China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

The weather this weekend was perfect. Blue skies, puffy white clouds, a gentle breeze...I should have went to the beach! (Doh!) Even though we spent the weekend running errands and doing household chores, at least the weather was nice while we were doing it. I did manage to perk up my nails for the weekend. From the new China Glaze Poolside collection:

China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, indirect sun


A nice cheery yellow, it does still have a pitfall common to yellow nail polish: streaking. I had to use four coats to even out the color. One thing that helped was to let the polish dry a bit between coats. It did dry matte as neon polish does, so a nice shiny topcoat is in order (unless you want the matte look).

That was Saturday's look. On Sunday morning I decided something was missing (and I noticed some bubbling I wanted to cover up). Someone had encouraged me to order the Bundle Monster image plates from Amazon last Monday which arrived very quickly. I had to test them out didn't I? I mean, how could I not?

With China Glaze Heli-Yum nail stamp (Bundle Monster plate 12), direct sun


Dear husband and I had dinner with my mom last night and she called them "kitchen nails". The color and design remind her of these plastic containers she used to see for storing sugar, flour, etc. back in the early '80s. I kind of remember green bins with similar white flowers myself...I feel retro. XD

Next time: a franken!

OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast

Yesterday at work we held interviews for a new student helper. I was a good girl and removed my darling teal creme for a more work appropriate color. I'm the temporary (2 months and counting *grr*) manager so I must set a good example for impressionable young minds...*sigh*

I have a surprising number of "work safe" colors and unsurprisingly, they're almost all untried, lol. Most of them are OPI's that I bought on clearance (usually 75% off) at Trade Secret. I really need to stop doing that. Especially with sheers! I don't usually wear them. I have Stained Nails. Defiantly so. Lol.

Anyway, I pulled out OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast from the Australia collection released in 2007. It was overcast and rainy on Friday (first picture) and beautifully sunny this morning (second picture).

OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast, overcast/shade


OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast, sun


I can't say this is one of my favorite colors because I really do prefer something bright and/or bold on my nails. But it does have a nice subtle pink and golden shimmer (you can click to enlarge the pictures). This was two thin coats. There is some visible nail line in the pictures that isn't as noticeable in real life. If you really wanted to be sure, a third coat would easily take care of that. I could see myself using this again if the need arose. I think right now I'm so worn out and anxious at my job that bright flashy colors are my quiet rebellion. I expect you'll be seeing more of them from me soon. =)

Color Club Gossip Column

Have I ever mentioned that I love me a good teal creme? Color Club Gossip Column is a gorgeous one. It comes from the Rebel Debutante collection but was not in the 7-piece box set; you had to buy it separately. That did irk me a little since I found the box set at Ross but had to wait until I could put together an e-tailer order to get Gossip Column. Of course, it was a good way to rationalize placing an e-tailer order. *whistles innocently*

Color Club Gossip Column, sun


Color Club Gossip Column, shade


I used two coats of Gossip Column as well as base & top coat. Application was very smooth, this was almost opaque in just one coat. If I had known ahead and been a little more careful with my brushstrokes I could have managed full coverage with one coat easily. But I'd probably do two anyway, I'm funny like that. I was so in love with this gorgeous polish I wore it for four days (and had only slight tip wear). If you love teal creme, go buy this!

China Glaze Electic Lilac

Last time I showed you the haul I got in the mail. It was tough to pick which one to try first but since its sunny and I haven't worn a glitter lately, I present China Glaze Electric Lilac!

China Glaze Electric Lilac, sun


China Glaze Electric Lilac, shade


This polish is gorgeous iridescent multi glitter in a sheer lavender base, so I used 3 coats. The glitter is so densely packed in the bottle, working with it can be a little tricky. This is bumpy on the nail! I used a coat of Poshe fast-dry topcoat first, but I didn't like the slight texture. So I swiped a coat of some random clear polish and then topped it with a good coat of Seche Vite. That made it nice and smooth. Next time I'll just use the Seche to begin with. Another thought I had was that this would be great for layering. I think Orly Snowcone would look great under Electric Lilac. What do you think?

Water Marbling - Attempt #1 (and a package!)

So, I've been fighting it off for a couple of weeks, but I've finally succumbed to a nasty cold. Yuck. I'd tell you all about it, but dear husband reminded me that just because I'm feeling lousy and want to b**** about it, you probably don't want to know. So I'm fighting the TMI impulse.

I was too lazy/tired/confused to find polish remover and felt but I really really wanted to change my mani (NYC Plaza Plumberry - a deep vampy plum creme I didn't photograph). So, I decided to cover it up with water marbling. (I never said I was rational when I'm sick...halfway through the process I realized I still needed felt and polish remover. *facepalm*) NYC Plaza Plumberry remained my base and I used Essie Van D'go and Revlon Gum Drop for the marbling.



My fingers are reddish because the sun is just coming up. Morning light is good for photographs, but maybe not quite that early. Not bad for a first attempt, but do you see the bubbles? They're not in the topcoat; they came up in the marbled polish. Did I dip my finger too fast? I'll have to research a bit. Oh and my index finger? Yeah, I put topcoat on before all the water had dried off. Not so good of an idea. I'm going to blame it on being sick (uh huh, riiiiight dear husband just told me).

Anyway, something good came out of this day...I got my Head2Toe order in the mail!



Oh, you want to know what's in the box? Lovely ladies of course!



Their names, you ask? Let me introduce you!

L to R: Misa Cherry Topping; Sorry Just Can't Help It; Color Club Gossip Column


L to R: China Glaze Heli-Yum; Grape Pop; Peachy Keen; Happy Go Lucky; Four Leaf Clover


L to R: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy; Towel Boy Toy; Yellow Polka Dot Bikini; Kiwi Cool-ada


L to R: China Glaze Atlantis; Electric Lilac; Medallion; Dorothy Who?; Thunderbird


L to R: Orly Pixy Stix; Wild Wisteria; Snowcone


Now the only pressing question is: What do I use first? But that will have to wait for another day. All this picture-taking (front yard in my pajamas, lol), editing and typing have wiped me out. I'm going to lie down and fondle my pretties. *^_^*

Finger Paints Red Marzipan & Sally Hansen

For this manicure I decided to pull out another untried I've had sitting around. I was hoping the sun would come out and show how sparkly this really is, but sadly he kept hiding behind a cloud. This is two coats of Finger Paints Red Marzipan.



I actually did this shortly before I went to bed the night before I took pictures and everything was fine. When I woke up I had a bubble on my middle finger, bleh. I'm blaming the Poshe topcoat I used. It probably needs thinning. Anyhow, Red Marzipan was a dream to apply. It's not a one coater, but the second coat evened it out quite nicely. Consistency was great, polish went exactly where I wanted it to go, no cleanup required.



I wore Red marzipan alone for couple of days before the Konad bug got me and I used one of the french tip designs on Konad plate m56. Completely forgot to take pictures of it before the next thing happened. I was in Walmart (work-related, ha) and took a quick swing through cosmetics and found a treasure. Literally.

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure


Of course I bought it. We don't see flakies much in person around here. It's almost a nail polish desert. Naturally I swatched it right over my existing manicure...

Finger Paints Red Marzipan + Konad m56 + Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure


...and proceeded to take many, many pictures.



So many colors. Pictures don't do it justice. But you can click to see bigger pictures.




It was a good day.

Nfu Oh 51 layered + Konad

So, I won't tell you about how gorgeous Nfu Oh flakies are, because you probably already know. But I do want to show you my Nail of the Week (yikes, that's rare for me...a whole week!) because I pulled out the Konad again. This time I tried a full nail stamp. I need more practice!

This was one coat of Wet n Wild Black Creme (gotta love cheap one-coaters!) and two coats of Nfu Oh 51. Poshe quick-dry to make it nice and hard and then out came the Konad! I used plate m73 and Color Club Worth the Risque for the stamp.

Nfu oh 51 + Black Creme + Color Club Worth the Risque konad, sun






Do you like my japanese bellflower? My first bellflower of the season. I had to take a picture with it because I thought I had killed it. All the leaves and stems dried up and fell off and I was so sad...turns out it was just hibernating. So few plants do that in this climate, I didn't think to check. Silly me. =)

China Glaze I Wanna Lei Ya

I had this color in my untrieds for, oh, about a year. I mostly bought it because of the name; I live in Hawaii and so I like to buy polishes with names related to Hawaii. I own a bunch of sheer Sinfuls for this very reason ^_^;

China Glaze I Wanna Lei Ya, shade


China Glaze I Wanna Lei Ya, sun


For this manicure, I used 3 coats plus base & quick-dry top coat. Application was decent, nothing spectacular, but not horrible either. Just what I normally expect from a polish. I didn't expect to like the color as much as I do! I think its cute and it has a bit of silvery shimmer in it that I didn't notice in the bottle. A happy ending for something I bought based on only a name. =)

Golden Rose No. 113

Yummy holo redness. What more can I say?

Golden Rose 113, morning sun


No base coat, no top coat, only 2 coats of smooth holograpic polish. No bald spots! No cleanup either. I was a little concerned about the shape of that brush handle but it was all smooth sailing.

Golden Rose 113, morning sun


What do you think? Does this satisfy your urge for a red holographic polish? I want to say it does, but I'd be lying. I don't think I'll ever be satisfied. It sure comes close though! *is contemplating ordering a backup*

Revlon Grape Icy

The new position I'm temporarily filling in for at work is wearing me out. Luckily I found something in the drugstore that helped perk me up! Today's mani is one of the new scented Revlons, Grape Icy. You may also notice that I chopped my nails down a bit; short nails are easier for me to maintain at the moment.

As many of you already know, digital cameras often don't capture purples accurately. This polish was no different. For my sun and shade pictures, I've included both the original photo and one that I "doctored" to a more accurate portrayal of the color.

Revlon Grape Icy, sun (unaltered)


Revlon Grape Icy, sun (edited for color accuracy)


Grape Icy is a bit on the sheer side; this was 4 thin coats. Surprisingly, it was very easy to apply evenly, just required building layers for opacity. The scent is light and sweet, rather like grape-flavoured candy and lasted for several days, even with topcoat. Wait until your topcoat is dry before you try smelling it though (unlike me, lol).

The shade (or indoor) picture is closer to the correct color, but even that wasn't quite red enough and so I had to "doctor" that one as well. I apologize for the blurriness; my camera wouldn't focus properly without a flash and the flash would wash out the color. Of these four pictures, the last one is the most color accurate.

Revlon Grape Icy, indoors (unaltered)


Revlon Grape Icy, indoors (edited for color accuracy)


Overall, this is a nice color that is very vibrant in real life, but I don't think I would buy it just for the color. The real draw here is the idea of having a scented nail polish. =)