Elation Generation

This past week has felt a little more busy than last week even.  We have an audit at work that is putting us behind in regular work.  I had my first Monday night yoga class, but no one showed up.  My husband helped me utilize that time and took pictures for my website.  You can view that here if you want.  Wednesday evening I had a doctor's appointment, then last night I had a rehearsal for a belly dance performance coming up on June 7th.  Tonight I have my Friday night yoga class to teach, and am trying to get this out before that.

Because I was busy this week, and I knew I would be, I went with just a swatch.  I used one coat of ORLY Elation Generation.  It is a bright pink jelly with glitter.  I love the color, and had I more time this week, I probably would have done a second coat to see how that turned out.  It chipped and wore away at the tips some.  You can see it well on my middle finger.  Overall, I love the color, but not the wear and tear it took.  I would probably do a second coat and top it off with a clear coat to protect it more.

Until later,

Chess

For Audrey

This has been a crazy week.  I got sick this last weekend and ended up calling off work Tuesday to go to the doctor.  She didn't really have an idea of what the problem is, and gave me a prescription for antibiotics and an antihistamine.  I'm feeling only marginally better.

Then we had our steampunk meeting and had great discussions, food, and I sold a piece of jewelry.  I am a tiny bit closer to paying for my General Skills training in August.

Friday night I taught my first yoga class!  It was fabulous!  I really appreciate my students who allowed me to test out my first class on them.

This week I ironically did a mani that celebrated Audrey Hepburn's 85th birthday.  I started with two coats of China Glaze For Audrey.  It is a perfect Tiffany's blue.  Then I stamped on the dots using plate Mash-25 and Mash special polish in white.  Then I stamped on the bow image with plate BM-317 and Mash special polish in white.

I'm very happy with how this one turned out.

Until later,

Chess

Sweet Hook

This week I have been trying to work on my Yoga business and raise money so I can go to General Skills for belly dance in August.  I am trying to sell extra things that I no longer want or need.  That includes some Cookie Lee Jewelry that I tried to sell about five years ago.  I have a whole case full of jewelry, and it would be nice to not have it in the house anymore.

This week I decided to do a spring mani.  I started off with two coats of China Glaze Sweet Hook.  Then I stamped on the image using plate BM-224 and konad special polish in purple.  Then I used China Glaze Tail Me Something for the center of the flowers.

I love the light purple and the flowers. I hope you do too!

Until later,

Chess

Mauve It

This week I had an interview for a new job, so I decided to go with a more neutral mani for the week.  I was torn between doing another french manicure and using a simple color.  I had problems with the french manicure that I did, which I will post about later, and finally determined that one color would work better after my frustrations.

I used two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mauve It.  I love this brand.  It is thicker than some, so you don't have to put a bunch of coats on and it dries quicker than others.  This is a gorgeous neutral pink, and I felt it worked well while trying to remain conservative.

I think I could do a white lace design of some sort in the future to give it a modified french manicure look.

Until later,

Chess

Mint Chocolate Chips

My sister named this mani.  I showed it to her earlier in the week and she said it looked a bit like the ice cream.

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet.  After that dried I used two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pixel Perfect.  I used the brush to help strategically place some of the "pixels."

I love the look and received a lot of complements on this.  The only issues I had was the glitter top coat tended to get bubbles in it as I was applying it and it was definitely not a quick dry polish.  It took forever for the glitter polish to dry.

What do you think?

Until later,

Chess

Spring into Summer Fade

This week has been warmer, and I even walked to and from work one day.  It felt great to get out in the sun after so much cold.  Of course, it is supposed to snow again this weekend.  Probably another couple of weeks before it truly warms up for summer.  With this warmer weather, I have been itching to use brighter colors.

I started with two coats of OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian from the recent Brazilian collection.  I saw the pink color and fell in love.  When I placed it on my nails, I was surprised at how bright it was.  So, I decided to use another color to tone it down a bit.  I sponged onto the tips China Glaze Fade Into Hue.  The color in the bottle is more of a periwinkle color, but sponged over the bright pink, it turned more purple.

Finally, I used my China Glaze Fairy Dust on top of it all.  A girl can never have too many sparkles!

Overall, I love the color combination and I received many complements this week.  What do you think?

Until later,

Chess

Teal Unreal

This week has been extremely busy.  We have been gearing up for our final teach out tomorrow in my yoga teacher training.  I'm excited to be finished, and of course I am a bit nervous.  I have really become close with everyone in my class, and I will miss seeing everyone each weekend.

Sometimes you just need a really simple manicure.  I decided to just go with a color and no design.  So this week it is just a swatch for you all.

I used three coats of ORLY Teal Unreal.  The color is deeper than in the picture, but nothing I did would make the color stand out properly.

Until later,

Chess

Diva of Geneva

This week I wanted to go with something a little more glittery.  I tried doing a french manicure with glitter, but it looked like I was dead, due to the base color of the polish.  At some point, I'll show you how bad it was.  In the end I decided with a deep shimmery red, with a layer of glitter on top.

I started with three coats of OPI Diva of Geneva.  When that dried, I used China Glaze Fairy Dust on top.  It's really simple, something anyone can do easily.  I love that it takes so little time to finish.

Until later,

Chess

Teal the Tide Turns

This week I decided to try out another of the China Glaze textured polish collection.  Since Monday was St. Patrick's day, even though I don't really celebrate it, I decided to go with one of the greens.

I used two coats of Teal the Tide Turns.  I think I could have used another coat to make it more even.  It is a mint green with some dark green glitter scattered throughout.  The texture wasn't too rough and I love the color.

It is relatively simple, and a perfect way to bring in spring.  Thursday was the Vernal Equinox.  I'm so very ready for warmer weather and sunny skies.

Until later,

Chess

Luminous Lilac

This past week I have been sick and miserable.  I haven't done a whole lot more than is required of me, and sleeping extra.  This was also another week where my mani was fighting me.

It has been getting lighter out longer and warming up quite a bit, though we will still probably have more snow sometime before the month is over.  I have been ready to use more spring and summer colors, so this week I decided to go with a pastel pink.  I love the pink, but when I showed it to my sister on Skype, she asked if it is a color that I used before.  I thought about it and realized that I have an Essie polish that is the exact same color.  Once I am done with this post, I can put this color in the donation/sell box.

I started by applying three coats of Pixi Luminous Lilac.  Even still, it was a bit uneven, which is why I am opting to keep the Essie color and get rid of this one.  When it dried, I used the Konad special polish in a shimmery navy and plate m60 for the image.  The image didn't come out as clear as I would have liked on some of the nails, which is what I meant about it fighting me.  Finally, I topped it off with my Diamond Dri.

Overall, it's not my best work, but I'm not really sure why it was being so finicky.

Until later,
Chess