Shawl Inspired Nails

I have to admit that I often dress to match my nails, not the other way around like normal people. However, there are some exceptional outfits that require a coordinating mani.

One of my friends knitted me this beautiful, light, soft shawl. We both love purple, and he started knitting shortly before I started crochet. So, we've been learning and sharing our work as we both progress in our skills.

To go with my lovely shawl, I chose two coats Maybelline Colorama Grape Crush for the main color and added an accent nail with two coats of KleanColor Vegas Nights over one of Grape Crush.

I felt like we needed another picture of the awesome shawl. I've been seeing people out and about where I live with an index finger accent nail. I don't know why, but I feel like it looks so different when it's just two nails over!

Any thoughts? What's your favorite accent nail? Or your favorite outfit to match your polish to?

Summer Bright Water Marble

I've tried water marbling a couple of times before, and I have to say that I still don't have the hang of it. My biggest problem is that I end up with little dots where (I assume) there was a drop of water when I pulled my hand out of the cup. I'm determined to get this right some day, but sadly, today is not that day.

Left hand

I started with a base of Sally Hansen White On, then did the marbling with one drop Maybelline Colorama Cupid's Wing, one drop China Glaze Spontaneous, and two drops Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!. Cupid's Wing is a white shimmer, but it didn't show up much.

Right hand

 My right hand ended up with an interesting striped pattern. It's not what I was going for, but it looks pretty cool - it reminds me of Easter eggs. Since the shimmer in the marbling didn't show up, I decided to add a coat of Pure Ice Oh Baby! over the top. This was a fatal error. As you can see, it bubbled like crazy and didn't really add much shimmer. Grrrrr.

I'm not entirely certain what I'm doing wrong or if this is just a matter of practice. I would love some times from more experienced water marblers about how to make mine pretty and neat.

Snow Flowers Mani

So far we've had a fairly warm winter here in Georgia. Last year, north Georgia had it's first white Christmas since 1882, but this year I haven't worn my heaviest coat once. While I am a southern girl and don't like too much cold, I do enjoy a little winter. So, this week's cooler weather has been a treat. January is our most likely time to get a little snow, so here's hoping.

The base color for this mani is Maybelline Colorama Glass Slipper, which is a pale blue with silvery shimmer. It's pretty translucent and the formula is thin as well, so I had to put on four coats. As I've mentioned with the other polishes in this line, I'm really okay with that given the nice color range and low price point (I got them in three packs for $1).

On top of Glass Slipper, I used white flower decals, which in this context really look like snow flakes. I wish I could remember what brand these are because they really work well. They're very soft and flexible, which means the edges never try to peel up. I think I remember where I bought them, so next time I'm there, I'm going to see if I can find another pack and make note of the brand.

Labradorite Manicure

I haven't seen very many reviews of the main polish in today's mani. I did see a few pictures of it way back around August, but I hadn't seen it anywhere in my town until very recently, when it showed up all of a sudden at Kroger.

This is Maybelline Express Finish Cool Couture, which is a medium grey creme polish with turquoise shimmer. The shimmer is very fine and a little shy in indoor light. So, inside it tends to blend into the grey and give the whole nail a slate blue color, which is pretty on it's own. However, in bright or natural light, the shimmer shows up. Then, this polish reminds me of the stone labradorite, as you can see in this picture. For my accent nail, I added one coat of an unnamed BonBons turquoise bar glitter. The color matches the shimmer in Cool Couture perfectly.

The formula on Cool Couture was a little tricky. It was a little thick and very patchy on the first coat. After the second coat, it evened out pretty well, but I still had a few bare patches here and there. With careful application, you can make it work in two medium coats; it just requires a little extra attention.

Finally, here's a bottle picture. The shimmer is a little more pronounced here than on the nail, but it gives you a good idea of the color. On the whole, I really like this polish. It's an unusual combination of colors, which I think is great for winter.

Fall Flakies Mani

Sorry for the extended silence, but getting up to speed at my new second job is kicking me in the posterior.  Typing for several hours isn't really the best precursor to coming home and typing up blog posts. I'm building up my stamina though!

I'm having to fight the urge to title all of my posts Fall Something because that's pretty much all I'm interested in right now. We've had some gorgeous fall weather for the last couple of weeks. Today's all grey and rainy, but I'm hoping we'll get back to blue skies and crispy air soon. This mani was inspired by the drifting fall leaves!

The base color is Maybelline Coloroma Cocoa Motion, which is a purplish-reddish-brown shimmer. It wasn't impressive in the bottle, but on the nail, I almost didn't want to put anything over it. The formula was a little thin and wanted to run away, but it was opaque in two coats and looked great.

Over Cocoa Motion, I'm wearing Maybelline Coloroma Sonic Sunset. This polish has a very sheer orange base with flakes that shift colors from red and orange to yellow and green. The base is sheer enough that it didn't have a lot of impact on this dark base color. I've long had my eye on some of the harder to get and more expensive flakies, and while there are some of those I'd still love to get my hands on, for $0.33 this is a great substitute.

Crazy Nail Polish Lady Mani

The polishes in this post led to my first official Crazy Nail Polish Lady moment (this is a title usually held by one of my nail polish mentors). I was at the Dollar Tree, which had gotten in a whole bunch of these three packs of Maybelline Colorama polishes. I'm on a budget, so I haven't been buying polish lately, but at $0.33 each, I felt like I could splurge and get a few. To maximize each dollar, I was systematically looking at each package to make sure I got the colors I wanted and minimize duplicates. Another shopper stopped and looked at me for a couple of minutes. Thinking she wanted to look herself, I offered to step aside, since I might be a while. She replied, "I don't like those colors," and walked away. Clearly, what caught her interest was my lunacy.

I started with two coat of Maybelline Colorama Raspberry Sorbet, which is a bright fushia shimmer. I was pleasantly surprised with the application of this polish. The consistency was great and easy to control. It went on very smoothly and was basically opaque in two coats. There was some patchiness that appeared in bright sun, but I'm sure a third coat would have taken care of it. The downside was that it didn't wear very well. I took this picture less than 24 hours after putting the polish on, and you can already see some chips on my thumb.

On top of Raspberry Sorbet, I added two coats of Maybelline Colorama Pink Pinata, which has a very light pink base with multi-colored flakes.

 Unfortunately, there was no good sunlight when I was taking pictures, so it was hard to show off Pink Pinata. This picture shows a little of the flaky goodness, but it was much more pronounced in person. That said, I think a darker base color with more contrast would be a better partner for Pink Pinata.