Monday/Tuesday

I have Monday's Mani here and Tuesday's Tutorial for you today. 

For the Monday Mani I did a skittle manicure.  What makes it a "skittle" is that each nail has something different but they all fit within a theme.  

I picked up this gorgeous blue from Sation called Blue Sky's the Limit and used it for the base color of all the nails except for the fourth finger which is Misa Beyond Infinity and also fabulous- almost a one-coater which led me to believe it might be a good stamper.  As you can see it turned out kinda light on the middle finger, but not a total fail stamping polish :)

 So Starting with the thumb- just two coats of the Sation and a small light green stone.  The index finger is the base blue with the gray striped over top with a striping brush.  On the middle finger I used a MASH stamp and accented it with some glitter polish in China Glaze Optical Illusion dotted into the pattern.  Fourth finger is two coats of the Misa polish and the pinky is Optical Illusion in a gradient over the base blue.

Here they are minus the thumb a little closer up.  :)
Think you might rock the skittle look?  This was such a fun way to go when you just can't decide what you wanna do with your nails that day- give it a try!

Tuesday Tutorial:
I have something fun and fruity for ya.  This is a super electric watermelon mani.  I was looking at some of the very delicious looking shades on my nail space and these colors screamed to be paired- so here's what they get- hope they aren't sorry they asked!

To start out you want to do two coats of your melon color on all fingers but one- which you'll do two coats of your rind color.  The shades I used were Spoiled Lox-y Lady and I'm So Jaded.  Yes the lime has a subtle shimmer and is so yum!

Next you want to take a black- this is Milani Black Swift- and using a dotting tool or a toothpick randomly dot the "seeds" on your nails.  You can try dragging them into a less-than-round shape if you wanna, but I wasn't feeling steady enough for that =p Next, take your melon color again and paint over the green- in the same kind of stroke you would from the cuticle, but just start farther up the nail.  Do two coats here.

Finally you 1) dot the accent nail 2) add a little detail with some white on top of the green and 3) top coat each nail.  Learn from my mistake here peeps- I didn't wait quite long enough on the accent nail to add the top coat so blah- it dragged the seeds.

Here's another view:  Bear said- "Mom, I can't tell you messed up.  It just looks a little scary- so perfect for Halloween!" Oh well ;)  I wouldn't survive as a perfectionist.  I can only beat myself up over mistakes for so long lol and then you just gotta let it go =D

Have a great Halloween tomorrow all my lovelies!!

Over and Out

Sunday Swatch Spam

I am just all kinds of tardy this week.  I was planning on posting last night- then I got the boys to bed and spent two hours with my wide-awake beautiful daughter just playing in the playroom.  She was/is into discovering everything, so we just played till she started getting blinky.  As a parent of more than one kiddo- the times when you have uninterrupted attention to give to just one at a time is really special don't you think?  Well I couldn't have asked for a better night :)

Here is the swatch spam for this week:

Lethal Injection from Wet n Wild Megalast- almost metallic deep wine- two coats

How I Met Your Magenta- Wet n Wild Fast Dry- This color was nearly the top pick this week.  It is hot pink with micro gold shimmer which in itself is love- but it is also matte- pushing it over the top for me.  So much fun on a great budget price! woot!- two coats

Tahiti Sunrise- L.A. Colors.  This is the last of the four polishes I picked up at the dollar store.  Overall I won't be running back there to pick up more shades right away- they were just pretty average compared to all the polishes you can get out there right now for just over a buck, but they weren't bad either.  This is a pink/orange shimmer- two coats.

Electric- Revlon.  I love love love yellow.  That being said- it isn't a color I have a lot of in my collection.  I think that is because it's rare for me to find a good formula on a yellow polish and they usually need more coats than another color.  This polish was a winner, but not quite yellow perfection yet.  Light and creamy colored- plus a little shimmer thrown in- which you can't really see here.  The formula still wasn't all that, but I give it an A- =D  Three coats

The Temptress' Touch- L'oreal -Now this color hit a home run for me.  This lime/olive green combo shimmer duochrome was stunning to look at!  This is two coats of fabulous.

Pier 17- NYC- Another top polish from the week- this royal blue hi-shine polish was a stand out and so fun to wear.  Another great bang for your buck!- two coats

Want My Bawdy- China Glaze- I really am showcasing quite a few winners this week.  Since I am a thrifty polishaholic- I usually wait for China Glaze collections to go in the clearance bin at Sally Beauty so I can pick em up for half price.  That means having to exercise patience, but they are worth the wait.  After trying out their Bohemian Luster Chrome collection with No Plain Jane, and I'm happy to say I finally have the whole set thx to my friend the clearance bin ;)  This color Want My Bawdy is clearly for me- a deep blurple duochrome....I mean what else can a lady ask for?  It was love at first site- and not bad in the staining department either- so A+- two coats

Maybe I just subconsciously swatched all my fav polishes this week- but here is another excellent shade.  The Temptress' Power by L'oreal- a beautiful nude polish with golden/green shimmer or duochrome what have you.  This color is great if you want to be classic with a twist.  Love love love.- i think this i three coats for how sheer the nude is.

 Here it is layered over Revlon Electric.  Great versatility right?

Revlon Hot for Chocolate kinda just hit middle of the road for me.  It had nice coverage and was nice and deep, but it didn't end up screaming gorgeous to me on the nail.  I think this is a nice subdued understated color.  I give it a B and this is two coats.  I found this in a clearanced collection at Grocery Outlet so I don't if you'll be able to find it in your base colors for Revlon.

Ok! Instead of a glitter bomb today as my final color I have for you my fav color of the week!! Incoming: Fall-ing for You by Fingerpaints- this color was a HUGE surprise. I found it yet again in the clearance bin at Sally's and I figured it was going to be just a reg old dusty blue metallic- but surprise it was so teal on the nail!  I wore this for a few days after just swatching it cuz I couldn't bear to take it off! Wowza if you can find this in Sally's still I would recommend it- it won't disappoint.  I couldn't stop staring at my nails and it made me happyyyyyyyyyyy which is the whole point anyway right??  Pure love- two coats =D

That's it for this week!
Have some fun!

Over and Out

Tardy Weekly Wrap Up

Well hello and welcome to another weekly wrap-up.  Yes it's Thursday not Wednesday, but it just crept up on me way too fast this week.  I guess we're all just having too much fun ;)  So without further ado- here was our week:

Ok, so Bear thought it was pretty darn awesome that Bug tolerated the sticker that he got off a movie and relocated to his brother's head.  My two cuties :)

Here he is making sure to point out the going rate for a Bug these days!  And just look at the mugs on these two monsters =D  Yes uncle Cy, that IS the infamous "Hogan Headlock" big brother is putting on little brother to keep him still for the camera- makes you proud doesn't it?

Snuggles with Daddy before he heads off to work.  Dad's coworkers made up some onesies like this one for Miss Bee with catch phrases Daddy uses at work.  This says "it is what it is."

It's pumpkin carvin time peeps!  We got the kit and everything to do the elaborate carving this year, but we got some good old fashioned creativity instead- let me introduce you to our jack'o'lantern.  His mouth purposefully has just one tooth- in the style of one Patrick Star- and just as purposefully, his eyes do not match, just so you know.

The man and his pumpkin.

Ok- so let me tell you about this picture- yes my son is punching the pumpkin in the mouth, which is what he thinks is the most awesome thing ever.  I think the most awesome things ever are his little toes curling as he does so!!

Ready or not for your close-up, here I come.

Hmmm- Madagascar 3 released and my kids love love love that show.  Needless to say we own a copy now- which came with this rather amusing wig.  Miss Bee appropriately wonders what this specific hairdo says about her future.

"Why Mom? Why?"

And further on in the week we have a rather rousing game of robot world war III.  It goes a little something like this- per his involved description of events:  World War III is upon us.  Robots are fighting on behalf of our country.  He is a robot.  His armor has been shot to pieces(see said armor being worn by said robot).  Also see one Bee walkin all around the furniture barely stayin in one place for more than a second.

And an end has come for our brave hero.  The play-by-play, as directed by said hero, goes something like this:

And he died bravely for his country- taking the final blow to his armor.

He stumbles and falls (this is mid-fall btw).

He is defeated.

Here shall dwell the metal and gears of a robot hero, taking at least 50 shots to his armor before keeling over to finally let the earth claim him.  It can not be said of this robot that he had no bravery, no passion.  It can not be said that he shirked in the face of certain destruction.  It can NOT be said that he ran when a fight came his way.  He was a robot among robots!  For he was equipped with the latest combat bravery and anti-retreat mods. Really he was. You can see for yourself just inside the left panel if you don't believe me.  Ya, not too much hassle to install really, and they're retailing for $49.99 on eBay.  But that's all over now.  Let us applaud our great Hero!

Disclaimer: No real robots were harmed in the making of this photographic dramatization.  Nor were any diaper baby models- it's just- well you know how boys are...

Over and Out

Tuesday Tutorial: Moo.stah.chee

Ok, so this title is silly, but I like pronouncing the subject of my mani like that :)  Today I will be showing your how to do a mustache mani.  This was very fun and I loved lookin at it all day.  So here goes:


Whatcha wanna do first is paint your nails your base color- I chose a flesh color from Revlon called Sheer Rose.  This is three coats and this color is just a little shimmery- I love it.

Using a dotting tool:

I placed two dots next to each other on each nail using the color Hot for Chocolate by Revlon.

Then using a small brush I painted one line curving out on each side.

After one side is filled in- I repeated on the other side.

 Finish up with a good top coat which will not only help it dry faster but it will even out the texture too, and the final result looks like this- super silly and fun.

I hope you find a way to add a little silliness to your routine.  This was my way today :)

Over and Out

Monday Mani: Fireworks

Hello Lovies!!

Today's mani is another try at the plastic wrap technique.  I have fallen in love with it- it is a super simple way to really add character, and in this case spice, to your nails.  

The base color here is NYC Madison Avenue and using plastic wrap I dabbed on Wet n Wild Megalast Deadly Dose. Then using Milani White on the Spot and Fingerpaints Fall-ing for You I stamped over the top of the accent nail.  Finally I used Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat to finish it all off.  This is after a couple of days of tip wear cuz I just couldn't take it off :)

Over and Out 

Saturday Swatch Spam: 10/20/12

Here we are- it's Saturday night again and I have ten more random swatches for you.  One of the reasons I love nail polish, which I'm sure you've wondered about by now, is how just a little change of color on your fingers can elevate your mood and inspire creativity.  I love how in color there are endless options!  It's so exciting to me.  I say, when you find a little thing that makes your day brighter- why not embrace it?  That goes for anything you might fancy dear readers :)  Do what makes you happy!  And with that we are off:

I found this brand at a local $1.29 store.  You know the ones that call themselves the dollar store but aren't really? ;)  Well for a dollar and two bits I wasn't disappointed.  This is a bright red cream called Red Carnation by L.A. Colors.

My offering in the pink family today is Wet n Wild Megalast Through the Grapevine, but it read more pink than grape on the nail.  This was two coats, nice and creamy :)

 Another L.A. Colors, Apricot Fizz, is as yummy as it sounds.  I love this pink/gold/orange shimmer almost duochrome.  Definitely one of my favorite ways to wear orange.

Here is the previous color with a top coat of glitter in Sinful Colors Faceted.  I thought I was going to like this polish more than I did- perhaps there weren't enough variations of glitter in there, or I just didn't like it over the peach/gold shimmer.  I'll have to try it over something else.

Kleancolor Funky Yellow- Honestly I don't know how often I'll wear this polish on it's own...having received it as a gift...I did feel as if it deserved a go however.  Can you tell which finger is layered over a white cream? It is pretty obvious to me, but if you need a clue- it's the finger on the far left :)  Makes quite a difference in how the color pops.  I'm pretty sure I've already said this about the Kleancolor polishes- they have so many baller shades- but they are a pain to get dry!! Even with a quick dry top coat.  However, I haven't given up on em yet because they are under a buck for a big old bottle and like I said- they come in any color you can think of.

 In juxtaposition...Milani is one of my favorite formulas that you can pick up for a pretty fair price. They aren't the biggest bottles, but they usually stamp well and they glide beautifully onto your little nail without the slightest hint of finicky behavior some polishes can have :)  This color is Milani Mint Candy and oh this color is divine.  Can you see it's opalescent quality? Just gorgeous!

Representing the blues tonight we have Milani Sail Away which is a navy blue foil-fleck polish.  I am always searching for navy blue- one of my favorite colors- that don't stain!! and this one lived up to my high hopes.  Love love love this color.  Will have to see it stamping in action.

The third out of the four shades I picked up at the "Dollar Store," this sweet color is called L.A. Colors Illusion.  From the looks of this pick I should have gone for a third coat, but overall I was pleased here- the color did not disappoint.  It is as happy as it looks in the bottle.

 Another color from Wet n Wild Megalast- this is Venomous Vixen from their 2012 Halloween collection I believe.  I label this as a medium silver/gray metallic, since it's not uber dark or uber light.  It flies right there in the middle.  Not quite gunmetal, but still nice to look at on the nail.

Last but not least, we have NYC Tribeca Silver.  What a super saturated silver- as you can see from my attempted clean-up around the nails- it just didn't want to come off.  This color is bright and brilliant.  I loved it- definitely would put me in the mood for some celebrating!

Hope you enjoyed these swatches tonight and you find a little something to put some extra skip in your step this week!

Over and Out

Playing Catch Up

With the boys out of school this week it has been crazy town around here which equals no posts...but I intend to catch up today.  First off we have Monday's Mani of the day:

Just a simple accent nail stamping. Colors here are Milani  Beach Front, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Kleancolor Sparkling Cosmos in the following picture.

Tuesday's Tutorial  was for this french manicure twist.

You start by striping with a striping brush each nail with a color of your choice(in this case NYC Pier 17) which will be the base of your french tip. Don't worry about the line continuing onto your finger- you will clean up later.

Now taking the polish brush fill in the rest of the tip and using an angled brush clean up around the nail with acetone.  Add a layer of top coat.

 For the accent finger I took NYC Madison Avenue and dotted twice closely together.

 Then I used the dotting tool I used to make the dots to drag each dot down to meet in a point to form a teeny heart <3



Finally we're to today's proper post-though it's nearly Thursday- here's Wednesday Weekly Wrap-Up.  Of course I didn't capture all our mischief on camera, but here's some:

Bear helped us along into the holiday by putting out our first Halloween decor.  And proud of it he was ;)

Bug enjoying a delicious and gushy ghouly treat.

Miss Bee finding anything and everything to make a play-thing with.

Flying...

This picture cracks me up every time.  We were waiting for a table at a local restaurant and the kids were having too much fun makin funny faces in the mirror.  

At Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland

Happy to start the maze at least ;)

Wheeee!

Loved the cute mining idea, and so geographically appropriate for our local :)

And the maze goes on...

Such fun on the train!

Sweet Bug softly petting the little goat- not somethin we see every day that's for sure! Usually he could care less- but as you will note- his gaze is still lifted so we don't confuse him with a true animal lover.  He must keep up the facade.

Hope all of your weeks were as blessed as ours!  Love all around.

Over and Out