Naked Nails & Update

I'm still here, still alive ... mostly.  I think.  I've been sick for several days, actually missed some work, and I've been so drained I couldn't even make good use of the time by getting some posting done, literally all I've done is sleep.

Anyway, excuses out of the way - I have an absolute crapload of pics to edit.  I still have one mani from 2011 I haven't posted yet.  I need to just sit down & edit & post but I don't know when I'll have time so here are some naked nails from the past month.  

At the beginning of the month I put some fresh patches on; when I changed them this past weekend I decided it was also past time for a chop.  A full centimeter is lovely, probably my preferred length, but difficult to deal with & all but impossible to fit gloves with in the winter.  So now they're down to about 5-6mm, which is as short as I think I can have them & still feel kind of normal LOL.  Still playing a bit with the white balance on the new camera (the top is auto, the bottom 2 are manual & I think reality is somewhere between the 2), so please excuse that & also the post-acetone dryness in the middle pics:

I feel like I've been asking for patience for a long time, but just a little more please =)  & I'll get caught up with nails, and books, and then maybe I can squeeze in a top 25 from last year.  IIRC it took me until the end of March last year LOL - hopefully I can do better than that this year.  But do know my absence here does not mean I've been neglecting my nails

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Zoya Fleck Effect Swatchapalooza!

I just kept thinking of more colors I'd like to see LOL - and now I've had a few requests to see these matte, so I'll probably do that over the weekend =)

Do you have a favorite combination?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Zoya True & Fleck Effect Haul

I was sooo happy when these arrived on Saturday - the package tracking estimate had been Monday the last I looked so it was kind of a surprise.  I had to play with them of course, and the swatch vid will be coming soon - I actually thought of several more colors I wanted to try as soon as I finished recording, so I will probably do a few more swatches when I get home later & tack them onto the end of the vid.  But for now here's a look at the haul:

As a side note, if you're wondering why this post is so early in the morning - uploading takes freaking forever  & a half now that I'm doing HD.  I have to really plan ... or at least try to plan ... or at minimum roll with the punches LOL. In this case, I started the upload before I went to bed, got the blog post ready, then verified everything was ready to publish & made it live before I head off to work.

Most of the True collection - I wasn't too taken by the 2 neutrals so I skipped them:

Left to right:  Bevin, Skylar, Lotus, Tru.

Fleck Effect "Mylar Glazes" as the website refers to them:

Maisie, Opal, Chloe.

As a side note, I found out the Grapefruit Surprise Sugar Scrub free 7 oz "sample" that I got sells for $18 direct from  Art of Beauty & isn't much cheaper on amazon.  Nicest freebie I've receive lately =)

And my couple of oddballs:

Essie Dive Bar & Revlon Rain Forest.

I can't wait to use the rhinestones I show in the vid too, although I don't think they need their own pics - I literally got an idea when I saw them & it wouldn't leave my head so I had to go back & purchase them.

UPDATE:
I had a few people wanting to see the bottles for the acrylic paint:

This is Silver Bling & Gold Glitz.  They had lots more glittery & holographic colors, but I decided I should start slow ... no need to buy one of each yet.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Finger Paints Special Effects + Matte Magic

Couldn't resist, especially after I got so many requests:

It only took me 2+ weeks to edit it LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Sephora Opalescent Blasted

I think I included this in my Pre-Christmas haul video, but forgot to include a bottle pic.  My friend Sam got it for me for Christmas, along with some loose glitter.  I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism for the base, and although I wish I'd done a little thicker coat to get thicker cracks from the Opalescent Blasted, overall I really liked the effect & I think it would be gorgeous over other dark colors too:

It looked a lot different with & without topcoat, but topcoat definitely brings out the shimmer:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette