Estudiantes Contra Bolonia

Glitter Gal Holos!!

2012-01-31T04:30:00.000-08:00

Morning! Today I just wanted to show you some quick swatches of 3 new Glitter Gal polishes that I purchased off of Amazon. I'm a HUGE holo lover, and these are all just amazing! Each of these are 2 coats and no top coat :)

Lizard Belly 3D/Holo - A VERY dark green holo, although I would just consider it black. I really only saw the green on my first coat.

Green 3D/Holo - Umm......I guess sometimes I would get just the slightest hint of green, but the holo effect is AWESOME

Light As A Feather 3D/Holo - Now this one I did do a base of Sinful Snow on Me white, I was afraid it was going to be too sheer. The holo doesn't pop as much as the others but it's still there and beautiful

Feather Fun!! With a cute kittie!

2012-01-30T04:59:00.000-08:00

So last week on MUA I saw a post about these cute kitty polishes and immediately ordered 2. I couldn't resist the kitty tops. I ordered them from periperaus.com. Oh and they shipped the same day!!! They are said to be perfumed, but I only smelled a little soap like aroma, which like Jack pointed out was better than polish, lol. The lids are silver, the lighting made it look gold. This one is Sea foam P027.

Also, I wanted to say thank you to Krissy, who is the sweetest thing ever!! She contacted me letting me know that not only did she find me a Revlon Whimsical, she hid it in the store for me!! So Saturday afternoon Jack and I went to go get it. It was like a little scavenger hunt, lol. So thank you girlie, sooooo much!!

Here I did 2 coats and a coat of SV.

See the blue!?!?!?! It really only came out when I tilted my nails directly under the light. Now I don't know if it would show more in sunlight though.

Then since its been forever, I did an accent nail with a feather.

Oh but wait, I wanted the mani to match better so I removed the P027 and used China Glaze Ingrid. Then another coat of SV. Maybe I didn't need an umpteenth coat of SV, because you can kind of see some teeny air bubbles, lol, but only up close. I got carried away with the shininess, lol

To see how I did the feather and where the original inspiration came from, click here :)

Revlon Popular = A New Fave!

2012-01-27T04:46:00.000-08:00

I know I'm late on this discovery, but I'm thrilled to have found it. I stopped at Ulta last night to pick up some SV and just look around, and while looking for Revlon Whimsical, which by the way, were all gone :( I spotted Revlon Popular. You all know, I love my pinks, especially a very light baby pink, but combine it with some silver glitter, and you now have a new fave polish of mine. For this mani, I did 3 coats with a coat of SV.

China Glaze Magnetix 2012 Swatches

2012-01-26T05:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I LOVE magnetic polishes. I just think the whole concept amazes me, lol. So when I found the China Glaze Magnetix set, I grabbed it! Now please excuse some of these swatches, I was soooo tired and had a busy night.

When I got home from work last night, I couldn't wait to open my package and start playing. So after I get it opened, and start taking out my new pretties, I see that the ones in the boxes were OLD China Glaze polishes that I already owned. I was instantly soooo mad, lol. Well, until i saw the look on Jacks face. He got me, and good! Since he gets home first, and he knew I was waiting for these, he carefully opened the package, and removed the Magnetix polishes and replaced them and even re-bubble wrapped with some of my own older polishes!!! Not funny, but I do give him credit, and I should have known, since he has done this before.

Okay, well after that I had to start getting my girl ready for a trip she was taking with some other family members, my mom came over for a Minnie Mouse pedi, a bff of mine was over to rummage through my clothes and try to find something to borrow, and then a friend of my daughters came over to play and say her goodbyes. My house was crazy, and by the time everyone was gone, I only had an hour to rush and get these for you guys.

I only did 3 fingers, because there are only 3 designs that come on the magnet, which I totally forgot to get a pic of, sorry, but you can google it :)

Now for application, I applied 1 coat to each nail and let that dry. Then I applied a 2nd coat to 1 nail, and immediately placed the magnet over top. I held it there for about 15 sec, and moved onto the next. I waited about 10 minutes for each design to set and then applied SV over them. I did have an issue with smacking the magnet on my wet nail, quit a bit, but I think it's because I was soooo tired. Oh and I need to practise the start design, lol.

Anyways, here they are :)

You Move Me

Attraction - As you can see, I had a little issue getting the star to show up properly, or to my liking.

Pull Me Close - This blue contrast was by far my fave, and decided to do my entire mani in this last night with the diagonal design.

Drawn To You - This was my least favorite to work with. Other than the diagonal lines, I had a hard time getting the other 2 designs to appear

Instant Chemistry - again, I had trouble with the star design.

Cling On

A Great Surprise!

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

Morning! A couple of weeks ago, while shopping in Five Below, I spotted an amazing sparkly polish by Funky Fingers called Teal Scales. I will say that when I picked it up and noticed it was a crackle polish my heart sunk a little, but not enough to put her down :) I had currently had China Glaze Flying Dragon on my nails, and decided last night to try the crackle, and fell in love with the combo! Now I for one, was done with the whole crackle craze, but this brought my love back.

I started with 2 coats of Flying Dragon, which is a purple neon, so dries matte and does not play well with my camera :( It's a deeper plum/purple then my pictures. Soooo much better IRL. Then I did a coat of SV, and waited about 5 minutes before applying a semi thin coat of Funky Fingers Teal Scales. Lastly, another coat of SV.

Some Leopard Fun

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!!! My weekend wasn't too exciting, although yesterday I got hours of cleaning done, YAY!!! Well, okay maybe not actual house cleaning, but I did get my DVR cleaned out a bit : P Yep, we were very lazy, and had a semi X-Men marathon day, but it was totally needed!

Since I haven't stamped or played with mattes in a long time, I decided to have a little fun.
I just used SH Black Out and Essie Matte About You, and of course my leopard image from one of my stamping plates.

Could I BE any later? - Yes, it's a reference to Friends, lol.

2012-01-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well while I have a minute, I know this is like beyond old, but it was a mani I did for the Fourth of July, yeah last year, lol. I saw it sitting in my drafts, and was about to delete it, but said, 'What the hell, I might as well'.

For this I used the following -
Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Co-Bolt Blue & China Glaze White on White and of course tape :)

The past few months!! and a NOTD from a crappy iPhone :(

2012-01-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

First off HI YOU GUYS and HUGS to you all!

I would like to start off by thanking you all for everything. Your support, messages & emails have seriously touched my heart in more ways than you will ever know, and yes I did read each and every one of them! It really did help to know, that I am not completely alone, nor crazy in what I was going through. I am sorry to hear though, that many others have suffered with the same issues, and my heart goes out to you. Again, thank you all so much, I sure love you guys!

Okay, so I've made some HUGE, well in my eyes, steps, lol. For the first time in almost a year I was able to go into Wawa, a gas station, all by myself without panicking. It's amazing the little things that seem so easy to others, was so incredibly hard for me. After that, I even made it to the grocery store, lol. Hey, I'm making baby steps!

Well, last month, I became very sick with bronchitis, and after many days of refusing to call the dr., I had to give in. So while I was there, I spoke with him about my depression and anxiety again. Needless to say it turned into a little therapy session filled with tears and major sweating, sexy I know :) Oh and yes, Jack did take the day off so I didn't have to go alone :) I've been on my new meds for a few weeks and I can already feel a big difference, YAY!

Another reason I know that I am getting better........ I've actually purchased nail polish, and I've even started trying to come up with new designs for you guys, whoo hoo!!! Bad news though, I have lost my camera, and it's cords, so I am planning a massive hunt this weekend.

I still wanted to share with you my mani I'm wearing today. I'm just in love with this polish. I wish I had better pics, but I had to use my phone, sorry :( It's SH Big Money. I love the gold glitter mixed with the light pink glitter!

Anyways, I just wanted to check in and let you know what's been going on. Please wish me luck on my camera hunt this weekend!!!!

PS and completely OT - If you have not watched The Big Bang Theory, it's a MUST!!! Jack and I are completely obsessed with it! Sorry, I know that was so random :) Hope you all are doing great!!

XOXO,
Erika

Don't even know what to say here :(

2011-10-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I know it's been a while, and a lot longer than I even expected. I'm going to try and keep this short for you guys. Basically I hit an all time low in my life. I was diagnosed with depression and severe anxiety years ago. After trying a few different anti-depressant medications, I gave up. I also have pseudocholinestrerase deficiency, which is just a fancy word for the fact that my body is missing an enzyme that everyone else has, so my body doesn't break certain things down properly. So after trying a few different Rx's, and having them ALL make me so sick. I just stopped looking.

Well, I thought for years I had it under control, or maybe just dealing with it better. I'm not even sure what sparked it, but the depression hit me full force a few months ago. I just shut down from everyone. I'm sure it had something to do with just the fact that I had quit a few small and big issues come at me all at once. Now friends around me, didn't see anything, because I can hide it fairly well, especially with a drink, but not around my little girl, don't worry. Jack, was really the only one who knew. He tried so hard for me to get back to happy times, even trying to get me back on here for you guys, because he knew I loved it.

Well as much as I wanted to come back, since I was away for a while, my anxiety about this blog kicked in, SUPER bad. It may sound weird to you, but I actually felt as though I was no longer allowed to post, or even visit my own blog. Then since the anxiety was so bad and made me feel guilty, the depression got worse, and it became a big messy circle, that I couldn't get out of. I even stopped checking my email. That too, caused the circle to continue.

I understand some of you may be mad, or even have unfollowed, or said some rather unpleasant things about me, and my disappearance. That is completely fine, and I don't judge at all. Everyone has the right to think what they want. I do apologize, and just hope you guys can understand even a little.

Now, am I back to normal, no, not at all, but I'm trying. Jack wants me to go see a different doctor, and start trying again, buuuuut my anxiety is so bad that I am even having a hard time just making the initial call. It's so frustrating :(

All I ask, is that you guys don't hate me, at least not forever. It is hard to understand and even explain. When I type this out, it sounds crazy, but it's exactly what I'm going through. If you guys could feel my heart right now, even as I type this out, and think about hitting send, you would think I had about 10 energy drinks 0_o

Not so short huh...... anyways, I will be back, but it might not be for another 2 weeks. Again, I am very sorry if I angered any of you, or let you guys down, I really didn't mean too, but can understand how some may think that.

Hope you guys are having a great day.
Erika

Estudiantes Contra Bolonia

2011-09-24T09:27:00.001-07:00

Estudiantes Contra Bolonia

Summer Chic mani

2011-06-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Today I wanted to show you yet another funky french, lol. The oh so sweet Kim from Color Club sent me a bunch of fun new nail art items to try, and this was one of them. Now, I love these little things, but really only like to use them on my accent finger when I do funky french manis. They are so cute, but too many, IMO, can be overkill. So I went for what I am calling, a Summer Chic mani :) The little orange slices are just adorable!!!

I also love the fact that these are so thin. I've used others that were on the thicker side, and were just too big and bulky.

I started with my go to base of Professional 10 #415 Pinky Promise. I get mine from CVS. Then after a coat of SV and about 10 minutes, and taped my nails off, and did black tips. I hen did one more coat of SV, and when it was dry, and added a tiny drop of nail glue on my ring finger, and set the orange slice over top.

Happy Pink Wednesday!

2011-06-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

*waves* Hi everyone!! I have been on a funky french kick lately :) I have also been trying to use polishes from my stash that don't normally get used. OPI Panda-monium Pink was the star for this mani.

I started with 2 coats

then, of course I ran out of sunlight time, by the time I got this completed :) Oh well. I then stamped my nails using the Bundle Monster plate BM 221 , and Konad's special white polish. I added a coat of SV, and when that was 98% dry, I taped my tips off, and used OPI Alpine Snow Matte.

Day O' Dogs

2011-06-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

My little girl turned 9, and it scares me, lol. They really do grow up so fast, I've learned that it's not just a saying. Her birthday party was a dog theme and my nails went right along with it :) Here are the cupcake cones I made that we decorated like dalmations. How freaking cute right?!?!

And here are the pups. My little girl is in the pink camo. Jack did some of the face painting, and you should have seen the girls faces when I told them he was helping, they were so scared, lol

And now for the mani. I started with 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow Matte, and then just used a black nail art pen for the spots. This was a huge hit with the girls, so the next morning.....guess what I was doing? Yep, dog manis for the girls :)

How about some lemonade :)

2011-06-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this mani was originally planned to be way more fun, but time ran out :( I had planned on adding some nail stamping, and even some rhinestones, but as soon as I was done taking pictures, my daughter saw I was about to take a breath, and intervened, lol so my 'me' time went all down hill from there, lol. I do love this color for Summer though and so did her school friends :) This is just 2 coats of Orly Lemonade, and it applied beautifuly.

My comfort zone = black tips :)

2011-06-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning everyone!! I was in the mood for a semi basic black tip french mani, but wanted to add a tad umph to it, so on my out the door I grabbed one of my fave things, my Big Ruby nail tattoos. I started with a base of OPI Bubble Bath, because in my rush, I couldn't locate my regular go to base. OMG, on a side note, you would all gasp in horror if you saw my stash right now. In all my chaos, it looks as though a bunch of 3 year olds have been playing in it *hangs head* I do plan on getting it cleaned up, once all the birthdays have ended. Well, more organized, and hopefully start pulling some things for my first blog sale :) Okay, so anyways, back to the mani.

Here is 2 coats of Bubble Bath

I then taped off the tips, and used Wet n' Wild black. Since I'm wearing a coral shirt, I decided to use the coral seahorse, from the Sea collection of the tattoos. I love the way it turned out. So simple, yet so me :)

Oh and since it was my boss's b-day, I picked him up some balloons and goodies from the bakery, and saw this pretty little arrangement that I HAD to buy for myself, lol. It def cheered me up :) PS - I will be removing that IMO, awful bow when I get home :P

Please life......just settle down a smidge!!

2011-06-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning!!! A few birthday parties planned and the flu later, I'm just exhausted. I'm now in the process of planning my girls 9th birthday, and my husbands. Darn all these Summer babies, lol, me included. Summers are just insane lol. I really hope you guys are all doing well :) I have so many manis to show you guys. So I'm going to show you one that my husband chose for me one day that I was just to tired to choose. It's Rimmel's Violet Metal.

I just did 2 coats and forgot how insanely pretty it is on. Can you believe I did black tips on this as well, but forgot to get pics!!! I'm so sorry.

Some new Love & Beauty polishes

2011-06-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone :) today I'm showing you one of the four new polishes that I purchased from Forever 21. I'm always checking their site for new polishes, since they are constantly addition g new ones. Well, they had some cool looking new big glitter ones, and this one, it's says it's name is Multi, but I swear on the site it was called, Mardi GRAS, caught my eye first. I loved the color combo. So of course I layered it over black :)

Here are all the ones I got. I'll show you the other 3 soon, I promise

These two have gold shimmer in them!!!!!!

Color Club 2011 Fractured Collection and my NOTD for Pink Wednesday!

2011-06-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!!! This past Friday I was THRILLED to come home to a package from Color Club, containing 3 of their crackles from their 2011 Fractured Collection. I love surprises :) Kim & Beth sent me these 3 to try out, review and so I could show you guys! As we all know, crackle polish is HUGE right now, and I do also know that not everyone loves it, but I do, so I couldn't wait to play. I will say that silver crackle is a HUGE yay for me. Anyways, I'll get to the pretties.

Here are the 3 they sent me,
L-R
Clean Break, Broken Tokens & Smash Hit

I wanted to choose a color to use as a base for all 3 that would stand out, so I went looking for a red, and chose China Glaze Ruby Deer.

I then waited for that to dry completely, and did a fairly thin coat

of Broken Tokens. For larger cracks, just do a thicker layer, and for smaller, do a thinner layer.

I then re-did the red and used Smash Hit

and here is Clean Break

I then loved the silver shatter, Broken Tokens so much, that I chose it for my ALMOST pink mani, lol. So I started with 2 coats of Color Club Ms.Socialite

and then added Broken Tokens on top. Sooooo sparkly :) I got so many compliments through out the day, from strangers, on this mani :)

I have to say, I might actually prefer the Color Club formulas, to the rest so far. It wasn't as thick, and IMO, much easier to use/control. There are 3 more in this collection, a fuchsia, blue and gold. I'm excited to see the blue, and what shade it is!

Nars Purple Rain & Clarins 230!!

2011-06-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning!!! I hadn't worn my 230 for a while, and when I asked Jack what I should wear, and said 'Pee', lol, so I knew he meant Unicorn Pee, AKA Clarins 230 :) He learns so well. I then went straight for my Nars Purple Rain, since I had yet to try it since receiving it in a swap.

Here is 2 coats of Nars Purple Rain alone. Now my camera hates taking pics of purples and tries sooo hard to make them blue. So in real life, I was not able to see the blue that you see in these pics, but only the amazing purple.

Then I just did 1 coat of 230

Oooohhhh Aaaahhhhh

2011-06-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning! I wanted to let you all know, which I forgot to mention in my last post, that I will not be posting daily, for now. Things are still just so busy with work and family. Summer seems to be craziest. Anyways, I will try and at least post every other day.

I had gone to Five Below a few weeks ago and saw some Mood Struck, mood changing polishes, and picked a few out. This is one of them. I'm so impressed with it! Even in the bottle you could see the bright turquoise shimmer. I couldn't wait to try it. The application was amazing, and you could still see all the shimmer on the nail.

Here it is with just 2 coats

Then I headed into the bathroom, so I could show you all the magic :)

Then I ran cold water over my pointer and middle finger. This is where the Ooooohhhh and Aaaahhhh comes into play. This just might be my fave mood polish. I love both colors so much!

Then I ran cold water over them all.

Morning guys!!! I'm BACK!!!!

2011-06-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Alright, well let me just start by saying, thank you all so much for your sweet comments, and emails that I received. I don't want you guys to worry, everyone in my family is doing good. I just had some issues that I needed to deal with. You all really are so amazing and sweet, thank you guys again!! As much as it killed me to be away, it was something that I needed to do. I'm back though, and I hope I never have to go away again, lol. I missed you guys!! If you emailed me, pelase just give me some time to get back to you. I am starting to now, but I have just a tad over 100 emails, lol, so it might be a few days :) Oh and I have tried to go back and respond to your comments, but blogger for some reason, won't let me. Each time I write something, and click 'Submit' it just keeps asking me to sign in again :(

Okay, lets just get back to normal now, and pretend that little time away never happened....deal??
Here is a funky french I did. I had a mostly black outfit on, and just wanted something fun on my tips :)

I started with 2 thick coats of China Glaze He's Going In Circles and then added China Glaze Jolly Holly for the tips.

Hey everyone

2011-05-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Okay so the past week has not been my best. I can say that my computer is up and running again, yay, but I am currently dealing with some other areas of my life. My blog had to be put on hold this week, and I apologize to you all. Things are starting to get back in order so I am hoping to get back into the swing of things soon. I also have had no time to get to any emails or comments, but please know I will. Hope you all are doing good.
XOXO
Erika

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

This one is for you Bridgette!

2011-05-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning! I know today is Pink Wednesday, but I had a request from a sweet reader, Bridgette, who contacted me about her upcoming graduation, and asked me for a mani idea. She told me her school colors were red and black, and she didn't want it to be boring, my kind of girl, lol, and well red is basically a dark pink, right?

Here is what I came up with.
I used the dots image on the Bundle Monster plate BM19, Professional 10 color #415 Pinky Promise for my base, Wet n' Wild Black for the dots and Sally Hansen Rapid Red for my tips.

I hope you like it Bridgette :)

Help Whip Cancer!!!

2011-05-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Today I'm not only showing you a mani I love, but what inspired it. A friend of mine, Erica, or E2 as we call her, is a sales rep for Pampered Chef. Well for the month of May, yeah, I know I'm late, they are giving a dollar of every item, featured below, to The American Cancer Society's breast cancer awareness and early detection programs! The featured items are sooo freaking cute and all have pink and white zebra stripes on them. I of course had to get a few items. This post was meant to have been posted sooner but due to blogger and my computer failing, I'm a smidge late.

I am also sorry to say, that the Help Whip Cancer fundraiser is only open to US residents. Pampered Chef doesn't ship out of the US.

If you're Interested in ordering, you just have to go to her site here

Erica has also offered to do a giveaway for the 2 polishes I used for my mani!! If you purchase anything, from below, please send me an email letting me know what it was, so we can keep track for the giveaway.

These are the items -

Pink Zebra High Heel Cake Server $17.00 and 5 drawing entries
Pink Color Coated Paring Knife $13.00 and 4 drawing entries
Pink Zebra Ceramic Spreader $10.00 and 3 drawing entries
Pink Zebra Microfiber Towel $8.50 and 2 drawing entries

As you can see after each item, is the amount of entries you will be getting for the giveaway.

Now here is the mani I did to match :)
I used 2 coats of OPI Mod About You for the base and Konad special white polish for the stripes. The plate I used was the Bundle Monster 223 plate. I just love how this turned out. So subtle but still so much fun.

Hope you all are having a great week so far. I swear my bad luck hasn't been much better. My camping trip was canceled to due the fact it's going to rain all week and weekend, and our TV blew on Friday, GRRRR :(

Revlon Black with Envy

2011-05-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning, in my last post, I said that I used Revlon Black with Envy as my base color. Well, here it is. Now, when this first came out everyone was talking about it since it is supposedly a dupe of Chanels Black Pearl, and I can say...I had no interest in it, none. I never even looked for it on stores. Like I said though, I'm weak, lol. I came across a full display of it in Wal-greens a few weeks ago, and kept on moving. Then something happened, right as I was going to check out, at the last second, I ran back and grabbed one. I don't even know why. Maybe because it's the closest thing I will ever have to a Chanel polish, and maybe the collector in me too Who knows. Anyways, here it is, and I used 2 coats of it.

Do I love it....no, but it's alright. I'm glad I didn't pay the Chanel price for it, and since I don't own Black Pearl, I cannot verify how close they are. Maybe black tips would have made this mani more lovable for me.

Ulta Jaded.....Check her out in the bottle!

2011-05-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Another sneak post from work, lol. I can't do this long. Have you ever seen a polish in a bottle, and instantly fall in love? When I was at Ulta, I saw this, and grabbed it without a 2nd thought. It's Ulta Jaded. Just look at her!!!!

Then you get this magical polish on the nails, and stare at it with curious eyes. Ummm...where are the rest of the colors? It is very pretty, but I might have looked crazy, if others watched me, twist my hand and fingers in all directions, in various lights trying my hardest to see the blue and purple. FAIL. It was also fairly sheer, so I even layered it over Revlon Black with Envy, hey, it was all I had in my purse, lol. I'll show you that one as well soon.

*stomps feet* I want my nails to look like it does in the bottle!!!!

OPI DS Sapphire on the tips :)

2011-05-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning :) Here is the mani I did using the OPI DS Sapphire, that I posted about yesterday. I started with a base of Wet n' Wild Black, and a coat of SV

Then using tape, of course, I taped my tips off, and used OPI DS Sapphire

Sorry my post are kind of short, I'm so afraid I'll get into trouble at work, even though I'm doing these on my lunch.

OPI DS Sapphire

2011-05-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I snuck on my work computer again during lunch, and I'm getting this ready for you for the morning, lol. So good morning!! Okay, so do you guys know Rachel, from Rachel Nails? She is so sweet, and has great pictures of her manis. I was fine not owning OPI DS Sapphire, until I saw her post it on MUA. You can see her post on Sapphire, on her blog here. Dang it, thanks to her post, I know own it. I swear I am so weak sometimes, lol. It is pretty sheer, so I layered it over China Glaze White on White, and just loved it. If you 're looking for a non in your face holo, like Gosh Holo is, then this is for you.

I started off with 2 coats of White on White

and then did 2 coats of Saphire.

I wish I could have taken some sun pics, but it's still so pretty indoors.

I then played with it, using it as tips for a mani, and I'll show you that tomorrow :)

Hope This Works. OPI Movin Out

2011-05-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, well since my computer isn't working properly, I'm attempting to post from my iPad. I just hope it works, and looks okay on your end. Please let me know. UPDATE - Wow, okay so I snuck onto my blog from my wok computer to check it out, and the pics were all over the place, so I quickly edited it, lol.

This is OPI Movin Out. I first saw this when Sam from the Fashion Polish posted about it. Now she makes everything amazing, and this polish quickly became a must have. Just look at it!!

I did 1 coat of Movin Out over Wet n' Wild Black

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Can someone pass me a drink?

2011-05-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, could the past few days have been any worse, well of course yes, but at the time, it felt as though I was having the worst weekend EVER! To start off, thanks Blogger, thanks for not only not posting my scheduled post, but for deleting all the content!! So here is what I did, I knew my weekend was full of craziness, and I would not have any time on the computer this weekend. So I went ahead and actually created post and had them scheduled, from Friday till Monday morning. Well, when Blogger was throwing it's fit on Friday, it decided it would make sure those post didn't happen, oh but don't worry, as you can see, it just removed Thursdays post, and re-posted it on Friday, *sigh* ummm...yeah, great. Then I just wasn't feeling good at all yesterday, and my computer has also now refused to work. I have no idea what it is, a virus, or what, but it might even be a few more days till I get going again. I do apologize to you guys, and it's driving me crazy to go so long without posting. I just hope to be back up and running within this week.
Hope you all had a better weekend than me!
XOXO
Erika

FingerPaints 2011

2011-05-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

How I do SUPER Girly :P

2011-05-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Since it's Pink Wednesday, I thought it was the perfect time to share the cutest and super girly polish set I was sent. Erika from Beauty Express Mall, sent me some fun nail products to review, and this was one of them. It's the Sassy Nails Crystal Set. It has pink glitter polish/nail art pen on one side, and a tube of pink rhinestones on the other end. Now the pink glitter polish can be used as either polish, by unscrewing the lid, or a nail art pen, by pulling the lid off. You can see that in pictures below. I loved the pink so much, that I chose to use it as a polish, and use some of the rhinestones on the tip of my accent nail.

Here are bottle pics.
This is the complete set, screwed together

If you unscew the black top, you can use the pink glitter as regular polish

Then if you just pull off the top of the black lid, it is a nail art pen. Talk about a full mani in one set. Polish, nail art pen & rhinestones!

Now for the mani :)
I used 2 coats to start, and the formula was great.

I then added some of the pink rhinestones on the tips of my ring fingers.

I can't wait to show you guys the other stuff I got, including a bright blue crackle!!

Okay, so don't hate me...but...

2011-05-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning!! For Mothers Day, I took my mom and daughter out to lunch and some shopping. We had so much fun. Well, we all LOVE Ulta, and when I walked in, they had the entire OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection. I personally wasn't really drawn to any, except Mermaid Tears, oh and of course the Silver Shatter. I have had some request for swatches of them, but I could only bring myself to purchase these two, so don't hate me, lol.

Here they are. I started with 2 coats of Mermaid Tears, and NO top coat.

Then, almost as soon as I completed the mani, I did a thin coat of Silver Shatter. Unlike other crackles I've tried, this one works best over mostly wet polish, IMO. I tried it over a completely dry mani, and it didn't really shatter well.

I also wanted to share another new ring I got on our girls day. I just love it, and the store Charming Charlies is becoming a FAVE of mine. We just had one open, and I have boughten so much stuff there recently, and nothing is over $30!!!! All my jewelry isn't even over $10 a piece! Oh, and yep, that's my right hand, that you never see, lol.

When it's sunny, I wear holos!

2011-05-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning guys. Sorry I haven't gotten to your comments, but I will this afternoon. My weekend was just packed full of fun.

Oh, and update on Junior, the baby bunny, he has been set free. He was eating on his own no problem, and when my friend went to put food in his cage, he went to bite. So in her eyes, he was ready to start defending himself. So her and her husband took him to a field by our neighborhood, and set him free. YAY, I'm just thrilled she was able to save him, now it's up to him.

My little girl gave me the sweetest note/poem for Mothers Day, I'll def try and share it with you guys tomorrow. Hope you all had a great weekend too.

Now for my mani, I did this Friday night since it was going to be so nice on Saturday, and that's when I love to wear my holos.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze OMG

Then using tape, I taped off the triangles and used China Glaze DV8. Eeek, so me uh-oh on my ring finger. I was rushing just a tad too much, and didn't realize the tape wasn't down 100% oh well.

Cadillac Nails....says Jack

2011-05-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there!!!!

Let me just start off saying, that this mani is all Jacks idea. When he saw my new Urban Decay polishes, he grabbed this one, and said "oooohhh, you can do Cadillac nails, because it's just like the paint job you see on them." Haha, he is too cute. So, I figured I would try it out.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze White on White. Oh and as you probably noticed, I nubbinized my nails. They were just getting so long, and I was terrified I would do serious harm to them, and well me. I had already scratched myself and others numerous times, eeek. I'm also going camping at the end of the month, so I figured I will try and keep them semi short for the trip.

I then did just 1 coat of Urban Decay Fluorescent. It really is pretty. Just the slightest pearlized color to it.

Hope you guys are all having a great weekend!!

a-England Polishes

2011-05-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know a while ago I said I wanted to do real swatches of these 2 polishes, but i never got the time, and actually forgot, but here they are. These are 2 polishes that I ordered online, because I saw a lovely ladies swatches on MUA. They aren't the in your face type of holo, but they do still have some. They are just beyond pretty IMO, and the formula rocks! If I had access to more sun, I could have shown you the holo bits, but I don't sorry :( You can purchase these here, if you're interested.

This is Lady of the Lake

and Tristam. Don't you just love thsi blue! It's so rich looking

2 from the Essie 2011 Summer Collection...

2011-05-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning :P While at Rite Aid this week, I saw they had all their Essies, B1G1 50% off, so I HAD to take advantage of it. I also saw they had put out the new 2011 Summer Collection, WHOO HOO. I only picked up two though, the others were pretty, but nothing special, IMO. Now these two.....stuck out right away. They are both 2 coats

Absolutely Shore

This, my fave is Smooth Sailing. I love the purple & teal shimmer in it. You can really see it in the 2nd pic in the bottle. It does show very well on the nail, I just had a hard time capturing it on camera :( Also, BONUS, this could have been a 1 coater if I would have been more careful. I love that

My Go-To Mani...What's yours?

2011-05-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey you guys : ) I wanted to share with you guys, the polish that I ALWAYS reach for when I have like no time to do a mani. Well last night I had to do this. I came home from work, nekkid, hee hee, and Jack, Chloe and I had to run out to get some dinner and ice cream, so I quickly threw this on. I LOVE this, it matches everything, always gets compliments, only 1 coat and dries UBER fast. So what is it.......China Glaze Millenium!

I did this entire mani in under 5 minutes, and left the house as soon as I finished, and grabbed my purse. No dings and/or scratches. Now, I know it won't last long, since I didn't do a top coat, but as I know, and so do you, I will remove it in the morning, lol.

So do you guys have a certain polish that you always reach for when you're in a hurry? What is it?

It's Wednesday, It's Wednesday (doing the cabbage patch)

2011-05-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning guys!!! Hope you all are having a great week, I'm about to go cray cray, waiting on my ipad 2. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have watched every youtube video out there, on them, lol. Well today, you know, since it's Pink Wednesday, I wanted to use my China Glaze BFF, the good one. You can find a comp here of good vs bad. Anyways, I also wanted to use the little cute Bulldog tattoo from bigRuby Nail Tattoos.

Also, I want to thank you all for entering the giveaway, and want to announce the winner.......
Elizabeth, CONGRATS!!! She has already been contacted, and gotten back to me.

Now onto the mani....
I started with 2 coats of Orly Kiss the Bride

Then using tape, I added China Glaze BFF for my tips

and I finally added the cute bulldog nail tattoo from bigRubys

A Bubbly Bombshell and my new fave base!

2011-05-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning!!! I have such a beauty to show you, and I TOTALLY meant to do something fun with it, but my days have just gone so fast, and I'm pretty sure I"m somehow losing a few hours lately. I saw this at Ulta this past weekend, just sitting on an end cap, and of course it's pretty sparkles drew me in. Oh and the name, hee hee, is so fun. It's Orly Bubbly Bombshell, and btw, it is NOT a top coat eater, so whew! I also had to share my new base coat, well it's technically a ridge filler, but I'm using it for a base, and it rocks! I love that it it a semi milky base, so it's also kind of like underwear for your polish :) My neighbor used it as her base as well, and freaking loves it. Now I change mine often, but she doesn't as much, and she didn't get any chips for close to 4 days! I'll show you it after these pics.

Okay, here it is, it's Essie Fill The Gap. I got mine off of Apothica.

Some simple stamping..

2011-05-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Since I had a little time yesterday, I did some stamping. I used one of my new Bundle Monster plates, but the actual image I used, can be found on both Konad and the older Bundle Monster plates. I started with 2 coats of Essie Splash of Grenadine. Which I couldn't get really good color accurate pics, so I'm sorry. It is more pink IRL. My camera wasn't working well, and the sun wouldn't stay out long enough :(

See this first pic was inside, and is possibly the closest to accurate

These were outside, when I was literally chasing the sun in my backyard, lol.

I then used the plate, BM-209 and Claire's 14 Karats for the design.

Update on Junior, he is doing great, become VERY active and jumping all around, and eating well :)

My dented mani that was totally worth it :)

2011-05-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning guys!! Okay, so a friend/neighbor came over Friday night carrying this tiny pet carrier, and inside was an adorable baby bunny!!! She had found him at her work, and she didn't want to leave him, thinking he would die. She had plans Saturday morning, so I of course volunteered to bunny sit. She named him Junior, and after some research, discovered he is about 2 weeks old. OMG you guys, his cuteness is almost too much to handle. My Chihuahua Rolo, seemed to even love him, and let Junior snuggle next to him. They had fallen asleep in my lap and I had to share some pics. I'll get to the mani after this :P

Here he is eating. Eeeek, too cute, I even woke Jack up from his nap to watch, lol.

So here is my dented mani. Well he was back in his cage when I did my nails, but a little while later, I got him out again to eat, and he is feisty, and his tiny nails, dented my mani, but ti was totally worth it. This is 1 coat of Urban Decay Bruise over 2 coats of Ulta Cocktails Anyone, which is a dark purple.

Ummm....Nope! DO NOT WANT

2011-04-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of those manis, that didn't turn out how I expected, but it actually looks better in the pics, lol. I received my set of new Bundle Monster plates a few days ago, and only had 1 night of play time so far. I saw what appeared to be peacock feathers, and since I'm kind of on a kick, I decided to use that image first :) Okay, well I started with a coat of black and a coat of Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal. I figured that all the colors in Turq. Opal, would resemble feathers better. I'm sure I would have liked this better, had I used different colors, and didn't eff up the design placement on my pinkie. It drove me crazy, lol

Then I used China Glaze Millenium and plate BM 212 for my design

Exciting Polish News: New FingerPaints and a chance at a $250 GC!!!

2011-04-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I had to let you all know about some exciting news I have received. Lets start off with FingerPaints new collection called Peace, Love & Color. It will be available May 1st!! I already have my eye on the purple and teal So keep an eye out!!

2nd bit of exciting news!

SkinCareRx is having a Beautiful Mom Mother’s Day giveaway! Win a $250 SkinCareRx Gift Card and give your mom the products she's been wishing for (and get a little something for yourself as well). All you have to do to enter, is post a comment on their giveaway page, explaining why your mom deserves the $250 Gift Card.

To enter, click here. Be sure to fill out your email when posting the comment so that they can contact you with your prize!

The deadline for entries is May 5th. The winner will be announced May 6th.

Secret Periwinkle gets tattooed!

2011-04-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

So I couldn't resist using the bigRuby tattoos again, lol. Except this time I used 3 of the ones from the Star set. I started with 2 coats of China Glaze Secret Periwinkle, then after I applied the nail tattoos, I used Wet n' Wild Black for the tips.

Why have I never heard of this one???

2011-04-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

So a while ago a sweet woman that goes by Synthecide on MUA, posted a picture of this AMAZING blue polish by OPI. Now, I know I haven't been a hoarder of polish forever, but I had never even heard of it, and was shocked! It's way too pretty to go unnoticed! It's name..........Midnight Blue Glitter. So like usual, I scurried my butt to eBay instantly, and snatched one up. Just look...*sigh* I absolutely love the bright blue sparkles that stand out. Now, it is a tad sheer, so I did 2 coats over Wet n' Wild Black.

bigRuby Nail Tattoo Designs

2011-04-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of what the lucky winner will receive in my giveaway sponsored by Maria from bigRuby Supercool Nail Tattoos. 6 full sets of tattoos and their fast drying top coat. Each tattoo pack comes with 86 tattoos in both mani and pedi sizes.

The 6 sets are Cosmic, Garden, Mod, Sea, Star & Tweet. I showed you the designs from Tweet 2 days ago, so here are the rest.

This is Garden, sheet 1

sheet 2

Star, sheet 1

sheet 2

Cosmic, sheet 1

sheet 2

Mod, sheet 1

sheet 2

Sea, sheet 1

sheet 2

On a side note....I am so freaking excited. Look what is on it's way to me!!!! Jack got it for me for my 30th b-day. *cough cough* in June, lol. I'm so impatient :P

Pink Wednesday!

2011-04-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

I used another one of the bigRuby tattoos for this funky french, I love them, they really are sooooo easy!! It was perfect, because I had no real time for this mani. I swear, the past 2 weeks have been so busy, and it's starting to take it's toll. *contemplates taking a personal day*, lol. Anyways, okay, for this I used 10, Pinky Promise for the base, and L.A. Girls Hot Pink matte for the tips. I used one of the flower tattoos from the Garden bigRuby set. Then, I had to add a rhinestone in the center of the flower, it was all Jacks idea :)
Happy Pink Wednesday everyone!

I will have pics of all the designs from all the sets posted this afternoon for you guys :)

bigRuby Nail Tattoos - Review & Giveaway EDIT

2011-04-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

CLOSED

Good morning!! Okay, so I was contacted by Maria from bigRuby Tattoos, and was given the chance to review their fun nail tattoos & their top coat. Now, I was so excited, because I am all for any kind of nail art, especially easy ones! They currently have 6 different sets that you can choose from, and each set comes with 86 tattoos in both mani and pedi sizes! I love the fact that they had different sizes, because we don't all have the same size nails. I actually even decided to use both a mani and pedi sized design for my accent finger. Yep, I'm a rebel like that, lol. I had no idea which set to even try, until I saw the Tweet set, and it had Peacock feathers!! The cost of these are $12.00 per package, but completely worth it. If you are interested in puchasing these, you can get them here. I have tried a few other brands, and always had issues with them being too thick, and not even laying flat after my SV. I cannot wait to try the others. Also a HUGE bonus about this company is this - I read this on their site, and had to share

Beauty with a conscience...

It was important to me that this business have a bigger purpose and meaning. I decided from day one that not only would we be a cruelty-free company but that as I succeed, the things that are important to me would benefit as well.
bigRuby thinks our four-legged friends are not put on this earth to be poked and prodded for the vanity of the two-legged sort. We pledge to always do our best to bring you products produced without the use of unnecessary animal testing.
When you buy a bigRuby product, a portion of the proceeds will go to The Kindness Ranch (a sanctuary for research animals) as well as other animal rescues. bigRuby supports their heroic efforts in protecting those with no voice.
Please note: with every bigRuby purchase, you will receive complimentary good karma... just for caring.

I love this!

Okay, now here are all the sets they have available

You can choose from either Cosmic, Garden, Mod, Sea, Star & Tweet

I chose to start with Tweet

1st sheet of tattoos that were in the little zip lock bag

2nd sheet. Another bonus, IMO, is that I love the colors, and the designs are simple. They are all very wearable. They don't look cheap, cheesy, or over the top.

Here is their top coat. If you notice, each sheet of tattoos, also contains bulldog tattoos for the brand :)

Here are the instructions, that are inside the pack

Okay, since I knew I wanted to use the Peacock feathers, and they were a dark purple, I chose to use a light purple for my base. It is China Glaze Light As Air

After my mani dried I cut them out, followed the steps, and got this.

If you are interested in puchasing these, you can get them here.

The effect is really great, and I'm so pleased with it. It really was so easy, and my nail does not look like I have a tattoo/sticker of any kind on it, it looks like a nail stamped design :)

Now for the top coat. I do like it & it did dry fast compared to any other regular top coat, but not as fast as my Seche Vite. It also maintained it's shininess. The smell was about 100 times better than SV though, lol. The tattoos I would def, purchase, but I would probably skip the top coat since it is kind of pricey, but then again, if you don't like the smell of SV, or you have issues, ie. shrinkage and/or polish peeling off in sheets, this might be a great alternative for you.

Now, it gets even better. Not only did I receive a set to try, but I was also given a full set for one of you!! Yep, the very kind Maria, sent me a full 2nd set of tattoos along with their topcoat. So just fill this form out, and Good Luck! Once again, this will be an easy entry, just your name and email :) The giveaway will end May 3rd @ 6:00 am, and is open to EVERYONE :)

Fun finds at the flea market and an amazing Giveaway!

2011-04-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show you guys what I picked up at the flea market, this past weekend. I seriously love that place. It's great for people watching, shopping and food. It's only open on Fridays, so we don' get a chance to go there very often, but when we do, it's a whole day thing :) Jack likes to get chocolate covered bacon : /

Now, I tried it, and have come to the conclusion, that as much as I love bacon, and chocolate, the 2 should never EVER meet again. Oh well, makes him happy, and more for him. Well while we were there, my friends sister, spotted these, and came and got me. I was just so fascinated by the bottle on the far right, with it's unique bottle shape, and flowers in the lid.

and my new cute turtle ring that moves. I love fun unique costume jewelry

I also wanted to share with you guys, an awesome giveaway.

Jennifer from The Looks For Less is having a big 'ol 2nd blogiversary bash this week. It's 5 Days of over $1,400 in giveaways!! Check it out here.

This glitter is HUNGRY!!

2011-04-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to show you another Nubar that I ordered off of eBay a little while ago, called Night Sparkle. I also want to let you all know, I will get to your comments and emails today, I'm hoping. My weekend was sooo crazy, and I had no time to get on my computer. Anyways, okay, I love my Nubar glitters, but this one ate my top coat like it was no ones business!! I will show you exactly what I mean. Okay, this is what the mani looked like right after I applied 2 coats of Night Sparkle, and 2 coats of SV. So pretty :)

Then within 5 minutes, it looked like this :( See the lumps............. This is called a hungry glitter :)

Now, if you're looking for a fix, I was informed that first doing a coat of Gelous, and then your top coat, solves this. I have yet to test this out, but I'm all for trying it, next time I come across a glitter like this.

Also, keep an eye out, because I have another giveaway coming up soon :)

Me again!!!

2011-04-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys it's Jack again!!! Erika is here but not totally with it. She has had a tad too much to drink. So I am helping her with her post again. She wanted to show her new polish, that she calls a multicrome. It is Cover Girl Purplexed. She did one coat over one coat of Wet n' Wild Black. Sorry I don't know the official name of it. Now Erika's friend Caitie is helping me write this post but she too has had too much to drink, and is loving her nails done by Erika.

Happy Easter!!!!

Possibly an Easter Mani

2011-04-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

I cannot even believe Easter is on Sunday! It came so quick. I hadn't even really though about what mani I would do, so I was looking through my stash and saw my Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, and I still had the Sally Hansen Blue-Away on my side table, so I used them together. This would make a great Easter mani, but I'm still not sure....

I started with 2 coats of Blue-Away, and added 1 coat of Hidden Treasure. (I didn't have either bottles with me, when it was picture time)

Striped Mani

2011-04-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning!!! As this gets posted, my butt is on it's way to a breakfast smorgasborg restaurant, Shady Maple, with my husband, his parents and sister, and some of our neighbors, and OMG, I cannot wait! Their food is so amazing, they have such a great shop under the place, and I get to stuff my face for 1 low price! Nope, nothing beats that! After breakfy, we are all heading to this LARGE outdoor flea market! It's like my dream day, lol. Okay, now onto my mani.... I decided to whip out my tape, and have some fun, since my outfit for the day was kind of blah, and thought a fun mani would spruce it up.

I started with Wet n' Wild Black

Then taped off my nails like this, one at a time

I then applied China Glaze Recycle, only doing one nail at a time

Again, when I finished them all, and added a coat of SV, I taped them off 2nd time

and used China Glaze DV8 for the tips :)

ANNOUNCEMENT!! NEW Bundle Monster Plates...

2011-04-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

So real quick, I just wanted to let you all know that the NEW BIGGER Bundle Monster plates are now available. Get them quick if you're interested!! You can buy them here.

Not what I expected, but MUCH better

2011-04-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning! Once again, I ordered some Nubar polishes off of eBay. You know, if eBay didn't exist, I'm pretty sure my bank account would have many more zeros. Anyways, this one is Star Sparkle. It's loaded with holo glitter, and just looks amazing on the nail. Since I had some spare time at night, I decided to stamp over it too.

Here is 3 coats of Star Sparkle

Then using the Mash plate M60 and Wet n' Wild Black polish, I did this design. I freaking love that it actually looks like I have fabric over top the design!

Oh and, you know how I love my flakie polishes, can you believe I found a flakie lip gloss at Wal-mart, by Hard Candy! I'm also a semi lip gloss hoarder, lol. But this has FLAKES, and ones you can see when you apply it. It's so cool, and a great effect that I just had to share. This one is called Tipsy :)

Here is a swatch on my hand. It's such a light sheer pink, but the flakes, EEEKKK, I love! It doesn't even have a rough texture at all!

Yay, It's Pink wednesday!!

2011-04-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

I really love having a day of the week pre-planned color wise! For today's mani, I wanted to try some more layering. So I first started with Nicole by OPI You're An Angel. The shimmer in this is so amazing, and NOT hidden at all. I did 3 coats.

I then added Pure Ice Rio

and using my Mash plate M64 & Pure Ice Silver Mercedes, I did this design :)

Heart Breaker......a name that says it all

2011-04-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

I love trying different layering combos, and Pure Ice polish, is great for this. I get mine from Wal-mart for $2 a bottle. They have some great colors, and although most are pretty sheer, they work great for layering. I had heard about Pure Ice Heart Breaker on MUA, but my Wal-mart never had it in stock. Well, Jack and I had to go there on Sunday to get some odds and ends, and I was so giddy to see they had completely re-stocked and cleaned up the Pure Ice display, and there was Heart Breaker. Whoo hoo! As soon as I got home, I had to do a mani with it, and decided to use a new China Glaze I purchased off of eBay recently called Calypso Blue. Which I might add, is beyond one of the most beautiful blues I own!

Here is 2 coats of Calypso Blue on it's own

Then I added 1 coat of Heart Breaker. It is just so pretty, and I can't wait to try it over a purple!

Random Swatch Time : Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans

2011-04-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

First off..... WHOO HOO 2600 followers! OMG, thanks you guys, all of you!!!

Again, just clearing out my 'drafts' in my posting section. Here is another I received in a swap, and it is so pretty!!! I do wish the shimmer showed better in pics :( Oh well, this was 2 coats of Catrice Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans.

Multi Chromes need so many pictures!

2011-04-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I confess, I gave into the new CQ, Idyllic. I've seen it quit a few times, and finally just grabbed it. So I am sorry for all the pictures of it, but there was no way I could choose just a few. I mean come on, you had to see all the colors. So here I go...

This was 2 coats

Blinded By The Light....Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night...

2011-04-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

I LOVE that song, one of my favorite movies is Blow, and if you have not seen it, please do! Well, this mani, really did almost blind me, in my car :) While on my lunch break, I did a mani of OPI DS Original over black, and then a quick Konad of the leopard spots, since I wasn't to thrilled with how my first leopard mani turned out.

This is what I started with. Seriously guys, if you can get OPI DS Original, please do!! It might not look sooo fabulous inside, but in the sun.....oh just wait and see. I actually just grabbed another back up off of eBay, for under $12. Not bad IMO, and totally worth it :)

Then I did the leopard Konad. Now, these next 2 shots are from inside my car! Okay, I wasn't driving, I was stopped in traffic. I have an hour and a half commute each way, with TONS of traffic, so I took advantage. I knew by the time I got home, there wouldn't be any sun, and you guys had to see this!

When I got home, I wanted to try out my OTT light, and see how it looked. Look, crazy holo still!!

Umm..It is supposed to be crooked

2011-04-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning! Okay, I have come to the conclusion that it is all MUA's fault that I can't seem to stop buying polishes :) A few weeks ago, a sweet lady, Diava, posted some pics of some A-England polishes, that I just HAD to have, you know, like every other polish, lol. So I got them both, Lady of the Lake, which is the one I'm showing you today, and Tristam, which is also a holo, but a dark blue one!! I don't have any top coat on in these pics, because I was just swatching, and playing one of my new Mash plates. I'll take real actual swatches of them both this weekend :) Here is where I purchased mine :) I also want to swatch these in the day with sun, so you can all see it's true holo-ness.

Okay, well here is 2 coats of Lady of the Lake

Then I used the M60 Mash plate

and using Love & Beauty Silver, I did the dots design. Now here is what drives me crazy....the design is CROOKED! I can't stand that, and had this been a full mani, I would have had to start all over, lol. This is why I rarely do the designs that have to be placed in the center, or lined up, because I suck, lol

Just some pretty bottle pics, I love them!

Animal Time

2011-04-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

The whole time I have had my nail stamping plates, I have never done a leopard mani! Of course the plate that had it on there, I lost, but whoo hoo, I ordered the MASH plates off of Amazon, and it had that plate in the set. Now, IMO, this mani is a big ol' FAIL, lol. I didn't have my trusty SV with me, at work, so after I completed this, my top coat that I did use, Looks Wet, smeared the design a tad, grrrr, it actually drove me so crazy, that I just removed it all, lol. Oh well, I still wanted to share, because I love the colors together.

I started with China Glaze Recycle

PS - ignore that gross milky looking substance on the bottle, HAHA, I didn't even realize it was there, until I took the pictures, it's just dried white polish, I swear!

Then using the M57 Mash plate, I added the leopard design and used Wet n' Wild Black Creme. Then I used OPI DS Original for the center of the spots :) You could def see the holo much better IRL

Random Swatch Time!!

2011-04-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

I picked this up at Walgreen's last week, and it just looks so yummy to me, like a melted Hershey bar!

It is Sinful's Nirvana

Deborah...you did it again

2011-04-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm am so weak when it comes to Deborah Lippmann's glitter polishes. Man, why do they have to be so pricey though?!?!?! I was actually convinced that this one, I didn't need. That was until I saw so many pretty swatches of it, and I of course caved *sigh* This beauty is Glitter in the Air, it does have a very sheer/milky light blue base, so I first did a base of Sally Hansen Blue-Away, you can see my swatch of it here. It's a perfect light blue polish. I then did 3 coats of Glitter in the Air, and this is what I got, sooooo pretty. I ordered this on Barney's site, because at this price, they at least had free and VERY fast shipping :)

Pink Wednesday!!!

2011-04-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning you guys!! So week 2 of the Pink Wednesdays, whoo hoo. I hope this counts, and the WHOLE mani doesn't have to be pink *crosses fingers*. I wanted to have a little fun with this mani, and do something a tad different than I have before.
For this I used Sally Hansen Pink Blink, Sally Hansen Pronto Petal and China Glaze Liquid Leather, oh and of course tape :)

I am so sorry, but I did forget to take step by step pictures, eeeek

I first taped off my nail down the middle and use Sally Hansen Pronto Pink, darker pink, then taped off the other half of my nail, and used Sally Hansen Pink Blink, lighter pink. I did a coat of SV and then taped off the right corner of my nail, by my cuticle, and used Liquid Leather, did a coat of SV, and then did the left side. I finished them all off with a coat of SV again :)

CONGRATS to my first 2 winners :P 2 down and 3 to go

2011-04-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Jennie & Amber, who were the 1st and 2nd winners chosen for my blog giveaway!! They have both already been contacted and gotten back to me :) Hope you guys enjoy them.

Now, I just need to vent a smidge - I could just scream at this point you guys! The past week has been so frustrating and sad. To start off, I had sent a swap package out 2 Friday's ago to California. I checked the tracking number, and it said it was delivered in Florida! Umm....not even close post office. So I call and complain, they say they will have to look into it, blah blah blah. I never hear a word from them, but a few days later, the girl I sent them to, received the package, and told me it appeared as though it was opened! Anyways, long story short, not only was my package to her opened, but someone, took 1 of the 3 polishes I sent, and replaced it with candy!!!! Who does that! Then on Friday of last week, I get informed that a friend of mine was in a TERRIBLE car accident, had to have his car's roof removed, and he was helicoptered to the hospital. He is very lucky to be alive, but is still not even close to recovery. Then on Saturday, while hanging out with our friends and the wife of the man that was in the wreck, I get bit by our friends dog, really hard on my forearm. Thank goodness I had a few drinks in me by then, otherwise I would have been in tears and on their floor, lol. It was my fault for playing to rough, eeekkk. Anyways they wrapped me up, and we just continued with our night.

Okay, now that I got that out, lol. We can get on with today's mani post. After a sweet reader of mine, evercouldbe, suggested I try the brand Guppy, I of course had to. I love trying new brands, and especially cheap ones :) I ordered 5, off of eBay, and will post the rest of them this week, hopefully. Let me just say, she was right, the colors are so pretty, and the formula is really nice. Although a few of mine really smelled, it wasn't to bad.
This one is #66. I did 2 coats and a coat of SV.

Color Club Alias with some holo

2011-04-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning everyone!! I hope to announce and contact the first winner tomorrow morning :) They will have 24 hours to respond. If by chance they do not get back to me, I will pick another winner to pick the first set of polishes.

On to the mani....I picked up the Color Club Alter Ego collection while at my Ross about 2 weeks ago. All the colors are so pretty, well...in the bottle, lol, I haven't tried them all yet. My first one I chose to wear was Alias. This was 3 coats, and after I took my pictures, I sat my butt on my couch and noticed GREEN in the polish, lol. So I took a few "couch" pics, so you all could see it too :)

in this pic you can kind of see some of the pink shimmer in it

here are the couch pics that show the green! I LOVE it!!

and just for some extra sparkle, because it's so cloudy and depressing out, I added Nicole Make A Comet-Ment. This holo top coat is great, because you don't have to be in the sun to appreciate it :)

YAY, I got my OTT Light!!

2011-04-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning you guys!! I wanted to start off by reminding you guys that the GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!! I am sorry, but any entries from today at 6:00 am or later will not count. Thank you all that entered, and as soon as the first winner has been chosen, I will contact them, and let you guys know too.

Okay, I've been waiting oh so impatiently for this light, lol. I was soooo excited when it arrived Saturday afternoon. I immediately wanted to play, of course, so I rigged this little, completely un classy set-up, for the time being.

Here it is in the box

I thought I should include a pic of Jack making my light box :) He worked so hard. If you are interested in making one, here is the How To that he followed.

Now here it is just quickly set up. I did cut a hole in the top tissue paper panel, because my pictures kept looking matte, and not shiny :)

Classy side view, lol

Now the first pics. So far I'm liking it. I wanted to try out a new polish I got called China Glaze Cosmic. It's a black jelly base, with tons of silver glitter, and some scattered holo glitter. This is a top coat eater, meaning, even after you do a coat of SV or 2, it will still feel lumpy, so I suggest that you first do a coat of a regular top coat, or Gelous, and then do SV, that helps tons :)

New Zoyas

2011-04-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning!! I wanted to show you guys the 4 new Zoyas I got in the mail on Thursday. Zoya is one company that I love. Their polishes are always so fun and unique, and their formula rocks!! I picked these up during their buy 1 get 1 free deal. These are all 2 coats :)

Reva

Apple, so yummy!!

Tanzy. This just looks so juicy to me, and may be on my toes soon!

Faye

Then just out of curiosity, I wanted to see what they looked like over black. So I just tested each one :)

L-R

Tanzy, Apple, Faye & Reva

Hope you guys are all enjoying your weekend!!!

UPDATED 3 new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri's

2011-04-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

*UPDATE* Okay, I have added the third one, Pink Blink below
Morning guys!! I wanted to show you guys 2 of the new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri's. I do have a third, Pink Blink, but I haven't had a chance to swatch it yet, and the hubby wants to watch Iron Man 2 tonight, so maybe I can swatch it for you guys during my lunch break tomorrow and post it in the afternoon. Okay, well as most of you know, I LOVE the Insta-Dri's, I mean not only are they opaque in 1 coat, but they are great for stamping! So whenever I see a new collection of these, I snatch them up fast :) Also, I love their wide brushes, they just fit my nail so perfect! When I saw these 2, I knew I had to have them. The pink one I picked up later, I just couldn't resist an opaque baby pink :P
Anyways, enough jabbering, here they are:

Jade Jump

Blue-Away

Pink Blink

Aren't they so pretty??? I can't wait to try stamping with them :)

Alright, off to watch Iron Man 2, whoo hoo (that was sarcasm, since I know it was hard to tell, lol) I mean I love me some action movies, but I wanted to watch Paranormal Activity 2, hmph *walks away pouty* lol.

Byes!!

When a swatch becomes a full fun mani

2011-04-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Suzanne, a VERY sweet reader of mine, sent me this in a swap package a while ago, and I'm not sure why I haven't tried it until now. OMG, this is so pretty!! This is Accessorize Pink Spice, I had just planned on doing a quick swatch, but once I was finished, I had to do my whole mani with it. I do love me some multi-chromes, lol. This is an orange, bronze, gold & pink. Then, since I had some time on my lunch break, and just happen to have China Glaze Liquid Leather in my purse, I grabbed some tape, and had some fun.

This is 2 coats pre-tape :)

I cut 4 very thin strips of tape for each nail. When they were all done, I added 2 coats of SV on top

Pink Leaf mani & introducing Pink Wednesdays

2011-04-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning!! As you might have noticed the new image over to the right, that states 'On Wednesdays we wear pink, do you?' Well it's such a fun idea that the ladies from Colour Coated, Glitta Gloves & Life and Polish started. As stated by them -

"Once Upon A Time….
A couple of nail bloggers decided to let their love for the movie Mean Girls manifest itself in the form of wearing pink manis on Wednesdays.
In the movie Mean Girls, “The Plastics” always wear pink on Wednesdays. And while we’re not mean girls at all, we loved the idea so much that we tweaked it a little and made it our own.

And thus Pink Wednesdays were born!"

I too love that movie, and thought it would be fun to join in on Pink Wednesdays. So here we go.

If you're interested in joining in, you can go here and fill the form out, and just follow the instructions :)

Okay, mani time. Remember how I mentioned I purchased colored leaves with my feathers, well I decided to use my pink leaf.

Here is is prior to me cutting it

I started with 2 coats of OPI Mod About You

Then after some trimming, I again glued it on, and did 2 thick coats of SV

Layering Magic

2011-04-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!!! Okay, these pics was still during my day o' playing, with the light box I really can't wait to get my new lamp in!!!! I have had Jesse's Girl Fire Fly for quit a while now, and decided to slap it over China Glaze Liquid Leather. I was seriously shocked at how well this looked!!

This was 2 coats of Liquid Leather

This is Fire Fly and me practising with the light box :)

Then just one layer of Fire Fly over top, and ta da, MAGIC!! Oh and yeah yeah, it was shiny in person.

See the gold and green???

Color Club 2011 Wicked Sweet

2011-04-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I had such a great weekend! My night with the girls was so much fun, my husbands cousin and his fiance came up to stay the night with us and their new baby boy, sooo cute, my daughter now has an imaginary pet ghost dog, haha, Max, and my husband built me a light box to take pictures with. So here are my first pictures using it. I know I still need to play around with it, and my camera settings, but I love it. So these look semi matte, but they are not, for some reason my light box makes them appear that way. I have an OTT lamp on the way to me :)

Okay anyways, here is the 2nd set that Kim from Color Club sent me, called Wicked Sweet. It's 7 scented neon polishes, and OMG do they smell, and sooooo good!! Since these are on the sheerer side, like most neons, I always do a coat of white first, then the polish.

This is Get Your Lem-On

The Lime Starts Here

I Always Get My Man-Darin

Yum Gum

and my favorite, and current pedi, Raspberry Rush

Gimme A Grape Big Kiss

and yep, my camera really hates my skin when I wear blue, lol.

Wicked Sweet

I can never have too many Holos!

2011-04-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

YAY it was sunny out, so I again decided to reach for another one of my fave holos , Nfu-Oh 64. I also wanted to do something fun, since I might be going out for a girls night. I only have about 5 minutes to write this, it's again going to be short, sorry. I started with 2 coats of Nfu-Oh 64.

Then I decided to Konad over top, so I used my special Konad black polish. The only downside to this black, is it's a bisch to clean up, so sorry, but I was in such a rush to do this, clean up, take pics, upload, and write this post. I used the Konad plate M63

Alright, off to get ready, then decide if I want to go, lol. I know, kind of backwards, but better to be ready in case I do decide to, lol.

Color Club 2011 Starry Temptress collection

2011-04-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

The very sweet Kim contacted me from Color Club and was so kind to send me both of the NEW Color Club Collections. This one is the Starry Temptress collection. Now just know that they are ALL REALLY neon, but it's so hard to capture on camera. I'm actually in the process of building a light box, to see if that will help. Anyways, on to the the collection. These were all great, and I always love Color Club's formula. I only needed 2 coats per polish, YAY. This set is six neons with glitter and a glitter top coat. I do wish the holo glitter specs you can see in the bottle, showed more on the nail, but the simple glitter that you see is still great.

Space Case

Ultra-Astral

Wink, Wink, Twinkle

Glitter Envy

Otherworldly

You've Got Soul-ar

Here is a quick look at how the top coat Starry Temptress looks over each color

L-R

Space Case / Ultra Astral / Wink, Wink, Twinkle

This is Pre-Starry Temptress

With Starry Temptress. It adds just the right amount of glitter

L-R

Glitter Envy / Otherworldly / You've Got Soul-ar

Pre-top coat

With Starry Temptress

I'm such a fan of neons, especially in the summer. I am almost finished with the scented collection from Color Club, and can't wait to show you guys, because I'm seriously loving these. The ones I've finished, smell so good, and I think I might have already found my go to Summer pedi color!! *whispers* I'm wearing it right now, and have been for a few days!!

Ombre mani

2011-04-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning guys!! Now as some of you may have seen on TV, or fashion magazines, Ombre hair is a pretty big trend now, and I've seen Ombre nails done quit a bit on Makeupalley.com, so I went ahead and tried one as well. I chose to do a Black to White ombre. Ombre, is just going from the lightest of a color to the darkest.

Here are the colors I chose:

Thumb - OPI Alpine Snow Matte w/ SV on top, sorry, I completely forgot to take a pic of it :( I FAIL
Pointer - Dr. REMEDY Heather Grey
Middle - Pure Ice Kiss Me Here
Ring - Franken of Kiss Me Here & Sinful Black on Black.
Pinky - Sinful Black on Black

So what do you guys think? Have you done an Ombre mani? I was actually really loving this mani!!

Random Swatch: China Glaze Luna

2011-03-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is one I have had swatched for a while now, but it never got posted, and I'm not sure why. I found it in my drafts, so here you guys go! This is 2 coats China Glaze Luna.

Okay, back to entry entering :) Hope you guys are having a great day!!

Mr. Wrong....is oh so right!

2011-03-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is a polish, that I feel needs more love. This is Hard Candy Mr. Wrong. The only place I can get mine is at Wal-mart, boo, I wish it was in every drugstore. This is going to be a short post guys, I'm so tired and need a good night sleep. Jack and I have been doing tons of little home improvements for the past week, and I'm crashing early.

Then since I feel like its been forever since I have done a funky french, I added some gold tips :) I used Petites Empress.

Night guys, and hope you enjoy this in the morning!!

XOXO, Erika

One of my all time fave polishes!!

2011-03-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of the first holo polishes I ever purchased, and it has remained, probably my favorite of all time till this day. I even recently bought a back-up off of eBay. It's OPI DS Original. It is a tad sheer, and I had already had China Glaze LOL, another super pretty purple holo on, so I just layered 1 coat of the OPI over that.

Isn't it AMAZING??? I love this over black as well, but I wanted to have more of the actual bottle color this time.

Giveaway entries

2011-03-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I've gotten a few emails and posts about people not seeing their entries. Scroll down to the Giveaway post, and click on the comments, then If you look right above the first comment, in the right hand corner, and a little under the last picture posted of lot #5, you will see a 'Newer' and 'Newest' link. There are multiple pages of entries/comments and each page only holds 200 comments. So be sure to check there if you are concerned about whether or not your entry is in. Thanks you guys!
XOXO
Erika

The Biebs that stood out :)

2011-03-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I never expected such a response to the giveaway in 1 day alone, lol. So I would like to thank every single one of you, and also blame you all for my finger cramps in both hands! HAHA, I sat and copy and pasted 450, so far, of your names and email addresses to my Excel spreadsheet. I could have sworn my fingers were swollen, so I had to stop :P I'm so thrilled you all are okay with having only 1 entry per person, and you are all excited about it. I am too, and yes, it is open to EVERYONE, Australia, France, UK, etc.

Okay, on to the mani, this is a few weeks old, sorry, but you all kept me busy tonight :P This is the only polish I got from the Target Nicole Justin Bieber collection. As much as I would have loved to get the entire collection to review for you guys, my butt can't afford it :) So here is the only one that caught my eye, One Less Lonely Glitter. I layered 1 coat over Sinful Black on Black.

The Leopards have arrived

2011-03-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

My leopard polishes arrived from Forever 21, and I am so pleased!! The pics looked as though only 1 had some shimmer, but they all do!! The bottles are just way too cute!! These are all 3 coats. I really wish they would actually NAME their polishes, lol.

Light Green

Light Aqua - My fave of them all!!!! You can actually see the shimmer

Pink

Peach Bud

This one is my least fave from them all, but it's still pretty, I guess I'm just not a big orange girl. I know the name says peach, but I see orange, lol

Estudiantes Contra Bolonia

Glitter Gal Holos!!

Feather Fun!! With a cute kittie!

Revlon Popular = A New Fave!

China Glaze Magnetix 2012 Swatches

A Great Surprise!

Some Leopard Fun

Could I BE any later? - Yes, it's a reference to Friends, lol.

The past few months!! and a NOTD from a crappy iPhone :(

Don't even know what to say here :(

Estudiantes Contra Bolonia

Summer Chic mani

Happy Pink Wednesday!

Day O' Dogs

How about some lemonade :)

My comfort zone = black tips :)

Please life......just settle down a smidge!!

Some new Love & Beauty polishes

Color Club 2011 Fractured Collection and my NOTD for Pink Wednesday!

Nars Purple Rain & Clarins 230!!

Oooohhhh Aaaahhhhh

Morning guys!!! I'm BACK!!!!

Hey everyone

This one is for you Bridgette!

Help Whip Cancer!!!

Revlon Black with Envy

Ulta Jaded.....Check her out in the bottle!

OPI DS Sapphire on the tips :)

OPI DS Sapphire

Hope This Works. OPI Movin Out

Can someone pass me a drink?

FingerPaints 2011

How I do SUPER Girly :P

Okay, so don't hate me...but...

When it's sunny, I wear holos!

Cadillac Nails....says Jack

a-England Polishes

2 from the Essie 2011 Summer Collection...

My Go-To Mani...What's yours?

It's Wednesday, It's Wednesday (doing the cabbage patch)

A Bubbly Bombshell and my new fave base!

Some simple stamping..

My dented mani that was totally worth it :)

Ummm....Nope! DO NOT WANT

Exciting Polish News: New FingerPaints and a chance at a $250 GC!!!

Secret Periwinkle gets tattooed!

Why have I never heard of this one???

bigRuby Nail Tattoo Designs

Pink Wednesday!

bigRuby Nail Tattoos - Review & Giveaway *EDIT*

Beauty with a conscience...

Fun finds at the flea market and an amazing Giveaway!

This glitter is HUNGRY!!

Me again!!!

Possibly an Easter Mani

Striped Mani

ANNOUNCEMENT!! NEW Bundle Monster Plates...

Not what I expected, but MUCH better

Yay, It's Pink wednesday!!

Heart Breaker......a name that says it all

Random Swatch Time : Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans

Multi Chromes need so many pictures!

Blinded By The Light....Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night...

Umm..It is supposed to be crooked

Animal Time

Random Swatch Time!!

Deborah...you did it again

Pink Wednesday!!!

CONGRATS to my first 2 winners :P 2 down and 3 to go

Color Club Alias with some holo

YAY, I got my OTT Light!!

New Zoyas

*UPDATED* 3 new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri's

When a swatch becomes a full fun mani

Pink Leaf mani & introducing Pink Wednesdays

Layering Magic

Color Club 2011 Wicked Sweet

I can never have too many Holos!

Color Club 2011 Starry Temptress collection

Ombre mani

bigRuby Nail Tattoos - Review & Giveaway EDIT

UPDATED 3 new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri's