E is for Essie

Happy Hump Day polished peeps!

Welcome to "E" day - so happy it was an easy choice and I didn't have to scramble through my stash to find a polish that starts with an "E"!  I'm not very happy with how this turned out - the color is awful on me (Essie's Go Overboard) and I had some smudging when I put on Essie's as Gold as it Gets.  I hate when polishes look so pretty in the bottle and look horrible on!  I think I've come to the conclusion that dark polishes don't suit me very well.  We all know I love me some neon, which I'm pretty sure impacts the decision that dark colors are so not me.

Anyone want to trade this for the brightest neon in your stash?!?  Yes?  No?  Well you decide, I'm off to check out the other lovelies doing this challenge, I'm hoping to see some elephants!!

Holla, N

Nicole's Nubbins

Happy 2013 polished peeps!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a fabulous New Years!  I've had a very relaxing two weeks off, it's officially over today - sad face.  Back to earning a living - ugh.

I've been having so much trouble growing my nails lately, I've considered changing the name of my blog to Nicole's Nubbins - full disclosure and all that!!  After taking off this mani, I had a break of my already short nails, so I had to chop them all off again - argh, so frustrating  especially after having such a successful summer of long beautiful nails!  I've even considered getting acrylics, but I want my natural nails to be healthy, and acrylics tend to do a number on your natural nails, so I'm staying away from those for now.  I want stiletto nails so badly, I love the look, but it's not happening here anytime soon!

I'm on a roll with trying to improve my stamping skills, plus I've been having major challenge withdrawals, so I haven't been all that inspired to do major nail art.  If you know of any challenges, let me know, I'm so down for the get down.  Kimber from Kimber's Lacquer Corner is hosting the ABC challenge shortly and I'll be doing that, but it's only a once a week deal and I'm committing to posting Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so I need to fill up two more days!

Have a wonderful Monday!!

Holla, N

Golden Nude

Happy Monday polished friends!

I can't believe Christmas is only a little over a week away! I'm so unprepared this year - we've picked up a couple of gifts, but we have so much more to do and next weekend will be a total write-off.  I have two potlucks to go to and cooking in my house is always an ordeal - at least both dishes I'm making are fairly foolproof, so I should have no issues - fingers crossed!

I've been seeing gold and nude everywhere lately and I love love love it.  I wish I had done this as a gradient, the gold glitter is a little overpowering in my opinion, but I'm still pretty happy with how this turned out.  I ended up adding a matte top coat and my friend at work asked "what's wrong with your nails?"  Not something a nail blogger wants to hear about their mani - I make myself feel better by thinking she doesn't know anything about style - lol!!

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Main Color:  Becca, recognize the color?  Why yes, it is my Essie Yogaga - soooo pretty!!!

I used the saran wrap method with Sally Hansen's Golden I and then layered the best gold glitter from Sally's over top.

Top Coat:  NYC - Matte Me Crazy

Holla, N

Saran Train

Hiya!!  It feels very strange not to have a challenge post going up every day like I did for the last couple of weeks, now I actually have to think of some interesting mani's!!  Maybe I should make my own challenge....hmmmm.....

I've been reluctant to get on the saran wrap mani train, I wasn't really digging how it looked, it reminded me of those rag walls that were all the rage back in the day - not a fan.  I went to Wally World the other day and bought some new coral-y polish and once I had it on, it looked like it needed something more.  I tried some nail art in silver and it didn't really work, so decided to try the saran wrap method with some gold instead.  I couldn't find any saran wrap in my mess of a kitchen so used a plastic bag instead (which works just as well, if you ask me!!).  Some of you know I love when glitter, or any mani really, is mattified - I haven't seen any mattified saran wrap mani's so was excited to try it out!!  I don't know if I captured how pretty this turned out - I literally could not stop looking at my nails!!  What do you think??

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Main Color:  Wet n Wild - Dreamy Poppy

Accents:  Sally Hansen - Golden-I

Top Coat:  NYC - Matte Me Crazy

Holla, N

Makin' the Grade-ient!

Hiya Polish Peeps!!  Today is gradient day for the 31 Day Challenge....  I have to be honest, I suck at gradients.  I swear, I've tried every method and can't seem to "get" any of them.  I ended up doing this twice,  my first attempt was a MAJOR disasticure, I tried to make it better and ended up making it worse.  Up first, is the one I ended up liking....

Feast your eyes on these puppies....

I should have left well enough alone and not added the polka dots, but then I decided to add more polka dots - total FAIL!

Base Color:  Color Club - No Name

Gradient:  L'oreal - Club Prive

I used BM stamp for the gold and used Sally Hansen - Golden-I

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

For the disasticure, I used the same color club for the main color and dots and used Wet n Wild - Violet Creme for the gradient.

Don't forget to check out the other lovelies doing the 31 Day Challenge by clicking on the links below!!

Holla, N

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
 -Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish
-Robin Sparkles 

Metallic-AH

Hiya Polished Peeps!  Metallic day for the 31 Day Challenge!!

I'm not really sure what constitutes as a metallic polish, so I stuck with the obvious -  gold.  I bought this recently and hadn't tried yet - I think it was my only untried.  I have to say, while metallic polish looks cool, it's so unforgiving!!  It's like a tight spandex dress, it shows EVERYTHING!  Your strokes have to be perfect, there's no room for error - ain't no seche vite going to help hide the imperfections!!

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Main Color:  Sally Hansen - Golden-I

Triangles:  Essie - Licorice

I used gold studs from Kiss

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Holla, N

Check check check out the other lovely polished peeps doing the 31 Day Challenge by clicking on the links below!  Check back Thursday for RAINBOW!!  Oooo, I'm super excited for that one :)

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
 -Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish
-Robin Sparkles 

Favorite Glitter?

Hiya Lovelies!  I'm a day late posting for Ooh La La's My Favorite Things Challenge and I'm super duper sorry.  I'm up to my eyeballs in challenges - which couldn't be more fun - but it has thrown off some of my posts for September.

I can't believe that we're on Day 7 of this challenge already!  How time flies!!  We only have three more days left and I'm a little bummed it's almost over.  Today is GLITTER!!  I love glitter, despite the fact that it sucks to take off. I ended up not leaving this on for very long, so it wasn't that hard to get off.  I also love the look of matte glitter, I took a chance on this and mattified it, I liked it, but wish the camera could pick up the blue-y, teal-y goodness that was the glitter I used....

This one is the most true to the color it was on my nails and it shows the matte as well....

Here's my first attempt at this mani - I actually like it better and wish I had used this one instead....oh well, sharing now :)

Main Color:  Essie - Licorice

Glitter:  Essence - Choose Me and Sally Girls - No Name Gold Glitter

Top Coat:  NYC - Matte Me Crazy

Please show the ladies doing this challenge some love by clicking on the links below!  I will be posting for this challenge again tomorrow - come back for Hearts and/or Love!!

Holla, N

Black as Night

Hiya!  I'm back after a couple of days camping.  It's so good to be home!!  I love camping and we had a great time, I just really love my bed, internet and tv.  There was the craziest storm yesterday, the thunder and lightening and the 10 minute down pour.  It was so LOUD and the rain was intense.  It was a little scary and I'm surprised the 3 year old that was with us didn't freak out!!  Tough little bugger :)

Here's the mani I wore camping.  I love the gold glitter over bright colors I used for Olympic Fever - Part Deux, so I decided to do both hands all one color.  If I was to do this again, I would only use one coat of the glitter, I think two coats made it less sky like and more glitter like, if that makes any sense....

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Main Color:  Essie - Licorice

Top Coat:  No Name Gold Glitter from Sally's and Seche Vite

Holla, N

Olympic Fever - Part Deux

Hiya!  I'm officially on vacation for 10 days and because I don't need to see people every day, I don't normally do my nails.  But because I'm super paranoid they are going to break with no polish, I've done my nails as usual.  Today's mani is the second part to yesterday's mani, 2012 Summer Olympic Fever.

I've often wondered if nail artists that do super complex nail art on their non-dominant hand, skip their other hand.  I've done this a couple of times, especially my munchkin nail art, there is no way I would have been able to get that detail on my right hand! Or I end up doing something easier on my right hand, but that matches my left.  Yesterday's mani wasn't overly complex, but I'm a little anal and like things perfect and I know it would have been difficult to get yesterday's design on my right hand.  So here's what I came up with for my right hand, super simple, but I love this no name gold glitter I got from Sally's - the ones in those super tiny bottles.  I only picked this up because I thought I would use it for yesterday's mani, but ended up not using it, but I really love it over bright colors!

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Main Colors from Thumb to Pinky:  China Glaze - Man Hunt, Wet n Wild - Black Creme, Sally Hansen Extreme Wear - Cherry Red, Sally Hansen Extreme Wear - Mellow Yellow, China Glaze - Four Leaf 

Clover

Top Coat: Sally Girl Gold Glitters and Seche Vite

Holla, N

2012 Summer Olympic Fever

I love the summer Olympics!  My favorite thing to watch, which I've managed to miss all of, is gymnastics.  My favorite thing to say after they've completed a particularly amazing routine is "I can do that."  Obviously, I can't but I'm waiting for someone to say "You can?"  I love how proud the athletes are to represent their country, even if they lose.  It also warms my heart to see the parade of athletes in the opening ceremony, especially the countries that have only a handful of athletes.  Can you imagine how amazing that would be to have your whole country know who you are and be rooting for you!

I've done two Olympic themed mani's this week and will be sharing the other for Polish Days (August 7th).  My inspiration for these nails was the outfits worn by Great Britain at the opening ceremonies.  Despite the flack, I loved their outfits, they were so flashy and you can't go wrong with white and gold.

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder
Main Color:  Barielle - Going to the Chapel
Gold Accents:  Savvy Femme Couture - Gold
Olympic Rings:  China Glaze - Man Hunt, Wet n Wild - Black Creme, Sally Hansen Extreme Wear - Cherry Red, Sally Hansen Extreme Wear - Mellow Yellow, China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover

Holla, N

Lilac Haze

I wish this picture could do the SH Gem Crush in Big Money justice.  It has the prettiest lilac glitters immersed in the goldy glittery goodness and it goes perfectly with this purple.  I just wish it registered better...  You can see the lilac a little better in the swatches done by Nail and Noms and the others out there in nail polish land, but really, I haven't seen a picture that truly shows how cute this polish is.


And good news!  This was my one and only mani tonight!!  Lately, I've been trying something and taking it off and then trying something else, sometimes doing at least 3 manis in one night!!  It feels good to like my first attempt, gives me more time to troll the other great blogs out there!!

Base coat:  Orly - Bonder

Main Color:  Wet n Wild - Bite the Bullet

Gradient:  Revlon - Creme Brulee and SH Gem Crush - Big Money

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Holla, N

Cheetah Bomb

Doesn't that sound like "she's the bomb?"  I love love love today's mani, I love the brown with flecks of gold and I'm so into Cheetah print right now.  Mostly because I can actually do this on my nails, but also because I've been watching endless episodes of Jerseylicious lately and love how everything and everyone is covered, usually head to toe, in Cheetah print.  Why can't Tracy and Olivia just get along?!

Base Coat:  Orly - Bonder

Dark Color and Cheetah Dots:  China Glaze - Ingrid

Light Accent:  Revelon - Creme Brulee

Black Accent:  Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen - Black

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

Holla, N