Friday, January 28, 2011

Green Disco Ball nails

Hi Kids!
While I'm busy playing with new plate, here's a mani from the Vault that looked awesome flashy and magical in real life, but horrible in pictures. Credit for the idea goes to Deez Nailz in this post.
I hadn't planned on doing this mani at the time...it was more on the lines of playing with sequins on an old mani (Revlon Emerald City). Were I to take my time with this idea again, I would definitely choose a base polish that had more shimmer in it as well as place the sequins closer together.
In spite of the application flaws, this mani got a tremendous amount of compliments, and was fun to wear.

















Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Layered fauxnad!

Hi Kids!
Nailene Acrylic Strong does NOT make a good topcoat for 'nadding, unless you're hardcore into the smudged look. Wanna know just how bad this topcoat is? The stamping polishes I used for this mani were not stamping polishes, they were regular polishes!
I'm really disappointed because I had planned on wearing this mani for a couple of days.
All pics are clickable...



















Smudge City













Nails were sponged with polish, followed by the stamping of several floral images over the sponged areas in matching polish colors. The design was then accented with black stamping and black sequins.
If anyone is interested in the colors and plates used, please ask in comments.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Guide Grafix

Hi Kids!
This would have been so much better had the red not bled from the holo dot stickers I used.
Base is 3 coats of Revlon Bubble Gum (scented). Mani was masked off using straight and curved french tip guides from Orly and Kiss. One coat of OPI Miami Beet applied to the exposed areas.

The holo dots were purchased from Michael's craft store. I have them in silver, gold, pink, red and black. Being very thin, they are a great alternative to rhinestones and sequins. Each dot is embedded in slightly elevated metallic ring making them look like gems in a setting. Anyway, this is my first time using the red, and they looked great until Seche ate through the color.
Pictures are clickable;

































Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Navy Jelly and contest winner

Hi Kids!
For all my Followers who entered  the Name My Franken contest- Choosing was difficult...I loved all your suggestions. I narrowed it down to three, slept on it a couple of days, and decided on peripatetic33's Seren-Dippity. Please forward your address to glammed_upblog at yahoo dot com.

Also- in keeping with the tradition of the Wicked Vixens, I will be announcing a Giveaway when I reach 666 Followers. 
Watch this space...especially if you have a thing for gorgeous navy jellies. The nail polish used in today's NOTD will be one of the lacquers offered in my 666 Giveaway!

Ruby Kisses Regaled Out Blue, the perfect 2 coat navy jelly.
Click on pictures to enlarge...










































If I was able to give an award to the most improved nail polish, it would go, hands down, to Ruby Kisses.
This little known company did an outstanding job with reformulating their lacquers, changing to a quality brush and adding classy, new, labling, they deserve some serious consideration.
I love that Ruby Kisses is priced at an affordable $.99- $1.49 per bottle- BUT- I think their image would improve greatly if they raise prices. Being cheap is undermining the fact that the polish is quality.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Product fail

Hey Kids!
Such a shame that these gorgeous metallic looking nail art flowers ended up looking like Rice Krispies on my nails. After testing every top coat I own, Nailene Strong was the best option in regards to keeping the finish somewhat intact on these flowers. I used one coat of it, however, I made the mistake of following that up with a coat of Seche. I have to say that my pictures make these flowers look worse than what my eyes actually see.




Tuesday, January 4, 2011

glowing blue embers FCC #6

Hi Kids!
WooHoo! With the holidays over, I get to enjoy a couple of low stress months at the restaurant.
Anyway, I have a gorgeous NOTD to show you today, but before that I wanted to thank all the Bloggers who are posting lesser known polish swatches. For me they are a breath of fresh air from the stuffiness of the same old OPI, China Glaze, Orly...etc. I also want to mention that I've decided to edit the rules for Name My Franken contest. You may enter as many names as you like- no limit!

So, here it is, my NOTD. This color the most saturated and glowiest dark blue shimmer I have in my collection. Funny thing, though, until I applied a top coat, it looked exactly like my bottle pic, which is pretty much an unremarkable blue. I'm not sure why a top coat affected the color/finish in this way. I'm not complaining...this is definitely a gorgeous color, especially considering it was a $1 FCC.
Pictures are clickable.
















Looking all nonchalant in the bottle...
















Mani- 2 coats FCC #6, 1 coat Seche
















I've received several emails from Readers interested in swapping for some of these FCCs. At present, I don't have any back-ups to do so, however, I'm crossing my fingers that the Dollar Store where I purchased these from will re-stock.