My Simple Little Pleasures

Naked Nails & Update

2012-01-31T22:01:00.000-06:00

I'm still here, still alive ... mostly. I think. I've been sick for several days, actually missed some work, and I've been so drained I couldn't even make good use of the time by getting some posting done, literally all I've done is sleep.

Anyway, excuses out of the way - I have an absolute crapload of pics to edit. I still have one mani from 2011 I haven't posted yet. I need to just sit down & edit & post but I don't know when I'll have time so here are some naked nails from the past month.

At the beginning of the month I put some fresh patches on; when I changed them this past weekend I decided it was also past time for a chop. A full centimeter is lovely, probably my preferred length, but difficult to deal with & all but impossible to fit gloves with in the winter. So now they're down to about 5-6mm, which is as short as I think I can have them & still feel kind of normal LOL. Still playing a bit with the white balance on the new camera (the top is auto, the bottom 2 are manual & I think reality is somewhere between the 2), so please excuse that & also the post-acetone dryness in the middle pics:

I feel like I've been asking for patience for a long time, but just a little more please =) & I'll get caught up with nails, and books, and then maybe I can squeeze in a top 25 from last year. IIRC it took me until the end of March last year LOL - hopefully I can do better than that this year. But do know my absence here does not mean I've been neglecting my nails

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Zoya Fleck Effect Swatchapalooza!

2012-01-19T23:45:00.000-06:00

I just kept thinking of more colors I'd like to see LOL - and now I've had a few requests to see these matte, so I'll probably do that over the weekend =)

Do you have a favorite combination?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Zoya True & Fleck Effect Haul

2012-01-17T05:50:00.001-06:00

I was sooo happy when these arrived on Saturday - the package tracking estimate had been Monday the last I looked so it was kind of a surprise. I had to play with them of course, and the swatch vid will be coming soon - I actually thought of several more colors I wanted to try as soon as I finished recording, so I will probably do a few more swatches when I get home later & tack them onto the end of the vid. But for now here's a look at the haul:

As a side note, if you're wondering why this post is so early in the morning - uploading takes freaking forever & a half now that I'm doing HD. I have to really plan ... or at least try to plan ... or at minimum roll with the punches LOL. In this case, I started the upload before I went to bed, got the blog post ready, then verified everything was ready to publish & made it live before I head off to work.

Most of the True collection - I wasn't too taken by the 2 neutrals so I skipped them:

Left to right: Bevin, Skylar, Lotus, Tru.

Fleck Effect "Mylar Glazes" as the website refers to them:

Maisie, Opal, Chloe.

As a side note, I found out the Grapefruit Surprise Sugar Scrub free 7 oz "sample" that I got sells for $18 direct from Art of Beauty & isn't much cheaper on amazon. Nicest freebie I've receive lately =)

And my couple of oddballs:

Essie Dive Bar & Revlon Rain Forest.

I can't wait to use the rhinestones I show in the vid too, although I don't think they need their own pics - I literally got an idea when I saw them & it wouldn't leave my head so I had to go back & purchase them.

UPDATE:
I had a few people wanting to see the bottles for the acrylic paint:

This is Silver Bling & Gold Glitz. They had lots more glittery & holographic colors, but I decided I should start slow ... no need to buy one of each yet.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Finger Paints Special Effects + Matte Magic

2012-01-16T22:08:00.002-06:00

Couldn't resist, especially after I got so many requests:

It only took me 2+ weeks to edit it LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Sephora Opalescent Blasted

2012-01-16T00:08:00.000-06:00

I think I included this in my Pre-Christmas haul video, but forgot to include a bottle pic. My friend Sam got it for me for Christmas, along with some loose glitter. I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism for the base, and although I wish I'd done a little thicker coat to get thicker cracks from the Opalescent Blasted, overall I really liked the effect & I think it would be gorgeous over other dark colors too:

It looked a lot different with & without topcoat, but topcoat definitely brings out the shimmer:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Salon Express Nail Art Stamping Kit Unboxing & Review

2012-01-14T14:50:00.009-06:00

While this is an "as seen on TV" product, I got mine at Sallys, and have spotted it at Target also. I found out that the Salon Express kit is available on Amazon too.

Not much else to say other than what I go over in the vid ... to summarize - I love the stamper, I hate the scraper, and the plates are actually pretty nice for the price, but not as high quality as real Konad. If you'd like to see exactly why I hate the scraper, check out my full review vid:

It's also worth mentioning that today is my 3 year Blog-ivesary =) I don't have anything special planned other than continuing to play catch-up (I'm almost done with 2011 stuff at least LOL), but I'm remembering on the correct date this year! Which, if you're a new follower, is a first - the last 2 years I was anywhere from I think a few days to a full week late.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Green & Gold Water Marble + Tutorial

2012-01-10T17:35:00.000-06:00

These were my Christmas Day nails - yes, the last of my holiday looks LOL, only a couple weeks late =) But there's no reason these colors can't work the rest of the year, it doesn't scream Christmas. I got a lot of comments on the tutorial they were good Packers colors but as a Minnesotan I have to be anti-Packers even though I don't give a crap about football!

For my base color I used China Glaze Champagne Bubbles, marbling done with CB & China Glaze Holly-Day - both colors from the Let it Snow collection:

I guess I was so excited with Christmas, I didn't get many pics including no close ups of my favorite nails ... but of course I do still have a tutorial for your guys:

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: China Glaze Glittering Garland & Christmas Tree Stencils

2012-01-04T21:28:00.000-06:00

I know, Christmas is over! But I still wanted to show you guys - the plain version almost more than the nail art. I wore China Glaze Glittering Garland on its own for a day:

Could be my favorite green of the year - except now I've posted it in 2012! Ah, dilemma! I usually go by blog posting date when I do my top manicures of the year LOL.

Anyway, after I wore it plain, I decided to Christmas-ify it a little more with some (homemade) stencils, sponged with Sally Hansen Silver Lining which is a miraculous silver that looks silver some times, blue others, and even purplish at the right angle:

My thumbs turned out particularly well - and the bit of green at the base of my left one made me wish I'd left a little "grass" on the other trees - or "snow" for the inverted ones:

Want to see how I cut out the stencils? Along with a small chunk of my thumb LOL but that didn't make it on camera thankfully. Here's the tutorial:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Christmas Eve Haul & Finger Paints Special Effects Swatches

2012-01-02T17:48:00.000-06:00

I don't usually go out on Christmas Eve - but I'm glad that I did this year =)

I don't exactly know what's up with these absurd little nail files Orly's attached to the bottles ... and yet I still like having them LOL:

Au Champagne & Ma Cherie from the Holiday Soiree collection.

China Glaze:

Holly-Day & Champagne Bubbles from the Let it Snow collection.

I forgot to take a picgture of the Sparkle Topcoat, but here's the real treat - the Finger Paints Special Effects collection:

Black Expressionism, Asylum, Flashy, Flecked, Motley & Twisted. They are completely & totally awesome =) Don't believe me? See for yourself:

Here are a few close-up shots of the swatches:

& now I learn - a bit late, because I'm so behind on reading other blogs - that Zoya is coming out with flakies! & I only have like a week & a half to wait until I can order them! *Drool* Are you in love with flakies? Have you picked up the Finger Paints and/or will you be picking up the Zoyas?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: L'Oreal Amazon's Flash w/ Christmas Tree + Tutorial

2012-01-02T16:37:00.000-06:00

Sooo ... obviously I did not meet my goal of catching up by the end of the year. But one of my resolutions is to be better organized, so getting caught up is a good place to start with that =)

These nails are from about a week before Christmas - I wasn't totally happy with them so they only lasted about a day (& that's also why there's not many pics), but still a fun & festive look. Base color is L'Oreal Amazon's Flash, the tree is done with Ulta Salon Formula Envy, and the lights/ornaments are done with Nubar Fire Sparkle:

Here's the tutorial:

My next look also involves Christmas trees, but done with stencils rather than freehand =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

2011 Books: 11-25

2012-01-02T01:03:00.000-06:00

Ah, books. Yes, those wonderful things I not only used to have time to read, but posted on about once a month if not more often? That vastly neglected hobby of mine that hasn't quite fallen by the wayside, but has definitely experienced a severe reduction in the amount of time I can devote to it? Remember those?

While trying to get caught up with polish pics, I remembered that I am even further behind with my book list. I only managed one lonesome post over the course of the entire year - but I have still been reading. Not so much as a few years ago - before I started the blog, I read 130 books in a year; I think that was 2008. This year I didn't even quite manage to break 60, but I still want to share so I'll be posting up in chunks of about 15 books between my NOTD pics. Maybe not as much commentary as I've had previously, but this will definitely be on my resolution list to do better with in 2012.

#11

Ill Wind

Rachel Caine

Weather Warden Book 1

Paranormal Romance

I'm kind of refreshing my own memory as I go back over these (I do keep a "master" list, separate from these blog posts). This was a series that had been on my list for a long time, and once I got into it I wished I had gotten around to it sooner =)

#12

River Marked

Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson Book 6

Paranormal Romance

Mercy is one of my favorite characters. I wondered if married life might slow her down but if the honeymoon is any indication, things will stay ... interesting.

#13

Nightshade

Michelle Rowen

Paranormal

#14

Masques

Patricia Briggs

Sianim Book 1

Fantasy

This is a reprint of one of Patricia's very first books, and as a writer myself I found it very interesting not only to read some of her older work, but to read the author's note with her own impressions of it around (IIRC) 20 years later

#15

Wolfsbane

Patricia Briggs

Sianim Book 2

Fantasy

#16

Shadowfever

Karen Marie Moning

Fever Book 5

Paranormal

I was soooo looking forward to this one, and it was well, WELL worth the wait. If you haven't read the Fever series yet, I highly recommend it. So many paranormal series lately are set in a world where the vampires, werewolves, etc. have already "come out" to the world - and this series starts before that, lets you see how these characters deal with the magical world kind of being revealed right before their eyes as everything starts to go to hell. I could not predict where this was going, I felt surprised right up until the very end, and it was very, very satisfying. While this is the last book of the series, I'm glad to know the author will continue to write in this world.

#17

Blood Song

Cat Adams

Blood Singer Book 1

Paranormal

This was a series I hadn't read much about before starting it, I picked it up mainly because I'd enjoyed the Sazi series so much. And over the course of the series I grew to like it quite a bit - Celia is a smart character, which unfortunately sometimes seems a bit rare. How often do you find yourself thinking to a character "No! Don't do that you idiot! Don't go there without telling someone! Don't go in the dark basement with no flashlight!" etc. I didn't experience that with her - things just get totally messed up despite her doing her best to prevent it.

#18

Siren Song

Cat Adams

Blood Singer Book 2

Paranormal

#19

Heat Stroke

Rachel Caine

Weather Warden Book 2

Paranormal Romance

#20

Heat Wave

Richard Castle

Heat Book 1

Mystery

When I learned that there was some ghost writer creating the books from the TV show & writing as Richard Castle, that the actor went to book signings & no one knew who was actually putting pen to paper, I was fascinated. When I picked it up & realized that it read just like the show watches, I was very pleased – and when I realized that unlike TV, Heat & Rook (Rook – Castle – get it?) actually get together, I was very very happy. If you like the TV show, the books are a must IMO.

#21

Chill Factor

Rachel Caine

Weather Warden Book 3

Paranormal Romance

#22
Tiassa

Steven Brust

Vlad Taltos Book 13

Fantasy

This series is scheduled to be 18 books long IIRC ... but with the time between publications, I hope it's finished before I'm like, 50 LOL. I try to NOT anticipate the next book too much because I might end up waiting 2 or 3 years between them.

#23

Demon Song

Cat Adams

Blood Singer Book 3

Paranormal Romance

Celia is just drowning in delicious men (thus my classification change from just paranormal to paranormal romance) but unfortunately also trouble ... and demons ... and vampires.

#24

Dead Reckoning

Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse Book 11

Paranormal Romance

An enjoyable read, but I guess I’m just not that impressed with Sookie overall compared to some of the other series that I’ve been reading. With less time to read overall, I have to be more selective to a point, and while Sookie is still on my list & I love her - she's no where near the top.

#25

Windfall

Rachel Caine

Weather Warden Book 4

Paranormal Romance

So, that's installment #1 of me being caught up - there'll be 2 more to get me current & then I can actually move on to 2012 =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:21:00.000-06:00

Today was pretty mellow - slept late. went grocery shopping, had pizza for dinner with mom. Glad I didn't have a party because while we may have had a brown Christmas here in MN, we're having a white New Year:

That's out my bedroom window right now, I literally just took the pic to include with this post =)

If your interested in my resolutions, I'll be talking about those on my other blog later, but one I will share with you guys is to be more organized overall. This is the disaster area that is my desktop right now:

Tea mug, marbling test papers & test polishes, NOTD polishes I haven't posted yet, cuticle oil - just to name a small portion of the clutter. So I'm going to do some cleaning, and some posting, and drink some wine & go to bed =) I may squeeze changing my nails in there too but it remains to be seen LOL

If you're in for the night, have a cozy evening - if you're out you won't be reading this until later I suppose but I hope you have a safe & happy time =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Pre-Christmas Haul

2011-12-28T22:28:00.000-06:00

I have my Christmas Eve Haul still to post too (which includes my Finger Paints Special Effects!). But I got some good stuff in this haul too:

Ulta Salon Formula:

Taupe on a Rope, Into Astrono-Me?, Smoke Screen, Envy, Chocolate Kiss.

Orly:

Stone Cold, Emberstone, Rock the World.

China Glaze:

Haunting, Near Dark, Trendsetter.

Revlon:

Mistletoe, Smoldering, Catty, Naughty, Dreamer.

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength:

3k or More, Glass Slipper (which you can see on my mom's nails over Big Smoke HERE).

And of course, finally:

Essie Shine of the Times. Never expected to find it at Walgreens LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Butter London Big Smoke + Sally Hansen Glass Slipper

2011-12-28T22:11:00.000-06:00

Mom had been wanting to wear Butter London Big Smoke for quite a while, and when I picked up Sally Hansen Glass Slipper she decided to pair them together. Here's a "before" shot of BS on its own:

And with the bling amped up with GS added on top:

This ended up being her Christmas manicure =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T11:48:00.000-06:00

Off shortly to spend the day with family, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday as well =)

My new goal is to be caught up with all my NOTDs by New Years. I am off on Monday so hopefully that will help me meet that goal LOL. Until then, if you want to catch up with a few of my Christmas looks that haven't made it onto the blog yet, or from past years, check out some vids from my Christmas Nail Art playlist:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Cooking With Colette ~ Fruit Tart

2011-12-23T05:25:00.000-06:00

I've decided to push my comfort zone a bit & do a few cooking tutorials - my fruit tart was a no-brainer to put on my to-bake list & I just happened to be making one about the time I made the decision. Took me 2 months to edit LOL but here it is:

If you'd like to make it yourself, here is the original recipe with some notes on how I do it at the end - I've posted it on the blog before, & may eventually upload it to GoogleDocs also, so I can have recipes there all in one place, but I don't know when I'll get around to that:

Fruit Tart

Cooking Time: about 30 minutes

Preparation Time: about 45 minutes

Ingredients for Shortbread Crust:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Ingredients for Fruit Topping:

About 3 cups fresh fruit, such as berries, peaches or plums, sliced small if large
Apricot preserves or apple jelly (optional)
Freshly squeeze lemon juice (optional)

Directions for Shortbread Crust:

Heat oven on Convection Bake mode to 325 degrees F. Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in vanilla. Add flour and mix until a dough forms. Pat dough into a flat disc and press it evenly into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. (Crust can be made up to two days ahead. Wrap tightly in foil when cool and refrigerate.)

Directions for Cream Cheese Filling:

Use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla; then beat until fluffy. Pour filling into baked crust. Bake at 325 until just set, about 20 minutes.

Directions for Assembling Fruit:

Cool tart for a few minutes. Arrange fruit in a decorative pattern on top of torte, anchoring each piece by pressing it slightly into the soft cheese filling.

If using apricot preserves, heat them slightly in a small saucepan. Strain and discard the pieces. Place strained preserves or apply jelly in saucepan along with a squeeze of lemon. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Brush glaze over fruit. Chill tart until cream cheese filling is firm, about 3 hours.

So, that's the official version - now on to a few notes of how I do it =)

The first note I have is that we don't have a Convection Bake mode on our oven. So for the crust, I usually set the regular oven between 325-350, and check the crust at around 20 minutes. It should be just turning golden around the edges when you take it out. Same temp goes for the filling, and I'd suggest checking it at about 25 minutes. Give it a little wiggle to see if the middle is set or still jiggly.

For the pan that you use, if you have a tart pan with high sides, you're probably OK using that. I usually use a spring-form pan that's probably intended for cheesecake or something. It does have a removable bottom, but the sides are tall enough to keep the fruit from falling off if you pile it high & then need to transport the dessert. I also line the pan with a layer of parchment paper, so that the crust doesn't stick to the bottom.

As far as mixing the ingredients, you're fine with either a spoon or electric mixer. I've used both. As long as you've softened the butter & cream cheese, it's not that hard to do with like a wooden spoon or whatever utensil you'd like to use.

I cut up my fruit while the filling is cooking. I really don't know if I use the full 3 cups recommended, but this all comes down to personal taste. Whatever's in season & whatever fruit you like, it will be delicious on top of this.

The apricot preserves or apple jelly really are totally optional. It will give the tart a glossy look, but it's an extra step that really doesn't add anything so feel free to skip it. If you do chose to do it - DO NOT microwave the preserves or jelly. Made that mistake one time & it just was not pretty, it totally caramelized & hardened into this thick dark sludge. Not cute.

When you're ready to serve, go around the outside of the pan with a knife, just to help release the crust & filling from the edge. Release the spring-form & lift out the bottom. With the parchment, it's also pretty easy to slide the whole tart off of the bottom of the pan as well, which makes it a little easier to cut (the one I have has a lip around the edge) - the crust is almost like a cookie-texture, so you need to make sure you cut all the way through.

& that's that! I hope you guys enjoyed =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Candy Cane Water Marble + Tutorial

2011-12-22T23:36:00.000-06:00

Finally! I made it to my holiday nails before Christmas Day =) Due to being so pleased with this one that I wore it a whole week, I am very close to being caught up for the first time since October LOL.

For my base color I used 2 coats of Ulta Professional Angel Baby, marbling done with AB & Ulta Salon Ruby Slipper:

The hard part for this, is keeping the stripes the same size throughout. I managed to keep them pretty even per hand, but my hands next to each other you can see the difference. I actually had one that came out thickly striped & looked really good, but I took it off & changed it to match with the thinner stripes. Here are my favorite nails:

And here is the tutorial:

Another couple of Christmas tutorials coming, and going to try & get my first cooking tutorial up in the morning before work so stay tuned =) Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Ulta Into Astrono-Me?

2011-12-21T22:15:00.000-06:00

This was my base color in the Konad FAQ I posted a couple of days ago - a really really subtle color in the bottle, on the nail it's so deep & gorgeous. Ulta Into Astrono-Me?:

Almost caught up (again) =) & almost to some Christmas nails! Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: China Glaze Some Like it Haute

2011-12-21T20:35:00.000-06:00

Mom was pretty blinged up! She knew I had several similar colors to this, and after comparing them she picked China Glaze Some Like it Haute:

I may turn her into a glitter addict yet =) Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: OPI Ali's Big Break

2011-12-20T23:44:00.000-06:00

This came out more ... hmmm, I don't know what to say other than more tomatoey on my nail than it looked in the bottle. A little weird, it made me like it less. I prefer a red with a blue undertone I guess. But I don't dislike it either, it is what it is - a nice filler manicure in between better things. This is OPI Ali's Big Break:

A lot more catching up tomorrow! Honestly for real (I hope). If you want to see a couple holiday looks, check out the "Watch me on YouTube" link in the sidebar for some tutorials for looks that I hope to have up here soon.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Mosaic Snowflales

2011-12-18T12:20:00.001-06:00

This is the manicure I did as part of the Let it Snow collaboration on YouTube back on the 5th. If you'd like to see some of the other amazing entries, check out my Let it Snow Playlist HERE.

I kind of knew everyone would expect a marble from me, so I wanted to do something completely different. I stumped myself until I decided to play around with some small sequins. I couldn't remember exactly where I got them but I went back to look & finally figured out I'm pretty sure they're part of the 10 wheel Bundle Monster rhinestones from Amazon. The black base color is L'Oreal Raven's Strength. I was really, really happy with this manicure, the sequins give such a different look in different lights:

The only thing I would change, in retrospect, is that I would have put 4 points on my index finger, and I think it would have been a bit more balanced than it was with only 3. Relatively minor in the grand scheme of things LOL.

Here's the tutorial:

And here are a few shots of my experimenting, trying to figure out what exactly I was going to do with the sequins & if I wanted to include any rhinestones or glitter polish over the black base:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: OPI Designer ... De Better +bm221

2011-12-17T22:05:00.000-06:00

Mom kept calling this color champagne; and while the final effect is kind of a champagne color, I kept correcting her - it's silver with fine copper glitter. And I think one of my favorite colors of the year, and became even more of a favorite after stamping!

I started out with OPI Designer ... De Better & wore it solo for a few days, to me this is the best color from the Muppets collection:

I don't remember what polish I used for the stamping - either Konad Black Special Polish or Wet n Wild Black Creme ... whichever I found first at the time LOL. They're pretty interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. This lovely flower design is from Bundle Monster image plate bm221 & it took me a while to figure out which sides I wanted to match up, but I finally decided to stamp sideways, and match the top & bottom edges. Some nails more successful than others, I particularly like the way my ring finger lined up, but even those that aren't right on look pretty good:

LOVED wearing this a lot =) Finally getting into December manis with the stamped version. I've still got pics to edit for my Mosaic Snowflakes, OPI Ali's Big Break, Ulta Into Astrono-Me? & my Candy Cane Water Marble, so stay tuned. Had a great day of frosting & baking & tray making today! & plenty of pics to come of that as well of course. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

FAQ: Konad Part 2 - Accent Designs & Polish Choices

2011-12-17T11:05:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize, until I went back & reviewed Part 1 to make sure I didn't repeat myself too much (you can check out Part 1 HERE if you missed it), that it had been nearly a year since I recorded it. Time flies I guess =)

Part 2 ended up to be a lot longer than I initially thought, but I ended up talking about more than just the technique behind stamping small accent designs onto your nail. I also touch on what brands other than Konad you can use & how to figure that out, & stamping a designs with multiple colors. So if you're new to Konad, or just curious how I do mine, enjoy:

Today would be catch up blogging all day except for one thing - today is Cookie Day!!! Honestly maybe my favorite day of the year, even above Christmas. I'm sure I'll still get a few things posted, but most of the day will be spent frosting sugar cookies & making up trays. If you missed my cookie frosting marbling last year, check it out HERE, posted with last year's Cookie Day pics - and stay tuned for not only pics from this year's Cookie Day, but some cooking tutorial vids very very soon. I have 3 recorded, & although none are edited yet I'd like to get them all up before Christmas.

I hope any of your pre-holiday plans are going as well as mine =) Although I still have to do the majority of my shopping! Gah, don't know when I'll fit that in this week but we'll see. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: The Evolution of Butter London The Black Knight & Sally Hansen Lady Luck

2011-12-17T10:00:00.001-06:00

So, my unworn pile ... heap ... well, let's be honest, mountain is getting a tad out of control. Just a tad =) So I had the thought I should try to do more manicures that use more than 1 color. I wanted a lot of bling, and I thought that Butter London The Black Knight & Sally Hansen Lady Luck went really well together. The bit of pink in TBK matches perfectly with LL. But my first attempt, a totally blinged out funky french, didn't sit well with me:

It just came out so think & chunky looking. I think it looks quite a bit better in these pics than it did IRL. It was ridiculously late, but I couldn't stand it - since the polish wasn't completely set, it wasn't horrible to remove, even though they're both glitters. I redid the mani with my original idea, going with TBK as my main color & LL for accent nails - I considered switching on my other hand but I ended up doing them both the same:

Then I had the not so great idea to matte-ify them ... then I thought if I dabbed on some clear to bring the glitter out, it might look like little gems on the matte background. Final result was all of that but not a bag of chips if you know what I mean LOL. Matte, yes, and little gems, yes - but one of my better ideas, no I don't think so:

Which is your favorite? Mine is obviously the middle version, but everyone has their own taste so maybe you like #1 or #3 =) Leave a comment & let me know!

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

TOTD: China Glaze Reggae to Riches

2011-12-17T00:40:00.000-06:00

This is actually still on my toes & at this point badly in need of replacement - China Glaze Reggae to Riches:

Not sure when I'm going to actually go to bed, so I'm going to do some more editing, maybe some more posting or schedule a few posts for tomorrow. This is still from November, so I've got a ways to go to show you guys my holiday nails =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette