Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Water Marble Tutorial + Giveaway!

I just finished recording and editing this, so I don't have my full range of pictures that I normally do and I may post those later, but I wanted to post right away so that you guys can enter the giveaway or contest if you want!

First, let me share the manicure with you guys, a water marble using Sally Hansen Color Foil Purple Alloy, and Sally Hansen Red Striper:

Here's the tutorial:

The June theme for Sally Hansen's I Heart Nail Art Contest is Liquid Mani, and you can enter their contest Here:  http://www.sallyhansen.com/i-heart-nail-art/contest

And as for my giveaway, the prize is a Nail Art Party in a Box like this one:

You can enter here, or on the Contest Page of my blog, or on my Facebook Fan Page!  Open through June 30th to residents of the United States over the age of 18.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to everyone  and of course thanks for reading =)

~Colette

*These products were sent to me for promotional purposes

NOTD: Basic French Manicure + Tutorial

Simple, traditional, and completely out of the ordinary for me LOL.  I might even have been known to call a basic French manicure boring.  I also don't care for how a traditional French looks when my nails are longer, but at this length, I think it was just about perfect =)  The polishes used are Formula X for Sephora White Matter & Wondrous.  Please forgive the tiny chips on my index in the outdoor shots:

Here's the tutorial:

How often do you wear a basic french?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Formula X for Sephora Love Chemistry

Last week was a bit hectic, with the holiday & then a condensed work week, but while I took a few days off I'm not disappearing again!

This is another from my Formula X for Sephora train case that they sent me, and I think it is one of the shiniest things I have ever had on my nails!  The coppery pink & gold combination is one that I wasn't sure about until I had it on my nails, then I was in love:

And if Formula X is a little bit out of your price range, worry not - Maybelline Color Show has a really good dupe called Gilded Rose =)  I just gave that to a friend as a birthday gift, because it's such a great color regardless of which brand you go with.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Work-Appropriate Water Marble + Tutorial

I know that I'm lucky, but I really can't imagine working somewhere that restricted my nails, or any of my personal style.  I mean, I can't wear WHATEVER I want, but pretty close.  And no one batted an eye - much - when I pierced my lip.  But I know some people are restricted, either in length or in color; and so this design is for them - or anyone else who'd like something on the short and neutral side.

All of the polishes I used in this water marble are Formula X for Sephora.  For my base color I used Monumental, and if I remember it was the closest I've ever come to a "mannequin hands" color for my skin tone.  For the marble I used Monumental, Evocative & Perfection - they were all very smooth in the water.

Here are a couple of the nails I think turned out best:

And here of course is the tutorial:

Hope you guys enjoyed =)  And thanks for reading!

~Colette

NOTD: Formula X for Sephora Freaky Like Freud

Next my nubbins were graced with Freaky Like Freud from the Brilliants collection of Formula X for Sephora:

Of course, something this sparkly and holographic and basically AWESOME, I had to do a polish in motion for:  

So, obviously I loved this polish, what do you think of this color?  It actually is a very pale lavender, although with all the holo sparkle it comes off silver; here's a comparison betweem it and Hubba Hubble (the actual silver from the Brilliants collection):

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Anise Cosmic Kiss

After I chopped my nails I needed sparkles to make me feel better, so I wore a succession of really beautiful polishes, the first of which was Anise Cosmic Kiss - the Anise brand is available at DSW of all places:

The inner fire and subtle holo finish of this polish didn't show up like I wanted it to in pictures, so I did a Polish in Motion for it:

Sooo pretty!  I really enjoyed having this on my tiny nubbins.  They've since grown out of course, but I'm trying to keep them on the shorter side (for me) for a couple of reasons - one of which is in an effort to minimize breaks which is so far a fail; I think I could get a break at any length I am such a clutz LOL.

I've got such a backlog, both from earlier this year & from last year, I could probably do a post a day for the next year & not be caught up.  I don't know if I can actually follow through on that, but I plan to try!  Day two:  check!

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

New Year's Naked Nails Before & After

Yeah ... I don't think I'm even going to apologize this time.  You guys know the deal.  Trying (always trying) to get back into the swing of things.  So here we go.

Right after New Year's, after soaking off my Glitter Mosaic, I did probably the biggest chop I've ever done.  Now, like with any before and after part of making the after look really good is to make the before look really really bad - so we have the acetone-dried hands, after soaking off both glitter & patches - and the break that broke the rest of the way when the patch came off:

And then for the after, neatly-trimmed, buffed & moisturized nubbins:

I did record the soak & the hack, because I really wasn't sure at the time how bad the glitter was going to be coming off.  Turns out it was pretty easy (all things considered) but if you'd like to check it out here's the vid:

I can't promise I'll be posting regularly now, but I'm going to try.  If you want me on a more regular basis, consider following me on Instagram @mysimplelittlepleasures - it's such a quick, easy interface I manage to stay moderately active on there LOL.  Even if I don't have anything new I do Throwback Thursdays and have been including 15-second speed-tutorials for the manis that I'm throwing back to.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: New Year's Super Blingy Ombre Glitter Mosaic + Tutorial

So far, we have already received nearly a foot more snow than we normally average in an entire winter.  And all that shoveling is what I'm blaming my lack of posting in January on ... winter doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon but I guess I'm not surprised ...  that's where the name Minne"snow"ta came from =)

Anyway, here is what I had on my nails for New Year's, just before I made a big chop (which if you haven't see on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc will be coming up in my next post).  The base color is just OPI Black Onyx; the glitter ombre is done with Martha Stewart glitter from Michaels in the colors Onyx, Sterling, Florentine Gold, Fire Opal, Garnet, Tourmaline, Kunzite, Charoite, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Verdalite & Olivine:

The overall ombre was a beautiful effect, although some nails the difference was very drastic, such as on the black/silver nail - some nails the difference was nearly invisible, such as on the red/orange nail:

Here's the tutorial:

This look was inspired from a design on Pinterest, and I did it my own way before I actually read up on the blog posts by the original creator.  That's how I usually do it unless I really can't figure out how to accomplish the effect, but after the fact I learned quite a lot from reading, watching, and even a few comments back and forth with Polish All The Nails.  So the next time I do a glitter mosaic - and there will definitely be a next time - I plan on using at least 2 coats of my base color, to give the glitter a deeper layer to be pressed into.  Also, I trimmed the overhanging glitter & then added a topcoat - I think I would topcoat to help the glitter stay in place, then trim, then more top coat to smooth everything out.  This wasn't horribly rough - and actually wore much better than I expected, only losing a few glitters by the time I took it off - but I think with practice I can get it even smoother!

This was a super fun manicure to wear, I kept in on a whole week & I got a LOT of compliments ... here's a look at it in motion:

Do you have the patience to do a look like this?  Maybe just as an accent nail would be enough for many LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Christmas Reverse Waterfall + Tutorial

Busy holidays, and then busy with snow & cold, but things are getting back to normal & I'm only a few posts behind.  This was my Christmas manicure - I'd been wanting to try striping from the tip rather than the cuticle ever since I did my Harvest Waterfall Mani.  Base color for this attenpt is China Glaze White On White, then the waterfall is done with China Glaze  Red-Y and Willing, Goldie but Goodie, Tongue & Chic, & Gossip Over Gimlets - all from the Autumn Nights Collection:

Here's the tutorial:

I have 3 more posts to catch up with - my Super Blingy Ombre Glitter Mosaic, which was the last mani on my long nails, and then 2 "plain" manicures on my new short nubbins.  Then there'll be a nubbins tutorial up this weekend!

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette