Sinful Colors - Rise and Shine

Hi there!

I'm kind of bummed. I painted a lovely manicure, and as I was cleaning up around my cuticles- I completely smudged it! It wasn't just a small smudge that could easily be fixed by applying another coat of polish or by pressing down on the polish to even it back out... somehow, I managed to move the polish from my fingernail up onto my skin. Woopsies! So I'll show you what I have left...

My nails painted with Sinful Colors - Rise and Shine.

I painted 1 regular coat and 1 thick coat to achieve what's pictured. I added a thick coat because the brush in my particular bottle has some very coarse bristles and it left light marks on my nails with just a regular coat. It's a great color with pretty green glass flecks throughout.

I think that my smudging my nails was some type of a sign from the procrastination gods. I haven't been putting much effort into landscaping our backyard... so I suppose I'll get to work and I won't worry about fixing my nails until tomorrow morning.

Until next time...

Color Club - Pucci-licious

Hi there!

This polish is one of many great polishes from Color Club's Poptastic collection...


My nails painted with Color Club - Pucci-licious.


I painted 2 coats to achieve full opacity. The application was effortless, though the formula seemed to be quite a bit thicker than my other Color Club polishes from the same collection. I wore this today while laying a pathway in my backyard... and as I'm inspecting my fingernails right now, I don't see even the tiniest of dents. Pucci-licious wears well, and I'm pleased :-)

Until next time...

Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue

Hi there!

I am really enamored by this color...

My nails painted with Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue.

I painted 2 coats to achieve what's pictured. This polish is very interesting... in fact, I'm not sure I own another quite like it. The lighting seems to affect the color of Pacific Blue much more than any other. I captured the above picture in my backyard under a cloudy sky. My fingernails look bright blue. While eating dinner in my dining room, my fingernails looked periwinkle... and as I'm typing right now, they look royal blue on the verge of navy blue.

Do you own this one?

Until next time...

Orly - Samba

Hi there!

I wanted to play around with some of my polishes this afternoon, so I only painted one hand...

My nails painted with Orly - Samba.

I painted 2 coats to achieve what's pictured. There is some visible nail line, so I don't think I'll be painting a full manicure of this today... I'll save it for when I cut my fingernails super short again.

How do you feel about polishes that show your nail lines?

Until next time...

OPI - DS Original

Hi there!

This color is beautiful...

My nails painted with OPI - DS Original.

I painted 3 coats of Original for it to be completely opaque. While playing around with it, I painted a single coat over another polish and it looked just as great as it does by itself. I don't know that there's much else I can say about this polish that you can't already see from the picture. It's just gorgeous!

Do you own this one?

Until next time...

Vacation Pictures

Hi there!

My brother in-law, sister in-law, husband, and I decided we needed to take a family vacation. It was so much fun, and just what we all needed! We rented a place for a few days on Lake Coeur d'Alene, in Idaho. We were a bit of a drive from town, but I didn't mind being secluded when I got to see this every night...

We enjoyed great weather the entire time. I think the only time it was cloudy was when we went out on the boat and I took this picture...

So. Much. House. ...

This is part of our view driving from town to our rental...

We sure kept ourselves busy! We went golfing, swimming, exploring, boating, and bowling. My sister in-law and I spent one day shopping before we went to the spa and got massages... that was lovely! We weren't busy, busy, busy the entire time, though. We stayed in and had game/movie night a couple of nights.

On the way home, my hunny poo and I stopped at the Columbia River to stretch our legs...

And then this is all we saw for miles and miles and miles and miles...

I hope you enjoyed looking through my pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Until next time...

Vacation Haul

Hi there!

I kind of hit the nail polish jackpot while I was away! I think I might need to leave more often :-)


All from OPI, left to right: Paint My Moji-Toes Red,
Hot & Spicy, and La Paz-itively Hot.



All from OPI, left to right: Natural Nail Base Coat, Expert Touch
Lacquer Remover, Top Coat, Coconut Melon Avojuice.



3 sets of OPI Nice Stems Minis: Play the Peonies, Come to Poppy,
Be a Dahl-ia Won't You?, and I Lily Love You.



All from OPI, left to right: Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, Yoga-ta Get
this Blue!, Eiffel For This Color, and Bling Dynasty.



All from OPI, left to right: DS Original, I Juggle... Men, and
Paris Couture for Sure Glitter Top Coat.



All from OPI, left to right: Conquistadorable Color, No Spain
No Gain, Sparrow Me the Drama, and Done Out In Deco.



All from Orly, left to right: Two-Hour Lunch, Lola,
Mandalay Ruby, Samba, and Plum Noir.



All from Zoya, left to right: Charisma, Burke, Shivon, and
a mini Shay.



All from China Glaze, left to right: Laser Lime, Techno Teal,
Skyscraper, 2Nite, and LOL.


Now, I've got to decide which one I want to play with first! Decisions, decisions! Do you have any suggestions? I'll post some vacation pictures shortly!

Until next time...

How To: Make Your Holographic Polish Last

Hi there!

It's no secret that I love holographic nail polish! I've used many of the popular brands like Color Club, Nfu Oh, Nubar, and OPI in the past. I've yet to try any holographic polishes by China Glaze. Anyway, I had an itty bitty problem with Nfu Oh when I wore it... it chipped within 2 hours of application, even when I was extremely careful with my hands. From what I've heard and read, I'm not the only one who's experienced frustration with the durability of Nfu Oh polishes.

A while ago, I was playing around with one of the random nail hardener/strengtheners I had picked up at my local Dollar Tree and had never tried. I painted a coat of it, but I wanted color on my nails- so I used it as a base coat. My manicure lasted 15 days! Of course, I had some serious grow out- but I had ZERO tip wear and ZERO chipping! After my last experience with Nfu Oh, I knew I needed to try the hardener/strengthener again.

Early Monday afternoon, I painted this manicure...



My nails painted with Nfu Oh - 65.



I painted a single coat of L.A. Colors’ Hardener/Strengthener and 3 coats of Nfu Oh’s 65. The base coat made it so I needed 3 coats of 65- when, without it, I think I would have just needed 2 coats. I didn't use a top coat.

I planned on posting this blog post a couple days ago, but I didn’t foresee the lack of internet. This is what my manicure looked like on Friday evening...

My nails painted with Nfu Oh - 65.

Keep in mind, I had been wearing this polish for 4.5 days! Aside from my dry cuticles and some very minimal tip wear, it looks almost as if my manicure had been freshly painted… there are no chips, and no peeling. And, I haven’t been delicate with my hands at all!

It’s pretty amazing, if you ask me. Especially for the price! I know I could have worn this manicure for 1-3 more days, but we left on another miniature vacation and I couldn’t help but change it yesterday :-)

Here’s a picture of the base coat must-have...

I’ve used it only twice, but I’m pleasantly surprised at both outcomes. What do you think?

Until next time...

Nfu Oh - 65

Hi there!

I've had this polish for a while, and it had been sitting untried for too long...


My nails painted with Nfu Oh - 65.


A better shot of the holographic loveliness...


My nails painted with Nfu Oh - 65.


I painted this manicure when I got home from my anniversary getaway early Monday afternoon. I used a nail hardener/strenghtener as my base coat and then I painted 3 coats of 65 to achieve what's pictured.

I decided to try something with this polish that I've been contemplating for quite some time... that's why I didn't mention the brand of my base coat. I'm going to give my experiment one more day before I post about it, but I'm willing to bet you'll agree it's worth the wait :-)

Until next time...

My Anniversary

Hi there!

This weekend has been absolutely amazing! Between the company, the weather, and the views... I couldn't have hoped for more! Here are a few pictures from today...


My hunny poo's foot, my puppy's foot print, and my foot.
My toenails are painted with Color Club - Warhol.

This is right outside our condo...



Down the beach a few miles...

The sunset from our balcony...

A little lighthouse seen from our balcony...

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I enjoyed mine!

Until next time...

OPI - DS Extravagance

Hi there!

Today, I'm wearing a very pretty polish for a very special occasion...

My nails painted with OPI - DS Extravagance.

I painted 2 coats to make it opaque. This polish has pink-ish purple and holographic flecks throughout. The holographic flecks aren't as prominent as the pink-ish purple flecks, but they all sparkle like crazy in the sun. It's just gorgeous! And it's lovely in the shade, as well. Despite the flecks, Extravagance is very smooth.

I'm wearing this polish for my anniversary tomorrow :-) It matches the dress I have picked out for dinner perfectly! My hunny poo and I decided to go on a bit of a vacation, so I won't be changing my fingernails while gone. But, I might have time to post some pictures of our amazing views!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Until next time...

Splattered Fireworks

Hi there!

I forgot to post a picture of the manicure I did for the 4th of July. I had every intention of choosing one of the 7 ideas I had posted over the past week- but at the last minute, my neighbor's daughter ever-so-sweetly asked me to give her "firework nails." When I was finished, she asked me to make mine match. How could I say no?

Splatter manicure painted with Sinful Colors - What's Your Name.
Splattered with Color Club - Warhol, China Glaze - Kiwi Cool-Ada,
Sinful Colors - Summer Peach, and Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away!
Patriotic 4th of July manicure.

I painted 2 coats of What's Your Name for my base. It's a black polish with blue glassy flecks throughout. I wanted it to mimic the night's sky... and in the right lighting, I can really see it shimmer. I splattered my nails with halved regular drinking straws.

I used neons, so my manicure is much brighter in person than it appears in the picture. This is one of my horrible cell phone pictures, but I think it captures the colors more accurately...

This was my first time trying a splattered manicure. It was a lot of fun, and less time consuming than I thought it would be! It seems everywhere I go, someone either asks me to explain how I did it or they ask where they can buy nails like mine :-) I'll definitely be trying this again with different colors!

What do you think of this type of manicure? Have you tried it before?

Until next time...

Independence Day

Hi there!

I hope you all had a wonderful Monday, whether you celebrate Independence Day or not :-)

We went over to my in-law's house on the water to have dinner and watch fireworks. The view was beautiful, as always. A little to the left...

Space Needle.

A little to the right...


Mount Rainier.


I got some amazing video of the fireworks, but just one decent picture...

The show went on for at least 4 hours. Everywhere I looked along the shoreline was a different firework display to watch. Pretty!

By the time I thought to photograph my manicure, the lighting had dimmed- so I'll post a picture of it tomorrow.

Until next time...

Patriotic Week - Day 7

Hi there!

Today brings the conclusion of my patriotic manicure ideas...

My nails painted with China Glaze - Red Pearl and Frostbite.
Topped with Pure Ice - Oh Baby! Stamped with Bundle
Monster image plate BM20.
Patriotic 4th of July manicure.

I painted 2 coats of Red Pearl and Frostbite. Let me just say, Frostbite smells reeeally gross! But, it's pretty. I then stamped my ring fingernail with Konad's special white polish, using BM20. I used Oh Baby! as my top coat. It smeared the stamping- so if you try this idea, I suggest applying an actual top coat before using Oh Baby!

Check out my other patriotic manicure ideas:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6

I hope you've enjoyed my ideas over the past week- and if you choose to try one of them, I'd love to see a picture of it!

Until next time...

Patriotic Week - Day 6

Hi there!

I couldn't resist the urge to use these colors this week...

Red, white, and blue patriotic water marble. Sally Hansen - Whirlwind
White, China Glaze - Ruby Pumps, and China Glaze Dorothy Who?
Patriotic 4th of July manicure.

I don't think it turned out that great. The design is pretty, but the glitter just doesn't work. I tried a water marble design with Ruby Pumps as a base, as well as a design with Dorothy Who? as a base to see how that might change the look. They both turned out terribly.

If you're looking to try a water marble design and really want to use one of the colors I tried, I suggest choosing just one and using it as a base- then use solid creme colors to marble with... unless, of course, you want it to turn out like mine did :-)

Check out my other patriotic manicure ideas:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 7

Until next time...

Patriotic Week - Day 5

Hi there!

This manicure might be a little more time consuming than the other ones I've done...

My nails painted with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Whirlwind White and
China Glaze - Bermuda Breakaway. Stamped with Konad image plate M3.
Patriotic 4th of July manicure.

I painted 2 coats of Whirlwind White and then painted 1 thick coat of Bermuda Breakaway on my tips. Once dry, I stamped the stars with Konad's special white polish and applied the nail art tape. I topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite.

I think this would look fantastic as a full manicure or as an accent nail!

Check out my other patriotic manicure ideas:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 6
Day 7

Until next time...