NOTD: China Glaze Gamer Glam + m65

This was my NOTD on Friday, an awesome mani, & I loved it even though the double-stamping didn't go perfectly.  It's abstract enough that it wasn't glaringly obvious - at least, not to anyone but me LOL.

 

I started with a base of China Glaze Gamer Glam from the Tronica collection, then did stamping with Black special polish & Konad plate m65.  I've always wanted to use this design but couldn't quite figure out where to match it up.  I finally gave it a try doing the second stamp with just part of the design - I put the seam towards my cuticle because I thought it would show less, but I actually think it would have been easier to do it at the tip.  I know I'm being picky but the stamping that turned out best IMO was my right middle finger (shown in the 2nd sunlight pic):

 

 

Here's an example of how I cut the design - I then reversed the design & matched the "cut" end of the 2nd stamp with the part on the first stamp that I cut off, if that makes sense?  I think you can tell what I mean if you compare with how it turned out on the nail:

 

 

And the best part?  My nails looked exactly like my shirt!

 

Thanks for reading =)

 

~Colette

NOTD: Lava Lamp Water Marble + Tutorial

Ready for summer?  This mani will get you in the mood if you're not already LOL, these colors are really eye-popping.  I used China Glaze Solar Power & Orange Marmalade for this water marble.  I was lucky enough to come across some pansies that matched exactly so of course I took advantage & really like how those pics turned out:

Here is the tutorial:

The challenge is keeping the pattern straight in the water, and then getting it straight on your nail.  My favorites are my pinkies & ring fingers, and my left thumb.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Sinful Show Me The Way

So, in the interest of St. Patrick's day, I've been trying to work my way through some of my unworn greens =)  This mani lasted me a couple of days, I started out with Sinful Colors Show Me The Way, then I added a coat of Matte Magic ... then I thought I'd do some nail art in glossy topcoat, but I really wasn't thrilled with it, so you'll see in the last pic that I ended up going over that with MM again:

I haven't had anything that my nails look like lately, but this little butterfly thing was on a co-worker's desk & I was immediately struck by how similar the color was =)

For the 2nd day of this mani, I added some Konad, with image plate m72.  I used L'Oreal Yellow Buzz for the stamping.  I was originally going to use Ghetto Fabulous, but when I tested it on the pinky it was almost invisible, so I switched from gold to yellow.  This is the first time I've used this design, I like it a lot better on my nail than on the plate.  I also used a glossy topcoat this time,:

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Essie Huckle Buckle

This begged to be pulled out of the unworn mountain after I saw it on Helen, and it really is a color that's right up my alley. Even though there was a little bit of VNL, it wasn't so bad that it bothered me. Here is Essie Huckle Buckle:


And it's been such a while since I found anything that my nails looks like, but I happened to have a t-shirt that was an EXACT match:


Somehow managed to have a busy weekend, I mean to post this yesterday, and I haven't even had any time to catch up with comments, so I apologize. But I do have a bunch of nail pics to post so hopefully you'll forgive me =) Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Very Neon Zebra

This is really bright (my nails look like a green highlighter as you'll see below). And while I liked it when I first did it, wearing it all day it's growing on me even more. I was going to take it off because of the seams, but I've decided to wear it another day. I'm kind of finally getting it through my head that I'm the only one that notices them, because I know where they are & I'm also looking way closer than most people would, zooming in so close with the pictures - if I hold my arm out straight & just look from a normal distance, even I am hard put to see the seams.

I almost didn't get the sun shots today, it was gloomy-gray cloudy & crap when I got home from work & really didn't look like it would clear up for the rest of the evening, but by the time I'd finished my yoga it had blown clear & I took advantage. Take a look at Color Club What a Shock Konied with China Glaze DV8 & plate m57:

So, do you spot the seams at first glance? =) If you can't see them, click to enlarge - I'm impressed as I was before when I used this plate how well it's designed to match if you can just make it all line up on the nail. Even my ring finger, where I was off a "row" of stripes, isn't too bad.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Butterfly Kisses

Kind of a sappy post title, I know, but that's what comes to mind when I look at my mani & you guys know I bring myself to you unfiltered whenever possible =) You'll see in the pics that I broke off a corner on my index finger ... but I'm reluctant to file it down to where it would be even because I don't want to lose the dexterity I've gained with long nails. On the other hand, it kind of bugs me ... I guess we'll see. If you tune in one day & I'm down to nubbins, that's why.

On to the actual mani; if you don't have this polish, I promise that you need to go out & buy it. In my world, this polish could just simply be called BLUE ... in the real world, this China Glaze polish goes by the name of Frostbite. Konad done with China Glaze OMG & plate m36. In the shade pic, you'll see that my nails look like my tube of Nivea lip balm =):

I am trying to do my nails more often in an effort to work through my unworn polish pile ... I'm sure soon I'll be to the point of doing them on a daily basis. Yet, regardless of the size of my stash, I find myself planning another online haul. Hmmm, this is probably one of those eternal cycles, I will always have more unworn polish than a "normal" person has in their entire collection. Hehehe ... oh well =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Very Pink NOTD & I'm Adorable =)

Pink isn't usually my thing. If I had to pick a least favorite color, it's probably down there with orange ... but I am learning to appreciate both colors on my nails at least. And for today's lesson in appreciating all colors, I'm wearing Claire's Lulu Belle Konied with Black Special Polish & plate m40. This neon pink has some holographic glitter in it, which I did manage to catch in one out of focus thumb pic, and was distractingly bright on my nails all day =):

As a bonus, I haven't found anything My Nails Look Like lately, I guess I haven't been looking too hard, but I couldn't miss my mom's roses when I was taking the sun pics:


Also, Lachelle from Polished Beauty Blog gave me an award!


The Adorable Blog Award rules are as follows:

• Include the logo in your blog or post
• Nominate as many blogs which you like
• Be sure to link your nominees within your post
• Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog
• Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received this award.

Now, I've got a notoriously long blogroll, so it was really hard to pick just a few to pass this award along to. (Especially since this award is making the rounds & I'd like to shout out some blogs that haven't received it yet LOL!) Otherwise I'd get no sleep posting comment notifications LOL. So I'm limiting myself to 5, and here they are:

The Nailphile - The blog that started it all for me. I love lots of blogs now but I'll always remember that it was Siobhan who hooked me into the blogosphere & inspired me to start my own.
La Passion Des Ongles - Really great manis & konis. I also love that she shows her natural nails periodically, it's always nice to see what's behind all the polish.
Polish Pixie - Another of the first blogs I started reading & still love.
Sasse's 'Nad Stamping Stampede - Great Konad tips & pictures!
Alexlyndra - NOTDs with some really unique nail art & FOTDs too. A lot of blogs from other parts of the world all I can do is look at pics but I appreciate that she gives translations.

Check out the rest of my favorites to the right =) And, as always, thanks for reading.

~Colette

Playing Catch-Up

I am SO behind. Behind on posting, WAY behind on replying to comments, and SUPER behind on reading everyone else’s blog. I keep telling myself this old comp is better than nothing, but I swear it’s slow enough to make baby Jesus cry. Today Internet Explorer crashed 3 times in a row before it would even stay up and running. Trying to do anything on it kind of puts me immediately in a bad mood because I got used to clicking on something & having it open right away, not having to wait 5 minutes … it’s only been 2 weeks but it honestly feels like so much longer.

I keep telling myself maybe they’ll finish early, maybe I won’t have to wait the full 3 weeks (if not longer …..) but I will not be happy until it’s back on my desk & everything is reloaded on it & things can go back to normal. Still, I’d rather attempt patience & fight the urge to pull my hair out in frustration than go totally AWOL & not post at all. So here we are.

Anyway, according to my poll (which finished like a week ago & I'm really quite late posting the results), the economy sucks. News flash, I know, but really, almost 1/3 of people who responded to my April poll on blogging at work were unemployed:

A lot of people seem to be under surveillance also - my sympathies LOL =) And more people than I expected are able to get away with as much as they want to.

I am still rocking Orange Marmalade on my nails (since Monday!) and I am happy to say I haven't lost a single rhinestone & aside from some very minimal tip wear it's still looking quite fantastic, no chipping. I've found a couple of things that My Nails Look Like over the past couple days. The first was a pic of a sunset in the Controller's office at work I noticed when I was printing checks. It was kind of hard to get a color-accurate pic, it was covered in glass so I was getting glare no matter what I did:

The second was the shirt I wore on Wednesday ... I don't normally really try to match my outfit with my nails, but come on, I own exactly 1 orange shirt, how could I not wear it when I wore orange polish for the first time since Halloween?

Also (drumroll here) ... I finally got my mom to wear blue nail polish! & now she is hooked LOL. She kept asking me when I was going to take a pic of her nails so I got a shot the other day. Revlon Color Beam Sheer, Bright Sky:

That's all for now, but I've still got some more catching up & a lot of stuff on my plate for upcoming posts:

• I am rapidly approaching my 100th post! I hope I'll have something cool to post for it LOL but I'll just have to see exactly where it ends up falling.
• Fresh NOTD coming this weekend, I really can't remember I've had one color on for this long but it's been a busy week, I hung out with my friend almost every night before she left out of town for a few months.
• Books! I've got I think 5 or 6 more books & reviews to post up.
• Review of the Revlon products that I received ... I won't be actually wearing the fake nails, but I'll give them some attention in addition to the false eyelashes.
• My boss gave me a sample of a Mary Kay product called Satin Hands - I have an old version of it, but the new version is a little different configuration so I will be doing a review & comparison of the old set vs. the new set.

Thanks for reading!

~Colette

Another Easter Treat (NOTD)

I always get great feedback on posts that are non-nail related, but we all know it has to come back to the manicure =) I thought about trying some little freehand flowers with my dotting tool, but the test run indicated that I need a little more practice before I got anywhere near a real mani. So I went with good old Konad.

Keeping with the pastel Easter theme of my last mani, the base is China Glaze For Audrey, Konaded with China Glaze Emotion & plate m8. I had the temptation to go wild with the color I used plus another lighter pink & covering my nail with flowers, but I came back to an old lesson of less is more & so I stuck with just one color & after testing multiple stamps to make a tip pattern on my thumbs ended up just using the stamp twice in the corners (this is only part of the design, it's also got a little curlicue coming off the end that I didn't want to use):

Here's the tip test on one of my thumbs:

Also, went shopping today, and apparently turquoise is the color for spring in all kinds of things because I came across 2 things that My Nails Look Like. First a dress - that I did actually end up buying ... now I know at least one polish option when I wear it =) :

Then at Target this pair of gardening boots that I've got to give credit to my mom for spotting:

Shopping also included a stop at Ulta thanks to a 20% off coupon. I managed to control myself because I know most of what they have can be had cheaper online, but I needed cuticle oil sooner rather than later & couldn't resist the OPI Breathe Life polish:

So, busy day today, but a gorgeous day for running around, I didn't even take a jacket with me it was so nice. Supposed to be pretty much the same tomorrow too. Thanks for reading & I hope everyone enjoys a happy Easter!

~Colette