For Your Thoughts.

Hey everyone! Guess whose birthday it is today? I'll give a hint... he'd be 201 years old today. He sported a lovely beard. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. ;) Ok, if you haven't figured it out yet, its Abe Lincoln!! :-P In honor of our 16th President's birthday, I decided to do penny nails, since he's on both sides!! :-P It didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, because I quickly discovered it is very hard to paint the detail of a penny on a fingernail with a nail art brush. :-P it'd have to be like a single bristled art brush! lol



I used Milani Sassy Brassy, which to me looks more like copper, as a base, with a mixture of Zoya Raven, Zoya Angelina and Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme for the linework, and Zoya Raven for the black background, topped with Essie Matte About You. Penny art was topped off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat to really make 'em shine. ;)

Now, how about your 2¢?

Polish Bloggers Network: Lacquer Link Love 2/12/10

Polish Pixel Pig has found her perfect shade of gray and now she wants to share it with the world. Thanks Zoya!

The Swatchaholic has a wonderful comparison of Chanel Particuliere along with some other gorgeous taupes. A few may be on your lemming list.

Bright Lights Big Color decided to do a tribute to nail art that was inspired by fellow bloggers. Check out her design to see if it was you.

Naive Nails has cooked up a look she likes to call Barbie, but it's not your average good girl mani.

Travels with Euridice has provided some excellent pictures of some glittery goodness! I'm keeping it a secret what prized polish this is. :)

Helen's Nice Things is showing off a shade deemed to to be hot this summer. A Models Own shade in a color that's hit the NYFW runways.

Tuli's Nails brought us some swatches from a brand called S-he Stylezone. Check out the pretty pink one full of HOLO-liciousness.

Daily Polish brings a gorgeous micro glitter purple polish for everyone to view. It may be from a smaller brand, but the name is definitely unforgettable. I'll let you take a look at what it is for yourself, lol.

Now on to our Network Giveaways...

This is your last chance to win the goodies fromTuli's Nails Romantic Valentine's Giveaway. Make sure you've entered for your chance to win!

Can't find the Milani Holo polish anywhere near you?! Well get your chance to snag those pretty Milani Holo's by entering Naive Nails 300 follower giveaway.

A Very Special Giveaway

I don't usually like posts on giveaways on other blogs which is why I post them on my sidebar for your and my convenience but I'm making an exception this time because this one got to me.

Blogging is hard work! First you have to make your blog. Choose a lay-out, think about your content and what you want to accomplish with it and then the real work begins.

Taking the time to polish your nails or do your make-up, taking 50 pictures in different positions and lighting to get the most colour accurate and flattering pictures, sifting through these pictures to find the best ones, cropping and watermarking if necessary, uploading, writing a post, adding the pictures, check your post to see if it looks good, check for spelling mistakes, delete some of the post, adding other paragraphs, double check again and when all that is done you publish the post for people to read.

Sure, we bloggers mainly blog for ourselves. It's a hobby and most of us have fun with our blogs but it definitely helps that people out there take an interest. I'm really happy so many of you choose to check my blog almost daily and sometimes leave a comment. That is half, if not more, of the fun of blogging!

Which is why I would like to point out Jellynat's blog to you. I've been going through her blog and it amazes me that she has been blogging for about 5 months now and only just now reached 50 followers! She has great pics, interesting articles and her writing style is both personal and informative. She deserves more followers so you need to check her out!

To celebrate that she reached 50 followers she is giving away these beauties:



Essie "Mod Squad" (lovely hot pink) and Sinful "Crystalline" (sky blue with light aqua shimmer).

You can click on the pic to go to the giveaway. The giveaway is open to international followers and ends March 1st at 11:59.

And if you are a blogger please point her blog out to your readers. We've all been there and we need to help each other out every once in a while. ;)

Cause & Effects

Hey everyone!! Today's nails were inspired by the kick-ass new colors that were sent to me to play with by CND (Creative Nail Design) They are amazing, and I'm not just saying that because they were gratis. They are super easy to apply, and are so close to being opaque, that I could've gotten away with one coat, but did two for good measure. Green Scene is well on it's way to becoming my favorite green, and Electric Orange is the orange creme I've been looking for! Lol, I'm such a nerd, but you can even ask my roommate how excited and impressed I was when I tried these. Today's manicure is utilizing all 3 colours and 2 effects that were sent, (Thank you!) I tried Konad stamping with the effects, but it didn't work very well :-/ but I included a closeup of the pinky, where you can see some of the orange/copper reflect from Copper Shimmer Effect polish, and some of the blue sparkles on the ring finger from Sapphire Sparkle Effect polish. Lesson learned I suppose.





I used Green Scene as a base, with Eclectic Purple sponged on the tips. For the Electric Orange stripe, I painted a thick strip of polish on my palette, and dipped my tip into it. :) On top of everything, I used Copper Shimmer Effect and Sapphire Sparkle Effect on Konad Plate m65, using each polish on half of the design. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Domo-Arigato.

:-D lol For those of you not in the know, today's nails are Domo, or Domo-kun nails. Domo is the mascot of a Japanese television station, and has also been shown in a few short animations on Nickelodeon, in Target's Halloween decor, and most recently on the coffee cups, etc. at 7-11. He is described as 'a strange creature that hatched from an egg'. I just think he's cute. :-P I decided to paint him on my nails after seeing a Domo stuffed doll on my co-worker Kevin's desk. :)



I used Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme as a base, Sally Hansen All the White Stuff for the teeth and eye highlights, China Glaze Salsa for the mouth, and Zoya Raven for the eyes. Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Fun fact: Domo is known to fart repeatedly when nervous or upset. :-P

*toot*


And a treat for my non-Twitter followers...

I found the surprise in the nail polish packaging!! (I think I'll stop buying nail polish from the Dollar Tree now)

Your eyes do not deceive you, that IS in fact a broken fingernail INSIDE the packaging. The irony? It was for a strengthening polish!!

I'm contemplating contacting the company and asking if anyone is missing their nail and would like it back. :-D

My take on V-day

Hier is mijn probleem: Ik kan best schattige nagels maken en ik draag ook heus wel eens roze nagellak maar roze én schattig? Dat past gewoon niet bij mij.
Vandaar dat ik dus gegaan ben voor een minder voor de hand liggende nagellak: China Glaze For Audrey.

Here's the thing: I can make cute nails and I do wear pink every once in a while but pink ánd cute? That's just not me. So I went for a less obvious polish: China Glaze For Audrey.




Dit is gestempeld met Konad Special Polish in Pastel Blue en Pastel Violet en plate M59 en die zijn allemaal te koop bij Enchantra met 15% korting met de code DTCHNLBLG voor elke Europese klant!

This is stamped with Konad Special Polish in Pastel Blue and Pastel Violet and plate M59 and all of that is for sale at a 15% discount at Enchantra with the code DTCHGNLBLG for every European customer!




Dit is toch ook leuk en lief en schattig? Wat ga jij doen met Valentijnsdag?

This is nice and sweet and cute too right? What are you going to do for Valentines Day?

Pink Holo!

Het heeft hier weer de hele dag gesneeuwt. Heerlijk! Ik had dus mooi de tijd om wat swatches te doen. Dit is Art de Lautrec #13B. Een mooie roze met subtiel holo effect.

It has been snowing here all day. Great! This gave me the perfect opportunity to do some swatches. This is Art de Laurtec #13B. A nice pink with a subtle holo effect.



Dit is drie laagjes zonder topcoat omdat topcoat vaak het holo effect verminderd. De formule is een beetje vergelijkbaar met de China Glaze Kaleidoscope holo's maar iets minder korrelig.

This is three coats without a topcoat because topcoat can effect the holo. The formula is comparable to the China Glaze Kaleidoscopes but a little less gritty.


Art de Lautrec is in Nederland te koop bij Alice And Jo's Havesentials.

Thanks for looking!

They're GRRRRReat!

So I get a lot of questions from readers, some from the comments, and some by email, but the MOST asked question is where do I get my inspiration? Today I'll give you a bit of a glimpse of where and how I arrive on a design. lol (It's a short one today, I promise) As I sat down to do my nails for today, I was at a loss for what to paint. I racked and racked my brain, yet nothing came, so I looked to the list for inspiration, and stopped upon the idea submitted to me by reader Ada C., Hot Air Balloons! :) This got wheels turning, and reminded me of air shows and hot air balloon shows that I went to in Battle Creek, MI when I was a kid with my parents. There were literally HUNDREDS of hot air balloons in every size and shape imaginable - one was even shaped like a slice of cake! :) Anyway, everyone in Michigan knows (as do those who are avid cereal eaters) that Battle Creek, MI is the home of Kellogg's! Then I thought to myself...'Self, What do you think of when you think of Kellogg's?' and then I answered myself...'Tony the Tiger!' and thus, Tony the Tiger nails were born.



I used Urban Outfitters Orange 2 as a base for all nails, with Zoya Raven applied with Konad Plate m57 for the Tiger print nails. For the Tony nail, I used Sally Hansen All the White Stuff for the white, Pure Ice French Kiss for the nose, and then mixed with white for the highlighting. For the highlighting on the nose, I mixed Urban Outfitters Orange 2 with Diamond Cosmetics #319 Lemon Yellow Zest, which I also used for the eyes. Diamond Cosmetics Giddy was used for shading on the white parts of the face, and Zoya Raven was used for all black line work. For the background color, I used Zoya Yummy. :) Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat, so they don't get soggy in milk.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!

Haha, the 'Super'bowl put me in a 'Super' mindset, so I decided to do Superman nails. I also find these nails amusing because for years and years and years, I went by the screenname 'SuperMel' on the interwebs... originally on theglobe.com, an online chatroom when I was all of 15. :-P Yes, I'm a dork, it's ok, I know I am.



I used Pure Ice French Kiss as a base, with Diamond Cosmetics #319 Lemon Yellow Zest for the yellow, and China Glaze Salsafor the red border and 'S'. Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat to protect the nails from Kryptonite. (It's dangerous stuff I hear)

Kevyn Aucoin on Hautelook!

Hey all!!! Just a quick note to tell you that Kevyn Aucoin beauty is on sale on Hautelook today, everything is $7 and under!!!

The link:

Hautelook

WOOO!! Lots of good stuff, lipsticks, glosses, eyeshadows, pencils, etc.