Pink Wednesday!

Once again it's Pink Wednesday! I couldn't figure out which pink I wanted to wear, again, when I came across this creamy pink that is actually called Plum Seduction by Revlon. I think it debuted in 2009, but I bought it at CVS on one of my coupon shopping days back in April.

 

This is 2 coats with an SV top coat. In my opinion, it really didn't need a top coat because it was super shiny on my nails without it. But no mani is complete without a top coat when it comes to my nails!

 

I had to nubbinize a few nails today because while I was shaking up a franken that I was working on today I bumped my hand on the freakin table...Dag nabbit...I hate when that happens! Oh well, I'm really starting to like Revlon polishes. Seems sometimes they get a bad rep, especially if you are an OPI junky like me!!! Either way, like it or love it! Happy Pink Wednesday ladies...

Deux Lux...

I got a Beautiful Lovely Thing for my birthday last week...

 

Isn't this gorgeous! It is a beautiful crystal-encrusted bag that is too cute for words! It's called the "Twinkle Small Duffle". Of all my purses & handbags, this one is by far my favorite. It glistens any and everywhere, even when the lights are off!

It has a beautiful turquoise satin on the inside that I think goes so well with black.  On a sad note though, I did discover that the label on the inside is upside down, which kind of chaps my a** because the boutique I got it from is so nice & upscale. But the owner said she is happy to call & have a replacement shipped to me. So I'm happy again!

 

I saw a young lady carrying this bag in the waiting room at the hospital I work at, so I asked, she told, I bought! It comes in a few different colors. You can get it at Nordstrom or deuxlux.com. I have to say my hubby did good with his choice of birthday gifts for me this year..thanks hunny bunny!!

Blue Monday

Hey y'all,

I'm so excited to share Blue Mondays with A Polished Touch. I really love Pink Wednesdays, so this just adds another fun layer to my week! So here we go...

I started with a coat of Orly Glitz & Glamour and then a coat of Sally Hansen Distressed Denim Crackle. 

Orly G&G is a deeply rich gold glitter that almost looks like gold foil  to me. I really really love it! Now as for this Sally Hansen Crackle...smh...I already dislike crackle/shatter polishes but I figured WTH give it a try. This polish is a cobalt blue jelly crackle polish that is hard as all get out to work with. I tried to go slow to get really thin, even coats, but this polish is a hot mess! The brush is too skinny the formula is very funky **takes a deep breath**. When I tried to correct some areas, it just clumped up! The crackle finish looks very ashy & dry, but a coat of SV while brighten it right up!! (I should have zoom in on this pic)

I almost didn't post this mani because my blog is all about things that are beautiful & make me happy. This did not make me very happy. But I love the gold underneath the blue and I love the idea of Blue Mondays, so whatever, I'm posting it.

Here it is with camera flash. Eek!!! I hope you guys like this color combo. If you try it, I hope it works better for you than it did for me. Thanks!!

Sunshine Award

Good Morning All,

I got nominated for the Sunshine Award yesterday!!  Thank You A Polished Touch for nominating me! I can't wait to see your first Blue Monday post! Here's a pic of the Award... 

The Rules are:

Thank & link back the person who gave you the award.

Write a post about it.

Pass it on to 10 bloggers you think really deserve it.

Laura from Laura's Lacquers added this rule: "Name at least one everyday thing that makes you happy. (NOT the subject of your blog or this award, we all know that makes you happy!)"

Ok y'all, this really excites me because it means that there is actually someone out there that is interested in what I have to say on my blog. It's so nice when you can log on and see that someone has stopped by & left a comment. I'm still fairly new to this but so far I have met some amazing & very talented young ladies. So, for their talent, generosity & kindness, I chose the bloggers below because I think they truly deserve it! 

lacquerized

Miss80Million

Nails Beautiqued

Rachel Marie's Nails

Chloe's Nails

The TraceFace Philes

Cupcakes Take the Cake

Polish Galore

A Southern Grace

Make Life Delicious

Check these ladies out. Their blogs are amazing! To all of you that have ever visited my blog, thanks a bunch! Hope you come back soon!!!

Now, to name a few things that make me happy would take a lifetime of blog posts! But, for the sake of time, I will name a few...

I love cheese, all cheeses! Eating cheese makes me happy!

The aroma of candles that I personally hand-poured flowing through my home makes me happy!

Pasta with a heavy cream (yummy!)...that makes me happy!

Watching my daughter pull one of her crazy outfits together & seeing how fashion makes her smile...that makes me happy! 

Thanks for reading :-D 

                                      

Happy Birthday!!!

Friday, June 24th was my birthday .. Yea, Happy Birthday to me!! I have been waiting for this day for sooo long because on June 5th, I decided to go on a no-buy until my b-day. I know I know you're saying WTF? That's only 3 weeks! But come on y'all. That's a long time! Imagine going 3 weeks without one of your favorite things...yea, I know it's hard right? Anyways, on to my mini polish haul...

Yea!! I finally have some Jesse's Girl polish!! This is Crush & Glee. Polish Galore did a very nice blog comparison of Crush vs Zoya Jancyn. Glee reminds me of OPI Catch Me in Your Net. I will have to do a Dupe comparison of these.

Petites Color Fever in Daze and 24K Gold. Daze is like a green apple/lime green glass flecked polish. Another dupe I will have to compare is this 24K Gold & Milani Gold Glitz. They look exactly the same!

My last post said that I hated Crackle/Shatter polishes, but I think they're growing on me. I guess because so many new colors & brands are popping up...this is Sally Hansen Distressed Denim Crackle & Lilac Chantilly from the SH Diamond Strength line. I can't wait to try this gorgeous blue crackle with a gold glitter base coat (probably Nicole by OPI Twist of Fate) I've swatched the LC, it looks like a light purple chrome polish.

Ok I have never owned any of this brand, but I love love this color. It is CQ Rustic Dream. It looks like iridescent but probably more duochrome with shots of pink & orange (this pic is no good). Wet n Wild Dark Shadow is a black w/silver glitter, and Black Fog is a sort of Navy Blue/Black creme. It almost looked a bit purple when I swatched it.

These will be some of my Fall 2011 Favs, even though they are from Fall 2010. Sally Hansen Mochachino, Jumpin Jade & Purple Bolt. This Insta-Dry formula is awesome!!!

Nina Ultra Pro Blu Blaze. I thought it would be a bright Neon Turquoise, but it's not very bright at all, it's very transparent & dark. LA Colors...don't know color name, but it is a turquoise & purple glitter, & Sinful Colors Open Seas from their Adventure Island Collection. I can't tell this polish & OPI Mermaid Tears apart..They are exact dupes!! 

 

SN: Enter TraceFacePhiles "...just because!" giveaway here to win a set of the new OPI Nice Stems minis and Serena Glam Slam...Good Luck!!!

Pink Wednesdays!!! (late post)

Ok so I really do not like Crackle/Shatter polishes. But I bought a few a while back because they were "all the rage" and it looked good on other people. Well yuck! They are just not for me. They just make my fingers feel gross for some reason. But the bottles have been just sitting there for weeks now so why not give them another try? So to keep from feeling like I wasted my money, I went for it. I was going through all of my pink polishes trying to figure out what to use and got an idea...crackle over glitter! Sounds great right? Glitter makes everything better!! So i tried it and this was the end result...

This is one coat OPI Teenage Dream, one coat China Glaze Broken Hearted Crackle & one coat Northern Lights Holo topcoat

Turns out, I really like this mani. I even wore it for a few hours!!

SN: my pics always look really good until I post them. Maybe I should switch cameras or something? **shrugs shoulders**

Glitter Overload!!!

At 35 years old, I still really love glitter polish!  :-D  I don't have any of the Young Nails Glitter Toes stuff because you can only order it if you are a licensed cosmetologist  :-(  However, I did find a company that sells glitter kits to the public .. the company is called Glitties and I cannot wait to try them! It is a DIY glitter polish kit that removes with acetone polish remover and does not need to cure under a UV Light. Each kit comes with 4 stackable glitters, Bonding and Sealing Formula, a pair of toe separators, orangewood stick, manicure brush, nail file, and instructions. It costs around $35 and up. Yippy! Can't wait! But I still wanted a really glittery over-the-top look for my toes, right now. This pedi is super sparkly and shiny, even though my pics do it no justice.

I used the polishes pictured below in this order:

Revlon Beach 310

Nicole by OPI Twist of Fate

OPI Glow Up Already

NYX Grand Royal

Northern Lights Hologram TopCoat in Silver

SV TopCoat

I didn't realize my toenails were so long until I saw them from the other side!

I tried taking pics in natural sunlight outside so that you could see how the layering really makes it sparkle, but my shadow kept being in the way .. oh well

 please excuse my wrinkly raisin toes!!

Pin-Up Love...Zahira Kelly

This is something I had to tell somebody about. Even though others have blogged about this many times, it is fairly new to me. If anyone knows me, they should know that I love African American Art, whether it be a framed piece, a statue, or even a stage play. But this...this is something special. With saying that, I must tell you all about Zahira Kelly at http://kellysdolls.com/. This woman is amazing!!! She is a super talented Pin-Up Artist, Illustrator, Photographer, just to name a few. I must say, I have never met her, I just happen to stumble upon her Tumblr page a while back and I have loved her ever since. She captures a woman's beauty with her art in the most sensual, powerful and beautiful way. I love the vintage contemporary look she gives her photos. All of the women look so natural in their beauty and the best thing is, they look like me...meaning they are not your average pin-up girl (none of that slutty, sleazy stuff). They are beautiful Women of Color that don't look like what society & the media say that a young woman should look like. Anyway, before I get all stirred up, let's get to the good stuff! She can provide you with custom pin-up art, illustrations, etc. Just visit her page here. 

Here are just a few of her illustrations (these are my favorites!!)...

Pink Wednesday .. x3

Ok, so I've been hoarding all of my Pink Wednesday manis..so I'm posting the last 2 Wednesdays plus today all in one..

from May 25th...

Do you have so many pink nail polishes that its hard to choose one?? Ya'll, I'm not a 'pink' girl, but until the creation of Pink Wednesdays, I never realized how many shades of this color polish I actually own! This mani was inspired by http://www.youtube.com/user/LOVE4NAILS from back in April. I love leopard print, but only in small amounts, so my mani is a little bit more "tamed" than hers! But I still love it!! What I used:

OPI Nail Envy (Matte) Base Coat (I'm obsessed with this stuff!)

China Glaze Purple Panic Neon (looks pink to me!)

OPI Alpine Snow

Ruby Kisses Silver Bling

Kiss Black nail art brush

SV Top Coat

from June 1st...
This look is so edgy and punk rockish, which is totally not me! But that's why I love it so much. It kinda looks like black belts with grommets like a biker or someone would wear **shrugs shoulders**. This is another youtube inspired mani originally done by Miss80Million. It gave me a chance to use my CG Flip Flop Fantasy, which I had only previously used on my toes. I got so many compliments on this mani; some people thought I had on nail stickers like those Sally Hansen thingys! What I used:

OPI Nail Envy (Matte) Base Coat
China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy
Orly Liquid Vinyl
Ruby Kisses Silver Bling
SV Top Coat

Today June 8th...

Ok I have been looking at Ombre Manis all over the internet and I've been trying to figure out what way to do this that would work well for me. I tried choosing 5 colors from all of my pink polishes, but there wasn't a group of 5 that had enough of a gradient to fit the look I wanted. So I decided to use one pink polish and gradually lighten it with white for each finger. First I painted my pink-y nail with the original color. Then I started mixing this color with white on a plate using a clean brush, increasing the amount of the white polish for each nail. Be careful not to over mix or you'll create bubbles. If the mixed polish on the plate starts to dry, you can add a drop of nail polish thinner to fix it. I really love how this turned out. I will have to try it again real soon. What I used:

OPI Nail Envy (Matte) Base Coat

OPI FlashBulb Fuchsia

Sally Hansen White On

SV Top Coat

Memories of back in the day ..

This work of art brings back so many memories. The Blue Magic grease, the bow bucket with the hair knockers and barrettes .. for oh so many mornings this was me and my daughter's routine for getting her ready for daycare or school. This picture is the epitome of a black woman's hair and it's progression from Madame C.J. Walker to our current days of teenie weenie afros, press outs and relaxers. I wish I could hang it in my daughter's bathroom, but I can't find it on www.heritagesart.com where I usually shop for most of my african american art, and I don't remember the artist's name. C'est la vie .. I love it anyway.