My Manicure Essentials

We all have to have some essentials to have great looking and healthy nails don't you agree? Well these are some of mine. (I guess you're saying that's enough huh?) You can call me a product junkie. Lol!

Starting from the left front:


First off my SWISSCO Crystal File- I use this to file my nails down and to shape them. It's gentle on natural nails and not harsh as emery boards..

Orly Smudge Fixer-Now this is a must for me. While polishing my nails sometimes I bang a nail or two in the process , well this baby fixes it right up making my polish nail smooth again.

Creative Nail Design(CND) Solar Oil-I use this oil to push back my cuticles and to moisture them.

Barielle Manicure Extender-Its a protective top coat. I use it to refresh next day after polishing.

NailTek II-Intensive Therapy for soft , peeling nails. Sometimes I use this as a base coat.

Starting from Left Back:

NailTek Foundation II-This is a ridgefiller and yes I do have ridges. It fills in the gaps!

Nail Magic-It's a nail hardener. I use this first before a base coat.

Barielle Camouflage-This too is a ridgefiller. It helps polish to apply on smooth as butta.

CND Stickey-This is a truly must have for me because my polish sticks right to it! and keeps it from chipping. Yay!

Zoya Remove+ I talked about this in an earlier post. It is great it removes polish without drying out my nails/cuticles and it doesn't smell as strong as other removers

I hope all my manicure essentials helps you!  What are your essentials?

Greetings from Florida!

My family and I are in Cocoa Beach, FL for the week.  I actually meant to update the blog while I am down here, but, while I remembered my camera, I forgot my cord.  :S  I guess that's a good thing, though, considering my cuticles are dry and ragged, I forgot my base coat, and I recently clipped (yeah... I clip) my nails down to nubbins.  I am wearing OPI DS Extravagance, but you just have to take my word for it when I tell you it's awesome!

As I don't have my camera, I probably won't be doing much posting while I'm down here, though I realize I haven't done much posting over the last few weeks anyway.  My nails have just been in a state of disrepair for awhile, so I really haven't felt like posting.  Hopefully, when I get back to Knoxville, my nails will be happier and I'll feel like blogging again.

Hope you guys have a happy Easter.  :)

Sally Hansen New Lengths-Mosiac Creme-NOTW

I found a bunch of old Sally Hansen old formula polishes at several of my Dollar Tree stores. I was so excited because guess what? They were only $1.00 you can't beat that! They are on the thin side application not too bad this took 3 coats. I'm still working on my picture taking skills and finding the correct lighting. So, these pictures are not the true color it's a bit darker irl. It's a blue/steel gray. I tried a little konading used konad plate M81..still practicing.

Zoya Remove+

There was a time I thought polish remover was just  polish remover.  Well, there is a difference.  In my opinion and I'm sure many of you will agree that this is the best!  What I love about it, it doesn't dry out my cuticles and nails and it doesn't have that strong smell like other removers.  Give it a try and you will see what I'm talking about. zoya.com

Seche Vite...Dry Fast Top Coat

Many people have trouble with seche vite gooping up when the product is halfway down the bottle.  I think its due to excess air that dries out the product.  I found the little bottle at my local Trade Secret.  I  keep it filled (whispers: I need to fill it up) which keeps excess air out.  Hope my little tip helps everyone.

Pure Ice Frosted Ice Celestial

This is a mid-tone blue frost texture, 2 coats.  Pure Ice polishes can be found at your local Walmart.  

NOTD: Orly Snowcone w/ Nail Decals

This is one that looks much better IRL than it does in a macro'd close up pic.  I promise.  In fact, I just had a girl on my son's bus gush over it.  Granted, she's like in the 4th grade, but she still loved it.  LOL.  :P

A couple of days ago, I mentioned my ever growing love for cremes.  I used to never wear them.  In fact, I couldn't understand how people could prefer them over shimmers.  They just seemed so boring and flat to me.  I mean, how could you get depth in color when all you had was a solid color.  They always reminded me of wall paint. 

Well, me of years past... does this look like wall paint to you?  Nevermind the decals for a moment.  Here's the base color on it's own.

The color in the picture isn't as vibrant as IRL and it also is a bit more purple.  I almost want to call it periwinkle, but it still leans a bit too blue to be what I consider a true periwinkle.  The color on my index finger in the picture is the most accurate. 

Isn't this amazing?  Snowcone is from Orly's new Sweet collection for Spring 2010.  It's available at e-tailers and eBay and it may be at Sally's, too, though I haven't actually checked there.  I almost didn't want to try the polishes from this collection.  Afterall, I have ChG Up and Away, which is a similar all-creme pastel collection.  However, Snowcone, and Gumdrop have no dupes in UaA (though ReFresh Mint and Gumdrop are similar, but that's another post).  So, even if you have UaA, if you like blues, I'd definitely consider picking this one up.  This one was 2 coats and no issues.  In fact, it was almost perfect at one coat.

BTW, I have to do a quick mention of my new found Orly-love.  In the past, I've kind of griped about Orly.  I hated the rubber cap.  Hated that they reduced their amount from .75 oz to .6 oz (though, is that really a problem when you have 400 polishes?).  Hated the formula.  And, most of all, I hated that they d/c'd my beloved Red Sea Pearl, and I wasn't able to pick it up before it was gone forever.  Nowadays, aside from the Red Sea Pearl, I am changing my tune with Orly.  As someone that is a total spaz, the rubber cap is a lifesaver, and the formula seems to be one of the best I've used lately.  I also love that they seem to add new, small, collections all the time.  Now, they may just be 3-4 bottles and sometimes, they are re-releases, but it makes me think, nonetheless, that they are always introducing new products, and I like that.  I like it a alot.  :)

As for the decals, these are more of those "nail jewelry" decals I got from eBay several months back.  If anyone is interested, I can research it and see if the seller is still out there.

Hope you guys like this one.  I'm off to a busy day of errands and cleaning.  Yay!  For some reason, I'm chipper at 7am and it's kinda freaking me (and my husband for that matter) out.  Maybe I'll "blame" the herbal tea.  LOL.  Have a great day, everyone. 

Nail Bloggers Network ChG/SV Nail Art Contest

Hi everyone, I know this is a bit shameless, but I wanted to do a quick PSA about my entry for a recent nail art contest.  The contest was to use all ChG/SV products to create a unique nail art look.  Let me show you a picture of my entry, then explain my thought process.

My inspiration for this was to use the new Up and Away colors as well as some old favorites in a new way. On my nails, I tried to capture the look of very expensive brocade fabric.


I used 2 coats of ChG Sugar High. I then stamped, using Konad plate m73, two layers. One layer is in Heli-Yum and the other is in Emotion from the Romantique collection. I then applied a coat of ChG Matte Magic to make it appear like silk. This created a very tonal, subltle konad design. I then added a flower stamp, using plate m35 and ChG Passion, another Romantique. I finally applied rhinestones to the flowers using Seche Vite top coat. I did not cover design in another TC as I wanted to preserve the matte-ness.

I think it turned out pretty well.  Please don't mind the cuticles.  I was having some bad luck with them at the time I created this mani. 

If you like this, and if you are so inclined, would you please vote for me?  If I win the contest, I will win 20 bottles of ChG/SV, but better than that... I will be able to have a giveaway on my blog for the same prize.  So it's a fabulous opportunity for me, but also for my readers.  To vote, simply click here.  My entry is #7, but there are some great looks on there, so if you like another entry more than mine, please vote for them.  It's a great contest and an amazing opportunity for the blogger network!

NOTD: OPI DS Opulence

About a year, or even less ago, if you'd asked me, I'd say I was a shimmer girl.  I pretty much exclusively wore shimmers or glitters.  I thought cremes were boring and I hated holos.  I don't know what happened, because I've since changed my tune.  There is nothing more amazing to me than an edgy creme or a pretty holo.  Oh, I still love my glitters, but I'm finding myself reaching for my shimmers less and less.  It's kinda sad because they are still beautiful and I have a crap ton of them, but I just find myself not wearing them, or quickly taking them off if I do wear them.  Hopefully this is a phase and I'll be reaching for my shimmers in the near future.

In the meantime, I've been hoarding holos and cremes like nobody's bidnez.  One of my recent acquisitions was this... OPI DS Opulence.  I'm pretty sure this one came out in 2008 along with some other new DSs, but for some reason, I'm thinking this one is d/c'd, but I could be wrong.  I got mine at VNS, but it's also available at TD.  Opulence is a soft, vintage pink holo.  Unlike a lot of newer DSs, it's definitely a holo, but in non-sun light, it's just as pretty.  This was 2 coats and I had no application problems.  I love this one.  I think I may konad over it tomorrow.

You'll notice I changed my nail shape.  I was having too may breaks and splits with the squoval, so I went full-on oval.  I prefer squoval, or square for that matter, but it doesn't work with me.  What do you guys think?  Look okay?

Sick kiddos and the Green-Eyed Monster

Okay, so this post will be a big bunch of random, but as my nails are naked at the moment, something I hope to rectify later on tonight, and I want to post something... I have to settle for whatever is floating around in my brain.

My little ones were sick yesterday.  It was a fun filled evening of "pyrotechnics".  LOL.  Several years ago, they had a bout of rotovirus where I got puked on more times than I want to imagine.  I honestly think I have PTSD from that month, so it's so hard for me to deal with puking kids.  I just want to run away.  Unfortunately, that was not an option.  I stayed up until 3a dealing with a sick Blake, so it was a rough night.  Thankfully, they are feeling back to normal today, but we still had to miss school.  No way was a "sharing" this with anymore kids/families.  I'm going to send Amelia tomorrow, as they have been puke free for 24 hrs. 

As I mentioned in the title, I'm dealing with a bit of blogger jealousy at the moment.  It's totally petty and a definite "being the last picked for kickball" moment, but as I read nail blogs, I see where so many bloggers are receiving free samples, and to be honest, it's bugging me.  Like I said... petty.  I have received samples in the past, but I'm never contacted by companies anymore.  And it's not that I'm not glad that other bloggers are getting recognized.  More power to you if you are lucky enough to receive product samples.  :)  It just reminds me of school where I felt like I was always the one passed over for everything.  Issues much?  I like free stuff.  I like nail polish. I've been blogging for well over a year.  Do I smell bad?  Am I not a good reviewer?   :P  Why does X get samples and not me?  I'm sure there are some bloggers out there that have not received anything, so I'm sure I sound like a whiny child, and I apologize for that, but it's something that I've been dealing with lately.  Oh well.  It's not like I don't have tons of polishes on my own without being sent others.  LOL.  Okay, that's it.  I hope I didn't offend anyone.  Sometimes it makes me feel better just to type stuff out. 

I will try to be back later tonight with a new NOTD, though I just started charging my camera battery, so it may be tomorrow morning before you see me next.  :)

NOTD: Misa Serene Rosewood

I've slowly been trying to work my way through my Misa collection.  I figured I should start with one brand and then move to another knock out a bunch of untrieds.  Ha.  Who am I kidding?  My untrieds will always outnumber my trieds.  It's just the way it works. 

But back to the matter at hand, I figured tonight, I'd try Misa Serene Rosewood.  This is a polish I picked up during a TD haul.  I have a bad habit of picking polishes I can't find on boards or nailgal just so I can try them out.  I have no clue what collection it's from, as it's been d/c'd. 

I'm having a hard time describing this color.  It's definitely a brown, but if I had to give an exact color, I would say a brown that leans pink, not red.  Pink.  Rosewood is the perfect way to describe it.  Also, I'm pretty sure it would be classified as a frost, but when I think of frost, I think of super frosty peach or pink, and it's not along those lines of frost.  I guess you could say it has a frosty sheen.  Dang.  I suck at describing.  Why do I even have a blog?  LOL.

As for application, there were no issues.  I've recently started using Amour Sticky Base Coat (available at TD and SUPER cheap) and I really like it, though I'm thinking it doesn't play all that nicely with Misa polishes.  I seem to be getting some bumping and bubbling with the Armour base coat/Misa polish/Out the Door combo.  I think the next time I use a Misa, I'll mix it up a bit.  BTW, this was 2 coats.

Hope you guys like this one and I'll (hopefully) see you tomorrow.  :)

NOTD: OPI Siberian Nights

Siberian Nights is from OPI's F/W 2007 Russian Collection, which, IMO is the best OPI collection to date.  Believe it or not, this was an untried for me.  I'd pick it up and just be unimpressed and then put it down.  Well, lately, I've been gravitating more towards cremes, so I decided to give this was a chance.  It's a dark, vampy purple, which is darker IRL than in the pic.  Application was nice.  I had no problems using the polish or the older (wider) style ProWide Brush.  It was streaky at one coat, so a second coat was required to even it out.  Also, I know in the pic, it looks spotty and like it needs a third coat, but I don't really see that IRL.  I don't like applying third coats, as they never dry on me, but I think you would be fine with two, nonetheless.

NOTD: Misa Cherry Topping

Wow.  I just checked and this is my 200th post.  :)

Anyway, here's Cherry Topping

It's a medium tone, jelly-ish red.  It's darker IRL and IMO, it's what I wanted RBL Killa Red to be.  Application was pretty easy.  I had no issues with the formula at all.  In fact, it was one of the best I've tried in recent manis.  I just had to make sure it went on thin.  This is 2 coats, though 1-2 nails needed a thin third coat to even out some bald spots.  Cherry Topping is still available at TD.

Sorry for the super short index finger and the raggidy cuticles.  I trimmed down all my nails and of course, my index fingers on both hands peeled and now they are horribly short.  As for the cuticles.  The weather here is killing them.  I worked on them tonight, and I have cuticle oil on in the pic, so hopefully they don't look so bad.

As an aside, I have a feeling that growing out my natural nails was detrimental to my blogging.  Now that my natural nails look fairly decent, I find myself not needing to have polish on them.  I'm trying, but it's not like it was when I had to wear the glue-ons.  Plus, this business is taking up a great deal of my free time, so my blogging is suffering.  I'm hoping to find a happy balance in the near future