mermaid manicure month part 2: ariel in abstract

today's manicure is inspired by everyone's favorite mermaid- ariel, of course. these nails are in honor of those of us who can't draw (ahem). so abstract is definitely the way to go.

index finger: 1 coat wet 'n wild wild shine red red + cheeky xl b plate stamping (6th row, 2nd from L) in revlon copper penny

middle finger: 2 coats nyc fashion safari + born pretty store plate m76 stamping in l.a. colors color craze nuclear energy

ring and pinky fingers: 1 coat l.a. colors color craze sea siren + 1 coat l.a. colors color craze treasure island

aaaand my thumb-

base: 1 coat sally hansen xtreme wear mint sorbet + sinful nail junkie gradient

gold stamping: revlon copper penny

image plate: messy mansion mm21

 the red is supposed to symbolize her hair, the purple stamping is her seashell bra, and the sparkling teal is her tail! get it?? i showed these nails to my mom, and her response was- "how old are you?" well you should know, mom, you were there on my birthday. i think my reply was, "never too old for ariel." and there's nothing more true than that, at least in my book.

and since this is mother's day, i thought i would throw in a gratuitous picture of my baby dressed as a mermaid (this was actually for halloween, so she's much much bigger now!)-

happy mermaid month, and visit again for ocean creatures nails!

mermaid manicure month part 1: pearly shells

as promised, here's the first installment in mermaid manicure month~! i'm soooo excited to be painting and blogging again. i'm also (a little too) excited about these nails-

base color: 2 coats nyc mulberry street
gold stamping: revlon gold coin
image plate: cheeky xl b plate (4th row, last image on the r)
gold shells: daily charme

i looove this! i wanted my nails to look like shells and sea glass on a white sand beach. i was more than a little inspired by hana4's beautiful gem-encrusted designs. in fact, i think her manicures were the reason i wanted to do mermaid manicure month in the first place! and those gold shell charms. . . . you do not know how long i've been hunting those down. i finally found them at dailycharme.com, and i could not be happier! they are just too cute and easy. plus, did i mention gold is my favorite??

revlon gold coin, amuse midnight star, love & beauty turquoise, amuse starry purple, wet 'n wild fergie glamorous

nyc mulberry street

i thought the pearly base coat was a nice touch, reminiscent of oyster pearls from the ocean :P. so basically, i love everything about this. except maybe how long it took to place all those stupid shells and glitter hexes.

stay tuned for more mermaid madness~!

peanut butter jelly time

soooo, after having a baby and everything, i have some extra poundage to get rid of. so i've been dieting (hate diets), and am consequently hungry all the time. so a manicure inspired by food that i can't eat seemed like a good idea.

1 coat nicole by opi purple yourself together

1 coat wet 'n wild fergie glamorous

1 more coat nicole by opi purple yourself together

1 coat love & beauty rust

i really like the look of gold, rust, and purple all together. and purple yourself together is the perfect sheerness to achieve a tasty glitter sandwich. i loved how this made my nails twinkle.

i love inventing glitter sandwiches. the only thing i hate about them, though, is that i always get shrinkage, either at the tip or the cuticle. sooo annoying. i don't know if it's the top coat i'm using, or just how glitter bases react with other polishes painted over top of them. probably the 2nd one. but i'll keep doing sandwiches- they're too much fun!

marine blue

this polish (one of the oldest in my collection) is called marine blue, but it's really more of a neon green. a lot like this one. and boy, is it hard to get a color accurate picture.

base color: 2 coats claire's marine blue

gold glitter: 1 coat salon perfect champagne toast

gold stamping: maybelline color show metallics bold gold

image plate: pueen 27

the last pic is the most accurate, even though my hands are a weird color. this is a pretty shade, but nothing new or innovative. so i had to jazz it up with 2 of my favorite things- gold and holo!

polish purchases: october edition

well hello, remember me? i know it's been a while. . . . i don't really have a good excuse, except that i've been really busy with baby, and have kind of lost interest in nails for a while. *gasp.* but i think i've recovered from my temporary apathy, and i'm back to show you what i bought last month-

opi gargantuan green grape, pinkdipsybulle indian ocean franken, hard candy so so sequin, sinful gilded

sinful gilded ($1.99)- i've been searching for this beauty at many a walgreen's, and finally found it at a rite aid. soooo glad! how beautiful and shimmery is this?

hard candy so so sequin ($4.00)- i need another silver holo glitter like a need extra baby weight, but while shopping at walmart, i was seduced by the sparkle. tale as old as time.

pinkdipsybulle indian ocean franken ($6 + $2.50 s/h)- i looove this polish. it's a gorgeous cornflower blue base with tons of magical magenta shimmer. can't wait to wear this one.

opi gargantuan green grape ($8.99)- wait, didn't i already buy this one? yes i did, but it was a total fake. not even close to the real (amazing) green shade that i wanted. observe-

l: the real gargantuan green grape, r: the imposter

the first one i bought was totally toothpaste, the one on the left is green gorgeousness. the perfect color.

GRAND TOTAL FOR OCTOBER: $23.48

i got 2 big-ticket items that i've wanted for a while, and 2 glittery cheapies that make me smile. all in all, a good month.

amusing glitter

when i was 12, my whole room was decorated in lime burn-your-eyes-out green and turquoise. green has been (and always will be) my favorite color, but i was super into the green & turquoise combo back then. this manicure took me back to my crazy room from thirteen years ago. . . .

2 coats unnamed summer brights polish + 1 coat amuse midnight star + 1 coat wet 'n wild wild shine kaleidoscope

the turquoise glitter top coat had some silver holographic glitter in it, but it wasn't as dense as i wanted. i wanted bright green, turquoise, and in-your-face holo, dangit! so i added my favorite glittery top coat ever, kaleidoscope. now that's more like it.

phew, that was one intense mani. and a total beast to remove. my next manicure is much more subtle and elegant :P.

polish purchases: september edition

well hi. i'm still here, i promise! i've been pretty busy these days- mostly baking for a couple of family birthdays and a friend's baby shower. wanna see what i made?

close to 100 baby shower macarons- cheesecake, white chocolate vanilla, and strawberry cheesecake!

a caramel cheesecake macaron cake for my mom- in her favorite color!

fun, right? aside from all the baking, i also managed to buy a few polishes-

l.a. colors enchanting, la splash embellished, sparkling torpedo, and tailscales

maybelline color show vintage leather lasting lilac and antique teal, hard candy emerald's eve

maybelline color show vintage leather lasting lilac and antique teal ($2.97 each)- i've been looking for this purple one ever since i saw swatches at nouveau cheap. it's a gorgeous red-toned purple with clear flakies! so unique. when i saw it at target, i caved and bought the teal one too. just because :P.

hard candy emerald's eve ($4)- so this is a new glitter from hand candy and i had to have it. i'm such a sucker for holographic gold glitter, and i can't wait to try this over mint green!

l.a. colors enchanting ($4.18)- this has been a long-time lemming of mine. it's supposed to be a dupe of orly fantasea, which is a beautiful purple/red/gold duochrome. when everything at cherry culture was 20% off, i knew it was finally time to snap it up.

la splash embellished, sparkling torpedo, and tailscales ($4.18 each)- la splash is a brand that i've really liked so far (i only have 1 polish- golden seahorse), and was curious about their other glitters. after a quick google images search, i settled on three amazing ones i needed. they all three contain holo glitter, and i can't wait to wear them! plus, i mean, the bottles. i love the shape and the gold cap! so cute.

GRAND TOTAL FOR SEPTEMBER: $26.66

i'm quite pleased with everything i bought this month. no regrets here. sorry i haven't been very regular with postings, but i now have a bunch of saved manicures to show you. to be posted soon!

sunday stamping: glitzy glam

so i'm back from my insane 4-day 1400 mile trip, and me and baby both survived! amazing. it was actually a good thing that i went, because i tackled some mothering obstacles i never thought i would. i've mastered changing a diaper in the back seat of a car, holding a baby and a diaper bag and a purse while walking in heels, nursing in a public restroom, and rocking baby to sleep with one arm while wolfing down mcdonald's with the other. basically, staying at home with a baby all day seems easy compared to traveling with one lol.

anyways, here's what i added to china glaze united to make it lovey-dovey for the wedding, and glitzy glam for the adventures in stamping facebook group-

 base color: 2 coats china glaze united + 1 coat pure ice spit fire

white stamping: sinful snow me white

image plate: pueen 41

yup, i love this combo! all that united needed was some pink holographic glitter on top! sigh, i never get sick of looking at holo glitter. and my #1 rule for a road trip is to add holographic something to your nails so at least you have something pretty to stare at for hours and hours in the car.

even though i don't love heart designs (too cutesy), i really liked this manicure. and i thought it was very appropriate for a wedding (and a road trip!).

united

this is a scheduled post, because i'm on my way to a cousin's wedding in oklahoma right now. that's right, i must be totally insane to make a 12 hour drive with a one month old baby. but i'm going stir crazy at home all the time, so this trip *seemed* like a good idea. and i love weddings- anyone's wedding! i don't care if i know you or not :P. this polish is perfect for a wedding, because it's called united. didn't i tell you it was perfect??

2 coats china glaze united

i took these pictures immediately after applying top coat, and it's already gritty! sigh. united is top coat hungry, for sure. don't worry, i added more later.

this polish looks really similar to the other pink china glaze glitter i have, hello gorgeous!. united, though, has rose and copper glitter thrown in there too, to make it a bit darker. i also think i detect some tiny green glitter in there too (look at the 2nd pic). i think i prefer united, although they're really so similar that you don't need both.

if you're not a fan of the textured (or what i call gross & gritty) look, then don't worry. i'll be showing you some awesome additions to this base color tomorrow!

peach nectar

how about another franken? good, i'm glad you like that idea.

3 coats peach nectar franken

i'm not sure what spurred the idea for a peach jelly polish with purple and gold glitter. but who cares, cause it's awesome! the polishes i used are sally hansen xtreme wear coral reef, milani jewel fx lavender, and sinful pinky glitter, which is one of my favorite iridescent glitter top coats!

i really love frankening glitter jelly polishes. they seriously couldn't be easier. the only problem with them is that i tend to get shrinkage around my cuticles when i apply top coat (see my index finger in the above pics). isn't that weird? it only happens with jelly frankens, not jellies made by an actual company. hmmm. . . . but that's ok, because i still love how delicate and twinkly it is. i call this a frankening success :).

polish purchases: august edition

yes, i somehow still managed to buy a bunch of polish this month, even though i had a baby. i'm both proud and ashamed of myself at the same time. to be fair, i bought all but one item before the baby was born, so there's that.

orly preamp, sally hansen xtreme wear pink-grape fruit, pure ice never satisfied, pure ice over you

beautiful scratchers plate h20

pure ice never satisfied and over you ($2.00 each)- i'm not sure if these are from a limited-edition pure ice collection or not (it's so hard to tell with pure ice), but they were sparkly and $2, so i had to have it! enough said.

sally hansen xtreme wear pink-grape fruit ($2.49)- uhhh, not sure why there's a hyphen in pink-grape fruit. actually, the whole name just confuses me. why not just pink grapefruit? oh well, it's still a pretty polish. this is the only one i bought post-baby. i ran to target to pick up nursing bras and diapers (glamorous, i know), and as a consolation prize for the loss of my youth and freedom, i snatched up this polish near the check-out. it helped. a little.

orly preamp ($6.95)- i've been eying this polish for a while, but never bit the bullet until this month. just like pink-grape fruit, it contains gorgeous pink shimmer, which is the only reason i bought it. i'm really not a pink person by any stretch of the imagination, but this shimmer lured me in. we'll see how i feel about it when i actually wear it.

beautiful scratchers plate h20 ($7)- you know how i've been obsessing over the gold seashell nail jewelry from nail swag? well, i haven't been able to find them anywhere, so i had the genius idea to use a shell stamp instead. smart, right? instead of expensive nail jewelry that will probably fall off and be lost forever, why not use a reusable stamp that can be done in a million different colors? i scoured the internet and finally found what i wanted at a site called beautiful scratchers. they have a lot of fauxnad and other knock-off plates, as well as plates i've never seen before (like plate h20). plus, they have free shipping!

GRAND TOTAL FOR AUGUST: $20.44

amazing that i managed to spend this much and have my first child in the same month, huh? i must be nuts.