Gradient Dotticure=Party Time!

Hey ya'll.  I wanted to create this dotticure that demonstrates another way to do gradients on your nails.  By the time I was finished, it looked like a party on my nails.  Here's the finished look:

I don't know if you can tell in these pics, but on the index finger I changed it up a little bit and instead of having blue be the base dotting shade, I used yellow first and then blue, and then white.  It just adds a little variety to the nail.  So basically when you're creating this look, you just pack on the dots at the tip of your nail and then get progressively thinned out as you move along your nail.  Super easy, super fun!

The base polish I used for this manicure is China Glaze Gossip Over Gimlets which you can see here at two coats on its own:

I really love all the great dimension this foil has which the large medium gold particles in there.  So much more interesting than just a basic silver foil.  These are being clearanced out at Sally Beauty Supply right now so if you hurry over there you can snatch them up.  ALSO, all China Glaze are going to be BOGO for the entire month of March, and at my local store they apply that to the already clearanced price so you can get em for like $1.25 right now.  Pretty sweet, right?  This would be the perfect chance to pick up any Autumn Nights you find there, Sea Goddess, City Flourish, Crinkle Chrome(which I haven't tried yet, so I can't give my opinion on those yet), or any other core bottle you've had your eye on.  Happy hunting!

Song of the Day: Gotye- Smoke and Mirrors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwXh8h5jivg
*this link is provided for its audio content only*

Over and out.

February Polish Bargain Hunting

Hello my fellow nail polish lovers!  I've decided to start a new series on my youtube channel where I talk about the polish bargain hunting I did at the end of the month.  It's sort of like a haul, if you're familiar with youtube, and sort of like a monthly favorites, but instead I talk about where I found the best deals, and where you can look if you want to hunt some bargains.  There are two parts to February's video and the first part is here:

In the first part I talk about Marshalls and Sally Beauty Supply, their deals and what you can find there.  Part two is next and it talks about Ulta, CVS, and Big Lots as being other locations you can get great deals.

When I have part two uploaded I'll link it right here:

I won't go through and mention every polish I made it back home with, but the specific deals I took advantage of were the following:
Marshalls- Sephora by OPI, Nicole by OPI, Essie, OPI, were all marked down to at least 50% off
Sally Beauty Supply- the whole month of February- Fingerpaints polish are all BOGOFree, even if they're already on clearance, today(the 27th) is the last day that ALL polishes except OPI are BOGOFree(limit 2 per transaction) so hurry to take advantage of that(China Glaze and Orly for example), and lastly, the China Glaze Autumn Nights collection is being clearanced out so take advantage of that if you want to get them for a great bargain
Ulta- has a clearance section(at least at mine) with 50% and more reduced OPI, Nicole by OPI, Zoya, and more
CVS- often has BOGO sales and specifically in February I tried out the new Rimmel Salon Pro polishes which were great, and easy to apply, and some new Milani Shades(they have new creams, metallics, and glitters)
Big Lots- Revlon have been on like 75% clearance and I hear that Sinful Colors are going to start showing up there as well as Sephora by OPI, but this month I only picked up Revlon Colorstay(the 8 dollar line).
Walgreens- I didn't cover this in the video because I didn't want the video to be insanely long, but I did take advantage of the fabulous sale they had on Sinful Colors and Sinful Shine polishes one week in February.  Each polish was only 99 cents where usually they are 1.99 and 2.99 respectfully.  They have a great formula and are the best drug store polish out there in my opinion because they combine affordability, with range, and consistency of formula- so yes, if you see them on sale, snatch you up some.


There you have it, the bargain hunting I did this month.  Do you love a good bargain as much as I do?  Hope these tips help and you're able to find some good deals in March.  I'll see you back tomorrow and have a fabulous rest of your day!

Song of the Day: Band of Horses- Wicked Gil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4_Dd29jHBk
*this link is provided for its audio content only*

Over and out

Weekly Wrap-Up 2/26/2014

Hello to you! How has your day been...your week been?  It's been birthday week here at our house.  Little princess turned two! and we've been busy celebrating her amazing achievement at surviving her brothers for two year ;)  Let's get right to the photos:

 It was major Dora time up in this place for the partay!

 Birthday Girl

 Cake wasn't so much a dessert as it was a playtime activity

 I mean when you find dolls on your cake, you just have to play with them, right?

 Looks much better after the remodeling

 Ah, good friends 

 This party animal was there

 And this dude too, although he didn't really eat the cake either

 We invited a dj for the occasion

 And daddy found the biggest Dora ever!

 For her birthday we took missy Bee out on a date for lunch all by herself

 And then to see Frozen with games afterward!

 I can't believe my baby is TWO!

 Another highlight of the week was going to the Dinosaur Quest exhibit

 All of the dinosaurs were moving and it was in a big dark tent and quite spooky...

 They had a separate tent for rides and jumpy castles!   

 It was so crowded but the kids loved it!

 Missy lady went on the little twerps' area and stayed there for nearly an hour...

LOL this little girl in the pink looks like she's trying to kick Bee down the slide...

What a fun week we had!  I hope you and yours are well.  Love from our family to yours!  XOXO

Song of the Day: Vampire Weekend- Ya Hey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-BznQE6B8U

*this link is provided for its audio content only*

Over and out

Tuesday Tutorial: Gradient and Cross-stitch Lettering

Hello darlings.  Tuesday means we're going to learn a nail art technique.  On the docket today is a basic gradient and then furthermore we're going to do some lettering on top of it.  The style of lettering today is cross-stitch.  Let me show you what I'm talking about:

Here is my video tutorial of how to do these two techniques, so just click right here and you can watch me walk you through this look:

So in this gradient I wanted the colors to slide together effortlessly so I picked three muted shades of light taupe, medium taupe, and a peach shade.  For the lettering I mixed blue and cream to make this muted blue to go along with the muted gradient.  The colors I used are OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, Rimmel Salon Pro Soul Session, and Rimmel Salon Pro Reggae Splash, in that order.  I used a craft sponge to achieve the gradient, but you can also use a makeup sponge or even a kitchen sponge.  For the lettering you could google cross-stitch alphabets and choose one you like, and then sketch out on a reference paper the word you want to place on your nails.  Looking at that as a reference as you paint will make it easier to get the exact look you want.  Here are a few more pictures of the finished product:

Here is the base polish I used for this design, OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around from the Brazil collection, and you're looking at two coats:

And we're reached the end of another tutorial post.  I hope you give the gradient and lettering a try and let me know about your successes!  I'm so glad you stopped by today and let me know what technique you'd like to see featured on next Tuesday's tutorial.  I love you all and you're all my nail art besties!  Have a fabulous day and I'll see you back tomorrow.

Song of the Day: The Head and the Heart- Fire/Fear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4kZKV1scIU
*this link is provided for its audio content only*

Over and out

Make it Up As You Go Monday

Hellooooo!  Hey, welcome back to my nail art wonderland.  I sat down last night to paint my nails and I knew I wanted to use this amazing turquoise cream from Orly called Water Lily.  Other than that, I didn't have a plan.  How often do you develop your nail art as you go, and how often do you sit down with a plan when you're ready to do your nails?  I would say I do each about half of the time.  A good thing to pull out when you don't know what you wanna do yet, is pull out your dotting tools.  I picked a few other colors that I thought would go nicely with the turquoise and I set out placing a line of dots on each nails.  Next, I placed another dot in each of the larger dots.  When that was finished, it just wasn't complete and I was like hmmmm what does this need?  Then it all came into focus and I just grabbed my detail brush and finished up with the little lines.  Here's the finished look:

The base polish, Water Lily, is shown here at two coats, but you could probably get away with one coat:

How gorgeous is this blue?  Sigh, so lovely.  So glad you stopped by for a visit today.  Get out your paints and show your nails some love :)  I'll see you back tomorrow!

Song of the Day: The Neighborhood- Sweater Weather
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCdwKhTtNNw&list=RDA76a_LNIYwE
*this link is provided for its audio content only*

Over and out

Does It Matte-r or Not?

Hey loves :)  So, I love playing with the juxtaposition of glossy and matte finishes and when I put this matte Sinful Colors polish on my nails the other day, I knew I wanted to do some subtle detailing with a glossy topcoat.  Using a detailing brush and my top coat, I painted these angled lines on each nail and then accented them further with the black acrylic.  As you can see in the three different pictures below, sometimes the different finishes shows up a great deal and sometimes it's very subtle.  What do you think?

Here is the base polish called Laced Up from their Leather Luxe release of all matte polishes.  Originally I didn't pick this one up because a few bottles I sampled originally were a bit of a mess to deal with, but when the .99 cent sale came around I snatched it and it was indeed lovely.  This is two even coats:

Are you a matte polish fan like I am?  Did you take advantage of the .99 cent Sinful Sale at Walgreens? Hope you're having a great weekend! See you back tomorrow.

Song of the Day: Rick Astley- Never Gonna Give You Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
*this link is provided for its audio content only*

Over and out

Saturday Random Swatchfest 2/22/2014

Who's ready for another random swatchfest?  If you're new here, on Saturdays I pull 10 random pictures from my swatched folder that have yet to have had a time to shine on my blog and then I talk about em, give you the 411 on these polishes and each receive a grade.  Let's get started:

Sinful Colors Red Eye is a cherry red packed with micro pink shimmer.  It's very lovely on the nail and really stands on its own.  I have to say, when I wear red polish I really prefer to go the more traditional route instead of something like this, but that's just my preference.  It's still a really nice shade and you're looking at two easy-to-apply coats. A-

Fingerpaints Enchanted Winter is a cinnamon bronze textured polish.    Can you see all that sparkle and dimension due to all the different shimmers they packed into this formula?  I totes didn't know this was a textured polish when I snatched it out of a Sally's bargain and I think it's really unique.  This is two coats. A

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Berry Juicy is a ballerina pink cream and I'm sorry to say this formula is a mess! As with the rest of the polishes that released at the same time as this one- I think during last Summer or Spring- it is sticky and really hard to get even.  Bummer!  These might have been limited addition shades, but just stay away ;)  There are plenty of other polishes out there in this shade.  C-

Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights was a surprise hit for me.  I was amazed at its opacity and evenness after just two coats.  If you like really bright yellows, you may have found what you were looking for in this little bottle. I picked up mine at Marshalls where most polishes are 50 to 75% off regular retail- I still wouldn't pay full price for this one- but I think it might still be at CVS if you just have to have it.  This is two coats on its own- no white base!  A

L.A. Girl Peacock was another shocker.  I have only tried a few of these polishes, but have always been pleasantly surprised with their formula.  They don't have the most interesting range of shades and formulas which is why I don't gravitate to them, and they're more expensive than Sinful Colors, but when you see them on sale at Rite Aid, you might want to try one.  This color is just divine and it was easy to apply in two coats. A

Rimmel Salon Pro Barmy Blue is from their new release of polishes that you can find now in the Rimmel display and I have to say I was pleased with the formula.  Their older polishes are some of my favorite formula-wise at the drugstore, but they didn't have a nice range of shades.  With these they're at least branching out a bit with colors and formula.  This is a gorgeous royal blue crelly- just the perfect amount of squishy and shine.  These were on sale, B1GO1/2OFF at CVS for a little bit, but I'm sure they'll be back on sale in no time if you're interested.  This is two coats on its own.  A

Color Club The Uptown is a neon purple jelly base that is simply stuffed full with golden holo flakies.  This would look better layered over another purple, but I wanted to show you what it looks like on its own.  Such an interesting polish!!  This is two coats and it didn't give me any issues.  A

Sparitual In the Buff is a sheer nude-leaning cream.  This is shown at three coats because I didn't like the way it showed my VNL at two coats, but you may like it that way.  I found this at Marshalls, and I must admit I was slightly disappointed with the lack of opacity, but the formula was just divinity as always with Sparitual.  So creamy and smooth...I absolutely love this brand.  A-

NYC Top of the Gold over Rimmel Barmy Blue that I showed you up above.  As you can see, the base doesn't change the color of your base polish but just shows off the gorgeous golden holo flakies.  These were also on a B1G1 sale at CVS so if you watch your sales you could grab this little lovely for under a buck. This is just one coats of the topper.  A

I always show you my favorite polish of the week at the end, and this week I am obsessed with Fingerpaints Rock Hard Lilac which is a textured metallic that they just recently released with three other colors which I didn't bother with because they were more dupe-able.  The only reason I knew how gorgeous this little lady is, is due to the lovely Yadi at http://nightswatcher.blogspot.com/ so I want to give her a shout-out.  This is two coats here, but you could definitely get away with one.  I just love how luminescent this polish is!  It slays me! :)  I wanted to wear this shade all week, but I had swatching to do.....durn it!  This is going back on the nails asap.  If you hurry you can still find this polish and her three sisters at your local Sally Beauty Supply. If you want to know what the others look like, you can find them on Yadi's blog.  Rock Hard Lilac gets the great big A+

And that's it!  What was your favorite of the bunch, and what was the color you were loving from your stash this week?  Until tomorrow, take care and have a fabulous day!

Song of the Week: Metric-Gimme Sympathy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq3-wZs64n4
*this link is provided for its audio content only*

Over and out.