NOTD: The Evolution of OPI Ogre-The-Top Blue (+ Nails Inc Electric Lane + m57)

This was a pretty awesome manicure in all 3 stages.  I started off with OPI Ogre-The-Top Blue from the Shrek collection, which could certainly stand on its own if you're looking for a bright creme blue:

To give it some bling I added Nails Inc Electric Lane:

SO awesome & glittery I had to do a vid, so here's a look in motion:

Then on the last day I did some stamping with black polish & Konad image plate m57; usually I double-stamp this end-to-end, but this time I tried something a bit different on my thumb, placing the design the wide way & stamping side-to-side & it turned out pretty well too:

Which version is your favorite?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: China Glaze High Def + m57

Even though these Tronica colors really aren't that holographic, they're still nice.  I'm still glad I have them all.  And in some lights, at certain angles, I even catch a flash of holo every now & then =)

I started out with the blue, China Glaze High Def, and wore it plain for a day:

For day 2 I added some stamping with China Glaze Blue Paradise (from a recent Sally's trip I've yet to post - it's a great color & I'm impressed with how well it stamps), and the tiger design is from Konad plate m57:

I was in a bit of a hurry, so the seams aren't perfect, but they weren't too bad.  I'm sporting a bright pink, purple & teal water marble right now, I'll aim for getting the pics edited & up tomorrow =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Bling Silver Tiger (Nubar Star Sparkle + M57)

I'm really sorry I've been all MIA all week ... it's just been a really long, busy, stressful week.  All I wanted to do in the evenings was veg out & so that's what I did.  I've been unable to get a hold of my regular stylist, so I had to find a new place to go & so not only had to switch up my normal routine, but meet new people & go new places ... all things that freak me out more than a little.  Socially phobic much LOL?  Then we were without email at work for almost 2 full days - I'm sure you can imagine the havoc that caused.

I've got a ton of ideas for this month - Halloween, Breast Cancer, Fall Leaves - and I feel sooo behind.  But at the same time, when blogging starts to feel like an obligation rather than an enjoyable hobby, I know it's time for a short break.  Although I did not take a break from nail painting =)  So I'm going to attempt to get caught up again, starting with this mani from last weekend.  I used Nubar Star Sparkle from the Sparkles Collection as the base, which is a silver glitter with a bit of holo in the mix.  Then I added some tiger stripes with Konad image plate m57 & Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme - double-stamped of course but I've always been pleasantly surprised how easy this pattern is to match up:

Much more to come tonight & this weekend so stay tuned for a crapload of NOTDs!  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: China Glaze Far Out & Branding Iron + M57

I should be in bed, so just a quick post with the pertinent details.  I started out with China Glaze Far out.  Then I stamped with image plate m57 & China Glaze Branding Iron, then used BI to do the chevron tips.  Righty will be sharing some of the modeling duties, because I think it does actually look better than my left at the moment:

 

 

I like this much better on the nubs than Kotori.  The lacy design centered best on my ring fingers, I think I'd like to try this design again, with different colors or a different image, but I like how it looks tucked up in the V of the chevron.  What do you think?  I'm going on my 3rd day of wearing this tomorrow, but then I'll be changing it for sure because I need to get my PHD challenge mani done.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

NOTD: Zoya Zara + M57

I had this on for 3 whole days.  2 days I wore it plain & 1 day I added Konad.  I have to say I'm ready for Zoya to have another sale so I can have an excuse to buy some, because I love all mine so much - they generally don't linger in the untrieds wasteland too long between buying & actually wearing.

This is Zoya Zara, gorgeous lavender with a strong gold shimmery flash, originally from the Flourish collection:

I added Konad with Color Club Wild at Heart & image plate m57 ... I don't know if this is technically tiger or zebra ... there is another very similar Konad design, and I'm guessing they're each supposed to be the particular animal.  Whatever - I have to double-stamp this design of course, but it's suprisingly easy to line up.  You can see I had a little trouble on my middle & pinky but the others turned out better:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: CC Groove Thang

Apologies, I usually try to take a pic of just the color pre-nail art but as I am a total spazz approximately 65% of the time I forget occasionally =)  Like apparently Sunday night, when I did this NOTD to wear Monday. 

Base color is Color Club Groove Thang, from the Dance to the Musique collection.  For the Konad I used image plate m57, and special polish in White & Psyche Pink.  This was my frist try using more than one color to stamp with ... I wasn't super thrilled with my results, but I got a lot of compliments so I think I'm maybe being too picky LOL:

Kind of cherry blossom-ish?  Not that I've ever seen a real cherry blossom in my life LOL, just kind of has that vibe to me for some reason.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Barielle Get Mauve-ing

So, after everything I went through to get this with a sticker on the bottom, I thought I better wear it LOL =) Barielle Get Mauve-ing, from the All Lacquered Up collection:


A very pretty color ... but kind of boring, I'll admit. So I went with what I consider a classic Konad design, one I've hesitated to attempt because I'm never quite satisfied with my freehand french tips, and even as nubs my nails are too long for the french tip plate which I do have. Plate m57 & Black Special Polish, tips done with China Glaze Liquid Leather:


I really enjoyed this. You can see I didn't get much streaking (only on my left in fact, which is kind of ironic), which can be a problem with the Black. In fact, I'm in the situation again that I kind of wish I hadn't taken this off because looking at pics I like it better than my new NOTD ... it's not a disaster, but I'll show you guys the issues tomorrow =) 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

Tips, Toes & A Haul

First the tips ... the polish is from the little haul that I'll show in a moment, I always get so many compliments when I wear orange that I picked up a couple of new orange polishes & this is one of them: Nina Ultra Pro Burnt Orange, Konied with Misa Chocolate Icing & plate m57:

I love all the gold glowyness this polish has when the light hits it, although I do kind of wish I'd put the pattern at a little more of a diagonal, since some of them just look crooked instead of intentionally at an angle.

This pedi is a week old LOL, but I finally got around to taking pictures of it a few days ago; China Glaze Tinsel:

Super-glittery in the sun, which I've finally been able to enjoy the past few days since the rain finally let up for a while.

The haul is from yesterday, I had a couple of 15% off coupons for June so I thought I should make use of at least on of them:

Top row left to right: China Glaze Coconut Kiss, Thataway, Awakening & Unplugged. Bottom row left to right: Nina Ultra Pro ? (I swear this blue had a label but it's gone now ...) & Burnt Orange, Orly Fantasea & Plum Noir.

And, just because these pics are too cute not to post, here's Frisky hanging out in the back yard, on the back steps & under the lounge chair:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Leopard NOTD

I like the way this one turned out, but something about it makes it not quite my favorite ... I think it has something to do with the fact that although the base color is in fact dark red, something about having the gold Konad on top kind of makes it look just brown. I did take a couple of pics before I stamped it - here is Color Club Slow Jam on it's own:

And here it is konied with Misa Ghetto Fabulous & plate m57:

Yes, there are seams in there on some nails due to double-stamping ... but they turned out so well I actually don't feel the need to point them out LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette