NOTD: Ornate Holiday Teal & Gold Water Marble + Tutorrial

For my third and final look for Formula X for Sephora I decided to go with a water marble.  I used Enigma for my base color, then marbled with Enigma, Orbit and Iconic:

I really loved the variety that I got - all the nails similar, but of course none the same; the fact that the index and ring fingers ended up more light and the pinkie and middle more dark on both hands was a happy accident:

You can check out the tutorial here:

These Formula X colors have been very versatile to work with - not all of the colors work for marbling of course, but it didn't take too many tries to find this combination & they performed together well.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

 (These were sent to me for review) 

1,000th Blog Post - My Magazine Interview

So, it seems very apropos that for such a monumental milestone as my one thousandth blog post, I have something just as monumental to share - that being my interview in the January/February issue of Nail It! Magazine. Here's a look at the cover, I'm inside on page 77:

This issue should be available in stores now!  If you read it please let me know what you think =)  Somehow being in print seems to take it to another level than just being online.  If you'd like some more details you can check out my video announcement here:

I'm not doing quite as well with my return to blogging as I'd planned, since I haven't even touched my backlog of old pics yet, but I'm nearly current up to what's on my nails right now, so I guess I have to give myself a little credit.  It's getting slightly easier to squeeze in and I don't plan on stopping, so here's to another thousand posts!

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Formula X for Sephora Hocus Pocus

Another from the Formula X for Sephora line, this is one of their holos; not the strongest holographic effect that I've ever seen, when compared to something like the OMG collection or some of my Layla's, but still a nice rainbow flash - this is Hocus Pocus:

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Formula X for Sephora Atom + Eve

I was going to do something fancier for my company holiday party, but I ended up running a bit short on time & so I just went with a red glitter - because that's always a great Christmas choice =)  This is Formula X for Sephora Atom + Eve:

This was also I think the only time I can remember having a polish on at the same time as my mom - she chose it for her church choice holiday concert - looks a bit different on her short nails  but obviously still a gorgeous color:

Thanks for reading!

~Colette

NOTD: Winter Tree Branches + Tutorial

My second Sephora-sponsored video, this is a little more difficult than the first design which I considered to be a simpler design.  With Formula X for Sephora White Matter as a base, I sponged with White Matter & Gray Matter, then with Dark Matter and a striping brush I added the branches:

Here's the tutorial:

I hope you guys enjoyed =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette
 (These were sent to me for review) 

NOTD: Black & Wine Water Marble + Tutorial

I wanted to do something for the holidays without being blatantly red & green - I thought this deep wine was festive without being too traditional.  I used China Glaze Don't Make me Wine as my base color, then marbled with that & China Glaze Liquid Leather:

Here's the tutorial:



Several more holiday design to come before the end of the month =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Hunger Games Catching Fire - Girl on Fire French Tips + Tutorial

I am a HUGE Hunger Games fan ... I didn't realize until after the fact how well the Harvest Waterfall would have worked out for the movie, so this is what I ended up wearing to go see the movie.  I started out with a base of OPI Alpine Snow, then a couple coats of Formula X for Sephora Spark, then topped that as a jelly sandwich with OPI Meet Me at the Bonfire.  Then I painted the flames with black acrylic paint:

Here's the tutorial:

Are you a Hunger Games fan?  Have you seen the movie and I'm guessing loved it?  Casting was so spot-on flawless, I think it was even better than the first one.  I can't wait for the next ones!  The last book is getting split into 2 movies if you didn't already know.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Harvest Waterfall + Tutorial

This was my Thanksgiving design for this year - Thanksgiving is always a bit of a challenge for me ... it's not really a holiday that has a wide range of themes LOL, so since I didn't want to do a turkey again I just went with traditional colors.  This look was inspired by a couple of designs by the Nailasaurus: that are on my Pinterest inspiration board HERE and HERE

I started of with a plain black base of OPI Black Onyx, then did the waterfall with 4 OPI Liquid Sand colors: What Wizardry is This?, Jinx, Honey Ryder, and Magazine Cover Mouse:

Here's the tutorial:

While I did like the textural contrast, after a few days I did add topcoat so that the entire mani was glossy:

Have you tried a waterfall manicure?  Which version of this one was your favorite?

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette