NOTDs: Neon Overload (TWO China Glaze Poolside Collection Rainbow Water Marbles + Tutorials!)

In the end, I really liked both of these, and I feel like they give very different vibes even though they are the same colors.  The first gives more interesting contrast, with the transition from blue back to pink, but I had some issues with bubbles & really wasn't too happy with the tutorial although I did upload it & maybe you guys can have a few laughs, heh.  It doesn't exactly suck, I just felt kind of fumbly & mushy-mumble-mouthed.  The second, even though it's a more traditional ROYGBIV spectrum (if without the IV) it honestly puts me in mind more of a tie-dye than a real rainbow =).  I had much less bubbling for whatever reason - water marbling baffles even me occasionally - and I feel like the tutorial is much better.  Anyway, for all that they're very similar, and since I didn't get the first one up last night I decided to post them together.

I got SOOO many compliments on both of these.  Even though I've got something crazy on my nails a lot of the time, I think these have really been catching people's eye because they are so BRIGHT.  I am not including any flash shots for either version because they just all came out like crap, the flash totally washed out all the colors.

This first one was my NOTD on Wednesday & Thursday.  I used the entire Poolside collection:  Pool Party, Flip Flop Fantasy, Sun Worshipper, Towel Boy Toy, Kiwi Cool-Ada &Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.  I liked the blue & green best so chose to put those closer to the cuticle so they could show up more.  My favorite nails were both pinkies & my left ring, even though it didn't pick up any orange:

I'm sure I don't need to tell you all how difficult neons are to photograph.  But these are truly neon, the exact same shade as highlighters - and I have the proof!  I snapped this at work:

Here is the first tutorial:



OK, the second version was my NOTD on Friday & I've still got it on today.  I may wear it all weekend =)  Same 6 colors, but this time I really wanted to do a traditional rainbow order, starting pink at the cuticle & progressing through orange, yellow, green to blue.  I kind of wish this collection had also included a true purple neon, maybe instead of the kind of coral-pink one.  As I said above, this really reminds me of a tie-dye.  I wish I'd gotten more "petals" overall on my right hand, but my favorite nails are my left middle & thumb:

Here's the second tutorial:



Well, that's everything =)  I hope you enjoyed your neon fix for the day LOL.  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Sally's Haul

I had a 20% off coupon ... I got another one that I think I'll be using soon because there were a few others from the new Finger Paints colors that my closest Sally's was sold out of.  Here's what I got aside from topcoat & etc:

Left to right:  Hue Left A Message?, Laugh My Art Off, Sapphire Shimmer & Passionate Purple - which I think is the least artsy-named FP polish that I have LOL

And also the Poolside collection:

Left to right:  Pool Party, Flip Flop Fantasy, Sun Worshipper; bottom row:  Towel Boy Toy, Kiwi Cool-Ada, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.

I've actually already done 2 water marbles with these neons, and I honestly promise I will have them up tomorrow - and it's the weekend so I will have time to edit the pictures & etc.  Tonight I only had enough energy to tackle the videos, and the couple pics that this post involved.  Prepare for a picspam of epic neon proportions!  I really loved both of them =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Cake Pops: The Book!

I've made cake balls several times, and I know I have several readers who are fans also.  Did you know there's a book coming out this fall?

Cake Pops:  The Book

Bakerella & Angie Dudley

How cools is that?!  You can read a little more about it HERE on Bakerella's blog.  Of course, looking on her blog always makes me hungry LOL.  It's been a while since I did any cake balls, I don't think I've made any since Christmas ... hmmm, must come up with an excuse to bake =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Misa Burnished Bronze

Just a quick post, trying not to get any further behind.  Misa's Burnished Bronze is an older color, I'm not sure exactly how long ago they stopped using round labels?  The gold shimmer that shows up in the bottle isn't quite as evident on the nail, but it's still a really pretty reddish brown:

I made a Sally's haul last weekend that I haven't gotten around to posting yet, including the Poolside collection - which I then proceeded to water marble with, my current mani.  I'll try to get pics up tomorrow.  I did shoot a tutorial but I haven't reviewed my videos & I'm not sure I'm going to post one up because every take I felt like I made some kind of glaring error.  Grrr.  But I want to redo the design anyway, with the colors in a different order, so if I do that I will do a re-shoot.

 

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Nina Ultra Pro Last Call + M72

Monday's NOTD, I can't decide to call this like a purple, or a deep mauve, or what but it's really pretty.  Nina Ultra Pro Last call also has a gold shimmer, so to play that up I decided to do the stamping with China Glaze 2030, and Konad image plate m72:

This tip pattern has become one of my favorites, I think I've said before but it's just so forgiving.  Some are so glaring obvious if you are the slightest bit crooked.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

TOTD: Claire's Rockstar & Pedi Envy

I totally failed to take any decent pics of my last pedi, which consisted of NYC Taxi Yellow Creme topped with Sinful Call You Later (a green & yellow glitter).  Part of the reason was it was all cloudy & crappy & I wanted sunlight pics & when I got no sun I totally spaced on just getting something.  Oh well.  The moral of the story is don't procrastinate, so this time I didn't.  Here is Claire's Rockstar:

With the flash of silver on the brown, it reminded me a lot of Misa Earthward, so I did a quick comparison - not as similar on the nail, the Claire's has much more silver shimmer where the Misa I'd say had more of a silver sheen, even though the base brown is very similar:

Sorry for using my pinky ... didn't want to do any extra remover on my middle as that's the one that's patched right now LOL.

Now, on to the pedi envy ... I consider that I do a better than average job on my pedicure.  I wouldn't subject you guys if I were honestly horrified =)   They're neat (mostly), and if they get chipped, they get redone.  But for an honestly flawless pedicure, Jake is the man.  Some of you may be familar with him as Toepaintguy on Flickr - & he has recently started his own blog, Pedicure Passion.  If you're interested (& open minded & polite, not an asshat, seriously) go check him out, he's already posted some good discussion & a couple of interesting interviews.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise + Hidden Treasure

Another manicure that I "stretched."  On the bottle this China Glaze polish is labeled Turned Up Turquoise (Neon) - so does that mean there's a non-neon version out there somewhere?  Either way, it was tricky to photograph as neons usually are, it is a little darker & just more vibrant than I was able to capture:

For the second day I added Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.  I had a video of this but decided against uploading it - the hard to capture color combined with less than ideal lighting made it less than impressive in motion.  The still shots don't do it justice either but I do have a few:

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Milani Hi-Tech (+ M63)

This was my NOTD on Tuesday & Wednesday.  Tuesday was "plain" although I don't think a holo can ever be plain.  I do wear a topcoat with holos, just because I can be rough on my hands, it changes the texture of the holo but just  little.  This is Milani Hi-Tech:

For Wednesday I added some Konad & really liked how this turned out.  Stamping done with Color Club Black & image plate m63:

And I did a quick Polish in Motion video for this too, when I had it on plain:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette