Random happenings.

Here are some other random happenings as of late:

1.

Zoya.  How much do I love thee?  A LOT.  This whole mani is with Zoya polishes.  The pink is Harper from the summer Tickled and Bubbly line.  Great sparkly pink.  The black is Raven with the Monet top coat on top...let's talk about this top coat for a second.  This may be becoming a new obsession for me and I think it will get its own post soon.  This polish came out in the spring and it is unique to me.  The glitter has a different look pending on what base polish you are using.  It has this blue halo look to it over back.  While when playing around with it on other polishes, the glitter would look yellow or green or blue predominantly.  There are multi-color glitters in this polish, I just like that it seems to change its look.  The remaining nails are pixie dust in Dhalia and Tomoko.  The other fun fact in this mani is that I used the new OPI Glitter Off base coat...I need to play with this more in-depth as well.  It didn't just peel off with a tool for me, but with polish remover I barely needed to use any muscle to get these glitters off.  That is a bonus!

2. 

Neon Skittles with a little gradient.  I love love love neon nail polishes.  They may be my all time favorite as I am just drawn to the bright colors and the pop they have.  This one uses all China Glaze polishes.... Pool Party, Flip Flop Fantasy, I'm With the Lifeguard, and Celtic Sun.  All on a white base coat.  Same colors are used for the thumb gradient

3. 

Speaking of neon.....A little bit of China Glaze Pink Voltage....

4.

My June Julep Box.  I opted for both the Oxygen top and base coats.  I wasn't a huge fan of the Oxygen Nail Treatment before as I don't usually like light pink on my nails and they really don't recommend you use it under polishes.  So I ended up giving it to my mom so someone will use it.  In this box, I went with my usual It Girl profile.  

Polishes included were:

- Gold Shimmer/Metallic color- Savoy--tried it real quick and it takes a lot of patience to have it come out even.  Much like the Essie metallics but not the same consistency.

- Blue- Glitter in their Stardust Finish- Jennine-  I needed to layer it a lot in order to achieve opacity.

- Purple- Halo-like color-  Phia

July is National WHAT month??

July is....my birthday month....the Nation's Birthday month...National Hot Dog Month...and best of all, National Ice Cream Month!!!!!!!!  How many of us have memories of that hot summer day, maybe it was after spending the day at the beach with the family or hanging out with your friends all day long, and you make that stop for ice cream.  Or you hear that ding ding....ding ding...ding ding...and you panic because you need to find your dollar for the ice cream truck.  The best part was racing this sweet treat to eat it before it melts.  Nom Nom Nom....Ultimately leading to sticky fingers and a sense of accomplishment that you totally KILLED THAT CONE!

Of course I needed to try an ice cream manicure.  :)

This was the base for my tasty nails.  I used a striping brush for the cone contrasting lines.

Left Hand

Right Hand

I couldn't really decide if I wanted to keep going with the ice cream cones, or the little ice cream cones on my thumb, or sprinkles...So I did them all!

Colors Used:

White- Zoya Snow White

Pink- Ciate- Candy Floss

Browns- Zoya Flynn and Dea

Purple- China Glaze Lotus Begin

Green- Julep Felicia

Blue Green- Barry M Greenberry

Yellow- Julep Lexie

Glitter on the ice cream and pink nail- Zoya Monet

The hit parade.

I wanted to update everyone further on what I have been up to nail wise during my quiet time away from the blog...so here are some highlights....

  

Playing around with the one stoke technique...they almost look like flowers....

And a simple purple gradient....

One of my FAVORITES...

Simple pink glitter gradient....

There was this craptastic Valentine's Day caviar and glitter mani.

Another TOP FAVORITE based on a pair of earrings that I purchased.

Summer neon with glitter....all China Glaze and fun.

A mod matter color block... 

Flip Flop Fantasy with stripes and dots....

Now I look to the future to see what I can learn, perfect, and just admire because it is pretty!!

Zoya Satins and Cashmeres and the manicam.

A little birdie told me fall was coming.  The kids are back to school.  It is Fashion Week.   Pumpkin everything is everywhere.  And there are fall colors for nail polish came out!  Sounds like Fall to me!
Over the past weekend, I picked up a few of Zoya's Satins and Cashmeres collection.

From left to right:  Sailor [Cashmere]; Flynn [Cashemere], and Claudine [Satin].

Zoya Sailor

This is a beautiful, rich navy blue.  As pictured, it is two thin coats without topcoat.   Zoya describes it as a "rich navy creme", and it truly is.  This is quickly becoming my new favorite blue nail polish; which is saying something as I LOVE blue polish.  Sailor is a creme with depth.  This polish goes on smoothly.

Zoya Flynn

I love anything in a carmel or camel color.  This Zoya does not disappoint.  Zoya calls it a "lush camel brown nude creme."  It is.  As pictured, it is two coats without topcoat.  I like it on my skin tone, which can be tricky with some nudes.  The rich, lush color compliments and both blends in and stands out.  

Zoya Claudine

I almost bought this polish on-line during Zoya's back to school sale last month.  I liked it because it looks practically black on-line.  You NEED to see this nail polish in person as it is this beautifully rich metallic smoky gray color polish.  Zoya says, "striking dark meteorite gray metallic."  It is all that and more.  Depending on the light it either picks up more in the gray side of the color wheel, and in other lights it looks more in the black arena.  The smoky color is just beautiful.

I can't say it enough, but these are beautiful fall colors that will transition your summer colors into fall.

It has been awhile....it has been too long...nail polish hasn't really been displayed in its glory due to the lack of red carpet to walk down.....That has changed.  THE MANICAM IS BACK!!!  Not only is it back, but I was playing around with the video feature on Instagram to film the moment.

Zoya Flynn...first attempt.

Zoya Sailor...best one!

Zoya Claudine

Back To School Part 2

Part two of my back to school inspired nails....Don't forget your pencils!!

Sadly, I was a bit too anxious to photograph this manicure.  I smudged the Seche Vite on my thumb...yup, I was moving that fast with the camera!!  I think the smudge adds character.

Partly Cloudy

Two weeks ago, a friend and her awesome daughter were coming down to Florida to visit family.  I haven't seen them in a few years, sadly.  I was super excited when the fates aligned and I was actually able to go to see them while they were in town.  I packed up my car with car snacks, made a super long playlist full with jams to sing along with, and got ready to drive the almost 5 hours to get there.  But first, I needed to do up the nails!!

Colors used:  The blue is OPI's Can't Find My Czechbook, gold is Zoya's Pixie Dust in Solange, and the white is Essie's Blanc.  the clouds are hand drawn.

Mani Monday: Pretty In Pink Monday with Zoya Dita.

It's MONDAY!!!!!!!!!! More specifically: MANI MONDAY!!!  New start to the week = new manicure, but of course.  I am starting this week off pretty in pink.

Sadly, I broke my middle finger over the weekend.

Colors used for this manicure:

Zoya's Dita-  rich, deep pink cream

OPI's Pirouette My Whistle- Multi-dimensional hex and micro glitter mix

I topped off Dita with Essie's Matte About You to give the beautiful pink color a different dimension.  This color is usually pretty glossy, even without top coat.  The pink color is really receptive to the matte top coat, which gives it a rich and velvety look.  

I can never leave well enough alone, so I then added two accent nails in which I topped Dita off with glitter.   As you know, I always need more glitter in my life.  This is two coats of the OPI polish.  I do like this glitter because as you see it is how it goes on the nail.  With some larger glitter or glitter mix nail polishes I find I have to place the larger pieces so it doesn't do its own thing and clump up on the end....which can be nice if you are looking to do a glitter gradient, but not this time...Pretty In Pink Monday!!

Who Photobombed who?  

Mani Monday: Orange Crush

Mani Monday time!  New week, new manicure.

Today is the last day off from work for my birthday mini-vacay.  It has been really nice to not be worried about work for five days.  Sadly, my time has come to an end.  Vacations really do ALWAYS go too quickly.  To cap the time off manicure wise, I wanted something bright.   

Orange Crush Ombre on a Bright Sunny Day!

Colors used: Julep's Parker, Zoya's Sharon, Butter London's Jafa, OPI's Brights Power, and little OPI Jinx.

Bright little orange ombre manicure to end the day.  Yay!

Sadly, I need to work with my camera a bit more.  It is not managing reds very well.  I noticed this when photographing flowers outside as well in good sunlight.  If anyone has any photography tips, I would LOVE to hear 'em!  

Side note...

For my birthday, I received a new rack for nail polish to up my total to two.  Hung this bad boy today so that my stash can have some breathing room.  I am trying so hard to fight the urge to fill up the space up!

Work It! Wednesday with Blue Ombré Reversi.

It is mani cam time on the red carpet!  This week's carpet worthy manicure is my blue ombré manicure with reverse blue ombré dots. 

Polishes used: Zoya's Blu, Julep's Claire, Zoya Pixie Dust in Liberty, Essie's Mesmerized, Deborah Lippmann's My Prerogative.

I can't help it...I LOVE how this manicure came out.  I think this combines my three favorite nail items all on one hand: texture nail polish, blue polishes, and dots.  This is topped off with Seche Vite top coat with the exception of my middle finger, which I did not polish.

WORK IT!

NOTD: Mod Spring Flowers

Good morning polish fairies!  It is a beautiful summer like day here in Florida.  Seems like a good day to go do some wedding scouting.  As I have been reminded, it is 9 months away...oy!!  Guess I need to get a-moving with the details over here! :)  But before I leave the house, I need to share my current nails with you!

The weather is so gorgeous, that a dotting tool and some pastel colors seemed to be just what the weather man ordered!

Colors used:  Sally Hansen's Peach of Cake, Julep's Blake, Zoya's Blu, and Essie's Blanc.

I love dotting tools.  SO much possibility as to what you can create.  What is your favorite go-to design tool?  The make-up sponge?  Dotting tools?  Paint brushes?  Tin foil?  Let me know. :)

NOTD: Blue Ombre Dots

Today feels like a great for dots!  Dots, dots, dots, DOTS!!  I get a bit crazy about dots.  As you can see, I have my blue Jawbone Up on, so blue dots seemed like the next logical thing to do in my planning stage.  I wear the Up almost 24/7...good thing I like blue!

For this manicure I started with a base coat of OPI's BerlinThere Done That from their Germany Collection.  I love this nude color.  It may be one of my favorite nude nail polishes out there.  Nude can be tricky for me with fair skin tones, but this one gives me nude without me looking even more pale or nuclear charged.

From left to right: Color Club Insta-This, Zoya Breezi, Zoya Wednesday, Julep Claire, and Zoya Kristen.

Wednesday came out looking more green than blue, but that is the nature of this color.    And yes, I did give my pinkie finger a start with Julep's Eloise, but I found that in person that and the Color Club colors were similar.  So I abandoned it.  If my nails were longer, I would enjoy adding more blue to the spectrum.

Foto Friday

It's casual Friday....well, on a Saturday morning. I am in love with Zoya's Wednesday. Great robin's egg blue.

NOTD: Orange for Prevention of Animal Cruelty

This manicure is for my assistant to this blog, Frankie.  We adopted Frankie from The Dachshund Rescue of South Florida just over 2 years ago.  He's sooo cute, playful, and smarter than a dog should be.  He's our perpetual 2 year-old toddler running all over the house and leaving a wake of toys behind.

Frankie

April is Go Orange month in support of Preventing Cruelty to Animals.  Supporting efforts to provide animals with happy lives.  

I love this little doggie, so what better way to express it in the moment than with a manicure!!

I used Zoya's Sharon for the majority of this manicure.  The grass utilized Essie's Pretty Edgy, Zoya's Dea, and Julep's Laura.  The little doxie is a small vinyl sticker from Your Lips But Better.  They can be purchased from HERE.

Zoya Sharon

What's your adoption story?  Frankie kept was brought to a kill shelter on two different occasions before he was rescued and put into foster care, which is where we adopted him from.

GO ORANGE!!!  Have you done an orange mani in support of this awareness cause? Please share in the comments below.

Work It Wednesday! With spring daisies and Zoya Kristen.

It's a beautiful day here on the nail red carpet.  Spring is has now officially arrived and is ready to work it.  What better way to embrace it than with daisies!

A bit of colorful flowers featuring Zoya's Kristen.

I enjoyed painting this manicure.  Zoya is one of my favorite brands because it goes on so easy with great punches of color.  Kristen is a pretty heather gray/blue color.  Two coats more than does the job.  I am looking at this mani....Remember the movie Clueless?  Cher is having one of those moments describing what someone looks like:  "She's a full-on Monet....From far away, it's okay, but up close it is a big old mess."  I am having that same reaction to this manicure.  It is cute and I am happy with it...then I look at it in more detail and it is more an Impressionist painting.  We will look at it more as daisies on a theme.  I haven't been 100% in the past few days, so my desire to pay attention to detail is not really there.  But, it is Work It Wednesday.  So, I am going to WORK IT!! 

Mani Monday on the town!

A day late, but my Mani Monday went on a trip yesterday and got home pretty late. Here in Miami, it is the second week of the annual Sony Open Tennis Tournament.  So it seems only natural to do a tennis mani!

This mani is a tennis fan and is waiting for the Serena Williams match.

I used Zoya's Mitzi for the tennis ball nails.  The thumb is Essie's Beyond Cozy.  The court is a mix of
Essie's Pretty Edgy, Sinful Colors Amethyst, and the Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in white.  Mitzi is actually one of the Mate Velvet Mod colors from Zoya and I tried to keep the integrity of the finish.  But without a top coat, the white lines were wearing off as I was getting ready to leave the house.  So I topped everyone off with Seche Vite rapid dry top coat before dashing out the house.

Sadly the Sally Hansen nail art pen gave me too thick of a line for my tennis court nail.  Next time I think I will use an actual brush to get the thinner line I was looking for.  How do you find the nail art pen for smaller, thinner lines?
My left hand is all tennis balls with one Beyond Cozy glitter nail.  I'm a righty, so my left hand wasn't ready to attempt a second tennis court.

I am pretty happy with this manicure.  It was fun and pretty easy to do and a great learning experience with the nail art pen.  Love - 15, Nail Art Pen!!