Simples: Scattered Fall Foiled Abstract Nail Art

Hey stamperistas,

  Press Sample

Purchased by Me

How is everyone?  It was a quiet weekend!  I was in a lot of pain thanks to the hurricane that is battering the east coast currently.  The rain makes my legs & chest ache in ways that make it difficult for me to do more than cower in bed with ice and NSAIDs unfortunately.  However I did have time to create a few cute looks that were more fall inspired.  Generally I love the fall.  For me fall means it's time for rich golds and bold color choices.  There's so much I want to do but I know I don't have the stamina to do everything so I decided I'm definitely going to be sharing more of my nail art but not necessarily creating tutorials for everything I create.  This is something I talked about a few posts back especially for the more simple nail art I create unless its requested.  This nail art came about because I really wanted to break out my rich gold polishes that were shimmering as well as some of my Orly Satin Hues.

Rasberries, Greeens, & Golds Magnetic Floral Nail Art + Tutorial

Hey lacqueristas

Press Sample

Purchased by Me

Ugh I held out against more magnetics for a while.  If you follow me on IG you may have seen this one - which was gorgeous!  Truthfully when I use the US ones it just makes me crave the Masura ones so much more horribly.  Their color range is stunning and frankly there are more polishes from their line than any other.  Not saying that I wouldn't also kill for the Golden Eyes from Dance Legend,  but basically nothing trumps Masura.  Nonetheless I had to had to do this.  I was playing around after one of my prior mani's popped off and then I created this magic.  Suddenly I had to do a full blown mani and of course I had to share ;)  Let me know if you'd like to see more magnetic mani's in the future or the different techniques too!

Born Pretty Store Floral Water Decal Nail Art & Review

Hey stamp champs,

I have some cute nail art for you today!  When Born Pretty Store approached me about reviewing a few of their products I was so flattered.  You all know I'm a huge fan of their recently released stamping plates as well.  And so I wanted to create something appealing and also do their products justice.  I picked out items that I felt were in sync with my own personal style without narrowing the scope too much.  Today I'm going to show you some decals I chose and how I used them to create a look that was still very much in my venue of art.

Psychedelic Sally Hansen Color Foil Watermarble Nail Art

Hey lacqueristas,

Time for some devaulting! One of the issues that I faced when blogger decided to implode on me is that I lost an unbelievable number of planned blog posts.  Sigh.  Ok so that definitely made me sad especially since oftentimes I use my draft posts as a means of tracking which plates and polishes I used to create a look like today's that may go up later.  I'll apologize in advance if I missed any polishes or details, but I'll try my best to make sure I don't miss anything.  So let's get onto todays post!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte Swatches and Nail Art

Hiya lacqueristas,

Press Sample

Today I have a review for your all of a few selections from the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte Collection! These polishes like all of the Insta-Dri Collection rock for several reasons and are much beloved on this blog for these reasons.  One they are essentially one coat wonders and I think I've gushed enough to the heavens and back that you know how much I appreciate that. Two they are fast drying which means I can stamp essentially within 5 minutes of placing the polish down.  And finally three, they are a match made in heaven when it comes to being used as stamping polishes themselves. So of course it is with extreme pleasure that I'm get to share these polishes with you today!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rio Collection Swatches and Nail Art

Happy Saturday lacqueristas,

Press Sample

Today is a pretty special post for me.  I was so shocked and honored when I was contacted by Sally Hansen to create a few manicures with some of their beautiful polishes. As I always say anytime I am asked to swatch or create nail art for a brand it's always a mega honor and I'm always flattered.  And if you've kept an eye on my manicures then you know I've been a long time fan of this brand, but in particular a lot of my nail art features the Insta Dri line!  I use these mainly for stamping since they are opaque and often in brilliant colors that I don't have available elsewhere.  I'll be sharing a few of the new ones later, but today I have select swatches and nail art from the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rio Collection.  These polishes are matte glitters contained in a clear base, and as with most matte glitters they represent a great way to create instant nail art.

Proud Beauty Bloggers Of Color Present: Orange

Hey lacqueristas,

This is an inaugural post for me! I joined this group about a month ago when it first started called Proud Beauty Bloggers of Color.  The concept is pretty simple -  it's just many women of a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds that blog about beauty.  Now I'm not sure I classify myself as a "beauty" blogger per say, but somehow they invited me along anyway which I thought was really nice.  I missed out on the groups first post so I thought I couldn't miss this months theme which was a manicure devoted to the color orange.  My regular viewers already know that's like a no-brainer for me since I love orange and own a lot more of the shade than is probably common in my polish collection! And of course I could never just choose one. So here's what I came up with....

I am holding a coral bottle because my camera went insane when I tried holding up my nails and the orange bottle simultaneously :/

4th of July Nail Art #1: Sally Hansen Color Foil Sterling Silver and Color Frenzy Red, White, & Hue

Hey lacqueristas,

This year I ran behind so late for nail art it was really frustrating.  I have been supremely busy because of school and one other obligation I am taking care of right now and so I've had little to no time to do any holiday nail art.  I was able to create two very simple looks this year.  This one was an instant no brainer with much of the design simply arising from the glitter polish I chose to incorporate.

Mani-louge

Basecoat / Topcoat:  Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter A Peel & Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Base color: Sally Hansen Color Foil Sterling Silver

Glitter Topper: Sally Hansen Color Frenzy in Red, White, and Hue

Stamping polish: Sally Hansen InstaDri Rapid Red and Mundo de Unas #1 and #30

Stamping plate: Winstonia Store W107

I decided to break out my Sally Hansen Color Foils again because they are awesome!  And around the time I purchased the first six I also picked up this patriotic Color Frenzy polish - Red, White, and Hue. I knew it would be perfect for the upcoming holiday and it was beckoning me from the stand.  I think a lot of mainstream companies have gotten very wise to the whole matte glitter trend.  Sometimes it's not even about novelty it's about instant availability, and I like that I can go right to the store and pick these up without waiting or paying for shipping or worrying about a store restock.  Instant gratification ;)



So super simple eh?  It's during holidays like these that a little instant mani magic that comes from glitter polish becomes absolutely necessary.  I got a lot of complements on this one even though it was so simple.  Thanks for reading and a Happy 4th of July to those celebrating!  See you next post...

Sally Hansen Color Foil Abstract Nail Art

Happy Saturday lacqueristas,

I have some pretty yummy nail art for you today!  I was so excited when the Color Foils from Sally Hansen came out.  I knew they were going to be perfect for stamping and I couldn't wait to get them.  I hunted high and low and I found 6 of them.  I thought that was all of the colors until I discovered apparently there are a few more out there waiting to be snatched up.  Alas, but while I'm stalking I thought it might be nice to take a few of the ones I do have out for a spin.  Come along for the ride ;)

Mani-louge

Basecoat / Topcoat: Duri Rejuvacote and NYC Matte Me Crazy

Base color:  Orly Satin Hues Majestic Satin

Stamping polishes:  Sally Hansen Color Foil in Titanium Rush, Purple Alloy, and Minted Metal

Stamping plate: Dashica SdP 69

Accent: various 2mm studs and beads

One thing I always worry about when stamping with foils/chromes is that they will dry up very quickly when I scrape them over the plate.  This is definitely true for the Sally Hansen Insta Dri's - you have to move very fast with those.  However I have seen the Color Foils used in water marbling, generally you need a slow drying polish to make watermarbles work well the one exception being some holographic polishes, so I knew these would work well for stamping.  Not only did they leave time for placement but they were very opaque.  In short, I'm pretty happy with my stalker like pursuit and purchase of these polishes.  One thing I forgot to mention is there is no topcoat over these foils.  I didn't want to ruin the matte nature of the Satin Hue polish so the shine you see is totally from the polishes alone.

So what do you think? Anyone else using the Color Foils for stamping or nail art?  I have to admit I do not like foil finishes on my nails.  I feel like foils will show every flaw when used as a base, but I love to use them for stamping. And there we have it!  Btw I have added a new signature to the bottom of my posts now.  What do you think?  Thanks for reading and see you next post...

St. Paddy's Day Nail Art #1: Sally Hansen InstaDri Chevrons & Shamrocks

Top o' the morning to you lacqueristas,

Somehow the upcoming St. Paddy's Day nail art snuck up on me.  Honestly, I haven't been thinking tons about it as a major holiday for nail art.  Lol I will be at work and people will be drunk and like New Years Eve in my line of work it will make for the stuff of disaster.   I will also say while I enjoy good microbrew here and there nothing is more disturbing than green colored beer and Shamrocks shakes lol.  Anyhoo, I was able to pick up a few of the new Sally Hansen InstaDri polishes and while I normally use these for stamping I was too pleased with the colorways to not use them as the main basis for my nail art.

I-rush Luck is a true kelly green jelly finish polish.  It self-levels and was opaque in about 2 coats.  I used this for the base of the accent nail and gradients using Jade Jump.  Jade Jump is a creme mint green polish.  The formula on this one wasn't nearly as nice as IL being on the thick end of things.  I think if I were to use this one again for a base I would have to thin out the polish quite a bit.  Using these polishes for the bases made me realize something...I hate the brushes in these bottles immensely!  I have hated them for years.  The wide brush only works for me when I'm stamping because it covers the image nicely.  Otherwise when painting your nails it floods the cuticles and sides of your nails.  I don't have this problem with any other Sally Hansen polishes.  Please someone in the heavens hear me and fix this issue! Ok rant over...

I used Nail Vinyls to create the chevrons over the gradient with Confetti Wedding White and finally the gold 4 leaf clover was stamped using Essie No Place Like Chrome and Bunny Nails HD-B plate.  This nail art is extremely simple and I love it because of that.  Even the stamping is subtle.  What do you think?  It's not a very in your face design and I kinda like that.  Thanks for reading and I'll see you next post!

It's a Groove Thang feat Mundo de Unas 70's Nail Art

Lacquer ladies,

Happy Thursday!  Today I'm gonna share some summer nail art with you.  I actually did a bunch of mani's around this time for a Mundo de Unas competition. The theme was to create a 70's inspired design using at least 3 Mundo de Unas plates.  It was tougher than I thought to stay within these guidelines especially the three plate rule.  Lol clearly I didn't win (aww hangs head), but I had some fun creating each individual look including today's!

Mani-louge

Basecoat/Topcoat: CND Stickey/Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Base color:  Wet n' Wild White Creme

Swirled Nails/Stamping Polishes:  Sally Hansen InstaDri Man-go Team!, Fast Fuchsia, Lickety Split Lime, Mint Sprint, and Butter-fly Stroke, Konad Special Polish in White

Stamping Plates: Mundo de Unas Handy Plates 1, 19, and 43.

So you may be asking what's up with this Mundo de Unas brand?  I've actually been buying Slyvia's plates for roughly almost a year now.  I discovered them from my Adventures in Stamping group.    They are exceptionally good quality and have the distinction of having some of the more unique and cool images I've seen on stamping plates including Pacman, Highschool of the Living Dead, Corpse Bride images and more. I have posted some mani's using their plates before on my IG feed, but this is my first time posting art using these plates on my blog.

So what do you think?  Of the 4 mani's I created this one was one of my favorites.  Kinda bright and cheery for the fall, but I've never seen the point in only wearing certain colors for certain seasons.  If you are interested in the Mundo de Unas plates you can check them out on Facebook.  They retail for $6.50USD and there is currently a sale going on for 10% off.  Slyvia also makes some amazing stamping polish according to the girls on AIS so check em out if you feel so inclined.  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post!

Bestie Twin Nails - Blasian Color Nation!

Okay ladies long time no post again!

Today I have a special post!  Did you know that I'm very good friends with the lovely Vicky A of Boombastic Nails?  In fact I named her blog back in the days when she was just thinking about blogging.  I may have goaded her into it because she had some of the best swatches and pictures I've ever seen how could she NOT blog!!! Lol I sound insane but she's talented and she also happens to be my nail polish/nail art bestie for today's post. 

As you know I love my Instagram and there are always tons of tags running around over there one of which is the theme - bestie twin nails.  In short you and your nail art buddy pic an idea and colors and without showing the other create some nail art.  Vicky chose the theme - using tape in nail art and then I semi chose the colors - rainbow (but then we decided on full color spectrum).  So where does the "blasian" part come from? Lol - I'm African American/Black and Vicki is Chinese.  So there we are anyway without futher ado some bestie nail art...

Mani-louge (by finger):

Reds and Oranges: Orly Cherry Bomb, OPI A Good Mandarin Is Hard To Find, Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Cardinal, Essie She's Pampered, Claire's Little Dipper, Essie Tart Deco, and Sinful Colors Orange Creme

Greens: Color Club Artsy Craft, Essie Mojito Madness, Milani Neon Fresh Teal, China Glaze Starboard, Spoiled by Wet N Wild I'm so Jaded, and Orly Green With Envy

Blues: Orly Snow Cone, Orly Sweet Peacock, L'Oreal Royally Yours, Essie Mint Candy Apple, Essie Avenue Maintain, OPI Orge The Top Blue, and Essie Bikini So Teeny

Purples: Color Club Puccilicious, Essie Play Date, Essie Boxer Shorts, L'Oreal Lacey Lilac, Orly Velvet Rope, L'Oreal Royalty Re-Invented, and Essie Go Ginza

Black and White Marble: L'Oreal I Will! and Orly Liquid Vinyl

Pretty cool right?  Even though neither of us knew which exact colors we were using it turned out so similarly!  Lol I guess we are besties after all.  Vicky's came out so perfectly I feel a little embarrassed to even put my art up next to hers *waaahhh* She is so talented!  You can see more details of her art on Boombastic Nails.

Now I know you are thinking where did YOU use tape in your mani??  Well I did.  I put down one water marble (the black and white) and then taped off sections of it and water marbled on top of the taped off sections creating a double water marble!  Crazy cool right.  I used over 30 polishes to create this manicure, and at least 4-5 different colors and 3-4 brands for each "color" of the the spectrum.! My my how overly ambitious!  Anyway I hope you enjoyed this happy un-Easter edition of Lacquer Lockdown.  May candy bunnies rain from your skies and happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! 

Tamira :)

Rainbows and Stripes

Hiya polished prisoners,

Happy Saturday!  I'm exhausted it has been such a long week for this warden of the polish arena.  I have so much art to catch up on as well!  I'm in the throws of a deep and obsessive love with holographics right now.  It's killing me thinking of ways to wear them and ways to create cool art around them.  I looked at the last few polishes I have bought and most of them are holos! Ugh.  Wait why am I talking about this?  Today I'm not even featuring holo polish on the blog.  Okay back on track.  Today I'm putting up the second challenge of my nail art for March.  If you recall the challenges this one was for stripes.  I had a lot of fun creating around this concept because I like all kinds of stripes and though hee this could be so fun! So without further ado onto the art....

Ugh everything about Old Gold Buffy makes me want to cry - so pretty and perfect here!

Mani-louge

Basecoat & Topcoat: CND Stickey and Poshe Fast Drying Topcoat

Stripes: L'Oreal Royalty Reinvented, Sally Hansen Insta Dri Brisk Blue, Essie Mojito Madness, Essie Peach Daiquiri, and Zoya Pippa

Top color: Essence Vampires Love Gold Old Buffy, Orly Liquid Vinyl 

In its own way this is super pretty.  I didn't try to make it neat since I knew it was going to be covered up anyway.

This is cool huh?  I tried a laser effect like this once before last summer and it turned out horribly :(  I think because I didn't press the tape down hard enough and the color choice for the top was wrong so I'm glad this one came out so well though I did have my doubts.  I can definitely say my nail art these days is slowly improving.  I want to keep working on my freehand technique as well!  Are there aspects of your nail art that you want to improve?  Thanks for reading and see you next post! Toodles...

Candy Cane Lane...feat Essie She's Pampered

Hiya lacquer ladies,

Yesterday when I went to my job everything was so festively decorated with candy canes, wreaths, and poinsettias everywhere!  I was even given a poinsettia though it's on its deathbed from not being watered over the weekend.  Hopefully I'll be able to revive it any and all tips and tricks for working with a dessicated plant will  be appreciated ;)  Anyhoo I saw all the little candy canes everywhere and thought...water marble please!

Yum I love the mixed candy canes...

Mani-louge

Base: Confetti Wedding White

Marble: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green & Essie She's Pampered, Out the Door Top Coat

Accent Nail: Essie Beyond Cozy

Does anyone else really love the wintergreen mix candy canes?  I love them to death! I don't like peppermint ones though at least not candy canes I love barrel mints though :)  So thoughts - totally Christmasy right? And so the holiday manicures continues...Thanks so much for reading and see you next post!  Toodles...

Llarowe Style: Under Da Sea..

Hello polished prisoners,

So why am I posting up marine/ocean oriented nail art in the heart of Halloween season? Well Llarowe, a small business that specializes in selling all manner of nail polishes lemmings including many highly coveted indie brands, is launching a blog! The kicker here is the inaugural post is going to be a guest post from whomever creates a manicure featuring products carried by Llarowe.  Pretty great huh? I created this mani in the hopes that I might be chosen :) Now let's get onto the art...

Mani-Logue

Base: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

Index, Thumb, & Ring: OPI What's With The

Catitude?, Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Blue Me Away, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Freeze!, A-England Avalon, Layla Hologram Effect 05 Jade Groove, CrowsToes Tangled Web & I Make The Path

Middle & Pinkie: Essie Navigate Her, Revlon Posh, Spoiled Deeper Dive, China Glaze Blue Iguana, Layla Hologram Effect 07 Ocean Rush,

Dollish Polish Slippery When Wet & Go Luigi!

Stamping Polishes: Konad Special Polish in Pastel Purple, White, Purple, and Pastel Blue, Essie As Good As Gold, and China Glaze Millenium

Accents: LA Colors Gold Glitter, Essie Blanc, Orly It's Not Rocket Science

Stamping plate: LeaLac LLC5

Look at all the holo goodness from CrowsToes and Dollish Polish.

Leah Anne the lady behind this company is such a sweetheart! We've shared a mutual health burden that led us to some shared sympathy and laughter. Honestly, I'm uber excited to see both her blog and new website!  Anyhoo, I created this mani using one of the adorable 10 small stamping plates offered by LeaLac a subsidiary of Llarowe and several polishes i.e. CrowsToes, Dollish Polish and A-England, also carried by Llarowe (click links above to view). I chose this plate because it's probably one of the most unique plates I've seen of the many I own, and it's been calling out for a good mani for a bit now.  And after this mani yeah um I need ALL the plates now!

In case you were wondering what my mani looked like prior to stamping ;)

I could seriously eat this little octopus up! So freaking cute!!!

So what do you think? Another insane mani-logue huh? Hehe I must be channeling a mad person lol! But the results are worth it don't you think? Okie dokie that's it for now. Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next post! Toodles...

LDTTWC Day 8 - Let's Do The Time Warp Again!

Hello polished prisoners,

It's the end of my first nail art challenge!  How bittersweet; bitter because  this really pushed me in a lot of ways to try new things and ideas and sweet in all honesty it's hard to keep to a schedule of nail art while staying true to your personal aesthetic even for a pace as lenient as then one has been but hey maybe that's just me ;) The last and final challenge today was to recreate another participants nail art that you loved.  There has been one that has been sticking in my "craw" since I saw it.  A mani inspired by one of my all time favorite movies in the world Gone with the Wind created by Nail Polish Creations.  Absolutely stunning you must check out the link.  I tried my best to recreate it but I admit the silhouettes of Scarlet and Rhett almost killed me hehe.  I have a long way to go with my freehand, but you all know I love anything with a gradient :)

Mani-louge

Gradient: Sally Hansen Crushed, OPI Pink Flamenco and China Glaze Happy-Go-Lucky

Detailing: Cm Nail Art Brush in Black

Another color-true shot halfway through the nail art. 

So thoughts?  I'm in love with the gradient and the trees!  I'm so glad I chose this manicure even thought it was tough for me!   I'm gonna miss the focus this challenge brought me but I have some great plans and posts ahead for Halloween so stay tuned! Thanks for reading and I'll see you next post! Toodles...

LDTTWC Day 4: Lights, Camera, Action

Hey polished prisoners,

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Put 'em together and what have you got
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
It'll do magic believe it or not
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

My guess is based on the title of this post and that little snippet of a classic Disney movie you can see where I'm heading yes?  Welcome to Day 4 of the Let's Do The Time Warp Challenge devoted to all things nostalgic!  And what could possibly be as nostalgic and as quintessential to my days of youth as Disney movies?  Well excepting She-ra, Playstation, and R.L. Stine not much!  My god how I have dreamed and dreamed and fantasized about that glass slipper, the clandestine dance in the garden by the fountain, and the final strike of the clock at midnight.  As the glimmering shoe was left behind my soul filled with anguish.  "Not the glass slipper!", is what I always thought.  Cinderella was irresponsible! A crowbar couldn't have pried those things off my feet!!!  Note how I never mention the castle, the mice, the fairy godmother, or prince charming himself? That's because they were all incidentals.  I wanted those freaking shoes! Alright enough ranting and onto the art...

These really need to be seen in natural like to show the holographic sparkle of INM Northern Lights.  I'll try and update tomorrow with a few more pics when the sun is up!

Inspiration for these nails was of course the clock with it's hands at midnight, the glittering and awe inspiring pumpkin-turned-coach, and the swirls of magic dancing about Cinderella as she received her glass slippers oh yeah and the rest but I only care about the slippers.  Initially I did try to create the glass slippers on my nails but it looked crazy no matter which why I did it.  A glass slipper only becomes a shoe when it is bestowed upon the princesses foot.  Until then it's just a pretty piece of clear glass yes?  The color of Essie's Blue Rhapsody to me was a perfect allusion to Miss.  Rella's dress.

Mani-louge

Polishes: Essie Blue Rhapsody, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Freeze!,  LA Colors Gold Glitter, Color Club Jingle Jangle, Sinful Colors Cinderella, Konad Special Polish in White, Essie Head Mistress, Yellow No Name Striper, Cm Nail Art in Black

Stamping Plate: T38 (chez delaney)

So here we are having taken another trip down the twisty and insane path that is my nostalgia.  Oh and just in case you didn't know it Disney is celebrating there Blue Ray release of Cinderella this year in an all out fashion including, gasp, twenty pair of limited edition Christian Louboutin swarovski encrusted butterfly adorned shoes inspired by the glass slipper themselves.  And I will leave you with this picture to drool away over!

Source

Right now I'm cursing my fate that I'm neither Dita Von Tease or Mariah Carey who were already slotted to own one of the twenty coveted pair.  Alas to be a commoner and poor just like Cinderella.  Lol!

Chelsea's Choice...On Sunday's I Stamp!

Hello again my polished prisoners,

Welp it's Sunday, but I promise you this is not the start of a tragedy, i.e. despite the title my post is nothing like the movie Sophie's Choice.  Chelsea is a little girl who goes to the elementary school I sometimes volunteer at.  She is precocious, she calls me Ms. T (no relation to Mr.), asks me 1000 million questions about all the incisions on my chest, and happens to love stars!  The theme for the AIS this week is let someone else pick your plate.  I chose Chelsea since she is also always asking me about my nails.  What do you guess the star loving precocious seven year old Chelsea chose?  Oh and let me also mention since she saw my nails for the LDTTWC Day 1 she has been begging me to do a water marble ;)

Mani-louge

Base: Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat

Top Coat: Poshe (hallujah!) and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash (holo nails)

Base Color: Orly Goth

Stamping polishes: Essie Nothing Else Metals, As Good As Gold, & Blue Rhapsody, and China Glaze Millennium

Water marble: China Glaze L8GR8 and TTYL, and Orly Goth

Stamping plate: SdP-32

So what's the deal with the SH Diamond Flash? It's supposed to make holo's look more holo.  It's a bit hard to tell here especially because I lost the sun today before I could take pictures but it looks okay so far.  I'll have to try it a bit more before I can give a fair review.

Well Chelsea was happy with the end result what about you? Honestly I never thought I'd end up doing marbling and stamping back to back from last week to this week, but this mani had to meet Chelsea's approval before posting.   And let me tell you for some reason she really got stuck on me doing the exact same marble she saw from the challenge.  It was a feat convincing her that holo's are in fact just as pretty and fit the concept better. 

That holo water marble swept Chelsea right off her tiny feet! 1-0 Tamira:Chelsea hehe :)

So this ends my posts for the week.  Stay tuned for Day 4 of my LDTTWC and some seasonal nail art.  Thanks for reading and see you next post!  Toodles....

LDTTWC Day 3: I Remember When

Hey polished prisoners,

Happy Sunday - woot!  Let me come down from my cloud of mania to say the week went by incredibly fast.   Suddenly, it's the weekend and I'm in the midst of scooting to catch up with my challenge posts.  Maybe this happened because I was also doing mani's for other things this week plus my phone when kaput yesterday so I was dealing with that all day :(  So here I am at day 3 trying to remember when.  I choose not to do a "major event" because I'm young enough to not have hit things like the moon landing etc but old enough to recall major catastrophes like Columbine and 9/11. And while honestly my life is certainly no bundle of rainbows and puppy dog tails, especially these last few years, I want my challenge mani's to reflect the positive aspects of my life and history.  Like my trip to the Land of Oz otherwise known as Australia.  One of the things I loved the most about the land of Oz had to be the artwork of the indigenous aboriginals especially their dot art.  I used it to inspire my own dotty mani...

My nails are starting to become like claws lol! Yes sweet length :)

Mani-logue

Trigger Fimger: Base: OPI Who The Shrek Are You?; Dots: OPI Gargantuan Green Grape, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green, Orly Goth

Baddie Finger: Base: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away!; Dots: Essie Sweet Talker 

Shackled Finger: Base: OPI Pink Flamingo; Dots: Essie French Affair

Length Challenged Finger: Base: China Glaze Happy-Go-Lucky Dots: Spoiled Designated Driver

Ape versus Man Finger: Base: OPI Funky Dunky; Dots: Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Violet Voltage &  Essie Liliacism

Source: Aboriginalart.com

Well because one of my majors in college was anthropology when I was living in Australia I made it my mission to learn more about the aboriginal tribes, the over 200 dialects they spoke, most of which are lost now, and their history.  Really the way they passed down stories and history through their art and music is amazing!

Even though this is only a slight nod to the dot artwork you can expect to see more of it at some point.   I really enjoyed putting this one together it's vibrant and totally me! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my Sunday stamping post! Toodles...

Falling Leaves...On Sundays I Stamp!

Hey polished prisoners,

Aigoo I am so behind schedule! Yesterday I had every intention to post up day 2 from the challenge, but I had an unexpected visit from my mum so that got blown to bits lol!  And today the AIS challenge for a Leafy mani almost stumped me.  I've told my friend Vicky from Boombastic Nails that I still have fails 9 out of 10 times when I go to stamp and today it went exactly like that.  I sort of realized these fails are the result of poor color choice, and so I'm going to be making an effort to make sure I put my stamping colors and base colors together with a bit more care in the future to prevent frustration when the colors don't show up as I've imagined them. Okay so enough rambling...let's get onto the art!

Orly's Buried Alive...wait I have to do this and then I can talk about the color.  "I shall leave you as you left me.  Buried alive...buried alive."  "Kaaaahhhhhhhhnnnnnn!!!! (echoes...echoes).  LOL!!! I'm sorry I had to and yes I'm a huge dork!  Anyway, Orly's Buried Alive looks like it should have debuted in the fall instead of the summer.  It is so rich so rich I knew when I saw the theme for this weekend that it had to be the main color for the mani.  And because I made this choice this is exactly why my first few attempts at this mani resulted in fails.  It's so dark and beautiful holos and lighter colors, even my beloved cG Passion, got sucked into its depths and disappeared never to be seen or heard of again! It took me a while to realize metallics and foils were going to be the only type of finishes that would work on this polish.

I ended up changing the base color of the water marble.

Mani-louge

Base coat: Revlon Rapid Dry Base Coat

Base colors: Orly Buried Alive (stamping) & Essie Sand Tropez (Marble)

Stamping colors: Color Club Art Club Name Unknown (green), Color Club Antiquated & Hot Like Lava, Essie Good As Gold & Nothing Else Metals, Sally Hansen Snappy Sorbet, and Konad Special Polish in Yellow

Marble colors: Color Club Artsy Crafty, Orly Buried Alive & Night Owl, OPI Big Apple Red & Lemonade Stand By Your Man, and Milani Juicy Glo

Stamping plate: BM04

Holy smokes right?!? So many freaking polishes! In my defense fall is very color rich and so even this amount of polishes doesn't quite cover the spectrum of all the beautiful colors that abound at this time of year.

I love the shimmer exploding all over this mani!

You may be asking why the water marble?  Well it was a last minute decision.  One of the things I love about marbles is that they very effectively capture the transitions of colors and fall is really all about transition.  So what do you think?  Even though this challenge pushed me and I had multiple fails I'm very happy with the final results.  Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my vintage mani for day two of the LDTTW challenge!  Toodles!