Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Happy Mardi Gras!

I have never really celebrated Mardi Gras, but I love green and purple! Today's NOTD in honor of Mardi Gras is China Glaze Emerald Sparkle + CND Effects Amethyst Sparkle and a little Konad flair on the ring finger. I forget which plate.







I love these CND Effects. It adds that extra purple sparkle to the China Glaze Emerald Green Sparkle.


Saturday, February 13, 2010

KOTD Getting Better!

Please excuse my dry, flaky skin. This is Color Club Yachty Yadda and Konad plate M74.

Strangely, the right hand turned out better than the left:

Left hand:


I ordered some new plates and special polishes. I am very excited! They should arrive next week, from http://www.wowsocool.com/

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Sinful Let's Talk & A New Furbaby

My camera hates this purple! It refuses to render it, as it is. I have tried multiple settings and cannot captures its true loveliness. Its so vibrant, shiny, and it is VIOLET! Not blue. Sunlight would perhaps be a good place to start, however, I am nocturnal. It is far more rich, deep, and shiny.

This photo shows the finish and depth, but look much too blue.
My sister, generously, gave us a puppy! He is almost 3 months old and oh so sweet! Her Havanese male and female had a litter of 5, right before Thanksgiving.
This is the Band of Merry Outlaws together, Gypsy & Bandit. Golden Retriever & Havanese, respectively. They've known one another since Bandit's first day, so there has not been much need for adjusting to each other.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Valentine's Konad

This is my pathetic attempt at Konading. I'm getting better, but I still need practice. Apparently, I was pressing too hard with my stamper before. I wasn't picking up any images that way. A lighter touch has definitely improved my results.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

China Glaze Up & Away Skittles

Wow! I am so glad I ordered these. I especially like the brights. I already have Nubar's pastel collection and could have probably just gotten away with only ordering the Re-Fresh Mint.

I couldn't decide on one color of the 10 I got, so I tried them all. Which one should I do a full mani of now?

Lemon Fizz, Re-Fresh Mint, Light As Air, Something Sweet, Sugar High. Looks like a bowl of Jordan Almonds.

Grape Pop, Heli-Yum, Happy Go Lucky, Four Leaf Clover (is greener than pictured), Flying High (is slightly more teal, than blue). Oh! Not neon, but definitely bright and cheerful. So very shiny, no matte upon drying like a true neon.


I love this collection! China Glaze has really perfected their formula for this collection. It is so shiny, so opaque, applies very well. These are all 2 coats. 3 coats would probably be too much You could almost get away with one coat on the brights, besides the yellow.

I skipped the melon & peach colors, assuming they would not compliment me. I almost skipped the yellows, but these actually look good on me.

So which color should I choose?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Nfu Oh Flakies

Nfu Oh Flakies are some of the most fun and versatile polishes out there. You can layer them or wear them alone. Every time I wear a flakie, especially Nfu Oh, I get all sorts of ohs and ahs over them. Not your common place polish. I'm not sure I've ever seen another person wearing a flakie in real like, aside from OPI Merry Midnight.

Nfu Oh is made in Korea. Its creator is Enfu Oh, who is passionate about nail art. You can visit her website here

Here are the polishes I bought from Fabulous Street, the only US retailer of Nfu Oh I know. I have heard you may be able to purchase them at small brick & mortar shops in ethnic neighborhoods, too.

These are flakies from the Victorian Series. The bottles are adorable and certainly Victorian.


Look at their corsets on the back!


The polishes, unfortunately, do not have any "names", just numbers. That makes it tough, for sometimes you're not sure exactly what your ordering, unless you can find some nice swatches. Which I plan to offer to you for the 5 polishes I have.


When I received my order I painted a layer of Wet n Wild Black Cream on a nail wheel so I could figure out which polishes had which effect, since with the clears, you cannot tell which is which.


I really like the clears, because I can use them over any polish and create a unique effects without losing the base color, unlike some other flakies I have used. Plus, the flakies are abundant and nice and big.

Observe! A favorite combo of mine, OPI Sapphire In the Snow + Nfu Oh 39.