Summery Zig Zag

Hey y'all!  So today I have a mani that I did over the summer, while my nails were long. I'd ordered a few things from Born Pretty Store, one of those being chevron nail tape, and decided to just do something random.  Lets get to it.

I wanted something really simple, and easy enough to do on both hands.

The polishes I used are Fresh Paint Guava, China Glaze, Mix And Mingle, and BMC (Bundle Monster) #10.

On the ring finger, I used both purples (Mix And Mingle & #10) to have darker tips before using the tape and a dotting tool to put Guava over the top. I almost didn't add the dots, but I thought the blank space needed something.

For the rest of the nails, Guava was the base color & I just used the purples for dots and gradients.  The 2 purples were sponged on separately, so it almost looks like there's more than one shade.

I liked how this turned out.  It was bright and dark at the same time & I think suited the stiletto shape well.

Atlanta Nail Meetup - Springy Floral Nails & Haul

Hey y'all!  It's been about a year since the last Atlanta Nail Meetup & a few weeks ago we met for lunch and polish shopping.  Since then I've only purchased a few polishes, so I decided to splurge a little. And this year we had more ladies attend the fun! 

We met up for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant, swapped some polishes we wanted to destash, chatted, and had a blast.  Even better is that we're all polish addicts so we all had some beautiful mani's to share.  This is mine....

I kinda winged this & while I wasn't happy with it at first, I'm really starting to love it.  I got so many complements on it too, so I'm glad that I kept it instead of starting over.

The base is a gradient of Fresh Paint Guava and China Glaze Aquadelic (which is also the base on the accent nail). The stem of the flowers is Fresh Paint #Winning.  The flowers are Fresh Paint Honeydew with Color Club Not-So-Mellow Yellow in the center.

The dots on the accent nail are everything except #Winning.  I'm completely obsessed with peaches & aqua shades right now.  And Guava seems kinda washed out in these pictures, this mani is actually a bit more bright in person. 


After lunch we scooted over to a local nail supply store and had some fun. I could have done way more damage than I did, but some of the things I had on my list were out of stock. I actually had to keep reminding myself that I didn't NEED everything I was wanting to toss into my basket. Here's what I got...

• Brushes - because they always come in handy to clean under your nails...and even better when hands get really dirty.
• #14 Kolinsky brushes with a dotting tool on the end - The one I bought last year is still going strong as a clean-up brush and I thought it would be smart to get a few backups. SO much better, IMO than the $1 ELF brushes that seem to not even last through one use.
• Polishes (L to R) - China Glaze Hot Flash, Color Club Wham! Pow!, Color Club Port-folio, China Glaze Bite Me, China Glaze Papa Don't Preach, China Glaze My Way Or The Highway

Even though I had some anxiety issues, and traffic was HORRIBLE on the way back, I had a blast.  No, seriously, it took me 50 minutes to get there and over 90 to get home. I'm excited to play with my new pretties & I can't wait for the next meetup. 

Peachy Coral Neon Gradient Leopard Nails

Hey y'all!  I have had a strange leopard print obsession lately when it comes to doing my nails.  I think it's because this is super easy and looks great with a neon base.  Especially for the summer.  So if you want to see what I used, keep reading.......

This is the first time in a LONG time that my nails have actually matched my toes.  It's not exact, but I do have one of these shades currently on my toes.

For this mani, I started off with a white base and a couple coats of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy.

Once that dried, I sponged on a gradient of FFF, Fresh Paint Guava, and China Glaze Surfin' For  Boys.  On the accent nail, I just applied Color Club Call Of The Disco Ball over top of FFF.

Then, using black acrylic paint and my dotting tool, I made some random leopard print designs on the rest of the nails before applying a top coat.

This is SO bright, and the gradient is so subtle that it looks like the light is hitting it differently.  In fact, this almost looks all pink if the sun hits it just right.

What do y'all think?

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy & a comparison

Hey y'all!  Today I have one of the shades from the 2010 Poolside collection.  I hadn't quite started blogging yet, I don't think, when this came out.  This is one of many polishes that I picked up while shopping after the Atlanta Nail Meetup back in April.

 I also have a comparison, so keep reading to see what it is...

I needed 3 coats for full opacity with this beautiful bright/neon peach cream.  Like most neon polishes, this dries matte so it needs top coat, IMO.

 I think this would benefit more from being layered over a white base.  Less of this polish would be used/needed to even things out.

I think this was originally a different shade when this collection released, but I love it just the way it is.

And now for the comparison....

One of these is Flip Flop Fantasy and the other is Fresh Paint Guava.

I purchased Guava because I thought that it would be a dupe.  However when I had the opportunity to get FFF, I went for it.  Now I'm glad I did.  They're just slightly different enough for me.

 FFF is more of a true peach while Guava is a peachy coral.  The difference is subtle, but it's there...especially for us polish addicts.

Do you own either or both of these?  Can you tell which is which without knowing?

Be sure to keep an eye out for an upcoming nail art post using both of these!

Color Club Call Of The Disco Ball

Hey y'all!  Today I have yet another polish I purchased at the Atlanta Nail Meetup earlier this year.  This is Call Of The Disco Ball from the Pastel Neon Remix collection, which are all glow in the dark glitter polishes.

For these swatches I used 3 coats alone, plus top coat.

This is a super sheer peach jelly glow in the dark base that is packed with what looks (to me) like a mixture of holographic and opalescent glitters.

Because of the sheerness I'd suggest layering this over either a white or peach base. I've done it, but you'll have to wait for that post :p

And now for the glow in the dark pics....

These shots were taken with my cell phone & was unusually difficult.  The glow that the camera caught seemed to fade fast, but not to the naked eye.  Also, you can see that it looks more green on the nail and more yellow in the bottle.

macro

I had to be fast with the camera so I had the kiddo turn the light on & off for me when needed.  Thankfully he didn't mind helping out because he thought the glowing was cool.  

What are your favorites from this collection?  I'm kinda wishing now that I'd grabbed a few more.

Color Club Hot-Hot-Hot Pants

Hey y'all!  Today I have the only polish from the Pastel Neon collection that I own.  I managed to snag this one back in April at the Atlanta Nail Meetup & honestly got it only for the name.  I ended up liking the color too.  If you want to story on the name, keep reading.

This is a sheer cream pinky/peach BRIGHT pastel.  Depending on who you ask, some will call it peach while others will say it's pink.  If I set it next to an actual peach, it leans more pink.

For these swatches I used 3 coats plus top coat.  The formula is somewhat sheer, and I'd suggest layering it over white.

That being said, I had no issues with application.

Now for the story on why I had to have this one.  Some of you may, or may not, know that I used to be really heavy into World Of Warcraft (aka WoW).  My friends & I used to play together online or hang at someone's house and have a WoW party on all of the computers.  We had a guild already, but one night our "genius" friend Jr. said we should have a Smokey and the Bandit themed guild.  We're all fans of the movie & parts of it were filmed in area's that we're all from.  So, the guild Hushpuppies Daddy was born.

I don't remember what all names people used for their toons, but I do remember we had a Frogg and of course a Jr.  I was told I had to use Hot Pants and wasn't given a choice on it.  I go to make my toon and the name "Hotpants" is taken....so I changed it to "Hottpants".  Since then the guild has gone away and we've stopped playing, but I do still have a few toons in WoW with that name.  I think I even have a toon in Diablo3 with that name.

Anyway, there ya go....what's why I had to have this polish.  Do you own any of the others in this collection?

Barielle Stardust

*Press Sample*

Hey y'all!  Today I have this sparkly wonder to show off.  I fully admit that I've had this one for a while, it was hidden in my "needs to be swatched" box, and wasn't found until I did a recent cleanup of my polish/computer desk.  So when I did this gradient I thought it would be perfect to show over the 2 different shades.

Stardust is a beautiful glittery top coat.  

I used 1 coat layered over top of a gradient so you can get an idea of how it looks over different shades.

Stardust is a milky sheer base PACKED with opal and holo glitters.  

For the gradient, I used China Glaze Sun Of A Peach and Color Club Peace, Love, & Polish.

This and other Barielle shades can be purchased HERE.  Be sure to follow them on social media & sign up for their newsletter to get info on their deals. 

Peachy Pink Neon Gradient

Hey y'all!  When I swatched China Glaze Sun Of A Peach recently I looked and thought I needed to do something with it.  I looked over to my basket of untrieds/meetup purchases & found exactly what I needed.

As I said, I started out with a base coat of China Glaze Sun Of A Peach.  Then grabbed a sponge to do the rest.

Looking at Color Club Peace, Love, & Polish I saw the golden/peachy shimmer and knew it needed to be paired with this beautiful neon peach base.

This is one of my fav gradient combo's(second only to THIS) recently.  

I think I'll be doing this again soon, maybe with some stamping.