these mothers.  

After trying for nearly a year I got pregnant with my first child.  At 7 weeks my ultrasound showed no viable fetus.  My blood work was redone and it was found my levels were all plummeting.  A week later a follow up ultrasound showed that miscarriage was eminent, still not viable fetus and I needed to have surgery immediately.  I sobbed and sobbed.  Even at only 8 weeks that child was a part of my heart and my life. 

It was one of those times where I was dying inside and the rest of the world simply moved on with life.  I was the only one left to remember the baby I lost, the future I dreamed of.  Coming on the heels of losing my father, I felt like with my dad I lost part of my past, with my unborn child I lost part of my future.  

I went on to have two beautiful and healthy sons that I am thankful for.

Knowing how hard losing a baby at 8 weeks was, my heart goes out for those that I love who have lost children at 20+ weeks, whose babies have been born still, who have held their infant children in their arms until they took their last breath.  I simply can't imagine.  I've cried with them, I've listened to them, I think about them all of the time.  

The thing about pregnancy and infant loss is that it seems so "taboo".  We don't want to tell anyone we are pregnant early on, because "what if".  But as someone who had the "what if" happen, it was awful to have to go through that without the support of my friends and family.  So I told them all anyway.  They never had a chance to share my joy, only my pain.  

Light a candle tonight for all of those babies who have gone before us long before they should have.  For all of the mothers whose arms still ache without their babies in them.  

For this manicure, I started off with Essie Instant Hot, a soft pink hued white.  I striped the tips with my Milani Silver Nail Art bottle because it reminded me of a halo.  Then for the ribbon, I did the blue half with Zoya Skylar and the Pink half with Zoya Kissy.  To top it all off I wanted something ethereal, so I went with a coat of Essie Pure Pearlfection.

I have to say I loved this so much.  It turned out perfect, exactly what I wanted.  Soft, delicate and from the heart.

Debbie, my dear friend, this is for you and your beautiful Sophia.  <3

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Think Pink

I decided to challenge myself by joining the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge.  As you can see, in general, nail art is not my forte, but if I never challenge myself, I'll never get better, right?

A huge thank you to Lisa's Nail Obsession for starting this challenge and allowing me to be a part of it!

So the first week is "Think Pink".

When I "Think Pink" I think of the breast cancer awareness ribbon.  Four years ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Thankfully, they caught it early and was able to remove the tumor in a lumpectomy and subsequent radiation.  I am forever grateful for the technology and advancement in breast cancer treatment.  She just had her yearly mammogram and she is now at 4 years cancer free.  YAY.

I knew I wanted to do the breast cancer ribbon on an accent nail.  It seemed fitting to do it this week since I am about to celebrate my 40th birthday and who better to honor than the woman who made it all possible?  My mom is my greatest champion and who taught me everything I know about love.

I started off with one coat of Orly Au Champagne, then I used two coats of OPI Pedal Faster Suzi.  I used Au Champagne as the base to make the pink "pop" more.  Then I put a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust to give it all an extra sparkle.  For the ribbon accent, I used Zoya Kissy and then filled in around it with my Milani Nail Art Striper in Silver.

I'm pretty happy with it.  Of course the ribbon could have been crisper, but it still makes me smile.

Sadly it is pouring down rain, so my picture quality suffered, so forgive me!

Indoors, using natural light by the door:

Close Up:

Indoors using no natural light, no flash

OPI, Zoya, China Glaze and Orly can all be purchased at Ulta.  Milani products can be purchased at CVS and Walgreens.

Here are the nail art challenge prompts:

Here are the participants:

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Does My Sass Look Big In These Pants?

Today I have the stunning Sassy Pants by Amy's Nail Boutique.  This is another one of these manis that you keep looking down at your nails and smiling.

I started off with 2 coats of Milani Orchidia, a beautiful purple with a bit of shimmer, then I put one coat of Sassy Pants over top.  I thought the glitter spreads perfectly on the nail and a simple swish of the brush in the polish got the larger square glitter out of the bottle easily.

I love the mix of colors of the square glitter.  It isn't so much that it overpowers the polish, but is still a fun little color pop accent on the nail. This glitter also lays down perfectly on the nail and was smooth after two coats of Essie Good To Go.

The mix of micro glitters in this really sets it apart from anything in my collection, it is a perfect summer or spring combo that will get you tons of compliments!

These are in the shade (be sure to click on them to see the spread of glitter)

These are in the sun, it was hard to really show off the sparkle, but you can see it in the less focused fingers!

Here is Orchidia on its own (pardon the mess, I hadn't cleaned up yet!)

You can purchase Amy's Nail Boutique at her Etsy Store.  Milani can be purchased at CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid.
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Criss Cross Applesauce

Here is another (poor) attempt at nail art. I did one coat of Julep Charlotte on most of my nails.

This polish is outstanding, great smooth coverage in one coat.

On the accent nail I did a base of Zoya Pippa and the pattern of Julep Charlotte and Milani Mint Candy with a striping brush. Then I dotted Pippa in the intersections.

Sun:

Shade:

Julep can be purchased at http://www.julep.com I received the amazing Charlotte through their maven program, if you would like to try out the maven program you can use my referral link: http://julep.com/?r=19795561 and I will get rewards. Zoya can be purchased at Ulta and http://www.zoya.com, Milani can be found at CVS.

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Oh Yes It's 80s Night...

Every year we attend a themed school auction for my son's school, this year brought me back to high school with the 80s.

I decided to do a tape manicure using crazy neon colors!

Colors used: Sinful Aquamarine (blue), Sinful Innocent (green), NYC Taxi Cab (yellow), Spoiled Breakfast in Red (red jelly), OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips (pink), Sinful Hazard (orange), Sinful Dream On (purple) and I used the Milani Silver Nail Art Polish for the silver stripe.

The Spoiled polish was a disaster because I didn't realize it was a jelly, which is why it looks brown on the nail. The application of the NYC yellow was also a nightmare, which is why there is so little of it!

Sinful polishes can be purchased at Target or Rite Aid. Spoiled by Wet n Wild can be purchased at CVS. NYC can be found at Target. OPI polishes can be found at Ulta.

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When All Else Fails, Just Keep Adding More Polish

I usually have terrible tip wear issues because I type all day every day (and have two kids I'm cleaning up after constantly), so a lot of times I'll find a way to extend a manicure if it is showing wear if I don't have time to do a full manicure.  This is one of these experiments.

I started off with two layers of the stunning Catrice Dirty Berry. After lusting after this on several international blogs, I finally scored it on eBay.

Sparkly Close Up:

After the tip wear started to set in, I sponged Milani's Hi Res, a gorgeous green holo, on the tips.

I still wasn't thrilled with my application, so then I covered the entire nail with a coat of Wet n Wild Coloricon Speak When Spoken To a prismatic that incorporated the other colors in the manicure.

I think all of these colors blended well and I liked how the green on the tips shined through.

If you live in the US the only place I have found for Catrice is eBay. Wet N Wild can be found at CVS or Rite Aid. I purchased Milani at CVS. Milani is my favorite drug store brand of polish.

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