Quatrefoil Skittlette

Happy Friday everyone! I have some more nail art for you today and I am in LOVE with this mani! This was my first time trying a quatrefoil design. Not feeling confident of trying it on my own, I followed  ChristabellNails youtube tutorial. There was definitely a learning curve, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. 

Confetti Water Marble

Hello lovelies! I'm still getting over the stomach flu right now (fun times!), so I won't be very long winded today. It's been a while since I've done a water marble and have been jonesing to do another one. Then I was entering into Mucking Fusser's Magnificent Milestone Giveaway and one of the entries was to post a water marble. Perfect timing!

Fall Harvest Water Marble

I started this mani with the thought of combining Fall colors. When it was finished, instead of Fall, it reminded me a little more of the 1970's color palette. Of course, that palette is based off the same colors, just with weirder and uglier shades of it. Probably the most iconic color from this period is known as "harvest gold". Where the gold mixes with the brown on my nails it's the perfect representation. So here I have for you an odd and intriguing Fall Harvest mani.

OMD2 Challenge Day 7- Holographic

I don't have a huge stash of holographic polishes (I will someday..), but what I have I love. China Glaze I'm Not Lion had been on my wishlist for quite some time. I was so stoked when I finally got it! Today's Holographic prompt was a perfect opportunity to show it off again.

Royally Pink and Gold

Happy Friday everyone! Some exciting news for me- Nail Polish Society is finally on Instagram! I'm still working on uploading photos and such. Feel free to start following me now because tomorrow I have a special surprise! Okay, I'll spoil the surprise... I'm having another giveaway! To celebrate finally getting on the IG bandwagon I've got one super duper prize. You won't want to miss it. Seriously.

NOTD: China Glaze Ahoy!

Wow, is it finally Friday? This has been a long, busy week for me. I've been running around so much, that I'm determined to stay home today and do as little as possible! Okay, maybe not, but I am trying to keep it easy. Plus, it's that time of year again where the air is thick with swirling cotton from the cottonwood trees. I'm talking white-out blizzards of cotton. That alone is huge motivation for staying inside. And when I am forced to leave the house, lipgloss is not an option!

This nail of the day is China Glaze Ahoy! from their Spring 2011 collection. Ahoy! is a gorgeous raspberry red glass fleck. Even with the squishy jelly base of this polish I was able to get it this opaque easily in just two coats.

Monochrome Sunbursts and Floral

Howdy everyone! How is life treating you this fine day? I am still trying to get over waking up from a cruel dream I had last night. I was dreaming that I was nail polish shopping, and there were rows and rows of Essie and OPI bottles on clearance. Just as I my basket was getting full of delicious goodies that I've wanted for so long, I woke up. Then came the sad moment of realization that it was all a dream. *sob*. Should I be admitting that I'm so obsessed that this is what my literal dreams are made of? Don't worry. The day I am visited by the Ghost of Nail Polish Past, Present, and Future, is the day I seek professional help.

Garden Critters Skittle Nails

I've had this design in mind for weeks and finally had the courage to try it. I say that because I have never tried any of these designs before, and I get intimidated by trying something new. I have this bad habit of being afraid of failure. So I bit the bullet, spent a couple hours on it (or more), and here is the finished product. I am so happy to say that this mani came out just as I had envisioned it!

I had been thinking about the theme of Spring and that led to the idea of bugs. I thought it would be cool to do another macro design like the one I did for my black and white animal prints. I wanted to think of a fifth bug, but couldn't come up with one that would be easy to do or not totally creepy. So I went with a snail instead because they are kind of adorable.

Here's the long list of polishes I used. I used the same black on each nail, Sephora by OPI What's a Tire Jack?

Ladybug: OPI Red Hot Ayers Rock

Butterfly: Sephora by OPI Hi Def- orange, China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin- yellow/orange, China Glaze Lighthouse- yellow glass fleck, Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Caterpillar: Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Sephora by OPI Yellow My Name is Betsey

Beetle: Sephora by OPI S-age Is Just a Number

Snail: OPI Don't Preztel My Buttons- shell base color, OPI A-Piers To Be Tan- medium brown, mixed colors for snail body

What do you think? Would you try this mani yourself, or maybe just one of these designs on all of your nails? Would you like to see a tutorial?  I hope you enjoyed the post. Have a great weekend!

Please show some love and follow me on facebook, twitter, bloglovin', or pinterest! And thank you to all of my loyal readers. You guys are the bestest!!

xx Emiline xx

Easter Chevrons

Happy Friday everyone! Are you all ready for Easter? I'm not at all! I haven't gotten a thing for my kids. I'm taking advantage of the fact that they're still young enough to not have expectations. Thank goodness for grandparents, because I'm basically depending on them to do all the work for me :). My mom and her husband are hosting the egg hunt and dinner. I'm just going to try to relax and focus on singing well in the choir at church. My allergies are still giving me grief, so I'm all little anxious about it. At least my nails are ready and looking good!

For this mani I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White and then top coat. It was late at night when I started, so I just left it at that until the morning. Unfortunately, I got a little bit of shrinkage from the Seche Vite top coat. Grr. Anyway... next I used some craft scissors and Scotch tape to make the chevron shapes, and tape off different areas of my nails. Then I painted on four different shades on a makeup sponge, and dabbed the sponge on each nail a couple of times before removing the tape. For the chick (isn't he tweet? ;)) I used a dotting tool for the eyes and a tiny nail art brush for the beak. I finished everything off with another coat of Seche Vite. Let's hope it doesn't shrink it too much this time :/

What I used:
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Sephora by OPI Yellow My Name is Betsey
China Glaze At Vase Value- blue
China Glaze In a Lily Bit- lilac
Jenna Hipp Hashtag- peach
Jenna Hipp Damage Control- pink
Seche Vite top coat

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all have a great Sunday! I am looking forward to spending time with family and eating yummy deviled eggs. :)

Cosmic Fishnet and Roses

I recently acquired some new stamping plates and have had so much fun trying out all the designs. The plates are Cici & Sisi, Jumbo Series #1. I purchased them through Amazon for $29.99. There are a total of 216 designs on 6 plates! It's going to take me awhile to try them all out, but I'm working on it. I have more details on the plates to tell you about, that I am saving for another post. 

My base color is China Glaze Cosmic Dust. I think it's the first linear holo I've bought that's this dramatic. I wish I knew how to photograph it in artificial lighting. Indoors the polish looks very silver. Good thing I had a sunny day!

What I used:

China Glaze Cosmic Dust

OPI  OPI...Eurso Euro

Seche Vite top coat

Cici & Sisi Jumbo Series #1 Plate 03

Thanks for reading! 

China Glaze Spring 2014 City Flourish (a few) Swatches and Review

I was so ready start wearing brighter, softer colors now that Spring is here. Aren't you? So when I walked into Sally Beauty (as I often do) and saw China Glaze on sale with buy one get one free, I picked up four of the polishes from their Spring 2014 City Flourish collection. Knowing I shouldn't buy ALL of them, I grabbed four shades that would help me fill in some gaps in my collection.

If you've read any reviews about this collection you'll probably have heard about the issues many have had with the formula. I have to say I am one of the people that struggled with the application. I typically expect to have more difficulty if the polish is really light or pastel. For me, all the effort is worth it if it's a shade you really like and don't already have one like it. On the other hand, if you have a polish that is close enough and has a good formula, I would say you could pass on most of these.

At Vase Value is a bright pastel mint blue creme. I used three coats, plus top coat. My camera didn't like this color, so unfortunately it doesn't show it very accurately. :( It blew out all the color and made it look really white, but it has more depth than this. I do really like the color but the formula is chalky, dries matte, and takes some finesse. 

In a Lily Bit is a pastel lilac creme. I used three coats, plus top coat. The formula was basically the same as above. Still a lovely color that I'm glad I have.

Metro Pollen-tin is a orangey yellow creme. I used three coats, plus top coat. This was the most difficult formula out of the four to work with. I had to be so careful in my application and even then found flaws that were a little bothersome.

Don't Honk Your Thorn is a nude with a subtle silver microshimmer. I used two coats, plus top coat. This formula is different from the other three because of the shimmer, and much easier to work with. I am a fan of nude polishes and feel this is a good addition for me.

Something I found that helped with the application was not to mess with it too much. I tried to apply each coat with as few brush strokes as possible and that seems to make a difference.

Again, the pretty shades paired with the discount price made my purchases worth it. Maybe if I had paid full price I'd feel a little differently. What do you think of the collection? Did you get any or all of them?

Spring Is Sprung

Hello lovelies! How are you enjoying your Spring so far? Today is a perfectly sunny day and I'm enjoying it while I can, because who know what next week will bring. Already down the street our neighbor's cherry tree is blooming. Each year it's the first to serve as evidence of the changing season. Now I am looking forward to more flowers blossoming, warmer weather, and longer days.

I am celebrating the start of Spring with some colorful floral nails. For the mani I used four China Glaze polishes from their new Spring 2014 City Flourish collection. I plan to swatch these shades and have them posted next week. For now, let's look at the photos!

I love how simple and easy florals are. You can be as abstract as you want and it still comes out pretty. I had planned to do more of a watercolor look for the flowers, but didn't realize how much it would blend in with the tan base color. I found this out by testing it on my right hand first, then decided to switch it up for my left hand. I am going to try a watercolor mani again soon and hope it comes out how I envision it.

What I used:
At Vase Value- bright pastel mint blue
Don't Honk Your Thorn- nude with silver microshimmer
In a Lily Bit- lilac
Metro Pollen-tin- orangey yellow
Seche Vite top coat


I hope you're having a great beginning to your Spring (or Fall for all you Southies)! Will you be sporting any floral nails?
Don't forget to come back and check out my full swatches of these four shades.

Luck O' The Irish Water Marble

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! This isn't a big holiday for me. Growing up we never did anything to celebrate except to wear something green to school. Even that was done without enthusiasm, I just wanted to make sure I didn't get pinched. Green is my least favorite color. Also, if I have Irish in me, it's marginal. I don't drink, and corn beef and cabbage has never sounded appealing enough to try to make. So there are my reasons for not doing anything special to celebrate. All the same, that doesn't exclude me from trying out some nail art for the occasion!

This mani is a little crazier than my recent St. Patrick's Day nails. In this mani I wanted to include some Leprechauns' gold too. I love how it sparkles! Don't you feel lucky just by looking at it?

I have yet to do a water marble with a consistent design. I basically can never get the polish to do what I want. So I just try to find a part that looks cool and go with it. My water marbling skills haven't changed since my first try, but I still have fun with it. I kind of like to be surprised by how each nail turns out.

What I used:

China Glaze Lighthouse- yellow gold glass fleck
Wet n Wild Fergie Glowstick- day-glo green
Sephora by OPI I Come in Peas- deep green
Seche Vite top coat

What do you think of the design? What do you do to celebrate St. Patrick's day? I love to hear your comments!

Blue Medley With MoYou Suki

I was so excited to finally get a MoYou Suki Plate! I hope someday I will have them all. Because you know what they say, too much of a good thing is often an excellent thing. I got the Suki Collection 06 (XL images). I still have an issue with them being called XL. I mean, I need them to be XL to fit my big nails. But it makes me feel like I need to put my nails on a diet. Maybe they could rename them, "They Actually Fit Your Entire Nail Plates".

On my index and middle finger I have three coats of Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams. I stamped  over that with Sephora by OPI Break a Leg Warmer. On my ring finger I applied two coats of China Glaze Pelican Gray and sponged China Glaze For Audrey on top. Over that I applied one coat of Formula X for Sephora Chaotic. On my thumb and pinky finger I have two coats of piCture pOlish Ocean.

Isn't Ocean such a dreamy color? I think it's only my third piCture pOlish shade, and I'm so glad I decided on that one. There are so many more that I want, and I hope to slowly grow my collection. I purchased mine from llarowe.com.

I think I need to dedicate some time to stamping practice. These nails turned out better than my last stamped manicure, but still wasn't as crisp as I wanted. Looks like it's back to stamping school for me!

What I used:
piCture pOlish Ocean
China Glaze For Audrey
China Glaze Pelican Gray
Formula X for Sephora Chaotic
Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams
Sephora by OPI Break a Leg Warmer
MoYou Suki Plate Collection 06 (XL images)


Let me know what you think in the comments!

Also, I'm participating in this week's (and hopefully the whole month) N.A.I.L. challenge which is shown below. The graphic itself was just so cute, I had to join in.



Click here to see the other N.A.I.L. stamping manicures!

Sochi Olympics Fever

USA! USA! I look forward to the Olympics months before they start. I love the anticipation for all the drama and excitement. The Sochi Olympics has not disappointed so far. I've been eating it up every night since it started. The figure skating and ice dancing has been amazing. The snowboard cross is so much fun to watch because at least half the athletes wipe out every run. My new favorite is the debut of slope style, it is seriously insane. If someday I magically changed and enjoyed being out in the snow, I think I would try my hand at it.

Of course it's always more fun to watch the athletes when you know their back story. You get so much more invested when you know what they've been through. Or when there is an athlete competing from a country who has never won a single medal. You kind of want them to be that country's national hero. It's emotional stuff, achieving lifelong dreams, and I cry with them every time.

I used to always think that if I ever competed in the Olympics that I would prefer to win a silver or bronze medal over a gold one. Out of the three I felt the gold was the least attractive. Or having one of each might be more cool than three gold ones. Is that weird?

What I used:
Sephora by OPI White Hot- thumb and ring finger
OPI Liquid Sand Honey Ryder- textured gold on my index
Clinique Strappy Sandals- silver on my middle finger and thumb
China Glaze Goldie But Goodie- bronze on my pinky and thumb
Jenna Hipp Awards Season-gold stripes on my thumb
American Apparel Downtown LA- red
OPI..Eurso Euro- blue
Sephora by OPI The Golden Age- gold and silver glitter on thumb
DRK_A Large Stamping Plate, purchased from Ninja Polish


What are your favorite winter Olympic events? Have there been any memorable moments for you so far? I'm a little partial to Ashley Wagner of team USA figure skating to a Pink Floyd song. It was pretty rock n' roll. :)