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.