Cracked Up Flowers- a fun floral manicure using crackle polish

I'm an experimenter, and sometimes my experiments turn out a little scary or just downright sad.Today, however, I've got an experiment that I actually like the end result! The best part is that it's super simple!

I do wish I'd used a different base color for this, but overall I still think it turned out really cute. This would be perfect for an accent nail, since placing all the stones does take a bit of time. Still, it's definitely something people can accomplish without a lot of stressful painting!

It's easy enough to create. While I'm going to mention brands, keep in mind you can use any color or brands you like better. I just happened to use what I have and what I like. Use what you have, and what works well for you.

First, I used a base coat. I can't repeat this enough: a good base coat and top coat are the most important part of your manicure. They protect your nails from staining (some, at least) and protect the polish on your nails. If you're going to splurge on something, splurge on top coat! Even the 98 cent Wet n Wild polishes can wear like iron if you use a good base coat and top coat!

... woops, I seem to have landed on a soapbox! How did that happen? Getting back to the manicure, it's simple. It goes like this:

1. Base coat.
2. Background color. Use 2-3 coats, whatever it takes to have a nice, solid background. I used a somewhat dusty metallic pink.
3. Once this is totally dry, I painted China Glaze Broken Hearted (pink) crackle polish in a rough triangle on the top half of my nail. I then used Sally Hansen Vintage Violet (purple) crackle polish on the bottom half trangle. 
4. After the crackle polishes have dried, I used my white Art Deco striper to paint a somewhat thick line separating the two crackles.
5. After everything had dried for a few minutes more, I placed the various rhinestones into place, using my clear topcoat as a glue to keep them in place. These rhinestones came from the Fingrs Flirt package, which I absolutely LOVE!
6. Finally, I added a coat of top coat to seal everything into place and protect everything, and we were done!

Let me know what you think of this one. I think it'd be fun to have pink crackle on my thumb and first two fingers, the accent nail, and then purple crackle on my pinky. Weird, but fun!

Ah well... til next time!

Some polishes were provided by the manufacturers for consideration.

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!)

Dr's Remedy Nails- Summer 2011

I'm having a horrible time with my email lately. I don't know why, but suddenly lots of emails are ending up in my spam folder that shouldn't be. I'm so glad I started looking through it every few days, although I really don't want to think how many mails I missed that I would have wanted to see...

Thankfully, I found the email from Dr's Remedy Nail Polishes telling me about their new summer collection! These colors are LUSH! The orange is calling my name, and I cannot WAIT to see the blue on my nails. I also have a feeling that I might actually be able to wear the nude pink... we shall see!

The descriptions for the polishes really make me want to try these. Just look for yourself!

* Lovely Lavender: a pale purple with matte depth and charm
* Glee Gold: a shimmer-infused coin of perfection
* Tranquil Tangerine: a bold, but wonderfully wearable, slice of juicy delight
* Bold Baby Blue: an aqua-meets-turquoise take on every boy's favorite color
* Nurture Nude Pink: a delicate, damsel-in-distress barely-there beautiful

Aren't these fab? That lavender looks like it might be one of those almost grey, almost lavender, neutral and lovely colors that's so popular at the moment, and really, do I need to say anything about those shimmers? I'm absolutely bouncing at the idea of getting to try these!!

Dr.’s REMEDY Enriched Nail Polish is DBP, Toluene & Formaldehyde free and is exclusively available for $17 online at www.remedynails.com, or call 877-323-6756.

Images and information were provided by the company for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Coming Soon From China Glaze- the Metro Collection!

I'm sure you've heard about the upcoming China Glaze Metro collection. Still, I have to say that I am really looking forward to it!I love the way the colors look all together in the above image! The colors are so rich and yummy! Let's see what's in there!

First off, there's the Downtown collection, a 6 piece box set which includes Skyscraper, Concrete Catwalk, Westside Warrior, Trendsetter, Loft-y Ambitions and Midtown Magic. The polish descriptions sound so interesting!

* Skyscraper: A sparkling, glitter blue reminiscent of the sky over the city.
* Concrete Catwalk: Steel grey crème is amazing for a chic mani.
* Westside Warrior: For the trendsetting woman this camo green crème is to die for.
* Trendsetter: Mustard yellow shimmer translates beautifully from hot dogs to nails.
* Loft-y Ambitions: Burgundy shimmer and cocktail hour – nothing better.
* Midtown Magic: Burgundy base with flecks of gold shimmer captures the latest fashion trend.

Click image for a larger view of the polishes.

Then there's the Uptown collection, a 6 piece box set which includes CG in the City, Urban-Night, Traffic Jam, City Siren, Street Chic and Brownstone. The descriptions make me want to wear these!

* CG in the City: Glittering dusty purple, bronze and silver multi-tonal glitter, perfect for a pop of edge from West side to East side.
* Urban-Night: Exactly what you need for a night on the town – rich purple crème.
* Traffic Jam: Stop traffic with a breathtaking, raspberry pink crème.
* City Siren: The perfect deep, red crème to match any outfit.

* Street Chic: This gorgeous beige crème is the perfect go to shade letting your clothes do the talking.
* Brownstone: Burnt terracotta crème mirrors the quaint townhouses of the city.

Click image for a larger view of the polishes.

This collection looks yummy to me. I'm obviously drawn to the two glitter polishes (Hello, my name is Laynie and I am a glitter addict!), but that olive green is calling my name! The yellow looks interesting for nail art, and I'm just itching to get my hands on  the four middle Uptown polishes! Yea, I think I need to start saving my pennies!

The Metro polishes will be available as box sets of 6 and as individual polishes. China Glaze nail lacquers are free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde, and are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze.

Til next time!

Images and information were provided by the manufacturer.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

OMFGPonies and Pengins, does it get any better than this?

I have to be honest here. I intended to post this earlier- maybe Saturday morning? I've lost track of time, thanks to the chest cold of doom that's descended upon our home. I've spent too much time hacking and coughing, wondering if I have the energy to cough again. And all this while, the penguin photos have been waiting for me.

It all started with me deciding I had to wear OMFGPonies and see what it looked like on my nails. It was a bit thick to start out with, so I thinned it with a few (maybe 10?) drops of polish thinner, and then it was absolutely dreamy!

Also, I apologize because I'm going to be sharing a few more photos than usual with this one. I'm sort of in love with it!! Also, I gave up on getting video of it, mainly because it would involve spending half an hour outside in weather that feels like it's 115 degrees so that my camera can adjust to the ambient temperature. Otherwise, the lens just fogs up and makes it impossible to take pictures.

One thing I didn't expect with OMFGPonies is the ending finish: it turned out to have a matte texture that really surprised me! It was easily remedied with a coat of Seche Vite, but I would have preferred a glossier finish. Ah well, not a huge deal.

One thing I didn't think about but was obvious in retrospect was the difficulty that occurred during cleanup. Big glitter = messy cleanup. Overall it wasn't too hard to clean up, but I definitely ended up with some glitter spots that made my cuticles look a bit messy.

After wearing OMFGPonies for a day, I realized I wanted some nail art. I don't know what prompted me to make red glitter penguins, but I really like them! Turns out they were simple to do, although they were a bit on the fussy side. Still, even my husband loves these!

While it never occurred to me to wear red glitter penguins, I'm glad I did because they make me giggle every time I see them! I'm also really happy with the positions of their eyes, and everyone who has seen them has commented on that as well!

So- how do you make them? I thought you'd never ask!

Items needed to make OMFGPenguins:

• White nail polish or acrylic paint
  This can be a regular nail polish, a nail art striper polish or even plain white acrylic paint.
  Use whatever you have.
• Nail art brushes
  These are optional, but a smaller brush can be easier to control when trying to make dots and shapes. Again, use what you have.
• Dotting tool, bobby pin, toothpick, etc
  I found using a dotting tool was easier for making the eye dots. It's optional. Use whatever you're comfortable with.
• Black rhinestones, black nail polishI used black rhinestones to create the pupils of the eyes, but you can use whatever you have. Are you sensing a trend here?

 and if you can't follow the how-to because it's upside down, I did a special one just for you!

Keep in mind that you can do lots of expressive things with the eyes. Keep the white parts small and the eyes will be tiny and cute, or make them HUGE and they'll still be adorable! Just look at the different expressions I've given this little guy, just by changing the position and size of the whites and blacks of his eyes!

As always, feel free to show me what you've done if I've inspired you at all. I love sharing with people, and feedback makes me smile for HOURS! :D

Til next time!

EDIT: I cannot believe I forgot to include this image. It's only the first image I edited, and the one I sent to my friends to make them giggle. Yea, I'm forgetful... it's what happens when you get old! Anyway, enjoy!

The penguins have eaten  my brain, it's true!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

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.

OMFGPonies- My Little Franken

Holy ponies on a BBQ, I am so, so giddy right now. Last night I was doing my nails with my frankened version of My Private Jet¹ when an idea hit me: I could franken the red-glitter-in-black-jelly polish I've been fantasizing about!

I know, I know. I've mixed my own colors more than once, so why was this such a breakthrough? I have no idea. All I know is the idea hit me like a bolt of lightning, and I immediately tweeted about it!

As you can see, Lisa from Shades of Magic absolutely LOVED my outburst, so I clearly had the name for this franken-to-be, if it turned out at all worth saving.

I knew what I wanted. I've seen several polishes lately that were red glitters in a black jelly base, but each of them had something wrong with them. So rather than keep waiting for the perfect one, I decided to try my hand at mixing what I considered the perfect polish.

See, you may have noticed by now, but I kinda have a thing for glitter. In fact, if you were to look through my box(es) of nail art goodies, you'd find more glitter than you know what to do with. Seriously, I've got over 20 different containers of loose glitter in different sizes and shapes, not counting glitter polishes, and I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for more! It's become an obsession almost, and I simply cannot get enough!

So, thanks to my stockpile of glitter, I was able to pull out three different red glitters, a russet red pigment, and a red glitter polish that I thought would all work together. I also grabbed my TKB glitter suspension base because I knew I wanted a sheer base, and a simple black no-name polish. I used very little black, because black is a very strong color that can easily overpower a polish quickly.

Instead of just jumping in and dumping a lot of stuff into a bottle, I started with one of my mixing cups. I used a dot of black, a dollop of clear suspension base, and a bit of all my glitters. After stirring it up, I was in love, and even though I didn't have the mix right, I knew I wanted a whole bottle of this one.

Onward to the polish. I went in very small quantities at a time, so I could change things if I wasn't happy. It took an hour of tweaking and shaking, testing and tweaking some more to come out with something I was happy with. But once I tested that last mix... omg, I knew this one would live up to its name.

Meet OMFGPonies, the first franken I've made that I am absolutely completely in love with. It's like a deep black cherry base with amazing glitterbits. And keep in mind that these photos really don't capture the depth of it. I need to shoot video in full daylight, but I was sick in bed all day and didn't get to it. Maybe tomorrow...

I absolutely love that as you turn the nail, you capture glints of microglitter peeking up through the sheer black base, russet shimmer catching the light and larger flakes of glitter reflecting a silvery red. My largest red glitter turned silver in the polish, but I knew that was a possibility, and I was ok with the concept if it did.

I love this polish, more than I can say. And the best part? I can make more... :D

You know, if I ever get the bits again.

Til next time...

¹ My version is called My Magic Bus, because it's magically delicious and much cheaper than taking a plane. :D

Some polishes may have been provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.