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!

St. Patrick's Day Half Moons With Zoya Hunter and Opal

I have a quick St. Patrick's Day mani for you today. The star of the show here is Zoya Opal, a polish I bought months ago and can't believe I'm just now showing off! What better time to do it than for the upcoming holiday? I have another St. Patty's theme mani I hope to have for you on Monday, so don't forget to tune in!

Artificial lighting:

To create this manicure I applied two coats Zoya Hunter, then applied fast dry top coat. After they were nice and dry I placed reinforcement labels over my cuticles. Then I painted on one coat of Zoya Opal, then a matte top coat before removing the labels.

Outdoor lighting:

What I used:
Zoya Hunter
Zoya Opal
China Glaze Matte Magic
Sally Hansen Dries Instantly
Reinforcement labels

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think in the comments. :)

Strawberry Ice Cream With Chocolate Sauce and Sprinkles Nails

I discovered this darling manicure on Cutepolish's Youtube channel. I instantly had to do it! I had never tried a drip manicure before and though this would be a fun design for my first attempt.

In the tutorial she uses a matte top coat on the "ice cream" part. I was planning on it too, but completely forgot until I had already applied the "chocolate sauce". Oh well, it still works. I loved how easy this was. It's nice when you find designs that look cool but don't take all night to do.

What I used:
Jenna Hipp Damage Control- pink
Zoya Louise-brown
It's So Easy Stripe Rite in various shades
Sally Hansen Dries Instantly top coat

I lost my bottle of Seche Vite a few days ago. I had been doing my little girl's nails earlier in the day, and then that evening it was gone. *Ummmm.... What the heck?! Literally, AS I WAS WRITING that last sentence, I found it! I had looked for it a billion times!! It's a blooming miracle! "Write it.. and they will come." Haha. :) I really thought it was gone forever. Anyway, I started using my bottle of Dries Instantly that I hadn't tried out yet. I don't think it dries quite as fast as Seche Vite, but it's a good alternative.

What do you think of the manicure? Cute? Too dangerous if you're on a diet?

Love, Charlotte XO by Color Club From Charlotte Russe Swatches and Review

Today I have swatches of four polishes that I found the other day at Charlotte Russe. I don't usually shop at that store but I decided to stop in, curious if they sold any nail polish. I was excited to find that they had a good selection (maybe 20 different shades?), and a few that I really wanted to try. They were being sold 2 for $6.00, or $3.50 each, so I ended up with four. 

I was really pleased with the formulas. The application was easier than I expected, and each had good pigmentation. It only required two coats for each creme shade, with decent opacity in just one coat. 

Unfortunately none of the polishes had names! Hello! Isn't that the second best thing about a nail polish, beside a great color?

This shade I am calling a lime-mint. It's bright, like double-mint gum. See, that could be its name right there. My camera hates most greens, especially if they have any amount of blue, so these first two swatches didn't photograph well. I had to darken the photos because the green is so bright (but not neon) that the color got washed out. The polish almost looks matte here, but it's not.

This is two coats, good formula and easy application. Plus top coat.

This next polish I will call a turquoise-mint. Isn't it a beautiful Easter-y shade? Again, this shade made my camera angry so I had to make it a little darker. No, I'm not wearing self-tanner here. :)

Two coats, good formula and application. Plus top coat.

This polish is a dark purple-grey, which I love. It's such a pretty shade, I could wear it year-round.

I may have been able to pull off one coat with this if I was generous enough with the polish, but I did two regular coats here to get perfect coverage. Good formula, easy application. Plus top coat.

Lastly, I have a neon-pink hex and white bar glitter. This fun and funky glitter is a good addition to my small glitter collection. The biggest sized glitter is so big that it didn't lay completely flat, but at least it wasn't curling. One thing that can be difficult with glitters is that they can be too "wet". I felt this one had too much clear polish, which affects both application and drying time.

This is "one" coat, meaning I dabbed it all on trying to get good glitter placement. Average formula, and had to put more effort into application. Of course, I used top coat.

I am so happy about my finds! Honestly I didn't have high hopes, but thought it would be worth the experiment. Now that they have exceeded my expectations, I will be going back for a few more that I had my eye on.

What do you think of these? Will you be purchasing any? *As of this posting I'm not finding this line of polish on their website. Hopefully they will put them up eventually, for those of you who are not near a store location.*

Let me know your thoughts in the 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!

Lent Manicure... My Very Naked Nails and Nail Care

I am a dork, and don't have a lot of control of my dorkiness. So I couldn't resist the Lent theme of depriving myself of a manicure today. Of course that isn't going to happen for all forty days. I'll have to give up something else instead, possibly vacuuming.
Anyway, I thought today would be a good chance to give you a looksy at my natural nails. My purpose for this is to show you that my nails are not ideal. My nails have ridges. They split by just looking at them. My nails are so thin you can see every speck of dirt that gets under them. Despite my thin, weak nails, I still do my best to maintain them. The little things I do add up to make them just healthy enough.

Your phalanges are showing! That's something my dad would say to us when my sisters and I were young. Starting to see where the dorkiness comes from?

I have always had thin nails and I have learned to deal with them. I have accepted that I will never have really long nails. I don't exactly want them long but it would be nice to know I could grow them out if I wanted. It would also be nice if they weren't SO bendable. I've tried a number of products to help transform my nails into beautiful, strong, thick claws, to no avail. Even in my pregnancies I've never seen any improvement in my nail thickness or strength. I'll take some Biotin when I remember to, but during the times I've been consistent I don't notice a difference.

So while there never seems like there is much I can do to help transform my nails, here are two things that make a big difference for me:

1.  I don't do dishes. Yep, just like my favorite red OPI shade that I wish I still had a bottle of. Doing dishes destroys my nails and my hands.
2. Wearing nail polish. With a base coat, couple coats of polish, and top coat, my nails are much more protected and rigid. Even removing my polish with pure acetone ( I do about 70% of the time) doesn't seem to nullify the benefits of wearing polish regularly.

Products I currently use most frequently:

Burt's Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme: This is my nighttime hand cream. It's not one I would wear during the day because it's really thick and oily. For those same reasons, I like it for bed. The scent is really pleasant and natural, something else I really take into consideration when I'm going to sleep.

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener: Again, my nails haven't been magically transformed by any specific products. Since I need a base coat anyway, I feel it's better to have one that has some benefits to it. As a base coat, it works well. As a nail strengthener, I think it slightly improves my nail health. For the last few months I've used it with every manicure, with the exception of when I'm swatching multiple polishes, in which case I use Elmer's glue for quick removal.

OPI Avoplex Nail and Cuticle Replenishing Oil: This is another nighttime product for me. Since it's an oil, it's a little messy. I'm not super consistent about applying it every night, mostly because I'm already wearing hand cream. I usually remember if I've just done a manicure right before bed. I occasionally use it in the afternoon after I've finished a manicure, when I know I won't be taking photos of it for a while. It also has a very pleasant and subtle scent.

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream: This is the product that I use most often. It absorbs really quickly and isn't messy so it's great to use throughout the day. I typically apply it once or twice a day. If I'm swatching multiple polishes, I will use this after each one. Cuticles can look nasty really easily in photos. This cuticle cream is great for photos because it isn't shiny and makes the cuticles appear healthy quickly. I love the lemon scent in this product, even if it does make me a little hungry.


So there you have it. The true identity of my nails. What nail issues concern you the most? Are there any wonder products that have changed your life?

Also, not being Catholic, I've never felt compelled to join in and give something up for lent. Maybe someday. Do you celebrate Lent? What have you given up?

Blue Zebra and Leopard Animal Print

I had a day at the zoo and wanted to my manicure to blend in, so I have a zebra and leopard design for you. Lately I have been in a very "blue" mood. You know, blue as in the color, not in a sad way. Yesterday I bought a blue shirt, skirt, and even blue eye shadow. Blue is my favorite color, but I think because I've been trying to embrace other colors, I went into withdrawal or something.

To create the manicure I first applied two coats of OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam, one of my very favoritist polishes. Then I painted on the zebra stripes with my long striping brush. Next I added some small bright blue blobs. Then used my dotting tool to finish the leopard pattern. Lastly I finished with some top coat. Darn top coat made my stripes smear. Curses.

What I used:
OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam- base color
Zoya Sailor- navy
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue-Away- bright blue
Seche Vite top coat

I just received my Seche Restore in the mail today (I don't know where to get it locally, they didn't have any at Sally Beauty)! My Seche Vite bottle always gets thick after just a few weeks of use. The Seche Restore is supposed to add the ingredients that have evaporated from the bottle back in and return it to its original state. I bought mine from Amazon. I'm going to try it out tonight. I'll let you know how it goes!