GO BLACKHAWKS!

So the Chicago Blackhawks are now up 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals! WOO HOO!

Base: OPI - Alpine Snow
Stripes: LA Colors Art Deco in Red Glitter and Black

Sorry I didn't include the pointer. He had a huge chip by the time I got around to taking a pic of this.

Logo:

• China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky
• LA Colors Art Deco - Red Glitter
• BB Couture - Poison Ivy
• LA Colors Art Deco - Black
• Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen - Black (for the outline)

Have a great day!
-Elaine
:c)

New House Key

This is a cute mani I did the other day. I started with what may be my favorite white: Color Club - Oooooo La La. It is a clean white, but has a pearl finish making it far more wearable than a white out white. Next I added a coat of LA Colors - Silver Glitter. That looked rather awesome but then I added one more touch: a gradient of rhinestones to my ring finger in pinks, blues and green.

And where did I pull the inspiration for this mani from? That is where the goofy name of this post comes in. It seriously was inspired by a new key I got cut. It is white with silver glitter and rhinestones! >>>

Isn't that adorable? It is much easier to figure out what key you need when you're fumbling in the dark after a few cocktails...

What do you think?
-Elaine
:c)

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

I am super in love with my mani, but super upset that pics do not capture its awesomeness. The problem lies in the fact that I used neons (China Glaze - Poolside specifically) for this mani and we all know how hard it is to photograph them. The neon glow and brightness doesn't translate to digital pics, but I will try to explain as we go.
:c)

I started with a base of pure white creme. This allowed me to do less coats of the neon and really made the color pop. Next I painted two coats of China Glaze - Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Holy cow is that bright! Super neon, hi-liter yellow. I wore this out to see friends the other day and in dim lighting my girlfriend asked if it glowed in the dark! Nope, just super neon!

For the dots, I knew I would be using three different colors and wanted them to look random which actually takes some calculating. To make sure I got the pattern right, I used my polka dot image from Konad plate M79 with white polish first on all the nails. Then I went over the dots with a dotting tool and China Glaze Sun Worshiper, Pool Party and Flip Flop Fantasy.

Besides the fact that my pics don't show off the neonness, they show some white around the dots where I didn't necessarily cover my white base dots fully, but in real life I swear you don't see it. I am staring deep into the dots on my hands and I don't see the white spots. It's like this:

See what I mean? But it actually looks really cute and bright in real life. I hope you can picture it in all its glory!

Have a great Sunday!
-Elaine

Rebel Debutante Swatches - Spring 2010

Hello all! I went ahead and got myself the 7-piece set of one of Color Club's newest releases: The Rebel Debutante Collection. I didn't get the blue and neon green though. It's so weird they released a collection of 7 + 2. I know it's been done, but I couldn't resist swatching all of these for you. I can't let a whole collection (sort of) keep from being swatched and posted.

Who Are You Wearing? - I love shades like this! It's a soft, slightly gray, white creme. The only drawback was that I had to do 4 coats of it and it still looks a bit streaky.

High Society - This is a "greige" creme. I like the look of it a lot and it's a great alternative to Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up In Vegas which I compared here. It's on the thin side though and needed three coats.

Best Dressed List - I really liked the look of this tan in the bottle but I don't find it flattering on my nails. :c( Too bad. It reminds me of a baby deer. This is two coats.

Charity Ball - I was so excited to get this shade. I love an odd polish color and this one definitely is. Question was, though, is it going to be ugly-pretty or just plain ugly once I got it on? Well I can say that I love it on me! It's so odd but works. This is three coats.

Uptown Girl - Dusty, grayed purple. Always chic. This is two coats.

She's So Glam - I don't normally go for pinks and definitely not Barbie, bubblegum pinks like this, but I have to admit the truth: I really like my nails in this. This is three coats.

Ms. Socialite - And my favorite! This is a very rich, red sided purple creme and I love it! This swatch is two coats. It has the best application of all these shades too. Very smooth, pigmented and easy to apply.

So overall I can say that this isn't the most exciting collection ever. I wasn't jumping up and down over it's release like some collections, especially Color Club collections, but I do like almost all the shades. I think they make a nice addition to my collection and they are all pretty chic and work safe at the same time. The formula is on the thin side, but manageable.

What do you think?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ah, my favorite day of the year. This is seriously my favorite holiday. I'm not even Irish. I just love it!

Check out the mani I did for you guys today:

I started with a coat of Ilalmasqua - Whack, my favorite orange creme. Then I used re-enforcer stickers to hide the lower portion of my nail and painted the rest with Rescue Beauty Lounge - Underwear to get the half-moon mani.

Next, I used Konad plate M22 and Konad special polish in green to stamp the clovers. I did this before my tips because I figured it would be easier for me to make a mistake on the clovers than on the french tip and would hate to do more work than I had to if I made a mistake and had to start over.

Lastly I painted the tips with Illamasqua - Elope and topped it all off with Seche Vite.


Erin Go Bragh!

Dinosaur Eggs

Hi everyone! I am trying to post this quickly because I really need to lay down (headache ): )

This is a mani I did a while back with all of the Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure Colors I showed you here.

Lavender Cloud, Yellow Kitty, Commander in Chic

Gray by Gray, Thinking of Blue, Plum Luck

And a few more bottle pics:

See you tomorrow with something great!

Laine's Official Valentine's Day Manicure

So this is my final V-Day creation (maybe. We still have a couple days. I could always change my mind...) and I have been wearing it since Tuesday night. I don't know if it'll hold up until Sunday but that's alright. The point is that I get to share it with you.

So I went for a half moon manicure. I mean, are you honestly surprised?! I can't get enough of them!

I started with a base of white creme. I chose Rescue Beauty Lounge - Underwear. Then I used reinforcer stickers to hide the bottom portion and painted the rest of the nail with Color Club - Art of Seduction (fitting name for V-Day!) When I removed the sticker I added the triangular, red rhinestones to the moon with a little dab of top coat. If I had little red hearts, I probably would have used them but I just had red triangles, red circles, or yellow hearts. No match! Then I finished with a coat of Seche Vite top coat. It reminds me of the classic red halfmoon manicure, but with a twist:

Photo Courtesy of Vintage Style Files

Have a lovely weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day no matter what you do!

New Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Swatches

Remember how I said Sally Hansen came out with new polishes and I had some to share? Well today is the day I am sharing! It's the new line that has been popping up: Complete Salon Manicure. First off, I love the bottles. They are 0.5 oz but they feel much bigger. They are huge and have a lot of glass making them pretty heavy. They are awesome! The base of the bottles are square, but going up in gets round. And there is a band of rubber on the top for ease of opening and holding while painting. Genius!

Yellow Kitty - Awww! Isn't this adorable!? That is exactly what I think when I look at this. This is a pale yellow cream. Not as bold and creamy as say BB Couture - Little Deuce Coupe, and not as jelly as Rescue Beauty Lounge - Squarepants. It's right in between. This went on pretty well for a yellow, but I did 3 coats still to make sure it was even. Do you think the name is a play on "Hello Kitty"? I wonder...

Thinking Of Blue - I love this color... SO MUCH! I had it on Friday and while at the dermatologist in the waiting room, I heard one of the ladies at the front desk say to the other "her nails are gorgeous". Aw! Awesome! This is a dark blue creme, but it isn't navy. It has a drop of purple, but I wouldn't call it blurple. I think it's indigo. Yup. That is what I am going with. I hear this is similar or maybe identical to Sephora by OPI - Blue Grotto, but I don't have it to compare. Sorry! This swatch is 2 coats.

Commander in Chic - Hottness. This is in that mushroom, brown-taupe catergory, and I can't believe it, but I think this is my first like this. Except maybe OPI - You Don't Know Jaques Matte. But that is matte. I don't have a regular creme like this. This swatch is three coats, but I did very, very thin coats. You could probably do two.

Gray by Gray - This name kills me! Does this look gray to you? NO! It is blue. A gray-ISH slate, blue. But it's very pretty regardless. It is reminding me of the new Spring release from RBL, 360. We'll have to see how they match up someday. This swatch is 2 coats.

Plum Luck - This is a plum creme. I don't have much more to say than that! Plum. Pretty. 3 coats.

Lavender Cloud - This looks white, I know. It is. Ha Ha! It has the ittiest, bittiest bit of lavender. It's like if you took one big fluffy cloud and added one drop of purple to it for the whole cloud. You can hardly tell. I made a comparison swatch next to a real white so that you can see it isn't pure white:

Lavender Cloud on the left and OPI - Alpine Snow on the right.

And I scanned the brochure I picked up at the drugstore so you can see what new colors there are:

PS - These have the same tapered brush as Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri polishes with the big, flat wand:
Have a lovely and relaxing Sunday!

Ride The Khrome Wave

I had a vision for my new China Glaze-Millennium from the Khrome collection. I wanted to use it for metallic tips on a funky french. I was then planning to swirl out the color into a little wave design. I just had to pick something for the base. I was sure I didn't want one solid color. But then what would I use? Two shades? Three? Water marble? Regular marble? Konad? Shimmer? Creme? I didn't know.

I ended up doing a regular marble design. I chose two thick, very opaque cremes to get the job done: Rescue Beauty Lounge - Underwear and Zoya - Pinta. I did a thick stripe of each on half of the nail and while still wet, I took a tooth pick and pulled the colors back and forth between them over the line that separated them. It reminded me of when I used to work in a cake bakery and I swirled yellow and chocolate cake to make marble. That was one of my favorite things to do. It never got old! It was always pretty and amusing. I find joy in simple things I guess!

Anywho, after that I free-handed the tips with China Glaze - Millennium. Then I took a thin paintbrush and carefully made the little wave following the shape of the "smile line", but circling it around. Although I was very pleased, I didn't think the wave had enough emphasis so I outlined it and the tips with a black nail art striper: LA Colors Art Deco in black. And viola! This is my creation!

Neon Pastel Franken Polish

I always see this odd, yellow colored VW Beetle in my neighborhood and I think to myself, "That is a disgusting color for a car. But I would love it on my nails!" Well, that of course sparked the franken bug in me. The cocktail I mixed up probably doesn't really look like the car, since the car probably isn't neon, but the color is so weird, I don't know what it is. It is this weird pale yellow, but also sort of bright? It is hard to describe. I like the idea of making a neon pastel. I really don't know if that even makes sense, but since I did it with the franken I showed you here, by mixing a neon with a white creme, I have wanted to do it with more neons.

This is what I used:


Sally Hansen - All the White Stuff, Essie - Funky Limelight, Hot Topic - Unnamed neon green. I didn't take exact measurements, but if I had to say, my mix was probably
45% - All The White Stuff
30% - Neon Green
25% - Funky Limelight

And here is what it came out as:

I think in real life it's a little more green. I have been calling this mix "V-Dub"! It's one of those colors that you could argue all day with someone about whether it is green or yellow. And I love the starkness from the white creme. It's so bizarre!

What do you think of V-Dub? Do you mix your own colors?

Naughty Nailz 'XX' Collection Swatches

Hello all! Today is day 2 of 3 of my Naughty Nailz posts. I hope you are excited! Today we will be looking at the XX Collection, and like I said yesterday: with each added "X" the names get saucier, so be prepared!

Creamy Climax Dream - Metallic white shimmer. Similar to yesterday's The Big "O", but CCD is more bright white than off white, and it has a metallic, brush-strokey finish, as opposed to TBO's shimmer finish.

Spank Me, I'm Naughty - This is a baby pink metallic, but it looks much more pink in the bottle than on the nail.

Hooker Pink - I love this name and I love this color! If I go for a pink, it is colors like this! Hot pink/fuchsia. This has a hot pink flash to it too that makes it really special.

I'm Not Really A Whore - I love this name too! This is a nice, cool toned, sharp red with a gold shimmer. In the bottle you can see the shimmer is gold and that there is a lot of it, but not so much on the nail. I do still like it though. I chose this as my first official "Naughty Mani".

Left Him Cuffed To The Bed - Shade and sun. This is an awesome color because it is a dark burgundy, but has that jelly quality. That is why it needs a sun and shade pic. You can see how deep and bold the color is in the shade, but in the sun you can see that it has that translucent jelly finish. Really awesome.

Secret Carpet Burn - This is a bold red. Like yesterday's Red Thong In Divorce Court, this is as red as it gets, but has a more jelly end result. It is reminiscent of Essie - Lollipop.

I yet again have to rave for the formula. These babies go on super smooth and are neither too thick nor too thin. They go right where you want them and aren't streaky at all. The only problem children were Creamy Climax Dream and Spank Me, I'm Naughty but they are metallics so they are almost as a rule going to be more difficult to apply, and will have a "brush-strokey" look.

Stay tuned for the finale: the XXX Collection!

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.