Hiatus-being real with myself

I am exhausted all the time.  I find it hard to be creative with my nails every week.  I feel like I'm letting people down when I don't provide a new manicure each week.  I beat myself up for it, and consequently end up not being creative even more.  So much pressure gives people all sorts of problems and issues.

So I am going to take a break for a while.  I need to take a step back, find my inner peace, find my flow, and that creative streak might return.  I will keep the blog up, as new people might find my info useful here.  I will keep an eye on things to be sure that things are still good around here, no spam in the comments.

If I find the time to do more than a french manicure, I'll post it here.  It just won't be every week.

Until later my friends,

Chess

Hidden Gems

This week, after the time change, I feel a little more like myself.  I'm not sure if it was the extra hour of sleep, that my husband was away for a few days, or things slowing down a little at work.  I managed to get more done this week and feel more accomplished, if not more rested.

For the full moon this week, I decided to do a more celestial manicure.  I started with two coats of  L'Oreal Hidden Gems.  In the bottle it looks like a beautiful blue that shifts to purple, with small silver glitter.  Like most duochrome polishes, it doesn't shift as well on the nail as it does in the bottle.  I was surprised to find that it is actually a sand textured polish as well.

Then I stamped on the moon image using plate Mash-32 and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep.  I loved the look so much that I didn't bother putting on a top coat to smooth it all out.

Until later,

Chess

Nice Caboose!

I'm glad this week is over.  It has been a long week.  It definitely felt like I was burning the candle at both ends.  Too many projects and events, and what felt like no time to do them.  Tonight I am relaxing at home, cuddling with my dogs, and watching some TV.

This week I wanted to do something for Halloween.  I started with two coats of China Glaze Nice Caboose!  It is a great berry red color.  Perfect for fall or winter.  On top of that, I stamped the different images using Konad special polish in black and plates BM13 and Mash-38.  However, the spider image from Mash-38 isn't in the image here, as it is on my thumb.

I love this one.  The color is fabulous and the image is rather subtle.  You don't notice it until you are really close.

I already have an idea for this next mani.  Check back later to see what I come up with.

Until later,

Chess

Trying to keep up

Lately I have been rather busy at work and working on a few projects.  I have also been feeling so overwhelmed and tired, that I have only managed to paint my nails with single colors.  I am providing three swatches for you today.

The first one is China Glaze History of the World.  This one is from The Giver collection.  It is a fabulous grey blue, though the picture makes it look more purple.  I would highly recommend this one if you can get your hands on it.

The second is ORLY Darkest Shadow.  I think this one is from their Halloween collection.  It is a black polish with red glitter mixed in.  The glitter has a slight duochrome to it as well, making it look more coppery. It's a great color for Halloween.

The final one is China Glaze Well Trained.  It is a great teal color, perfect for fall.  I would have loved to have stamped a silver feather on this one, but didn't have time.  For whatever reason, I am completely obsessed with feathers right now.

I hope you find these useful.

Until later,

Chess

Wild Wisteria

This week has had some ups and downs.  However, I'm confident that my new project is headed in the right direction.  I'm really excited about it, and it feels like it is changing my life.  Maybe all I've needed was a good project.

I did this manicure a while back, and it is one of my favorites.  I used a couple coats of ORLY Wild Wisteria.  This is a fabulous purple polish!

 I used plate BM-419 to stamp the feather image.
At first I tried the Kleancolor polishes Metallic Aqua  and Metallic Green first for the image, but it didn't show up well.  So I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep, then the two Kleancolor polishes on top. Of course, I used the Diamond Dry top coat on top. I think this may be my favorite look so far.

Until later,

Chess

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