Mish Mash Stamping

This is an extremely late post but I wanted to get it in.  My husband always asks me what is the inspiration for my stamping choices and I said just from patterns that I see.  So this stamping inspiration came from a shirt I wore last week sometime.  It was really easy.  I used China Glaze For Audrey for my base color then I used a coat of Seche Vite.  I always use a coat of Seche Vite to ensure my nails are dry and if I make a slight mistake I can erase it immediately.  Now, I heard a tip that you can use a lint cleaner to take off a bad stamping but have never used it.  If anyone has used this I would love to know whether or not it really works.   Then used my DRK 1 plate.  There is a image of leaves and one with leaves and flowers.  I did not want a flat looking green leaf since that is not what the leaves on the shirt looked like so I used Konad green, yellow and a mid green color and used a toothpick to mix it around somewhat then lightly scraped and stamped and it gave me the leaf look.  Then on the pinkie and ring I used an image I used the same technique and then magenta and purple on the purple and magenta flowers of the image scraped quickly and lightly and came up with perfect image.  I find that when you are wanting to stamp images with different colors it is best to use Konad polishes because they do not smear as much.

So, that is my entry for this week’s challenge.  I can’t wait to see the rest of the girls’ offerings.
Ciao,
Patty

Contrary Polish

I have found a new line that I really love but since my posts have been far and few in between I haven’t  posted anything about this beautiful polish.  There is nothing all glittery about them they are just polishes that have great shine, long wear, and shimmers that you just don’t find in other polishes.  I have bought about six of them and a couple of months ago did post about one that I was wearing very often.  This one is so pretty the camera only catches a little of it’s beauty.  This a polish I wore out to dinner and my husband just reached for my hands and sat there admiring them.  I think we might have things wrong in thinking that pink polish is attractive to a man.  Yes, once you are married or dating but when you are trying to find that right guy maybe we should be wearing blues because so many men love the color blue.  I wish we could do an experiment on that have two girls one wearing pink and one wearing pink who can get more phone numbers from guys in a bar.  Hmm.  That sounds like a good Friday night  fun night activity.  Now, I am really intrigued.  Oh, well off a tangent.  This polish dries fast and has the most beautiful red shimmer.  The formula is near perfect.  It is smooth and does not go on streaky at all.  It is one of those polishes we buy that has just the qualities we want.  No undies needed, no smashing glitters,  it is just a down home great polish.  No problems at all.

This is 18th and Vine from the No Place Like Home Collection.  I  got this from Llarowe.  It cost $11.00 a bottle.

Ciao bellas,

Patty

Deborah Lippman Shake Your Moneymaker

When I see Deborah Lippmann polish,   I always get excited but lately her collections have been a little blah.  So when I saw this I thought I had to have them all.  When I got this one I thought oh no it is like OPI’s green glitter Fresh Frog From Bel-Aire.  But when I looked at them the OPI version has silver glitter and this one had gold.  Yeah, a reason to keep it.  This is one coat over Ciate Stiletto.  I had been wearing Stilleto for 2 days so I just freshened it up with this and it was only one coat.  When it was pretty dry I just smashed it into my nails so I just used one coat of Seche Vite without it having any lumps.  I am pretty happy with this polish and am glad I was able to keep it. 

I got this at Ulta.  It cost $19.00 a bottle.

Ciao,

Patty

I Am Still Here

Yes, I am still here.  Like is say life happens.  So many things have gone on and still are but are slowing down and now I can get to what I really love doing blogging.  So, even though I don’t like X-Mas I do love candy canes.  Peppermint candy is always in my purse.  So when I saw this polish I had to have it.  I got it from Ninja Polish for I think it is $12.00 a bottle.  It is perfect for these days of X-Mas and even for Valentine’s Day.  I put light coat of red polish which was OPI’s The Spy Who Loved Me.  Then two coats of the floam.  I still really love floam.  I think I have most of them and could not tell you which is my favorite.  So, check out the pictures.

So, maybe you can put this on your X-Mas list.  Nine days till X-Mas and what really freaks me out is 16 days till the end of the year.  So, wow.  There is a lot to wrap up.

You all have a good night.

Ciao,

Patty

KB Shimmer Two of My Top Picks

This year’s blogger and regular release of KB Shimmer has to be the most fascinating one of the season.  There is just something there for everyone.  I bought three bottles I think the rest were too X-Massy and I really don’t do that.  The new ones that are new for Christy’s line were the new standouts that are getting really good.  I am talking about the duo chromatic.  They have gotten good reviews and I really can’t wait to try them

This is  one is Snow Much Fun and created by Victoria from the Manicurator.  This is a light blue jelly sparkles with light blue holo glitter, white glitters in several sizes and finishes,a sprinkling of micro holographic glitter and white snow flake glitter.  I used on coat of OPI’s Cant Find my  Czech book and then two coats of the actual polish.  It dried fast and I had no problems with it.

This one is Will Yule Marry me created by Chelsea from The Nail Network.   I love this polish because of the glitters I really think the clear glitters actually make the rest of the “landscape” wet.  It is really cool and I love it.   This is another polish that can be worn year around.

I have one more but was not satisfied wit the pictures so I will be redoing that one.  That one is my absolute favorite.  There are three others that look interesting that I might order but we will see.   I think two of them end up being part of the permanent line.

So, did you buy any from KB Shimmer.  Which is your favorite?

Ciao for Now,

Patty

99 Luffballons

I will be honest for a couple of seasons now Deborah Lippman has failed to impress me with anything but this season.  Holy enchilada.  I ended up getting quit a few polishes and two mini sets.  The Wicked which I already did review and Space Oddity.  I need to work on that one because there is a small problem.  Then there were the silks.  Beautiful also.  I got two of those and then some random ones.  This one is just really one of my favorites.  It is just happy and reminds me of Candy Shop.   They are just fun.   One thing I have noticed with most Lippmann's is that when they are brand new they are always very thick and this one was no different.  I did have to put a few drops of thinner in it just to make it easier to work with but other than that there were no problems.  Fast dry time and smooth application.  Price:  $19.00.  I got this at Sephora.  I think it was a Sephora exclusive.  Another thing I really like about this is that it is not a Fall/Winter polish, you can literally wear it anytime.   That was one of the reasons I didn’t feel too bad paying the price.  So, check out the swatches and let me know what you think.

So, what do you think about it?  Do you think it is worth the price or not?

Ciao for now bellas,

Patty

Cirque Vesuvius

I have managed to acquire quite a few Cirque nail polishes.  I have worn a couple of them and really loved them all but this one was special I didn’t want to take it off and I did wear it for about five days.  It wore so well I just love this polish.  The formula was great.  It dried fast.  I wasn’t real opaque so I did use three coats but I didn’t care because it was just so darn pretty.  This is definitely one of my new favorite indies and I got two glitter toppers that were beautiful.  I will post them this week I need to crop them.  I wish I had someone to do the cropping for me and all I had to worry about was writing the posts.  I used to post a lot more but going back and looking at what I was posting well, let’s just say I wish I could have some redos.

You can buy Cirque polishes at their website Cirque Nail Polish.  This particular polish was on the high end costing $15.00 but some are $13.00.  I do want to say the shipping is not high and you get your polishes really fast.  I think the turnaround time is about 3-4 days which I really liked.

Ciao for now,

Patty

Editorial.........Stop the Madness!

I just wanted to write about some thoughts I had that have turned into a positive experience.   I suffer from cystic acne.  Early in this blog, I wrote about it.   About two weeks ago, I started ti have a breakout.  I decided to change my skin care products but who was going to be telling me what to use?  The lady behind the Clinique counter? What's her training?  Does she really know what my skin needs?  No!  She is just going to sell me their three step program and that has never worked on my skin.  So, I put all my skincare products and my makeup bases in a bag and headed to the dermatologist, who one is not trying to send me a load of makeup and is really going to treat my problem.  She gave me samples of a a creme, which I think is great because you never know with those things.  It did irritate my skin so she called in some clindagel, which had worked in the past a low dose antibiotic.  Total cost: $62.00.  I think I would have spent a lot more money if I had just gone to the makeup counter.  I did ask what cleanser to use and she said that the Neutogena was fine. Then I asked what makeup was good, she basically told me all makeup can cause a breakout.  She recommended that when I use makeup. Take it off as soon as possible and just use a thin layer of the clindagel.  So, now I am on a quest for a different makeup.  I've been using Clinique but I've gotten some samples of some other ones and I think I found what I want.  I'll let you know

Ciao,
Patty

Mish Mash Challenge Grey

Grey is a nice color but in nature it just seems to mean rain is coming or is here. So, I tried to spruce up this manicure I used Nars Storm for the pinkie, middle and pointer finger with Lynderella’s Connect the Dots.  Then I did two fishtail/braided accent nails.  I just used a lighter grey and white.  This was simple and a design you can use with any color. 

So, that is my manicure for this challenge.  Let’s see what the other girls did.

What I wore with this……….

I have to say this summer was a TOTAL bummer to me.  There was no trip to the beach or anything.  Just homebound because of my husband’s Achilles surgery and I was pretty home bound because he was on Percocet and could not be left alone.  If you are in a relationship with a man you know what babies they are when they are sick.  Well, my husband is no different except he tries to do things he shouldn’t.   It is like taking care of a toddler.  At least my first husband just laid down moaning.  I would just get him to sleep and he was fine but this one no.  So, I had bought my summer wardrobe and never got to wear it.  I think I was able to wear 1/3 of it.  So, I did buy a lot of nail polish.  I just posted my August haul.  One day I was stir crazy, one of my girlfriends called and they were getting together for lunch a wanted me there.  My husband promised to be good and encouraged me to go I jumped up and grabbed the first shirt in my closet and got to painting.   So, this is what I came up with.

The Shirt

I used OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh.  Then the first stamping plate I got Konad 48.  (I think everyone has that plate and if you are thinking of stamping this is the most recommended plate).  I used Konad Orange and Magenta polishes for the designs.  Now the shirt wasn’t too special but pair it up with a nice mani and you’ve got a great look.

Ciao for Now,

Patty

Mish Mash Challenge Holographic

This was a fast manicure I did today since I am not feeling well.  I used Jade psycodelica and Magica to create the gradient but used stripping tape at the top of the nail to show the gradient a little more proximately.  This is really easy to recreate and looks like you put some effort into it when really it wasn’t that hard.  I did have something else planned but this little cold front came across Houston and it kicked my hips.  So, next week I know I have something really cool and I can’t wait for you all to see it.  Oh, I forgot to say this manicure with the gradient and laser tape can be done with any type of polish, I think it would look really cool with a duochrome.  I have seen some really nice ones from ILNP, KB Shimmer and Ludurana.  So, if you love duochromes like me you can try this another one to try is one with a glitter base and a crème top.  China glaze has put out some really nice glitters for X-Mas I just know you have to put a top coat on the glitter before you laser tape and you can use two or three colors on the top that would look really cool.  I think I will do some of these so you can see them.  I might even try one with……texture.  So, that is all for today.   Maybe some of you have seen this manicure and it is old news but for some it might be new so I am just here to say it easy not hard at all and you will see a couple come from me before the end of the year.  Now let’s see what great creations the other girls came up with I already saw one and it is beautiful.

Deborah Lippman Wicked

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the wickedly wonderful play Wicked Deborah Lippman captured the colors of the play and I have to say she hit the nail on the head.  If you haven’t seen the play it is the preclude to The Wizard of Oz and how the wicked witch became so mean and green.  If you saw this year’s story of The Wonderful and Powerful OZ., they just jive I really wish they would have kept it in line with Wicked but whatever is going to make money that is what we get but this is to celebrate Wicked and the three wonderful characters in Wicked. 

So, the names of the polish are named after the songs in the play this one is called Popular sung by Glinda, the good queen, when she was young while the character represented sweetness.  There were times I just wanted to strangle her this pink is perfect for Gliinda.  Now, this polish is a jelly.  I love the way jellies look but I hate the dry time on them.  This one had a miraculously fast dry time.  (Wish this formula was on Daytripper).  I was blindsided but it has a bluish shimmer.

 

The pink is called Popular and represents the blonde squeaky clean blonde roommate of Elphaba

This is called Defying Gravity that wonderfully powerful song sung by Elphaba.  The formula on this is just like a lip gloss.  It went on so smooth.  I only used one coat and it did not need anymore.

The glitter topper which of course represents the city of Oz is called One Short Day.  This is not a chunky glitter and goes on like the the green with glitter. 

I am so glad I ordered this set.  THe formulas are like nothing I’ve ever seen from Deborah Lippmann.  I got this set at Nordstrom.  It cost $29.00.  The bottles are little but that is ok because every color except for Popular needs only on coat.  I used three coats on Popular but you could get by with two.  If you like these colors or know someone who does buy it for or give it as a gift.  It is funny.  I just saw a  commercial for the anniversary of Wicked.   I saw it around two years ago with my niece and we both wore green nail polish but if it comes to town again I’ll be there wearing one of these polishes.  

Ciao for now,

Patty