Just Keep Swimming!

I have wanted to do this manicure for nearly the entire time I've been doing this blog, and since tomorrow is the last day of the 365-day project, I did it for TODAY's manicure! Finding Nemo is one of my favorite movies. It's hilarious, the art is incredible, and um, hellooooo, it has Ellen Degeneres, who is one of the funniest people alive! (She totally made the movie as 'Dory') I also LOVE the seagulls...MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! :-D Anyway, included in today's manicure, on the left hand, the 'Finding Nemo' logo on my thumb, Squirt on my index finger, Dory on my middle finger, Nemo on my ring finger, and one of the seagulls on my pinky. On the right hand there is Deb/Flo on my thumb, Pearl on my index finger, Bubbles (BUBBBBBLLLLLEEESS!!) on my middle finger, Gill on my ring finger, and a few of the 'jellies' on my pinky. :) I won't lie, this mani took forever, and I will not want to take it off tomorrow, but I will. :-D

I used:

Left:

Thumb: Finding Nemo logo

Zoya Robyn as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base for the orange, with CND Electric Orange over it.

Index: Squirt, sea turtle

ALDO Sea You in Ibiza as a base, with ULTA Moody Blue sponged on the tip end. For his body, I used Sally Hansen Trendy Creme, then mixed that with a little American Apparel Hassid to shade. For his spots, I used American Apparel Pinto, which I also used for part of his shell, along with Barielle Unravelled Rust, butter LONDON Minger and American Apparel Manila. For his eyes, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud, OPI Ginger Bells and American Apparel Hassid.

Middle: Dory, regal tang

Zoya Yummy as a base, with ULTA Moody Blue for the dark blue of the body, shaded with American Apparel Hassid, which I also used in the background and pupils. For the tail fin, I used American Apparel Manila.

Ring: Nemo, clownfish

Zoya Robyn as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base for Nemo's body, topped with CND Electric Orange, then shaded with American Apparel Pinto, then outlined the stripe with American Apparel Hassid.

Pinky: seagull

Zoya Yummy as a base, with Orly Mirror, Mirror for the head, shaded with Orly Mirror, Mirror mixed with American Apparel Hassid, which I also used for the eyes, then highlighted with Essie Bone Chilling White. For the beak, I used butter LONDON Minger, shaded with OPI Ginger Bells.


Right hand:

Thumb: Deb/Flo, 4 striped damselfish

Orly Gumdrop as a base, with ULTA Moody Blue for the main blue, mixed with Zoya Yummy to highlight, and American Apparel Hassid to shade. For the white, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud.

Index: Pearl, Flapjack octopus

ULTA Moody Blue as a base, with Orly Lollipop for the body, with Barielle Grape Escape to shade, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud and Zoya Yummy for the eyes.

Middle: Bubbles, yellow tang

Zoya Yummy as a base, with American Apparel Manila for his body, butter LONDON Minger to shade, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the eyes, and American Apparel Butter to highlight. There is a few lines of Barielle Unravelled Rust in there too to define the fin and belly.

Ring: Gill, moorish idol

Zoya Robyn as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for his face, shaded with Orly Mirror, Mirror, American Apparel Hassid for the black, and American Apparel Manila for the yellow on the white stripe, and on his 'nose'.

Pinky: jellies

ULTA Moody Blue as a base, with Orly Lollipop for the jellies. :-D

Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

PHEW!

Don't forget... P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.

How to: Prevent bubbling

I like bubbles in my glass, in my bath, but definitely not in my nail polish. Since I'm following these simple steps, I'm pretty much bubble-free:

Ditch the dirt

Always make sure your hands and nails are nice and clean. Sometimes oil or dirt will react badly with your nail polish and who doesn't like clean hands?!

Thick layers

The most common thing I always read about bubbling is: let your first coat dry before applying the second. Honestly? I don't have time for that! When you apply thin layers of polish, you should be fine. When your layers of polish are too thick, it can cause bubbling because it scoops up more air than it normally would. If you happen to have an old or poor quality nail polish that is too thick, simply add some thinner and you're good to go. Never ever use acetone or nail polish remover because you might as well throw it out straight away.

Stirred, not shaken

Shaking your nail polish isn't necessarily bad. In fact, all nail polish needs a good shake every now and then! But maybe not right before applying it. Whenever you shake your bottle of nail polish, air bubbles can get trapped in your polish. Instead of shaking, roll the bottle in your hands.

Environment

Painting your nails in a humid room, or during hot weather, can also cause bubbling. When it's hot, air particles spread out far and wide and are easier absorbed by your polish. Nail polish molecules expand as well, making it even easier to let those damn air bubbles in. Heat is a culprit, for sure.
Also, applying nail polish in an air conditioned room, or in front of fans etc, won't help much either.

 

ETA: Apparently I'm all kinds of wrong, oops? Read more below

Commenting system

As you might have noticed I have installed a new commenting system! It makes replying so much easier and I don't have to put up with weird anonymous comments anymore. If you don't have stuff like Twitter or Wordpress, you can simply log in with your name and email address. If you run into any kind of trouble, please let me know!

Clear and glittery.

Too bling. The picture tells it all.

Clear and glittery.

Too bling. The picture tells it all.

Vincent Longo Sale at Hautelook!

Hey all!! Today there is a kickass sale at Hautelook on Vincent Longo!!

There are lipglosses, lipsticks, lip pencils, eye shadows, eye pencils, mascara, eyeliner, brow pencils, brow powder/pomade, even brushes…and get this- everything is UNDER $15. Even the brushes!!!

Check it out!!

Vincent Longo sale at Hautelook

Navy & Gold....An Amazing Couple

A while ago on a trip to Claire's I spotted this Navy Matte polish, and grabbed it. It sat in my drawer for a few months, till recently. I love my mattes. You can just do so much with one polish, and playing with different finishes is so much fun.

Here it is as her natural self

Not my most favorite matte polish to apply, but not bad either. That was 2 coats

Now here she is with a coat of SV

It's amazing how much she changes!! So smooth, and reflective!

Then I tried her matte with gold tips, just because I love those colors together. For the tips I used Color Clubs Enchanted from the 2010 Holiday mini set.

and of course, slapped on a coat of SV, and TA DA, a beautiful, chic mani, well....to me : P