Expresso

I have been on vacation all week. It has been fabulous to not have to do anything.  I spent the week with my husband, as well, and it was nice to spend so much time with him. We did a little work around the house, worked on our Christmas presents for some people, had a fabulous dinner for our anniversary, played a lot of WoW, helped his family with a couple issues, slept a lot, and stayed up late.  I have jury duty Monday, so while I won't necessarily return to work, I will be spending the day bored out of my mind.  I'll just have to take a good book.

Due to my lack of motivation, I didn't any blogging, and didn't do a manicure this week. Sometimes you just need to take a break from everything.

 I am working on getting caught up on this and am starting off with a swatch.  I picked up this color a while ago, but it turned out a little different when it dried.  I used two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Expresso for this picture.  It has a pink tint but turned out closer to a brick red than I prefer.  It is not one of my favorite colors. Like usual, the formula is good.  It is thick enough to not require a lot of coats and it dries quickly without being streaky.

Until later,

Chess

Strap On Your Moonboots and Sci-Fly By

It was nice that this last week was shortened due to the holiday.  This last Sunday was the last yoga in the park for the year.  Then Monday my husband helped me take some pictures for my yoga business.  It was a nice, relaxing day, and I'm grateful to have had the extra day away from work.

This week I decided to go with more of my holographic polish.  After the last experiment didn't work quite as well, I decided to try a different technique.  The gradient by sponge didn't really show the holographic effect well. 

I started with three coats of China Glaze Sci-Fly By on all my fingers but the ring finger.  This polish is thinner than most so it requires more coats. Then I used three coats of China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots on my ring finger. Then I used Strap On Your Moonboots for the tip on my index finger and Sci-Fly By for the tip on my ring finger.

This method really shows the holographic effect.  I love how it turned out!  What do you think?

Until later,

Chess

Friends Forever, Right?

This past weekend I went to see The Giver with my husband.  I had picked up some China Glaze polish the day before from The Giver collection.  I bought a white with a pink tint and a blue.  I decided to wear one of those this week.  Since it is still summer, I decided to go with the lighter one.

I used three coats of China Glaze Friends Forever, Right?  It is a white with pink tint to it.  It was very difficult to work with.  It really did not want to behave.  For my last coat I ended up adding a little nail polish thinner to make it easier to use.  Even still, it wanted to streak some.

Once it dried, I stamped on the image using plate RA-119 and Konad special polish in black.  Then I topped it of with the Diamond Dry.

Overall, I would not recommend this color.  There isn't anything special about it and the formula is irritating.

Until later,

Chess

Penny Talk on Mauve

This week has been decent. The weather has been nice and I was able to walk to work a couple of days. I spent an evening with my mom for her birthday.  I was able to Skype my sister last night so we got caught up on events some. My belly dance troupe is performing tomorrow evening and I am excited about that.

This week I was lacking inspiration so I went to pinterest to find something to do.  I decided to replicate this look. I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Mauve.  It is a greyish purple and the formula is decent. Then I painted on the tips using Essie Penny Talk.  This one is a thicker formula and it tends to dry quickly. Consequently, it is more difficult to work with. After it all dried, I topped it off with China Glaze matte top coat.

I forgot how much I like the look of matte polish, especially over a metallic polish.

What do you think?  Do you like the matte polish?

Until later,
Chess

Rock-On Red

After my fabulous week of dance, I needed a few days to recuperate.  I once again didn't feel terribly creative so my manicure is a little more basic.  Some times you just need to throw some glitter on it and be done.

I started with two coats of ORLY Rock-On Red.  This one is a bright pinkish-red.  The formula is great.  It's not too thick or too thin.  Then I used a coat of OPI Which is Witch? for the glitter top coat.  I had to strategically place the larger round pieces to make it more even, rather than clumped together.

A simple mani, but still colorful and bright.

Until later,

Chess

Artistic Expression

This week I am writing you from St. Louis.  I am at a fabulous belly dance event.  I pre-planned all of this so that I could just publish it on the road.

I started off with two coats of NYC Tudor City Teal.  It is a dusty green crelly, a little more opaque than a jelly.  After that, I sponged on the gradient using Tudor City Teal and OPI Eurso Euro.  Eurso Euro is bright blue cream.  The two colors together are absolutely perfect and give my nails an artistry touch.

Finally, I stamped on the white hearts using Vivid Lacquer plate VL001.  I think this is my favorite plate so far.  I topped it all off with the usual Diamond Dri.
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I hope you like this one as much as I do.

Until later,

Chess

Purple Butterfly Wings

This weekend I was busy vending at an event, trying to sell some things that I no longer need.  I spent a fair amount of time getting everything together, and most of the day yesterday sitting at the table.  It didn't really net me much.  Consequently, I am just now getting this post up.

I started off with two coats of China Glaze Spontaneous.  Then I placed one coat of ORLY Purple Poodle on top.  Purple Poodle was too thin to use alone.  It is a great fushia-purple with blue glitter.

Once all that dried, I used plate BM-424 and konad special polish in black to stamp the butterfly wing image. I then placed the white dots using a white polish toward the tips with an improvised dotting tool (a straight pin shoved into the eraser on a pencil).

I absolutely love the color and the way that this one turned out!  I hope you like it too!!

Until later,

Chess

Wait N' Sea

This week has been extremely taxing for me.  I got sick and took Monday off.  I worked hard to make up some of that time the rest of the week.  I had a meeting with a friend's husband who works with small businesses a lot.  We brainstormed for a couple of hours on ways to get my business name out there, so I can bring in more clients.  I'm exhausted and overwhelmed by this process.  I'm just hoping that something starts rolling soon.

This week I found a little of my creativity again.  I started with two coats of China Glaze Wait N' Sea.  It's a fabulous teal-blue.  Once again, the picture does not do the color justice.  Once that dried, I stamped on the leopard print image using Konad plate m57 and Konad special polish in black.

I decided to not use top coat this time and see how the special polish lasted without it. I'm quite surprised with the durability of this special polish.  It only started to wear away a little, much like any other color I suspect.

I like the way the special polish has a somewhat matte finish to it.  The contrast is awesome.  I hope you love it as much as I do.

Until later,

Chess

X-Ta-Sea and Liquid Crystal

I've mentioned lately that I have been really busy and feeling overwhelmed.  I'm trying to determine how to back off from some things so I can focus on what I love.  I want to get back to my manicures and blogging them each week.  I  have lost my creativity, I think mostly due to being overworked and overdrawn.  Hopefully I can figure something out so I can get back to my usual routine some.

This week I have a couple more for you.  The first is another swatch.  I loved the color so much and didn't know what else to do with it.  It is three coats of China Glaze X-Ta-Sea from the most recent summer collection. The color is a fabulous plum purple.  One of my friends liked it so much I lent it to her.  I would highly recommend this color to anyone who loves purples.

The second manicure is fairly simple, but also more than just a swatch.  I really wanted to do something with white polish, and decided to do white on every nail with a glitter accent nail.  The white is three coats of Sinful Snow Me White.  Then my ring finger has two coats of China Glaze Liquid Crystal. The glitter is a blue base with hints of pink to it, though the pink didn't really show up well in the photo.

I hope you like these.  Do you have any suggestions for future manis?

Until later,

Chess

Seas the Day and Hang-Ten Toes

I have been a little overwhelmed lately with life lately.  Nothing too major, just stretched a little thin with work, yoga, belly dance and trying to spend time with friends and family.

This week I have a couple swatches for you. I decided I wanted to use some brighter colors now that it is summer.  The first one is three coats of China Glaze Seas the Day.  This one is a great red for summer.  It is a bright neon like color without being to bright.  Unfortunately, my camera could not pick up the exact color, and does not do it justice.

The second one is three coats of China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes.  This one is a neon pink.  It is very bright, perfect for summer. It dries with a satin finish, rather than a complete matte or gloss.  Over the week, it buffed to a more gloss finish.

I really loved wearing Seas the Day.  I would definitely recommend this color to anyone, as I think it would look good on everyone.  Hang-Ten Toes didn't do quite as much for me.

Until later,

Chess