Tempting Tigress

A special thanks goes to Amy of I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous for this mani!  I won her giveaway for a gift certificate to Llarowe!  I have been waiting to place my first order with Llarowe.  If you're looking for some amazing polish that you can't seem to find anywhere in the US, then Llarowe is your one-stop shop!!!  I picked out several amazing polishes, but these two had me hooked at first sight!

Macro View: Hits Dionisio & Ludurana Aurora Boreal Holographic Supremo

I have never seen a polish with a stronger holo effect than Supremo.  This lilac shade is soft and dazzling all at the same time!

Dionisio is a gorgeous deep purple holo that keeps drawing my eye to my ring fingers every five seconds or so!!

Since this is my New Year's Eve mani, I thought I'd give my right hand a chance to be famous for once!!!

See how something as simple as a change in lighting completely changes the look of these two colors?!

Colors: Hits Dionisio & Ludurana Aurora Boreal Holographic Supremo

After I stared at these two amazing polishes for about twenty straight minutes, I decided I needed a little artwork (big shock, right?!).  I used my striping brush with Supremo to create some gradual tiger stripes over the Dionisio on my ring fingers.  But, then, something weird happened.  Just as I was about to reverse the color scheme to tiger-ize my other fingers, I stopped.  I couldn't do it.  I could not bring myself to do anything that would take away from the magic that is Supremo.  Let me be clear about something ... This has never happened before.  So here it is ladies, my New Year's Eve mani, and I don't think I could possibly love it more!!!  Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Argyle Makes Me Smile!

I love argyle print!  I even had an aunt named Argyle.  Seriously.  I was the only kid in the family who could pronounce her name properly!!!

Colors: Orly Charged Up, Wet n Wild Toad-ally Amazing, Kiss Silver Glitter

I started with two coats of Charged Up, a really pretty purple cream.  (I used two thick coats of it, since it can be a little too sheer otherwise.)  Next, I taped off the side sections and applied two coats of Toad-ally Amazing.  This is an awesome light teal with a soft sliver shimmer to it.  It's part of the new Wet n Wild "Spoiled" Collection.  I used the Silver Glitter for the opposing diamond outline pattern, and then topped it off with a coat of SV.  I hope you like it!  Happy painting ladies!!!

Stars Over Plumeria

Welcome to another Pink Wednesday!  I recently got Revlon's Starry Pink as a gift, so I thought today would be a good day to give it a shot!  It's a very delicate, almost milky, pink with small silver glitter and silver hexagon glitter.

Isn't it pretty?!

Colors: Revlon Starry Pink, Ulta Devious, Confetti Get the Party Started, Kiss Silver Glitter

I decided to use my Red Angel plate RA-119 to create the plumeria (aka frangipani) flowers with Devious.  For the ring finger, I used Get the Party Started on the plate, with a little Devious on the edges of the flower petals.  I mean, come on, it's Pink Wednesday!!!  Then I used the Silver Glitter to stripe a little down the center of the flower petals.  I hope you enjoy this one!  I know I do!  Happy Pink Wednesday!!!!!

Stripes with a Side of Glitz!

Hi ladies!  Sorry I haven't posted for a few days!  Finalizing things for Elixir has taken up a good bit of time lately.  My bottle of untried Wallis has been glaring at me for a while now, so it's high time it made an appearance!

How gorgeous is Wallis?  Is it green?  Is it gold?  Is is amazing?  Oh YES!!!  I used Revvvolution for the accent color.  Here they are in macro so you can see just how amazazing they are!  (Yeah, I said amazazing!)

And, since it's me, I had to have a little fun with them, so I got out my striping brush!

Colors: Butter London Wallis, Color Club Revvvolution

These two shades work really well together.  Not only are they fantastic colors, but they compliment each other very well, and are actually quite a subtle combination.  I can't believe it took me this long to break Wallis in.  I'm in love with it!  Happy painting ladies!

Major Announcement!

Some of you may know about this, and some of you may not ... So I'll let everyone in on the secret!

After a great deal of dreaming, wishing, hoping, and planning ... I am thrilled to say that my very own nail polish line, Elixir, will go live very, very soon!

The first polishes of the collection will consist of glitters, holographic glitters, and prismatic glitters!  

Elixir should be available by the end of January!!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this. And a very special thanks to my family for making this all possible - my husband, my parents, my sisters, and of course, my two little boys ... they're definitely my biggest fans!  So stay tuned, because you're not gonna want to miss this!!!!

Happy Holo-days!!!

For my Christmas Day mani, I want to first say, "Happy Holo-days!".  I used all of my favorite Color Club holo polishes!!!!

Since I'm doing this at night, I'll give you a few photos with the flash on!

Can you believe these colors!?!?

I really wish I could do these colors justice! The rainbows are everywhere in them!!!

Colors: Color Club - Wild at Heart, Fashion Addict, Worth the Risque, Revvvolution

Holos for the base, holos for the art .... HAPPY HOLO-DAYS!!!!!  I wanted to go with something fun for Christmas, so this is what I came up with!  I used Wild at Heart, which is an amazing deep purple, for the base color on all nails, except for the ring finger.  So, for Frosty's face, I used Fashion Addict, a dazzling light purple!  I used my dotting tool with Revvvolution for Frosty's eyes and smile, which is the best black holo EVER!!!  Then I used my fine brush with Wild at Heart again for his nose.  Finally, I used the fine brush and dotting tool to create the snow flakes!  These are by far some of my all time favorite shades.  The holographic effects in them are nothing short of amazing!  I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!  

Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

Happy Little Trees!

Colors: China Glaze Ultimate Holiday, Orly Wandering Vine, Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, Color Club Holiday Splendor, Sephora by OPI Leaf Him at the Altar, Color Club Gingerbread, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Barielle Falling Star, Ulta Mint Condition, Wet n Wild Buffy the Violet Slayer

I decided to make some happy little Christmas trees today!  I used Ultimate Holiday as the base color, which is a gorgeous gold/green glitter!  Then I used my dotting tools with all of my greens for the tree, Gingerbread for the star, and the rest of my colors for the ornaments.  This was another big hit with my little ones!

Santa's Reindeer!

Does anyone remember Hallmark's little reindeer plushies & figurines, Rodney the Reindeer?  

Isn't he the cutest?!  I adore him, so I thought I'd create a Rodney the Reindeer mani!!

Colors: Color Club Worth the Risque, Revlon Hot Chocolate, OPI DS Classic, OPI Alpine Snow, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Sally Hansen Black Out

This was another easy and quick mani!  I used Worth the Risque for the backdrop color - it is such a beautiful holo!!  Then I used Hot Chocolate to create the reindeer heads in the half oval shape.  I used a thin detail brush with DS Classic to create the little antlers.  Finally, I used my dotting tools to create the reindeer noses and eyes.  See Rudolph in there too!?  

My little boys just love this mani!  It's fun and festive all at once!  I hope you enjoy it too!  Happy holiday painting!!!!

50 Follower Giveaway Winner!

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Congrats Sarah! I hope to hear back from you soon!

Pleasant Hooters

Colors: OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow 360, Nicole by OPI Nicole's Fave, Zoya Yara, Zoya Gemma, Sally Hansen The Real Teal, OPI Mermaid's Tears, Essie Coat Azure, Ulta Mint Condition, OPI Planks a Lot, Essie Nice is Nice, China Glaze Flying Dragon, Sally Hansen Lively Lilac

I decided to try my hand at these cute little owls tonight!  They were actually very quick and easy to create!  I used a strip of scotch tape on the top to create the half moon effect, and used the darker selection from my color combinations to create the owl bodies.  Next, I took the lighter complimenting shade and created the owl tummies.  I used my larger dotting tool to create the eyes and spots on the owls.  I used the small dotting tool for their pupils and their beaks.  I finished with a coat of SV!  For my left hand, I used the same design, but reversed the color order! 

This is one of the funniest manicures I've done.  I giggle every time I look at my fingers!  The cross-eyed owls are my favorites!  I hope you enjoy this one!  I know I do!!!!  Happy Painting!!!!!!

Top 10 Award!

The amazing PtiteMeve has tagged me for an awesome award!!!

You simply must go check out her blog!!! So a very special thanks to her!!

The rules:

1. Be sure to thank the person who tagged you for this award!!!

2. Place this award on your blog page!

3. List your top 10 cosmetics/beauty/health products.

4. Choose your top 10 bloggers to tag for this, and be sure to leave a link to their blog!!! (And make sure you let them know about it!)

Snow Fall on Poinsettias

Colors: Butter London Victoriana, OPI Vampire State Building, Ulta Scene Steel-er, Sally Hansen White Out

Everyone in the house fell asleep a little early, so I decided to break out the Red Angel plates tonight!  I used two coats of Victoriana, but this polish has such amazing coverage that one coat would have easily done the trick.  I used the RA-118 plate with Vampire State Building for the poinsettias on my finger finger, and the RA-119 plate with Scene Steel-er and White Out for the snow flakes on the rest of my fingers.  Scene Steel-er worked really well with Victoriana.  You can only see the design when the light hits it, so it isn't too much for the beautiful blue.  This was a quick and easy mani to get done, so I definitely recommend something like this if you're pinched for time!  Happy painting ladies!

Mermaid to order!

Colors: Milani Rad Purple, Ulta Love my Blackberry, Milani Purple Outline, OPI Rainbow Connection

I wanted something a little mermaid inspired for tonight, so this is what I came up with.  (And this one actually took some time!)  Rad Purple is a great color, but, since it's a neon, takes more than a couple coats.  I used four coats, so I applied a quick coat of SV to speed up the dry time.  Next, I used Red Angel plate RA-111, for the scale effect stamp, with Love my Blackberry.  The Ulta polishes are fantastic for stamping, should you ever wonder!  After the stamp, add one more coat of SV.  Notice a pattern forming here?  Once that was completely dry, I taped off the tips and used Purple Outline, which is actually a nail art polish, and I LOVE it!!  Then - you guessed it! - one final coat of SV, with the exception of my ring finger.  I really wanted the scales on my ring finger to pop, so I grabbed Rainbow Connection.  I swiped some onto a paper towel, and used my dotting tool to pick up individual hexagon pieces of glitter to place in the scale spaces.  Was this a pain?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  Completely.  After my glitters were in place, one very careful coat of SV, and we're done!

I really enjoyed creating this mani.  The colors went together really well without being too much for each other to handle.  So, if you have a good bit of time, I highly recommend it!!  Happy painting my lovelies!  

My Very First Franken!!!

I have been on the hunt for a really great silver holo for ages now.  They're beyond hard to find, unless you wanna kiss your next paycheck good-bye!  So, after a ton of frustration, I decided to try to make one all by my little self!

The top three are indoor lighting, the next three are in the sunlight.

And of course, no awesome sparkle photo set would be complete without an out of focus shot ... look at all those colors!!!

I used a different lighting area for each picture.  It was a little difficult to capture the rainbows on my nails in the photos, but you can see it really well in the bottle.  I have finally decided that I will start making my own polishes, which will be for sale here.  I'll be sure to let you know when this is going to begin!  

Any thoughts on this franken?  I'd love to hear them!!!