I Vant to be Animalistic

Animal prints gah! I've loved them since I was probably twelve and always will. No matter what they will always have an ebb and flow in the fashion world but I'm a forever fan! This mani was no different. I began with two coats of OPI I Vant to be a Lonestar. I thought, meh a silver, that pink shimmer makes this pretty supah sweet! I really could have left it alone that littler shimmer stole my heart. 

Indirect Sunlight at Dawn

Direct Sunlight, see that great Pixel purple shimmer?

I then stamped with an unnamed Color Club purple/mauve cream the zebra image on my pointer and pinkie and the cheetah image on my middle finger and thumb from plate m57. On the accent nails I used two coats of Pixel polish Spam a Lot which I received in a badass giveaway from Jenny of Polishology (thanks doll!). I then stamped my index finger (and thumb) with the pale purple special konad polish. I used the combo animal print for just the accent finger from plate m78. ME-OW~

It's Rainin' snowMEN

It's not raining, but these are snowmen! The same great plate I have with all my snowflake images also has two cute little men of snow that I hadn't used yet. It's still winter so why not? I started with two coats of China Glaze Blue Year's Eve, a beauty in it's own right with blue shimmer, then used one thick coat of Snowglobe. Upon first look you may think it's like every other glitter topcoat, not so my dears!
It almost has a flakie quality with the multi-colored glitters and different sizes. I used one thick coat on three of the nails.

I then used special white polish to stamp the snow fellows (as you can see by the lack of their body I need some more practice with these particular images) on my accent and thumb.

 I love the detail in his face. Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Winter Farm Wedding French

So my SIL and her boyfriend have been dating for seven years, we were all very excited when they finally got engaged. My husband and I were able to be part of the big day as the Maid of Honor and Best Man. She decided she wanted all the girls to do some form of a french manicure. I kicked it up a little with some gold holo glitter since this was a December winter wedding and the colors were gold and red. This is one coat of Essence Sweet as Candy, a very sheer pink cream. Then two coats of Gold Sparkling Effect from CND's Holiday Duo. I haven't used the konad french tip plate m19 since I first got the set last summer, with a little more patience it turned out amazing! I used the special white polish.

I will definitely be using it again for french manis in the future. I then topped it off with one thick coat of CND Gold Sparkling and a TC.

Here the mani is in action =D

 The bride looked amazingly beautiful

The wedding was held at a quarter-horse farm in a mountain town and was just stunning. The lighting, the ambience and space couldn't have been more perfect. Congrats to the new couple, we love you!

Ru-Ru-Ruffian!

I'm so nervous! The Denver Broncos have advanced to the PLAYOFFS! We're having a few people over to watch the game. Hopefully it's not a rager because we've had our fill the last couple of weekends. Did your team have a good season?

On to nails and such~I couldn't find my Orly french tip guides to help make a perfect ruffian so I free-handed my second attempt at this mani style. This is two coats of Color Club Twiggie with two coats of Icing Epic Winning (was this part of the Charlie Sheen collection?). Sheen silliness aside this blue-based glitter with massive holo happy tickles my pickle. A bit gritty but worth it!

No Fowl on the Play

Ever since I laid my eyes on OPI's special edition Merry Midnight it was one of my largest lemmings. I searched a bit and checked some blog sales but just couldn't pull the trigger on the price. Imagine my pure glee when I saw swatches of Orly Fowl Play!!! I was surprised it wasn't very easily found on most of the online sites. I found the special Christmas pack at Sally's, while I was indifferent to Lucky Duck and Sweet Peacock I had to buy it.

This is two coats of Fowl Play with my first tape mani on the accent nail. It was a sunny couple of days so I went for China Glaze's Mega Bite, three coats, as a base then painted two quick, thick coats of Merry Midnight over the tape. I didn't want to take this one off, will definitely be using this lovely lady again and again.

A Bad Fairytale

As much as I coveted this polish last fall, it's been sitting in my untrieds for awhile. This is two coats of MAC Bad Fairy. I thought trying to pair it with an apple would help seal the deal on this Fairy Tale mani so I used two coats of Sally Hansen Midnight in NY and then stamped the apple on m55 with China Glaze's Hey Sailor. The picture captured this so much better than it appeared in real life. It got me to thinking about another Fairytale mani that I hope to accomplish with apples in a week or two so please stay tuned!

SO hard to capture the duochrome of this polish, especially with a phone eek! It was closely compared to The Show Must Go On from the OPI Burlesque collection, which is also sitting in my untrieds. Did you try both of these polishes, which one did you like better?

A True Matte - Zoya Savita

I've been sitting on some posts so I could share some holiday manicures. This one is from a few months back. The only true matte finish polish I own is Zoya's Savita, a deep vampy purple with a slight shimmer. I thought a stamp pairing with some holo would be nice. This is two coats of Savita stamped with the hearts and dots image from plate m78 with both Color Club Love 'Em Leave 'Em and Fashion Addict.

I didn't use a top coat of course. I realize any polish can be made a matte with a special effect top coat, but these seem to be true and not break down into a more shiny, shimmery finish. Do you like mattifying?