Wildflower Inspired Spring Stamped Mani

*Press Sample

Hi everyone, welcome to Wednesday.  I want to thank everyone for your kind comments yesterday, I read them all, even though I didn't respond yet....you'll see why ;)  If you read my blog regularly you'll know I haven't been feeling well for about two weeks now.  I finally dragged myself to the doctor yesterday and they gave me antibiotics for a sinus infection and also took my blood to check my levels and stuff.  If you know me, you'll know that I am allergic to a bunch of categories of food.  This also extends into medication.  Long story short...allergy girl strikes again.  I took my antibiotic, had severe chest pain, broke out in hives, and had to go back to the doctor (this has happened before).  The good news is that I'm on a new antibiotic and already feeling a little better.  I didn't respond to anything blog related because I was too loopy on benedryl to function as a person.  So yea....that was my Tuesday.  Also, I might have a weird posting schedule the next few days because I will be out of town until Monday.  

Enough of that, and on to the nails!  Oh...one of the good things that happened yesterday was the woman who drew my blood asked me who does my nails....and I got to say me :)  That's the first time that's ever happened to me.  Yay!  Today I have a long overdue review for KKCenterHK, which is an overseas e-retailer of nail art supplies.  I struggled to come up with a design and I didn't want to post something mediocre so I waited until the inspiration struck me.  I finally decided on a punchy Spring mani.

To create this look, I started with a bright pink polish, JulieG Fred from the perfect pair collection.  I used Happy Hands Flowers on the Highway as the glitter on my accent nail.  For the stamped diagonal pattern, I used my KKCenterHK stamping plate and OPI Jade is the New Black.

Below is a picture of the stamping plate.  I used the flower and lace pattern in the middle and just turned my stamp diagonal to achieve the look above.  I think the looks are endless with this stamping plate.

This stamping plate retails for $4.55 and can be found here.  Let me know what you think of this mani in comments!

*Product in this post received for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

Twinsie Tuesday: Grunge Mani

Hi everyone, happy Tuesday.  Sorry for the delay in posting time, I was having a grand old time at the doctor's office.  I went to convenient care where they promptly told me my symptoms were too broad and sent me to a different doctor.  I saw my regular doctor who gave me antibiotics for a sinus infection that I had no clue that I had and ordered blood work.  I'm back at work so hopefully those antibiotics will kick in soon.

Today's Twinsie theme was "grunge mani".  The only grunge mani I have heard of was one recently done by Sarah of Chalkboard nails.  So I went with that :)  Sarah used black polish to create her grunge look, but I went with a monochromatic color scheme.  I did these nails a few weeks ago so I can't remember all of the purples I used but I know I used OPI Anti-Bleak as the base.

Apologies for the short post!  That's what happens when you take a sick and dizzy person who hasn't eaten breakfast and then draws blood to run tests :)  Check out the other Twinsies here:

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

Gender Reveal Mani

Hi everyone, welcome to Monday.  I feel like a broken record since I am home sick yet again.  My body needs to get it together because this is getting old.  I have a five day trip for work coming up at the end of the week so I am hoping to relax and recuperate today.  Sick of it!

Today I have a manicure that I wore to my friend's gender reveal party which was last Wednesday.  I went with both blue and pink because it was a complete secret.  My guess was a boy (I used blue on my thumb nail to have the majority be blue) but the baby is a girl.  I am so thrilled for them.  

To create this look, I started with alternating base colors.  The blue is Zoya Blu (two coats) and the pink is OPI I Theodora You (three coats).  I did a glitter gradient on the tips with OPI In True Stefani Fashion.   

Have a great Monday everyone!

Sunday Dotticure: Bright and Dark

Hi everyone, happy Sunday.  Hopefully your weekend is going well.  We are supposed to get a huge snowstorm today so we are hunkered down in our house.  I plan on relaxing, finding something to watch on Netflix, and having a huge swatch fest.  

Today I have the first semblance of nail art for quite some time.  When I'm really busy I just end up painting my nails a solid color for the next day, but I really like how this one turned out.  I am really into Spring pastels right now, but I've been trying to hold off because it is clearly still Winter here.  I thought this was a good combination of the two.

For the thumb and ring finger, I started with a base of OPI Shorts Story, which is a bright, cool pink.  I taped off my triangles with blue painter's tape, and added a triangle with Zoya Payton, which is a deep maroon holographic polish.  I finished off with dots in OPI Taupe-less Beach.

For the three other nails, I started with Zoya Payton and finished off with dots in OPI Shorts Story and OPI Taupe-less Beach.

Are you ready for Spring?  I know I am ;)

Polish Spotlight: OPI Absoutely Alice

Hi everyone, welcome to Saturday.  Hopefully the weekend is treating you well :)  I am severely under the weather but I wanted to put together a quick post and also thank everyone for the nice comments you all left me yesterday.  I had a tough day at work and I appreciate the support from all of you.  Today the hubby and I kept it simple and went shopping in the morning.  We were back at home by lunch time where I proceeded to pass out on the couch for a good nap.  Among the purchases today were some baby clothes for my friend, both of which happened to be cat themed, four bottles of polish from Ulta, and the best find ever.....cupcake scented hand cream and body mist that I found at Kohls.  I can't eat cupcakes but I sure can smell like one ;)

Today I have a polish that has been a major lemming of mine, OPI Absolutely Alice.  I recently borrowed some polishes from my sister and lo and behold she had a mini in her polish stash.  Now I just want a full bottle even more haha!  For the swatches below I did a glitter gradient at the cuticle over a similar blue polish I can't for the life of me remember (bad blogger).

Do you own OPI Absolutely Alice?  What do you think of it?

Nicole by OPI: Be Awesome

Hi everyone, happy Friday.  I'm going to keep the words pretty short today and let the mani speak for itself.  I was feeling really good for pulling off a miracle with my recent report until a co-worker came in and told me that he got the impression that I'm in the doghouse with all of the bosses.  I got a horrible score and now I'm in trouble at work.  I am just really down in the dumps and don't really want to go any more into it.  The perfect word is defeated.  I feel bad for sharing my personal problems here but it's just how I'm feeling right now. 

Anyways, today I have a mani that I thought was just stunning.  I saw early swatches of Nicole by OPI Be Awesome and knew that I had to have it.  I searched everywhere for it and finally ended up ordering it from Ulta.  

For this mani, I started with a base of OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around.  I was originally very meh about it when I swatched it, but when I wore it, I fell in love with the color.  For my accent nail I used one coat of Be Awesome, which needs to be dabbed on the nail and spread around, it won't apply like a regular polish.  For the other nails, I spread Zoya Lux on the nail before putting Be Awesome at the ends.  I really love the final outcome.

I really love this mani and I am head over heels for Nicole by OPI Be Awesome.  Let me know what you think in the comments.  I hope everyone has a great Friday.

China Glaze Sand Dolla Make You Holla: Swatches and Review

Hi everyone, welcome to Thursday.  Same old same old going on here.  Yesterday I was in a time crunch at work to get edits done.  Then after work, I went to my friend's gender reveal party.  Ever since I found out she was pregnant I was so excited to find out the gender of the baby.  I was convinced she was having a boy, but she is actually having a girl.  How cute!  

So yesterday I came across a video on youtube (which will remain anonymous), and this person said that she doesn't think people should wear shimmer polish or glitter polish after the age of 25.  I sat there and went....wait....what?  I know that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I wanted to know what everyone else thinks about this.  I also wanted to note that I turned 27 this year, and I am wearing glitter polish on all my nails today and am loving it.  I am pretty much in the school of thought that thinks that you should do whatever you want if it makes you happy and you aren't hurting anyone.  I was just wondering how others feel since I've been thinking about it since I watched the video yesterday.  

Anyways, today I have a review of a new polish from China Glaze, Sand Dolla Make You Holla.  I'm not a fan of textures, but I'll be honest, I bought this polish because I thought it would look like a cupcake.  I have a strange love for anything cupcake, and this really does look like it. 

This polish comes from the new China Glaze Sea Goddess collection that has six textured polishes based on a "sea" theme.  This polish was the only one I picked up from the collection and it is a white polish base, with a slightly pink hue.  The micro glitter inside the polish is pink, blue, green, and white.  This polish was on the sheer side and did need to be built up in three coats.

Below is one layer of topcoat over three coats.

Overall I think this polish is just okay.  I like it because it reminds me of cupcakes and frosting but I don't think I would wear it as a full mani.  I do think it would be fun for an accent nail though.  Did you pick up any polishes from this collection?