Friday, May 17, 2013

Foto Friday!

It is casual Friday once again! And I am heading to Star Trek tonight in IMAX....very excited! Eek!  Seems like a good time for a Star Trek mani. :). I love the galaxy nails and I think they need to be my next manicure. The Trek emblems need practice. 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Work It Wednesday! Julep Denver


Work It! Wednesday featuring Julep's Denver


I love this nail polish....I know, I know.  I seem to say that about all the nail polish I use these days.  It reminds me of something my college roommate said to me when I kept remarking how I loved song after song on a mix tape: "Of course you do.  You made the tape!"  And she was right then and she would be right now if she said it to me.  I buy the polish, so it is natural that I am going to love it!  :)

Denver...Isn't she cute??!?!!

nail polish

I did add a matte top coat to my middle finger just to see what it was like.  This girl looks good matte as well as glossy!  Julep's wen site describes this color as a "seafoam green créme" that is so bright that it pops off my fingers.  It is bright, which I like.


WORK IT!!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

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.


Friday, May 10, 2013

Foto Friday

It's Foto Friday time!  Casual Friday picture time.





I am still playing around with striping tape. This one features Julep's Ginger, which is one of their holographic polishes.  I have had this one for a few months, but haven't done much with it.  I am loving it with a coral triangle accent to it. The coral is Sinful Colors's Hazard.  I'd like to think this is Great Gatsby inspired...but I think it is the tip of the inspiration iceberg. 
Happy Friday!!!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Work It! Wednesday: China Glaze Bump and Grind

Texture

Work It! Wednesday!

Today on the red carpet mani cam, we have a lovely texture nail polish.  Check out China Glaze Bump and Grind from their Texture Collection.  

Texture

Texture


Lovely bright pink texture polish that has a light grit to it.  The texture is similar to the Julep Sea Salt finish in that it has a bit of bumpy texture and grit to it, but it is still one dimensional in color.  It is still subtle enough that it won't get annoying for texture on your nails.  I do love me a texture nail polish and I have a feeling this one will become a quick favorite for summer.

WORK IT!!



Monday, May 6, 2013

Mani Monday: Adventures in striping tape

I have been drawn to what folks are doing with striping tape and their manicures lately.  And I have had striping tape sitting in my stash drawer for the LONGEST time.  It has just seem too fussy for me to want to deal with.  But that is just silly.  So I settled in with Game of Thrones episode last night and set about cutting tape pieces to use....

First, I need some nail polish...

Of course I need some neon to start.  From left to right: Celtic Sun, I'm With The Lifeguard, Spectacle, Pool Party, and Tightrope.  I started with a base of Essie's Blanc as a base.  I wanted this neon to pop as best it could.  I topped off this neon party with some Wet n' Wild fast dry in black...well, I  don't know if that is its real name as it's sticker has fallen off.  But it is black.  :)

I went for a variety of pattern.  I wanted to see if my left hand could keep up in this adventure as well, and it did!  I guess this tape is not as fussy as I thought it would be.  Because as we all know...


But I did not really have that problem this time around, thankfully.  


Overall, this was an easy process and it has me thinking of all kinds of designs I can start playing around with.  It was a learning process as well.  I found I really needed to pull the tape off directly as any kind of angle just caused some speckling, which you can see on my ring and pinkie fingers.   Heck, for a first time while watching one of my favorite tv shows, I am okay with it it!  

What are your taping horror or success stories?  Happy Mani Monday!!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Blank Canvas

I need to start with an apology since I have not been posting much as of late.  I must confess:  I have been SO uninspired to paint my nails in the past week or so.  I would sit down to do something spicy and then just sit and stare at my nail polish stash as if it has all the answers I am looking for.  I would read what others are up to with their nail polish, but nothing sparked.  Over the weekend, I sat down thinking if I just sit down and kick out a great manicure in a color I love...usually in blue...that would do it.  But no, I would just do a sloppy job.  So that had to go!  My go to, love it, looks hard but isn't is typically anything with dots.  I actually started a cute pink and black dottie manicure the other day, but then it took a turn for the worst and began to look like garbage.  So I scrapped that too.  What is happening to me?  Am I nail depressed?  So uninspired that I can't paint my nails without going off the road and all over my cuticles??  Are nail polish and I breaking up????

NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This can't happen. 

I am taking back my nail mojo.  I need to utilize this time, shift my thinking a bit.  I am using this week to air out my nails and let them breathe for a bit.  If I can't figure out what I would like them to look like, then maybe they should stay naked.  A blank canvas for a bit.  Blank canvases are wonderful because they imply that possibility is infinite.  Instead of taking off one manicure to replace with another, I am going to tap into my blank canvas.

How do you pull yourself through those times where nothing seems right for you nails? Those moments when nothing inspires you?