Something More Simple

This week I decided to go more conservative.  I had wanted to do french tips again for some time.  So that's what I did this week.  I started off with a coat of ORLY Bare Rose to make my nails look a little more pink.  Then I used ORLY Pointe Blanche for the tips.  After that dried, I used China Glaze Fairy Dust over the top.  With that, there was no need to use a top coat.

Since this was such a simple mani this week, I have added a little something extra for your eyes.  It is merely a swatch, as I wasn't terribly happy with the color on my nails.  It is three coats of OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise.  It is extremely thin and I could still see my nail under the polish.  It also had more of a yellow tint to it than the picture shows, and yellow does not look good on me.  I might try putting a blue or green color under this one at a later date and see if it improves any.

Until later,

Chess

Date in the Moonlight

This week was extremely long and emotional for me.  Luckily I got to spend more time with my friends and family, so that made it easier to manage.  Ironically, when I saw my sister, she noticed the color of my polish and she has the same color on her toes.

For this look, I used three coats of Essence Date in the Moonlight.  Even after three coats, it was a little thin in spots.  It is a nice grey with little royal blue sparkles.  After that dried, I stamped on the images with Kleancolor Metallic Sapphire and plates Mash-41 for the dragon fly and RA-109 for the flower.

I topped it all off with the same top coat I used last time.  I was very careful applying it, but I still ended up with some air bubbles.  I really don't like it and am planning to go shopping for something new tomorrow.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Until later,

Chess

Testing my giveaway!

This is open to all US residents.  If you win the raffle, I will send you one bottle of nail polish.  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rosy Pink

Lately I have started watching the TV show Mad Men.  I love the history, fashion, and cosmetics portrayed in the show.  I noticed that the women wear a lot of reds and pinks for nails and lips.  I realize that's because they didn't have as many of the fantastic colors they have now.  This week I decided to go a little more retro for my mani.

I started with a couple coats of China Glaze Life is Rosy.  Then I stamped on the rose image on my ring fingers with China Glaze Liquid Leather and BM-323.  I stamped on one of the roses on my thumbs by strategically placing the polish on the plate.  Finally I topped it all off with Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Flawless.

I was hoping to find a better topcoat than the Diamond Dry I have been using.  It always gets goopy before I get to use most of it.  However, this one is so thin, I ended up with a lot of air bubbles, as you can see in the second picture.  It was much cheaper than the Diamond Dry and the OPI topcoat that I thought about buying. I think it could work if I am just careful, so I will try it again on another mani and see what I think.  I you have any suggestions for another top coat, please comment below.

Also, feel free to comment on the mani in general.  I would love to know what you think.

Until later,

Chess

Silver Leaves

This week has been rather tough, but I'm glad it is over.  I'm hoping to have a relaxing weekend, with some cleaning in between.  We managed to get a large number of items pulled out and donated.

For my mani, I started with a couple coats of OPI Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?  Once that was dry, I stamped on the image with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep and BM-210.  I topped it off with the Diamond Dry.  For some reason, it started peeling off.  I guess it's time to buy a new bottle now.

I love the contrast the two colors give.  I hope you love it.

Until later,

Chess

Independence Day 2013

It felt weird not working late today.  I've spent so long working about 50 hours a week, and long days, that I don't know what to do with myself.  The bad news is the next audit should be in next week, but the good news is that it has fewer charts than the last one, by about 100.  I will take what I can get.

This week I used the upcoming holiday for inspiration for my nails.  I realized I had the first liquid sand set by OPI and two of the colors are red and blue, so I decided to use them.

I started with a base coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White.  I placed a coat of China Glaze Dandy Lyin' Around on top of that.  It was too thin to use alone.

Then I used tape on my fingers to create stripes with OPI The Impossible.
 On my thumb, I used star stickers with OPI Get Your Number.  Removing the stickers was a little difficult so I had to use a toothpick to try to make the stars more crisp.

It's not my best work, mostly due to my issues with the star stickers.  Also, I didn't really like the formula of Get Your Number.  It doesn't have the sandy texture like The Impossible does.  So far, I prefer the Zoya Pixie Dust textured polish over the OPI ones.

I hope you all have a great time over the 4th of July, and get to spend some time with your friends and family.

Until later,

Chess

Purple halo

This week so far has been busy, but the audit is finally done.  Thank the Gods!!  Unfortunately, that means that the next set could show up as early as next week.  But I'm not going to worry about it, because I get two days off next week.

For my mani this week, I decided to play with another of the China Glaze Holos.  I started with a couple coats of Get Outta My Space.  The I stamped on the image using China Glaze Liquid Leather and plate Mash-35.  I topped of my pinky and ring finger with my Diamond Dry.  I wanted to see if it would help reduce the wear at the tips.  It is a little hard to see, but the index finger has a lot of wear at the tip.

I love this color and I think it is better suited with a top coat.  The top coat doesn't diminish the holo effect.

What do you think of this polish?  Let me know here or find me on facebook.

Until later,

Chess

Green texture

This week I spent quite a bit of time at work.  We are getting closer to finishing the audit, and I am ready for a little time off come the next holiday.

As some of you may know, and the rest of you will now, I like to belly dance in some of my spare time.  The style I dance is American Tribal Style® (ATS) which was created by Carolena Nericcio.  Carolena and her troupe, Fat Chance Belly Dance®, host a wonderful show in San Francisco, and this year I contributed to their Kickstarter project so they could make it even more grand.  My charm and a signed post card came from them today.  I'm so excited!  I can't wait to see how awesome the performances were.  I'm also very proud to have supported them in such a fabulous endeavor.

This week, I really wanted to play with the texture effect that I can get with sponging polish onto my nails.  I really liked the look from my previous post.  The textured effect in the advertisement is really nice.  I was seriously disappointed in the polish the company was advertising, but I remembered how my nails look when I do gradients, before I put the top coat on.  So, I decided to play with that, and this is my result.

I started with a base of China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On.  Then I sponged the gradient using the base color and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri S-teal a Base.  Both are shimmery colors, so I thought they would go well together.

It has been a few days, so the effect was more textured earlier in the week, but you can still see it isn't extremely smooth like when I use the top coat.  This one didn't bother me as much as the special Sally Hansen Sugar Coat polish.  It didn't catch on everything and frustrate the heck out of me.  So all in all, I think this is a great way to create texture without the frustration of a special polish.  Not only is it not as rough as all the special polishes out there, but it will be far easier to remove.

Also, I apologize for the pictures.  There was a lot of smoke out when I was trying to take these, and even with my photo editing software, they turned out a little dark and a little more red than I would have liked.

I hope you like my experiment.  What experiments have you tried with your nails?

Until later,

Chess.

Pink Flakes

This week in Colorado has been crazy.  A number of fires that thankfully did not affect me personally, but I wish I could do more about.  My husband ended up working one night protecting a neighborhood that was evacuated, making sure there were no looters and no new fires starting.  The rain finally helped the firefighters out in our city today, allowing for them to get a small handle on the fire.

I have spent quite a bit of my time at work.  The audits are driving me insane and I am working overtime to get them all completed.  At least because my husband took the extra shift for the fire, I was able to get more hours in without feeling guilty.

For my mani this week, I really wanted to do something with pink.  I started with a couple coats of OPI You're a Pisa Work.  After that dried, I put on a coat of Icing Rave Royalty.  I topped that off with my Diamond Dry to smooth out the flakies.  They have a tendency to stick out and catch on things.

This color is so perfect for summer.  It stands out great on the feet for a perfect sandal pedi.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Until later,

Chess

Wedding Flowers

This weekend was my sister's wedding.  She was a gorgeous bride and both the wedding and reception were wonderful.  I'm so glad she found a wonderful man to spend the rest of their lives together.

This week, my mani is based on one from Let Them Have Polish.  My sister wanted us to do bright colored accents for the wedding, and my color was bright blue.  I saved this mani on Pinterest a long time ago, and thought it would be perfect for the wedding.

I started with a couple coats of China Glaze Hanging in the Balance.  After that dried, I stamped on the flower image with Sally Hansen Inst-Dri Whirlwind White and BM12.

Then I used toothpicks to put on the green, pink and blue for the flowers using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Just in Lime!, China Glaze Beach Cruise-r, amd  Hanging in the Balance.  That part took the longest.

After all that, I used a coat of my favorite China Glaze Fairy Dust and topped it all off with my Diamond Dry.

While this is a recreation of a previous look, I really am happy with how it turned out.  The colors were perfectly vibrant.

Until later,

Chess