Christmas NOTD: peppermint nails

I'm such a terrible blogger! I guess I just haven't felt very inspired lately. I'm not to proud of these..I really wanted to to a swirly peppermint water marble but I just couldn't get what I wanted, so I just started randomly marbling. Some looks better than others so bare with me..

I did this one first..my index, middle, and ring turned out very much white + red..and the rest started looking more like those cinnamon peppermints...pink, red, and white! haha..

Sometimes I liked these...sometimes I hated them...Just wanted to let you guys know that I'm not dead.. I should have another post up sometime today. One that I actually like!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
xo,
B

Holiday Nails: Candy Canes

Hey guys and dolls!
I'm baaaack! And I come bearing a single holiday mani. Sorry for the serious lack of updates. It's not always easy to make time for elaborate mani's during school, especially at the end of the semester - lots of Insta-dri and glitter is involved! So I'll try to get a few posted before I go back! I didn't think this would turn out as well as it did..but I'm actually really happy with it. I'm kind of in love..

What I used:
China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses as a base
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White Out for the whites of the candy canes
Isa Dora True Red (I think) for the stripes, with
China Glaze Ruby Slippers over the Isa Dora to add some sparkle to the red

I really dig this mani... hope you all do too!

xo,

B

mobile death-by-toilet & NOTD: Extra-va-vaganza!

First off, sorry for lack of updates. I've been busy with school lately, and will continue to be until after finals I'm sure. I try to change my polish at least weekly, and I think I've been diong that!

So this week, *eeek* I sported OPI Extra-va-vaganza from the Holiday 2010 Burlesque collection. Pictures aren't great, but what can I say. Check out Scrangies swatches. It's an orange-y glitter with silver, and a tiny bit of green in it. I've tried to decipher what colors are actually in these polishes...it literally gives me a headache. They're just so sparkley!

sun

indoors

In other, non-sparkley news, I dropped my phone in the toilet the day before yesterday. I think my cat-like reflexes might have saved it - kind of. I've heard the story of death-by-toilet plenty of times, but never could grasp the concept of HOW it actually happened. Well, now I know the story allll too well. So, luckily, I had insurance on my phone, so I just have to pay a deductible which is just a fraction of the price of a new phone. So, I waited a few hours, tried to dry it out, and eventually came to the conclusion that it was a goner and filed a claim. (I came to this conclusion because although my first death by toilet, not my first death-by-water.) Well, the next morning I woke up, and my phone was working almost perfectly - as opposed to the night before, it was completely unresponsive to any touch other than the physical buttons. (By the way, it's a Samsung Vibrant/Galaxy S). Along with finding that my phone had not truly "seen the light" I also found the new one on the front porch. (Already! I know!) So, I thought about shipping the new one back, but after using my phone, I'm finding that some of the "keys" don't work right. When I type "n" it turns into "bn" or "m" and periods are, "b.c." Which really sucks, because I was stoked about getting a $130 refund!

Oh well, I'll give it until tonight and see what happens.

By the way, my first one drowned in my backpack due to a faulty water bottle lid and a backpack that was apparently VERY waterproof. Hahah! Does anyone else have a sad/funny story about their mobile devices? Any more toilet accidents?

I'll try to do another mani tonight/this weekend for "Thanksgiving" kind of, and I'll post it ASAP.

<3

Britt

Nail of the week

Since I'm chipping, I thought I'd make this post before changing my polish

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

blogger layout help - double posting

I thought the layout I had was making my posts show double..apparently now. How do I fix it guys? Help!

Two NOTD's

Hey guys and gals!

I haven't had much time to do any interesting mani's, but this is what I have done!

(All pictures can be clicked to enlarge!)

China Glaze Medallion gradient:

I had to change my polish but didn't have time for anything elaborate, so I did a simple gradient that I kind of have been wanting to do for a while.I think this is three coats - one from cuticle to tip, one from about halfway to tip, and one just at the tip. Some turned out better than others but I really liked this mani! I picked up CG Medallion at Sally's clearance bin and I'm glad I did! (Click to enlage - look at those gorgeous holo hexagonal glitters!)

The Show Must Go On + leopard lace:

I absolutely love this polish. I love this WHOLE collection. I couldn't capture this polish in it's entirety, but you can see some of the duo-chrome-iness on my index finger. In some lights it's a hot magenta-raspberry color, some lights it's an orange-bronze, and in most light, it's a beautiful foil-y red. I was iffy about it at first, but now I don't want to take it off...I keep staring at it! I also used CG Gr8 to stamp with m57..I really like this mani too (: I just wish the could showed up brighter!

And this is some of the things I've picked up/received recently:

OPI: Sparkle-icious, Extra-Va-Vaganza!, Glow Up Already!, Show It and Glow It!, The Show Must Go On, China Glaze: Frosty, Mistletoe Kisses

Did I mention that I LOVE OPI's Burleque collection? I love glitter, and these are suuuch beautiful glitters. I love glitters in a clear base that can be brought to opacity. At first, I was only going to get Show It and Glow It, and then ended up getting five of them. I also would like a couple more of the shimmers from the collection.
These are the only colors I was really interested in from CG Naughty or Nice Holiday collection. I don't know how much I love this green just yet but I'll have some fun xmas mani's with it!

Hope you guys enjoyed - sorry I've been so dead lately! School keeps me on my toes. (:

xo,
B

A rechargeable flat-iron...whaaaaaat?! [giveaway]

Andrea over at Black nail polish and lip gloss is hosting a giveaway for this cool flat-iron! (by Kymaro)

Go put your name in the basket! Many will enter, few will win ;)

NOTD: Quickie!

Hey guys!

I've been busy so I haven't taken out much time to do a fun creative mani. I began by just painting my nails with CG's Jitterbug (that has been sitting, calling my name for my untrieds stash) and that got boring fast (even though it's a great color!) so I added some nail..confetti..thingies..

 

And me:

(:

Also, I think my nails are about to get a bit shorter. I'm tired of the edges breaking. I'll even them out, and if they grow out nicely, they do, if not, I'm okay with 'nubbins' ;)

Until next time,
xo,
B

Katrina's nailblog giveaway!

WOOHOO Giveaway!

I have a question about acrylics?

I want to do some 3D nail art, and I was looking on ebay for some acrylic powder and decided I wanted the glitter. Can you just use regular glitter? Or is it a special kind of glitter?
If you know the answer, or any other tips on acrylics/3d nail art, please tell me!
Thank you!

ps this is the glitter that I'm looking at.

oh yeah! and do I need that special acrylic brush like this one since I'm just doing the molds? Or can I just use any brush?

[boring] Halloween Mani!

I needed something rather quick and simple because studying for my BONES was my main priority. Soo I got some one-coater black, and some purple glitter, and this is what I got:

 It started out as being a purple glitter french tip, and ended up, what was supposed to be, a glitter gradient. It's boring, but I like it!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out (one-coater for the win)
Coastal Scents glitter - purple punch (I think)
Posh Top Coat (for top coat, and a sticky glitter base)

Thanks for looking!

xox
Britt

happy birthday to meee...

I turned 20 today. (:

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I'm thinking of reshaping my square nails into almond shaped nails - what do you guys think? Im not rough on my hands at all but I seem to have problems with chipping the square edges and having to start over. Plus I think the almond shape is really pretty!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

more new followers!

I don't know how long it will continue to be truly exciting when I get new followers. This time I believe that thank yous are in order for Scandalous! So thanks (: Her posts are always fun to read!
Oh and anyone who was having issues with leaving comments, I changed it to a pop-up window and nixed the word verification so let me know if there are still problems!
And to my new followers, I tried to follow all of your blogs that I could tell you had, so if I missed ya, just let me know!

So last night my mom said she would be me a few bottles of polish for my birthday, so I got CG's Mistletoe Kisses, CG's Frosty, and OPI's Show It & Glow it. Now I'm reeeeeeally wishing I would have also asked for OPI's The Show Must Go On...soo if anyone wants to send me that for my birthday that would be awesome (: Oh and PS my birthday is on Sunday...yep, Halloween! (: I don't even have a cool mani because I've been busy with homework so I haven't had time to do my nails...right now they're completely naked, and very, very sad. ):

Anywayy, I need to get back to studying BONES, trying to get a mani in, and fixing my shirt that I'm going to wear for Halloween (:

Until next time,
xo,
Britt

Swatches: Ulta Cocktail Hour

Hey guys and dolls!

I picked these up at the checkout counter when I was in Ulta the other day. I apologize ahead of time that the swatches are just nail wheel swatches but I have a ton of studying that needs to get done and I wanted to go ahead and get this up.
I don't think that all of these colors are necessarily unique - but they ARE really pretty. They are mini-bottles, not full size. The formula was good, and I also liked the brush. They could have been opaque in one thick coat if you play your strokes right. ;) But these are all opaque in two coats, no doubt. They almost have a semi-matte finish when they dry, which they are pretty with no top coat, but after adding a coat of SecheVite, WOW. Sooo pretty. The top coat makes the glitter really pop.
So without further ado, here is Cocktail Party:
(all are clickable for full-size)


From left-to-right: Rasberry Mojito, Cranberry Martini, Sangria, Blue Kamikaze, Black Russian

 

with top coat

no top coat

with top coat

No top coat

with top coat

Light Rasberry packed with silver glitter.

no top coat

with top coat

Cranberry Martini - a light cranberry color packed with silver glitter.

no top coat

with top coat

Sangria - a hotttt pink packed with silver glitter. I think this might be my favorite! It seems to appear a bit more orange in these pictures than in real life. 

no top coat

with top coat

Blue Kamikaze - I love the name of this one! It's a bright, almost dark blue packed with silver glitter. I don't own much blue polish but I'm really loving this one.

no top coat - seems a bit glossier than the others, don't you think?

with top coat

Black Russian - A basic black packed with silver glitter - although not terribly unique, and quite comparable to my last swatch, Sinful Colors Secret Admirer, in certain light it seems to have some very sparse blue glitter in it. I noticed this the most when I was painting it.  Maybe I'm seeing things though..hahha.

Like I said, not terribly unique. But I still really like them, and except for Black Russian, I don't have any dupes, or near-dupes, of these colors.

All in all, I'm glad I purchased this. If anything, it made my bad day a little better! Ha. And the more I look at them, the more I like them.

I'll be glad to answer any questions that you have, also, here is the link for my photobucket album of these, there are more swatches to be found there.

Now for studying bones and hopefully getting around to fixing this awful mess that is on my nails right now.

Thanks again to the ever so lovely Katrina for getting me two new followers (: <3 If you're not already following her....where have you been!? GO GO GO!

xo,
B

EXCITEDD! survey/award, and love for Katrina

First off, I want to thank Katrina for tagging me in a post and getting me TWO new followers! Now I have a total of 8 and can't tell you how special that makes me feel (:
Second, I've been quite inactive on here because of the content of my school workload lately. I have a bone practical on Monday that I definitely wasn't expecting so soon, and the following Wednesday I have the module test and it's very important that I get an A in this class! Having new followers is really pushing me to make time for my blog though. But, school is first ):

So, since I was tagged, heres this:

I'm pretty sure that Katrina's google translation is correct: "I love your blog!"

(:
I will also tag nine people.



1. Why did you create the blog?
I was following so many, and really getting into doing my nails, so I thought, why not. If it's a success, great, if not, it's still mine. (:

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?
Lots of nail blogs and a couple of skin care/makeup blogs.

3. Do you have a favourite make-up brand?
Uhmmm, I own a lot of Urban Decay products (eyeshadow palettes) so I guess I could call that my favorite. But I also love Coastal Scents, and my favorite/go-to mascara is from CoverGirl.

4. And a favourite clothing brand?
Not really, I love shopping at Kohl's so Elle, Lauren Conrad, Apt 9 are up there. But I don't shop for brands, I just shop for things I love.

5. What make-up products is essential for you?
A good concealer for those bad-skin days, LashBlast Mascara, and right now, Urban Decay's Naked lipstick.

6. What’s your favourite colour?
Purple, purple, and every shade in between. (: I'm also a fan of oranges and greens.

7. What’s your favourite perfume?
Viva La Juicy.. (:

8. What’s the film you liked the most?
Mmmm, there's a lot. Fight Club.

9. What countries would you like to go?
Ireland, UK, anywhere! (: Oh and Canada!

Now I have to give it to 10 bloggers;

1. The Manicured Manatee  - This woman has a seriously great sense of humor. And she has beautiful nails!
2. Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss - She has crazy long nails! 
3. The Daily Nail! - she did a different manicure every day for a WHOLE year! So talented.
4. Glammed up - She does some really cool, unique design.
5. Scandalous - the one and only. I really enjoy reading her posts as much as I love her nails!
6. Miss80Million - Cool, unique designs - she also has a youtube channel!
7. Lacquer Laine - my second stop for swatches!
8. My Simple Little Pleasures - Does some amazing water marbles - and has a youtube channel with lots of tutorials!
9. The Kronicles of a Konad-er - Does some amazing designs, also is great with makeup!
10. You've Got Nail - swatches and reviews galore!

Now I need to get back to my homework... (:

there's good news...and there's bad news..

Bad news..I broke a nail today and I think it's the SAME nail that I broke a couple of weeks ago, and was just grown back and all of my nails were even. NOT ANYMORE. It seems like only my middle finger nails are more brittle than the rest..which doesn't even SOUND reasonable, but it's true. They also grow different from the rest, they kind of seem to.. "flare out" when they're long..but they were just looking great. ): Also, I'm wearing a manicure that I'm not terribly happy with, but do not have to time to change right now. I have a few busy weeks ahead of me so I'll post when I can, promise.

Good news...I got some new polishes. Well..I'm always getting new polishes, but not many that I swatch or anything because bloggers like Scrangie have way better swatches way before I would ever get them up! But I got a ULTA collection called, "Cocktail Party" I think. I just swatched them on a nail wheel and they're really pretty. I'm not sure if they're all terribly unique, but they're unique to me. And again, really pretty! I haven't seen anything about it so when I get a chance I might do a post about all of them. Also, I'll post the mani I'm wearing now when I get a chance.

Until we talk again,
Britt

[edit]
Oh! PS! I got some water decals that I purchased from eBay in the mail yesterday...I will review them as soon as I get a chance!

Sinful Colors - Secret Admirer

Hey guys!
I'm so excited about my "6" followers you wouldn't believe! (: Aaaanddd as not to completely leave you all hanging, I've swatched and reviewed the polish that I'm wearing right now. This is my first ever swatch & review! :P

So here it is,
Sinful Colors - "Secret Admirer"

A gorgeous "gunmetal grey" with silver glitter. I picked this up after seeing a swatch of it on You've Got Nail - here.

This is a good fun "black" polish! It's my first "Sinful Colors" polish - I am so floored by the quality of these dirt cheap polishes! The brush was kind of strange at first because the bristles seem shorter than usual, but I have NO complaints, it works really well, I'd go as to even saying I like it better than most brushes. Consistency is good, opacity is amazing, and I looove this color! The glitter is very fine and not at all chunky but definitely visible. It's also VERY glossy before adding topcoat - I wish I would have gotten a picture of it! It could be opaque in one [good] thick coat, but I did two. Drying time was pretty quick also. I'll definitely be buying MORE and MORE Sinful Colors in the very near future.
I dented this mani a couple of times before it got a chance to dry and I didn't even have to do them over! I just blobbed some more on and it evened out REALLY well. Now that's my kind of polish. I usually am not that lucky haha!
I think I actually did this polish justice as far as color in these swatches. I don't have the best lighting set-up but I'm trying!

I considered doing a stamp over this or something...but I just haven't taken out the time - I might do that this week and I will definitely post it if I do. Probably something Halloween related...I've seriously failed on full-on Halloween mani's this month! Sorry guys!
My birthday is ON Halloween so I'm trying to decide if I want to do a frilly birthday mani, a Halloween mani, or something in between! Suggestions? (Also, I ordered some sugar skull water decals - for super cheap! - from eBay and I will do a post/review as soon as possible, promise)

Again, thank you for following/reading my posts! I appreciate all SIX of my wonderful followers!
<3

Until next time,
muah!

-Bri

Giveaway!

KONADmania now has over 700+ followers and she's showing her thanks by hosting an AWESOME giveaway!

She's giving away some Konad stuff, some other nail stuff, some lip stuff...oh well she's just giving away all kinds of great goodies!
Go check her out and if you're not already following her - well, you just should be!

700+ giveway hosted by KONADmania

NOTD: China Glaze Zombie Zest

Simple mani with my current favorite polish! I live this color! It's unique... To say the least. (:

Xo,
B

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2

you are gorgeous!

thanks so muchness! xx

Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions.

Halloween Mani #1 - Ick-a-bod-y + spiders!

After visiting Sally's and finally picking up all of the Awakening Collection, I had to do a Halloween inspired mani.  This month, I'm not sure how many I can manage, but I'm going to try to do several Halloween mani's, maybe one BCA! (:

Drumroll please... (all images are clickable!)

Sunlight

Shade - you can kind of see the spider web I tried to put on my ringer finger! It does not show up at all in person!

artificial light

What I used:
[Orly] French tip guides (because I couldn't have done it without them!)
China Glaze - Ick-a-bod-y (3 coats)
Image plate: BM13
Konad Special Polish in Black Pearl
Seche Vite and China Glaze fast forward (see why below)
Nail Tek F.III
Seche Clear

I've been noticing shrinkage with Seche Vite causing annoying and fast tip wear. I read that someone tried CGFFTC and didn't have any "shrinkage" so I'm going to try using that for a while and see if I notice a difference. Also, for my 'usual' base coat, I use two coats of Nail Tek Foundation III and one coat of Seche Clear. I'm not sure if it makes a different but that's just how I do it!

How I achieved this!:
First I did my "usual" basecoat and let that completely dry before aligning my french tip guides. (obviously, skipping my ring finger..not necessary) After about 5-8 minutes I aligned my guides and secured the edges so they wouldn't snag any of my work. I then paitiently painted three coats of Ick-a-bod-y on my visible tips. I gave that a good 10-15 minutes to dry as to not ruin them! (There was a little bit of sticky residue from the guides so I put one coat of Seche Vite as to not have issues when stamping.) Note: when I slowly removed the guides, the polished lifted a little bit, but when I completely removed each guide, I simply pressed down on the polished and painted another coat of Seche Vite. Perfection. I then used KWP Black Pearl to due the little spiders at a slight angle, slapped on some more top coat, and done! (I originally left the ring finger for a full design of a spider web, but later decided I didn't want to put white polish over this gorgeous color.)
(I only added this little how-to to talk about the drying time of the polish and the tip guides)

I think this is by far my favorite mani so far. It's so fun and OMG this polish is soo sparkly. I can't wait to see it glitter in the sunlight! (as I step outside to take pictures above....) So you can sort of see my attempted spider web on my ring finger! I guess the silver I used (CG Platinum silver?) wasn't quite bright enough to overcome ick-a-bod-y, and I thought white would have overwhelmed it. Anyway, I'm SUPER happy with the outcome!

I'm off to do my homework now! Leave comments, suggestions, and show me your halloween manicures!
xo,
-B

name-change

I know I only have 2 followers as of now, but just stating that I'm unfixed on a proper blog title yet. I decided, "nails, nails, nails" was pretty lame and am still unsure how I let myself go public with that. So for now, it's hocake-nails (:

xo,
B

2 KOTD's: leopard and anchors

I'm obviously not to swift on catchy names at the moment, ha.

I sported this one last week:

Do me a solid and pretend my tip-wear isn't absolutely horrendous? I took this ONE day into my mani, what can I do to avoid so much tip-wear? /:

What I used:
OPI Glitzerland as a base
China Glaze Swing my Way sponged with cosmetic wedge
Image plate m57 using Konad special polish in black pearl
Nailtek foundation III, seche clear, topped with seche vite top coat

I love this one and got lots of compliments on it. It was fun to wear until I broke..I was so upset! But it'll grow out soon enough.

And todays KOTD:

again, pretend I wasn't being lazy and rushing through it. I know they're upside down, but when I flipped the picture it was just really awkward looking, ha.

What I used:
China Glaze Calypso Blue
Image plate bm08 w/ Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White (so great for stamping, and multi purpose!)
and I used some scotch tape to get straight lines for the tips.
I didn't really want to go all frenchy, I just like the look of the tips like this.

This one is for my boyfriend..he's in the Navy on deployment. I miss him loads..I think even he could appreciate this one :P
After this, it will be all Halloween mani's until October is over! I'll try to post new ones as much as possible, but school takes up all of my time! So inconvenient! I can't wait to do some Halloween ones though, I've seen some other nail bloggers and wow, so cute. Here are a few of my favs:

"Halloween Witch Mani" by Polish & Konad - my all-time second follower and one of my favorite nail bloggers!

"Halloween Spider Web Mani" by Polish & Konad - another one by her, I can't wait to get the China Glaze Awakening Collection...my local Sally's is supposed to get this in and have it on the shelves tonight or tomorrow...guess where I'll be going very soon? That green...to die for. I've raved about this collection enough...hahah.

"Spider Web Halloween Mani" by Enamal Girl - another favorite blogger.. so cute! I wish I had a little of your creativity...


That's all for now, until next time, muah!
xo,
B

I don't know how much longer I can wait for this..

I know I can purchase online... but if I can skip the s&h I'll be better off! Ha! The only color that I'm really craving is Zombie Zest...I neeeed that green. I heard this was a Ulta exclusive...then I heard that it's actually a Sally's exclusive. I hope it is at Sally's because I get a coupon every month.

I have a NOTD for you all that I'll post tomorrow, I haven't gotten to take a picture yet. It's my fav mani though so far I'm almost sure.

xo

B

A Scandalous giveaway!

Scandalously Polished is doing a wicked awesome 666 giveaway! Follow link for the deets!

A wicked little giveaway

Guys,

I just broke the side of my nail...awesome ):

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Giveaway!

Prim and Polished is giving away TWO gorgeous Lippman polishes! Go check it out!

click here!

Punky Prepster

Items Used:
NailTek Foundation III
Seche Clear Base Coat
Orly Cashmere Sweater for base
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind for stamping
Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Celeb City for stamping
Konad Plate: m13 (halloween plate, skull) , m03 (bows)
Pink and Clear Rhinestones from eBay

My edges always lift when I put more than two coats of Seche Vite...why is that? /:

Hope you enjoy! No thumb because it looked terrible! And the silver bows didn't show up very well! But overall I think it turned out cute! Leave comments, ask questions!
xo,
-B

past mani's...

So I have no excuse as to why I haven't been updating. So here's a few past mani's..
[note: there have actually been way more than this]

One of my favorite konadicures NOT true to color...I'm still figuring out the settings on my camera /: This is Essie Knockout Pout and as you probably know it is a light neon pink. Stamped with a BM plate with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White. This didn't last long because I was experimenting with base coats, I used Orly Tough Cookie and my nail polish slid right off before the night was over. I was so upset.
Also, please excuse my funky cuticles, the Insta-Dri's are so pigmented that they can get rather messy. And at this point I was very frustrated with it, ha.

Just a NOTD and my current favorite red, Essie Lollipop:

My current, not so interesting NOTD:

Halley's Comet stamping with Color Club Worth the Risque using Konad plate M66

Please excuse the 3-4 days of tip wear. I feel like it's sort of an unusual amount of tip wear, any suggestions? /:

So this color is amazing. I wish that I had something light green and glittery/holo-y to stamp with, like China Glaze L8r G8r..I think that would have been really pretty.

Apparently I've lost some photos of past mani's, so I'm sorry! I will be trying to do manis/konadicures weekly and will post them closer to the time when I actually do them. With school, I'm sure I'll have plenty of excuses to post things late. Also, if I do have any readers, let me know what you want to see! I can also post makeup looks if you would be interested, they will just be EOTD type looks.
Hope you all enjoy!
Kisses!

-B
PS- I CUT my nails the other day, because I was in a hurry and wanted to file them down quite a bit so they could grow healthier and I'm soooo mad that I clipped them instead of just taking the time to file them down. Now they're mostly uneven and shaped weird! Sorry about it!