Guest nails: Christmas is Best in Silver and Gold

Hey guys, another guest nails post here. These are my sister Libby's hands. These are again from Christmas Eve.

Update: As in my last post, blogger decided not to post my scheduled entry and so this is late. Lucky for you guys this does mean I have a back log of posts to put up for your viewing pleasure.

These nails start out with an all over 2 coats of China Glaze- Sugar Plums. I could have stayed with one on this polish but I wanted to make sure nothing was missed so opted for two.

I took Konad plate m12 and stamped with China Glaze- Midnight Kiss on each finger. Then I took a dotter (my smallest dotting head) and dotted small sliver balls on the trees. For the dotting I used China Glaze- Cheers to you.

I know my images are not the best in the world. My mom has horrible lighting in her house. But all images are clickable so you can easily click on them to get a better view of the details.

Happy Polishing!

Guest Nails: Its a Clear Night Santa

Christmas eve I had the joy of painting my sisters nails. These are my sister Emily's hands.

Update: Sorry this didn't post like it was supposed to, apparently scheduled posts are still having issues. I set one up a few days ago and it went thru just fine but this post and another did not go thru like they were supposed to Christmas day and the day after. Again sorry for the delay. The next post is scheduled for tomorrow. I will to my best to find Internet access to check that it goes thru properly.

So for my sisters nails I used China Glaze- Dorothy Who? over all her nails in three coats. Then I let dry.

Plates from faux-nad and Konad were used for the stars and Santa face. m12 Konad and M37 faux-nad.

China Glaze- Cheers to You and Konad- White were used for the stamping... I took China Glaze- Phat Santa and painted the hat red... then I took China Glaze- Outta Bounds and painted the mistletoe on her thumbs.

She loved these, and because she is only 13 I didn't bother to try to clean up her cuticles. I know how hard she is on her hands. Still perfect Christmas nails if you ask me. All nails were finished off with a quick coat of Seche Vite.

Happy Polishing!

Mistletoe Snow globes

So yesterday I gave myself and my best friend Laura Mani's. I showed you hers now here is mine. Better stay tuned for more guest hands all this week and next. Lots of friends and family are wanting me to do their nails for holiday parties and I am having so much fun with it. I have two from today to post later.

First off I have to say I LOVE LOVE LOVE this mint green. Now I normally try to stay clear of Sally Hansen products. They do have some fabulous colors, I just feel its wrong to support a company that is still okay with animal testing. I know almost all companies that own cosmetic brands do, but I had an internal debate about it awhile ago and do my best to steer clear. This one however I couldn't. I went back and forth and after looking for a good dupe in another brand, couldn't pass up this mint green with its slight shimmer. My photograph here does not do it any justice. I really hate the brush on this though. Its one of those wide rounded flat things that so many others dislike to. So enough of my blabbing.. this color is Sally Hansen - Gentle Blossom.

Next I took China Glaze- Outta Bounds and used bundle monster plate BM14. Accent fingers were my theme from yesterday, if you couldn't already tell. I took China Glaze - Ruby Red Pumps and used a dotting tool over the berries in the center of the stamped image to make them red.

Last I did a coat of China Glaze - Snow Globe over each nail. Double coats were done on all non accent nails. Again pictures don't do these justice. They have so many different colors that reflect off the glitter. Tastes like happy to me. And of course since I hate the gritty feeling of glitter, so I use a thick coat of Seche Vite over everything to smooth it all out.

Okay I have talked way too much in this post. Look out for more Mani's... cant say it enough because I have ten siblings, six of which are female, and then my mom, my sisters kids, aunts, cousins, etc. Yeah you get the picture. I promised anyone who wanted Mani's would be getting them while I am here so that means lots of nail pron for you dears.

Happy Polishing!

Guest Nails: She'll be comming with bells on

Well I am here in Washington. Made it safe and sound late last night. Haven't even been here a full 24 hours and I already have a great Mani to share. These are my best friend Laura's hands. She will definitely be coming with bells on wherever she goes.

I started off with a base coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion. Pinkie, middles and pointer fingers were given two coats of China Glaze- Ruby Red Pumps. Ring and thumb fingers have three coats of China Glaze- Dorthy Who?

I let all of the above dry, then took bundle monster plate BM14, and Konad Special Polish - White and stamped the bells on each nail. Next I took China Glaze- Midnight Kiss and filled in the bells on the ring and thumb fingers carefully with a small detail brush.

That's it for today... I'll post my own Mani that I did at the same time today in tomorrows post.

Happy Polishing loves!

Celebration Mani: The votes are in and counting completed

Whew... that was some work. So now here are the results. I am not going to list everyone just the top three... and here they are.

 

3rd Place goes to: a tie between Orlica and Pip

2nd Place goes to: Sabbatha

and congrats to our 1st place winner, Katheryn.

Since I did not get very many votes Katheryn and Sabbatha please email me your addresses ASAP Jea.lo.ryder@gmail.com .I have opted out of drawing a random winner from the handful of voters and am going to give the surprise pack to the runner up. If you could please get them to me by the end of Dec 19th it would be great. Otherwise you will have to wait until I get back home from my 2 week vacation.

Thank you everyone who voted and entered. This was alot of fun. I am definently planning on doing more of these in the future.

Happy Polishing!

Citrus Candy Canes

Ok don't shoot me... I am working on tallying votes already but decided to take a break. So these are my cute Mani for the week. Nothing super fab but still fun.

I used OPI- Fiercely Fiona as my base color and then took China Glaze- Frosty and China Glaze- Phat Santa to make the candy canes.


Ok back to adding voting numbers. With so many entries it does take a bit of time, but there weren't very many votes... kinda sadly. I am not discouraged from doing any future voting the same way though because it was alot more fair.


Happy Polishing!

Reminder: VOTE!

Sorry no nails right now. I am soo busy with school work, baking, packing for my trip (which I leave on next week) and taking care of normal housework and volunteering schedules... yeah I have had no time for nails. Sad panda am I. I feel naked right now with my single color nails. Currently I have on China Glaze- Cheers to you. I would have taken pictures of them but really, how many times can you guys view a color from the China Glaze holiday collection before your bored to tears. They have been over done, and I am just not willing to follow the herd.

So, my goal for this week is to get at least ONE awesome Mani in amongst my madness and to tally and announce the winner of the Mani contest. So help me out guys, vote HERE. I know it takes a bit of time, but I know each entrant is appreciative of the support as am I. I also have a surprise in store for those who vote. *wink wink*

While I am on vacation for two weeks I have a bunch of Mani's lined up with family and friends to do. Tre excited to share them with you as I have the time/ access to the inter webs. So be on the look out for those.

Again, I shamelessly beg you guys to vote on the Mani competition. Support these amazing ladies!

Happy Polishing!

Celebration Mani: Entries and voting

Ok as promised voting is started for the Celebration Mani Contest. Ladies you are now welcome to post your entries on your blogs or any other medium you choose. Please be aware that all voters MUST be a follower and may only vote once.  I am going to be verifying accounts again. So thank you for not encouraging and/or cheating.

Since this is such a long post. View the entries and voting form after the jump.

Wreath-lys fresh mint

Hey everyone. Today I have a fun Mani for you. Yes I know some of you are dying for the voting to start on the nail art contest but a few last minute entry attachments didn't come thru properly. *shakes fist at Gmail!* So I am patiently waiting to see if the entrants get the images to me before I just post what I have by tomorrow afternoon. If you sent in a Mani the last two days before the deadline please check your email to see if you were one of the unlucky people who's attachments didn't work.

Today's Mani has a base of Refresh Mint by China Glaze. To make the wreaths I used my dotting/ embossing tools and just made random dots in a circular pattern. For the wreaths branch color I used China Glaze- Outta Bounds. Next I took China Glaze- Party Hearty and dabbed it carefully over the branch areas.

For the bow on top I waited for Party Hearty to dry completely first, then took China Glaze- Jingle Bells and used a dotting tool again. I started by making a dot in the center of the top of the wreath. Next I made a triangle on each side of the dot with the point touching the dot. As you can see when I say triangle its really a triangle shape without the sharp edges.  To make the bow ribbon ends (since I have no idea what the technical term is) I made two lines coming off of dot.

I used OPI- Onyx to accent the bows so they look more three dimensional. Of course, I used Seche Vite top coat to seal everything up and make it all shiny.

Ok, well back to housework. Now that my homework is caught up, I have housework that has been neglected. Gotta luv life.

Happy Polishing!

Lippmann Dupe: Red Ruby Slippers

I am sure others of you have read about the wet and wild color Prancer. How it is a great dupe for Lippmann's Red Ruby Slippers. Well I thought I would share with you how I achieved frankening Prancer into the dupe for a fraction of the cost of buying the actual Lippmann color.

First I bought two bottles of Prancer. Two are not needed but I really REALLY like this polish and wanted to make sure I had a backup.

Second, make sure you have some time on your hands before starting this project. It took me over an hour of mixing and swatching to get the right shade of black jelly. I am going to tell you guys exactly what I used and how I did it, but it could easily vary from one black polish to another.

What you need:

• one bottle of Wet and Wild - Prancer
• a bottle of black polish (I used OPI - Onyx)
• a paper towel or sheet of paper to keep mess to a minimum
• toothpick
• spare empty polish bottle and brush cap (not required but recommended if you dislike the Wet and Wild bottle/brush)
• something to swatch on (I used the paper I was set up on to keep the polish off my table)

To start I swatched Prancer on my paper without any black. This was my control.Then I started adding drops of black polish to the bottle. Between adding drops I would take a toothpick and stir the contents of the bottle up as much as possible and then roll it between my hands as well. I feel this helps to speed up the mixing process, though you are welcome to mix as you see fit.

Let me warn you... it takes ALOT of mixing to make sure everything is all stirred up before you swatch to see where you are at each time. This is the time consuming part. When I say drops I mean drops like you add drops to water marble. Just let the black polish drop off of the brush into the prancer bottle.

The first time I added 10 drops, then 10 more and then 15 more. My total was 45 by the end and I did have to removed a bit of the franked polish a few times to be able to add more drops of black to it. So if you have a spare empty bottle laying around I would highly recommend dumping ALL of prancer into it before starting your franken. It would more than likely make the process easier. I myself did not have a large empty bottle to do this with.

So after my 45 drops of OPI- Onyx you can see what two coats of this polish looks like on my nails. I still feel I could add another 10-15 drops to it but at the time I did not want to removed anymore polish from the franken bottle, so I just did my nails. I think I am going to add them now that I have done a Mani and have room for more black.

Well I hope this helps anyone who has been lemming after Red Ruby Slippers. Feel free to post any questions in the comments. I will respond to them ASAP. Oh, and I found Prancer at Walgreen's for 99 cents a bottle.

I will have Mani contest entries and voting steps up within the next two days. My homework is seriously kicking my butt. I thought for sure I would have up the entries yesterday but I had three chapters to read and do notes on and today I have chapter questions to answer and a worksheet to fill out.

Happy Polishing!

Franken: Night of the Blizzard

Yesterday was a school day. I was bugged all day by my pathetic chipping nails. Homework is really kicking my butt. Seems I have to prioritize which means less time for nails and that is ok with me as much as I hate it. I love what I am learning. After school I stopped at Walgreens to get a few prescriptions filled for the household and while waiting I went thru the makeup department. Luck was on my side. I stumbled upon a brand new wet and wild holiday display. Was able to nab up two bottles of Prancer. I even grabbed a Blitzen just to see how it applies... I have a great franken for it if I don't like the polish as is.

I got home and took one bottle of prancer and started adding drops of black polish into it to make the Lippmann dupe. While I was at it I took an old empty mini Orly bottle and poured the clear topcoat that came with Prancer into it and started adding glitter and eye pigments. I had never done this before but was just experimenting. (honestly I was procrastinating on homework)

So I have NO idea what all went into this. I know a few mac pigments, some coastal scents pigments and glitters... so on and so forth. Still I LOVE how it turned out. My swatch here is two coats. I only really needed one... I may have over packed it with glitter. Only frustrating thing is that it has to be shaken up really well before use. I did this yesterday and didn't take pics until today, had to shake it back up because the contents had separated a bit.

How are you feeling about my franken?

Reminder: Mani contest entries deadline is tomorrow. Get them in ladies! Info can be found HERE.

Happy Polishing.

Celebration Mani Reminder

Hey guys... reminder, only a few days left to get your Celebration Mani's in for my contest. You can find the info to enter HERE. Don't be overwhelmed, give it a try. I soo want as many people to be in this as possible. It doesn't have to be super fancy with lots of freehand guys.

To those who have already entered. Thank you!!

Its the first snowfall here today. But I have homework so my first snowfall Mani is going to have to wait until after said homework is done.

Happy Polishing loves!

Frosted Evergreen

Yesterday I painted my nails... and it was cloudy... and today its raining. So darn it I'm just going to post my cloudy pics of this Mani. Rawr!

I have here China Glaze- Holly Jolly as a base. Sponged over that I used China Glaze- Four Leaf Clover and then Sponged over that, China Glaze- Frosty and Sponged on top of that a Snowman polish that is red glitter in a clear base. Wow was that alot to type, or a mouthful if you were to read it out loud.

Something awesome I stumbled upon while bored and reading a random blog (sorry guys I go on sprees where I read like 5-6 blogs from first post to end and cant remember who posted what), use chap stick to keep the extra polish off your cuticle's and skin. I tried it for this Mani and have to say it works like a charm. So much easier than tape or trying to brush on petroleum jelly. Just pop open a chap stick and rub it around your nail. All I had to do after three layers of sponging colors on was wash my hands in warm water. All of that extra polish came off without a single problem. Let me just say I was very impressed at how simple this method was.

So I love and hate this Mani to be honest. It looks like snow covered trees with tinsel on them to me at times, but others it looks like a complete mess. What are your thoughts?

Well happy polishing... My first real day of class time was today (last week was just orientation) and I already have homework. Yeesh! Don't want to get behind so I am going to get to work on it. Until next time.

Its Hello Kitty!

Thanksgiving was pretty boring for me... and the food wasn't all that great. I am used to my huge family gatherings with tons of great food. The affair I went to was bland, quick and then over before I felt like I had the chance to blink.

So during my boredom of waiting for said bland food to even be done, I painted my nails. I had brought my nail kit with me like I do every year. No one else wanted their nails done so I only did myself. Made me miss my sisters all the more.

This is OPI- DS Extravagance with Konad Pink stamped over. Faux-nad Hello kitty plate was used for the ring fingers and some plate I don't remember was used for the thumbs.

Hope you all are recovering from your black Friday escapades. I myself did not participate.

Happy Polishing!

50th Horde Member Giveaway- Winner

Hey guys, I have to say a HUGE thankyou for how many of you who entered my giveaway. I know it gained alot of new followers, and I do hope not all of my new followers vanish. Comment and let me know what I can do to help you out.

So after verifying over 200 entries and deleting a bunch of comments to protect your email addresses from spam, we have a winner! Congrats SayAnythingBrooke. An email has been sent your way. Please respond within 48 hours so I can get your package in the mail. In the event no response has been recieved I will have to pick another number at random.

Again thank you guys. Dont forget, I still have another fabulous package of gifts to giveaway for my Celebration Mani contest. Just submit your mani and the necessary info, which can be found HERE, to Jea.Lo.Ryder@gmail.com by Dec 4th.

As always, Happy Polishing!

Cupcakes on a rainy day

Yesterday it was pissing down rain pretty much all day long. I even had to stand in it for over an hour while working on my car. Not my idea of fun.. my poor curly hair turned into a huge puff ball Afro by the end of the day. Just eww. To cheer myself up and redeem my chipped and two peeling nails, I gave myself a Mani. I had been intending to do so all weekend, but alas life got in the way.

For this I used Milani- Hi Res and Bundle Monster plate BM14. Konad polish was used for the stamping but I honestly have no idea what the name of the polish is. It is a small sample bottle of blue that came with my Coraline set.

If you haven't already don't forget to send in your Celebration Mani's.Info can be found HERE. You still have plenty of time to be creative. And no need to feel like you couldn't possibly win because voting isn't going to be your typical affair. So please, even if you just do something simple, give it a try. You never know what could happen!

Ok time to finish getting ready for my first day of school. I have butterflies from hell right now. Gah. And in case you are wondering, I am starting an advance Esthetics's course.

Happy Polishing Loves!

Phat Santa's Accent

Today I did not feel like being all crazy and creative. So I did a simple Mani with China Glaze- Phat Santa and used China Glaze- Mrs Clause on my ring fingers as an accent nail.

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable week before thanksgiving. I know next week is going to be insane for me. I start school, have cooking to do, black Friday sales to attend and Christmas decorating. Busy busy! Well and of course nails to do... can never forget those.

Happy Polishing loves!