Oh, Elevation!

Sure wish I knew how to pronounce Xixabangma, but I bet my kids would think I was swearing at them if I did. Nonetheless, this is a gloriously deep blue-leaning olive cream with a classy blue shimmer throughout. Perfect application, two coats. Amazing polish at a very reasonable price.

Barry M Gelly flowers

Beauty and Lifestyle Bride Blog- Main Monday

Home of the Untempered Schism

I'm starting to get excited about the return of Dr. Who, with the 50th anniversary special then the 12th Doctor. I managed to snag this Nerd Lacquer and a couple others in the last random appearance of Amanda in the polish world back in June. So glad I did- it's a gorgeous copper gold metallic base stuffed with gold glitters, tiny red speck glitters, two sizes of matte black, a faint sprinkle of tiny holo glitters and, the most unique of all,  small slightly sage GREEN holo glitters. Not wanting to waste a precious drop, with this beauty being a tad sheer, I layered it over one thin coat of Essence Golden Sands, an almost perfect match for the golden base in HOTUTS. I used a layer of Gelous then Poshe to make it smooth. The glitters lay quite flat and applied almost perfectly. Amazing-

First four pics taken under an Ott light, these last two in indirect light thru a window.

My latest BLBride article- short nail art!

http://blbride.com/?p=2268

Crows Toes One Trick Pony

In the spirit of "branching out" I got a few Not green, Not orange polishes from the darling Kim Snyder at Overall Beauty. (go, see, buy HERE!) Although I do love holos and duo chromes, with my all time faves being the now discontinued Ozotic Mish Mash polishes, I am less that happy always having to use black underneath to bring out all the lovely color changes. BUT indie makers have found the secret of multichromes without needing black undies, and this is a new offering from Crows Toes in the collection One mad crazy summer 2013! Two coats to opaque and deep purple holo that shifts to teal, green and silverish.
Dazzle Dry topcoat.

Crows Toes Blasts it Out of the Park!

I am pretty much over chunky glitters. Don't get me wrong, they catch my eye, they sparkle and sing sweet songs to me, but I have *enough* for now. What really makes me hit that "buy" trigger is complicated, unusual finish polishes that are different from what I have. And Crow Toes  One Mad, Crazy Summer Collection has a few of these! I applied three coats each of Last Rat Standing, a pink-leaning grayed taupe with rainbow microglitter (really, see the macros- it's not then usual pink/green we are used to seeing, it's got blue, gold, teal and purple as well). Very thin formula, it *might* take four coats, but I applied very thin ones and was happy with three. I did a few accent nails with the aptly named Mimion, a blue based purple jelly loaded with color changing glitters as well as purple shimmer pigments and tiny purple glitter. Impossible for me to photograph, but it does change from deep purple thru teal to golden in the right light/angle. Lovely, different, available at Overall Beauty.  Poshe topcoat (both are 1 coat smooth)

Branching out- China Glaze Elephant Walk

Yes, I KNOW it's from last year, and yes, I KNOW it's been swatched to high heaven, but I am trying to sample all my unused polishes, even to wearing those I wouldn't look twice at before. EW was an impulse buy, perhaps because everyone was raving about the "green shimmer" or something. Well, it is a medium gray and it  does have a greenish cast, and a lovely faint shimmer as well. Perfect in two coats. I wore it a day then added Jessica Chilled Chambord (another untried- burgundy shimmer!) for spots. Jury is out, but it's OK, just not ME. Dazzle Dry over.

Yes, I'm wearing pink, and Yes, that means the world is ending

Calm down, it's not ending, at least not today, as far as I know. I am wearing pink for a very good/bad reason- I bullied a friend (sorry Kelly) into wearing pink to a wedding the other day. She wears nothing but blue and I refused to do her nails with blue. Sooooo in solidarity, I dug deep, strained and stretched and found my inner pink- except it's holo and a slightly warm pink. Color Club Miss Bliss, two rainbowific coats under Dazzle Dry.

My favorite post for my bridal magazine column so far!

Beauty and Lifestyle Bride

Polishing it Old School

I was thinking about the good old days, when I only had 10, maybe 12 precious indie glitters. I remember selling my CTD when I was in a pinch, and mourning it until Cover Band (thanks NinjaPolish!) came out with Sticks 'n Stones and I snagged a bottle! My favorite way to wear these black and white glitters is over bright creams, and this base is  a bright one for sure, two lovely coats of Barry M Gelly Key Lime.

Recycle your Manicure!

http://blbride.com/?p=1660

Feeling Fallish

There are a few  lines coming out this fall that are showcasing deep chocolate brown, and I just happened to stumble across China Glaze Call of the Wild in a box. It took three coats to get opaque but I use thin ones, and that last was like pouring melted dark chocolate over my nails! I didn't use a good topcoat so I couldn't get decent pics, but it was glossy and gorgeous. I'm moving this from the box to a drawer! I layered over a thin coat of Hits Hefesto, a sheer silver holo over it. Out the Door topcoat this time.