Twinsie Tuesday: Holiday Special

Hi friends! Happy Holidays to you all! Today is the Twinsie Tuesday group's special holiday post. This year, it is a general holiday inspired theme as opposed to something more specific. I prefer the open-ended themes because I have more wiggle room if an idea doesn't work out - like this one.

I legit tried three different designs and a total of five manis before one worked out. Ugh. And the one that did was much more simplistic than what I wanted, but I'm not gonna argue after four horrid attempts!

July 4th NOTD with Incoco Nail Strips

Hi everyone! Happy July 4th to all my fellow Americans! After the last couples of weeks, I am feeling very proud of my country today. I truly hope the progress made recently continues to build momentum and we can look forward to more!

For my 4th of July NOTD, I did a simple accent with some Incoco nail strips I recently picked up at my local Walgreens. This is my first time using the Incoco strips, so I thought I would include a mini review along with my nails.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased for my own personal use.

Incoco Nail Strips in Brave Brilliance

Twinsie Tuesday: Holiday Special

Hey y'all! Today is a special edition of Twinsie Tuesdays. In case you didn't notice, all the Twinsies decided to take a short break over December, as the holidays and family commitments were taking up a majority of our time. But we wanted to do something special to celebrate the holidays with each other and you all, so we decided to do a double mani post honoring the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays.

I, personally, love this idea! While I'm not particularly religious, I believe it is important to recognize all beliefs and traditions. Only when we open our hearts to everyone can we truly begin to understand the notion of love and acceptance. Okay enough soapbox, time for the nail art!

Snowy Nail Of The Day

Ohhai friends! Well we are back from East Texas, technically since Monday afternoon, and the mound of dirty clothes from the trip has dwindled down enough that I had time to do a little something with my nails!

The weather has turned cold and dreary, so I figured I would do something seasonally appropriate. And I had this gorgeous bottle of Love Angeline Love At Frost Sight sitting around waiting ever so patiently to be used. 

Nail Of The Day: Thankful

Hey y'all! Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! We are off spending the day with my husband's family in San Antonio. I can pretty much guarantee there will be fantastic food and lots of alcohol, lol! Definitely a great way to spend Thanksgiving!

Today I wanted to share my holiday inspired nails and, more importantly, say thank you to all of you! I sincerely appreciate all of the comments and the interactions I get from you guys. 

My Thanksgiving nails are rather simple. I have been craving more basic designs lately - probably since I don't have a lot of time to devote to the more intricate looks. It seems my fall back method is some sort of gradient and that is what I wen with today!

China Glaze Dancing & Prancing

Hey y'all! I don't know about you guys, but I cannot believe it is already time for the holidays! This year has gone by soooo fast and I kinda feel like I wasn't able to keep up, lol!

Today I have a quick post with one of the new glitters from the China Glaze Twinkle holiday collection. I really wasn't planning on getting any of them, but I saw Dancing & Prancing at my local Sally's and was totally captivated by the shiny glitters!

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

China Glaze Dancing & Prancing (Twinkle Holiday 2014 collection)

over China Glaze Well Trained

Cirque Colors Mirror, Mirror

Hi friends! How was your weekend? We had a great time at the fundraiser event for my daughter's school. It was a great turn out with fantastic home brew beers. Definitely a fun evening!

If you follow me on IG, you may have seen a sneak peek at the unbelievably stunning Cirque Colors Mirror, Mirror LE silver flakie holiday release. I wore it out this weekend for the party and it is just as amazing as I was hoping it would be!

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

Cirque Colors Mirror, Mirror

Happy 4th of July!!

Hey y'all! Happy Friday and 4th of July to my American pals! Today is a short and sweet post to share the festive skittle mani I did for the holiday. We are having a small cookout and then going to check out the fireworks show nearby. And then I am staying up late tonight getting ready for the girlie's birthday party tomorrow! Oof, I'm already exhausted and the day just started.

Used:

O.P.I. - First Date At The Golden Gate

Essie - Hide & Go Chic

Winstonia nail wraps in Americano

I had a few wraps left over from my original review (here) and decided it would be fun to use one as an accent nail. The Americano wraps are super cute and so sparkly! And they are on sale this weekend!

This mani literally took me less than 30 minutes to do both hands. And, yes, for once my right hand is painted too! Whenever I do nail art, I  am only able to do it on my left hand, since I am not ambidextrous at all. Nail wraps are great for that reason alone!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Holiday Party Polish Picks With Zoya

Hey y'all! Happy New Year's Eve! We have had a whirl-wind holiday, so we are taking it easy tonight and staying in. But for all of you who are getting ready for a holiday party, I have a little post just for you!

 

When you have a fairly large collection of polish, sometimes it can be more fun (and free!) to shop your stash and bring out some old favorite to play with once in a while. I have such a love affair with Zoya nail polish, that more often than not, I reach for a bottle when I am looking for a basic mani. I decided to pick out some of my favs that would be great for a holiday/new years party look.

 

Zoya - Fei Fei

 

Zoya - Blaze

 

 

Zoya - Ziv

 

 

Zoya - Storm

 

Zoya - Daul

 

Each polish has a little something special and would be great choices to ring in the new year. Of course there is always the classic gold or black look, but I also wanted to pick some unusual choices. Fei Fei and Daul are two of my most favorite Zoyas. They are truly unique and beautiful shades! And of course Blaze is always a stunning choice for any holiday occasion.

 

Well, I hope you had fun shopping my stash with me! And I hope I was able to help with any last minute polish decisions. Have a safe and fun NYE guys!

 

Christmas Holly - Holiday Nail Art Spectacular

Merry freakin' Christmas y'all!!! Happy holidays, and happy Wednesday, otherwise. Since it is Christmas day and all, I figured that I should share my most awesome holiday mani. Last year was the first time I attempted nail art and I did a simple little holly berry design. So I thought it would be kinda fun to do another holly berry themed mani this year!

I was inspired by the incredibly talented Amanda K. on Instagram. You should really check out her profile, it is full of amazing nail art!

 

Used:

 

Nubar - Ruby Red Glitz

O.P.I. - MBSW

Revlon - Posh

 

Dotting tools

Nail art brush

 

I love this so much! It turned out so so pretty. Totally classic and simple design, my favorite.

 

 

Well that wraps up my holiday nail art spectacular! I hope you guys liked all the different designs that I shared! I definitely had a lot of fun doing them, and am looking forward to next year already!

 

I kinda had a blogger fail yesterday, and didn't get the holiday party post up. I spent all morning baking cookies, instead, oops! Instead, I will be posting it in a few days for a NYE party post! Have a great day!!!

Poinsettia Nails - Holiday Nail Art Spectacular

Hi friends! Happy Monday! Are you guys ready for the holidays? I am still making cookies! It has taken a little longer than normal to get all my baking out of the way, my kiddo got a cold yesterday and I have been playing nurse along with baker!

 

I am trying to get the rest of my holiday posts up before all the madness starts, so I hope you guys don't mind a short post! Besides, we all know it's about the pics, right?! ^_^

 

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - MVIB
O.P.I. - FDATGG

O.P.I. - Black Onyx

Zoya - Logan

Zoya - Ziv

 

Nail art brush

 

This design is kinda sentimental for me. My mom's favorite flower is the poinsettia, and my sister and I would get her one every Christmas. So the flower always gives me warm fuzzies as an adult. The leaves were kind of a screw up, but I am okay with the end result. I used the G&G HK Girl top coat for this design.

 

I know I have mentioned it before, but MVIB is seriously such a great base for nail art. I grab it as much as MBSW when I am planning out a design. If you don't have either, they are great staples for a nail art collection.

I am also trying out the Glisten & Glow HK Girl top coat. It is really great for nail art purposes as well, I have yet had a smear with it, even if the polish is still a little wet. I will be adding it along with every other TC I have tried to a comprehensive guide that I have been working on almost all year. I hope to have it up early 2014 (how crazy is it that 2013 is almost over?!?!).

Hope you guys have a great day & look for a fun post tomorrow, perfect if you are looking for a polish to wear to a holiday party!

Holiday Ruffian with Studs - Holiday Nail Art Spectacular

Hey guys and gals! It is super close to Christmas, and I am bursting at the seems! I also have so many nail art posts that I need to put up before the big day! I may actually have a post ready every day - which never happens!

 

Today is a fun, festive design that is super easy to do and doesn't require a lot of nail art skills. I haven never attempted a Ruffian mani before, and I had no trouble at all.

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - First Date At The Golden Gate

Zoya - Logan

 

Born Pretty nail studs

 

I like that it I Christmas-y without being too ever the top. And of course the studs.You all know how I feel about nail studs!

 

If you have never done a Ruffian type design, it is really easy to recreate. I started with a base layer of O.P.I. FDATGG. After it was dry, I used Zoya Logan and started painting a little lower on the nail, following the cuticle curve. Super easy, and no tools required! Just the brushes from the bottles and a little patience!

 

I actually kinda prefer this sort of look as opposed to the more intricate designs. But it is fun to bust out all the tools, from time to time, and spend an evening creating something!

 

So which do you like? Simple or detailed?

ILNP Nostalgia

Hey everyone! How is your weekend? We are going to check out the most awesome Trail of Lights at Zilker Park tonight! It is a wonderful holiday light display that the city of Austin puts on every year, and it is my most favorite tradition! I will probably spam my IG feed with pics tonight!

 

Today, I have an incredible polish to share! The fantastic Indie brand, ILNP (I Love Nail Polish), has recently released a line of Ultra Chrome polishes that boast insane color shifts. As part of a LE holiday trio, Barbra created the Ultra Chrome, Nostalgia - a multi chrome that shifts mainly from green to red, but let me tell you, there is sooooooooo much more! On to the pics!

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

 

 

 

 

 

ILNP - Nostalgia

 

Nostalgia is a multi chrome polish that shifts from deep emerald green to bronze to yellow gold to red to fuchsia. I have even caught glimpses of teal and purple flashes. Let me preface by saying, my camera loathes multi chromes. It is always reluctant to capture color shifts. Nostalgia is so dramatic that it took amazing pictures! In person, it is even more stunning! I was constantly looks at my nails for the three days I wore it. Nostalgia has some serious hypnotic powers, folks! Formula was quite good as well. This is two coats, by itself. No layering over black to get this effect! Minimal brush strokes, and it applied smoothly. It did seem to dry a tad bit longer than regular polish. Nothing a good quick dry top coat can't solve!

 

 

I ordered this during the pre sale, and I am not sorry one bit! This is truly an amazing polish, and you will be seeing it again when I post my top ten polishes for the year. I will probably be ordering a back up of this in fact! So if you are on a no-buy, break it, cause Nostalgia is sooooo worth it! You will thank me!

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

ILNP polish is available on line. Products retail from $10 - $12.50 a piece.

Gradient Christmas Trees - Holiday Nail Art Spectacular

Hey friends! Happy Friday! No FF post today, but instead, I have more fun holiday nail art! For me, there is nothing more magical than a twinkling tree decked out with holiday flair.

 

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - MBSW

Zoya - Logan

Zoya - Apple

Zoya - Ziv

 

Make up sponge

Nail art brush

 

I love the classic tree design, but I wanted to do a different spin on it and combined the gradient triangle with it. Though it is reflective as hell, and my camera hates white, I really really love the outcome - just not the photos. Hopefully, you guys can get a good idea of what it looks like and maybe try it out yourselves!

 

 

That's all for today, folks! I gotta say that the holidays/school/weather have been kicking my butt and I haven't had nearly enough time to enjoy the nail polish community. I hope you guys can forgive me for posting sporadically! Though I do have some fun stuff planned, not to mention my year end post! I have been thinking of what polishes will be in my top ten of this year, and it may take a while to narrow it down! What have been some favorites of yours?

 



Peppermint Twist - Holiday Nail Art Spectacular!

Hey y'all, hope all is well! We have a big winter storm blowing in today, and it is super chilly! I love cold weather as long as I am bundled up with a nice warm fire.

 

Today, I have more Holiday Nail Art Spectacular fun for you guys! A few months ago, I did a guest post for my lovely friend Casey Lane. I made my first attempt at doing spirals, and loved it! I knew it was something that I wanted to replicate again.

 

 

 

Used:

 

O.P.I. - MBSW

O.P.I. - First Date At The Golden Gate

Nubar - Ruby Red Glitz

 

Born Pretty nail studs

Nail Art brush

 

 It was a lot easier this time around, and I have to say, I am super pleased with how it turned out! My favorite part is the studs, of course. But I think it is so cute and fun. And a great "twist" on the standard candy can striped nails. See what I did there? Haha, yeah, I'm hilarious.

 

 

Hope you guys have a great weekend! It is ridiculously cold here (what evs, I'm from Texas) and I am spending my days inside!

Icicle Nails - Holiday Nail Art Spectacular!

Hey friends! It's December already, and of course everyone is gearing up for the holiday season. I loooooove Christmas, almost to an unnatural degree. Borderline "Elf" level, folks. So it only makes sense to bring all that holiday revelry to the blog! Last year, I wasn't too confident in the nail art category to attempt much, but this year, I have stuff planned all month long! I even have something special in the works for the middle of the month, so keep an eye out!

 

I wanted to kick off my "Holiday Nail Art Spectacular" with something more wintery, for those not holiday inclined. And I know I say this every time, but Zoya Pixie Dust polishes are super fantastic for nail art purposes.

 

Used:

 

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

Zoya Pixie Dust - Tomoko

 

Nail Art brush

 

How great are the pixie dust icicles?!? I was super proud of myself for thinking of using Tomoko to make sparkly icicles. And since it is pixie dust, it was very easy to free hand, no tape needed or anything. I just painted little uneven lines and filled it out more towards the tips of my nails. I added a couple of dots to mimic water drips, as well.

 

It has been a while since I have had the creative urge to do some serious nail art, and it seems that lately all I have been posting is swatches - which is fine with me. But nail art is something I have really grown to love, and I want to keep the blog with an even mix of both. So yay for inspiration! Yay for holiday themed posts! Yay for Pixie Dust icicles!!!

Pipedream Polish Halloween 2013 - She's A Thriller and Feed The Monster

Hey friends! Hope you all are having a fun weekend! Nothing exciting going on here, I'm kinda boring and usually a home body! Though I am really excited for Halloween this Thursday, and have some holiday appropriate polish to share. I sure hope you all aren't tired of Pipedream Polish, because I am definitely not!

 

Please Note: Products were provided at a discount by the company/creator for review purposes.

 

 

Pipedream Polish - She's A Thriller (Halloween 2013)

over Zoya - Darcy/Wet n Wild - The Clock Strikes Orange gradient

 

She's A Thriller is a black and white glitter topper that has circle glitters! Yep, circle glitters. You know I love them! It is of course, a perfect polish. No typical issues, and I even got the larger circles out without having to fish for them! One coat is all that is needed for this amount of coverage, no dabbing at all. Oh, if only all glitter toppers were this good! I decided to do a little Halloween gradient for the base, and it turned out pretty awesome, I think! As far as I know, this is not an LE and there are still some available.

 

 

 

 

 

Pipedream Polish - Feed The Monster (Halloween 2013)

over O.P.I. - Incognito In Sausalito

 

Feed The Monster is an orange, fuchsia and gun metal glitter topper with hex glitters in various sizes. Sadly, this beauty was LE and is now sold out. As much as I hate sharing stuff that is no longer available, I did so for the purpose of overall review and to show the consistency of quality. It is very rare to find a mainstream company that continually puts out top notch products, but this Indie brand is doing that. It is on par with every other Pipedream Polish in my stash, and not a single one has let me down in beauty or performance. So even though, you can't get this particular polish, there is a wonderful selection to choose from, and I know you won't be disappointed!

 

 

I am actually rather spoiled now, by April's creations. But that's okay! Just means that I am getting awesome goodies!

 

Please Note: Products were provided at a discount by the company/creator for review purposes. All opinions are my own. For more info, please read my disclaimer.

Pipedream Polish is available online via Etsy. Products retail from $7 to $8.25 a piece.

I Love NP Up To Snow Good

Hey guys! I am still technically taking a little break to let my nails recover from their break, but I totally forgot to post this swatch/review before all the nail drama happened. So, today, I have a polish that I teased you all with before the new year, a seriously gorgeous indie glitter. I Love NP!

 

I Love NP - Up To Snow Good over Zoya - Wednesday

 

Up To Snow Good is a great wintry mix of white hex and shard glitters, teal and sheer white square glitters, and a light sprinkling of tiny holo glitter, all in a clear base. It is really a fabulous glitter top coat, and will work with a good number of polishes. I layered one coat over Zoya Wednesday, because the two complimented each other so well without taking away  from how awesome the glitter mix is. The formula was really good for a glitter bomb. If you are familiar with Indie Glitter polish, then you should be used to the thicker suspension base. In this case, it was a perfect consistency for my taste, thick and smooth. If you prefer a thin polish, then you may want to add a drop or two of thinner. Up To Snow Good does have a bit of a chemical smell to it, nothing really strong or offensive like Klean Color, but I did notice it. Dry time was great, as well. I finished with a couple of coats of Gelous and a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also want to point out how great the packaging is, very eye catching! I am a total sucker for stuff like this.

 

Overall, I am really impressed with everything about this brand and how well it is put together. The other polishes are really pretty, as well. I have quite a few more on my "to-buy" list!

 

Break down:

 

- interesting mix of glitter

- nice, thick formula

- 3 free

- smaller bottles, 4 oz.

- slight chemical smell

- $10 retail

- great packaging

 

 

I Love NP is available on line via Etsy.

Nail of the Day: Holly Jolly

Hi guys! Happy Christmas Eve (if you celebrate)!!!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday full of love & cookies! We are spending the day with my husband's family for dinner & gift exchanging. I decided to do another little holiday/winter inspired nail design for the festivities.

 

 This pic on OPI's FB page really inspired me to do a little nail art. I really want to give it a try, especially since I am seriously considering doing the 31 day challenge sometime soon (eep!).

 

 

I used Zoya Ornate polishes for this mani, since it is a holiday look & Ornate is my fav holiday colletion this year! Ziv for the main color, Logan and Blaze for the holly leaves and berries. I used a small liner brush to creat the leaf shape & my dotting tools for the berries. I then, outlined and detailed the leaves with a black nail art pen and highlighted the berries with a white pen.

 

 

 

I am so proud of how it turned out! I really love it and can't wait to do some more stuff. Yay! ::happy dance::

 

Anyway, happy holidays everyone! Until next time!

Sunday Stamped #4 (Holiday Edition)

Hey everyone! Hope you all are having a great weekend! I am spending this Sunday baking cookies for Christmas. Once again, I only have one stamped mani, but it's a special one - Candy Canes!

 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On over Takko Lacquer Va Va Voom

Stamp Plate: Bundle Monster BM207

I am trying to find a good white for stamping, this one is okay, but it didn't stamp as well as I wanted, & I tried to touch up some of the sheer patches. Anyway, I like the way it turned out, regardless. More stamping next week!