Barry M "Spring Green" and UO "Green Holo".

Happy Monday!

With all the rain we have gotten over the past couple of days, all the trees an grass are very bright and green and so are my nails. :)

Barry M "Spring Green" and Urban Outfitters "Green Holo".

2 coats of the Barry M, and 2 coats of the UO. Then both were topped with my usual 2 coats of top coat.

Bottle Shot

Barry M "Spring Green" is a bright green creme. Super easy to apply, no pooling , and in 2 coats it is perfect. Barry M polishes always dry to a fabulous shine, and this color is no different. This is a European brand and can be found online thru the UK.

Bottle Shot

Urban Outfitters "Green Holo" is a seafoam green holographic polish. Unlike most holographic polishes, this was easy to apply to the nail, and did not require any special base coats. Perfect in 2 coats.

Also, once I applied top coat the magic of this holographic wonder did not disappoint.  It was the same as if I did not put anything on top at all. :) You can grab this color, along with a silver and pink version at your local Urban Outfitters Store.

Keep It Sweet!

Latest "Nail Mail" from Europe...

Of course I love receiving "Nail Mail", but what's even better is "Nail Mail" from the UK...

 Barry M Gelly's: Left to Right: blackberry, (blue) plum, watermelon, blueberry, prickly pear, satsuma, grapefruit. Thanks to my European "hook-up" for grabbing these beauties for me :)

Aren't the names yummy? I saw them on this blog Brit Nails, sand I knew I had to have them!

Barry M Gelly Nail Effects are "Hi shine Gel effect Nail Paint provides an extra glossy finish".  I got all of the colors in the collection except for "Blood Orange", and "Pomegranate". :) 

The polish is rumored to last longer than regular polish and not lose it's shine (think Shellac). I'll have to test it out and see. Swatches will be coming soon :)

Keep it Sweet!

He made the Bantam Gold playoffs...

Yippee! My nephews team, the Wildcats, made the playoffs, and as luck would have it his second playoff game is at my old high school. Now my old high school was no "football powerhouse  while I was there, so I hope my nephews team has better luck, than we did, LOL!!!

Here are 2 quick manicures I wore for his past games, their colors are dark blue, gold and white.   Emphasis on QUICK, LOL!!!

First up...

China Glaze "Ultamate Holiday" and NCLA "Venice Beach Vixen".

2 quick coats of "Ultamate Holiday", which dried quick and wasn't too gritty. Then I used one of my art brushes and painted blue squiggly lines down the accent nail. I wish my rush was thinner, so that the lines were more distinct, but I still like the contrast of the blue and gold :). Finished the manicure with 2 coats of top coat and it was game time!!!! :)

Check out the crazy sparkle of the China Glaze. This was an ULTA exclusive in 2011.

Next...

Barry M "Navy", and OPI Top Coat "Gold Lang Syne".

The Barry M, is an amazing navy blue shimmer that is perfectly pigmented and rich, and is almost opaque in 1 coat, so pretty!.  Then, I topped it with the OPI Top Coat, which is the perfect gold top coat, 1 coat of gold and that's all it took to take this manicure from pretty to FANTASTIC!

I loved this manicure and it caught everyone's eye, so pretty! :)

I don't know if I have enough time this morning to dream up another manicure, but if I do, I'll make sure to let you see it next week. Until then...GO WILDCATS and I love you NATE!.

Keep It Sweet!

A success AND a failure :)

So I have set out to try various nail art tutorials to step up my nail game.  So I dreamed up a great manicure and once it was executed, I flubbed it up...yeah I did!

So here was the idea, do a "hodge podge" funky  manicure using various purples and textures, and actually do real nail art...GREAT!

Here is what I came up with!

Thumb: OPI "Rumples Wiggin" with silver shatter on top
Index: Barry M "Vivid Purple"
Middle: OPI "Planks A Lot" (which totally stained my nail)
Ring: OPI "Rumples Wiggin" with leopard done with China Glaze "Octa Gone Wild" and OPI "Sapphires In The Snow"
Pinkie: Teeez! "Outta Control".


Yeah...do you see what I see?...



Ahhhhhh my leopard smudged! :( I was so pissed, but too tired to change it, so I wore it like this for 2 days. It was torture but I muscled thru it.

Funny thing is everyone who saw it didn't even notice the smudges, LOL! :)  I used the leopard nail art tutorial of Sarah at Chalkboard Nails...super easy!

As I have discovered in my "nail art quest", you have to make sure your design is fully dry, and that you apply your top coat with a light hand, so as not to smear all your hard work!  I tried this again a couple days later, and it worked out fine. :)

So This is what I used!

For the leopard design: Left to Right: China Glaze "Octa Gone Wild", OPI "Sapphires In The Snow", and OPI "Rumples Wiggin".

Left to Right: OPI Silver Shatter, OPI "Rumples Wiggin" , Barry M "Vivid Purple", OPI "Planks A Lot", and  Teeez! "Outta Control".


Sorry if it seems like I used a million purples, but I kept seeing such great colors in my stash, so I had to use them all, LOL :) I've got cremes, holographics, shimmers and shatter.  The only thing missing is glitter, hee hee :)

So the lesson here is, this manicure is a great combination of different textures and levels of purple, but just exercise more patience and dexterity with your top coat skills than I did, and it will be a "win--win" for you instead of a "win--fail", LOL!

Keep It Sweet!

Unicorn Puke

Yeah ...the name may gross you out (although I think it is pure genius), but the color is fabulous!!!!!!

Marie of Cult Nails has outdone herself on this lovely beauty, and if this is any indication of what she can "pimp out" let's just say...I'll be her ho!!!! LOVING IT!!!!!! :)


Cult Nails
Limited Edition
"Unicorn Puke"

I decided to layer UP over Barry M's "Indigo", since it was a perfect "base coat match" to the jelly base of UP.

UPDATE: This manicure lasted un-chipped for 6 days...LOVED IT!!!!

Okay, so "Unicorn Puke" (UP), is an indigo jelly base with multi-colored flakies..yeah it's awesome.  At times I see pink, teal and even flashes of copper in it.  It really is amazing!

This is 2 coats of UP over 1 coat of Indigo. :) UP applied very smoothly and dried nicely, it was not goopy or thick at all.

This was a limited edition, and only 275 "Unicorn Puke's" were sold. ..but don't cry just yet.  Maria is re-releasing the same color and formula under a different name for her Winter 2011 Collection.  It will be called "Clairvoyant"...so you still have a chance to grab this beautiful color one more time. :)

Thanks Maria for creating such an amazing color!

My First Barry M

I received my first Barry M color in a recent international swap and I was so happy.  I previously had not had a chance to get my hands on this brand, I was giddy when I saw it in the package.

Barry M "Indigo", 2 coats

I decided to decorate my ring finger with some "Zoya dots" made with "Mira", "Keiko" and "Areej".

This Barry M color was awesome! Definitely made my top 10 favorite polishes.  It is a true indigo creme, so bright and regal, and the formula definitely delivered.

I loved this manicure, and I was so unhappy to take it off, it wore well too, all I had was tip wear, no chips and I day 4 looked great!
















I'd love to tell all my American ladies that there is a dupe, but I can't think of one, at least not in my stash.  I think this color is in a league of it's own.