Imperfectly Painted's 500 Subscriber Giveaway

Hey all! Imperfectly Painted is having her 500 follower giveaway!  Congrats Steph!  I love reading your blog, and thanks so much for having a giveaway!     Everyone should check out her blog.  If you like what you see, follow her blog and enter her 500 Follower Sparkle + Duochrome Giveaway.  She's giving away some wicked polishes.

Prizes I Won from THE NAIL POLISH M.D.

Whoot Whoot!

Time for the best kind of haul!
...the kind that I won!

Big shout out and thanks to The Nail Polish M.D. for the fantastic polishes she gave away!

I've already got one of them on because I was having such a crappy day that the multicolored glitter in OPI's Mad as a Hatter just gave me the jumpy claps :D

KEEP READING TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS:

Ruffian - yes, again

So apparently I'm all obsessed with Ruffian's Reverse French.  I think it's because I'm reading so many blogs and articles on New York Fashion Week.

Well, the one I did this time is extremely similar to the one I did last time.  I basically did it because I was sick of the color on my nails but didn't want to remove it... so Ruffian it is!  Here it is in step by step photos.

I started by applying my base coat and allowing it to
completely dry.

The base color I used was Sally Hanson's Golden
Nights.  I applied two coats and allowed it to dry.

The top color I used was Peacock by Joe.  (Found in
Canada only - at SuperStore or Joe retail stores.)
I applied it carefully 2-3mm (1/8") away from my
cuticle.  Allow it to completely dry.

Of course finish with a top coat of your choice.
This time I used my Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

TA DA!
A Manicure that's fit for the runway!

Current Score: Nail Fails vs. My Nails: 6-7

NOTD: Ruffian Winter 2010 NYFW Counterfeit

Hey All!

Here's my Nails Of The Day.

I've been meaning to do this since I got China Glaze's Passion a few months ago.

Here's my Counterfeit Nails of the moon manicure  - that's now ubiquitously being called the "Ruffian" manicure - with a matte black nail with shimmery gold "french" by the cuticle.
(For a refresher, check out All Lacquered Up's blog post on the manicure from New York Fashion Week)
So re-reading her post now makes it clear that they used a gold chrome base with CND's Inkwell, which is a really dark midnight blue.  But apparently I got it into my head that it was a matte black with gold base.
Hopefully it's close enough.  And, realistically, since this is what I imagined it was in my head all this time, it's pretty perfect still for me.  :)

The application of the black by the cuticle is a little rough on a couple nails - and definitely a smidge rougher on my dominant hand - but it's still pretty damn good :)

I'm happy!

Products used:
Barielle - Instant Liquid Nail Hardener (as a base coat)
China Glaze - Passion
Rimmel - Black Satin
Essie - Matte About You (top coat)

Current count
Nail Fails vs My Nails: 6 - 6

Stripes and Bubbles

Hey All

Here are a couple of nail designs that I tested out on nail tips.  I actually really like them both.
The Candy Stripes one is a really simple yet slightly unexpected mix of colors that made me think of hard candies.

Candy Stripes.

Polishes used (L-R): SH Crushed, Art Deco White, Art 

Deco Yellow, Art Deco Mint Green, Art Deco Red Glitter,

SH Crushed, Art Deco Yellow, Art Deco Sky Blue, SH

Crushed.

I liked it on the artificial nail so I decided to try it out on my own nails... with less success.

Home Sick

I was supposed to do the Grouse Grind today with a friend but my stomach had other plans.  I woke up with a mild stomach ache and a feeling of dread of risking going up a mountain and finding myself needing a rest room mid-hike.

So instead I'm home with my hot water bottle and my cup of hot lemon water (in lieu of herbal tea) sending out some resumes, helping my sister with some Adobe Illustrator stuff for her work and about to do some more nail polish swatches.  <- because I'm too lazy to do another tutorial right now.

Hope everyone else is feeling better than I am today.  :D

A couple of recent NOTDs Here

Hey All!

Here are a couple of the designs that I've had on my nails lately.

This started out as a simple black french tip nail, but
then I decided to spice it up a bit.  The thin white lines
certainly took some concentration, and of course turned
out better on my left hand than they did on my right...
but hey.  I was still pleased with how it turned out.

This NOTD was influenced by one of my favorite nail
bloggers - Michelle Mismas aka. All Lacquered Up.
She recently revisited the gradient manicure - also
known as the Ombre manicure.  It inspired me to do
a toned down barely there Ombre.
Here I started with OPI's Done Out in Deco and graded
all the way over to Sephora by OPI's Under My Trench
Coat.
The application was a bit uneven - which is a personal
challenge every time I do any major nail polish mixing -
the nail polish always seems to dry too quick.  But in
the end, it evened out nicely especially with a top coat
of Seche Vite layered on top to seal it all.

To see Michelle's recent post on the Ombre Manicure click [HERE]

my fails vs nails count: 5 - 5

Keri Hilson's Nails at the Grammys 2010 - My Counterfeit

Hi All!

So it's been a while since I did a post on My Counterfeit nails.  And back when I recreated my own versions of Beyonce's nails at the grammy awards I had said that I was also going to try to recreate Keri Hilsons' nails too.

I have finally done what I could, but I gotta say that without a stamping plate or a robot arm, it's pretty impossible to recreate the centered rows of silver on a white manicure like Keri had that night.  [For a refresher, check out All Lacquered Up's post of Rihanna, Beyonce and Keri Hilson's Minx Nails and My Counterfeit of Beyonce's Minx Nails.]

A Day in the Life of Dollface is having her 500 followers giveaway!

Hey All!

If you don't know of her already, Dolly is another nail art blogger.  She's just reached 500 followers and is celebrating by giving away a prize!

CHECK OUT HER CHANNEL AND ENTER TO WIN YOUR CHOICE OF ONE OF THESE PRIZES!!

 

Lacquerized is having a Kiko Nail Polish Giveaway

Michele is having a giveaway of some Kiko nail polishes!

I've never seen this brand but am extremely curious!
Check it out by clicking on the title of this blog post.

It goes til the end of the month!