Happy New Year!

What does a girl do when she can't decide between 4 different polishes?  Use them all!  And that's just what I did.

Silver nails - (China Glaze) Cheers to You, (OPI) Mad as a Hatter

Gold nails - (China Glaze) Midnight Kiss, (OPI) Bring on the Bling

The glitter didn't photograph well, but in real life they really sparkle! 

Happy New Year! 

New Years Mani

It's almost time for New Years Eve!  This is the mani that I wore to last year's New Years Eve party.

OPI (Designer Series) - Shimmer

Green With Envy

I was in the mood for something whimsical.  And this is the result...

Nails - (Sally Hansen) Green With Envy

Design - (Princess Polish)  Cool Red (IP) m63, m65, BM16, BM19, BM20

Glitz and Glisten!

I needed a break from all of the red and green...

Nails - (Nicole by OPI) Glitz and Glisten
Snowflakes - (China Glaze) SCI-FI <and> (KSP) Black (IP) m59

A Green Christmas...

With all of the red Christmas mani's that I've been doing lately, I needed a little green...

Nails - (China Glaze) Mistletoe Kisses
Tips - (China Glaze) Jolly Holly
Design - (China Glaze) SCI-FI (IP) m36

Thanks So Muchness, Mrs. Claus!

This looks more like a mani for Valentine's Day than for Christmas.  You can be sure that I will be doing this one again come February!

Nails - (China Glaze) Mrs. Claus

Tips - (OPI) Thanks So Muchness

Peppermint Stick

I decided to do the exact opposite of the mani that I did last year... which you can see in my previous post.

Nails - (China Glaze) White Out
<and> (OPI)  Pearls Night Out
Design - (Princess Polish) Cool Red (IP) m65

Wrapping Paper

This is a Mani that I did last Christmas.  It looks like wrapping paper to me.

Nails - (China Glaze) Ruby Pumps

Design - (KSP) White (IP) m65

Peppermint Tips!

Nails - (Seche Vite) Clear
Tips - (China Glaze) White Out
Stripes - (Princess Polish) Cool Red (IP) m44

It's Christmas Time!

Thanksgiving is over and that can only mean one thing... It’s Christmas time.  So, from this point on I plan to wear only Christmas/Holiday Manicures (accept for the occasional “game day” mani if I feel so inclined).  So, let’s start with this one:  

I'm in LOVE with it!!!  If this doesn't just SCREAM Christmas, I don't know what else does.  This is what I used: 

Isn't this the cutest set?!!  It was a "Pre-Christmas Present." 

Nails - (China Glaze) Party Hearty

Tips - (China Glaze) Phat Santa and Jolly Holly

Game Day!

Go Steelers!

Nails - (Seche Vite) Clear
Tips - Water Decal

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving America!!!   I chose this color because it looks just like Pumpkin Pie (which are baking in my oven right now). Yum!  This is my second Thanksgiving since moving to Canada, but I can't bring myself to not celebrate it.  I am and will always be an American girl no matter where I live.  Many of you will remember this color.  It's from last years (2009) Holiday Collection by OPI. 

Nails - (OPI) Ginger Bells

Leaves - (China Glaze) HI-TEK (IP) BM04

Let it snow!

Last night we had our first blizzard of the season so, I thought I would share my snowy mani with you.

Tips - (Sally Hansen) Ocean View

Nails - (China Glaze) Snow Globe
Snowflakes - (KSP) White (IP) m59

Claire's Chunky Blue

This is my substitute for Deborah Lippmann - Lady Sings The Blues. Each time I view a swatch of LSTB, Claire’s Chunky Blue comes to mind.  It’s certainly not a dupe, but the idea is the same - Navy polish with glitter and hex glitter.  Claire’s released theirs last year so I have to wonder who came up with the idea first........ hummmmmmm?  The color is a much deeper navy in real life. 

Award

Thank you to lacquerwarefortipsandtoes.blogspot.com for this award! 

The Rules

Vault

While I am STILL enjoying Zombie Zest on my hands, here is one from the vault to share with you.  Thankfully my skills have improved since then!!!

Nails - (OPI) Brisbane Bronze 

Design - (KSP) Black (IP) M57

Double Post!

The other day a little package arrived from yet another wonderful friend of mine back in the States.  And you guessed it.... more polish!!!  Here are two of the three that she sent.

I’m currently wearing this one, China Glaze Zombie Zest which I absolutely LOVE!

This next one didn’t turn out exactly how I saw it in my mind.  I was inspired by the tracks left in the snow by the snow machine / snow mobiles up here.  I tried to create the "track" look on my tips. Close, but the idea was better than the execution this time.

Nails - (China Glaze) Platinum Silver

Tips - (KSP) Black (IP) BM18

Beauty Trend – Khaki Nails

Apparently Khaki is a BIG trend for nails this fall.   A friend shared this article with me:
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/beauty/beauty-trend-khaki-nails-article-zypa.html
In the article, “Chicago Champagne Toast” by OPI was one of the suggested colors.  I just happen to have it!   

Thirty something going on 12

I was in a strange mood last night and this mani was the result.  It looks like a manicure for a 12 year old.  Sparkly fuchsia with a pink Unicorn.  It’s a lot brighter in real life.  My camera didn’t want to cooperate.  Anyway, this brings back the days of grade school and Friday nights at the roller skating rink, Unicorn stickers and Trapper Keepers.  Ahhhhh.... good times.

Nails - (Sinful Colors) Forget Now

Design - (KSP) Pastel Pink (IP) m28

A little more of the Diva

 

Nails - (OPI) Diva of Geneva

Design - (KSP) Black (IP) BM21

Diva of Geneva

Thanks to a wonderful friend, I finally have my hands on a bottle of OPI's "Diva of Geneva" from this year’s Swiss Collection.  She was also kind enough to send me "Ski Teal We Drop" as well.  I'm loving both!  As you can probably guess, it's not easy to get polish when you live in the Arctic. I can't just run to the store each time a new collection comes out because they don't carry nail polish up here.  What???!!!  Unheard of!!!  <<Gasp>> I know!!!  It’s not a good situation for a polish addict like me to be in.  Ok, well there is ONE store that DOES carry a handful of Wet n Wild brand polishes.  But, they want over 8 dollars for it.  Can you believe that??!!  I'm not about to pay OPI prices for Wet n Wild!!!  Nothing against Wet n Wild, I have a few of their polishes in my collection, but I used to get them for 99 cents when I lived in the States.  Even in desperate moments of instant gratification deficiency I STILL have not caved and purchased one.  I so envy all of you out there who have the world of polish at your fingertips..... literally.  Enjoy!  

Zoya BoGo!

Fortune Teller

Last fall, "Fortune Teller" by China Glaze started a bit of a frenzy.  It was a limited edition color that was exclusive to Sally’s Beauty Supply.   Every nail polish addict out there wanted and needed to get their hands on it, myself included.  I love this color and plan to pull it out every year for Halloween. 

Halloween Mani

Nails - (China Glaze) Orange Marmalade

Tips - (KSP) Black (IP) m56

It's Halloween Time!

Nails - (Sinful Colors) Daddys Girl

Design - (China Glaze) SCI-FI (IP) BM13 and m28

NOTD

China Glaze “Bogie” topped with Hard Candy “Sweet P.”

Here it is blurred to show the sparkle...

 

Wagon Trail

This is from the Rodeo Diva collection by China Glaze (Fall 2008).  One of my favorite fall colors.  The name for this one is perfect, as it looks like shimmery mud.  It’s black with gold shimmer which makes it look like a dark olive green.  Nice!  Wagon Trail was one of the first “non traditional” nail colors that I tried.  Since then I have been loving them. 

 

 

Watermelon Rind

This beauty needs no introduction.  We all know and love it.  Yes, it was part of a summer collection, but I still think it's a great one for fall as well!

Comparison

Today I decided to compare China Glaze “Bogie” and Revlon “No Shrinking Violet.”  They are both in the gray-ed out purple shimmer category, but as you can see the shades are different enough to merit owning and enjoying both.  And I plan to do just that!  <<<wink and a smile>>>

Short & Sassy!

It happens to the best of us... a split, tare or a big old break which forces us to cut down our long lovelies to little nubbins.  Yup.  That was me yesterday.  Bummer.  But I figured, why not make light of it all?  What better color to put on my little stumpers than “Short & Sassy” by China Glaze?!!  It’s a gorgeous garnet shimmer.  I love the depth of this color.  It has that black around the edges look that is so rich.  And it looks great on little shorties too!

This picture is the best of the bad.  We have NO sun up here.  Just clouds and snow.  That’s right... I said snow.  Such is life in the Arctic.  I’ll have to work on making a light box or something.

 

 

My Private Jet

While I'm still enjoying my last mani (yes, it's still going strong) here is a picture of one I did last fall.

Nails - (OPI) My Private Jet
Design - (China Glaze) SCI-FI (IP) m64

Game Day!

Go Steelers!!!

Nails - (China Glaze) Something Sweet
Tips - (KSP) White (IP) m44

A Comparison

Happy October Everyone!  Since Halloween is this month, let’s do a comparison of two orange shade polishes:  OPI "Atomic Orange" and "A Good Man-darin is hard to find." 

Do you see a difference?  Hardly.  A Good Man-darin is just a half shade darker (if that) than Atomic Orange.   I doubt that anyone would even notice that I was wearing two different colors if I left the house like this.  Why would OPI make two colors so close to the same shade?  No one needs to have both.  So, I’ll just have to close my eyes and pick which one to keep!   It won’t matter either way.   

NOTD

Misa - Girls' Night Out
China Glaze - Shooting Stars

Game Day!

Go Steelers!!!

OPI - The "IT" Color 

The Search for Gold...

... the perfect “Steeler Gold” that is.

For quite some time I have been on the prowl for the perfect shade of yellow gold for my Steeler Manis.  I am happy to say that I believe my search is FINALLY over.

Above are my top three from left to right.  In third place we have, CHI “Sunny Romance of Saint Tropez.”   This was a bit thin.  You can see that even with three coats my nail line is still visible and it’s just a little too yellow.

Second place goes to China Glaze “Golden Opportunity.”  This is pretty close, but a bit on the mustard side.  Not a true Steeler Gold, but it will do.    

First place and the perfect Steeler Gold is, OPI “The IT Color.”  And it’s just that.... the IT color!  Go Steelers!!!

Sapphire in the Snow

Sorry it’s been a few days since my last post.  I’ve been hit by the flu... Yuck!  So, here is a mani that I did a while ago that I absolutely loved!

Nails - (OPI) Sapphire in the Snow
Design - (KSP) Sky Pearl (IP) m70

NOW available - Zoya Color Spoons!

We've all heard about them.... and now we can get them!  I just received the following email today from Zoya.  Yay!



The Zoya Color Spoons are now available at http://www.zoya.com .
Zoya Color Spoons are a revolutionary way to shop for nail color,
which insures you can try polish before you buy it.
See Zoya Color Spoon video at www.zoya.com.

Thanks,
Zoya Team

A Favorite



OPI (Designer Series) - Extravagance
I just LOVE this color!!!

Game Day!

Go Steelers!!!

Nails - (Nicole by OPI) Razzle Dazzler

Design - (KSP) Yellow and White (IP) m63

My First Award!

This was given to me by Lisa from  Never Ending Obsession.  Thank you!!!

http://neverendingobsession.blogspot.com/

Done Out In Deco

Nails - (OPI) Done Out In Deco

Design - (KSP) Violet Pearl (IP) m60

One Fab French

Nails - (OPI) Kiss on the Chic
Tips - (China Glaze) White Out
Design - (KSP) Black (IP) m9

Game Day!

I may live in the Arctic, but I was born and raised in Pittsburgh PA. You can guess what that means....... I’m a STEELERS FAN!!! This is my current mani to celebrate the Steelers first game of the season. Go Steelers!!!

Nails - (China Glaze) Golden Opportunity
Design - (KSP) Black  (IP) m45
Helmet is a water decal.

My Current Mani

Nails - (Avon) Jade
Design - (Avon) Olive Green (IP) bm19

My Very First Post!

This is my very first post, so I'm just gonna jump right in with one of my favorite manis so far. 
Nails - (OPI) Suzi Says Feng Shui
Design - (KSP) White (IP) m73