OPI - Red Hot Glam

Bright red, very slight hint of shimmer.  I believe this is a Beauty Brands exclusive right now.

above 2 (without flash)

below 2 (with flash)

Sunday NOTD

NOTD: Essie, Essie & Essence

Friday Fail - Watermarbling

The last two manis, I've tried to watermarble.
What I've learned:
1) The concept actually works and is quite easy to do yet hard to get to look cool.
2) More than, say, three colors just makes things complicated and not work so well.
3) Move quickly.  Not as quickly as Konading but the polish will dry on top of the water after a minute or so.
4)No matter what, use tape around the nail or else...
5)Different polishes work better than others.  Some are not as opaque and some colors show up differently (a Sally Hansen wine color looked more pink than red).

The first watermarble I attempted was last Saturday.  It turned out okay - not good at all close up but from a distance it looks pretty cool.  Then put some Konad stars on top of the ring fingers.

The second watermarble attempt was earlier Friday morning and...well...miserably failed. The goal was to make it red and white with silver and black accents in honor of the Nebraska Huskers.  Just look at the pics :( Also, Seche, why, oh why, must you bubble and shrink today? WHY?! Needless to say this mani is gone now!

Ew.

Friday FAIL - OPI Russian Navy Matte

A couple weeks ago, I was came across a blog post (sorry, I don't remember the blog it was on - if it's you let me know and I'll link) for OPI Russian Navy Suede.  Thinking I had this stashed in my polish drawer untried, I was all excited to make it my new manicure.  Unfortunately I had matte and not suede.  First of all, it was messy.  Application and clean-up sucked.  Look at the pictures for proof!! Second, it's boring and needs some Konad or something.  Third, it was chipping withing two hours. 

Wedding Wednesday - Cupcakes!

Two and a half weeks ago, my parents threw my husband and I a wonderful wedding reception (thanks, mom and dad!).  Mom and I had this crazy idea that instead of ordering cupcakes as originally planned we would make them.  22 dozen of them.  Turns out my husband has a hidden talent of cupcake decorater - he colored and cut all the fondant and frosted every single cupcake! He's a keeper ;)

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Lagoon

Look how pretty the polish is in the bottle.  For over two months, it's been sitting unopened in my drawer.  Truth is I love how "mermaid" colors look in the bottle but hate them on my nails.  Why? There was this girl way back in early high school who wore too much blue eyeshadow and red lipstick WITH mermaid-colored nails.  For the next eightish years, I refused to wear any color on my nails except pink or red or something very neutral.  All because I was afraid of making her mistake.  

How ridiculously silly is that?
In fact, I didn't start to like all different nail polishes until this blog started and I discovered other nail blogs.  So wearing "mermaid" polish meant I'd climbed a big, silly mountain in life. ;)

Lagoon is awesome.  All different colors in the bottle but unfortunately, my camera didn't capture the color quite right on the nail.  It was a rushed job and messy but overall, this is one of my top ten now.  The Salon Manicure brushes are a love/hate relationship.  The flat end seems to make precise application harder.  The color was smooth, not streaky at all.  It wore a few days of abuse (I'm a nurse) before chipping. 

Two coats with a coat of Seche.