Orly Retro Red

OMG!  Who is this invading your feed?  IT'S MEEEEEE!!  I have been M.I.A. for awhile and I really needed it.  I needed to focus on all other aspects of my life because I really was getting lost in blogging and overwhelmed with it and everything else life was throwing at me.  But I have been slowly collecting nail photos (when I actually feel like painting my nails) and I just sat down today to edit and watermark them.  It's not very many but I am excited about them.  I received some lovely nail mail from a friend, Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession, a while ago with two lemmings and today I have for you.

This is Orly Retro Red from the Plastix collection.  When I first started blogging I saw these on someone's blog and just about died.  I had to have them and now!  BUT they were already difficult to find anywhere.  Then I went on a lovely polish shopping trip with Ashley from Smashley Sparkles and saw all four of them in a small nail supply.  I had to pass them up though as I had already spent WAY too much money.  lol.  Haven't we all been in that situation?  Well anyway over time, Jen has managed to find all four for me and sent me the best surprise nail mail.  I love her! ♥

So for the swatches I only needed two coats and it dries so fast.  The finish is, of course, like plastic.  Not entirely matte but with just a bit of a sheen.  I assume they are like the Illamasqua Rubbers?  I don't know because I don't own any Illas at all.  I've only posted one of the other Orly Plastix not too long ago.  You can view Old School Orange HERE.

Orly Old School Orange

OMG!  OMG!  OMG!  I know this polish may not be a big deal for a lot of you, but I just died the first time I saw the Orly Plastix collection.  The colors are not anything out of the ordinary.  The formula is just as good as any other, but the finish...oh the finish.  You all know I love mattes and I don't feel any different about vinyls.

Old School Orange is a semi-gloss creme orange.  The vinyl or plastic-like finish shows up almost immediately and it dried pretty quick as well.  I don't think a lot of people are really into this finish but I love it.  This whole collection has been on my wishlist for the longest and finally someone gifted two out of the four to me...Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession.  She's always so amazing at finding things I can't find here.  Well I actually did find them once and I passed them up like a dummy.  But anyway they are mine now.  If only I could get the last two.

Be on the lookout for the other one I received, Purple Pleather.  I've just been wearing so much purple polish lately that I'm a little burnt out on it.  If you like this finish, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Orly After Party Revisited

 So I'm not sure if you all remember me talking about how a lot of my photos from old posts were deleted somehow.  You can also see what I'm talking about if you try to check out any of my old posts from when I started blogging.  Well I've been trying to either replace them or just reblog the swatch so that's what I have today.  I'm reswatching Orly After Party.

After Party is really cool.  It's a blackened blue creme base with blue and purple shimmer or glass flecks (it's difficult to tell) packed inside.  It's almost like it could be a duo-chrome but it's not.  lol The formula was pretty thick so you really have to be careful how much you load onto your brush.  However it's so dark that it's definitely a one coater.  I just loooooovve one coaters.  If just makes my life so easy.

I tried to get the best angles and lighting I could on this one because it really is beautiful once you see what it's got to offer.  I don't really have much else to say on it.

And before I go, if you haven't 'Liked' my page on Facebook yet, head on over there now.  I made an offer to my readers.  When my Facebook page can get to 500 Likes, I will have a GIVEAWAY!!  Everyone loves free goodies and it's been too long since I've had one.  Don't forget to share my page as well so your friends can help out.  (:

Fun With a Pastel Gradient

I wasn't really sure what else to title this post since I have a few things going on with this mani, but it is super cute nonetheless.  Check it out!

Yeah so like I said, there is a lot going on here.  lol I wanted to do something fun and different (for me anyway) and I think is not like anything I've ever done.  I started with a white base to make the pastel colors stand out.  Then I started with the chevron nails.  I taped off the pattern using striping tape.  I could have bought some zig-zag craft scissors but that seems too easy.  I like a challenge.  (:  Then I used four different pastel cremes to gradient over the tape.  The lavender is Sinful Colors Sweet Tooth, the blue is Orly Snowcone, the yellow (which is kinda tough to see) is Sinful Colors Unicorn, and the pink is Sinful Colors Soul Mate.  I only needed two layers of sponging to get the colors almost opaque.

The I took the same colors and then Color Club Blue-ming to create gradient polka dots on my pinky and pointer fingers.  Then I topped it all off with my top coat which for some reason wanted to give me lots of bubbles today.  I really love this print and color combo but I just really hope it doesn't look like clown pants or something.  lol  I wanted it to be a little funky and a little whimsical but not ridiculous. 

So how do you all feel about this mani?  You can tell me the truth if you think it looks like clown pants.  lol I asked the boyfriend if it looked like unicorn tears and he said, "No babe!  You know unicorns cry jelly beans."  OMG I laughed to hard.  I thought you all would enjoy that.  (:

Pink and Black Attack

I didn't really know what else to call it and no, it has nothing to do with Bret Hart.  If you don't know what that means, no stress.  Google it.  lol  So pink and black are not really colors that I particularly like together, mainly because I don't like pink.  However, I wanted to do something fun with Orly Oh Cabana Boy.

So there it is.  This was a really fun mani for me eventhough it's definitely different.  I used striping tape over my bare nail (with base coat actually) in a diamond pattern and then painted two quick and thick coats of Orly Oh Cabana Boy over that.  Where the lines cross I just put black dots and couple of black "pearls" on each nail just for fun.  On my pinky and pointer fingers I painted one coat of Zoya Avery and while it was still wet I dipped my nails in some black beads from Finger Paints.  I think it's called Sweet Tooth.  They were available at Sally's a while ago but I haven't seen them recently.

So yeah!  That's my quick, fun mani that I got to wear for about 2 hours before all the beads fell off.  lol  That's just what happens I guess.

Rainbow Gradient?! Yes, Please!

Yes you read it right!  I have a full on rainbow on my nails tonight.  I have been wanting to do a vertical gradient for awhile but I didn't just want to do the same colors on each nail so I decided to use them all.  I mean, why not?!  Rainbows are fun!

Here it is!  It's super bright and I love it.  I think it's so fun and quirky...like me!  I don't really think I need to explain how I did it seeing as how almost everyone knows how to create a gradient by now.  I didn't do the sponge method though.  I just did it using the polish brushes.

As you can see some of the colors didn't blend as well as I had hoped like neon green and teal blue on my middle finger, but whatever!  You can't tell me that it looks bad.  lol  I did this entire mani over a white base if you were wondering how they all got so bright.  I had too since three of them are jellies.

Are you ready for the list of polishes I used?  It's long.  There are ten of them.  The reason for there being ten is that I used all these same polishes on my toes (which you will see below so if you don't like feet then don't read any further than the polish list) for an ombrè pedicure. 

WHAT I USED:
Orly Oh Cabana Boy - pink
popBeauty Ablaze - neon orange
OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? - orange
Spoiled Did I Dye It Too Blonde? - yellow
China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard - lighter neon green
China Glaze Kiwi Cool-ada - darker neon green
butterLONDON Slapper - teal
China Glaze Blue Sparrow - blue
China Glaze Creative Fantasy - darker purple
China Glaze Señorita Bonita  - lighter purple

Next is my pedi pic...look away if you aren't a foot person (who really is a foot person though).  I promise they aren't bad.  (:

Thanks for checking in tonight.  I had so much fun doing this mani and you better believe I'm going to stamp over this.  lol

Orly Rock the World

This evening I have a pretty little polish that I got in a swap a while ago.  I didn't think I would like it because it was a substitute for Orly Oui which I really wanted.  This turned out to be totally amazing.

Rock the World is a reddish plum kind of color.  It could go either way.  On me it pulls very red, but I've seen it look very purple on other bloggers.  I guess it's just my lighting, but it looks right to me compared to what I see IRL.  It also has a super strong gold shimmer which I love but is so difficult to get off.

So that's all.  I figure if I do a swatch every other day and then nail art in between you all will be happy.  Right?!  (:

My Week at a Glance 2.24 - 3.2

The end of the week is here and now for a little recap.  This week was a tough one for me personally, but all is well now.  I look forward to the upcoming week.

My first post of the week was my favorite.  Zoya PixieDust swatches!

Sticking with the the textured theme, I showed you the new OPI sand What Wizardry Is This?

After a short 2 day break, I came back and bright and revisited Orly Hot Shot This is one of my first blog posts a long time ago, but now that I know how to take a proper photo, you all get a much better look at it.  (:

Yesterday's post was a look at the brand new Modern Beauty Julep Maven box.  I was pretty pleased with this one.

This week the blog had it's ups and downs, but I'm back on my polish game.  Oh and I started a new workout regimen and meal plan.  I'm determined to lose 40lbs!  (:

Orly Hot Shot Revisited

So today was a good day and then it wasn't anymore.  I thought I was okay, but I'm not really.  So I'll just give you a quick post tonight.

Orly Hot Shot is a super punchy pink crelly.  It's showing up a lot darker than it is, but I couldn't get it to come out.  It's a little more pink then it's showing, but it's just as neon.  I used 3 coats for full opacity.

Sorry I'm not more into it, but I hope you all understand.  /:

Pinterest Week Day 4

So today is not my favorite day because my recreation of the chosen mani is terrible.  I thought it would be easier, but it wasn't.  It didn't help that I was sleepy and rushing a little.  I know better than to start my mani at 8pm when bedtime for me 9pm.  I'm 27 but like an old person.  I love to get in the bed early, watch my shows, and then just drift to sleep.  Not stay up doing nails.  lol

Day 4: Dressed Up Nails
MY PIN HERE
ORIGINAL POST HERE

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the mani, but I'll just give you a quick rundown.  Whitney from Dressed Up Nails used this design for the Geometric Challenge on triangle day.  She incorporated the triangles over the glitter on the middle finger and thumb.

Like I said I thought this would be easier to recreate, but I was a little shaky so my lines are not straight and they came out very thick as opposed to Whitney's thinner, cleaner lines.  I'm still trying to get the hang of nail art brushes and freehanding designs.

WHAT I USED:
Color Club Blushing Rose - pink
Orly Snowcone - blue
pop Gold Glitz

This is the original manicure by Whitney of Dressed Up Nails.  Hers is much better than mine.  (:

Pinterest Week Day 1

Welcome!  Welcome!  Welcome!

I'm sure you are all wondering what exactly Pinterest Week is.  Well I saw it on Kayla Shevonne's blog sometime last year (I think) and I thought it was a great idea.  The idea is to recreate manis that have been pinned on my Pinterest Beauty board.  I had so many which made it tough to narrow down to only 7, but I think you will really enjoy the one's I chose.

Day 1: My Nail Polish Online

MY PIN HERE

ORIGINAL POST HERE

The original manicure was created using the new OPI Mariah Carey Spring 2013 collection.  Then the blogger added some fun dots and glitter.

Since I don't have the OPI Mariah Carey collection, I used the closest polishes I had.

WHAT I USED:
pinky/pointer - Finger Paints Amethyst Atelier w/ Spoiled Jewelry Heist glitter
ring/thumb - Orly Rock the World w/ Finger Paints Amethyst Atelier dots
middle - OPI Sweet Memories w/ Orly Rock the World dots

I topped it all off with a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite and got some amazing photos.  I also added the original photo from My Nail Polish Online so you can see how my mani compares.

Let me know what you think?  Also if you have any requests of pins from my Beauty board, feel free to leave it in the comments below.  I don't have the whole week planned out yet so you've definitely got a chance to choose something awesome for me.

Orly Oh Cabana Boy

Guess what today is?  My 300th blog post!  WOOOO!  It seems like it took me forever to get to 300 and now I have 300+ to go!  I wish I has something better planned for you all considering this tiny milestone, but unfortunately I don't.  I didn't even realize it until about 5 minutes ago.  lol

I do have this lovely Orly polish though.  This is 3 coats of Oh Cabana Boy, and I freaking love it!  I never thought I would like it considering I don't like pink that much, but I can't get enough of it.  I've worn it for about 3 days now and in nail blogger world, that's a long time.

I'm not sure if I love the neon and brightness of it or that surprise flash of purple.  If it didn't have that I may not like it as much.  Then it would be just plain pink...ugh!  I wanted to do some nail art with this, but I still can't bear to cover it up.  Until next time I guess.