Sally Splatter and Real Life Love

Hello everyone!! I have a bit of nail art for you and some real life love. :)

I'll start with the nail art since I figure that's what you're here for.

I've been calling this one Sally Splatter in my head and it's been sitting in my nail art folder for a few weeks at least. I started with my own white base and used Sally Hansen Fuchsia Power, Lacey Lilac, and Blue Me Away! It uses only Sally Hansen nail polish and is a splatter mani hence the name. Very original, right? ;)

Ready for some real life love?

There's been a lot of rain and nasty storms this summer. Dark storm clouds like this just roll in suddenly and let loose floods of rain water. Not fun when vacation is barely weeks away and I'm still working on my tan!

Still, all that rain (if it stops before nightfall) does create the most stunningly gorgeous sunsets. And if you're wondering, yes, the rain and the sunset pics were taken on the same day. :)

And leaves the moon so bright and clear! Like, with the rest of the world around me, it was washed clean in the rain water.

While I want more than anything for some hot summer days I wouldn't give up these beautiful nights for anything!

Pastel Gradient with Born Pretty Store Studs

Hello again! Gradients seem to be the thing for me lately. I think it's the coming of Spring and Summer; I'm just preparing! So I dug out the most pastel colors I own for a pretty and feminine spring gradient — a little early, but it would be perfect for Easter.

Those most pastel colors I own just happened to be Sally Hansen Pink Blink, Petites Color Fever Creme Blue, and Revlon Enchanting. I decided to try a makeup sponge with this gradient instead of my usual eyeshadow applicator. I like the smooth fade between colors, but I didn't like the extra work it took to get the colors built up. I also thought it was beyond time to break out my Born Pretty Store gold metal studs. I received these by mistake with an old order and they were nice enough to let me keep them while also shipping out the ones I did order. It's been too long since I played with these studs. ;)

I'm thinking it's also been too long since I ordered anything from the Born Pretty Store. I forgot how awesome their nail decorations are! And they've come out with so much more since my last order. I'm dying for the hearts ... and the squares ... and the stars ... and ... well, I think you get the idea! I'll definitely be ordering something. 

You can use the code MLE10W21 at checkout for 10% off your order if you decide to purchase something from the Born Pretty Store too!

Rainbow Gradient

Today is supposed to be my X nail art for the ABC Challenge, but I'm stumped on what to do for this letter. I'll think of something by next challenge ... hopefully. For now, check out the rainbow gradient I wore last weekend.

I hate the claw, but it's pretty much the only position in nails that need to include the thumb. Some of you may remember the sideways rainbow gradient from my NOH8 nails. I wanted to try something different this time so I did them as a normal gradient. I found the lightest rainbow colors from my collection to use for this.

Here are my nails before clean-up. So messy!!! I usually tape around my nails before doing something this messy, but I forget. Isn't that the way things usually go? You only forget something that would speed things up when you're in a hurry!

I took this picture in the car. It was snowing so hard and then a little bit of sunlight peeked through, and I couldn't resist snapping a few pics. It's not up to my usual standard, but there's something I really like about this picture.

I couldn't resist getting a picture of my cotton ball after I removed the gradient. I'm reminded of a clown's wig, lol.

Colors Used: Rimmel English Rose, Sinful Colors Hazard, Sally Hansen Lightening, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, Wet n Wild I Need A Refresh-Mint, Wet n Wild On a Trip

Feeling Girly With Revlon

In my continuing attempt to be unique this Valentine's Day I decided to dig out my recent Revlon purchase. I've used the new Revlon Enchanting a few times, but I never got around to using their new glitter I was so excited about. So here is a shot of Girly over Enchanting.

I'm really fond of this combo. Girly is a light purple/pink sheer base with purple, light pink, and fuchsia glitter. There are also some small holographic pink and purple glitter tossed into the mix. Overall, it really does make for a soft and girly mani.

What wasn't girly was my hair yesterday. Some of you will remember my adoration of The Freckled Fox's Posh Faux Hawk in my Blogs to Love Friday #1 post. Well, I went and did it! I am nowhere near an expert at doing my hair. Usually it's either straight and down, up in a ponytail, or curled in the off chance I'm not feeling lazy. Like I said, I'm no expert. Far from it. But I don't think I did too bad for my first try. I dressed in the cute striped top you see with some black skinny jeans and gray heeled cowboy boots; I love how this new hairstyle added some edge to the outfit. I will definitely be trying this again.

I also took a picture once I took my hair down. I felt like a true child of the 80s. :)

Here's hoping Valentine's Day comes soon because I am running out of unique V-Day mani ideas. You should want Valentine's Day to be over too because I have some really awesome St. Patrick's Day polishes that will be for sale in my Etsy Shop next week. I will be posting swatches after V-Day. If you can't wait, you can get a preview (and help name one of them) on my Facebook Page.

I Give You My Hearts

Continuing with the Valentine's Day theme, the mani I bring you today is another of my attempts to use colors other than the standard red, white, and pink ... though I do seem to be using a lot of pink with my recent manis. :)

When I first started with Sally Hansen Pink Blink and Revlon Enchanting, I was told this looked like an Easter mani. I lost some of my confidence at that, but I rallied and finished this mani as I had planned: with a line of hearts down the middle of each nail using the opposite color. Personally, I think it turned out really well for trying something slightly nontraditional!

If you're not comfortable using colors other than red, white and pink for Valentine's Day, this mani will work just as great with any combination of those colors! You could even use them all if you want, using pink and red on opposite nails and finishing with white hearts or use pink and white on your nails with red hearts. Maybe even spice it up with your own color combo! Be traditional or be daring, but whatever you choose: have fun!

A bit of real life news: I entered my adorable pup, Shiloh, in the World Spay Day 2013 Pet Pageant. The pageant runs until March 15th, and you can vote once per day in each category. I would love it if you would give Shiloh's entry a look and give her a vote if you think she deserves one. It will ask you to login or create an account to vote. If you click 'create an account to vote' you can then select to vote with Facebook. Thanks!!

Candy Coated Collection — Lollipop Princess

The only polish from this collection inspired by a character and not a location. Lollipop Princess was inspired by Princess Lolly, resident of the Lollipop Woods and princess of Candyland.

Update: This polish and the rest of the collection are now up for sale in my Etsy shop.

  

Lollipop Princess has pink, purple, and yellow hex glitters. And, since every princess needs some bling, small purple holo glitters.

I'm going to have to try to get some better pictures. The colors are slightly off in this close-up and in the bottle picture.

Lollipop Princess over Wet n Wild I Need A Refresh-Mint.

In an effort to really showcase the holographic glitter I layered one coat of Lollipop Princess over Revlon Enchanting with a black accent nail. I think I caught the holo at just the right angle and light to make it flare. Mostly I caught the bright blue flares but it also turns a white/purple and a bright pink. You can see one small flash of pink on my pinky nail.

I have been dying to see this glitter matte since I first mixed it up so I decided to add a layer of NYC Matte Me Crazy. Wow! I don't ever want to take this off!!!

Gradient Fail

Welcome to my gradient fail. This isn't a full fail, but under any light except very direct sunlight and my lightbox these colors are just too dark to show the gorgeous fade between them.

Even with my lightbox I had a very hard time capturing this gradient. I used two polishes from the OPI Best of the Best mini collection. I got this collection as a gift Christmas 2011, and I love it to pieces.

The first polish I used, and the base of my gradient, is Russian Navy. Wow! I can see why this was one of the Best of the Best. Originally from the OPI Russian Collection, Russian Navy is now an OPI Classic shade. From the outside, Russian Navy looks purple. However, once you untwist that cap you're in for a shock! This polish is a deep indigo blue and all that purple you saw from the outside fades into a subtle shimmer.

Next, I used Lincoln Park After Dark, originally from the Chicago Collection. Alone this polish is a very deep, dark purple, but turned black when layered over Russian Navy. I was hoping once I got it sponged on and added a top coat that the beauty of this purple would shine through but I couldn't get a hint of purple on my nails no matter the light I put it under ... though some of the purple color did show in the bottle.

Lastly, I added a small amount of black to the very tips, reminiscent of a French tip.

One coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat sealed the colors together and gave my nails an amazing amount of shine. This is my very first bottle of Seche Vite, bought and paid for with a free gift card I earned with my Swagbucks account. Sign up for an account of your own and use the code JANTASTIC (before 11:59 PT tonight) and you'll start with 100 Swag Bucks. Hint: A $5 Amazon gift card is 450 Swag Bucks.

So, overall, if I was going to walk around with my hands in a lightbox this would be a perfect gradient. I don't think that idea would work very well though and, sadly, neither does this mani anywhere except these pictures. :(

No Hard Feelings

Today's featured polish is from a recent haul. There was a sale, and I couldn't resist!

This is Sally Hansen's No Hard Feelings and there are certainly no hard feelings about this polish!! I am in absolute love.

The color looks more true in this picture. It's definitely more of a floral lavender or a wisteria maybe.

To create this look I used tape to create a V on either side of each nail and filled it in with Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl. In my opinion, these colors look so amazing together!

What do you think?

It's Raining Glitter

I've been calling this my raining glitter mani so I decided to use that for the title. I wanted to do something a bit different than the usual glitter tips that naturally happen when I break out the glitter.



So, I decided to flip the glitter from tip to cuticle and drag it down my nails in lines ... or 'rain'. My sister has taken a liking to these nails so I'll probably be doing them again soon on a different set of nails. :)

This mani uses two coats of White on White from China Glaze as a base for the neon. The neon is Color Club's Mrs. Robinson. I used two coats but seeing the pictures, and the white showing through near the tips, I realize I should have used three or maybe even four coats. The glitter is Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.

This picture isn't the best quality but it was taken in full sunlight and shows Mrs. Robinson more true to color than shown in the first two pictures.

On Safari: Jungle Queen

Hello girlies! Another post, another day closer to my vacation. This just leaves one more post (Friday's post which will be set for auto-post) until I get back. I may post a few beach pictures to my Facebook page if anyone is interested.

This is Jungle Queen from the China Glaze On Safari collection. I love purple nail polish so it really goes without saying that I love this color. It looks stunning in the sun, doesn't it?

It left me a bit wanting indoors. The color is still pretty, a greyish purple, but it lost all it's brightness and shimmer. It was ... dull. With this in mind, I just had to do something to brighten it up.

After painting my fingernails, I moved onto painting my toenails with the standard summer neon - Sun Worshiper. Well, some of that awesome neon orange speckled onto Jungle Queen. It was certainly eye-catching and just wouldn't come off. I had an idea. I thought was barmy at first and tried to resist the urge.

However, the urge to do Jungle Queen's tribal design in Sun Worshiper proved to be too strong. There was no resisting, and I'm really glad I didn't because this looks amazing in my opinion. It adds just the right touch of summer to this fall color.

On Safari: Purr-fect Plum

Hello lovelies! I bring good news, great news even! The prizes for my upcoming giveaway have arrived and I will be spending tomorrow setting up the post and Rafflecopter so be on the lookout August 1st.


With that awesome news, I bring you today's post. I know it can't really compare, but I hope you enjoy another On Safari swatch.

This is Purr-fect Plum. I thought it really was going to be the most perfect of plums but it went on so much darker than I was expecting. The color was much lighter in the bottle but went on the deep, dark color of an actual plum fruit.

On Safari is a China Glaze fall collection however, so this color will be perfect for Autumn. I actually have the perfect matching outfit already and can think of another handful of ways to use this color.

Here is a look at Purr-fect Plum in direct sunset lighting. Is this not a really gorgeous color? I can just imagine how wonderful this will look surrounded by brightly colored leaves or even against the brightness of snow.

The only thing besides Fall that could make it better is nail art! As I said in my previous post, I'm hoping to continue with a tribal theme. This isn't the design I had sketched out, but I think it works somehow.

It's a bit of an odd design, isn't it? Maybe not fully tribal ... it actually kind of reminds me of a door. A heavy wooden door? A castle door? I don't know but whatever it is, I like it.

A Week of Glitter: A Pop of White

Welcome to day 2 of 'A Week of Glitter'. This one is A Pop of White.

Draw attention to yourself and your nails with a base of white. Then, wow them with glitter.

I don't think I managed to wow anyone with this glitter however. As you can see from the pictures the purple glitter is Glitter Addict by LA Girl in Eutopia. I also added a few flakes of Luxe and Lush from the China Glaze Capitol Colours Collection, nearly unseen in this mani and only then if you know what you're looking for.

I'm sure if I tried this mani again I would add much more glitter, probably using more than one shade of glitter as well. The theory is sound though. Attract attention with white nails and then hit them with glitter!

Neon Splatter

If there's one thing I love it's neon nail polish. I really don't think there's much better ... except maybe neon splatter nails!!!

Splatter nails create such a unique look for your nails. You'll never get the same design twice even if you use the same polishes. And, all told, they're really not that hard to do. All you need is polish, a piece of paper, some tape (for easier cleanup), and a straw. Tape around your nails, drop some polish onto a piece of paper, dip your straw into the polish and blow in one hard puff over your nail. Be sure to keep the piece of paper under your hand so you don't ruin your workstation. This may not always get a splatter but just keep trying until your straw picks up enough polish.

My problem with splatter nails? I don't know when to quit! I just keep adding more and more splatters until my base polish is practically covered and the splatters are everywhere. I think I managed to reign myself in more than usual with this splatter, but there's still a lot of them.

My right hand is less covered with splatter, but I did have a major drip on my middle finger and couldn't manage to get very many on my ring finger. Also, I somehow managed to smudge the polish on my index nail. I have no idea how. One moment it was fine and then next it was bunched. There was simply no fixing it.

And here you can see the thumb of my right hand. It has a good splatter pattern and managed to get a good splatter of each color.

Overall, I think this turned out really great. I definitely want to do more neon splatter nails. I'm thinking Sun Worshiper would make an amazing base color.

Polishes Used

Color Club - Yell-Oh!

Color Club - Mrs. Robinson

Funky Fingers - Kingston

China Glaze - Sun Worshiper

Swimsuit Shopping

Hey everyone. I went swimsuit shopping yesterday! I got my first swimsuit in years for vacation last year after losing about 15-20 pounds. Well, I lost another 10 or so this year. That brings my total to just over 30 pounds lost. Yay for me! However, I'm still not at my goal weight so swimsuit shopping is a fairly trying experience, but I guess that's true for almost anyone, isn't it? Are any of us truly happy with every feature of our bodies? Isn't there something, small or large, each of us wants to change? With the horrors of swimsuit shopping in mind I did a quick swimsuit manicure for luck.

I've seen bikini nail art before but I don't think I'll ever look or feel good in a bikini so I decided to do a combination of swimsuits. The first is a sexy pink one shoulder. Next is a sporty blue and white striped swimsuit. Then a red and white polka dotted one-piece that I fell in love with while shopping online (it was $160 though), and then a shiny purple bikini.

And on my thumb is a bright orange and yellow polka dotted tankini. I must have done something right with these nails because I came home the proud new owner of a sexy (and slimming) black one-piece suit at a great price!

Here's a picture of my new swimsuit, front and back, taken from the JCPenney website. I will look nothing like this in my swimsuit of course, but I'm thinking of sewing some of those pushup bra swim cup things into mine in an attempt to give myself something on top since it has such a deep neckline but don't want to ruin a $40 suit. Has anyone, or do you know anyone, who has done this? How did it work for you or them?