Valentine's Hearts Water Marble + Tutorial

Sometimes it is perhaps not quite so obvious how far behind I am - but yes, these are Valentine's nails, and yes that means I'm about 4 months behind LOL.

I started off this manicure with a base of Zoya Marley, then did the marbling with Marley & Ulta Femme Fatale.  I like these hearts better than the hearts I did the year before, but for something that seems like it should be simple, it's surprisingly hard to get exactly right in the water:

Some of the hearts ended up "cleaner" in the center than others ... shows that even I am not perfect & still have plenty to learn about marbling:

Here's the tutorial:

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Essie It's Genius

I'm finishing the haul post, and when I went looking for the bottle pics I took I found these LOL.  I thought I'd post them quick before they get forgotten again - Mom's nails, Essie It's Genius:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: OPI It's My Year

OPI It's My Year, from the Miss Universe collection, is a gorgeous pinky-mauve with a heavy gold shimmer, that somehow ends up being a little bit coppery-bronzey in some lights:

But wait ... that description sounds so familiar ... all day on my nails I kept thinking ... deja vu ... I've worn this color before - I had to go back & search my blog to find the exact color, I remembered it was a Zoya & finally found that it was Zoya Faye (original post HERE).

Yes, the 2 are definitely close enough to be kissing cousins.  Not dupes but very very close =)  And then!  When I changed my mani I had the same thing happen again LOL, deja vu all day & had to come home & search ... stay tuned tomorrow to see my 2nd in a row nearly duplicate mani =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Icing Birds of Paradise

Not quite as awesome as Epic Winning was - still a pretty glitter though.  Icing Birds of Paradise is a medium mauve-ish color with gold glitter that at certain angles gives a duo-chrome flash of turquoise - take my word because I couldn't capture it in pics LOL.  It was a tad sheer even at 4 coats, but the VNL wasn't as bad in real life as it looks in a few of these:

 

Behind behind behind ... what else is new?  I have a small Zoya haul to post, another NOTD, some pics of mom's nails, and it just dawned on me over the weekend that I never caught up with my book list either.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette 

NOTD: Essie It's Genius

Not a whole lot to say about this one ... Essie It's Genius is a nice enough polish, but I  was disappointed that the gold flash that showed in the bottle was just flat out GONE on the nail:

Good things coming - my first Butter London polish, plain & stamped, and on my nails right now a water marble =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Zoya Faye

I didn't have time to get this up last night, but had just enough time this morning to post.  In some lights it's obviously a pinky mauve with gold glitter, other lights it looked almost bronze - this is Zoya Faye:

 

Thanks for reading =)

 

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Savvy Blush + Maybelline Jewel's n' Berries

I think this is really soft & pretty - Mom started with Savvy Blush, which is not one of my favorites on it's own because it's just a watery, clear pink color - but with Maybelline Jewel's n' Berries sponged on the tips, it makes the perfect base color:

 

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Mauve French Tip Swirls & A Belated 2nd Blogiversary

So.... like last year I have managed to miss my blog's anniversary!  I see 2 years was on the 14th, Friday ... I have even less excuse this year than last, it didn't even occur to me until just now - I looked & saw I was late.  Maybe 3rd time will be the charm next year LOL?

 

For the nails I have Wednesday's mani, another drag marble - I used OPI Plum Full of Cheer as the base colors, and 2 dots each on the tips of OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry & OPI Fit For a Queensland:

 

 

Here are my favorite nails:

 

I just had to buy extra Picasa storage to show these to you guys too!  That's been on my to-do list since the beginning of the year, but my awesome powers of procrastination put it off.  Thanks for reading =)

 

~Colette

NOTD: Zoya Anastasia

So, do you ever pick up something that's really too hot to be picking up, so you kind of grab it with your nails, and then realize later it was in fact so hot that it melted your polish off??  I seems to do so at least a few times a week LOL, this morning's culprit was a bagel hot out of the toaster, that I was trying to maneuver mass quantities of butter onto.  Fortunately I only had 2 casualties, a corner on my index & a corner on my thumb, and they didn't look too bad they just felt distractingly rough until I filed them a tad LOL.

From my recent exchange hauls, this is Zoya Anastasia.  Some lights it looked more dark mauve, sometimes almost bronze.  Stamping done with China Glaze 2030 & m40:

Was going to do a marble but it got late on me so it got bumped to tomorrow.  I put another slideshow together too, that I haven't gotten around to putting up here but you can check out on YT.  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

Guest NOTD: MF Independent

This is quite an old polish, I don't think Max Factor even makes nail polish anymore ... is the company even around any more??  Either way, this is Mom wearing Max Factor Independent:

She liked this color, although I thought it was kind of boring mauve-brown.  It didn't wear very well though, she already had 2 sizeable chips on her right hand on  the first day of wearing it.  Not sure if that's just because it's old or what ... good excuse to put something more interesting on LOL =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette