NOTD Jessica Sunshine with Utopia Summer Sparkle

Just picked up a few Jessica polishes from TJMaxx in boxes of five for $5.99. Unreal, right, considering they sell for $6 each. The first one I wanted to try was the lovely green gold glassfleck called Sunshine. The color to me is more pea soup than sunshine, but the tiny pink and green flecks in the metallic gold base seriously reminded me of Deborah Lippmann shimmers. Seeing as this seems to be a more fall color, I spiced it up with a single coat of Utopia's Summer Sparkle, a hodge podge of bright pastel matte glitters with heavy pinch of small holo glitters. Very topcoat hungry, this glitter, Gelous and two layers of Poshe to smooth.

Some Recent Manicures from Paula!!

So it's summer. And it's Florida. And Paula likes BRIGHT! NEON! GLITTER! here are a couple manicures she did recently in that vein- and her brother was kind enough to provide a couple nails to practice on. He's thrilled, can't you tell?

PFC Challenge- a Day at the Zoo

My inspiration comes from the genius that is Utopia Leopard Print glitter found here. I adore the combination of various glitters, especially the fine micro holo glitter. Only having a mini, I looked for ways to stretch this polish for more uses. With A Day at the Zoo being the next challenge on the board, I played around with a few of the China Glaze On Safari polishes and viola! Animal Kingdom!

blurred to show the holo goodness

ChG polishes are, from left, Desert Sun, Kalahari Kiss, I'm Not Lion and I Herd That - dark lines are Midtown Magic

MSMD Manicure- Leopard Print

I was so over these until I spotted (get it- spotted! yuck yuck) Chalkboard Nails rendition of the leopard print mani- here and having the polishes used I did my own rendition- the only change I made was using ChG Mahogany Magic for the lines.  This was a birthday present mani for a friend.

NOTD Bettina Green Apple with Utopia Hibiscus Accents

I had this in my basket for a long time before I pulled the trigger- and now that there aren't any more in the shop right now, AND it's on my nails, I am so very very glad I did. Utopia's Hibiscus is a special glitter topper with a splendid blend of red, orange, green yellow and holographic glitters combined to look just like a flower would when it's been torn apart. But sparkly. Really. I would even dare to say as beautiful and complicated as a polish by She Who Will Not Be Named. Orange, Coral, Pink, Red, yellow, Green, gold, silver Hexagons, bars, squares micro glitter.. is how the maker describes it. And I say, Well Done. Gorgeous polish, as all are the Utopias I own. Not nearly enough from what I have seen thus far.
Gelous and two coats of Wicked fast over.

OPI and Sonoma- Match made in Heaven!

My daughter Paula loves glitter- but not just ANY glitter- she manages to pick my most expensive, HTF ones-  yeah, those- so I figured I better start trying the untrieds first- before they disappear! Here is the lovely and presently rare Sonoma Nail Art "Go to Napa for Auto Parts" a clever mix of blue, green and yellow glitters in a clear base. What makes this brilliant is the very fine microshimmer added to the mix. Stunning! I chose an unconventional base for this- OPI's Thanks a Windmillion from the recent Holland Collection. I used one thin coat of Napa over two of the OPI- Poshe over Gelous on the glitter nails only. OPI can be found most anywhere, I got my Sonoma from an etsy ninja (thanks Emma)

EEEK! A right hand!!!

Ozotic Mish Mash 533

two thin coats of 533 over black- florescent lighting

So yes, this is the same manicure in different lighting. Wow. May need backup- thin creamy easiest application EVER over a single coat of Cult Nails Nevermore (yes, one coat black- perfect) Poshe to cover. This is the most gorgeous color I have seen in a long time without being glitter!! Run, getcha some, they are discontinued, but llarowe, ninjanails and overallbeauty *may* have a few left- the mish mash colors are 531, 532, 533 and 534.

filtered sunlight- silvery violet

Full sunlight- total turquoise

Angled, oh, hello purple!

A few untrieds....

Whimsical Georgia Peach Fuzz

 

Three thin coats over a coat of Orly Prelude to a Kiss- Whimsicals are wonderful in that the glitters are very smooth- one nice coat of Poshe and smooth as glass!

Bee Polished: Did you know...

Bee Polished: Did you know...: ...your nails need to be conditioned regularly?  Think about this:  how many times do you wash your hair without using a conditione...

Quick NOTD!! KB Shimmer- Party!

Challenging application, well worth it (a few red squares picked out with tweezers, shoving the larger pieces around a bit) LOVE the look! Gelous and two coats of SV to cover.

Emma gets trees!

My standing Wednesday at 5 came by yesterday all atwitter because I had promised to do trees on her nails- she and her family had vacationed in Hawaii earlier this year and her Gma got a tree painted on her toe for a treat. Emma got sponged sunsets (various Bettina polishes) and hand painted palm trees. Love this girl!

Big Hot 4th of July Mess!

I swatched this gorgeous red white and blue glitter from Utopia on one nail over a dusty gold I was wearing and LOVED it! My idea for our PCF Challenge was simply Independence Day so anything goes basically. I started with one coat (yes 1!) of aEngland's beautiful silver Excalibur- no brushstroke, just chrome yumminess. After it dried, I started sponging Orly Grave Mistake and China Glaze Frostbite for the stripes- (I tried China Glaze Poinsettia for the red, but the silver just made it look hot pink) Then I put a heavy two coats of Utopia Stars and Stripes over it and that's when it got messy- placing the glitters around smeared the red and blue- but this stuff is so pretty! It has large shimmery white and matte blue stars, matte blue and white bar glitter, small and medium shiny red hexes, large shiny red square, and for a knockout punch, tiny holo hexes.  Love it, making sure I have enough foil and acetone to remove- pictures show a bit of the red staining, sorry- Gelous and Seche Vite over.