Tag: essie

 
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Nail Party – Mermaid Nails

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My BFF gets her nails done at a salon, so we never get to have nail parties…but last night, I got to have one! Beth & family stayed over after stuffing our face at Thanksgiving, so after the boys and kids passed out, we got to have a nail (& wine) party!

I went for a mermaid look with Sally Hansen Glitter Effect “Court Jest” over 2 coats of Sinful Colors “Calypso” – a midnight teal creme. It was a one coater and I shouldn’t have done 2 coats, but I did and it got rather gloopy around the edges of my nails. Oh AND maybe because of wine. I am not a wine person, but Beth introduced me to White Lambrusco. I can drink that shit like a Capri Sun…which we did, out of sippy wine cups. Again, Sinful Colors Base Coat and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash for the top coat.

I wish I had grabbed Beth before we left because she did a really cool manicure with Butter London “The Black Knight” and essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above”. We had so much fun – I can’t wait to do it again!

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FABulous DRAGon

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I was not too in love with my Gumby nails. Since I didn’t get to put a shiny top coat on, it was bugging the crap out of me.

Glitter fixes everything, right?

I tried a single coat of essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above” to jazz it up. The glitter looks like badass reptilian scales. Now I look like a FABulous DRAGon – like a real life version of a Drag Queen Dragon! Or that sexy lady dragon on Shrek?

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Invisible Wiener

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I hate posing my hand like this, without polishes. It looks like I am holding an invisible wiener…or sausage…or um, frankfurter…cylindrical meat product? There is just no good way to say it.

On top of Julep “Natalia”, I tried 5 different glitters to see which one looks the best – I cannot decide! They all look awesome!

Thumb – Julep “Oscar” – Multi-dimensional gold glitter

Index – essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above”Shattered pink diamond glitz lacquer

Middle – Julep “Jane” – Full-coverage rose gold multi-dimensional glitter

Ring – essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones”Disco mirror ball chaos

Pinky – Julep “Antonia” – Light pink holographic diamond glitter top coat

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20 Polishes

The other day, I told my husband that I wish I had 10 more fingers. He laughed and said, “You do – they’re called toes.” Painting my toenails is just not the same as painting my fingernails. They’re hard to reach and all different shapes. Plus, I hardly ever have a chance to show off my toes. I have so many ideas for polish combinations, plus – I’ve bought or been gifted about 25 polishes JUST in the month of May (which isn’t over yet.) Sure, I can practice on my junk mail, but it’s just not the same…what do I do? I stay up late and do a different combination on each finger!

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Let’s start with my left hand…

Left Thumb – China Glaze “Four Leaf Clover” and Maybelline Color Show “Emerald City”

Left Pointer – Orly “Purple Poodle” and Sparitual Luminary Matte Top Effect in “Opaline”

Left Middle – Nina “Blue La La” and Sally Hansen Gem Crush “Lady Luck”

Left Ring – Julep “Tatum” and Julep “Rosa”

Left Pinky – Sinful Colors “Sugar Sugar” and Nina “Gold Flake Topcoat”

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My right hand was a little bit more difficult, both to paint AND to photograph…

Right Thumb – Orly “Bubbly Bombshell” and Sinful Colors “Nail Junkie”

Right Pointer – Zoya “Dillon” and Sinful Colors “Bombshell”

Right Middle – Sinful Colors “Inkwell” and essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones”

Right Ring – Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Magenta Motion” and Sinful Colors “Call You Later”

Right Pinky – Sinful Colors “Nova” and Nicole by OPI “Rainbow in the S-Kylie”

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Which one do you like best? Vote in the poll below and let me know what you think!

[yop_poll id=”2″ float=”center”]

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Pink Dots

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I just can’t leave well enough alone.

Dookie Glitter looked great, but I had an idea to make it even better. I kept thinking of my favorite dress of Lily’s, from when she was a year or so old. It was an Easter dress that I picked up at Kohl’s –  a chocolate brown sundress with pink dots and roses. About half of the dots were sparkly and holographic. I put it on her every chance I got. Of course, I’m a hoarder and never got rid of the dress…so I was able to give it to my niece, Olive (pictured yelling at her mother on the left).

 

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After 2 coats of Julep “Candace”, I topped with a coat of essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above” . I had tried this glitter before, but it just wasn’t striking over another pink or fleshy tone like “Set in Stones” is. But over a dark color…”A Cut Above” is AMAZEBALLS. Now you know…

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Shit Nails

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Sooo…I’m back at home and my nails look like absolute shit. Not only do my nails look shitty, but my hands are parched and the skin on my fingers is starting to flake. Too much handwashing in public bathrooms with cheap soap.

The “One Week” manicure looked great until Friday morning…when the middle fingernail on my right hand started peeling. I was in the middle of packing to leave town, so I left it and then patched it with more essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones” that evening. They looked tolerable enough, but by Saturday evening…I broke down and covered everything with a coat of Sally Hansen Gem Crush “LadyLuck”. I went to sleep happy…

…but today, the polish has worn off around the edges of all my nails – nothing wants to stick! I’m too damn tired from all my traveling to fix my nails the right way, so I’m just going to go to sleep and worry about them tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.

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One Week

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One week…this manicure has to last one week. So I chose the flashiest, yet longest lasting look from the past few months.

See, I have a business trip in Chicago, leaving tomorrow on a 5:55AM flight. I won’t be back until late Thursday night. Most paint jobs would last that long, except I turn around Friday morning and drive to Dallas for Texas Frightmare Weekend – our yearly girls’ trip. I may have time to paint my nails at the hotel, but then again, I may not feel like it…but I can easily touch up chips with more glitter. I’ll be back Sunday, but I may not feel like painting my nails then either….so…ONE WEEK. Can I handle that?

Whereas I used Artmatic “Dusty Rose” on the original, I used 2 coats of Julep “Jennifer” as a base. The difference is like the difference between buying “nude” pantyhose vs. “Suntan”. Or maybe Katy Perry in a rhinestone bodysuit vs. Britney Spears? The glitter is essie luxeffect “Set in Stones”. The TSA better not steal it out of my luggage…it’s THAT valuable.

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Disco Accent Nail

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Zoya polish lasts so long without chipping…I was planning on putting glitter on Zoya “Bobbi” when it began to chip, but it hasn’t started to chip yet.

I couldn’t resist playing though – so I used essie luxeffects “A Cut Above” on my ring fingers. It’s not quite as sparkly as “Set in Stones” – but that may be because of the shimmer of “Bobbi”. I’ll have to try it over a matte polish.

I figured out what this polish reminds me of – “Day to Night” Barbie’s Fuchsia Lamé body suit. I didn’t even own this Barbie myself, but I loved her. Not too long ago, I took one of those lame Facebook quizzes – “What Barbie Are You?” – and the answer was “Day to Night” Barbie. That is ABSOLUTELY THE TRUTH. Facebook quizzes never lie.

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Saturday Shopping

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If I’m out of the house, I’m going to find a way to go shopping.

Before heading to a birthday party, my BFF and I had to drop by Ulta, kids in tow. While she availed herself of her 20% off coupon, I was going to put my $5 off coupon to use by picking up Zoya “Bobbi” and essie luxeffects “A Cut Above”. (Too bad I didn’t check the dates – my coupon isn’t valid until Monday. Luckily, they had a $3.50 off coupon at the check-out.)

After a fun birthday party for a very sweet 5 year old, I demanded that we visit Bath & Body Works, so that I could take advantage of B3G3 and an “up to 40% off” coupon. I picked up Fragrance Mist, Body Cream and Shower Gel in “Oahu Coconut Sunset” for my sister in Alaska. They don’t have B&BW where she lives and I figured she may be missing Hawaii after a cold winter. I also picked up back-up Body Creams for myself – “Mad About You”, “Pure Paradise” and “Carried Away”. My coupon ended up being for 30% off – not a bad deal…

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Oops, I Did It Again

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My inspiration for this paint job was Britney Spears’ naked rhinestone suit from the MTV Music Awards. Don’t laugh, Britney is no less a valid inspiration than The Shocker or The Rusty Trombone!

Hands down, essie luxeffects “Set in Stones” is the best glitter to use if you want to draw attention to your nails. I was unable to get a pictures of my nails that didn’t have multiple lens flares.

Underneath the glitter, I put down a single coat of Artmatic “Dusty Rose”, which is one of the oldest polishes that I own. (I don’t remember why, but Dr. Delta gave me this polish when we lived together in college…so it’s at LEAST 17 years old.) I haven’t seen Artmatic in stores in years, but according to the intertwebs, it’s still sold in Dollar Stores. I admit that I had quite a bit of Artmatic makeup in my Junior High years.

This is now my “go to” nail look. Get used to it…