NOTD: PHD Vampire Challenge (Zoya Pinta + Rihana)

So, this week's Polish Hoarder Disorder Challenge was vampire nails.  Not like, vampires on your nails, but what kind of manicure would a vampire have?  You can check out the Challenge Gallery HERE:

Something dark & chic I thought, but with a hit of something sharp ... I was going to do a tutorial, but the colors were just too dark to show up on video.  I started with a base of 2 coats of Zoya Pinta, gorgeous vampy purple creme, and I let that dry completely.  I cut painter's tape into a chevron shape, covered the tip of my finger, and then sponged the base with Zoya Rihana.  I am in LOVE:

Even being in love, I'm still only 90% happy LOL.  I had some bubbling, I'm not sure if from the uneven texture of the sponged area, I'm actually thinking my Seche is the more likely culprit.  I also wish I'd made Rihana just a little intense, sponged it a bit further down.  But that's OK, because I'm going to do this in another color combination so I can do a tutorial, so I can hopefully make the adjustment then =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Since to "claim" my blog I had to post this code in a new post anyway, I thought I might as well mention that I'm joining Bloglovin' & there will shortly be a follow button for them in the sidebar =)

I am in love with my challenge mani. I will post it tomorrow after the gallery is up.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: China Glaze Sexagon

An oldie but a goodie, from the Kaleidoscope Collection, this is China Glaze Sexagon:

In motion:

I'm in the middle of doing my challenge mani, so that's why the short post, I've really got to finish up & go to bed =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Semi-Fail NOTD: Claire's Memaid Funky French

I don't know quite what to say about this.  It was disappointing on so many levels.  I knew that Claire's Mermaid was sheer, and I thought I had a pretty good plan for dealing with that - a black french tip with a silver smile line.  I used Color Club Black for my tips - I really should have used some polish thinner on it beforehand, but it was sooo late, and I was sooo lazy.  I used Art Club Satin Silver striper for the smile line, a very pale silver.  I did 2 coats of Mermaid over the top.  And got this:

 

 

Poor application all around, sloppy french tips - if it hadn't been 11 o'clock I'd have taken it off & started from scratch.  I should have picked something more foolproof in the first place ... oh well.  I even had one girl at work tell me they weren't up to my usual standard, which horrified my mother that anyone would say anything so mean - of course, she liked them & didn't see most of the glaring errors that bugged me all day LOL.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

Cameras...

Pictures ... video ... lenses ... optical zoom ... digital zoom ... ISO speeds ... so many freaking options ... ARGH!!

 

Does anyone have anything helpful & enlightening to share?  At first I convinced myself I needed a new camera & a new digital video camcorder... then I started looking & realized I knew nothing about making a purchase that expensive.  But I really want something better, & sooner rather than later, so I'm thinking of upgrading to a better "point & shoot" that would also have better video than my beloved but old current camera  - Canon SD600 if you're wondering ... it's about 4 years old & about 4-8 megapixels out of date depending on what I compare it to LOL.  That would buy me some time to seriously learn some more about photography, make an educated decision, and oh yeah save up since it seems really good camera actually cost quite a bit.  Then I could invest in a DSLR & a good camcorder a little further down the road.

 

Thoughts?  Thanks for your input =) 

 

~Colette

NOTD: PHD Color Accent Challenge Entry (Black, White & Pink Water Marble + Tutorial)

Polish Hoarder Disorder's challenge this week was Color Accent, to create a greyscale manicure with a pop of a single color.  You can check out the Challenge Gallery HERE.

I decided early on, after she suggested it, that I'd do a marble with black & white.  It took a while to decide on the color but I finally settled on pink.  I was going to use Sally Hansen Byte, but it wasn't cooperating, so I slapped that on my toes & used Wet 'n' Wild Lust.  The black & white are Sally Hansen, Black Out & White On.  My favorite nails are left middle, and right pointer & thumb:

I'd like to do this design again once my nails grow out again.  Here's the tutorial:

Hope you guys like it =)  Thanks for watching.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: China Glaze Groovy Green + M64

Here is what Mom currently has on her nails, the base color is a gift from a friend of hers, China Glaze Groovy Green, stamping is done with China Glaze Unplugged (which she's wearing on her toes) & Konad image plate m64:

 

 

Pretty darn cute!  I don't often get the opportunity to Konad her nails, so she's really having fun with it.  Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

The "Garden" & The Lightning

So, we went last Saturday to Rochester to see my cousin, and while we were down there, the plan was to go & visit the Mayowood Gardens.  Sounded like a good idea ... but you see, turns out they're called the Gardens because they USED TO BE gardens.  Want to know what it looks like now?

 

 

Uh-huh.  Sure, pretty place, would have been a lovely walk if we hadn't been told the wrong hours & come close to closing.  We didn't have time to wander around - we wanted to see some flowers!  Not to mention it was hot & sticky & down in the forrested area the mosquitoes were fierce.  Finally we went back up to the house & got to see a few real gardens:

 

 

Weirdest part was this little section:

 

 

Which we were debating whether it was for priosoners?  Extremly low servants?  Just storage (then why the windows?)?

 

We knew storms had been forcast for the day, luckily we got back to the cities without getting poured on, although the sky was doing some weird stuff:

 

 

We passed this car on the way home, and although these pictures really doesn't do it justice, the first thing of course that came to my mind was, "how can I do that on my nails?"  It really was shimmery & had a lot of depth:

 

 

A little later in the evening, me & Mom left my grandparent's house just about 15 minutes too late & got hit super-hard on the way home.  Blinding, torrential rain, unending buckets from the sky, and standing water deep enough that I'm extremly grateful I didn't actually get stuck.  It eventually settled down, but even then, lightning continued to light up the night sky in awesome fashion.  So I got out the camera & used up the rest of my batteries taking some video:

 

 

So yeah.  Nature is awesome =)

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

TOTD: Sally Hansen Byte

Quick post, I still have lots to edit & post - I was going to use Sally Hansen Byte for my water marble (which will be up later) but it wasn't cooperating with the black & white, plus it was too sheer.  So I put it on my toes instead:

 

 

I think this may be the brightest color I've worn all summer =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Hauls From Last Week

I've got to get this up before I totally forget about it LOL!  I got all this when I went out last Thursday when I had the day off work.

 

First was a trip to Ulta, I picked up some makeup which I have every intention of wearing, but I haven't used since I got it.  And then there was some Orly on clearance that just happened to also be buy 2 get 1 free:

 

 

Left to right:  Prince Charming, Enchanted Forest, Mirror Mirror.

 

Then I stopped at Hot Topic - not sure how I never noticed they had a clearance section before now, but I found quite a bit of polish in there:

 

 

The only bad thing about Hot Topic polish is their lack of names!  Come on Hot Topic, you've got to realize that's not cool =(

 

Last stop was Claire's, looking for some of the new colors in mood polish & I did find a couple, and a couple of others.  Buy 1 get 1 50% off - I don't think I've ever been in Claire's when there's not a sale:

 

 

Left to right:  Mermaid, Homecoming Queen, Flirty/Shy, Bored/Excited (which you've already seen me wear HERE).

 

So, that's all that I got last week =)  Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

Como Bonsai Trees

So, here are all of the bonsai trees from my day at the zoo.  I don't have much to say other than these are all really cool =)  I tried to keep their little name tags in the cropped pic, so if you click to enlarge you can see the details like what kind of tree it is & how old.  Enjoy:

 

 

This isn't bonsai ... but it was in there with them:

 

 

& then on the way to the Japanese Garden, we passed this spot outdoors where they had some more stashed:

 

 

That's all of them =) Thanks for reading!

~Colette