The Ends.

Wow. I can't believe it. I finished. This is one of the only major projects in my entire life that I've seen through to fruition, and I'm SO glad that you all were here to be part of it. (THANK YOU!!) This end is a little bittersweet for me, because I really loved the challenge of that 11:59:59 p.m. deadline every day (I often joke that I'm the Cinderella of nail bloggers), but also because I'm going to be able to take a break, or have a weekend away without having to pack a million bottles of nail polish and nail paraphernalia. Don't worry though, I'm not going anywhere!! I found that I really enjoy doing this blog, and the interaction between me and all the wonderful people that read it. (that's you!!!) I plan to keep this project going, and while it might not be every day, my goal is to post every other day or so. (It'll be weird to have a manicure for more than a day! *GASP*)

Since today is the very last day of my 365-day journey, I really wanted to end it with a bang, and with the same humor and nerdiness with which it started, so today's nails...are 'The Ends'. (animal 'ends', that is!!) Yes, this is my weird and twisted sense of humor, but I think that, considering you've been reading the blog to this point, you must like it. I did animal butts because I'm not a sappy gal, and I like to make you giggle- and most of all, I love doing crazy stuff on my nails that other people might think is weird...or gross? :-D That's me, and that's pretty much what my blog is about, weird awesomeness.

On my left hand, I did a baby butt on the thumb, a deer butt (for my Uncle John & Aunt Kim and all the other Michiganders!) on my index finger, a zebra butt on my middle finger, a giraffe butt on my ring finger, and a cat butt on my pinky. (because how could I do this without a cat butt?!)

On my right hand, I have an elephant butt on my thumb, pig butt on my index finger, a horse butt on my middle finger, a sheep butt (hehehe) on my ring finger, and a duck butt on my pinky!

I used:

Left hand:

Thumb: baby butt

MAC Abalone Shell as a base, shaded with Color Club Best Dressed List and Barielle Unravelled Rust, with Zoya Yummy for the background.

Index: Deer butt

Color Club Best Dressed List as a base, with brushed on lightly over it, then MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious lightly brushed over that. For the white, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud.

Middle: Zebra Butt

Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base, shaded with Orly Mirror, Mirror, then American Apparel Hassid for the black stripes, and L.A. Girl Army Green for the green background between the legs.

Ring: Giraffe Butt

American Apparel California Trooper as a base, with OPI Ginger Bells for the tail stripe, butter LONDON Minger for the spots, MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious for the tail. For the green in the background, I used both L.A. Girl Army Green and Zoya Shawn.

Pinky: Cat Butt!!!

butter LONDON Minger as a base, with American Apparel Summer Peach lightly brushed over that in spots (like around the butthole lol), and OPI Ginger Bells for the stripes. Between the legs is Barielle Unravelled Rust.


Right hand:

Thumb: Elephant Butt

Essence Pointbreak as a base, with Orly Mirror, Mirror blotted on with a crumpled paper towel. To shade for the tail, I added American Apparel Hassid to both greys for the wrinkles and shading to create the tail.

Index: Pig Butt

H&M Summer Fresh as a base, shaded with Color Club Best Dressed List and Barielle Unravelled Rust, with a mix of American Apparel California Trooper and American Apparel Manila and Barielle Unravelled Rust for the straw between its legs.

Middle: Horse Butt

OPI Ginger Bells as a base, with Barielle Unravelled Rust over it, then removed partway with a brush soaked in acetone to give a 'sheen' to the coat. For the tail, I used a combination of American Apparel Hassid and MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious.

Ring: Sheep Butt (hehehe)

American Apparel California Trooper as a base, with a mixture of American Apparel California Trooper and MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious patted over it to give the wool texture, I then used MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious for the bottom half of the legs, shaded with American Apparel Hassid. For the grass, I used both L.A. Girl Army Green and Zoya Shawn.

Pinky: Duck Butt

Zoya Yummy as a base, with ULTA Moody Blue brushed on lightly over it to give the water texture. For the duck body, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base, shaded with Orly Mirror, Mirror and Essence Pointbreak, American Apparel Hassid was used for the tail feathers, then butter LONDON Minger for the legs, shaded with OPI Ginger Bells.

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


Man, I sure feel like an ass.

2010 China Glaze Holiday Collection has arrived................

I ordered these from http://www.transdesign.com/ last week, and they arrived tonight!! I love their fast shipping. Anyways, I just had to swatch them all and share with you guys, so here goes.

Jolly Holly

Little Drummer Boy

Ruby Deer

Naught and Nice

Party Hearty over Jolly Holly

Mrs. Claus over Ruby Deer

Mrs. Claus over Naught and Nice

I still want/need to get Frosty, but TD didn't have it on their site yet, hopefully soon!

HALLOWEEN OOH LALA

Where do I begin to explain what's going on with all of these nails. Halloween is the time to just go super crazy on nails. Soooo there is a lot going on here. If any of you have questions on the specifics of what products I used etc... just send me an e-mail and I will do my best to respond.
This is mostly hand painting that I learned from a Young Nails class :)

The orange moons here are from dollarnailart.com. The purple is purple passion from artglitter.com

This is a set of nails that I did on a 10 year old for her Birthday. This is her very first set of acrylics and she knew exactly what she wanted!

Loving the swirl for Halloween.

On these nails I faded green, black and purple together. Love these colors for Halloween. I like how the spider pops on that green!

These are my sister-in-laws nails. I handpainted a gravestone and put her husbands (my brothers) initials on it. Heee heeee hee.

This is a cool effect I learned from Young Nails. I used black acrylic and then put "ice" glitter over the top. The way it reflects the light makes it look blue. Lovin it!

This is opi gel polish in black onyx with a coat of extra va ganza over the top. Had to add the 3d spider and web. SPOOKY!

This is a fimo clay witch on the ring fingers from kennickkreations.com. Also added the clay dots that I love from oaktreedollshouseminiatures.com

This is one of those sets of nails that I was dreaming about. It's weird a design or idea will get stuck in my head when I'm trying to fall asleep and I just have to get it out the next day or I go crazy.... Oh wait I already am crazy!

I'm just loving this design. Just a cute Halloween combination. The silver is one of my favorites from Young Nails. It is called Hologram. It works super good in a fade.

China Glaze Diva Bride....

I bought this to wear on my wedding day, I just thought the name was so funny. I can honestly say, I wasn't a Diva Bride, I might have actually been too laid back : P Well when my big day came, 08/20/10, and my mani was oddly enough, last on my mind. I had tons of ideas, but no time to try any of them. The night before I did 5 sets of toes and fingers, and none were mine :( Well my daughter and I ended up matching, and wearing Sally Hansens Celeb City, a sparkly silver. I still wanted to show you guys this. It's a very pretty, delicate, sheer pink, and would be perfect for french manis. I tend to have a hard time working with these types, but this was actually fairly easy to get even. I only did 2 coats.

OPI Burlesque Collection: Teas-y Does It!

Last week I got a surprise package in the mail. Two gorgeous OPI polishes from the new Burlesque Collection! With this Burlesque Collection, OPI ties in with Sony release of “Burlesque” – Christina Aguilera’s film debut in which she plays an ambitious small-town girl with a big voice who finds success in a neo-burlesque club reminiscent of the nightclub in Bob Fosse’s “Cabaret.” Featuring an all-star cast including Cher!

Not sure if I'll go see the movie but the collection contains some very nice polishes. OPI went the glitter-route again and they do it so well!

As some of you might know from reading several Dutch nail blogs the Netherlands are always a little slow when it comes to new collections. It's not unheard of for new collections to come out up to two months later here. From what I understand, the Burlesque Collection is already available in the US but in the Netherlands it will be available from the beginning of November.

Enough talk, let's go to the pictures!

Teas-y Does It! is a vampy bordeaux polish. In the bottle the base is a sort of bordeaux and brown color with a very murky and smokey feel to it. It's filled with tiny foily flakes that flash purple, copper, gold and in some lights almost green. It seems to almost be a duochrome.

On the nail, I'm sorry to say, that multi-dimensional look doesn't quite show. You really need decent sunlight to admire this one in all it's glory. That said, it is a very pretty polish and one of my favorites from this collection. I'll definitely wear this one again!

It took me three coats to get it opaque but with careful polishing you might get away with two. Drying time is great! It was dry to the touch before I was ready to apply topcoat.Removal was also a breeze contrary to what I was expecting considering the flakies in the polish.

This polish will be available through the usual channels at the usual price. For the Netherlands this means it will be €13,95 and it will be sold at salons, Sephora, and more exclusive drugstores. For stores near you please check: www.opi.nl or www.opi.com

That's it for now! Tomorrow I'll show you Simmer and Shimmer from the same collection in a breast-cancer awareness manicure. Thanks for looking!

My Poo-Tastic version Of OPI My Private Jet

So if you haven't heard OPI has about a bazillion versions of My Private Jet, even though they deny it. Well This is CLEARLY not the beautiful charcoal holo original, that I was so desperately hoping for. Instead I have a poo brown, with some VERY weak wanna be holo. I can't see myself ever really wearing this. Oh well, I thought I would share it with you guys anyways.

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.