Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly Meets A Lunar Eclipse

Hello polished prisoners,

Today I've got some pretty to share - some Pretty & Polished that is!  I've had this swatch in my head forever - the deliciousness of Orly's Lunar Eclipse combined with all the luscious glitter in P&P's Hello Dolly.  Eventually, I couldn't resist the sweet allure any longer and had to make it happen, but of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't add a little spice to the mix (smiles). By now I think it's clear that I am not really a "swatching" kinda girl. I do enjoy them, but like M Night Shyamalan I love a good twist!

Hello dollies! Single coat pictured over first three digits and then sparingly dabbed over the water marbles.

Mani-louge

Thumb & Index Finger: Orly's Lunar Eclipse and Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly

Middle Finger: Essie's Jamaican Me Crazy and Orly Lunar Eclipse + Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly

Ring and Pinkie: Water marble using Essie's Jamaican Me Crazy, Color Club Puccilicious & Almost Famous with Pretty & Polished Hello Dolly lightly dabbed on.

As you can see I have a lot of techniques going on in this manicure.  This often happens when I'm randomly "creating" a mani with no idea or no focal point in my mind.  Even though I knew I wanted the P&P/Orly swatch the rest was just whatever I thought might be fun. 

I love that even in the shade/indirect light you can still see the inner fire of Hello Dolly.

 Shall I also tell you another secret? This was my first attempt at a water marble! I'd been dying to do one for ages, but never got around to it until just now.  The execution definitely was imperfect, but I think it came out okay for a first time attempt.  Clearly, I'm no Colette of My Simple Little Pleasures - she is amazeballs!  The hardest part was finding polishes that would spread out in the water and then creating a clear pattern.  Do you have any recommendations brand/polish-wise to make things easier?

I still need a lot more practice until my water marbles are "clean" but I still love the overall effect.

So what do you ladies think of the results? There are so many things I haven't tried yet on my nails I'm so excited and I can't wait to share.  I wonder what other techniques you ladies are interested in seeing or trying yourselves?  Please do let me know and thanks for reading! Toodles...

Oh You Sweet Tart!

Hiya lacquer ladies,

I've got a sweet treat lined up today for you today! So sugary you might get cavities so schedule your dental exams in advance.  I decided to do something cutesy and went for hearts, lavender and all things tart.  Sometimes a girl just wanted to feel well girly and this is my manicure equivalent to a tub of Ben & Jerry's (wink wink).

This is just so cute!

I painted my thumb, index, and ring fingers with Essie's To Buy or Not to Buy as a base color.  I love TBONTB.  It's an adorable creme lavender without any true blue undertones with a subtle amount of blue and purple microshimmer.  Yum!  I did a simple freehand crosshatch on top and then painted  hearts in pink acrylic paint and finally applied clear rhinestones.

I was able to capture the true color of my nails on this shot. Cute right?

My accent nails are painted with Pretty & Polished Tart.  Tart is DENSE! It's a lavender polish chalk full of large and small hexes of pink, blue, red, white, and gold.  It also has a deep purple microshimmer as well.  I used three coats here for opacity.  The formula on this was a dream to apply despite the density.  So dreamy in fact that I need to get a back up to make sure I have more of this to satisfy my constant sweet tooth.  I also decided to try a matte top coat on just for fun!

Look at the intensity of the sparkle in Tart after the matte topcoat! It's even prettier matte than shiny. Check out the hot pink hexagons!

So what do you ladies think? I hope you like it because I had so much fun putting this little look together! I can't wait to try more of my P&P polishes.  If you're interested in Tart or finding any other lovely polishes by the very talented Chelsea check her out her on Etsy or check out her blog. She has some amazing polishes and excellent customer service.  I've ordered from her twice now and it has always been pleasant with lightening speed shipping.

Song Currently Stuck In My Head: My Man (Single) by Billie Holiday. "It cost me lot but there's one thing I got it's my man."  Goodness I love this song!  Old and sultry.  A bad man, a good woman, and driven love.  This type of song is great for smokey Saturday mornings, jumbo, and hard lemonade in the heat.  Anyhoo thanks for reading and see you next post!