Black french, gold disco balls n stars.

Gel overlay on natural nails. Extension done on several nails.

I love the simplicity of this set of nails. Black and gold, with little gold stars. :D

So smooth and glossy!

Black french, gold disco balls n stars.

Gel overlay on natural nails. Extension done on several nails.

I love the simplicity of this set of nails. Black and gold, with little gold stars. :D

So smooth and glossy!

Make a Wish?!

:-P 29 years ago today, my parents were blessed with a fair-skinned, blue-eyed, redheaded…alien. ;) I was hideous, with my globe-like head and never-ending forehead. (the forehead hasn't much changed) They loved me anyway. (even without the foresight to know that I'd grow to become a crazy nail blogger one day) :-P How smart were they, right?! All joking aside, my parents are amazing, and molded me into the well-rounded, level-headed adult that I am today. :) Thanks, guys. For today's design, I did the top of a cake with icing and candles! The 2 and the 9 are supposed to be those big number candles. :-D

I used OPI What's With the Cattitude? as a base, with American Apparel Cotton for the frosting, CND Anchor Blue for the blue candles, CND Green Scene for the green candles, American Apparel Manila for the yellow candles as well as the flames, Essie Foot Loose for the magenta candles, China Glaze Salsa for the red candles, as well as the outline on the number candles, and finally CND Electric Orange for the orange candles, and the orange of the flames. For the non-pareil sprinkles, I used Migi Nail Art Pens to dot color on the 'frosting'. I topped everything off with Seche Vite top coat.

What should I wish for?

REVERSE APPLICATION

I am really excited about these nails because I used reverse application. It is something I have been working on. For all of you nail techs out there you can view a video on how to do reverse application at youngnails.com. This technique makes it possible to use hard to work with colors and you still get a fabulous smile line :)

This is opi gel polish in I'm india mood for love. I painted a little design on top. It's really hard to go wrong with pink and black. It always looks fabulous darling.

This client said I could do whatever I wanted. HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh) I've been feeling very creative lately so when I hear "do whatever you want" it really is music to my ears!

This is just a fun but simple design with purple and silver. Of course you can't go wrong with purple either because it is my favorite color! Love it!

Ain't Gnome Other Man But You

Howdy!! Today is my last day of being 28- woo!! :-D Tomorrow I bake my cake (which is going to rock), and relax all day- thinking of going to a matinee or something. :-) Anyway- today, on the suggestion of my friend Chris, I did garden gnomes. I had them on my list but kept ignoring them. lol They didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but I ran out of time to redo them, I had my bowling league tonight (nerd, I know, but I bowled my best game ever - 167 without handicap- not amazing, but I was happy- I only failed to knock down 2 pins in the entire game!!). Anyway, I hope you like them regardless, I think they're cute, but as Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) says in Clueless, they're kinda like a Monet, From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess. :-P



I used OPI What's With the Cattitude? as a base with American Apparel Hunter for background grass, then Sally Hansen All the White Stuff as a base for the gnome. For the gnomes' clothing, I used CND Anchor Blue for the blue, American Apparel Manila for the yellow, CND Electric Orange for the orange, and China Glaze Salsa for the red. For the belts and outlines, I used American Apparel Hassid, for the belt buckles, I used China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection, and for the faces, I used MAC Abalone Shell. For the rest of the grass, I used CND Green Scene for the middle ground grass, and OPI Who the Shrek Are You? for the highlighted grass. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat so those little buggers couldn't go roamin' the globe.

Chanel - Nouvelle Vague

There are occasions where you think you've deserved something nice to indulge in. Normally I don't buy real expensive polish, but a few weeks ago we were on a bad ass nail polish crusade in Germany and we ran into a store that had Chanel's Nouvelle Vague and I just had to have it. Paying around €21,50 must mean it's good right? Well, let's see about that.

Nouvelle Vague belongs to the Les Pop Up de Chanel collecion, a limited collection for this summer that came out little over a month ago. After the success of last year’s hit polish, Jade, all eyes were on this pretty pale turquoise color. Even Pantone unveiled turquoise as the Color of the Year for 2010. So is this polish a hit?

I'm not sure. When I think of Chanel, I think of luxury, quality, durability.

The color is gorgeous! This is a pale, muted shade of turquoise, it's a bit bold but not in your face. I love that. It's not totally unique though, but that's almost impossible in this crazy nail polish industry. How much I love the color, I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to the quality of this nail polish. The application was truly disappointing, simply a drag. Unfortunately, this polish is thick and streaky. I had to apply 3 layers to make it look okay, so no utopian *omg like butter 1 coat wonder" hallelujah praises here. It also bubbled a bit, but my cheap ass top coat (David) made it look pretty again. I probably wouldn't be so disappointed if this concerned a low budget brand but from Chanel I'd expect more.

The wear is mighty impressive though, I'll give 'em that! I wore this for over five days, without any chipping or tipwear!

So is this worth the cash? I'm not sure. There are alternatives out there for a better price, think Orly Gumdrop and China Glaze For Audrey. These don't have the shimmer you see in Nouvelle Vague, but the color is pretty close. Besides, this shimmer is hardly noticable, you'll still need the sun or a construction light for it to show.

So dear readers, what are your thoughts on this? Worth the bucks or would you rather pick up something dupish for less?

Thank You For Being a Friend…

I suck. I suck at keeping up with comments, emails, questions, etc. here on the blog. I try, but get frustrated with my slow-ass computer and glacial internet speed (I'm looking at you, COX!!) Anyway. This post is to let you all know that I read EVERY comment, EVERY email, EVERY suggestion, and look at ALL of the pictures that you send me. It delights me to see the work that you've all done, and it brightens my day to read the amazing comments that you leave daily. I couldn't ask for a better following of readers!!

The other purpose of this post is for you to comment with questions, which I WILL answer!! (and I promise to try to get to all the backlogged emails, too!)

So, with all that said, Thank you. Thank you for being a reader, a commenter, and a friend. :)

XOXO

Melissa

On Memorial Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-John McCrae, 1915

I remember every memorial day weekend growing up my mom would always have a crepe paper poppy attached to the strap of her purse, and I remember that whenever I was with her, she would give me a dollar to donate so i could have one too. I loved those little paper flowers, though I hardly understood their significance way back then. Memorial Day is for remembering, for honoring, and for thanking those who have given their lives, or are risking their lives to make sure that we have the rights and liberties that we have here in America. My grandfather was a veteran, and I remember visiting his and my grandmother's graves every Memorial Day and looking at the flags pushed into the earth of their graves. My sister played TAPS on her trumpet at the cemetery, so it was mostly my mom and I, since it was her parents. I suppose that I'm blessed in the fact that not many of my loved ones (friends or family) are in any branches of the military, I have a couple of friends serving in various branches, and for that, I thank them, but I never have to worry about a family member not coming home, like so many others in this country. Regardless of that fact, I extend my thanks and eternal gratitude to those serving this magnificent, though sometimes flawed, country of ours. In honor of our armed forces, I did the logos for the Marines, the AIr Force, the Navy, and the Army, as well as the American flag accented with what else, a poppy. :) I apologize that the logos aren't perfect, but I did what I could with the space I had. ;)



I used:

Thumb: American flag & poppy

American Apparel Cotton as a base with CND Anchor Blue for the blue, and China Glaze Salsa for the red of the stripes as well as the poppy. for the black I used American Apparel Hassid, and for the green, I used CND Green Scene .

Index: Marines

American Apparel Passport Blue as a base, with China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection for the gold, and China Glaze Salsa for the red, over Sally Hansen All the White Stuff, so the red popped.

Middle: Air Force

China Glaze Millennium as a base, with CND Anchor Blue for the logo.

Ring: Navy

Sally Hansen All the White Stuff as a base, with American Apparel Passport Blue, China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection for the gold, Sally Hansen All the White Stuff for the shield, with CND Anchor Blue for the blue on the shield, and China Glaze Salsa for the stripes on the shield.

Pinky: Army

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with Sally Hansen All the White Stuff for the star, and outlined in American Apparel Manila.

Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Review: Sally Hansen Nail Quencher Hydrating Base Coat

Hi everyone! I'm sorry for another review, I'll be posting nail polish again very soon! But I'm in dire need of some advice so I'll start off with this review about Sally Hansen's Nail Quencher Hydrating Base Coat.
Please note: this product is discontinued so maybe this review isn't relevant for everyone, however I found some places where it's still easily available, so I figured, why not?

Sally Hansen Nail Quencher

I actually got this product because I had heard many many ravings about it, it's a holy grail base coat for a lot of nail polish junkies out there! In the first weeks of using it, I thought it was pretty ok: my nail polish didn't chip right away, and it prevented staining rather well.

But after a few weeks it became painfully clear: I don't like it. At all. And I think it's safe to say that, because I finished an entire bottle!

It goes on pretty thick due to its gel-like substance, I figured this is why my nails weren't as stained. But it bubbles, like crazy. And honestly, I don't want a base coat that leaves my nails looking like a moonscape.
The emptier the bottle, the thicker the base coat got. It even got stringy on me, and therefore highly unmanageable.

The drying time wasn't great either, I actually had to wait a good 5 minutes before I could get on with the rest of my manicure. Another disappointment was the brush, it's small. I don't want to spend too much time on applying something exciting as a base coat, so I need at least a medium sized brush and something that dries quickly.
So overall, it's safe to say, this base coat is not working out for me.

Please help me!

And that brings me to the following question:
What base coat do you use or would you recommend? So far I've tried OPI Natural Base Coat, OPI Ridge Filler and the Sally Hansen. Please help me out!

Thanks so much for stopping by! -
Michèle

Follow up

Hi everyone, I did a quick follow up because you were all so incredibly helpful!! Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences with me. After reading all your comments I think I'm going to give either Nail Tek or Essie's Protein Base Coat a try. Of course I'll review these at some point for those who haven't tried these. Wish me luck and thanks again!

Your recommendations

Lime Line

Today is another simple one, my apologies- it's been a super busy weekend- I made about 10 dozen cookies along with a bunch of other stuff!! :-P I used another of the new ULTA polishes that I got, In the Limelight, a lime green foil finished polish. Anyway, sorry for the short write-up, it's been a long day and I think its about bedtime.



I used ULTA In the Limelight as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the lines. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.