Guest NOTD: Maybelline Riveting Ruby

I'm going to try & just throw some pics up here.  That doesn't sound very good, but seriously, I don't have time for deep composition & reflection - like I'm every too inclined in that direction anyway LOL - as far behind as I am.  Tee is supposed to come over tonight for a mani, and I don't even have her last one up.  Fixing that now - Maybelline Salon Expert Riveting Ruby, a glittering gold-shot red that I picked up in a Big Lots haul months ago, with an accent nail that has a coat of China Glaze Cleopatra:

Going to do some more multitasking & quick pic editing.  I can't wait to show you what I'm currently wearing - actually about to remove - but I am anal enough that I can't allow myself to skip around in the timeline, so to speak.  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Neon Pink & Black Water Marble

I've just got to get right to the pictures.  They don't do this mani justice, just imagine the pink twice as bright & you'll come close.  Base color of Sally Hansen Black Out, water marbling done with Black Out, Sinful Fusion Neon & Sinful Dream On:

I loved it, Tee loved it (well, loved most of it ... there were a couple she wanted to redo but we were short on time), & I will be doing a tutorial with the same style of dragging but some different bright colors maybe this weekend.  This started out pretty, but really popped after we added topcoat, I did take a quick pic as a comparison shot:

I also have a NOTD of mine & another of Mom's to edit & post but this was so pretty it took precedence LOL...  I think Mom & Tee are doing their nails more often lately, seems like I am posting as much of them as of myself!  

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Guest NOTD: ChG Street Racing

Did these for Tee yesterday, China Glaze Street Racing, from the Retro Diva collection:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Guest NOTD: ChG TMI

So, I'm still working on the comments, I think I'm only a few days behind instead of like a month now LOL.  But I'm in peril of falling really behind with guest nails, so I'm going to get them posted up.

Tee is rough on her nails ... she can wear a mani maybe 3 days before she needs to change it, and since our schedules have been compatible lately, she's been coming over for me to do them =)  This is kind of a pinky-salmon holo, that we did last Tuesday, from the OMG collection, China Glaze TMI:

At least 2 more guest nails to post today, in between finishing off the comments, so stay tuned =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: ChG Side-Saddle

Tee came over on ... hmmm I think Monday night?  & we redid her mani.  She just wanted something on the plain side this time, a dark color, and we settled on China Glaze Side-Saddle, from the Rodeo Diva collection.  This color has a TON of shimmer close up:

So lucky I have friends & family to help me wade through my ocean of unworn polish LOL =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Black & Red Water Marble

I'm sooo late posting this up, I have to apologize!  I did this for Tee last Thursday (we actually just changed it tonight) but I've just been so behind.  Colors used are both Maybelline, Onyx Rush & Berry Persistent (please excuse the half-assed clean-up LOL):

I used the same marbling technique as I show in THIS Shades of Purple Marble Tutorial.  Thanks for reading!

~Colette

Guest NOTD: One More Water Marble

Yes that's right I thought I was done with water marbling for a while, but then Tee stopped by with actually enough time to do her nails!  I've never done water marbling on someone else, we had a few hilarious moments but overall it went pretty smoothly & I think we'll probably do it again.

Base color is China Glaze LOL, marbling done with LOL, China Glaze OMG & China Glaze DV8:

Sorry no tutorial with this one =)  But it was crowded enough without trying to find a place to squeeze the tripod LOL.  I used pretty much the same technique for the design as I used in the Shades of Purple one.

I might try to start digging into the mountain of backlogged comments since I'm still awake ... I was ashamed to realize I'm not 1, not 2, but over 3 weeks behind answering comments.  

 

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Sally Hansen Chrome

I've done quite a bit of photo-editing & posting today, so I'm going to keep this brief but ending on a nail note =) Tee came over & we did her nails with this old Sally Hansen Chrome Nail Makeup, in Royal Purple Chrome:


Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Ruby Pumps

Now, while I have posted pics of this color before, it's one of those polishes I just don't think you can get enough of. China Glaze Ruby Pumps:


T's got it on her toes too, but I try not to test her patience too much so I don't have any pics of those LOL =) Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Quick Guest NOTD

Just about bedtime, but I'm trying to keep from falling behind & T came over for me to do her nails today. This is Revlon Copperglaze Platinum:

I decided the pedi I forgot to take pics of has been on too long to be picture-worthy ... but wanting to show you guys the color, I decided to use the polish for a NOTD - so pics of that will be up after I hopefully have a chance to take some sun pics tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: ChG Emotion

Here is T's mani I did a few days ago ... she managed to get a nick in it before I even did the pics LOL, but here is China Glaze Emotion from the Romantique collection:


Got some pics of my mani to post also, and I realized I haven't posted my current pedi, but I didn't get around to taking pics of it even, so that will have to wait.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

My Short(er) Nails & Guest NOTD

OK, no need to scold me, before we even get to the pics I have to say right up front that I know they're not really short. But they FEEL short after having them so close to what would be my perfect length. What can I say, I like my nails long - although my friend told me she thought they were nearly to the point of too much. I told her well, they're not fetish-long, and she said yes they were - I said no they're not & she said well then put up a poll ... so what do you think readers? I'm assuming you're probably a long nail fan if you're hanging around here, LOL. But check out the poll at the upper right - just how long would you consider my nails?

So at this point you're probably wondering what exactly I'm fussing about. Well, it's been around a month since I gave you guys a glimpse of my nails without polish. I didn't take them down quite as much as I was planning to, but they're still considerably shorter I think. Here are some pics before & after filing today:




I was going to take my left hand even with my index finger but I just couldn't quite do it.

For Guest NOTD we have T's nails, I redid a patch for her & then did a fresh mani. This is Sally Hansen Nail Prisms in Emerald Amethyst, and I forced her to take lots of pics in an attempt to capture the duo-chome lovliness of this old polish:


I did my own nails too, but I'm now wearing a holo - and you know that means lots of pics! Too many for me to edit right at the moment, as it's already pretty late for me to be posting. So stay tuned tomorrow! Thanks for reading.

~Colette

The Return of Konad

I think it's been like 3 weeks since I used Konad, and once I realized it had been so long I had to remedy the situation. I wasn't sure what I was doing right up to the point where I started my mani ... which ended up being after I had finished off most of a bottle of Jeremiah's Weed with my friend - for those of you that don't know, it's sweet tea flavored vodka that goes nicely with lemonade. Both of our manis turned out pretty good considering our lack of sobriety.

The sticker is AWOL for this bottle of Nina Ultra Pro, but I think the name is Caribbean Blue or something like that, Konied with Black Special Polish & plate s6, and Maybelline Onyx Rush for the tips:

I did file my nails a little, after a couple of close calls, so if you're thinking that they look shorter, it's not just an optical illusion from the french tips.

On T, we used Misa Right Here Now, No More Later, Konied with White Special Polish & plate m69:

And I did my toes also, with China Glaze Coconut Kiss:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Nails, Nails, More Nails, Mini-Review & Award

LOTS to cover. Probably because several of these things I meant to post over the weekend & just never got around to doing it!

I'll start out with my nails, since that's probably what you came here to see =) I kept it simple, no nail art, because this polish is pretty enough by itself. I can't quite decide if this is a duo-chrome or just super super shimmery; Nubar Gold Leaf:

Then, my friend's mani chipped, so there was nothing but to redo it. This time we used China Glaze QT, another great holo from the OMG Collection. Unfortunately the sun didn't show while she was around but here are the pics I did take:

I also did my toes over the weekend. From the Color Illusion Collection, this was a Big Lots find, Revlon Purple Twilight (excuse the sun pics ... pre-clean up but it was the only instant the sun was out):

OK, that brings us about halfway through this giant post! And all of the real manicure-related stuff out of the way.

Those of you who read my Mini-Review of the Revlon Runway Collection Fake Nails will probably recall that I pretty much dissed them all around. If you don't remember, well, click the link & go back to check it out =)

Given that I was less than enthusiastic and none too complimentary, I was pretty surprised when they contacted me to say they'd be sending me more free fake nails. Yay!... I guess?

I mean, free stuff is always good, but in this case I'm thinking Revlon is going by the old adage of there's no such thing as bad press. Even if I pan their product, you guys all still get to see it. So I'm going to do another mini-review, this time focusing more on the designs, but please Revlon reps if you're reading this: next time give me polish. Because I really have no love of your fake nails. They're kind of cute but tiny & short & not for me.

All of these are from the Runway Collection and I received in the medium length.

Sequins:

This is one of the designs that I received the first time, but I didn't really talk about what I thought of the pattern. This design is ... well just OK I guess. I'm not impressed, although they're better than just plain french in my opinion.

Starlet:

This is also one of the designs that I received the first time. I like this one a little better than the first but still not blown away.

Minx:

I really can't say that I like this combination for some reason. Either the squarish design OR the silver smile line alone I like, but not together

Stella:

Very neutral & I'd think work-appropriate even in a more conservative office. Just enough of a design that they don't feel plain.

Studio:

Cute but unremarkable except for the fact that it has silver tips instead of white.

Mystic:

This is my 2nd favorite design, I like non-traditional dark tips. But this has the downside (for me) that only some of the nails have rhinestones at the peak of the chevron - I counted, and of the 24 nails you get, only 8 have rhinestones =(

Sateen:

I think this one gets the most points for originality. It reminds me the most of a kind of konad-tip design, which I prefer most of the time over the simpler designs of just dots or lines. This one was my overall favorite design, but it did have one problem that the stripe of glitter is not applied very well on all nails (or else is already coming off before they've even been out of the box...). Maybe not noticeable to a normal person, but I'm used to really scrutinizing my mani.

That's all, although I felt like that was a ton! I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the box & was pleasantly surprised to see that they were so generous.

Finally, I got another award! And I kind of hate to stick it at the end of the post, and I don't have time to do it full justice & nominate other blogs for it like I'm supposed to, but I think saying thank you & getting it up here is better than it landing in "draft limbo" with other things on my to-do list...

Natalie over at Nani's Nails gave me the Uber Amazing Blog Award!

The rules for this awards are as follows:

1. Write five (5) interesting facts about the person who gave you this award.
2. Jot down ten (10) interesting facts about yourself or your hobbies.
3. Pick your ten (10) most deserving recipients and describe them.
4. Leave a comment on the recipients' blog to tell them they've been tagged
5. Paste the award badge in your side bar.

5 facts about Natalie who I got this award from:

• She's a mom
• She loves nails
• She loves Konad
• She just started her blog on June 4th
• If you really like her blog you can follow her on Twitter =)

10 facts about me:

• I've always loved my nails but blogging has really made me up my game
• My next-favorite hobby is reading
• I love to write LOL & I'm sure that probably comes across when I get to rambling
• Music is super-important to me. Most of the time my job takes up a tiny fraction of my brainpower & if I didn't have an ipod I think I'd go crazy.
• I like video games
• A hobby I don't always have time for but enjoy is cross-stitch
• Uhhh ... (reaching here) my cat's name is Frisky
• My dog's name is Dude
• And I don't know why it's so hard to come up with 10 things other than I feel put on the spot! And that's why I could never try out for Jeopardy, although do pretty good playing from home =)

OK, here's the part where I cheat out on the rest of the award rules ... I'm running out of time but as always I'll urge everyone to check out the blogroll to the right.

I think I just set a new record longest post! So, if you're still with me, LOL, thanks for reading =)

~Colette