High on Hope

This week flew by.  The beginning of the week was a little rough at work, but by midweek, we had extremely cold weather and snow on the ground.  Things slowed down a bit, with more people staying home.

This week I decided to try some more stamping, and I really like what I came up with.  I started with three coats of ORLY High on Hope.  After that dried, I stamped on the image using plate Mash-39 and Konad special polish in black.  Finally, I topped it off with Diamond Dry.

I like the fish scale image, and during the week I thought of a couple other things I could have done.  I could have used a different color than the black special polish for the image, to make it look more natural.  Also, I would like to see what it looked like with a matte top coat.  The pink glitter in this polish might show through better with the matte top coat.

Let me know what you think!  Do you see any other possibilities for this one?

Merino Cool

Once again I felt no real urge to do much with my nails.  I had some good news at work, so hopefully things will begin to return to normal.  For so long I have been terribly stressed out, and I haven't felt normal.  I am ready for a change.

This week I wanted to try out a new color I picked up by Essie.  So this mani is two coats of Essie Merino Cool.  It is a fabulous color, a mix between grey and purple.  Absolutely perfect for fall or winter.

Until later,

Chess

Chic Reloaded

Last weekend I had a work meeting on Saturday, that left me dragging all week.  I had no real ambition this week, and really just wanted to sleep all day.  Consequently, I did not do much with my nails, either.  However, the polish I choose this week I think spoke for itself.  This is one of the only color I have found that has a true duochrome that one can see in most light.  A lot of others I have tried don't really show more than one color.

This is three coats of Essence Color and Go Chic Reloaded.  I found it for only a couple of dollars at Ulta.  The only downside is it tends to wear at the tips more than some polish does.  You can see it some in the picture, on my middle finger.

I do wonder if a top coat would have changed the duochrome any, so there would be less tip wear.

Until later,

Chess

Custom Kicks

This week, I tried very hard to make my mani match a teal green shirt I own.  It is one of my favorites.  I came pretty close, though the pictures just don't do it justice.

I started with a couple layers of China Glaze Custom Kicks.  Then I added a layer of Icing Peak A Blue.  Custom Kicks is a green teal and Peak A Blue is a light blue with micro sparkles.  The color matched the shirt  almost exactly.

After that dried, I stamped on the lotus image using plate BM05 and Mash special polish in white.  I topped it off with the Diamond Dri.

Until later,

Chess

Another Favorite Color Combination

I am very glad it's Friday.  This week was rather frustrating again at work.  It seemed like the week would never end.  I have been trying to work on my novel for NaNoWriMo, but have been rather busy, so haven't been able to get far.  I am planning to work hard this weekend on it.

This week, I put two colors of polish together that I love.  Right now, I really love a blush pink color and I love pairing it with navy blue.  So that's what I did this week.

I started with a couple coats of OPI A Butterfly Moment.  When that dried, I used OPI Incognito in Sausalito for the tips.

It is relatively simple, but it's my favorite color combination right now.

I hope you like it,

Chess

Happy Halloween 2013

I hope everyone is having a wonderful time tonight, with whatever you are doing.  Trick-or-treating, staying in, watching scary movies, spending time with family.  I am watching some shows and probably will watch Hocus Pocus tonight, while my husband hands out candy to the little ones.

You may have seen my post on Facebook about this polish I chose this week.  I chose to try out L'Oreal The Queens Ambition.  I love the look of it.  The glitter helps lend the texture to the polish.  My only issue is that it is chipping quite a bit.  Usually I don't have that problem with polish on my acrylic nails.  I figure if I put a clear top coat over it, the mani would last longer, but then I would lose the fabulous texture.

Until later,

Chess

Lack of Creativity

This week I really just didn't feel creative.  I couldn't think of anything to do with my nails.  Earlier, I bought a few ORLY colors, and I wanted to play with one of the them this week,  but I didn't have any ideas.  So I have a swatch of this color for you today.  This one is ORLY Terra Mauve.  It is a great red with a pinkish hue.  The color really is fabulous, I just couldn't think of anything to do to it.

Also, to give you a little more to look at, I pulled out a mani I tried out a bit ago, but never posted.  I started witha few coats of Sinful Colors Ocean Side.  After that dried I used some glitter polish from Icing on my ring finger.  It came in a four pack, but there is no name on it.

I hope you like these,

Chess

Howl You Doin'

Lately, I haven't been feeling very creative.  I have been finding it hard to come up with new ideas and color combinations.  Luckily, this month China Glaze had a couple colors from the Halloween collection that I liked.  So this week, I used one of those.

I started with a couple coats of China Glaze VIII.  After that dried, I used tape to block off some of my nail near the cuticle, and used China Glaze Howl You Doin'.

I really love the different types of glitter in Howl You Doin' and it wasn't too hard to remove.  Usually I hate glitter polish, but this one was much easier to remove.

What do you think?  Any suggestions for another mani?

Chess

Leopard Print

This week, work went by fairly quickly.  I made a couple monetary decisions about bellydance and yoga that make me feel good about my future.  I'm excited about these opportunities next year.

Last week I saw this pin on pinterest, and knew I had a couple colors that I could use to recreate the look.  So that's what I set out to do.  To top it all off, the base color I used was given to me by a close friend, so it felt good to finally use it.

I started off with two coats of ORLY Rage.  After that dried, I stamped on the leopard print image using Konad plate m57 and Konad special polish in black. Then is used Sonia Kashuk Two Cent to place the darker dots on some of the leopard spots.  Finally, I used two coats of my Diamond Dry to smooth out the mani.

This one turned out beautifully, and everyone who has seen it in person has loved it.  It really did not take that much more time than any of the other manicures I have done before.

Until later,

Chess

Tongue & Chic

My co-worker has been on vacation in Florida all week, so it has been a little difficult keeping up with the workload.  However, I have taken on a new mantra at work.  I can only do so much, and the rest will have to wait until tomorrow.  It feels good.  I'm not as stressed as I usually am.

I decided to do something a little bit different for my mani this week.  I wanted to do a matte polish again.  So, I started with China Glaze Tongue & Chic.  Then I stamped on the peacock feather using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep and plate VL 006 by Vivid Lacquer.  Then I used ORLY top coat to save the image, and ORLY Matte Top over all the nails.

For some reason, the matte top coat didn't work for all the nails, and I decided to take pictures so you could see it.  Some of it wears off anyway throughout the week, but two of my nails just wouldn't take the matte top coat.

Despite the issues with the top coat, I really like this mani.  I love the color and the way the silver contrasts it.

Until later,

Chess