In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Hi everyone!  Since I have heard people say, "May the fourth be with you", about a hundred times today, it seemed fitting to rock a galaxy mani!!

I started with two coats of Barielle Blackened Bleu, a dark smokey jelly with a strong blue shimmer.

Next, I used Sally Hansen White On with a bit of Hard Candy Beetle and sponged on the galactic sections.  Beetle ended up giving White On a blueish grey appearance, with a shifting bronze shimmer.

I then applied two coats of Soflajo Dew Drop, a beautiful clear coat with silver shimmer and prismatic hexagon glitters.  It has a great formula, smooth application, and really tied the look together.

I was hoping that the hexagons would work for the appearance of larger stars, but they were a bit reluctant to come out of the bottle.

So I then used my small dotting tools with White On to create a few randomly placed stars, and finished with one coat of SV.

This was such a fun mani to create!  It was kind of full of surprises, but thankfully in a good way!

I hope you enjoy ... and may the fourth be with you!!!

Happy Painting!

Colors: Barielle Blackened Bleu, Sally Hansen White On, Hard Candy Beetle, Soflajo Dew Drop

Sea Urchin Fun

Hey everyone!  Here's a look at the mani I'm rockin at the moment!  My little Evan loves a new show on Disney called The Octonauts - and I happened to see a little sea urchin on one of the episodes!  

So here we go!!

I started with two coats of Barielle's A Bouquet for Ava for the ocean water, and Sinful Colors' Zeus for the urchins.

Zeus has an awesome formula and shine to it.  As far as A Bouquet for Ava?  I'm not crazy about it.  The formula is seriously thick, refuses to go on evenly, and dries with a borderline neon finish.  What's that about?!?  OH!  And if you happen to sneeze and get the tiniest bit on your skin ... congratulations!  You're skin is now stained with a less than delightful teal hue.  Grrrrrrreat.  But I do adore the color!

I applied a quick coat of SV over Zeus, and cut small pointed strips of scotch tape for the urchin design.  Once the tape was in place, I added a coat of A Bouquet for Ava, and removed the tape immediately.  Then I finished it off with a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

I used my dotting tool with Kiss Black & Kiss White to create the bubble design by first placing black dots on my nails, and then placing smaller white dots over the black.  I finished this off with a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

I hope you enjoy today's mani!  Sorry my Barielle rant was a bit lengthy.  I don't know if it's me, but I'm just not having a lot of luck with many of their polishes.  Has anyone else had this problem??  I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!!

Happy Painting!

Colors: Sinful Colors Zeus, Barielle A Bouquet for Ava, Kiss White, Kiss Black

Fiercely Aquatic

Yesterday I went to see my amazing friend, Michael.  He's gorgeous, he's fab, and he is the greatest master stylist to ever touch my hair!!!  If you're lucky enough to be in the Atlanta area, I strongly suggest you make an appointment with him at the Aqua Salon pronto!!!  So, I got the idea for an Aqua inspired mani!!

I started with one of the new L'Oreal cremes, Now You Sea Me.  I really love this shade.  It reminds me of an almost dusty burnt teal - if that makes sense.  I wasn't completely wild about the formula though. The first coat went on a little thin and streaky.  The second coat started to be the same, so I used a thicker second coat, and it was fine!

For an extra aquatic look, I topped Now You Sea Me with one coat of Wet n' Wild Use Protection, from the new Spoiled collection, except on my ring fingers.  It's a really pretty teal jelly, loaded with multicolored micro glitters.  The brush is super wide, so application is a breeze! 

I used my dotting tool with Kiss Black and Kiss White to create some bubbles in the water!

One my ring fingers, I created some shimmery scales with my extra large dotting tool and Sally Hansen Celeb City, Orly Charged Up, and Barielle A Bouquet for Ava.

I wanted to create some waves, so I used one of my Shany stamping plates, SH-11, with my Sally Hansen Teal-y Fast.  On my middle fingers, I used the same plate with Konad Special White polish for the little starfish!

I had a lot of fun creating this, especially since it was inspired by one the greatest people on the planet.  

I hope you all enjoy it!  And seriously ladies --- if you haven't been to the Aqua Salon yet, you're missing out.  

Colors: L'Oreal Now You Sea Me, Wet n' Wild Use Protection, Kiss White, Kiss Black, Orly Charged Up, Barielle A Bouquet for Ava, Sally Hansen Celeb City, Sally Hansen Teal-y Fast, Konad Special White

Tractor Beams

Do you ever find yourself with the desire to swatch to try out some of your untrieds?  Yeah.  Me too.  So, that was my little dilemma!  But then I happened to see part of The Fourth Kind on HBO last night.  So, problem solved!

I started by using two coats on Cult Nails Get It On base coat, since I would be using glitters.  (This makes glitter removal a little easier!)  Then, I grabbed my LA Splash Golden Seahorse - a gorgeous light teal with gold glitter in square and hexagon shapes.  It's a great formula that is opaque in just one coat!!  Isn't it gorgeous? 

I followed with one quick coat of SV.  Next, I taped a section covering half of my nail and added two coats of Zoya Julieanne, a beautiful deep purple with an amazing sparkling purple finish.  And, of course, follow with another coat of SV.  (Notice the pattern yet?)

Next, I taped off again for the side swipe and used Barielle Falling Stars - possibly the thickest polish I have ever had my hands on.  It is a beautiful blue with orange glitter.  And, yep, another coat of SV.

Finally, I taped off yet again and used Nina Pro Purple-xing, an awesome array of silver micro glitter and holographic glitter in a shimmery purple base.  I finished the whole thing off with a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

So there you have it!  Four untried polishes in one fun mani!  I hope you enjoy it ladies!!!  Happy Painting!

Colors: LA Splash Golden Seahorse, Zoya Julieanne, Barielle Falling Stars, Nina Pro Purple X-ing

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!