Peace Love Lacquer

Thanksgiving Nail Art - Andy Warhol Inspired Turkeys

2013-11-26T06:27:00.000-08:00

This time last year I was in the middle of a Thanksgiving Nail Art Challenge. If you want ideas for turkey day nails here are the links to the 5 days:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

In the last couple of months, my turkey nails from day 5 have blown up on Pinterest. As of me writing this, it has 2938 repins and 336 likes. I am flabbergasted at those numbers. Thanks to all of Pinterest for your love!

Well, it got me thinking about what I can do for my Turkey Day nails this year. I was bouncing ideas off of my amazing friend Sunny, of 365 Days of Color (shameless plug - you should check out her Elf Christmas collection!), and we thought about Andy Warhol's depiction of Marylin Monroe.


source

My thought was, my Turkey nails are so Pinterest famous, why not honor them as Warhol honored Marylin? A bit of a stretch, I know, but I love how it turned out... Even if it's not in typical fall colors.

I used acrylic paint for most of the turkey designs. There are two reasons for this:

1- It doesnt smear. There is nothing worse than spending two and a half hours on nail art and having it smear.
2- I needed a ton of colors and at $.69 each at Michaels, acrylic is much more cost effective.

Here is a break down of the supplies used, by finger.

Thumb (first row, middle Marylin):
Base - Deborah Lippmann Dancing in the Sheets
Craft Smart Hunter Green
Craft Smart Pool Blue
Craft Smart Yellow
Craft Smart Light Pink

Pointer (third for, left Marylin):
Base - Zoya Robyn
Craft Smart Navy
Craft Smart Flesh
Craft Smart Light Orange
Folk Art Baby Blue

Middle (second row, middle Marylin):
Base - Barielle Smarty Pants Pink
Craft Smart Mustard Yellow
Craft Smart Red
Craft Smart Navy
Stripe Rite Neon Pink (dulled down with some Craft Smart Black)

Ring (second row, right Marylin):
Base - Zoya Jacqueline
Craft Smart Hunter Green
Craft Smart Yellow
Craft Smart Pool Blue
Avon Nail Art Enamel Blue Vibe

Pinky (third row, right Marylin):
Base - Dazzle Dry Chery Parfait
Craft Smart Black
Craft Smart Light Pink
Craft Smart Yellow
Craft Smart Flesh (mixed with a little Craft Smart Light Pink)

I hope your Thanksgiving is full of family and friends. I know mine will be :)

Beauty Blogger Q&A

2013-05-06T12:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday!

I was tagged by the AMAZING Heidi over at My Vanity Basics and Kim at College Polished to do a little Q&A to let you guys get to know me a little better... Here we go!

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight? Straight. It's all my hair is good at doing. I wanted my hair curly and down at my wedding, and they literally had to sizzle my hair to make it happen lol! (you can totally tell how much product they used in this pic!).

Cardiac Development

2. What is your natural hair color? I was super blonde as a child, now I am just dirty blonde. It'll lighten up in the summer though. My hair naturally highlights the more I am out in the sun.

3. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon? I have never done a full-blown die on my hair. Maybe about 6 times (in my LIFE), I have had semi-permanent highlights added to my hair. I have a gift certificate from my mama for Christmas to go get it done before this summer.

4. How often do you wash your hair? My hair is super fine, and therefore gets greasy very quickly. I have switched to a non-sulfate shampoo and can stretch it to two days, but I have to have my hair up on the second day. If I want my hair pretty, I wash and condition daily.

5. Do you wear the same style every day or change it? I either have it blown-out and straight, or in a messy bun or clip. I never do any curling or anything for a normal workday. Only special occasions.

6. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon? About once a year I will go get a pedi done. Otherwise, I do it all myself.

7. How often to you change your nail polish? On the weekends when I swatch, multiple times in an afternoon... But usually 2-4 times a week.

8. Do you polish your toes in the winter, too or just in the summer? What is winter? I have never lived this strange phenomenon. lol. Here in Mesa, Arizona our "cold winter day" is about 55 degrees! Needless to say, I wear flip-flops year round and therefore NEVER have naked toes.

9. How long does it take to put on your makeup? My normal, workday make-up takes about 10-15 minutes. If I'm going somewhere special and want a more dramatic eye, add about 10 minutes.

10. What do you do first? Face or eyes? If I'm doing a dramatic eye, I do it first. But, for the most part it's always face first.

11. Do you "collect" makeup or just buy what you need when you need it? I don't have an extensive make-up collection. Ive been using the same foundation (Bare Minerals Matte) for years. I recently started to branch out and try new things, but for now all of my make-up fits in one drawer in my bathroom vanity.

12. How often do you wear false eyelashes? Pretty much only Halloween... I have pretty long eyelashes. With a curler and a couple different kinds of mascara, I can make these babies long, long, long. I have to eyelash test new sunglasses lol!

13. Do you do a full face of makeup every day? If by full face you mean foundation then yes. My foundation is mid-coverage so I never feel like I am caked up with make-up. If its a weekend and Im just running to the grocery store, then I just touch up with concealer and translucent powder. During the week, I add a little eyeliner, curl and mascara my lashes and add a highlight of shimmer in the corner of my eyes. Keep it simple!

14. Do you wear makeup when you are home alone (or with family)? If I am not leaving my house, then no.

15. Will you leave the house without makeup? Nope. But like I said above, I am willing to leave with minimal make-up on. This comes from years of struggling with acne. Every teeny-tiny little blemish feels like a beacon to me, so I feel self-conscience if I don't cover it up.

16. How many high end products do you have? Everyone's definition of high end is a little different I think... I have quite a bit high end nail polish. Some people would consider my foundation (at $30/jar) high end, although it lasts me 6-8 months so I don't find it that steep. My mascara and cream concealers are Benefit, so those would be considered high end... but that's about it in my make-up drawer lol.

17. How often do you wash your makeup brushes? Not often enough... I try for every other week... but my goal is to get myself into the habit of doing it every week. I am due for a washing, have to do it tonight.

18. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you are getting dressed? No, I never think that far ahead lmao! When I am brushing my teeth before my shower I stand in my closet and decide. I have a Sonicare with a timer, so I know I have to decide in 2mins or less; keeps me from agonizing for too long haha!

19. How often do you change your handbag? I have a purse I made over a year ago that I still use every day. I have the fabric to make myself a new one, just need to bust out my sewing machine. I have small purses that I move important things into for going out, but otherwise I use my purses until they die.

20. What time do you get up & go to sleep? I get up at 4:45am every weekday morning.... so Im in bed by 10 at the latest. Every minute Im awake after 8:45pm is a minute I take away from my precious 8 hours of sleep... so I try to go to bed around 9 (which is much easier in the summer when The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are on at the 8 o'clock hour. In the winter when they're on at 9 I rarely go to bed before 9:30 lol).

21. How often & when do you workout? I do some form of activity every day... but working out is hard for me to come bye lol! My hubby is starting a new job in a couple weeks and he will have to be up at 4am; my goal is to wake up with him, do my daily HIIT (my favorite workout videos) and make a fruit breakfast smoothie for both of us before my shower time of 5am.

22. Left-handed or Right-handed? This is a bit of a story lol. I was SUPPOSED to be left handed. My kindergartener teacher smacked my left hand and forced me to write righty. We aren't talking about ages ago either, this was the early 90's. Of course, I was too young to know something was wrong. I told my mom about it a few years later and she was furious. Now, my hand-writting sucks no matter what hand I use (they look almost identical, but it's faster to write with my right). But, this did help me be ambidextrous; which is handy!

23. How tall are you? 5'4''

24. Do you speak a foreign language? None fluently.

25. How many pets do you have? I have 4 (yes 4) dogs and 2 cats. My life is full of hair.

Christmas Card pic a few years ago - minus the youngest pup

26. How often are you on Blogger? Every weekday... rarely on the weekends.

27. Do you read the comments posted blogs? I never miss a comment on my blog. Getting comments is the best and I truly enjoy them.

28. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts? I have a draft email saved in my gmail. That way I can access it no matter where I am (mobile, work, home).

29. How did you come up with your blog name? I am generally a super happy person. I love the "peace love laughter" things and all of the different variations (I've even seen Peace Love Llamas lol!) so I decided I would make my own tweak to the name and make it my own!

30. What kind of camera do you use? It's an ancient Olypmus. I really want a new camera.

31. How often do you clean your house? I keep it tidy throughout the week and deep clean is (bathrooms, floors, etc) on the weekends.

32. What is your favorite color? My favorite color is hot pink. My favorite colors to wear are teal and purple. My favorite nail polish colors are green and blue. Im strange, I know lol.

33. What is your favorite beauty/fashion magazine? I only get one magazine, and it isnt beauty related lol.

34. Do you swear? CONSTANTLY lmao. But never on my blog, I try to keep it professional (it's hard haha). I can swear at work... which only feeds my nasty habit.

35. What are you doing with the rest of your day? It's lunch, so Im going to go eat, then finish my work for the day. Tonight for dinner we are having Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps. yum-o! And I have to wash my make-up brushes when I get home (I even told my hubs this morning to remind me!)

I tag Sunny at 365 Days of Color and Cordia at Seriously Swatched.

365 Days of Color Maybe aby Review

2013-05-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

**This was sent to me for review. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own and are an accurate representation of my experience with the product.**

Happy Friday!! sorry I dropped off from posting this week. I broke my nail really bad and had to wait for some uv gel to arrive to fix it until it grows out. Im not tell you which one I broke... bet you can't guess :p

I have 365 Day's of Color 12 Month's of Color May shade to share with you today.

I only have one picture to show you today because my camera decided to be a pain in the you-know-what and not photograph another angle without throwing off the color. Thanks camera!

Anywho, this is two coats of Maybe Baby over Zoya Rocky. Sunny sent me a mini bottle as a tester for my review, so I had to fish a little to get the big glitters. But not too bad, they picked up pretty nicely. I would recommend getting a full size; you will get even more glitter if you have the big brush. Maybe Baby has holographic silver and gold glitter in multiple shapes and sizes, silver holo hearts, and giant blue, teal and pink holo dots. I love dots!! So sparkly and pretty!!

You can find her shop here and her Facebook here for shop updates. She is only open the first and third weekend of the month right now due to a strict study schedule with school. So, if you want this, you better head over there right now! The mini costs $4.50 and the full-sized is $8.

She also recently added sugar scrub, that is AMAZING. And has a bunch of new scents for her balms, oils and scrubs you need to check out. I use all three of those products daily. They are wonderful. There is also an awesome Mother's Day special going on right now. You can get two full-sized nail polishes and a 1oz hand product for only $17 (the polish alone is $16); go here to check it out!

**This was sent to me for review. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own and are an accurate representation of my experience with the product.**

A England Dragon

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have a pretty for you today that I am appalled took me so long to wear. All of my organizing brought this mishap to my attention. So, here I am correcting my mistake.

Do you want to know the best part about Dragon?? This is ONE COAT! I die. So pretty. This is a rich, mossy green packed with holo shimmer. I painted these at night, so didn't have a chance to get them out in the sun. By the time I got home form work, it was too dark.. But trust me, it's gorgeous. I highly recommend this be added to your collection.

PS - I've decided to include a thumb in pics now, instead of holding the bottle. The problem is, my thumb has a ridge that isn't bad, but obviously sticks out like a sore thumb (parden my pun) in pics. What is your favorite ridge filling base coat? I am clearly in need of one!

Different Shades of Blue Autism Awareness - Fishtail Braid

2013-04-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are, another Monday. And this marks the last 3 days of the nail art challenge. Have no fear, I have something special planned in a couple weeks that I am pretty excited about!

Believe it or not, this is the first time I've done a fishtail braid mani. I'm pretty happy with it, although it is not my favorite nail art...

My camera has been a bit of a pain lately. I really wish I could afford to get a new one. Im not happy with my pictures today. I used Zoya Blu, Wednesday and Rocky (from the new Stunning collection I will be showing you next week). I free-handed everything. I think next time I do this technique, I will use smaller lines!

Be sure to check out the other ladies participating...

Makeup and Nails, Not War

I’m Just Me... ChiChi

Seriously Swatched

Paint Those Piggies!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Jilltastic Nail Design
Little Laura Loves

Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

Light of the Moon Nails

Different Shades of Blue Autism Awareness - Awareness Ribbon

2013-04-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

TGIF ladies!! Can someone tell 2013 to slow down?? I feel like it should be February haha!

I kind of rushed today's, so I'm not thrilled... but, alas, no time to redo it lol!

I used Barielle Platinum Ring as the base. I put OPI Gone Gonzo over my pointer, middle and pinky fingers. Then I used my Avon Nail Art Enamel in Blue Vibe to draw the ribbons.

Be sure to check out the other ladies participating...

Makeup and Nails, Not War

I’m Just Me... ChiChi

Seriously Swatched

Paint Those Piggies!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Jilltastic Nail Design
Little Laura Loves

Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

Light of the Moon Nails

365 Days of Color One Colorful Year

2013-04-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

**This was sent to me for review. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own and are an accurate representation of my experience with the product.**

Can you believe that Sunny has been making her pretty polish babies for a year now?! To celebrate, she created a special limited edition polish that is going to be available in her shop when it opens tomorrow.

I helped her name this polish, so she sent it to me to review... and I got a full size! Woohoo!!!

**This was sent to me for review. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own and are an accurate representation of my experience with the product.**

One Colorful Year is a white base with (direct quote from Sunny) "a little of pretty much every glitter I have used over the last year." It lives up to it's name.... it's SUPER colorful.

This is 3 coats, 2 was safe for looking good while wearing it... but photographing a polish in a lightbox tends to make the nail line more noticeable so I did 3. The formula is a bit thick, but I think that's more because there is so much glitter than anything. I didn't have any problems with application, even with the thicker consistancy.

She opens shop tomorrow (she's in a cram session for school, so she's only opening a couple times a month for a little while).

You can find her shop here (it's in maintenance now, will open tomorrow) and her Facebook here for shop updates. One Colorful Year is very limited edition, with only 60 being made, and it costs $8.00.

**This was sent to me for review. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own and are an accurate representation of my experience with the product.**

Different Shades of Blue Autism Awareness - Blue Ruffian

2013-04-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a new one to me! I had to google it lol!

I think I have used Zoya Blu every day so far lol!

Blu is the base and Barielle Surf's Up is the dark blue. This is a nerve-racking mani to do. One hiccup and it's ruined lol! I like it thought, it's fun and different.

Be sure to check out the other ladies participating...

Makeup and Nails, Not War

I’m Just Me... ChiChi

Seriously Swatched

Paint Those Piggies!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Jilltastic Nail Design
Little Laura Loves

Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

Light of the Moon Nails

Different Shades of Blue Autism Awareness - Puzzle Pieces

2013-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!!

Today's mani required tape... you all know how I feel about tape lol. It's not perfect, but it's not horrible for one of my tape messes.

Not so bad lol. I used Zoya Blu and Robyn. I used blue painters tape and my large dotting tool to create the art.

Sorry for the super short post. I have a road trip to take with the Canadians on their last full day visiting!!

Be sure to check out the other ladies participating...

Makeup and Nails, Not War

I’m Just Me... ChiChi

Seriously Swatched

Paint Those Piggies!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Jilltastic Nail Design
Little Laura Loves

Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

Light of the Moon Nails

Different Shades of Blue Autism Awareness - Blue Gradient

2013-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

There have been a lot of "eh"s in my house this week. My hubby is even sounding more Canadian with his friends in town. Usually I only get to enjoy his accent when he's mad lmao.

When I grabbed the colors for this mani, I wasn't sure I was going to like it... but I love how it turned out.

LOVE IT!! I used Barielle Blackened Bleu for the base and topped it with Zoya Song from the Diva Collection (solo swatch here) and finished off with Dollish Polish Bad Case of Blue Balls (solo swatch here).

Be sure to check out the other ladies participating...

Makeup and Nails, Not War

I’m Just Me... ChiChi

Seriously Swatched

Paint Those Piggies!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Jilltastic Nail Design
Little Laura Loves

Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

Light of the Moon Nails

China Glaze Hologlam - Strap on Your Moonboots

2013-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello loves!!

I have a holo polish from the new China Glaze collection for you today. It's time like these that it's good to live in a desert where the sun shines 330 days a year lol!

SOOOOOOOOOOO PRETTY! This is a lovely navy blue holo polish. It took two coats and the formula was an ease to work with.

I also took a pic in my lightbox so you could get a good idea of its true color. It is also super pretty inside, even without the holo the sun adds!

Different Shades of Blue Autism Awareness Challenge - Rainbows

2013-04-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

My hubby has friends that came into town from Canada for the next week. So I'm going to be keeping things short and sweet!

I feel like I've done rainbows so many times that I can't think of a new, original design (here, here, here and even here are my previous rainbows.) So I decided to do only a rainbow of blues.

I feel like it could be in the paint aisle at home depot lmao!! I used Zoya Blu, FingerPaints Blue Raspberry Taffy, Zoya Robyn and Barielle Surf's Up. Because I hate tape and decided to free-hand them, I separated them with my silver Stripe Rite.

Be sure to check out the other ladies participating...

Makeup and Nails, Not War

I’m Just Me... ChiChi

Seriously Swatched

Paint Those Piggies!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Jilltastic Nail Design
Little Laura Loves

Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

Light of the Moon Nails

Making My OCD Happy - Swatch Sticks

2013-04-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am going to start this with a warning... I am a crazy person. I just need this understood lol. My OCD makes a lot more steps for me. You can simplify.

Last month I upcycled an awesome nail polish cabinet (original post here). I LOVE my cabinet and knew immediately upon it's completion that I needed to do swatch sticks. Looking for the perfect nail polish for a nail art vision I have in my head proves tedious with everything in drawers by brand and not color lol.

So, I went on a hunt and found sticks on Ebay. The original sticks I bought are sold out, but I underestimated the number I needed and had to order more. I ordered from this listing. They ship from Hong Kong, so the wait is long, but worth it. It only costs $2.78 for 50 of them, with free shipping.

While I waited for them to arrive, I typed up my labels. I couldn't find a pre-cut label size I liked, so I decided to print on paper and tape them on. In hindsight, Im glad I did because the tape sealed the paper and will keep them from getting dirty. While I typed them up, I labelled the top of the bottles with a number, this number was typed on the label. So, if I want Zoya Song, all I have to do is go in the Zoya drawer and look for the number on the stick (85). I organize the drawers by number, and not color.

I printed and cut them, and put the brand stack in the appropriate drawer, then I waited. And waited. And waited.

I FINALLY got them, and started almost immediately on my project. I labelled all the sticks before I started painting. Here are the tools I used...

I have a small self-healing cutting mat, rotary cutter, tape adhesive and transparent Scotch tape. I used the tape adhesive (bottom right) to put a bit of sticky on the back of the labels in order to keep them where I wanted prior to sealing them in with the scotch tape. (all part of my crazy)

Now, at this point, most sane people (ie - not me) would just wrap the excess tape around the back. But, I'm not sane. My OCD took over and decided it would not only be cleaner to cut it off; but there is also a chance over time of the excess tape lifting on the back and catching on other sticks. No bueno. So, I flipped them upside down and used my rotary cutter to cut it off. If you are sane, you can skip this part and make it easier on youself.

Once all of them were prepped, I started my swatch-a-thon. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw my nightly work lol.

Via Instragram

I painted the underside of the sticks. There are two thoughts on this:

1 - the swatch stick acts as a top coat.
2 - the nail swatches are more protected from scratching and chips.

Via Instgram

I did them in batches, and let them sit overnight to be sure they were dry. When I finished a stick, I wrote the number of coats on the back of the stick behind the label.

When all 296 of them were done, I grouped them in their specific groups and wrote down how many in hopes to figure out how to organize them on the 6 bolts I had, but no luck. I will be running to Ace Hardware to buy some additional ones, but for now I have loops.

Then I had to organize them within their color groups. Here's how they turned out.

Blue

Coral - Orange - Yellow

Toppers

Green

Metallic - Grey

Pink

Purple

Red - Maroon

White - Black - Brown

Mint - Teal

And the labels turned out so lovely... I used the transparent tape because the other tape is milky and can be seen from the side. This tape is more invisible and makes my OCD much happier.

And they sit so happy in their drawer (please excuse the pic quality, I used my cell phone because my camera hates low light).

My OCD is at peace... For now.

Different Shades of Blue Autism Awareness Challenge - Blue Flowers

2013-04-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, April is Autism Awareness Month. In honor of that some fellow bloggers and I decided to do a challenge. A big thanks to Cordia over at Seriously Swatch for hosting.

Today's challenge is flowers, so I opted for a simple dot flower.

I used Zoya Natty from the Designer Collection (solo swatches here) and Blu from the Lovely Collection (solo swatches here). Then used Revlon Downtown as the flower center. I thought that was too boring, so I used my smallest dotting tip and added dots around.

Be sure to check out the other ladies participating...

Makeup and Nails, Not War

I’m Just Me... ChiChi

Seriously Swatched

Paint Those Piggies!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Jilltastic Nail Design
Little Laura Loves

Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

Light of the Moon Nails

Red Glitter Gradient Nail Art

2013-04-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

My mama owns a small sports bar in the mountain mining town of Globe, Arizona. Back on February 23rd, there was a huge party at The Huddle. This was the 5th annual Globestock (as it was rightly dubbed the first year). This party actually started out as a family reunion. Now you know something about my family lmao!!

At the 4th annual Globestock, I did beer nails. This was a couple of weeks before I started my blog, but I did take a bad cell phone pic (and you can see it here). This year I had to think of something different. I didn't think I could top the beer nails, so I decided not to try. Instead, I figured I would do something to compliment this years shirts (the woman's shirts were red with black writing/images).

I followed the instructions I found on Pinterest on this pin. This was a messy project. There was red glitter EVERYWHERE lol. I used my Nina Ultra Pro Black and then a extra fine red craft glitter (it's the Michael's brand). I was really happy with is... and best of all, I barely had a hangover the next day! lol!

Bonus! Every year my mom chooses a theme for Globestock (last year it was wall street "stock" market). This year's theme was stock-aides. You know, those things in the mid-evil times they locked people in for stealing and whatnot? The shirts even featured it (you can see a pic of the mens shirts here). Even better, my step dad and a couple of his buddies BUILT a more comfortable version of a stock-aid for photo ops (faux-fur and all). As you can imagine, the further into the night, the funnier the photo op. I give you, my cousin Myles being abused by his girlfriend Grace lmao!

Good times.

OPI Skyfall Collection Swatches

2013-04-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I showed you Man With A Golden Gun over Casino Royale. (I am selling my gold top coat. Email me if you are interested) Today I will share with you the rest of the collection.

Die Another Day. It is one of my favorites from the collection. It's a redish orange color. It's super shimmery, and you can see brush strokes in the shimmer a bit, but not horrible. This is two coats.

Goldeneye. It's just that, golden. lol. I was sorry I didn't swatch this last, since I got gold glitter EVERYWHERE haha. This one was a little thinner, it took 3 coats to get full coverage.

Live And Let Die. This is a deep sea blue/green base. It is almost black in certain light. There is a green/gold shimmer in it that kind of reminds me of China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, although its not an exact dupe.

Moonraker. I was so disappointed in this one. I had such high hopes. The formula is VERY thin; I dont have bad ridges on my nails, and this points every single one out. It took three coats for full coverage.

Her Majesty's Secret Service. This one is a bit reminiscent of Zoya FeiFei. It is a dark blue base packed with metallic shimmer. It was a bit thin and took three coats for full coverage.

Skyfall. For being the newest movie, I was a bit underwhelmed by the color choice. Its a vampy, maroon creme. The formula was lovely and it took 2 coats for full coverage.

The Living Daylights. When I first saw this in the bottle, I thought I would hate it... but I actually like it. Its got gold, copper and teal hexagon glitters. This is one coat layered over Skyfall.

The Spy Who Loved Me. This is a pinkish-orange microglitter. It is very shiny, and a bit reminiscent of Animal-istic from the Muppets Collection (I have not swatched it, it was a recent find). Though, I think this one is a bit more pink. It took 2 coats to full coverage.

The World Is Not Enough. This baby had a great duochrome look in the bottle, but it did not translate onto the nail. It is a taupe/gold shimmer. It was a bit thin. It took 3 coats for full coverage.

Tomorrow Never Dies. Wow. So pretty! Its a pretty blueish-purple shimmer. I just cant get enough. It's so pretty! It took 2 coats to full coverage.

You Only Live Twice. This pink microglitter feels a lot like a couple other OPI's I own (Meep-Meep-Meep and I'm All Ears). There is a gold shimmer in the bottle that doesn't translate to the nail. This is very pretty, and if I didn't own the other two I would be drooling. It took 2 coats to full coverage.

And as I promised yesterday, here is the nail art the won me this collection (all free-handed)

Now that the bond girl textured collection is coming out, I feel like I must own it to go with these. The irrational thoughts of a polish addict!!

OPI Man With A Golden Gun and Casino Royale

2013-04-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

If you remember, a few months back I entered OPI's James Bond nail art competition. Well, much to my surprise I was chosen as one of the ten winners!! They winners all got the entire Skyfall collection, including the coveted Man With A Golden Gun. I have the entire collection swatched, but Im only going to share two with you today.

This is two coats Casino Royale, I had some top coat issues, so please excuse the pointer finger. This formula was lovely, which can't be said for the entire collection. Its a wonderful deep mauve that went perfectly with the gold...

This is one coat of Man With A Golden Gun without a top coat. I didn't have to fish for the flakes. While I am not generally a yellow gold fan, I do really like this. I was surprised lol.

I have decided to sell Man With a Golden Gun. While I like it, I will likely not wear it again and I know there are a lot of people that would love to own it. Email me if you are interested.

I don't see that I ever did a blog post on the nail art that won me the collection (I only posted it on Facebook). So tomorrow, with the other 11 polished from the collection, I will post the art as well.

Easter Nail Art Challenge Day 5 - Pastels

2013-04-02T07:54:00.001-07:00

The last day of the Easter challenge! Woohoo!!

I was a bit concerned about today... I am not a huge pastel fan. Luckily the Zoya Lovely collection (which can be seen here) saved the day for me.

I decided to do something understated. I didn't have a whole lot of time to do these, so it's a bit rushed lol!! I used an unnamed light pink Color Club (I got it from Ross and there were no name!! wth, right?), Barielle Banana Drop, Zoya Blu and Zoya Neely. I then free-handed the white lattice with my Stripe Rite and used a medium/large dotting tool to dot one of the different colors over the joints.

Be sure to check out the rest of the participants creations!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Easter Nail Art Challenge Day 4 - Chicks

2013-04-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! Today is day 4 of the Easter Nail Art Challenge. If you missed my Bunnies and Easter Eggs over the weekend, be sure to check them out. Especially the bunnies, they are some of my best work!

I decided to show the stages of a chick hatching from an egg to make it a little different!

First you have the cracking egg, then the chick peeking out of the two halves. Next the chick shakes off the top half, and finally he's free!! Lol!!

I used OPI Alpine Snow on my pointer and Barielle Sunshine on the rest. Then I used my black and white Stripe Rites and FingerPaints Caric-art-ure striping polishes to do all the accents.

Be sure to check out the rest of the participants creations!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Easter Nail Art Challenge Day 3 - Eggs

2013-03-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!!!!

Today is Easter Eggs. Last year I did the egg designs on my nails (Im not going to link, because Im not proud of them lol!), so this year I tried something different.

I used Zoya Blu as my base again. It's the perfect, subtle blue. The bright blue is Zoya Robin, and the purple egg is Barielle Lilac Jelly Bean. I put pink polka dots on the purple egg with Avon Nail Art Enamel in cupid and the yellow on the blue egg is Stripe Rite Yellow. The flower center is also the Stripe Rite Yellow, accented with my Orly Yellow Submarine. For the grass, I started with Avon Nail Art Enamel in Styled Green and then overlayed it with LA Nail Art Deco Mint Green.

Be sure to check out the rest of the participants creations!

Nail Polish Anonymous

I've got to go get ready and make green bean casserole for the family pot luck this afternoon. It's going to be 90 degrees out today, so I bought a maxi dress to wear... and am going to do a hairbow (thanks Pinterest! lol!)

Easter Nail Art Challenge Day 2 - Bunnies

2013-03-30T08:29:00.001-07:00

It's Saturday, but not a relaxing one! It never is when it's Easter weekend!!

I am soooooo happy with today's mani! In fact, I may re-do them after the Egg mani for tomorrow.

So cute!! I used Zoya Blu as the base. The detail work was done with Zoya Gie Gie, LA Art Deco Bright Orange, Avon Nail Art Enamel Styled Green and my Stripe Rite White and Black. Everything was done with striping brushes and dotting tools. I obviously wouldn't be able to do the detail work (specifically the fine black outlines) on my right hand, so I did the dotticure on the whole hand instead.

Be sure to check out the rest of the participants creations!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Easter Nail Art Challenge Day 1 - Grass/Flowers

2013-03-29T07:29:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday!!!

The lovely Corrinne over at Galactic Lacquer is hosting a 5-day Easter challenge!!

Today is grass/flowers, and I wanted to keep it a little simple.

I used China Glaze For Audrey as the base (if you dont own it, go buy it. I need to get another one!) and Zoya Rehka and Barielle Gotta Have Fate as the flowers. I used a large dotting tool to make the flowers and a medium for the flower center. The rest was accomplished with the following striping polishes: Stripe Rite White and Yellow, LA Art Deco Mint Green, Orly Yellow Submarine.

Be sure to check out the rest of the participants creations!

Nail Polish Anonymous

Today is the last day to enter my Blogiversary giveaway! It ends at 9pm tonight (PST time). Click here.

Game of Thrones Nail Art

2013-03-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

So, anyone that loves an HBO series understands the agony of the 10-12 episode season followed by 9-10 months of waiting after a cliff hanger. I love a few HBO series, and am losing what little patience I had while waiting for their return (True Blood and Newroom being my other all time favorites). My loooooooooooooooong wait for Game of Thrones season 3 is almost to a close, so to celebrate the season premier on Sunday, I decided to do some quick, simple nail art.

I painted my nails with my Nina Ultra Pro black and used by silver Stripe Rite to draw the designed. I did the GoT with the "o" impaled by swords. And I put the wolf symbol for the Stark's on my thumb.

My fellow GoT fans know what I'm talking about!! 3 more days! AHHHHH!!

(PS - if you havent read the books and you like the show, you should. I only read up until the point in the show, because I dont want to ruin any surprises lol!! That, and I knew I would burn through them like crazy and then be sad and impatiently awaiting the next book. Best to just wait haha)

If you participated in my flash giveaway yesterday, be sure to check you comment and see if you're the winner! Also, don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway! It ends on Friday! Click here.

Happy Birthday to Me! Nail Art & Flash Giveaway

2013-03-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello dolls!!

Today I turn 28... I was contemplating not saying how old I am... there's the irrational woman in me screaming "No!! You're getting old! AHHHH!" But, I decided instead to take a page out of my mother's book. Her theory is: there is no point in fretting about getting older, because the alternative it being dead. haha. Happy thoughts.

I made it look like number candles were sitting on a cake! Lol!! I used Barielle Life of the Party, Zoya Julie, and Zoya Gie Gie as the main colors. My Stripe Rite black and white striping polishes for accents... and the flame on the candles was made with my Stripe Rite Yellow and Orly Yellow Submarine.

Now, for the flash giveaway!! I have a mini bottle of Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum looking for a new home!! All you have to do is comment on this blog post with your must have beauty product (it does not have to be nail polish) and how you follow my blog. The options are: Bloglovin' (my favorite way to follow blogs), email, Networkedblogs and HelloCotton. I left out GFC because in July google will be eliminating GFC and you will lose all your blogs you follow. If you follow me by GFC, please think about picking a different option!

US only. At 9pm tonight (PST time) I will have a random number generator pick a winner... then I will comment on the winning comment and that person will have 24 hours to contact me (you must follow the rules above to qualify)... so be sure you check back tomorrow to see if you won!

Also, don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway! It ends on Friday! Click here.

365 Days of Color Eggcentric Bunny & Jellybean There Done That

2013-03-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm on a 365 Days of Color kick! But I got her Easter Mystery bag on Saturday, and wanted to share these pretty Easter polishes with you before Easter comes and they are no longer available... I have a solid week of nail art for you starting tomorrow; so today is my only chance!

This is two coats of Eggcentric Bunny over white. It is a creamy white jelly base packed with pastel glitters in all shapes and sizes and a pink and purple shimmer (that my camera failed to pick up). It is so, so pretty!!

Jellybean There Done That is a glitter top coat, so I layered it over Zoya Julie (you can see Julie by herself here). It has purple, aqua and pink matte glitters and micro white glitter along with purple to pink shimmer (which once again eludes my dumb camera). This is two coats over Julie, and the formula was once again an ease to work with.

Sunny does extensive testing of her nail polishes before she releases them, so you can be confident in the quality when you purchase them.

There are available for a very limited time. The mystery bags can be purchased here and cost $20 with free shipping. On top of these two full-sized limited edition polishes, you also get 2-3 oils, balms or mini polishes. I got an oil and a balm :)

Don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway! It ends on March 29th. Click here.