Burgundy

This week has been decent, the weather has been nice.  I've tried to keep it low key as this weekend will be extremely busy.

I decided to keep the mani for this week rather simple.  I wanted to try something with red in it, and remembered I had bought a nice vampy red from China Glaze earlier in the year.  Since I'm trying to use these new colors first, I figured it would work well.  So I put on a couple of coats of China Glaze Prey Tell.  Once I put it on, though, the color was a little too brown.  So I topped it off with a coat of Essie Wild Thing.  This is a more pink burgundy with a small amount of holo glitter in it.  I love the color combination!

Once again I was playing around with the lighting for my photos.  I just haven't found anything I like yet.

What do you think?  Do you like the color?  What about the photos?

Until later,

Chess

Challenge

This weekend has been great so far.  A wonderful show of bellydancers, a hoop dancer, musicians and other dancers last night.  Today was busy getting ready for a little video performance I did with a bunch of other ATS dancers.  I hit the store and then decided I'd sit on the couch with my dogs and watched a couple movies.

Now, for the title of the post.  Instead of these challenges that I often see where you have to do something every day, I decided to do something different. I just don't have the time to do a mani every day.

This photo is of all the new polishes that I've picked up this year.  They are all ones that I have not tried yet, other than maybe a small swatch to see if I really like it.

My challenge is to try to use these before I buy more.  Luckily, looking through the press releases of new sets coming out, I haven't seen a whole lot yet, other than the new China Glaze Holos that will be coming out in spring.

What do you think?  Can I do it?

Until Later,

Chess

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The weather is slowly depressing me already.  Cold and dreary, I'm already waiting for spring so I can warm up again.

So to take my mind off of this a little, I decided to do a mani that is near and dear to my heart, literally.  Breast cancer awareness month is October.  While this is most certainly not the only thing going on this month, it is one of greater importance to me.  Instead of posting a silly facebook status that only gets questions about the status, and then a small mention of breast cancer, I figured this would be better.

We have been working together for over 20 years now to fight breast cancer.  Success rates have grown, and most people now know about breast cancer, in general.  There are cancer centers all over the country, so getting more info, aside from the internet is fairly easy.  The issue now, in my opinion is getting people the knowledge on how to cope financially.

The costs of treatment are extremely high, and most insurance companies seem to spend more time trying not pay out claims than they do actually helping people.  Patients often have to take time from work, therefore losing benefits or money in the process.  Now there are organizations out there that help patients in this situation.  A couple of them can be found here and here.  So if you know someone who is going through this rough process, or you are yourself, check these sites and see what help you can get.

And now, for the featured presentation:

I started off with Essie We're in it Together, a nail polish that was created for this month.  I love the slight shimmer to the pink.  I decided to try adding a tip in Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Moonstone.  I liked it so much, that I added it to all my nails.  It shifts to a light pink in some light, at least with this mani.

I received a new plate from Vivid Lacquer I was waiting for in the mail, right before doing this mani, so I used three of the images from it in Essie Super Bossa Nova.

I experimented with another camera I have.  I think the colors come out better with the right light.  I had a hard time taking a picture of the plate.  This was the best I could do.  What do you think of the pictures?  Do you like one better?  Also, what do you think about my mani this week?  Loving it or hating it?  

Leave me a message and let me know what you think.  Also, you can follow me here on my blog so you don't miss any more updates.

Until later,

Chess

Glitter Gradient

What a week?  It started off in the 80's here and has ended in the 30's.  I guess that's Colorado weather for you.  I've started getting the house ready for winter since it's been so cold.

This week, I decided to try the gradient again with different colors and some glitter polish.

I started off with a base of SXY Seductive Berry (from Payless Shoes).  Then I sponged on the SXY color and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out.  Once that dried, I sponged on Ulta Material Girl and Icing Urban Affair.  

 I love that Icing always seems to have their nail polish bogo 50% off.  Also, Payless often have their entire store bogo 50% off as well, so I decided to pick up a couple polishes while I was there.  I was very pleased with the nail polish.

I really love this look.  It's super glittery with a gorgeous color for fall.  What do you think?

Until later,

Chess

Simple Gradient

How is everyone this week?  I'm off from work with my husband this week.  It's nice to get away from the routine of work and little sleep.  We have been working on our floor some, so I'm rather sore right now.  Regardless, it feels good to get something like that done around the house.

This week, I tried out a more simple gradient.  I seem to be getting better at this technique.  My inspiration can be found here.

I used a base coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue By! and then used a sponge for both the blue and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out. 

I also decided to try something new with the pictures.  I read on another blog that a light box works pretty well.  I found a fairly cheap one and decided I'd try that to make my pictures look a little better.  The top picture is without flash, just the light from above the box.  The second picture is with flash from the camera.  The third one below this is without flash and using the camera to block some of the light coming through the top of the box.

I'm liking the last picture the most, so I will probably try to get the light a little farther from the box next time. What do you think?

Any suggestions for my next mani?  Colors or designs?  I don't want to start with the Halloween nails just yet.  I feel like fall just started.  Although, I'm waiting for the China Glaze Halloween collection to hit my local Sally Beauty Supply.  I was told October 1st by one of the wonderful ladies who works there.  And I keep checking my King Soopers for those new Sally Hansen polishes that are supposed to come out in October.  I don't want to miss out on those gorgeous colors, and I'd love to get the points for gas rather than spending all that money at Walgreen's or Target without the bonus. 

Well, enough about my polish stalking, leave me a comment on your thoughts or suggestions.

Until later,

Chess

Flakies

This week has been pretty good.  Next week will be even better.  I'm taking the week off from work to spend with my husband and to really do some cleaning out around the house.  I always feel like I don't have enough time to do the cleaning I want, so this is the time to get it done.  Maybe our floor will get done this week, as well.

For my nail inspiration this week, check out this pin.  While I didn't do the matte top coat, I'm very happy with the results.


I used the Revlon Nail Art Moon Candy.  Beware, I discovered these bottles break easily compared to regular bottles.  I was extremely sad when I dropped my purple one while trying to take these pictures and had to transfer the remains to another bottle before it dried out.

I did a coat with Orly Liquid Vinyl.  I didn't like it very much.  It chipped off my nails before I could add the flakies.  So then I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black out.  It's one I've used before, but I wasn't sure if it was still good so while I was out I bought the Orly one just in case.  Then I did four stripes using the Moon Candy in Orbit, Galactic, Moon Dust, and Universe (from base to tip).

This is in natural light, fairly close to sun set.

This is under our LED light.

I love the look and had many compliments.  I'm just sad that my camera doesn't do this justice.  I tried playing around with the different settings and couldn't get it to look right.  It's kind of an old camera, so if anyone has any suggestions on a newer one for a decent price, leave me a message.  I'd love to get a new one, maybe for Christmas so I can experiment more.  I'm having so much fun with this and would like to continue doing it.

What do you think of this look?  Any suggestions for next week?

Until later,

Chess

Zebra

This week has been pretty long, already.  Maybe it just feels that way after the short week last week.  I'm really anxious for the weather to get a bit cooler after all the hot days this past summer.

This look that I did was inspired by two looks I found on Pinterest  here and here.

I started by putting two coats of Essie Pink Glove Service on my nails.  Then I stamped the zebra print with Konad special polish in black using Konad plate m57.  I put a clear coat over that and let it dry.

Then I used some circle price stickers I had left over from something else to section off the nail for the tips.  I painted the tips with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White On.  Once that dried, I used the stickers again for the pink tips.  I used Icing Red Room, which is a deep fushia-pink sparkle.

I was a little disappointed with the Essie color. I was hoping to get a little more color out of it.  In reality, it's like wearing a clear coat.

However, overall, I'm very happy with this mani.

What do you think of my creation this week?

Until later,

Chess

matte top coat

After not really liking my last mani, I decided to try this.  I want to use my matte top coat to play around some.

The blue coat is Navy Narcissist, one of the new Maybelline New York Color Show lacquers.  I stamped the image using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep and the BM-206 plate.

I tried using No Place Like Chrome by Essie for the stamping, but it just dried to fast.  I'm not sure if it was the stamp image though, so I will probably try again with these Essie colors on another image.

I'm still working on placing the images on the nail.

What do you think of this one?  Leave me a comment with your answer, or a suggestion for another mani.

Until later,

Chess

Stripes

This long weekend was extremely relaxing.  I hope you all had a great time.  I spent most of my time doing a bit of cleaning and then sitting around watching shows.  It was a very welcomed break from work.  

During this time, I decided to work on this manicure.  It didn't turn out as great as I had hoped it would.

I used Avon nailwear pro in Sunshine and Viva Pink for the base.  Then I used striping tape and painted over the base with Ulta Howl at the Moon

I think my right hand looks a bit better than my left.  Maybe I began to get the hang of it a little.

That do you think?  Should I keep experimenting with this?

Until later,

Chess

Something new

At the beginning of this week, I had a new color from Icing that I wanted to try.  It's called Teal for Real, but I wouldn't consider it real.  This green is almost a neon grass green.  Unfortunately, none of my pictures do it justice.  This looks more seafoam than true green.

Then I found these new magnetic polishes by sinful that are a little bit cheaper than the others I've found previously, and decided to give them a try.  All of these are $4.99 at the Target I went to and they have the starburst magnet instead of the wavy line one that is so popular.  This one is called It's Electric.

The only real issue I had was the magnet is a bit weak and didn't give the nail a full design.  However, most people who saw my nails thought that the effect was so cool, they didn't notice the sides of the nail didn't have the design.

All in all, I'm very happy with the color and design of this and would like to eventually try the other one I got with this one.  What do you think?

Until later,

Chess