At Home Caviar Manicure

Several of the gals from Polish Exchange were discussing the new Caviar Manicure due to come out from Ciate very soon. One of the gals mentioned she was going to try using some micro beads she has at home and that started the ball rolling for this post. Micro Beads?! I had never heard of them but decided to jet to my local craft store in search of them. I ended up finding them at Michael's. I wanted to try them first so I purchased 3 of the larger sizes to mix, intending to go back for the multi-color 12 pack by Martha Stewart if this attempt was successful.

The beads...

I knew I wanted black just in case this worked but I mainly needed the pink and clear to go along with the polish I was already wearing.

Next, I grabbed a small dish to mix the different colors of beads in that I could easily use to pour the mixed beads onto my nails.

I put in mostly the Passion pink beads along with equal amounts of clear and black beads for contrast. I applied 2 generous coats of Glitter Tamer by Lynnderella. It's a thick top coat but any thick polish will do in whatever color you need. I used clear because my nails were already painted. I held my hand over a paper plate so the beads wouldn't get all over the place and I could save them for future use. Then I patted them flat on my nail to set them in the polish...

Ciate's directions on how to apply.

My results...

I hope you enjoyed this post enough to try this on your own. I would love to see what you come up with! Good luck! =)

Bunny Exchange Reveal

I am a member of a wonderful group of women on Facebook who love polish. We have come together and exchange colors that don't work for us but another member loves or wants to try. It's called Polish Exchange. If you love polish and would like to maybe exchange some of your collection for some new to you colors, look us up and join. We would love to have you. =)


Recently, we decided to do a bunny exchange. We filled out a questionnaire about our favorite colors, brands, likes, dislikes, etc. One member mixed up names and handed them out and off we went!


I have to say, I've paid close attention to my bunny. I wanted to get the perfect polishes for her, the perfect candy, the perfect "extras". Just this morning, I mailed off her box. I am so excited for her to receive it. I know she will love it but I can't help but think "Oh, I should have added..." But, at some point you need to stop, tape it up and mail it. I have to say, I had so much fun shopping for my bunny, I didn't stop to wonder what I might receive. As a matter of fact, I forgot to check my mail for two days and wouldn't you know, my bunny gift was in there both of those days.


I was lucky to have a bunny like me. She really paid attention to what I love and chose polishes for me that I Oooo'd and Aww'd over. She also listened to me when I said I didn't have a few specific stores near me and she bought me polishes from there that I can't get otherwise, even online. I was over the moon happy with her choices! I am so lucky. Thank you, Debbie, from the bottom of my heart. You are amazing! =)


Now, for my bunny reveal...




Chocolate!! This is already awesome...

My favorite pic...

My goodies all unwrapped...

All wrapped up...

YUM!

Spoiled... exactly how I feel! =)

I will wear these first! One on each finger! I love these Claire's  flakey glitters!! <3

Glitter heaven...

I love pink, I don't own any Essie and I have a thing for lip balm...

One of the polishes broke even though it was carefully wrapped in bubble wrap but I was able to salvage most of it by pouring it into an empty OPI bottle I had handy. This was one of my faves so I was glad I could save it. Otherwise I would have bought it online somewhere. It was flakey glittery with pink stars and it was love at first sight. I will be buying another bottle... that's how much I love it.

Debbie... I can't thank you enough for making my very first bunny swap so amazing. THANK YOU! I will treasure each and every item you chose for me. =) <3

St Patrick Sponge Polish

I've been thinking about trying a sponge polish for the first time and figured St Patrick's Day was the perfect time, so I started thinking about which polishes and shades to use. I knew I wanted to use Lynnderella's Funny Money on the tip and China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada at the cuticle but wasn't sure about in between. I decided on a deep green shimmer with Wet and Wild SaGreena the Teenage Witch.

First I applied 2 coats of China Glaze Kiwi Cool-Ada. Second, I sponged on WnW Sagreena the Teenage Witch. Next, I mixed in some OPI black to darken the WnW green and sponged on the tips. After I let that dry, I sponged on Lynnderella's Funny Money on the tip. I topped it off with a good coat of Glitter Tamer, followed by Barielle's Manicure Extender.

The results...

Very soon, I will be posting a step by step tutorial on how to do sponge nail art. It's so much fun and so very easy! I hope you have enjoyed my St. Patrick's Day nails as much as I have! =)

Nail Mail Spam!

There's nothing that brightens my day like receiving a bottle of polish in the mail... unless it's MANY bottles of nail polish! I had placed orders with Llarowe, Barry M, Deborah Lippmann and DollishPolish before leaving on vacation and they were all waiting for me when I returned home. It felt like Christmas and my birthday all wrapped up into one!

I have to say, I was impressed. There was only one color I was meh about but that's just because I ordered two colors that were too similar from Barry M. Totally my fault. Apparently I was in a pink and purple mood, but that's okay.

Now for the nail mail spam...

Barry M nail paint; Vivid Purple, Bright Purple, Lilac Foil, Silver Foil, Hologram Hexagram, Fuchsia & Neon Pink.

Deborah Lippmann... Stairway to Heaven and Candy Shop. Such glittery goodness in both of these polishes. Candy Shop turned into an immediate favorite! Talk about happiness in a bottle. These are my first two Lippmanns but won't be my last. The quality is just impressive and the brushes are are so nice. They are incredibly easy to apply. No need to fight with the glitter at all which is rare.

Next we have 2 colors from the a England The Legends collection, Order of the Garter and Princess Tears. Order of the Garter is a bright cobalt blue with silvery shimmer and Princess Tears is a subtle grey lilac pink with a rainbow shimmer. Just gorgeous!

Also from Llarowe; Glitter Gal with Light as a Feather on the left and White Gold sparkle on the right. 

White Gold Sparkle surprised me. I'm not normally into gold but the holographic sparkle in this beauty is to die for! I just can't stop looking at it. I must have it on my nails soooon!

Light as a Feather is a pale grey with lots of holo-y goodness. In the sun you see the entire spectrum of the rainbow. I have a feeling this will be a favorite through summer.

Dollish Polish custom polish found on etsy.com. I'm really getting into the homemade polishes. There are a lot of amazing polishes on Etsy and I highly recommend trying some out. Dollish polish has excellent customer service and some really awesome glitters and colors. This one is I'm a Material Girl. It's packed full of pink glitter along with white and black squares and hexagrams. Anyone who likes pink should get this polish! If Barbie were a polish color, she'd be I'm a Material Girl! ;)

And now for the last bottle; I <3 Jake Ryan. It's a stunning silver lavender with silver and sea foam green shimmer. This color sparkles in the sun and the sea foam shimmer is just beautiful. I can't wait to try this one layered with a Lynnderella!

My very first LYNNDERELLA...

Funny Money. I ordered it from Llarowe's (You're going to hear that a LOT from me!) and I lovelovelove it! I have a feeling I'm going to love each and every one of my polishes from Lynnderella but there will always be a special place in my heart for my first. ;)

Lynn's definition: The original Funny Money was created in Fall 2009 as an antidote to horrible messages about economic conditions. It contained bar and micro glitters in a blackened green base and bergamot essential oil. Bergamot is thought to promote prosperity and offer protection from negative influences—it smells like sweet orange rind with a green note. The 2011 version is full of green glitters and recycled glitter bits (from Halloween and other lacquers) in a blackened green base and also has bergamot essential oil. Bring on the Prosperity!

What I love most about Funny Money is how complex it is. The blackened green base and green glitter are obvious but when you look close, you see a rainbow of color. I applied a base coat of A England The Knight, topped with 1 coat of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, a dark grey charcoal, 2 coats of Funny Money and 2 coats of Glitter Tamer. Be ready to have random people grab your hands to get a closer look at your nails when you wear the beauty!

Now for the pics...

Ozotic 528 & 532

I do love a quality polish.

If you've never tried an Ozotic nail polish, you need buy a bottle! Trust me. These two polishes are my first but definitely won't be my last! The colors are stunning and eye catching and apply like a dream! I love the brush!

I purchased mine from Llarowe, my favorite nail polish store! Llarowe's has the best customer service I have received online in quite some time. She cares about getting your items to you quickly, efficiently and with the utmost care. Each bottle of polish is wrapped in bubble wrap and arrives in pristine condition. I can't recommend her enough!

But I digress, so back to my new Ozotic nail polishes...

First, I applied 2 coats of Ozotic multi-chrome #532 ("multi chrome teal/lilac/khaki with linear holographic particles") over OPI base coat followed by 2 coats of Ozotic Elytra #528 ("glittering partlicles that shift from blue to green to pink"). 

Each polish on its own is simply gorgeous but together? An eye catching storm of color, shimmer and sparkle... and you know I love sparkle!

Now for the pics...

Ozotic 528

Ozotic 532

Ozotic 532