Layering With Pomegranate Polishes

Today's look features another spin on Curator, the black polish with gold and silver glitter from Pomegranate Nail Lacquer's latest collection. I was able to choose two polishes from Pomegranate to try out, and I chose Cardigan for my second color. I had a plan, and I couldn't wait to try it out.

I chose Cardigan for a couple of reasons: I love the color, and it's a jelly polish. While I'm the type of person who hates visible nail line, I'm also the type of person who absolutely loves layering polishes. I had a sneaking suspicion that I could layer Cardigan over Curator to create something spectacular.

Because Curator is a neutral polish, I imagined that the sheer teal of Cardigan would tint everything so that the black would become a deep velvety greenish with sparkling spots of brighter green and teal where the glitter showed through. For some reason, this brought to mind images of lost jungle tribes, lush greenery and golden treasures covered in moss. (What can I say? I really loved Indiana Jones as a kid!)

In reality, I had a bit of trouble keeping the teal layer even, and there's enough pigment in Cardigan to build up brighter streaks over the black. This didn't bother me, though, because it somehow didn't detract from the overall look. The gold glitter shined through with an almost lime green sheen, and the silver showed more of Cardigan's blue tones. All in all, I called it a win.

Surprisingly enough, I wore this polish for 3 or 4 days. That's odd for me, since I get bored so easily and I have enough polish to change my nail lacquer every day without repeating for... oh, let's just say a long time. I don't want to count how many bottles of nail polish I have now. It's starting to frighten me!

Here, have some more photos of this delicious sandwich.

Pomegranate Nail Lacquer is available for sale on the Pomegranate web site for $9 a bottle. However, if you like Curator, now is the time to buy it, because Pomegranate is selling the cutest Halloween treat bag! In it you'll find one bottle of Persimmon, one bottle of Curator, sweet treats and seasonal decorations, and it only costs you $15! This is the perfect treat for your friends who love nail polish. It's worth picking up two- one for you and one for a friend!

What do you think of this combination? Would you wear it, or are you just shaking your head at me, wondering why I do this weird stuff? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Polishes were provided by Pomegranate Nail Lacquer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

A fun floral look

While using the camera flash, the colors
are washed out but you can see the depth
of the blue background.

Whew, I just woke up from sleeping almost 24 hours! I'm not exaggerating, either. My husband was in the hospital over the weekend, thankfully for a false alarm. But I spent 3 days "not sleeping" on the awful pull-out loveseat, being worried sick and waking up every time something beeped. In short, I didn't really sleep for 3 days.

I'm super-thankful, though, because my husband is ok! All the tests showed that his heart is strong and healthy, so now we get to follow up with the primary care physician and go from there. We can do that. I just want to keep him around. 20 years together is a good start, but he can't go anywhere yet. :D

The good news is that while we were waiting (and waiting and waiting!), we came up with a TON of great blog ideas! Since it's going to take me a while to get them started though, you get to see this older nail doodle I did and then forgot to post. Oops!

This is actually a very simple look to create. Let me list the polishes I used before I get started, just to make it easier.

1. Nutra Nail Gel Perfect in Two-Step
2. Jessica Strawberry Shake It from the Gelato Mio! collection
3. Jessica Tangerine Dreamz from the Gelato Mio! collection
4. Jessica Lime Cooler from the Gelato Mio! collection
5. Zoya Evvie from the Designer collection
6. Orange loose glitter

Natural light shows the actual colors of
the polishes I used.

I know, it looks like a lot. It's easier than it seems, though, I promise! I started with Two-Step (1) to create a gorgeous background with a lot of depth. I then put down a drop of both Lime Cooler (4) and Evvie (5) next to each other, then
dipped my brush into both. This let me slightly mix the two, but still get striations of both colors through the leaves and stems. I think this gives an interesting look to them.

For the flowers, I put down a large drop of Strawberry Shake It (2) on my palette, then used my large dotting tool to make 5 dots in a circle around the top of each stem. I went back with a bamboo skewer and drew from the center of each dot to the center of the circle the dots made. This gave me a five-petaled flower at the top of each stem!

To complete my flower, I put down a dot of Tangerine Dreamz (3) in each flower center. After that dried, I realized I wanted a bit more sparkle there, so I put a dot of clear polish on each flower center, then put a bit of loose orange glitter on top of the clear polish. Unfortunately, it went everywhere, and I didn't notice that until after I'd put a coat of Seche Vite over everything. That's why there are bits of glitter on the petals and the stems.

Overall, I like this. It's fairly simple to do once you get started, and it's a fun happy design! You could use any background and flower color you like!

As for what's coming up? Stick around, it could get fun in here!

Polishes were provided by the brands for consideration.
I make no money from the links provided. They're just for your convenience.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Nail Art Doodling Summer 2012- Glitter Madness

It's been a while, but I've finally got some new nail art to share with you! I've gotten several new collections recently that seemed like they would play very nicely together. So one day I pulled them all out, grabbed some full coverage nail tips and started playing.

The image to the right gives you a hint of what's coming up. I had so much fun making these, and I've got some designs I'm absolutely in love with! So, first we've got a design I called Glitter Madness!

I started out with Zoya's Diva collection. This set has some absolutely gorgeous metallic jewel tones that I really needed to see together. I chose a very long nail tip for this one so I'd have lots of room to play. From top to bottom I used: Elisa (red), Suri (purple), Song (blue), and Ray (green). I then added dots of a greyed-out blue, but realized I wanted more oomph for the nail

Enter the Jordana Glitter Specialty Nail Polishes. I'm a bit late to the party with these, but holy WOW are these polishes amazing. The day I got the collection I ended up painting all my nails with a different glitter and just watching them sparkle. This collection was basically made for me, and I am so in love with it!

Getting back to the Glitter Madness, I went over each section with a corresponding glitter. I added Red Flash over Elisa, Magenta Magic over Suri, Blue Bash over Song, and Green Glitz over Ray. This took the nail from gorgeous to magically glam. I still wanted some definition between the colors, though.

Thankfully, Jessica Custom Nail Colour had just the color I wanted. I didn't want white, because that seemed like it would be too stark against the deep rich colors I had going. Instead, I went with Barely Blueberry from the Gelato Mio Collection. This color is a very pale, very cool blue, just barely blue but still with enough color to not seem shockingly out of place with the rest of what was happening on the nail.

With the separating dots, I didn't want a precise line of equally-spaced, evenly sized dots. Instead, I wanted a slightly meandering, wobbly line. You know, if a leprechaun with a peg leg got drunk, stepped in paint, then staggered all over my nail!

Wait. That just sounds wrong. Forget I said that. :D

I then added a coat of ProFX Quick Dry Top Coat to protect everything and smooth things out. I have to say, I am in LOVE with this look. I just wish my nails were long enough to wear it! The various glitter polishes have multiple sizes of glitter in them so there's a ton of sparkle, and the deeper toned base colors show through underneath.

It's just a crazy sparkly, intensely colorful look that makes me giggle when I think about it! This satisfies my inner magpie, and makes me want more more more. It's definitely my style of nail art...

But my question is this- what do you think of it? Is this something you'd wear? Would you tweak this to fit your own style, or does this design call to your inner diva? Let me know in the comments!

Polishes were provided by the brands for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Jessica Cosmetics - Lime Cooler

Lime Cooler by Jessica Cosmetics

OMG, has it really been a whole week since I blogged?? Sheesh. I saw the doctor and we tweaked meds again, but unfortunately I've still been feeling all fibro-hit-by-a-truck. But I seem to be looking up a bit, maybe... I even managed to paint my nails last week, and I loved the color so much I'm STILL wearing it!

Some of you may know I love lime green. If you weren't aware of it prior to now, well... now you know! When I opened the box that contained the Summer 2012 collection from Jessica Cosmetics, I squealed loud enough to make my husband cringe. I knew Lime Cooler would be the first polish I tried!

Let me say it one more time, I absolutely love this polish. This green creme is bright enough to make me happy, but not so bright and in-your-face to make me feel uncomfortable. It's a chic take on summer brights, and I'm in heaven!

Application was a bit unpleasant for me, but this was mainly because my bottle was sort of thick and gloppy. I have a feeling a couple of drops of nail polish thinner will make this baby perfect. As it is, it's almost opaque in one coat!

So, if you love lime green, this is a total keeper! I know this one will be one of my special bottles of polish, the ones I love to wear, but am afraid to run out of!!

Also, since I've been out of touch for the last week, I figured I'd show some of the stuff I've drawn to help keep myself sane. My husband got me a big set of colored pencils, complete with neons and metallics, so I've been having a ball coloring in my drawings.

This drawing is probably my favorite one I've done in the last month or so. She looks thoughtful, and sort of... I can't quite find the words. Anyway, I like her a lot!

She was drawn one of those nights I was up all night, just hoping meds would kick in, or things would stop spasming enough for me to sleep. I didn't sleep, but I got a pretty drawing out of it!

Then there's this one. Not as happy with her, although she's still interested. She looks kind of spastic, though...almost like she's frightened.

I've changed her since I took the photo... I gave her eyelashes and brought her eyelids down a bit. Now instead of looking afraid she looks all sultry and smouldering. I love seeing the difference such slight changes can make!

There's also this lady. She looks kind of like a pirate to me, maybe. She started out as me attempting to copy a drawing in the book Doodles Unlimited by Tracy Bautista. I didn't like my rendition, so I kept tweaking and tweaking until I was satisfied. While you can definitely see the inspiration, I think my drawing has a lot of my own style to it.

Then there were a couple of basic doodles, one all my own and one a way of decorating words that I found on Jaqueline Koh's blog. I've had a lot of fun tweaking it to my own style!

I colored this one with colored pencils, metallic colored pencils, and metallic gel pens.
I think the gradient petals are my favorite part!

The top bubble is the style I got from Jacqueline Koh,
although the one I saw on her blog was all black and white.
I had fun incorporating dots and a heart smiley face.

And that's it! I've rambled enough, and now my husband and I are going to finish watching a movie I fell asleep in the last time we tried to watch it. Sometimes I'm an awful movie buddy! I hope you've had a great week so far, and that your weekend is even better!

Til next time!

Polish was provided by Jessica Cosmetics for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

My Halloween 2011 Nails

Sometimes I think it's weird to make graphics like this.
Then I think about the rest of my life and think this
is about as normal as I get. :D

A VIDEO!! OMG, I cannot even begin to explain how far I've come in video editing-land, and how far I have yet to go. Still, I'm so happy to have this finished and ready to move on! I'm hoping to keep moving forward with this, because I do like being able to have video with my posts. Let's be honest, I'm a total ham and I love being able to talk to you!

This process, though? So confusing. Who knew it'd be so hard to do a voiceover for video? (Ok, I know... I've done it, so I know, but still!) I ended up having to script half of it, play the soundless video while I recorded my audio into my video camera, then move that video to the computer, download the latest version of Audacity so I could strip the sound from the video, then cut it up into chunks I could then place in the video timeline. Oh, and I had to download FFsomething or other libraries too, and install them.

Sound confusing? Yea, that's because it was! But it's DONE, and now I sort of understand what I'm doing, so I'm going to start editing the next video tomorrow! Maybe it won't take me three years to get finished... :D

So, on to the pretty stuff... the nails! Oddly enough, I wasn't interested in doing anything too flashy or anything, partly because I was running out of time and partly because I was really wanting to try the gorgeous polishes Melissa from the Daily Nail surprised me with. She'd noticed I've been down and not posting as much lately, so once day I checked the mail to find the cutest package all bundled up in orange paper waiting for me!

I'd be lying if I said I kept my cool. I alternated between squealing in joy and wiping tears away because it was such a touching gift. She filled it with all sorts of goodies, and I've kept them all in their box for now, to decide what to do with them. But Halloween was the perfect time to try two of them... Sally Hanson Salon Black Orchid and NYX Pink Avenue.

Black Orchid is a fairly basic polish, a deep charcoal grey shimmer that is lovely on its own. It's not totally black because the shimmer plays with the light a bit, but I like this. I also like that it's a cool-toned charcoal without any warmth to it. It's a typical Sally Hansen Salon polish- good coverage, good wear.

Pink Avenue was the star of this show, though. NYX definitely made a winner with this one, a mix of glitters in a clear base. It's a combination of lime green and orange flake glitters paired with microglitter in the same colors. I think some of the glitter changed colors in the light, depending on the angle, but it was hard to tell.

Regardless, this was a stunning polish, and I couldn't resist adding three coats of it, just to build the sparkle to insane levels. What can I say, subtlety is not one of my strengths!

The end result was almost impossible to photograph! Even the video didn't quite capture the way the light played with the glitter. It was hypnotic, and I was in absolute love! My niece loved it too, and wanted me to do her nails... shame I didn't have it with me, or I would have!

Since it's 5:30am and I haven't been to sleep yet, I'll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves. Click' em for larger pics. They're worth it!

So... thoughts? Too glittery? Not enough? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Polishes were provided by Melissa at The Daily Nail because she's AWESOME!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Nail Art Inspired by Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" Video

Celebrities often wear the latest trends, and Katy Perry not only follows the nail art trends, she sets them! In her latest video "About Last Night," Katy wears a vibrant, colorful look that's very reminiscent of the 80's. (I can remember wearing colors like those back in the 1980s, and my hair was almost as high as hers!)

Green and Gold Animal Print- is it Tiger? is it Zebra? Who knows?

Hi hi!! I have to share this, even though I should be asleep. I had a weird night and should have been spending the day with my mom taking her to the doctor, but I seem to have a tummy bug. So I figured I'd give you something fun to look at while I'm feeling icky!

This is the last installment for this version of Animal Print week (which actually lasted two weeks, or... is it three? I can't count!) Still, it's cute as a button and can be done in the colors of your choice!

It's super simple too. Apply your base coat and then 2-3 layers of your background color. (This one is Manbug by BB Couture.) Once that's dry, add stripes of the metallic polish of your choice (I've forgotten which one I used here! EEP!) and follow up with thin black stripes under each metallic stripe as an accent. If your background color is darker, you can use silver and white as accent colors and it would really pop!

So, try it, and if you do, show me! I love seeing people trying what I've shown! Til next time!

The tiger zebra is actually a very rare animal. Green is considered the ultimate beauty for their coat.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Deborah Lippmann Fall 2011 Polishes

Oh my stars, Deborah Lippmann has done it again. I just got an email about the DL Fall 2011 collection, and wow, it's a keeper! Seriously, just look at these photos...

First, there's the regular colors: richly pigmented polishes that definitely have fall written all over them! I can almost smell the crisp autumn air already! This includes a special polish done in collaboration with fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez.

Click the above image to see it full size!

The press release had this to say about the fall polishes:

Fall
Billionaire: moody hunter green (creme)
Brick House: shimmering rust (shimmer)
Single Ladies: flirtatious red (creme)
Stormy Weather: an edgy granite (crème) is a collaboration with fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez.

PRICE: $16 (each)

WHERE TO FIND IT: Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and online at www.deborahlippmann.com

Then there's the glitter collection, and may I just say WOW! I am seriously drooling to get these on my fingers! How delicious are these?

You really want to click this to see those glitters more closely!

You see it, right? Are these AMAZING or what?! I cannot wait. I absolutely cannot wait!! Forget You was plucked straight out of my dreams! This is the Nordstrom Anniversary Set, and I'm almost holding my breath for these!

Nordstrom Anniversary Set

Happy Birthday: a party in a bottle (glitter)

Forget You: party all night (glitter)

Candy Shop: bubblegum pink (glitter)

PRICE: $42 (set)

WHERE TO FIND IT: Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and online at www.deborahlippmann.com

Oh yea, this one's definitely a keeper! Look for swatches as soon as I can put them up! And be sure to check back tomorrow when I'll be showing my fourth of July designs! They're cute as a button- you won't want to miss these!

Deborah Lippmann polishes rock my stripey socks!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Best Nail Treatments- Irish Rogue

Wow, I am so happy to share this with you! I recently learned about a fairly new brand of nail polish that looked really interesting. I was offered the opportunity to try out the color of my choice as well as their topcoat and base coat.

Since I absolutely love it, let me introduce you to Best Nail Treatments by the makers of Poshe products! After an agonizing time looking at their color chart, I chose to try a color called Irish Rogue, which is part of their neon shades. I also received the basecoat and topcoat so I could do my manicure the way they suggest.

First off, let me just say that this color is absolutely gorgeous! The color didn't photograph well for me, which is a huge disappointment. In reality this color is almost like the green on a can of Sprite, deep and saturated and absolutely dense with color. The best part was a surprise for me: Irish Rogue has almost-hidden shimmer that's easy to miss if you aren't looking for it. This photo shows the shimmer beautifully, and is closer to the color I see on my nails as I type this.

Unfortunately, I have to be honest about my experience with this polish. The basecoat states that it's quick-drying, and the topcoat states that polish will be dry to the touch in 1 minute and completely dry within 5 minutes. This absolutely was not the case for me. I attempted to paint my nails with this twice, and the first time I painted my nails, I gave up waiting after 15 minutes and applied a coat of Seche Vite. My nails didn't dry at all, and about 10 minutes later I removed it all out of frustration because it was all still horribly wet.

The next time I tried I decided to be patient and give the polish more time to dry. I know I've been spoiled with Seche Vite, but I can be patient when I need to. While my nails were nowhere near dry after 5 minutes, I'm willing to assume that's because of something in my body chemistry. My polish was dry within an hour, and since then it's worn like a champ. The only issue I had was with drying, and I assume most people won't have that problem.

Back to the positive points, since there are a ton of them! I have to share the selection of colors, since it overwhelmed me completely! You can choose between cremes, shimmers, glitters, pearls, and metallics. There are even two special effects polishes that I'm absolutely dying to try! Honestly, I believe everyone can find at least one or two polishes here to fall in love with... I know I've found at least 12!

Then there are the topcoat and basecoat. First of all, let me share my favorite part of this: they sell their topcoat in larger sizes! You can get a single bottle, a larger bottle, or you can even get it in a gallon! The basecoat is clear and extremely fast-drying. As are the rest of the BNT polishes, the topcoat and basecoat are big-3 free,  which is reassuring to those of us who do our nails so often! They also sell a polish thinner, in case your polish or your topcoat gets a bit goopy over time. I've found that a good polish thinner is an absolute must!

Also, let me take a moment to address a question I get frequently- how to make your polish last longer. This is probably the question I get asked most often, and I say this every single time. In my opinion, the brand of polish you wear isn't what makes the most difference in how long it lasts. Instead, I find even cheap polishes can last well when you use a good basecoat and a good topcoat. Also, a good basecoat does not work well as a topcoat, because the properties that make it a good basecoat prevent it from making a good topcoat (and vice versa). I'll write more about this a bit later, though... it's worth its own post.

I had one other small problem, but it wasn't a huge deal. The brush that came with my bottle of basecoat had a few long hairs on it, which made application a real bear. It would poke over my cuticle and make a mess!

It was easily fixed. I simply grabbed my manicure scissors! I took the brush out of the basecoat and wiped it off carefully, then held it up sideways in one hand while putting the scissors right up next to the flat part of the end of the brush. A couple of snips and the brush was as good as new!

Bottom line? I love this polish!! It's such a vibrant shade that it's perfect for the summer months. Plus, I've had several compliments on my nails since I put it on! (More than usual, which makes my day!) They're available at the Best Nail Treatments website, and polishes start at $5.99!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go start my wishlist at the website. I have some polishes to mark before my birthday in August! Til next time!

Polish, basecoat, and topcoat were provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Go Green For St. Patrick's Day With Milani

Green with Envy

Milani Cosmetics gets gorgeously green for St. Paddy’s Day.

This St. Patrick’s Day, Milani Cosmetics is offering 25% off their classic green shades for eyes and nails! This is the deal that will have everyone green with envy!

Also, check out Milani Cosmetics DIY nail tip of the month to achieve sassy shamrock nails without breaking the budget at the salon!


Retail, $4.09 to $8.99, available for purchase at: www.MilaniCosmetics.com


*Discount will be applied at checkout after entering promotional code.

Milani How-to Steps:

1.        Apply Smoothé Base Coat Specialty Nail Lacquer MST-01 to entire nail. Let it fully dry
2.        Apply French Manicure Nail Lacquer MFM-302 Angel Pink as a color base coat. Allow it to fully dry
3.        Use Nail Lacquer MNL-829 Dress Maker across the very tip of the nail, creating a French tip. Allow to fully dry
4.        Add 4 small “V’s” the arrangement of a four leaf clover using Nail Art Lacquer MNA - 709 Green Sketch
5.        Apply a tiny dot in the center with Nail Art Lacquer MNA – 701 Art of Gold. Allow to fully dry
6.        Apply Glossé Top Coat Specialty Nail Lacquer MST-02 over entire design

Blah blah was provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

BB Couture- Manbug

I love Twitter. I really do... I've met so many wonderful people over it, and I've even gotten to interact with some of my favorite celebrities through it. But I think one of the things I enjoy most are the late-night twitter giveaways.

See, lots of people are using Twitter as a marketing tool. So, at random times they'll host a giveaway where if people reply over twitter, they'll win a prize. It's loads of fun and gets you interacting with people. Plus hey, you win stuff!

As an example, I was online one night and the owner of Overall Beauty came on with a twitter contest. She asked if she said she had a manbug in her hand, what was she talking about? Since I had nail polish on the brain, I asked if it would mean she had a BB Couture nail polish, and sure enough I was right! A few days later, a cute little package arrived at my house complete with 2 eyeshadow samples, a business card, and a lovely handwritten card! I've still got the card hanging on my bulletin board!

So, since I've got the time now, I wanted to show you Manbug in all its beauty. I think it makes more of an effective layering polish because I can't stand visible nail line. This first swatch shows how it looks over both white nail polish and black polish. The sparkles show up more dramatically over the black, but it's still lovely over white.

I also put this polish over some artificial nails with a french manicure. This didn't work so well... the polish applies beautifully, but it's just so intensely sheer. I'm not terribly fond sheer sheers, and wound up putting on either 4 or 5 coats of Manbug. Even so, I still had visible nail line! =/

But it is one gorgeous sheer polish. I love the softness of the color, and while at first I was sure it would look horrible on me, I was actually kind of surprised to see it looked ok.

Unfortunately, it's not a polish you can stamp with. It's so sheer it's like trying to stamp with air! You can see on the stample that there's just a hint of color that shows.

So overall, I'm looking forward to trying more BB Couture polishes, but Manbug isn't one I'll be wearing often, unless I can figure out a cool layered recipe for it.

What do you think- is Manbug a keeper?