Halloween 2012: Devils Ahead...

Hello polished prisoners,

Mwhahaha another Halloween installment here!  It's been a bit dead these days I apologize for it its a combination of wi-fi loss, my own icky cold, and now a hurricane (Sandy) hitting DC.  Seriously it's crazy! Everything has been ripped off of the shelves and the schools are closed even the metro shut down!  Well its great for polishing up my nails so here we are.  This is another Bundle Monster one.  I've been wanting to use this plate since I got them but held off until now.

Mani-louge

Base/Topcoat: CND Stickey & Poshe

Thumb, middle, & ring: Sephora Pantone Universe Tangerine Tango Creme & CrowsToes Hell Hath No Fury (find it here or here)

Index & Pinkie: Sinful Colors Cloud 9 & Sephora Pantone Universe Tangerine Tango Glitter

Detailing: Wet N' Wild Black Creme

Stamping polish: Konad Special Polish in Black Pearl

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM305

So let's talk about a few things here - CrowsToes Halloween collection is seriously giving me chills!  HHNF - first of all did any of you see Rosanne in She-Devil that late 80's movie?  Oh lawd I think about it every time I see devils.  So funny!  HHNF is so perfect and just the right combo of purple and orange-red yumminess for this mani.  I also have to say thank you to Lauri who sent them to me as a ROAK.  Seriously YOU rock lady!  Kindness has always been my weak point and this lady has continued to maintain her kindness and grace even when her family has been going through such difficult times.  She is a treasure and her polishes make me drool!  My friends in the blog-o-sphere can attest to that! But hey when you're working it you're working it and Lauri is always fierce!

Sephora's Pantone Universe 2012 - I've had these for a while and I have no idea why I never used them they've just been hanging out.  Opaque in three coats for the creme and drying to a near squishy like jelly finish. What's not to love?  I'm not sure of the availability of these anymore but the determined lacquerista should be able to make it happen if she wants them.

So thoughts, comments, mindless adoration? Lol kidding!  I'm having fun with these Halloween mani's.  I wish I had been able to do more curse the luck!  Oh well there is always next year ;)  Let me also take this time to say thank you thank you thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Bundle Monster Contest!!!  I didn't make it into the top 15 but it was really fun creating the look.  Also for those that didn't know it I won that inaugural entry for Leah Anne's new website and blog LLarrowe! Woot! Thank you for those too who always encourage me and give me the faith to continue on!  Perhaps they really do like me??? **Gazes into the distance with a faint look of surprise** Okay enough sillies.  See you next post and thanks for reading!

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...

Dollish Polish The Hero of Time

Hey polished prisoners,

Happy Saturday!  I've been a little bit M.IA. this week running willy nilly with errands that kept distracting me from a solid posting.  TodayI've got a pretty simple glitter gradient nail art for you.  I decided to break out the greens again - hey I gotta go with what I love ;) This time I chose Hero of Time by Dollish Polish.  I haven't featured any Dollish Polish on my blog before, but let me tell you I love what this lady does! I have quite a few of these polishes and the formula is always flawless and packed full of glittery goodness.  Hero of Time is a clear jelly loaded with varying shades of green, brown and gold glitter.  It's inspired by Link's clothing from The Legend of Zelda.  Dolly definitely scores major pointage with me for releasing her Gamer Series as I was/still am a pretty hardcore video game fanatic.

So bright!

Mani-louge

Base color: China Glaze Paper Chasing

Glitter: Dollish Polish The Hero of Time (one coat)
Gradient: Orly Liquid Vinyl

I decided to add a gradient to the look and also ended up placing nail art tape sporadically over my nails to create a laser cut-out like pattern.

This is so pretty, but definitely halloweenish ;)

 Pretty cool eh?  I've been seeing this effect around a lot late and wanted to try my hand at it too!

Intentionally blurred for all that sparkly goodness to pop through.

What do you think? I'm happy with the final effect here and I'm totally in love with Hero of Time! Do you have a favorite Dollish Polish?  If you are interested in trying to pick up HoT DP is carried by three locations: Ilarowe, Overall Beauty, and Dolly's Big Cartel shop.  Restocking of all of these stores varies and it's best to check each individual site respectively for updates.  Thanks for reading and I'll see you next post! Toodles...

Nail Art Party - Mermaid Nails and Subtle Blue Stamping

Hey polished prisoners,

Today I have a little special feature for you.  I had a party with my friends L and N - a nail art and makeup party and boy did we have a blast!  I did everyone's nails - just not my own and it was fun fun fun fun fun! (Note: Please do not misconstrue my excitement for mania). I learned some great lessons along the way too.  Mainly - do not wear a manicure on your nails if you don't want it to get shredded while doing someone else's nails.   Secondly - soak off gel polish is a you-know-what to get off with pure acetone despite what some nail techs may say.  Third, it's hard to take a decent picture of another person's nails - no idea why though! Tips tips? Here are pics of my nails with the manicures as well as my friends.

A bit different from my mermaid mani, but after I did L's I started to get ideas!

I gave her quite the lecture on the state of her cuticles, but unfortunately for all three of us it's an occupational hazard :(

N was suffering from the same cuticle issues so I smeared them down with Vit E oil.  I didn't recreate this mani exactly either when I re-did it on myself.

It's hard to see but I have that SH Pacific Blue layered under Lynnderella's Violette de Blue and Forget me Not.

I just noticed but you are totally getting a sneek shot of my bins of nail polish :)

I really love this picture plus N and L are so damn tall.  Love both of these girls to death and I had such a blast doing their nails!

My recreation of L's nails below - it's like her original manicure on crack!

This shimmer on the scaled nails is the reason why I love love love Color Clubs Foiled Collection for stamping!

The bling of Nail's Inc Electric Avenue is a stunner even without embellishment.

I put up the tutorial for L's nails on YT.  See the video below to check it out to see the products I used and to get  the same fabulous look!  N's tutorial is in the works.  This was so much fun I know I'll have to do it again sometime soon.  Let me know what you ladies think and thanks for reading!

2NE1 UGLY Inspired Mani

If you haven't heard of 2ne1 chances are you will in the near future.  Let me just say I freaking love this k-pop group!  These girls are so cute, special, and spectacular in a very individual way and create music that is both super catchy and also meaningful.  I have been loving this k-pop band since the first time I heard the words....naega jeil jal naga.  English translation - I'm the best! In any event the video for the song Ugly is really funky - splashes of neon glow in the dark paint, torn and ripped clothing, masks, braids, glitter, you name it.  Super cool only in the way these girls can do it. I wanted to recreate the chaos of this video on my nails and these were the results.  I'm hoping they fell into a category of beautiful ugly than just plain ugly (pfft).

Super duper neon pink!

Judicious use of crackle.

Sort of the funkiness I was aiming for.

If you want to see exactly how I got this look and the products I used you can watch my tutorial here:

And if you haven't seen the Ugly video you can check it out here on 2ne1's official YT channel.  If you look up the english lyrics you'll find this is a song that many women or men can identify with.  Thanks for reading and now to quote Niga Higa, "2NE1 K-pop shoutout exit - I'm out!" Singing, "I think I'm ugly and nobody wants to love me just like her I want to be pretty. I want to be pretty....".