Nails in Nippon

Essence Mellow Yellow Topped With Holo Bar Glitter

2012-03-02T22:39:00.000+09:00

Today I have Essence Mellow Yellow, from Marketta, and a Japanese brand called Pa number A37.

Mellow Yellow is a beautiful buttery yellow but it did need three coats to even out. The Pa A37 is a holo bar glitter in a clear base, it's different than the usual holo glitter and I really liked this combo. I'm not too big into the "hairy polishes" but a few of them look pretty interesting.

Do you like the bar glitters?

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Hello Kitty With Monsters Tutorial

2012-02-28T22:05:00.000+09:00

First off, I apologize for the horrid cuticles, the weather here has not been kind and snowboarding doesn't help either. Second, this isn't as in depth as I usually do my tutorials but if you have been around and have seen my other HK tutorials it is pretty similar to those. Plus, I sort of forgot to take pictures of everything but I am sure you will be able to follow along.

When I saw the monster designs for some of the new Hello Kitty stuff I knew I had to do nail art to match. My base is OPI Skull & Glossbones. Start off by making the basic shapes with black acrylic paint. I am only doing Hello Kitty's face on my ring fingers and the rest will be the plain monsters.

After you have the shapes, start filling in. I always do the white for HK's head first and work out from there. The monsters with the pointed horns are green and the crab looking ones are red and blue but you could do them any color you like.

Finish filling in and adding details like the eyes, mouths, rosy cheeks, and HK's bow.

Add top coat and you are done.

Pictures of my right hand, not so great but I loved this one so much I wore it over a week! I did add some gold holographic glitter the next day but didn't get pictures of it with that.

I do a lot of Hello Kitty designs so would you like to see every step of how I do them all or would you just prefer the pictures since most of them are done the same way?

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Tinsel Town

2012-02-26T22:11:00.000+09:00

I haven't been around much lately, sorry for that! I had planned to do nail art all month but haven't really felt up to it. Hopefully, I will get back on track. I do have a few swatches to post and another Hello Kitty design, I wore that for more than a week and still haven't posted it, I'm horrible. The pictures are being edited right now so it should be up soon.

Today I have Tinsel Town, another polish from my swap with Marketta, is a charcoal blue base with silver glitter. It reminds me a lot of China Glaze It's Alive just grey instead of green. I used two coats, it covered perfectly with no issues.

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Pink And Black Plaid Tutorial

2012-02-14T19:38:00.001+09:00

A super quick and easy design today but one that I think looks really nice. If you have problems making straight lines my advice is get a very long striping bush, load it with paint and lay the brush on the nail then drag it off. Instead of trying to draw a line the brush will do it for you.

Start with a pink base, I used OPI Cherry Blossoms because of the shimmer in it.

With black acrylic paint make a thin and a wide line down each nail.

Now, with pink acrylic paint make a line on each black line.

Lastly, make a few thin black lines across each nail, top coat and your done.

I hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day if you celebrate it!

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Red Nails With Easy Lace Tutorial

2012-02-13T21:18:00.003+09:00

I wasn't going to post this at first but then I thought why not? I don't love it but maybe someone else will.

I started off with a red base.

Make a black slanted french tip, with acrylic paint made the line more perfect and make small loops above the tip.

Add a few dots above the loops.

Make small dots in a brick laying pattern across the black tip. I wish I would have used red for this but I used white and I think that is why I don't like it much, it seems out of place I guess. I learned this type of lace nail art from Robin Moses, if you haven't watched her videos on YouTube you are really missing out.

After you cover the black tips with dots, top coat and your done.

Do you think the white looks out of place here? While we are on the subject, have you ever used real lace on your nails?

V-Day Pink/Red Sponged Tiger Print

2012-02-10T23:26:00.000+09:00

Yeah, another tiger print, you should know by now. This one is pink to red fade with glitter. I had to do one for Valentines day because I've had it in my head a while and figured it would be perfect for it.

Start out with a white base. It doesn't have to be perfect, most of it will be covered up later anyway.

Sponge on pink acrylic paint leaving a little bit of white near the cuticle. Don't worry about being too neat, you can clean up around the nail later.

With red acrylic paint do the same thing leaving a bit of pink showing.

At this point I went ahead and cleaned up the acrylic paint but you can always wait until after top coat if you like. I added a red and silver glitter, Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, over the pink and red.

Make your tiger print with black acrylic paint, you can see my tutorial on that here. Add top coat and your finished.

Do you have you Valentines day manicure planned out? What will you be wearing?

Models Own Aqua Violet

2012-02-07T23:03:00.000+09:00

My first Models Own, back before these came out I asked Marketta about picking this up for me and I am so glad she agreed! Aqua Violet is beautiful, it shifts from a blue/teal to violet. I really like this more then I thought I would. The only downside is the formula is thin, watery and needed four coats for me but that seems to be the norm for duochromes. On the plus side it did dry quick for me. There isn't much else to say about this one except I couldn't decide on just one or two photos so enjoy!

Did you pick up any of the Beetlejuice polishes, which is your favorite?

Nicole By OPI Wear Something Spar-Kylie

2012-02-04T21:58:00.000+09:00

First off, this polish refused to photograph clear for me. I swatched it twice, took over a hundred pictures and this was the best it would take. I know it has to be the polish because I put on another, took pictures of it and they turned out perfectly but when I went back to this it was the same thing, not great, no clue why. My camera just freaks out with this glitter.

Anyways, Wear Some Thing Spar-Kylie is from the Kardashian Kolor for holiday 2011. I don't care for the Kardashian's but a few of the glitters in this collection were nice. Marketta sent this one to me in our swap and I am glad she did, I really like it.

Wear Something Spar-Kylie is a pink jelly packed with pink and silver glitter. I had no problems with application other than the brush was cut at a bit of an angle, I used three coats.

Revlon Sparkling

2012-02-02T21:06:00.000+09:00

Revlon Sparkling is supposedly a dupe for Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening. While I don't have Some Enchanted Evening, the pictures I have seen of it appear to be pretty similar to Sparkling.

Sparkling has a clear base with small pink glitter and large pink hex glitter. Pictures are from the pinky finger one coat, ring two coats, middle three coats and index four coats. At four coats it still isn't opaque and would be best as a layering polish, I think black or light blue would look amazing.

Do you prefer to wear glitters that aren't opaque like this one on their own, under a type of nude polish or do you like to wear them over colored polish?

China Glaze Icicle

2012-01-31T23:09:00.000+09:00

Another polish I got from my swap with Marketta was Icicle from the China Glaze Let It Snow collection for winter. It is a basic silver foil but it has a very nice formula, not too thin or thick. I used three coats for my pictures but two would have been fine otherwise. I will definitely be keeping this one!

What is your favorite silver? I really like silver polish but only have a few for some reason.

Glitter Gal Lizard Belly (Picture Heavy)

2012-01-27T23:55:00.000+09:00

Lizard Belly is a polish from a swap I did recently with Marketta. She really spoiled me and I had a hard time deciding what to wear first but my love for green and holo won.

Lizard Belly is a stunning dark green, almost black but not, packed with holographic shimmer. The formula on this one was amazing as well. I used two coats for my pictures but if you are careful you could easily get away with one. It dried quickly for a dark polish as well. There really isn't much else to say except that it is beautiful on the nail and in the bottle.

Thanks for picking this up for me, Marketta! I love it!

Japanese Brand Sweets Sweets

2012-01-25T19:44:00.000+09:00

Sweets Sweets is a Japanese drug store brand as far as I know and today I have a foil of theirs, NL41, which is a green glass flake with gold shimmer. It reminds me of one of the Zoya polishes that came out over the summer, Apple I think it was. I'm glad I gave in and picked this one up, very pretty.
I used three coats and it covered well and dried pretty quick. You can see a bit of nail line but it wasn't visible out of the light box.

BYS Down The Rabbit Hole

2012-01-22T17:22:00.000+09:00

This is a polish I have wanted since I saw it last year but had pretty much given up on finding. Lucky me though, it was hiding at a little shop in a mall in Tokyo just waiting for me. The other two polishes from this collection were no where to be see so I don't know how long it had been there waiting for me.

Down The Rabbit Hole is a black jelly packed full of holographic glitter. No matter what I did I could not get a decent picture of it. It is a hundred time more stunning in real life than in the pictures. See all those tiny silver glitter pieces, yeah, that is all holo glitter. It is amazing in the bottle and on the nail.

Like with the other BYS polish it does smell but not enough for me not to love it. I did four coats for pictures but you could get away with three. The first coat was very sheer, other than that I truly love this one, so glad I stumbled upon it.

Here it is out of the light box so you can see a bit more of the glitter.

Now I just need Adventures of Alice. You can get BYS polish from Fashion Addict, as far as I know this collection is still in stock on their website, but if you aren't in Australia the shipping can be costly. That's why I never got them.

BYS Lulu Blue

2012-01-19T22:13:00.002+09:00

One of my first BYS polishes! I picked up Lulu Blue while we were in Tokyo along with Down The Rabbit Hole, which I will be wearing soon.

Lulu Blue is a clear base with blue and holo glitter. In the store I thought it was just blue and silver but once I saw it in sunlight I was happy to see it wasn't.

I used four coats and it isn't opaque so this would definitely be a layering polish but it's still gorgeous. The only downside on this one is the smell and drying time, it didn't seem to dry as quick as some glitters but it did have a high gloss, give and take I guess? Overall, I love it.

Have you tried any BYS polishes? Did they smell strong to you?

Ferrari Nails

2012-01-17T22:56:00.000+09:00

For those that don't follow me on Twitter we went to Tokyo for the 30Th anniversary of the Auto Salon over the weekend. The Tokyo Auto Salon is the largest auto show in the world so I had to do my nails for it. I decided on doing Ferrari mostly because they are one of my favorites and the emblem was great for nail art.
As great as the emblem was I had a hard time deciding on a design. Eventually, I ended up with just the prancing pony on my ring fingers with a yellow base, the remaining fingers a base of "race red" and my middle finger had a yellow stripe with the Italian flag striped down it. I did use my nail sticker technique to make the ponies so they were close in size and because I wasn't sure if I could do such small details with my right hand.
I used OPI Alpine Snow for the base on my ring fingeres and layered Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow over it and OPI You Make Me Vroom for the rest of my fingers, the pony and flag are acrylic paint.
Here is the picture before we left.

And at the show with a few of the Ferrari's.

We spent the entire day there and my legs and back were killing me at the end but we had a fantastic time! It was worth it, so glad we went.
What did you do over the weekend, anything fun or did you just relax?

Gosh Green Hawaii

2012-01-11T23:21:00.000+09:00

This is one I have had for a while but haven't gotten around to trying it. Gosh Green Hawaii combines two of my favorite things, green and glitter and not just any glitter it's holographic glitter! It is so hard to get pictures of the glitter but trust me it is packed full of it. I am so glad I finally got around to wearing this one, I adore it.

There were no issues with Green Hawaii, the first coat was a little sheer but after that was fine. I have to say I love the Gosh bottles and their brushes. I used three coats for my pictures.

Also, my creative juices have been tapped out lately and I can't think of any nail design to do so if you have been wanting to see something now is the time to speak up!

Revlon Naughty

2012-01-08T22:35:00.000+09:00

I admit it, I eyed Chanel Paradoxal for a while but couldn't justify spending that much on it and when I heard about Relon having a dupe for it called Perplex, I waited for us to get it in here but it never came. I guess the polish gods finally heard my pleas smiled upon me because the other day they had the new display of Revlon in. Most of the colors were gone but the new release for Perplex under the name Naughty was still there.

Revlon Naughty is supposed to be a dupe for Chanel Paradoxal, since I don't own Paradoxal I can't compare them but from the pictures I have seen Naughty seems a bit more purple. The base looks like a dark brown taupe with a touch of purple and has some gorgeous purple shimmer, maybe even a little red, when light his it.

What is the most you have even paid for a polish? What is the most you think you would ever pay?

The Black Knight Franken

2012-01-06T23:20:00.000+09:00

Hi guys! I hope everyone had a great start to the new year! Back when I saw the promo pics for Butter London The Black Knight I knew I wanted it but couldn't get it shipped over to me. So, after a while I thought about making my own and that's exactly what I did.

I was surfing around and found where Goose's Glitter made one using Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink and OPI Absolutely Alice. Now, since I already had AA and knew I could easily get RP at the store here I had to try it out. Luckily for me I picked up the last RP in stock and started making my franken.

Like Goose's Glitter I used a bit of black, Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink and OPI Absolutely Alice but couldn't stop myself there. I also threw in a little OPI Extra-Va-Vaganza! and Femme Couture Tinsel.

I call it The Holy Grail because every time I hear The Black Knight I always think of Monty Python's The Holy Grail where King Arthur fights the black knight. Please tell me you all have seen this movie?

What do you think, is it close to The Black Knight? How was the start of the new year for you? Did you do anything fun?

Hello Kitty As A Reindeer Tutorial

2011-12-31T22:16:00.000+09:00

Wow, I can't believe 2011 is almost over! I guess that makes this my last post of the year. Today I have a tutorial from the 12 Days of Christmas challenge. Hillary requested this one so here it is!

Start with the background of your choice. I used China Glaze For Audrey and topped it with OPI Paris Couture For Sure. Then with black acrylic paint make an oval on the ring finger and a half circle on the side of the index finger.

Add triangles on the index and ring finger to make her ears and on the remaining fingers make two slightly curved lines next to each other to start forming the reindeer tracks.

Now to add the antlers, just make two thin lines on top of the head, in between the ears, and a shorter line branching off of those on each side.

Make a small white oval shape in the black for her face. You do not want to fill in the entire oval, be sure to leave enough room at the top for the reindeer details.

If you have made it this far you are in the home stretch! Take a light brown and fill in the antlers and part of the ears. Then with a darker brown and fill in the rest of the head.

With the light brown make a small oval above Hello Kitty's face for the deer nose. Add in her eyes with black ovals, lines for whiskers and a yellow oval for her nose.

Make a small black dot in the light brown ovals to finish the deer nose. Now, you can stop here or you can add in a bow. It's pretty easy but I do it in a few layers. First, with black, make a dot then a triangle connecting to it on each side and fill it in with white, then red and when all that dries I outline the circle and add in a curved line on each triangle.

Top coat and you have Hello Kitty dressed as a reindeer!

Hope you have a Happy New Year!!!

Day 12: Christmas Tree Nails

2011-12-25T22:21:00.001+09:00

First of all, Merry Christmas if you celebrate! If you don't I hope you still have a fantastic day!
Our last day, Day twelve with Marta, Marketta and Carolina is Christmas Tree Nails. I can't believe it's the last day, this challenge went by so fast!
For Christmas tree nails I did sort of a zoomed in view of a tree with lights, silver garland, and red and blue ornaments. This one came out better than I thought it would, I like it and will probably use it again next year, maybe with some different ornaments though.
The base is OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow Suede and the rest is acrylic paint except for the glitter on a few of the ornaments, I used OPI Paris Couture For Sure for those.

Check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for Christmas Tree nails!

Day 11: Coka-Cola Nails

2011-12-24T19:59:00.001+09:00

Today is Day eleven with Marta, Marketta and Carolina! This is the day I was most excited about because for one of our free days I knew I wanted to do Coca-Cola nails! It was a big challenge getting Santa right but actually didn't take that long. The wording had to be squeezed on and barely made it but I am super happy with this one though and am sure I won't want to take it off. If I had more time I would liked to have done the polar bears as well, next year maybe.
I used OPI Wocka Wocka! for the base and the rest is acrylic paint.

Here is it with our Coke glass box.

Merry Christmas Eve if you celebrate! Are you doing anything special tonight? Be sure to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did today!

Day 10: Hello Kitty As A Reindeer

2011-12-23T18:09:00.001+09:00

Day ten already with Marta, Marketta and Carolina, it feels like this challenge has gone by so fast! Today is our second free day and I had to pull out Hello Kitty's Reindeer costume.
Now, at first glance you may not notice, I didn't but I apparently forgot to fill in her bow! What is wrong with me lately? The middle and pinky fingers are supposed to be reindeer tracks. Anyways, I used China Glaze For Audrey and OPI Paris Couture For Sure as the base and the rest is acrylic paint.

I am really excited about tomorrows nails, not sure how they will turn out but I can't wait to try it! Don't forget to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did today!

Day 9: More Wrapping Paper?

2011-12-22T19:20:00.000+09:00

Day nine is one of our three free days with Marta, Marketta and Carolina and I chose to do another wrapping paper design. At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do for today but while I was at the store yesterday I saw this wrapping paper and had to get it. The penguins and polar bears were too cute to pass up! Then, after I got home I knew I had to do a nail design for it so here it is.
The wrapping paper I just had to have.

My nail design from it. I was in a hurry so I didn't have much time to get this one done so it isn't great. I also forgot to give the penguin his other arm, oh well, I will try to make up for it tomorrow. I used OPI's Wocka Wocka! for the background.

Don't forget to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did today!

Day 8: Glitter Nails

2011-12-21T22:05:00.000+09:00

Today is Day eight: Glitter Nails with Marta, Marketta and Carolina! I used one of my favorite glitters reserved for Christmas and that is China Glaze Party Hearty from their holiday collection last year. It is a layering polish and the silvery champagne background of OPI Designer...De Better! seemed to work perfect for it. I really like this combo, glittery and sparkly but not so over the top and in your face.

What do you think, do you like full on glitter or just a subtle sparkle? Be sure to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for glitter nails!

Day 7: Favorite Christmas Movie

2011-12-20T22:01:00.000+09:00

Day seven with Marta, Marketta and Carolina is Favorite Christmas Movie! One of my favorite Christmas movies, because I have a few, is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was a staple at my house around Christmas along with many others. I always loved the Abominable Snowman in the movie most. I was going to do him and Hermy as well but ran out of time so I only did Rudolph.
The background is supposed to be snow covered mountains but my husband says they look like white flames. I guess everyone else made it out of the wintery fire except Rudolph then? Although, he does look pretty happy, then again maybe he started it? I used Alpine Snow for the base and the rest is acrylic paint.

Check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for their favorite Christmas movie if you haven't!

Holiday Giveaway Winners!

2011-12-20T17:21:00.000+09:00

Thanks to everyone that entered my giveaway and being so patient as I verified entries and the winners!

Since one of the questions on the entry form was what polish you would like from the giveaway, the winners will get their first available answer from the form.

Alexa1202 is the winner of the Island Girl and mini polishes set.

Sherry86 is the winner of Merry Midnight.

Melissa is the winner of Mad As A Hatter.

Katy Morris is the winner of Reflecting Pool

Amber Johnson is the winner of Absolutely Alice.

All of the winners have been emailed. Please contact me before the 28Th or I will draw a new winner!

Thanks again to everyone that entered!

Day 6: Favorite Christmas Book

2011-12-19T18:55:00.000+09:00

Day six with Marta, Marketta and Carolina is Favorite Christmas Book! Frosty The Snowman from the Little Golden Book back in 1950 was my inspiration for today, you can see the picture I based my nails on here. I am really happy with how it turned out!

Here is a close up of Frosty and one of the kids, they are so tiny!

What is your favorite Christmas book? Be sure to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for their favorite Christmas book!

Day 5: Wrapping Paper Nails

2011-12-18T16:14:00.000+09:00

Day five is Wrapping Paper Nails with Marta, Marketta and Carolina! Can you tell I am excited about this one! I always love checking out the new wrapping paper designs for Christmas. One of my favorite things about Christmas is wrapping presents. My Grandmother used to get me to help her wrap and she would occasionally trick me into wrapping my own gifts, she was a sly one! Which was fine by me but after she passed away years ago I always look back on that and find it hilarious, one of my most treasured memories of her. She always thought it was so funny when I recognized my own wrapping on my gifts.
Anyways, blue and silver is my favorite Christmas colors so I used OPI's Blue My Mind and silver acrylic paint for my wrapping paper. I think this design looks very hard but it is super simple. I made a thin silver line then one thick one and so on then over the thick silver lines made blue dots back and forth to make a rickrack pattern.

What is your favorite thing about Christmas? Don't forget to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for wrapping paper nails!

Day 4: Candy Cane Nails

2011-12-17T16:32:00.000+09:00

Day four is Candy Cane Nails with Marta, Marketta and Carolina! I did traditional candy cane stripes using China Glaze's Mistletoe Kisses on my thumb and ring finger and Mrs. Claus on my index, middle and pinky finger. I did three coats of each and made the stripes using white acrylic paint. I love this design, so sparkly and very Christmas.

Check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for candy cane nails if you haven't already!

Day 3: Green Nails

2011-12-16T19:03:00.000+09:00

Moving right along, we are already on day three with Marta, Marketta and Carolina and today is Green Nails! I had to wear China Glaze's Jolly Holly from last year. It is a beautiful dark green with shimmer, it seems to glow, this is two coats. I couldn't do anything over it today because it is just too pretty.

Be sure to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for green nails!

Day 2: Silver Nails

2011-12-15T19:58:00.000+09:00

Day two with Marta, Marketta and Carolina is silver nails! The first thing I thought of when I saw silver was a half moon mani with blue and that's what I did. It's very simple but I like the silver and blue together. I used OPI's Blue My Mind for the base and Gone Platinum In 60 Seconds for the tips.

Don't forget to check out Marta, Marketta and Carolina to see their silver nails if you haven't already!

12 Days Of Christmas Nail Challenge: Day 1 Red Nails

2011-12-14T19:57:00.000+09:00

So, just like with our 10 Day Challenge Marta, Marketta and Carolina and I did together we are doing a 12 Days Of Christmas Nail Challenge. Here is our list, the My Choice days are where we pick anything we like, I think I am going to keep those days a surprise for you guys.

Day 1. Red Nails

Day 2. Silver Nails

Day 3. Green Nails

Day 4. Candy Cane Nails

Day 5. Wrapping Paper Nails

Day 6. Favorite Christmas Book

Day 7. Favorite Christmas Movie

Day 8. Glitter Nails

Day 9. My Choice

Day 10. My Choice

Day 11. My Choice

Day 12. Christmas Tree Nails

For red nails I picked China Glaze Phat Santa from last years holiday collection. It is a nice red jelly, I did three coats.

I had to do some quick nail art on it and couldn't get red and snowflakes out of my head for some reason. You guys know I don't wear red nails much but I really like these with the snow on them.

Be sure to check out what Marta, Marketta and Carolina did for red nails!
My giveaway also ended yesterday and I will be sorting through the entries and drawing the winners in a few days, thanks to everyone who entered!

OPI I Lily Love You vs Island Girl Mahalo Dream

2011-12-13T20:06:00.000+09:00

These two looked so similar in the bottles that I had to compare them and they are close but not closes enough to be dupes. I Lily Love You is more sheer but is packed with glitter and flakie pieces while Mahaolo Dream has a darker more opaque base but less glitter and flakies.

Here is two coats of I Lilly Love You alone, all of the pictures are with no topcoat.

This is two coats of Mahalo Dream alone.

Here they are, two coats each, next to each other. Mahalo Dream is on my index and ring finger and I Lilly Love You is on my middle and pinky finger. You can clearly see the difference.

I also tried layering them over white and black. This is one coat each, ILLY on my index and middle and MD on my ring and pinky.

Finally, two coats each layered over white and black.

I Lily Love You layered over black reminds me so much of the pictures of outer space.

If I had to pick one I would probably go with I Lily Love You just because it is so packed with stuff and I can easily layer it over white or pink to get the pink color or layer it over another color for a nice effect but Mahalo Dream is still beautiful.

Electric Eel

2011-12-12T22:00:00.000+09:00

Hey guys, I think we made about twenty dozen cookies over the weekend, it took forever since we have a tiny oven, and a batch of peanut butter fudge. My arms are so sore, thankfully I have a wonderful husband that helped a lot.

Today I have OPI's Electric Eel which is a sheer light green with green shimmer and a pinkish orange duochrome. It is an older polish and has a black label but if you love green and duochrome I suggest picking it up if you can find it. Electric Eel doesn't seem like much in the bottle but layered it is amazing! Here it is on its own, three coats, you can see how sheer it is.

Here is one coat of Electric Eel over black. You can definitely see the duochrome with it layered over the black. It shifts colors in different lighting and angle of your nails.

Do you have any surprise polishes like Electric Eel?

Wet N Wild 9.0.2.1.Orange

2011-12-10T23:55:00.000+09:00

Just a quick post today, I know I said I was going to try and post every day til Christmas and missed yesterday but we had a Christmas party to go to earlier. Plus, we volunteered to make ten dozen cookies for the military that are here with no family and have to be turned in on Monday so I have been a bit sidetracked.

Anyways, today I have Wet N Wild's 9.0.2.1.Orange. It is a beautiful orange with shimmer/glass flake. I used four coats, I didn't notice the nail line in real life, it only showed up in the pictures here but it does start out sheer.

Hopefully, I will be back tomorrow or Monday!

Wet N Wild Grey's Anatomy

2011-12-08T20:23:00.000+09:00

Duochromes are so hard to capture on camera. Grey's Anatomy is a silvery purple with gold, green and blue duochrome. I couldn't get the green and blue to show up much in the pictures but is a beautiful polish.

I was surprised by this one, from the bottle I thought it was going to be more silver or but on my nails it's more purple. It was sheer and I used four coats but it didn't take long to dry.

If you use a polish and it takes more than a certain amount of coats do you wear them again? I usually get frustrated if a polish requires more than two coats but ones like Grey's Anatomy I will definitely wear again.

Wet N Wild Teal Of Fortune

2011-12-07T22:00:00.000+09:00

Teal of Fortune is a blue/green with green and gold shimmer in it, making it look somewhat foil like. It is very pretty, reminds me of water on a sunny day. I had a few issues with this one though, first it took three coats. In the picture you can see my nail line but in real life it wasn't too bad but could have used a fourth. Second, the brush was really uneven and hard for me to work with, not sure if that was just my bottle or not. Last, it stains, ugghhh, why? These are the ones that no matter how pretty they are I don't want to wear again.

Are you bothered by polishes that stain?

Sally Hansen Laser (Picture Heavy)

2011-12-06T19:03:00.000+09:00

While we were Black Friday shopping the other weekend I picked up Sally Hansen HD in Laser because I pretty much got it and two other polishes for free with a coupon we had. Actually, the polish made what we were buying in the first place cheaper, plus the free polish!

Laser is a gorgeous blue glass flake with purple duochrome, very hard to get in pictures. It was sheer on the first and second coat but at the third it was perfect. I am really glad my husband told me to just get it, gotta love enablers! I will just let you enjoy tons of pictures since I couldn't narrow them down any further.

What is you favorite polish finish?

Sally Hansen Green Tea

2011-12-05T18:23:00.000+09:00

We have been getting a few recent drugstore collections here lately and when I saw the Sally Hansen's new Complete Salon polishes for fall I had to get Green Tea. Luckily for me, I was one of the first to see this display set out here and had my pick over it. It seems like the store here has been stocking more recent polishes and I hope they continue to do so but you have to be fast to have any kind of selection. Two bottles of one color for probably several hundred people that want it just doesn't seem imaginable to me. It really is frustrating but now I am getting sidetracked, this post isn't about our crappy store so I will move along.

Green Tea is a very pale mint green, I am such a sucker for these polishes! I used two coats, I didn't have any problems with it being streaky, it was a touch thick but nothing that I couldn't easily work with. Don't mind my pinky, I didn't push the brush far enough over on that side and I was next to my small heater so it dried before I could go over and I just left it as that.

Do you like light or dark polishes better? I think I prefer lighter polishes because I usually wear dark clothes.

Pa Rock Top Yellow

2011-12-04T18:58:00.000+09:00

You guys probably know by now that I am not a huge fan of the shatter, crackle or whatever you want to call them polishes but when I was out a few weeks ago picking up some things for a swap I saw they finally had these in. I only picked up the yellow because it looked really interesting to me, I wanted the pink but it was already sold out and I doubt they will be getting more in.

The yellow did break apart really well for me and didn't dry too fast so I had plenty of time to work with it. I tried this over Reflecting Pool, you can tell by my cuticles that I had it on a few days before I tried the Rock Top and wore it like this for a few more days. I can honestly say I liked this one.

OPI Reflecting Pool

2011-12-03T20:02:00.000+09:00

Reflecting Pool is a beautiful blue with gold shimmer, almost like a foil. You can see more of the gold near my cuticle because of it reflecting off the light. I used two coats and it dried pretty quick, there was also no staining, no complaints on it at all. It was an Asia/European exclusive I believe and I think Zoya's Crystal is a dupe for it but I don't have Crystal to compare the two.

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my giveaway here, you can win Reflecting Pool!

What is your favorite blue polish?

Revlon Mistletoe

2011-12-02T19:01:00.000+09:00

I was surprised to find this here at the base store, we usually don't get new limited edition polishes. Even better it was on clearance for $1.87, I am guessing I missed the display because I never saw any others from this release, every one else here must have snatched them up. Just like the glow pumpkin polishes I mentioned last week on Facebook and Twitter, I was there when the girl set the entire display out and the next day only three were left. You gotta be fast around here!

I am so glad they had this one left though. Mistletoe is a gorgeous dark green with what looks like a blue tint and gold shimmer. I really do love it, It did seem a little runny but it wasn't too difficult to work with, covered in two coats and dried in decent time.

Do you get limited edition polishes where you are, do they disappear fast?

Back With Woodgrain

2011-12-01T19:40:00.000+09:00

Hi guys, I hope all of you are all doing well! I can't believe it has been a week since I last posted. I am feeling better and trying to get back into the mood of posting.

This is what I wore over the weekend. I saw woodgrain nail art in one of the Japanese magazines a while back and had been wanting to give it a try. It didn't turn out like I had hoped but it was ok, I think the pinky looked the best. I used OPI's Suzi Loves Cowboys as the base and the light brown is acrylic paint.

I have several thing to post and get caught up on so my plan is to post everyday til Christmas, mostly swatches but I am trying to think of a few holiday tutorials as well. We will see how it goes.
What did you do this week, anyone in the states do any Black Friday shopping? I would love to hear what you scored on.

Just Letting You Guys Know

2011-11-24T16:11:00.001+09:00

I will probably be absent the next few days. I know I have been posting regularly for a while now but my cat back in the states was put to sleep yesterday and I don't feel much like posting anything at the moment. I have some swatches and things to share but I don't think I will get around to it this week.
Thanks to Marketta, Carolina, Marta and everyone else for participating and commenting on the 10 Day Challenge, I had fun. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it and a safe weekend.

Day 10: Ombre Nails

2011-11-23T18:09:00.000+09:00

Day ten, Ombre Nails with Carolina, Marta and Marketta! I can't believe today is the last day.
An ombre mani is like a color fade across the nails, typically you use five polishes in different shades like from grey to black. I did white to pink for my ombre today. I haven't done ombre nails before so this was a challenge for me. Looking through my stash I realized I don't really have polishes that are close enough for an ombre mani. They are either almost exactly the same color or not even close. I should have used one polish and frankened the rest for my lighter colors.
From thumb to pinky I used Sinful Colors Star Fish, OPI Elephantastic Pink, Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl, Sinful Colors Easy Going and OPI Alpine Snow. In the bottles this looked the best but on the nail I think I should have switched Star Fish and Elephantasic Pink around.

Be sure to check out the ombre nails from Carolina, Marta and Marketta!

Day 9: Favorite Color Combination

2011-11-22T21:15:00.000+09:00

Day nine already! Today is Favorite Color Combination with Marketta, Marta and Carolina!

You know, I used to hate pink when I was younger but my favorite color combination has been pink and black for several years now. It's funny how things change. I liked pink and black so much a few years ago I made a pink and black Charmmy Kitty shift boot, E-brake and seat belt covers for my car because I could never find any new ones I liked, but that's another story.

The first think I thought when I saw color combo was funky french with an abstract design. The tips are Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl and the rest is acrylic paint. It was fun not having to think much about what I was doing and just go for it. Don't mind the tint to my nails, it wasn't noticeable in real life but they still have a tint to them from the Salon Effects I wore to Guam.

What do you think of funky french manicures? What is your favorite color combination?

Don't forget to check out Marketta, Marta and Carolina to see their favorite color combos!

Day 8: Favorite Movie Or Inspired By A Movie

2011-11-21T19:41:00.000+09:00

Day eight is Favorite Movie with Carolina, Marta and Marketta!

Princess Mononoke is probably my favorite movie, I first saw it years ago when I was about thirteen I think and it has stuck with me ever since, which is saying a lot because I hardly watch a movie twice. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you give it a try, it really is a great movie in my opinion. I won't tell you much, you can easily look it up online but basically a man, Ashitaka, is cursed and leaves his village to find a cure. It does have some gore so it's not really a kids movie.

Anyways, today I picked one of my favorite parts of the movie where these spirits, kodama, show Ashitaka through a forest. They are cute in the movie and kind of have a rattle bobble head and no two are the same, there's no way to mess them up! For the background I did simple tree branches covered in moss. The base is OPI Black Onyx and the rest is acrylic paint.

Have you seen Princess Mononoke? What is your favorite movie?
Don't forget to check out Carolina, Marta and Marketta to see their favorite movie!

Day 7: Favorite Freehand Nail Art Design

2011-11-20T18:45:00.000+09:00

Day seven is Favorite Freehand design with Marketta, Carolina and Marta!

My favorite freehand nail art has to be zebra/tiger stripes just because they are super easy and no matter what way you do them they look amazing. This is the design I always resort to when I don't know what I want to do with my nails. I was also inspired by the animal print nails Marketta did on day four of our challenge, check them out here if you haven't. I really liked the way she did them with the red so I made an orange to red gradient with a bit of red glitter on the tips in Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, because we all know I can't resist glitter, before making my stripes in acrylic paint.

Have you tried any freehand nail art, what is you favorite?
Be sure to check out Marketta, Carolina and Marta to see their favorite freehand designs!

Day 6: Favorite Celebrity Manicure

2011-11-19T16:24:00.000+09:00

Day six with Carolina, Marketta and Marta! Today we are doing our favorite celebrity manicure, I picked Dita Von Teese because I love her half moon mani. Plus, I hardly ever wear red so it's the perfect opportunity to wear my red I have been neglecting.

I tried doing these with hole reinforcers but have come to the conclusion that is isn't worth the extra time for me. The stickers don't sit on my nails that well and no matter what I do, cannot get a clean line so it is just easier for me to freehand them instead of waiting so long for everything to dry. I also didn't have enough top coat when I went over my pinky and the red smeared onto the white, live and learn.

I used two coats of Alpine Snow for the base and two coats of Revved Up & Red-y For the tips.

Do you wear red nail polish much? What do you think of the half moon main, have you tried it?

Don't forget to check out Carolina, Marketta, and Marta to see their favorite celebrity manis!

Day 5: Blue Nails

2011-11-18T18:29:00.000+09:00

We are already at the halfway mark, day five with Marta, Marketta and Carolina!
For Blue Nails today I have H&M's Bella's Choice that I got in a swap a while back but haven't got the chance to try and I am so glad I did because this is almost a one coater. I did two just for pictures but it is gorgeous either way!
After I took pictures of it on its own I tried my franken spectraflair top coat over it, it was gorgeous but unfortunately it was dark outside and I couldn't get a decent picture of the holo with my lamp. I will have to try it again soon when I can get better pictures.

What is you favorite blue polish?
Be sure to visit Marta, Marketta and Carolina to see their blue nails!

Day 4: Animal Print

2011-11-17T17:25:00.000+09:00

Day four, animals prints with Carolina, Marketta and Marta!

I have done leopard and tiger/zebra print before so this was the perfect chance for me to step outside my current comfort zone and try snakeskin. These are easy to do if you some kind of image plate or even netting or tulle, not so easy if you don't. Unfortunately for me I have none of those things and I tried it freehand which was time consuming. My husband said I had to do the Western Diamondback and I complied, here is the picture I went off of.

Now, part of my problem was probably that I used polish for the light brown diamond scale shapes and they acrylic I mixed for the lighter grey blended in too much after top coat. I think I should have done less light brown and more dark brown and black. Either way it looks alright, and from a distance pretty cool, but not really what I had hoped for. It kind of reminds me of old man socks, you know the argyle ones? Yeah, those, just in a crazy pattern. I must confess though, I have a few pairs of those in womens Japanese style. And to be honest I have them on right now, maybe that's why this mani reminds me of it.

I used OPI's Suzi Takes The Wheel for the background and San Tan-Tonio for the light brown and acrylic paint for the rest of this design.

What do you think it looks like?

Be sure to check out Carolina, Marketta and Marta to see their animal prints!

Day 3: Favorite Book or Inspired By A Book

2011-11-16T17:51:00.000+09:00

Wow, we are already on day three of the challenge Marketta, Marta, Carolina and I have been doing together. Today the challenge is favorite book or inspired by a book. One of my favorite books as a kid was Where The Wild Things Are. I think as a child I really loved the artwork, that all of the "wild things" were different. You can see the picture I used for my inspiration here.
I'm really happy with the way it turned out for only spending about an hour from start to finish on it and I know I won't want to take it off for tomorrows challenge. There are a few things I would probably change or redo if I was going to wear it longer but overall I love it. I used OPI's Alpine Snow for the base and the rest is acrylic paint.

What was your favorite book as a child?

Be sure to check out Carolina, Marta, and Marketta to see what they came up with today!

Day 2: Rainbow Nails

2011-11-15T21:14:00.000+09:00

Hey, today is day two of the challenge with Marketta from Pink Polish Addict, Carolina from Colores de Carol, Marta from ChitChat Nails and I are doing together. If you haven't already, go check them out to see what they have for rainbow nails.

You know, I have never done rainbow nails before so I couldn't resist doing an actual rainbow across my nails! As simple as this looks it look me a lot longer than I thought it would. The base is What's With The Cattitude? and the rest is acrylic paint. I like them but think they are too simple though, maybe they need more clouds on the middle fingers, birds or something?

Have you ever done rainbow nails?

Don't forget to check out what Marta, Carolina and Marketta have for today!

10 Day Challenge: Day 1 Pink Nails

2011-11-14T20:53:00.000+09:00

Hey guys, so today is the start of a 10 day challenge that Marketta over at Pink Polish Addict, Carolina at Colores de Carol, Marta from ChitChat Nails and I are doing together, if you aren't following their blogs you should! I love the 30 day challenges but there are so many designs and polishes I still want to try I know I wouldn't be able to keep with a 30 day so this is perfect for me!

This is our 10 Day Challenge List:

Day 1. Pink Nails

Day 2. Rainbow Nails

Day 3. Favorite Book or Inspired By A Book

Day 4. Animal Print

Day 5. Blue Nails

Day 6. Favorite Celebrity Manicure

Day 7. Favorite Freehand Nail Design

Day 8. Favorite Movie or Inspired By A Movie

Day 9. Favorite Color Combination

Day10. Ombre Nails

Anyways, for my pinks nails I picked OPI's Pink Cupcake. I have had this one for a while but haven't tried it yet and thought today would be perfect. It is a bit sheer and I did four coats for the pictures but could have gotten away with three, it did dry fast so no real problem for me but look at that blue shimmer! I was going to do nail art over it but I couldn't make myself cover it up. This is my kind of pink!

What do you think of Pink Cupcake, do you love the shimmer in it?
Check back tomorrow for rainbow nails!

Thank You (Updated) CLOSED

2011-11-13T19:00:00.006+09:00

CLOSED

(Thanks to everyone who entered!)

To say thanks to all of my wonderful followers and to celebrate the holidays coming up I am so excited to share a giveaway with all of you! I am even more excited to say there will be five winners! All of the prizes were purchased by me to share with you. That being said, some of these are HTFand the OPI's were purchased at a beauty supply in Guam, as far as I know they look to be 100% authentic.
So first off, the rules:
-This giveaway is open internationally.
-You must be over 18 or have your parents permission.
-You must be a public GFC follower, new followers are always welcome.
-Entry is once per person, if you enter more than once you will be disqualified. If you are not sure if you have entered shoot me an email and I will be happy to check for you.
-You get two entries just for being a follower and leaving your email address on the form.
-You may have up to twelve entries total by completing the additional steps on the form.
-Current followers who regularly comment will also be getting an addition entry, I know who you are, simply because that is one of the biggest reasons I stick around.
-There will be five winners draw from the entries, one person receiving Mad As A Hatter, one receiving Absolutely Alice, one receiving Reflecting Pool, one receiving Merry Midnight and one receiving Island Girl's Mahalo Dream, the two mini Glow Ink In The Dark and one mini Holo top coat franken.
-This giveaway ends on December, ~~11Th~~ at 12:01 AM. Sorry, I noticed on my picture it says the 13Th so to be fair I will extend this giveaway to the 13Th at 12:01 AM

If you have any questions feel free to email me. Thanks and good luck guys!

(Update) Please make sure you follow all the directions for the additional entries, don't forget to leave you name and links! If I can't find it to verify, your entry will not be counted. Also, please leave you preference in order from first to last of the prizes so that if you are a winner but your name is not drawn first you will get your first pick of polishes that are remaining. If you have already entered and did not do these steps email me and I will be sure to change it on the form, thanks!

You Know I Love It

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000+09:00

Glitter that is, today I have the Revlon glitters from the Expressionists collection. I know you have all probably seen them but I love them so much I couldn't help but share them.

Starry Pink, surprisingly by far my favorite, is a pale pink with tons of silver glitter. I used three coats and it covered pretty well for being a light pink. I LOVE all of the glitter in this one.

Blue Mosaic is a clear base with tiny blue glitter and silver, blue and green hex glitter. It is pretty sheer in three coats, about the same as the Muppet's glitters.

Here is Blue Mosaic on my middle and pinky finger compared to Gone Gonzo! on my index and ring finger. They are close but the biggest difference is GG is lighter and packed with only the silver hex glitter while BM is a bit darker and has silver, blue and green hex glitter.

Facets Of Fuchsia has a black jelly base with tiny purple glitter and purple hex glitter. I did three coats and it covered great, I do wish there was more glitter in this one but that's just me.

What do you think of these glitters? Do you prefer Blue Mosaic or Gone Gonzo!? I don't think I could choose between them, they are too different to me. Do you love glitter or hate it?

OPI Shim-Merry Chic

2011-11-08T21:37:00.000+09:00

I passed on this one last year and I am glad I did. The first time I saw Shim-Merry Chic it didn't seem special, that was before I started blogging and realized I kind of like brown polishes now, really any color polish now. One perk of passing on it the first time was when I found it in Guam it was on sale so that was a plus and I think I appreciate it for what it is now more than I would have a year or two ago.

Shim-Merry Chic, from the 2009 Holiday Wishes collection, is a golden bronze of a brown shade but what makes is so special is the flakies and just the touch of green and blue/purple glitter it has. It isn't too sheer, I used two coats for the pictures below but it could have used a third.

What do you think of polishes with flakies? Do you have any polishes that you appreciate more now than you did when you first saw them?

Island Girl Aloha Heat

2011-11-07T20:48:00.000+09:00

Aloha Heat is another polish I bought in Guam. It is a bright neon lime green with silver shimmer that I didn't even notice was there until we got back to the room and looked at it under the desk lamp.

Application was a little difficult, I did use four coats because it was a little patchy but I love this color so much and it dries so quickly I don't even care. It is neon and dries matte so my pictures are with topcoat.

Do you love bright polishes like this or hate them?

Are You Still Looking For Mad As A Hatter

2011-11-05T23:31:00.000+09:00

I found several hard to find polishes while I was in Guam, Mad As A Hatter being one of them. I picked up a few, one being swapped away and one planned for a giveaway coming up but instead of listing this one on Ebay I would rather give you guys the chance to have it since I know a lot of you are still looking for it. Instead of just posting it for sale on here, I can't think of any other way to make it fair to everyone, I will be taking the idea from The Trace Face Philes and have a silent auction. I will end the auction on November 14Th at midnight EST, if you would like to make an offer or have any questions feel free to email me at Tera1986@aol.com. Hopefully, this baby will have a new home soon.

Brand New Skates vs Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

2011-11-05T22:47:00.000+09:00

Since these two look similar in the bottle I had to compare them. Brand New Skates and Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous are close but still different. BNS is sheer and needs three coats but has a beautiful gold/red and green shimmer to it while LLM is a bit darker, only needs two coats and it packed with silver shimmer. If I had to choose one it would be Brand New Skates just because I think it is more unique but they are both gorgeous.

The first picture is one coat of BNS on my index and ring finger and one coat of LLM on my middle and ring finger.

This is three coat of BNS on my index and ring finger and two coats of LLM on my middle finger and pinky.

What do you think, are they close enough that you only need one, which do you prefer?

Award

2011-11-04T20:11:00.000+09:00

A few weeks ago Liz from Nail-Files From The Basement gave me the One Lovely Blog Award. If you haven't checked out her blog, do it! Thanks, Liz!

Here are the rules of the award:
Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
Share 7 facts about yourself
Share the award with 10 bloggers

1. I have been into art my entire life even though I have only gotten into painting and nail art the past few years.
2. I love to sew.

3. I adore animals, I've had everything from dogs,cats, ferrets to birds, fish, hamsters all the way to lizards, iguanas and snakes and I love them all.

4. I have red hair and it will not dye any lighter than it already is.

5. I hardly wear makeup, if I do it is mascara, eyeliner and occasional eye shadow.

6. I am slightly obsessed with Hello Kitty.

7. I love to cook.

Passing this award to only 10 blogs is hard but here it goes.

Pink Polish Addict

Once Bitten

Neues Vom Kellerkind

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

If you haven't checked them out, you should , you won't regret it!

Brand New Skates

2011-11-02T20:37:00.000+09:00

Because I am still wearing my The Nightmare Before Christmas mani and I didn't show the base color I used for it on its own I figured I would show it to you now. Brand New Skates is from OPI's Holiday In Toyland collection from I believe 2008 and is one of the polishes I picked up in Guam. It is a nice dark gray/silver with gold and even a little green shimmer which you can see on my index finger. It was a little sheer, I used three coats but other than that no problems.

I can't believe October is already over! Are there any older polishes that you would pick up if you saw them?

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T20:25:00.000+09:00

I just wanted to stop by and say Happy Halloween, October went by so fast! I hope every one has a great day!

Guest Post From Pink Polish Addict

2011-10-31T11:00:00.000+09:00

Hello Babes at Nails in Nippon! My name is Marketta from Pink Polish Addict and I'm doing a guest post for Tera today. This is my first official guest post and I was flattered when she asked me to return the favor when I asked her to do one for my blog :) . I was a little stumped as far as what I would do when Tera asked me. I'm new to blogging and doing my nails and she's a freehand pro, so I wanted to come up with something really cute that she would like. I saw a post a while ago where Tera said that she is really into green right now, and I also saw that she doesn't have any water marbling on her blog so I decided to do a green water marble! For the marbling I used all green Bettina polishes, and Bettina Clouds as my base which is a soft squishy delicate white. I used INM Northern Lights holographic top coat just to make it pop, I think I have added it to all my marbling actually lol. Ok let me show you how my 3rd WM adventure turned out...

I added a picture with flash so that you can really see the holo glitter of Northern Lights :)

Here's a picture of the colors that I used to do the marbling and my base coat.

Thanks so much Tera for letting me invade your space for the day to share a quick WM mani with you and your lovely readers :) I hope you all enjoyed what I have to show you today. Thanks for stopping by and reading.

Kisses

Marketta

I love water marble but usually can't get much that I am proud of showing off to anyone so it's fantastic that Marketta did a water marble for us! I love all of the greens! If you haven't checked out Marketta's blog yet you definitely should, she takes great pictures. Thanks again Marketta for suggesting a guest post and doing one for me as well. I really enjoyed it!

Halloween The Nightmare Before Christmas Tutorial

2011-10-30T20:27:00.000+09:00

Here it is, my last Halloween design for the year. I love The Nightmare Before Christmas so I decided long ago that it would be my nail design for Halloween. It was time consuming, about three hours of work I would guess from start to finish on both hands but it was worth it.

If you would like to see how I did this design keep reading. By the way, this post is very picture heavy.

Guest Post On Pink Polish Addict

2011-10-30T19:44:00.000+09:00

Check out the wonderful Marketta at Pink Polish Addict and take a look at my first ever guest post here! She was kind enough to ask me to do a guest post for her and I choose to do a tutorial on black cats for Halloween. Thanks again, Marketta!

Glow-Ink In The Dark

2011-10-30T11:43:00.000+09:00

I had to show you guys this one before Halloween is over. This is one of the polishes I picked up in Guam. Glow-Ink In The Dark is a dark blue/purple shade, it does need at least three coats if you plan to wear it alone. My pictures are four coats but it does dry insanely fast.

I'm not sure if it is just the formula or because it is old but it doesn't glow at brightly as Zom-Body To Love.

Here is two coats layered over white, it really changes the color of it. I could have done a third coat but at normal length you don't notice the streaks.

What is your favorite glow in the dark polish?
Nightmare Before Christmas is coming up later!

Halloween Hello Kitty Tutorial

2011-10-29T20:37:00.001+09:00

I have a huge obsession with Hello Kitty so it shouldn't be a surprise that I have a Hello Kitty design for Halloween. Her as a black cat was too cute so that's what we will be doing today. I couldn't decide on what to do with her and didn't want to make it too complicated so I just did simple webs.

I have to warn you guys, she is simple but you do have to be able to get the outline somewhat close and be able to do small details but I fully believe that if you have patience and take your time you can do it.

If you would like to see the tutorial keep reading.

Zom-Body To Love Over White

2011-10-29T12:41:00.000+09:00

Just a quick post to show you guys what Zom-Body To Love looks like layered over white. I used two coats, you do have to work kind of fast because it dries quick. If you "charge" it in front of a light for about thirty seconds it glows very bright and with the white under it mine glowed for at least ten or fifteen minuets. I love it, it's very amusing to me.

I will be back later today with Hello Kitty!

It's So Nice To Be Back

2011-10-27T22:34:00.000+09:00

Hi girls, it is nice to be back home, I missed blogging. Guam was beautiful, we had a great time and I picked up some goodies while I was there. They had several discontinued OPI's that I just couldn't pass up, a few even on sale.

The Salon Effects lasted through our trip as well. I was really surprised that it held up with swimming for hours every day. I did scratch them a bit snorkeling and ripped a small edge off on my ring finger but that was completely my fault. The only problem I had was when I took them off earlier my nails were stained but after a little cuticle remover and whitening toothpaste they are much better.

I hope you all had a great week! Time for me to finish up my Halloween tutorials and catch up on everyone's blogs.

Sally Salon Effects Hot Wired

2011-10-19T23:23:00.001+09:00

We will be leaving tomorrow and since I don't want to mess with polish I decided to try the Salon Effects in Hot Wired and see how they hold up on a vacation. Like Ghoulie Girl, I used one box for both my toes and hands. Hopefully they will last my entire trip.

Hot wired is a lime green background with a black barbed wire design. The strips are somewhat delicate and can be ripped easily if you are not careful, other than that I have no issues applying these. Pictures are no base coat, no top coat.

See you guys next week!

Halloween Candy Tutorial

2011-10-18T23:40:00.000+09:00

The tutorial for today is candy! Candy corn, lollipops, and wrapped candies. For those who don't know, I have a serious sweet tooth!

If you would like to see the tutorial for this design keep reading.

Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice

2011-10-17T23:31:00.000+09:00

Pumpkin Spice a sheer brown jelly with orange glitter. Most you have probably seen this but my Mom picked it up for me and I finally got it a few days ago and was excited to try it out. I didn't wear it for long but I really like it. I think it would look gorgeous layered over a black, brown or even orange since it is a bit sheer.

I used two coats in the photos below. With three or four coats it would cover and look great alone I think. I will be experimenting with this one next week.

I have another Halloween tutorial which should be up tomorrow and then I will be packing for our trip to Guam. We leave Thursday and I wont be posting until after the 26Th when we return but I will have one or two more Halloween tutorials before the end of October.
Is there any design you would like to see before Halloween is over?

Halloween Candy Corn French Tutorial

2011-10-15T19:14:00.001+09:00

I have been wanting to do a french manicure for a while and since I haven't done one in so long I thought it should be candy corn french tips for Halloween. This is so easy but very cute.

If you would like to see the tutorial for this design keep reading.

Halloween Nail Fail

2011-10-11T21:03:00.001+09:00

Yup, nail fail. It isn't that bad. The outline of the witch is fine, I just don't like it all together I guess. Mainly it is the striping. I picked up a roll of striping tape the other day but when I tried it out on this design I waited to long after applying the polish that a bit came up with the tape.

Not much else to say but enjoy the fail!

Oh well, I really wanted to do a Hello Kitty Halloween design anyway.
What is your favorite Halloween costume? Mine used to be witches and old school vampires, I still enjoy seeing the kids dressed as them these days.

Muppets Collection The Glitters

2011-10-08T19:09:00.019+09:00

Today I have the Muppets glitters alone. I took pictures a little different today to show how well they cover in one to four coats. On my index is four coats, middle is three, ring is two and pinky in one coat. All pictures are without topcoat.

Fresh Frog of Bel Air is a clear base with small green and large silver Hex glitter.

Gone Gonzo! is a clear base with small light blue and large silver hex glitter.

Divine Swine is a clear base with small purple and large hex glitter.

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is a clear base with small red and large hex glitter.

Rainbow Connection is a clear base with three sizes of mulit-colored glitter.

Excuse Moi! is a pink base with pink, green and silver glitter.

I love glitter so it is no surprise that I love these. They are beautiful. I do wish OPI had done the glitters all different instead of just different shades though.
Which is your favorite glitter?

Muppets Collection The Shimmers With Glitters Preview

2011-10-07T17:22:00.000+09:00

I know Halloween isn't even over yet but today I have OPI's Muppets collection to share. I couldn't help but try them out. All of the pictures are without top coat.

Pepe's Purple Passion is a dark burgundy purple with burgundy and gold flakes. It covers well in two thin coats but because of this the flakes aren't as visible on the nail as in the bottle and it is very bumpy. Kari from Once Bitten thinned hers out a bit with clear to make it more smooth and let the flakes show through more and it looked so much better. I might do the same with mine as well.

One thin coat of Divine Swine Layered over Pepe's Purple Passion. Divine Swine is a clear based polish with small purple and lager silver hex glitter.

Wocka Wocka!, red with what looks like gold shimmer. Very pretty, it seems to glow. It covers well in two thin coats.

One thin coat of Excuse Moi! layered over Wocka Wocka! Excuse Moi!, unlike the other glitters in this collection, has a pink base with what looks to be pink, green and silver glitter.

Warm & Fozzie is a metallic bronze foil. It looks to have silver and gold flakes in it. This one is a little sheer and needed three coats.

Two thin coats of Gone Gonzo! layered over Warm & Fozzie. Gone Gonzo is a clear base with small blue and large silver hex glitter.

Meep-Meep-Meep is a fuschia with pink flakes, very close to last years Let Me Entertain You except more pink. Covers well in two coats.

Two thin coats of Fresh Frog Of Bel Air layered over Meep-Meep-Meep. Fresh Frog Of Bel Air is a clear base it small green and large silver hex glitter.

Animal-istic is a red-orange with maybe gold shimmer? I couldn't really tell, either way it is beautiful! Covered well in two coats.

One thin coat of Gettin' Miss Piggy With It layered over Animal-istic. Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is a clear base with small red and large silver hex glitter.

Designer...De Better! is a metallic silver foil with warm gold flakes that makes it appear light gold sometimes. It was a bit sheer like Warm and Fozzie but covers well in three thin coats.
This is the one that surprised me the most out of this collection. I thought I wouldn't like it but I was wrong. This might be my favorite.

One thin coat of Rainbow Connection layered over Designer...De Better!. Rainbow connection is a clear base with three sizes of hex glitter.
This was the one I wanted the most out of the collection but now that I have it and have gotten a few other multi-glitter polishes like this I am somewhat disappointed. It is still a gorgeous glitter polish but much like the others out there. If you have Happy Birthday, Gems, Carnival or one of the others you don't really need this one.

Overall, I am very happy with this collection as a whole. There are a few let downs for me but I still love them! My favorites are Designer...De Better, Animal-istic and Fresh Frog Of Bel Air. I will be back showing the glitters by themselves probably tomorrow.

Which is your favorite? Are you planning on picking up any of the Muppets collection?

Halloween Skulls And Crossbones Tutorial

2011-10-06T17:27:00.000+09:00

So today is a very easy design, skulls and crossbones. I liked the Sally Salon Effects Numbskull design so much I tried it freehand. Basically if you make circles and lines you can do it.

If you would like to see the tutorial for this design keep reading.

Sally Salon Effects Ghoulie Girl

2011-10-05T14:19:00.000+09:00

For my second experience with the Salon Effects I used the ghosts called Ghoulie Girl. I wanted to do my toes to see how long they would last on them since we are planning to go to Guam for a few days soon. Using the one set, sixteen strips, I covered all of my toes and fingers and still had two strips left!

I did have a bit of trouble with these though. They seemed to be a bit dried out and didn't want to stick as well as the skulls before them. I did get them on in the end but top coat was a must because a few of the edges here and there did not want to stay down. I used tweezers again to handle the stripes so touching them with my hands wasn't the sticking problem. The only thing I can guess is that they were a bit more dry and just didn't want to adhere.

Ghoulie Girl on fingers with two coats of topcoat, too cute.

Warning, feet ahead, if you would like to see them on my toes keep reading.

Graveyard Zombies

2011-10-03T21:56:00.001+09:00

Another tutorial for Halloween, graveyard zombies! I have been thinking about this one for a while and wanted to try it today. My zombies don't really have much of a creep factor but I haven't been feeling great and I don't think my painting skills were on par today. I still think it is cool.

If you would like to see the tutorial for this design keep reading.

Mad As A Hatter Franken

2011-10-02T14:01:00.000+09:00

A while back I tried frankening MAAH and I think it turned out pretty good.

In the bottle these are slightly different but on the nail I cannot see it at all. The biggest difference between the original and my franken would have to be that in MAAH all the tiny square glitter is silver where as in my franken it is multicolored. But as I said on the nail you can't really tell unless you have right in front of your face and even then it is hard.

I thought a lot about if I should post what I used because of stories of people scamming others on Ebay but I figure if someone was going to do it they probably already figured this out by now anyways. So, if you do buy polishes on Ebay just make sure you know what you are getting is real and not a fake.

For the ones like me that can't justify fifty and upwards for a bottle of polish, I used the Burlesque glitter to make my franken. If you have them and didn't have a chance to get Mas As A Hatter, it is a decent substitute. I wont post exactly which ones and how much I used of them on here but if you want to try and make this feel free to email me, or send me a message on facebook or twitter and I will be happy to let you know.

Pictures of the bottles, Franken on left and MAAH on right. You can tell they aren't the same in the bottle.

On the nail though it's a bit of a different story. This is one coat. MAAH is on my index and ring finger and the franken is my middle and pinky finger.

This is two coats. If I hadn't put it on myself I think it would have been pretty hard for me to tell the difference.

Did you pick up MAAH? Do you think this franken is close to the original?

Lucerne-Tainly Look Marvelous And Mad As A Hatter Birthday Mani

2011-09-30T19:44:00.001+09:00

Hi girls, today was my birthday so I had to wear my favorite polish ever, Mad As A Hatter. To conserve it and make it last a few days I use a solid color under it. Back when I first got it I used black but after I picked up Lucerne-Tainly Look Marvelous last year I layer it with that now.

Lucene-Tainly Look Marvelous is a dark gun metal grey with a great formula and is opaque in two coats.

I am sure every one knows Mad As A Hatter so not much to say there.

I also think I have finally frankened MAAH as well, excited! I will be back soon with more Halloween tutorials, too!

Halloween/Fall Pumpkins Tutorial

2011-09-29T19:01:00.000+09:00

I had to do pumpkins, they aren't really Halloween so much, more just for fall I guess but I really like them anyways. These are very easy, taking only about twenty minutes for me to do.

If you would like to see the tutorial for this design keep reading.

China Glaze It's Alive

2011-09-26T17:51:00.002+09:00

It's Alive is a blackened green with different sized green glitter from the Haunting Halloween Collection this year. I already know this will be on of my favorite polishes ever. Green, glitter and is opaque in two coats, how can I not love it? You will need a good top coat because this on is very gritty, other than that I adore it. I could see myself wearing this anytime of the year.

What do you think of glitters like this, love them or hate them?
I also noticed yesterday that I passed 100 followers and just wanted to say thank you guys!

Sweet Ghosts for Halloween

2011-09-25T19:00:00.001+09:00

For Halloween these ghost aren't that scary but I love them. They are too adorable to not and they are unbelievable easy. I love the one on my ring finger, he looks like he is chasing someone. If I were being chased by him I don't think I would run for long. I would probably turn around and hug him to death, if you could hug a ghost to death that is.

If you would like to see the tutorial for this design keep reading.

Japanese OPI

2011-09-25T12:27:00.000+09:00

Hey guys, I just wanted to share what I got yesterday, Japanese OPI! Three are from the 2007 Yokohama collection and the other is from the Sweet Pink collection. Left to right are Pink Cupcake, Yokohama Twilight, Baby Blue and Cherry Blossom. I am so excited to finally have these and I can't wait to wear them!

The next Halloween tutorial should be up later or early tomorrow!

Uh-Oh Roll Down The Window

2011-09-24T16:47:00.001+09:00

The last shade I picked up from the Touring America collection, Uh-Oh Roll Down The Window, is an olive green. It dried slightly darker on the nail that it appeared in the bottle. I love this one but I had hoped it was a bit lighter like I had seen in early swatch photos, still it is a gorgeous green.

I had no problems with application, it was opaque in two coats.

I have been loving green lately so I want to know what is you favorite color right now?

Black And Yellow Ruffian Spooky Houses

2011-09-22T14:29:00.002+09:00

Continuing with my Halloween nail designs I have a ruffian with spooky houses. I meant to have this up yesterday but it took longer than I expected to edit through the pictures. Anyways, I wanted to keep thing simple for now and work my way up to harder designs closer to Halloween.

If you would like to see the tutorial for this keep reading!

Zom-Body To Love

2011-09-21T00:23:00.001+09:00

Perfect for Halloween! Zom-Body To Love is a sheer slime green. I did three coats for my pictures but I would layer this over something instead of wearing it alone. It does glow, not for long and it isn't super bright but it's there.

It is not as bright as the picture here. This was after holding my nails directly in front of a light for about twenty seconds so I could pick it up on camera.

Do you have a glow in the dark polish or will you be picking one up?