Not for the 'Weekly' of Heart

Hi all!! :) Today's nails are inspired by and dedicated to the Las Vegas Weekly, a weekly news magazine here in Vegas that features nightlife, reviews, stories, etc. I was interviewed by the lovely April for a story! How exciting, right? Each nail is a header from one of the sections of their website, Arts & Entertainment, The Playground, Off the Record, Josh Bell Hates Everything, and Nocturnal Admissions.



I used

Thumb: Arts & Entertainment

American Apparel Cotton as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the black, and China Glaze Salsa for the +.

Index: The Playground

American Apparel Manila as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the black.

Middle: Off the Record

China Glaze For Audrey as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the record, and China Glaze Salsa for the record on the label.

Ring: Josh Bell Hates Everything

China Glaze For Audrey as a base, American Apparel Hassid for the black, and American Apparel Cotton for the words 'The End', which are hard to make out.

Pinky: Nocturnal Admissions

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with American Apparel Cotton underneath the China Glaze Salsa for the lips, as well as for the teeth, and the shine on the lips.

I used two coats ofSeche Vite top coat to top off all nails. :-D

ManGlaze - Matte-Astrophe

Hello everyone, today is a dark day for all metalheads out there, therefore I found a ManGlaze mani to be quite appropriate. I've used a dark shimmery color by Allesandro as the base, unfortunately I cannot find a name or number on the bottle so it will remain anonymus for now. It is quite pretty, well at least that's what I think, and I'll definitely show it to you soon!

On top of this I applied ManGlaze's Matte-Astrophe. I've did a real short review on it the other day, in my Matte Top Coats comparison post. In short: awesome application, thin, smooth and not streaky! Dries to a gorgeous matte finish in appr. 30 seconds. The wear is pretty decent too, it stays quite matte and doesn't really chip. And oh, have you seen the artwork on the bottle? Damn hot.

Now, you've might already noticed the insane crackle effect. Some people told me they never experience this coolness, but I think I've got it figured out. If you apply Matte-Astrophe on top of a fully dried polish, it's bound to dry more like a regular matte top coat. If you want to get the crackle going, try applying it over wet, not fully dried, nail polish. Just sit back and watch the magic happen.

What do you think of this Crackle effect? Hot or not?

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio
\m/

A Nightmare on My Street

Today's nails are simple, but they are because I'm going to see Nightmare on Elm Street tonight... YES! (at a drive-in, no less- awesome!!) Should be a good time- I love the drive-in, I love scary movies, and I love movie popcorn. lol I also think that I love this red polish color... it shows a VNL with 2 coats, but the color is pretty much the perfect vixen red. :) I did today's nails to look like the sweater that Freddy Krueger wears in the movies. :-D



I used China Glaze High Maintenance as a base, with American Apparel Hunter for the stripes.

Tell 'em Freddy sent ya!

No Bones About It

Hi everyone! Today's nails are for the skateboarders that I'm hanging out with tonight....Chris, Mark, Chuck, etc. I did the BONES Wheels logo. :) I hope they dig em!! (I get to meet Hank the puppy and eat grilled brats, too----these guys are the kings of grilling!) :-D YUM!

Inspiration:


Nails:


I used American Apparel Hassid as a base, with China Glaze Millennium for the logo. Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat for the brang new wheel shine. :-D

Lotsa gel nails!

Sorry for the lack of updates my dear girls! Was away for 5 days last week and I've been packed with appts since my return. Anyway, gel nails pics for now.


Red french with black diamonds.
Gel overlay on natural nails. French design looks nicer on long nail beds. :)

Red + black. My favourite!

Spring/Summer 2010 design! Floral prints are love! I'm addicted to light denims and florals these days. hehe.

Gel extension. Florals are hand painted.

Purple nails. Glitter sprinkles and crystals along the french line. Lines are drawn using white gel. Gel extension.

Dual tone purple glitter gradation. Supa glossy!
I'm loving the mini twin hearts on her middle fingers and thumbs!

Sweetness!

Gel overlay on her natural nails.

Next post will be on bridal nails! ;D

Lotsa gel nails!

Sorry for the lack of updates my dear girls! Was away for 5 days last week and I've been packed with appts since my return. Anyway, gel nails pics for now.


Red french with black diamonds.
Gel overlay on natural nails. French design looks nicer on long nail beds. :)

Red + black. My favourite!

Spring/Summer 2010 design! Floral prints are love! I'm addicted to light denims and florals these days. hehe.

Gel extension. Florals are hand painted.

Purple nails. Glitter sprinkles and crystals along the french line. Lines are drawn using white gel. Gel extension.

Dual tone purple glitter gradation. Supa glossy!
I'm loving the mini twin hearts on her middle fingers and thumbs!

Sweetness!

Gel overlay on her natural nails.

Next post will be on bridal nails! ;D

Flower Power

Hi! Today's nails were inspired by where I went today and what I did- my sister went up to Mt. Charleston and saw all the amazing views and plants and SNOW! :) I even made a mini-snowman :-D There were tons of awesome cactus flowers and normal flowers and the views were, as always, spectacular. :) I also bought the new American Apparel polishes (yes, all 5), I skipped the top coat because I'm such a seche vite devotee, but I tried the tester in the store, and it dried relatively quickly, and held up the glossy coat until today, so I can't say too much bad about it. :) I used one of the new polishes, Esprit for today's manicure, and while I'll give a more in-depth review in a day or two, I love it, it was opaque in two coats, was a tad problematic to apply, but that could just be where I was applying (near a semi-open window), so I'll have to swatch it again to get a true experience.



I used American Apparel Esprit as a base, with China Glaze Grape Pop applied with Konad Plate m66, then I dabbed a dot of Nubar Violet Sparkle to the center of one of the flowers. Topped it all of with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.


And here are some pictures from today! :) There are more, I just don't have time tonight to get them all edited! (some are panoramas!)

Matte Top Coats Compared

Hi guys! If you love matte nail polish, you're bound to love matte top coats. I love these because you can transform any polish into a hot matte finish. There are many to chose from, even with different finishes, so let's compare the few I have!

As you can probably tell there are some differences between the four. Let's break it down a bit:

	P2 - Matte Top Coat (€1,55 / $1,95 for 8ml / .27 Fl. Oz.) This one has the most satin finish of the bunch. The substance is a bit cloudy, which you definitely can tell by looking at the nail. You could say it dulls the color a bit. Application is pretty smooth! This top coat is not that easily available since P2 is a German brand, but it is relatively the cheapest of the four. Drying time: slowest of the four, definitely needs a couple of minutes. Wear: Chipped after 3 days.
	ManGlaze - Matte-Astrophe (€10,43 / $13,13 for ?) Like everything ManGlaze, this one is special! Matte-Astrophe has a crackle effect (not always), which you either love or hate. (Most likely to happen when you apply the top coat when your nail polish isn't fully dry yet). Application is seriously the best, smooth, thin and not streaky. Mattest of the bunch. Drying time: pretty quick, 30-60 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 3 or 4 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges.
	China Glaze - Matte Magic (€5,16 / $6,50 for 9,6ml / .325 Fl. Oz.) Matte Magic has a truly flat finish, no shine or effect. This one's a bit thick though, which affects the application. Drying time: super quick, 15-30 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 1 or 2 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges.
	Essie - Matte About You (€7,94 / $10,- for 15ml / .5 Fl. Oz.) This one goes on super smooth, isn't thick and isn't as cloudy as Matte Magic. The color wasn't affected as much either, which is a big plus! Drying time: super quick, 15-30 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 3 or 4 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges. Common problem: after a while it's possible you'll find white specks in the polish.
Please note, wear can be different for everyone, depending on body chemistry and activities during the day

If I had to pick only one, I'd choose Essie's Matte About You. Matte Magic is a bit too thick for my taste and the one by P2 is way too satin. I love love love Matte-Astrophe though, but I'm not always in the mood for crazy crackle ;-).
So Matte About You it is, application and wear is really good. And, not totally unimportant, it respects the original color the most. Funnily enough I don't own this one myself yet, Daphne from www.nailswatches.com lend me hers, so I was able to this comparison, thank you Daph!!

So, when I'm running out of Matte Magic, I'm going to order Essie MAY myself.
If you're happen to be Dutch, I have some good news for you! Hema just released their own matte top coat, I'm so excited. Unfortunately I couldn't find it in the stores I've been too, but I've seen swatches, and it sure looks promising.

Well this was it already, thanks so much for reading and have a great day -
Michèle

Working For Peanuts?

Hey all!! Today is LION KING!!!! My parents were kick-ass enough to treat us to Lion King tickets. How awesome is that?! Thanks mom and dad!! :) I saw it shortly after it came here to Las Vegas, but still, very very excited to see it again- it was incredible!!! Not sure what our agenda is today, but I'm sure it'll will be fun regardless, its been really awesome to have my sister here!! Anyway, to the nails- today they're Charlie Brown nails! :) I tried to make the zig zags look wavy and squiggly like they do in the comic strips. :-D



I used American Apparel Manila as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the zig-zags. Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat. Some question has been raised about why I use 2 coats, and the reason why I do this is because it gives a much glassier, smoother finish. Otherwise, you still see the ridge of the different layers of polish used to create a design. :)

She Bangs

At least my fingertips do! ;) Today's nails are simple (even though they were a pain to do because the design would NOT stick to the matte- which I finally top-coated) Today has been a less ambitious day with my sister, we went to Trader Joe's - her first time!! We also went to REI and one of the outlet malls, tonight we are going to the other outlets, Casa Don Juan, and either the Eiffel Tower or Stratosphere tower at night. :-D



I used OPI for Sephora What's a Tire Jack? Matte as a base, with China Glaze Millennium applied with Konad Plate s5. I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite top coat because the stupid gun wouldn't stick to the matte. I had to redo them in the 5 minutes it took to find my camera. *argh*

Gives a whole meaning to 'finger guns', eh?

I also thought that I'd show you my toes, even though I abhor my feet. (I have wonky feet, the scar(s) you may see are from surgery I had as a teenager- fun fact, I still have a screw in my foot! I just thought the idea of bacon on my 'piggies' was funny. Please don't judge my hideous foot! lol



:-D