S is for Star

Hiya!  Still feeling the blogger blues and my creative juices are almost on empty.  I'm never without polish on my nails, but most of my mani's never see the inside of my light box, sad I know, but they're just meh.  What are somethings you do to get out of a funk?  I'm afraid that not even the brightest of mani's is keeping me inspired - I actually thought to myself, this is too bright!!  WHO AM I?  Too bright?  Now you know I'm in a serious funk :)

I'm off to check out what my ladies have come up with for R, I know I'll be seeing some fabulous mani's, join me by clicking on the links below!

Holla, N

R is for Roses

Hi polished (and non-polished) friends!

Welcome to another installment of Kimber's Lacquer Korner ABC Challenge post, today is the letter R.  After, what I thought, was a pretty decent Q, I'm feeling less than enthusiastic about this mani.  Roses seem to be my go to lately and I really wanted to do something different.  I had a bit of a brain fart on Monday, I thought it was Tuesday and hadn't done my R mani on the weekend, so I was rushing to get it done and get the post up for Wednesday.  It was only after I had rushed and spent way more than an acceptable amount of time on this, that I realized, derp, it's Monday.  Hence the go to roses.

And wouldn't you know that I have two rose mani's in the vault (see I told you it was my go to).  They didn't turn out how I wanted, so I thought I would do something new and I'm not feeling it.  I should have just stuck with my vault mani's!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful week.  Join me in checking out my lovelies and their "R" mani's, I'm sure they are just as glad as I am to be past the dreaded letter Q - oh wait, we still have V, X, Y, Z......

Holla, N

Q is for Queen of Hearts

Hello all!  Welcome to my first and likely only post for the week!!  My goodness I am having the worst nail polish blogger block ever!  I took my polish off three times last night - so redonkulous.  I have only one more mani in the vault and I'm feeling the pressure!  The pressure doesn't come from you guys, it comes from myself - I must get 3 posts up a week - I can't believe I used to do this daily - crazy!

Anyhoodle, Q is the letter of the day and I choose something easy - Queen of Hearts.  I kinda wanted to give the quilted technique a try, but every mani I do lately seems to crash and burn, so I stuck with what I can do - nail art.

I can't remember if this was done before or after my break, I think it was before, but my poor little babies suffered a break, yes a small problem in the world full of problems, but at the time it mattered - a lot!  I was actually out with the hubby shopping and I made him take me home so I could fix my break - this was after the trip to Sally's by the way, so don't worry I still managed to buy polish.  He was making fun of me the rest of the night, but come on - my nails, my beautiful, long nails....... China Glaze was on 2 for $10 and then you got a free polish when you bought 2 so I got another - must have all the polish!!!

Hope all you lovelies are having a fabulous week, be sure to join me in checking out my fellow challengers by clicking on the links below!!

Holla, N

Cut it Out!

Happy Friday!!  Who remembers Full House??  Who cried when Michelle gave Jessie the pink bunny rabbit wallpaper from his room??  ME!

Today, I have another vaulted ABC Challenge mani.  This one is inspired by Lexi Martone who I follow on Instagram, but does have a blog called Finger Painted.  This girl is AMAZABALLS, yes she is that good she gets ALL CAPS!  I can't find the inspiration mani on her blog, but it is on Instagram, fingers crossed that when you click on this link, you'll see what I see!

I'm not all that keen on how this turned out.  The base color was way more pink before I covered it up and the pinky is horrendous.  Oh well, I'm a HUGE fan of Lexi and I have another inspired mani that will make an appearance on Peace, Love and Polish soon!!

Holla, N

P is for Purple and Patterned

Hiya polished friends!

Welcome to "P" day - lol, and of course I giggled because I'm a 10 year old boy in real life!!  Do we seriously only have 10 more letters left for Kimber's Lacquer Korner's ABC Challenge?  WOWza time flies by, hey?  What's our next challenge?  The New 31 Day Challenge??  All in favor?

Originally I was going to do a mani inspired by Heather over at Peace, Love and Polish, but it didn't turn out as I had hoped - I may or may not show it, we'll see.....Doesn't it suck when you have the best idea and it doesn't turn out!!  GRRRR....

Anyhoodle, I went on a bit of a polish binge this weekend and bought 22 polishes - eeks!!  I went to my local Shopper's Drug Mart and found NOPI's for $3.99, I grabbed a couple of those and a pink Essie for $1.99 - there was 3 - I bought them all...I don't feel guilty.  Plus our Walmart's finally got Salon Perfect and Pure ICE, so I stocked up - I actually went to two Walmarts to find what I needed - which was a lot apparently.

I used new plates that I got a while ago and haven't really used until now.  I bought the 2012 Cheeky Plates, you get 3 XL Jumbo plates for 14.99.  I mistakenly thought Jumbo meant they would fit on my nails, but see that purple moon there, ya that wasn't my intention - the plates don't fit my extremely long nails(okay, they aren't extremely long, but they're long for me!!).  I still love how they turned out so, yay for new nail stuff!!

Some of you asked which color I used for my O is for Oscar De La Renta Inspired mani and I don't want to disappoint so here's what I used:  Two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow (thanks Gini) and then two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunny Side.  Sunny Side is super sheer and I couldn't get coverage even with multiple coats, so I used both.

Be sure to join me in checking out my fellow challengers and their "P" mani - giggle!!

Holla, N

Better Late Than Never

Hello friends, so much for my Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting hey?  Oh well, at least I'm getting some stuff up!!!

So as you may or may not know I'm currently doing the ABC challenge hosted by the lovely Kimber over at Kimber's Lacquer Korner and I often come up with ideas and execute them fine, but then come up with another idea or as in this case remember that I'm supposed to be posting purple mani's for my boo Becca over at Nail Narcotics.  This was originally done for "L" day and is inspired by the lovely Lacey over at Lace and Lacquers.  I'm not sure if you've heard of Lacey or are following her on Instagram, but this girls cracks me up - she's got THE BEST potty mouth and doesn't give a damn who hears/reads.  Her puppy is super cute and she always has great reviews on all kind of products!  So if you're not following her, go now, I promise you won't be disappointed.

To see the mani that inspired this look, click here.  I have no idea how Lacey had the patience to do all of her fingers, after the first one I tapped out, there's no way I was doing all of them!!

Can you tell these are from the vault?  Ya, they're much shorter than my nails are now - love it!!

Also, a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Heather over at Peace, Love and Polish who had her baby today - a boy named Connor - he's a real cutey!!  Keep an eye on Heather's blog for guest bloggers while she gets settled with Connor, you might even see one from me - hint hint!!

That's all for now, have a good one!

Holla N

Stamping Princess Part Duex

Happy Friday my lovely readers!!  I hope you're week went by without a hitch and that you're ready for the weekend!  Today I have a review of Born Pretty Store stamping plate, the one I used for my artsy 3-D nails, seen here.  I picked this stamping plate for the image I'm showing you in this post.  I love the shape and the swirly prettiness.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

First up, I would again, like to apologize to Daisy from the Born Pretty Store, for the lateness of this review. I did receive this product quite some time ago and am now just getting to reviewing it.  As always with the Born Pretty Store, I'm so impressed with their shipping, not only is it free, but it gets here incredibly fast considering it's coming from so far away.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

For this mani, I used the Born Pretty Store black stamping polish that can be purchased individually or as a set of 5, which is the one I got.  The set includes red, yellow, blue, black and white and retails for $6.93 (or you can get them individually for $2.05).  The stamping plate (plate number QA48) is one of the Born Pretty Store's own creations, as I said above, I choose this plate for the image I used here, but I do really love the Snow White image that also is included on this plate - both a larger version and a smaller one as seen below.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else. 

Born Pretty Store covers their plates in blue plastic film, so there's no way you'll forget to take it off.  The plate itself is a little sharp around the edges, so I recommend handling it carefully.  As for the designs themselves, they're well engraved and sized appropriately.  I didn't have any problems picking up the image on my trusty stamper and as you can see, I'm not the best at lining the stamps up but the image is abstract enough that it doesn't really matter.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

If you're interested in picking up this plate, you can purchase them here or search the Born Pretty Store for item ID:  4861.  The great thing about Born Pretty Store stamping plates are, that they are reasonably priced, this one retails for $2.99 and there's also great selection.  Want to get this for yourself, here's a coupon code for 10% off your order - bonus!!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

Holla, N

O is for Oscar de la Renta Inspired

Hiya!  Wednesday at last - only one more day of work this week and then three days off.  Today's post is another installment of Kimber's Lacquer Korner's ABC Challenge and the letter "O."  This was a toughie for me, I have Orly polish, but nothing bright and fun, so off to trusty ol' google for inspiration.

I found this gorgeous dress by Oscar de la Renta, I love how bright it is and the pattern is so bold, I had to put it on my nails!  I couldn't find out much info about the actual dress, what collection etc., but that wasn't going to stop me!!

Join me in checking out what my fellow challengers have come up with for today's post!

Holla, N

Purple Up!

Happy Monday friends!!  I recently met a lovely lady named Shelly of Sassy Shelly and she put out the call for purple mani's in support of military kids as April is the month of the military child.  I'm never one to pass up the opportunity to support my girls, so I had to have something purple for today.

This is inspired by One Nail to Rule Them All's Inspired by Fashion nails which according to Alice's Instagram is her number one stolen photo!!  Instead of the beautiful neon yellow she used, I had to use my beautiful neon purple to fit with today's special day!!

My momma is a military kid and so is my hubby, so I'm glad I can connect with this cause.  My hubby actually lived in the military housing right around the corner from where my mom lived when she was a kid - talk about small world, hey?

I'm off to see what everyone has come up with for Purple Up!  Join me, by clicking on the links below!!

Holla, N

N is for Nautically Neon

Hi all,  welcome to another installment of the ABC challenged hosted by the lovely Kimber's Lacquer Korner.  It's so funny that I was struggling a bit to come up with something I could do for the letter "N", not even cluing in that my favorite color of right now NEON starts with an N - derp.  Without further ado, here's my nautically neon mani - enjoy!

Join me in checking out the other lovelies and their N mani's - maybe I'll see some narwhals?

Holla, N

Stamping Princess

Happy Monday all!  Today, I have a long overdue review of Born Pretty Store stamping polishes I received.  I want to apologize to Daisy from the Born Pretty Store for the lateness of this review, I'm feeling really bad for letting this sit for so long.  I have a bit of the blogger blues, while I love to paint my nails, I find having something interesting to say hard to do.  I'm not ready to give it up yet, maybe I'll do a giveaway or something to get out there more - hmmmm.

Back to the purpose of this post.  I received some Born Pretty Store stamping polishes a while back, as I've said before, I'm pretty impressed with the shipping from BPS, it's free and gets here quickly, something we nail mail lovers appreciate!  The stamping polishes can be purchased individually or as a set of 5, which is the one I got.  The set includes red, yellow, blue, black and white and retails for $6.93 (or you can get them individually for $2.05).  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I realize that's a little messy and it didn't really turn out how I wanted, but I wanted to show you how the stamping polish shows up on a variety of different backgrounds.  My least favorite of the bunch was the yellow, it worked okay on white, but on the other colors you couldn't see it very well - you can see a little poking out on the blue and you can see it wasn't very opaque.  The red and blue fared better, the blue was opaque enough but the consistency was thinner than the red, white and black.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I like the white and black the best, the consistency is thick and goes on great.  I will show you the black stamping polish in an upcoming review.  I'm not the best stamper in the world as you can see, but after doing this I really loved how my pointer finger turned out so I decided to try something a little different.  Whip out your 3-D glasses and check this out.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I really love how this turned out and it totally came out as I envisioned it.  Anyone with 3-D glasses out there?  Can you tell me if it actually works??

If you're interested in picking up some of these polishes, you can purchase them here or search the Born Pretty Store for item ID:  1323.  Here's a coupon code for 10% off your order - bonus!!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

One last shot of my snow white 3-D nails!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

Holla, N

M is for M•A•S•H Nail Art Pens Review

Hiya friends!  Today, another M•A•S•H product to review for you - M•A•S•H nail art pens!  I'm so glad I saved this for the ABC Challenge M day, I've been pretty uninspired lately so this is perfect!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I have to admit, I was having a hard time coming up with something to do with the M•A•S•H nail art pens.  I did use the black for my Jewsie Nails inspired mani, but I really wanted to do something a little more detailed to test out these bad boys.

I love doing fiddly little (as in small) art and painting my nails fills that love.  But, I'm also super duper anal and I need things to be perfect, lines straight, same width, everything must be perfect!  I found these pens a little hard to get things perfect, which was a bit of a bummer.  They are great for abstract shapes, like leopard print, especially because with leopard you can get away with making dots with the pen instead of straight lines.  It took a little bit to get these babies flowing - you have to shake it up super duper hard and have a little bit of patience (something I lack).  If you do pick up one of these, I must warn you about one thing - please, please, shake the pen with the lid ON - not off, like I did!!  Luckily, like the other polish pen I own, this stuff came off my skin with no problems - a major plus with a face full of polish!

The color I had the most trouble with, was the silver - I almost threw it out the dang window because I couldn't get it to work for the life of me.  Could it be a faulty pen?  Possibly.  Could it be user error?  Maybe.  My favorite by far, was the pink - the beautiful salmony pink, which of course couldn't be captured by my camera, is so so pretty and it was also the pen that worked the best for me.  It had an even flow but you did have to go over the lines a bit to get the color opaque, but it was definitely my favorite of the bunch! If you are a beginner with nail art, I think these would work for you, especially if you`re not anal like me!  If you like to have a little more control over the nail art you do, I would stick with a paint brush - by the way my best set of brushes happen to have come from M•A•S•H - there`s a really good short thin brush that`s perfect for nail art.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I also used my M•A•S•H matte top coat to mattify these babies, you can find my review of that here.  Ooo and I just checked it`s still on sale for $3.99 down from $7.99 - good deal peeps!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

You can purchase the pens individually for $5.99 or save a little moola and get 25% off a set of 6 available on the M•A•S•H website www.mashnails.com!

Want to be apart of the M•A•S•H community, follow them by clicking the links below!

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Join me in checking out my buddies and what they've come up with for M day - I`m hoping to see some Manatees!!

Also, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the lovely Lariesa over at Me, Myself and Polish, not only is she super duper talented, but she`s also the biggest sweetheart!  Happy Birthday Lariesa, wishing you a year full of love, laughter and a poop load of nail polish!!

Holla, N

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L is for Leopard Love

Hiya, did you think I would choose anything other than leopard?  My favorite pattern of all time that I originally called Cheetah but was corrected by an animal enthusiast after I had posted tons of Cheetah labelled posts - derp!

I just want to shout out to all of my fellow challengers, you guys seriously are the best group of women ever!!  I love seeing how we've all come together over a mutual love of polish and art and can support each other even through the hardest of times.  I appreciate you all and I'm so happy to have met you!!  Can you tell I'm feeling mushy today?  I just got my St. Paddy's Day polish package from the lovely Racquel from Sunshine Nails and I'm so thankful that so many of you were down with an exchange and I can't wait to do our next one!  Thank you so so so much Raquel, you did good!!!

And of course my leopard love is done in purple to support my pal Becca over at Nail Narcotics! in bringing awareness to Epilepsy, which if you don't know, she suffers from.  If you haven't had a chance to check out her posts during the month of March, I highly suggest you do, she's shared some great info as well as personal stories that makes me wish I could reach through the internet and give her a big ol' hug!

Holy sappy post batman!!  I'm off to check out my fellow challengers and all the lovely leopard I'm sure to see!

Holla, N

M•A•S•H Matte Review

Happy Monday polished friends!!  Today, I have another M•A•S•H product to review for you - Matte Top Coat.  If ya'll know me, you know I'm a sucker for anything mattified, so I was super excited to open my M•A•S•H package and find a bottle of Matte Top Coat.  I swear, I've been using this stuff on every mani I've done since I've gotten it - I love the Matte.

I've been wanting to try water painted nails for a while now and I'm so glad I finally did.  I really love how these turned out and I love it even more mattified!  The main difference I noticed about the M•A•S•H matte top coat was the dry time - with my NYC matte top coat, it seems I wait longer for it to dry and that leads to dents and marks.  I didn't get that with this, I even crocheted right after applying and there was no dents, no marks, no nothing - I was pretty impressed.  Another issue with my cheapy NYC matte top coat is that it gets super thick and icky half way through the bottle, so far so good with this stuff and I've used it alot - not half way, but alot and no thickness and ickiness - major score!

You can purchase this stamping polish and other M•A•S•H nail products on their website www.mashnails.com, the Matte Top Coat retails for $7.99!

Want to be apart of the M•A•S•H community, follow them by clicking the links below!

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Holla, N

K is for Kate Spade Inspired

Hello!!  Another day, another dollar, so happy the week is almost over - only two more days to go - I can do it!

Today's prompt for Kimber's Lacquer Korner ABC challenge is "K"!  and is inspired by this lovely bag by Kate Spade - Grove Court Michelle, I of course love the neonish yellow and nude but the inside is what I love - Grove Court Michelle Inside.  Instead of neon yellow, I used neon purple for ma grl Becca over at Nail Narcotics! who for the month of March is doing a thumb mani in purple to bring awareness to Epilepsy.  She's shared some pretty personal stuff and because I mostly see her funny, sarcastic, witty side, seeing her soft mushy insides is so enduring  - that sounded gross, but you know what I mean, right?

I'm off to check out what my lovely ABCers have come up with for "K", maybe some kangaroos?  Join me by clicking the links below!

Holla,

M•A•S•H Stamped Review

Happy Monday, polished friends!!  Today I have the first of a couple of reviews of M•A•S•H products I've received.

First up is the M•A•S•H Nail Art Polish for Stamping in White.  I'm always on the look out for great stamping polish, I know you can use regular polish, but I always seem to get crap results.  I'm way too cheap for the stamping polish of the well known brand, that I won't mention, but starts with a K, so finding another alternative, is a major score for me!  I have heard a lot about M•A•S•H since my foray into the nail blogging world, but I always thought they just did stamping plates.  I'm pleased to see that they offer so much more than that, from stamping polish, nail stickers, accessories and rhinestones.

I wanted to do something delicate and pretty and really loved my white on white polka dots I did when I first started this whole blogging thing. I wish I could say that I used a M•A•S•H stamping plate, but I don't own any....I know it seems weird that I'm reviewing a M•A•S•H stamping polish with un-M•A•S•H plates, but such is life - plus, the important bit is the polish!!  First off, it comes in a 15mL bottle, the only "stamping" polish I own, comes in a little itty bitty bottle that doesn't last long and gunks up super fast, so a bigger bottle is a total score.  Secondly, this stuff didn't dry super duper fast, once you pull your scraper over the image, and you happen to drop your stamper on the floor (like I always manage to do), you actually have a second to pick it up and still get a clear image onto your nail.

Because the formula is a little thinner than my other stamping polish, I wanted to test it on a darker background.  My nails were already nicely done, so I pulled out my tax package and stamped on the pretty green cover!  There are some bare spots, but I attribute that to my poor stamping skills, rather than the product.

You can purchase this stamping polish and other M•A•S•H nail products on their website www.mashnails.com, the stamping polish retails for $5.99 a bottle, which I think is a pretty good deal for a 15mL bottle!

Want to be apart of the M•A•S•H community, follow them by clicking the links below!

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Holla, N

J is for Jewsie Nails Inspired

Happy Hump Day!!

Welcome to "J" day - the next installment of Kimber's Lacquer Korner's ABC Challenge.  It was tough coming up with something to fit the "J" challenge - I even had to google search words that start with a "J".  I didn't know how to interpret juggle or juicy on my nails and I guess I could have done a jelly sandwich, but I don't have any jelly polish.  So, I decided to do another instagram inspired mani, by another of my fave instagram girls - @jewsienails!!  Jessie of Jewsie Nails is super duper creative and always comes up with the prettiest mani's!!  I decided to create a look inspired by this, I love how girly it is and I never thought to do leopard with a skull and hearts!!  If you aren't on instagram, Jessie has a facebook page, click here to check it out, I promise you won't be disappointed!!  I can't figure out how to link an instagram page, but if you're on instagram, just search @jewsienails!

Today is also purple day to support Becca over at Nail Narcotics in bringing awareness to Epilepsy.  As promised, I'm doing a purple mani every Wednesday - I love the challenge of making purple fit in with my ABC challenge mani!!  Last week Becca shared some facts about Canine Epilepsy, check out this post for more info.  Becca's also sharing any and all purple mani's this month, if you have one to share, check out her blog for contact info.

I'm off to check out my buddies and their "J" mani's, join me by clicking the links below!!

Holla, N

Polish Days - Vintage Roses

Hello friends!

I haven't done a Polish Days in what seems like forever, I'm glad to get back on the bandwagon!!  For those of you who don't know what Polish Days is, head on over to Polly Polish for more info and to get on the mailing list!!  This month's theme is Vintage and I love me some vintage roses!!

I did this mani a week or so ago, and I loved it so much!!  The Essence "Exits on your Right" from the Ready for Boarding collection is the perfect minty green and what goes best with minty green?  Vintage roses in pink!!  I wish I took more photos of this mani, but I'm happy I managed to get one!

Have a wonderful day and join me in checking out the other lovely "vintage"mani's created for Polish Days, by clicking the links below!

Holla, N