Giveaway I've entered!

One of the blogs I follow "Let Them Have Polish" is having a giveaway that I've entered here!  She has all sorts of wonderful konad ideas!

Freehand Funky French on the Diagonal

So if you can't tell by my boring title names, I'm not really a creative person.  It may appear (at first glance) that I am and I truly wish I were but for the most part all I am able to do is take someone else's idea and try my hand at it.  I've had my creative moments but I'm just not yet brave enough to show those because most are fails.  Maybe some day. ;)

One of the many cool things I've come to find out about nail art is that the love for it is universal.  While the taste may vary from culture to culture or even person to person, you don't necessarily have to know the language of the individual to "get the picture".  A lot of blogs and youtuber's I subscribe to are in other languages & I don't speak a darned one of them - I only speak English. :(  The reason I say all that is because today I have for you my take on a funky french that I saw here, which is not in English, but here is the pic of my nails:

For the base coat I used Gelous that I purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply.  I then freehanded the black which was LA Colors nail art w/the striping brush in black.  Once that dried I used Sally Hansen White Out and a toothpick (I didn't have any dotting tools yet) for the white dots.  Then I alternated smaller dots on top of the white in blue (cannot remember the polish I used - sorry!) & a purple-pink neon China Glaze Purple Panic.  I then topped it off with Seche Vite.  I believe this is the 1st freehand nail art mani that I've ever done & it's still one of my favorites! 

Another cool thing about this mani is that it was super cheap to do so if you're looking for a neat way to spice up your nails without having to pay salon prices or buy special tools then this should be right up your alley!  The LA Colors nail art polish I got at one of my local dollar stores for $0.99, a toothpick and 2-3 other colors is all you really need to accomplish this look.

Hope you like!  Have a great day fellow nail polish lovers!

Across the Universe - Deborah Lippmann

A few days ago I posted about my precious hubby surprising me on Valentine's Day with one of my most coveted after nail polishes - Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe.  From what I've read on her website, Deborah Lippmann loves music (she even has a few cd's out) & she names some (if not all) of her polishes after songs.  This one is named after The Beatle's song Across the Universe. 

I tested this polish with 3 different base coats:  Zoya Anchor, OPI regular base coat & some generic kind I got at Sally's Beauty Supply.  I got the least amount of shrinkage with the OPI so I went with that. 

This polish is a navy jelly with aqua micro glitter and the bigger hex glitter of green and blue.  It makes me think of a mermaid or the deep ocean or maybe even the universe. ;)  For the top coat, I didn't go with my old faithful Seche Vite because I had read on another blog somewhere that the 2 didn't play nice with each other.  I used Orly Polishield on my left hand & Zoya Armor (no drying drops) on my right so I could see which one held better.  I had just the slightest bit more tip-wear with the Zoya but I am right-handed so I think they were both an even match.

As thin as this polish is I was surprised that it was opaque in 3 but it was and most definitely worth it!  I'm going to wear this for as long as I can because it is so awesome.  *Edit:  It wound up lasting 3 days which is a long time for me.

Photo taken outdoors at sunset.

See how sheer it was @ 1 coat?

Sorry for the crappy lighting - not sure what was going on...

Deborah Lippmann's nail polish is on the expensive side ($18/bottle) & is available at Nordstrom's, Neiman Marcus...you get the picture.  While I do love love LOVE my nail polish, that is quite expensive IMO & I would never buy that for myself & that is why it is so special to me.  Do you own any of her nail polishes?  What are your thoughts?

Polka Dots!

Hello everyone!  Today for you I have polka dots. I went through a phase where I hated polka dots but I don't anymore!  For this mani I used one of those tiny Sally Girl polishes in no-name lavendar as the base color (which was opaque in 1 coat!) & for the stamping I used the Bundlemonster "fauxnad" plate bm21 and the stamp color was also a Sally Girl no-name polish in a dark(er) purple.

Water Marble using Color Club: Pure Energy & Factory Girl

Hello Readers!  This is a water marble I did (the only one so far, actually) using 2 different shades of blue from Color Club.  One is Pure Energy which is an aqua blue with some green shimmer & the other is Factory Girl which is a light blue creme.  I was trying to recreate what the awesome Nihrida did here.  If you haven't checked out her blog yet, do so.  She is awesome. 

Here is my rendition:

OPI - Do You Lilac It?

Today for you I have OPI's Do You Lilac IT? with Nubar 2010 on top, Konad m51 using Konad special polish in purple for the design & the little flower on my ring finger came in a packet I bought at Sally Beauty.  I must be in a purple mood lately because it seems as if all the mani's I've done as of recent are purple.  DYLI was opaque in 1 coat - yippee!  When I first saw Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure I knew it was a must-have, then I saw it was LE & going for $20 on ebay, I about died.  Sally Hansen for that much?  You have GOT to be kidding me!  Anyways, I found out that Nubar 2010 is an almost exact dupe so I got it for much cheaper.  This is the 1st time I've actually worn 2010 on a mani because it is so very special to me that I wanted to save it for that special color & to me this combo is perfect so here it is in all its glory!

Then I mattefied it using Essie Matte About You (sorry for the crappy pic):

And here is a pic of the Nubar 2010 - just look at that rainbow of beautiful flaky goodness!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Well, today is Valentine's Day & I just couldn't pass up doing a romantic mani!  I used Konad plate M19 to do the french tips with Konad special polish in white.  I don't have this technique perfected yet so I had to go back over it freehand with Wet 'N Wild in French White Creme.  Once that dried, I used one of those Sally Girl nail polishes that are really tiny that you get at Sally Beauty Supply for like $0.99.  The only thing I don't like about them is that they don't have names!  It was light pink in color & had a creme finish.  Once it dried, I added the kiss design from bm02 with an old Sinful Colors nail polish in Crazy Red.

And this is one of the presents I received from my hubby for Valentine's Day!  He is so thoughtful - I have the best husband!!!  He is so supportive of me with my whole nail polish/nail art obsession!  This is my first Deborah Lippman polish.  If I hadn't spent so much time & effort on the kiss manicure, I would have put this on straight away!  I cannot wait to wear this - it is absolutely breathtaking IRL.  It makes me think of a mermaid's tail. 

The other gift he got me was the full-size Zoya Color Lock System.  During their 3-free I purchased the mini version & fell in love - especially with their nail polish remover.  I'll get more into that later!  Oh & I received some products over the weekend to review so stay tuned!  Lots of fun things coming soon!!!

Happy Valentine's Day for those of you with someone & Happy Single's Awareness Day to those of you without!  May you all be happy & blessed on this beautiful day!