Aiee, Poor Caribbean...

Oh dear. You ever do something pretty, and then just keep on going and destroy it? Yea, that's what I did here. The Caribbean Frost was pretty, but I got bored. Really bored. This is what happens.

See, first I grabbed my stamping kit. I have it all in a cute little bag that Kellie G. sent me. (If it wasn't for her, I'd still be stuck with the same single plate I had.) I dug through all the plates and decided to go with M78. It's a really cute pattern that I've wanted to use more than once, but never got around to using. Since I just got those gorgeous Maybelline Aluminum polishes, I decided to see how they'd stamp on this lovely shade of teal.

It was... pretty. It was fairly sheer, though. I wanted more! I then decided to fill in the cheetah spots with black and white. That was AWFUL!! Thankfully, the Sally Hansen Nail Art pens are water-based, and I could remove them without any damage to the stamp. It was really not something worth saving,unfortunately.

Then I decided to try the silver and gold. They were... better? I don't know. I'm not fond of this look, but I decided to keep it on for whatever reason. A coat of Seche Vite made it durable and shiny, and dried quickly as usual.

Oh, you may be wondering about the naproxen sodium in the photo. I've managed to damage my knee somehow, so I'm taking these around the clock to help with inflammation. I was amused at that bottle being closest to hand. I know, I have a weird sense of humor.

All in all, I don't think this is a horrible look. I just don't have long enough nails to make the best use of the pattern, and it ended up looking sort of disorganized. But it was the first time I used a whole-nail stamp and it turned out nicely. Also, I learned a lot about stamping and design. So overall, it was a great learning experience, right? :D

What would you consider one of your more educational nail polish experiences? Have you done a nail art design that just made you want to take it off and start over? Tell me about it in the comments! And coming up tomorrow, I got a special surprise in the mail that I get to share with you! See you then!

Sally Hansen Nail Art Pens were provided by their PR company for evaluation.

Dollar Store Haul - Awesome Finds!

Yesterday was awful. (Note the lack of blog post yesterday... I just couldn't write. Blah!) It was one of those days where everything I touched went wrong, everything I said was misunderstood, and ended up with me sitting in the car with my husband, crying like an idiot because things were just so horrible. The tears didn't last long, and my husband is an amazing guy who managed to cheer me up immensely. Still, it was a very unpleasant day.

He decided a trip to the Dollar Tree was in order. We were right across the street filling my monthly meds anyway, so it wasn't a big deal to hop on over. He even acted as my hands while I used my crutches to hobble around the store. (It's kind of hard to shop when you can't carry a basket or push a cart!)

I ended up finding lots of goodies! Normally my local Dollar Tree doesn't have that great a selection because it's so small, but yesterday was definitely the exception to the rule! There was the usual selection of LA Colors Art Deco stripers, of which I only own a few. I picked up blue and silver glitters, because everyone needs glitter stripers, yes? But tucked away in a little hidey-hole were these four Maybelline Express Finish polishes!

Now, ages ago (before I started this blog!) I'd seen a post by Colette about her massive Dollar Tree haul, and I saw some polishes that I absolutely NEEDED. The aluminum line seemed so interesting to me, but I knew there was no way I'd find them at my tiny little store. But there they were- two aluminums, a matte gold, and a water polish! Can you believe it??

The water polish is downright bizarre to me. It's so thin and pale and runny, I don't quite get the point. Is it just supposed to make your nails look bruised and discolored? Do you wear it over something else? Do you layer it til it's... I don't even know. But one blah polish out of 6 isn't bad at all!

The glitter stripers are cute. They're good for nail art, and they're also good for frankening. I cannot get over how gorgeous that blue is... I picked up two other glitter polishes that color yesterday and put them back, so I'm glad to have gotten this one! It's just vivid sapphire blue glitter in a clear base, but I absolutely adore it!

The silver glitter is your typical, run-of-the-mill silver glitter in a clear base, but I didn't realize I didn't have one until the other day when I reached to grab one and then saw I didn't have it! That was an interesting moment! So when I saw this at the Dollar Tree, I grabbed it!

Then there are the other items I got. I needed some basics, since my lace nails destroyed my large emery board and my 4-sided buffer block. That was a LOT of buffing, let me tell you! So I bought a 4-pack of emery boards and a 8 sided buffer. I thought that was going to be that, and it was more than enough, but once we got to Walgreens to pick up my meds, I saw the most perfect set of nail decals EVER.

That pack of nail decals? OH. MY. DOG!!! There are cupcakes n crossbones, little skulls in bows and skulls in top hats, devil kitties and bats and... it's SO ADORABLE I could DIE!!! I mean it... I saw these and squealed so loudly that my husband heard me all the way across the store. It was worth it, too! Just look!

So, that was my haul. Other than a quick 1 coat swatch on all of them, I haven't done my nails in 3 days. It's been really, really grumpy in Laynieland. I'm hoping to change that soon! To help that, tell me about your latest purchases- have you found something amazing and vintage? A hard-to-find? Cheer me up! :D