Féline I love you & my camera's emotional issues

My sweet friend Féline of Alizarine Claws sent me a goody package!She sent me several BadAss Metal shirts that I have cozy plans for if I can get them back from the hubby.AndH&M Hello Kitties and candies only a true freak could love and I do!
More gorgeous polishes of the sparkly, holo and flaky type and more nummer candies!
Look at Happy Purple...isn't it so happy!

Mmmmmmmmm........

I'm Gassy

Or Gas MASKY at least. :-D Chris, the 'lovely dude' (<--he liked being called that the other day on the blog) who I speak of on occasion here on the blog, turns a whopping 40 years old today. Seriously ancient. (just him, this doesn't apply to any other 40+ year olds) In honor of his getting older, I decided to paint the logo that he paints on EVERYYYYYTHING, his gas mask. :-D

I used OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow as a base, with L.A Colors Striper in White (I didn't use the brush, just the polish). Topped everything off with Essie Matte About You.

On another note, my silicone nub finally fell off my f key, so now I have to press really hard. lol

Oh no... not another matte mani?

Correct - it isn't. It's back to shiny today :D

I actually did a mani almost identical to this, just with slightly different polishes, just after I started this blog. You can see it here. Look how much my nails have changed!!

Konad Plate: M64

Base Colour: Nails Inc - Victoria

Konad Colour: Miss Sporty - Zodiac

Top Coat of NYC

MAC Jade Dragon

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I haven't had a chance to swatch the rest of Color Club Untamed Luxury yet, but as soon as I do, you'll know. In the meantime, I just changed my nail polish to MAC Jade Dragon, so I have that to show you today.

I'd worn Color Club Resort to Red for five days, and it held up really well, with no chips or tip wear.  It was starting to look a little grown out, but otherwise I could have waited longer to change.  I just received my MAC Jin Soon nail polishes yesterday, so I wanted to try one of them.  The last time around, I passed on all of the MAC Jin Soon polishes, but there were a few I decided to spring for this time.  One of them is Jade Dragon, a deep green shimmer.  I used two very, very thin coats, one medium would probably be enough.  I finished it with top coat, and here it is.

MAC Jade Dragon Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Nail art #4 - Mutated hearts

I thought I'd try my hand at some more nail art, this time making use of my newly bought dotting tools. To my dismay, I was not very coordinated and so ended up with many mutated looking hearts on my nails.

Polishes used:

Ulta3 - Spring Blossom
Maybelline - Dark chocolate


The heart on my fourth finger is from a polish I picked up from SaSa back in Hong Kong earlier this year. It's black with yellow shimmers throughout, a really pretty black polish ♥.

Because my nails were so fail, I decided to show my left hand instead. I don't normally upload photos of my left hand due to the fact that my first finger's nail is a permanent nub. I can't grow it out because whenever I do, it always splits and ends up looking really demented, all because I jammed this finger into a car door when I was young. The nail has never been the same again :(.

Anyway. Like I said, the hearts look a bit weird. I'm hoping practice will help make them look more 'heart-like' next time...

Thanks for dropping by.
~shazzii

Making a Splash

Since yesterday's nails were so, well...GREY, I thought today I'd make some colorful ones!! I tried a technique of using a crumpled paper towel to apply the colors other than the base color. I I think (if you squint) it looks sort of like the shadow on the bottom of a pool of the ripples on the surface of the water. Perfect for a day like today, which was absolutely gorgeous. (uncharacteristic for a Vegas summer- it never even hit 90°!)

I used Essie Turquoise & Caicos as a base, with Essie Mint Candy Apple, Essie Bone Chilling White, and Orly Bailamos sponged over it. I also used Orly Bailamos for the 'moon', then edged it with aqua colored crystals. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Tonight was the last night of bowling league *sad face*, but here is a picture of my team- we took 10th place (out of 18). GO TEAM (Our name was 'I Can't Believe It's Not Gutter') Gotta love that not just one, but TWO of my other bowling buddies chose ME to give bunny ears. What kind of crap is that?! :-P

Team 'I Can't Believe It's Not Gutter' (Alicia, Bill, Joanna, and Me)

I am still sick and feverish

I'm sorry I just can't crop and watermark tonight.Good news is that you all wore me down with emails wanting me to sell my Nightmare franken....You win!They are veeeeeerrrrry limited because most of what is used to make this little guy is discontinued HTF's so I used up all of my backups to put these out for you, cuz I love you and you're very persistant. lolHere is the direct link to

My First Tutorial: Water Decals

Today I used some Water Decals from Viva La Nails. Since I have never used these before, I checked the website to see if there were instructions. Luckily, there is a video at the bottom of the page with details of how to apply the decals. I'm sure I could have guessed but I wanted to make sure I got it right. Here is how I applied my decals...

1. 

Paint on your base colour and allow to dry thoroughly. I used Barry M Cyan Blue.

2. 

Prepare everything you need:

Cut out the decals you are going to use.

Have a nail stick nearby, or any tool you prefer like tweezers.

A cup or bowl of water, the website specifies warm. You can use cold but it takes much longer for the decals to come away from the paper.

3. 

Hold the decal between your thumb and first finger and plunge it in to the water.

Leave it there for about 5 seconds, or longer if the water's cold.

You will feel the decal starting to slide around on the paper.

4. 
Remove the decal from the water and slide it away from the paper by gently rubbing your two fingers together.
It should come off easily. If it doesn't, put it back into the water for another few seconds.

5. 
The decals are fairly sturdy so you don't need to be too careful when handling them, they can take a bit of rough and tumble.
Get the decal onto your tool and prepare to transfer it to the nail.
Fingers work just as well as any tool when using these decals.

6. 

Once it's on the nail, you can move the decal around as it takes a while to dry. 

If it dries and you don't like the position you can dab some water on it to loosen it up and move it around again.

7. 

Once the decals are dry and you're happy with them, just add a top coat.

The Verdict

I really like these decals. Application was easier than I expected and the finish is brilliant. Unlike with stickers, the edges of the decals are undetectable once the top coat is on so there is no temptation to pick at them as well as the fact that it looks really professional.

The only downside is that they take a while to dry, I would say close to ten minutes, so you have to be very careful until they do because they will slide around.

P2 Summer Rain

I can't believe this has been sitting in my untrieds since spring. This is the first time I tried 1 of my Taupe polishes (I don't have that many, maybe about 5) I normally reach for bright or glitter polishes but P2 Summer Rain is a beautiful color. The application was abit uneven and strikey it also dried fast so I had to work fast LOL







I wanted to try out some of my Konad plates so this is what I came up with, even though I'm still learning to Konad but it's fun and I'm learning so much. I love how this mani came out. I used plate M57







Want do you think???

Thanks for looking.

Grey Matters

Recently, I was putting polishes away in my Helmer cabinets, and noticed how many greys I have. I don't know, there is something about greys that I really love, and today, I thought that I'd do a monochromatic nail design utilizing a few of them.

I used butter LONDON Billy No Mates as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the white stripe, Orly Mirror, Mirror for the miedium grey stripe, Essence Pointbreak for the darker grey stripe, and American Apparel Hassid for the thin black stripe. I topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

I was recently asked if I ever use a base coat, and the answer to that is YES! I always have. I guess I just never list it because it changes between a few. I have used Nubar, Essie, Seche, Seche Ridge-filling, Seche Natural, Barielle, and I think that might be it. Since I don't wear polish long enough to worry about chipping and tip wear, I don't feel right recommending a basecoat that might or might not be good, because I don't fully test their limits. I feel OK with mentioning the Seche Vite top coat because it makes my project possible, if I didn't have it, I would 99% of the time post pictures of lumpy smudged and dented nails. :-D Hope this answers any questions or concerns. :) If not, let me know, I'd be happy to answer you!

And the cross-stitch project I was working on a couple of weeks ago, I finally got back around to finishing the stitching. :) I got the pattern from Skull-a-Day–Day 258, it was designed by Noah Scalin.

Resort nails

Eyeko Coral for Resort nailsThis one is an orangy coral creme, opaque in two coats and very nearly neon.Orange is not my best color so try to look past that.Eyeko has again given a very nice creamy formula
If you are in need of a fun bright coral, you've found it!
Sorry for the short post but I have the cooties again....sore throat, fever etc. I just love back to school time and lazy parents who

Dangerous toxins found in some Asian nail polishes like Skin Food.

Wanted to post this for the people that may be concerned.

Now this is alarming. I know Skin Food polishes are not sold in the USA or around my area but this brand is easy to get a hold of (Ebay and other online retailers) So please be careful if you have Skin Food polishes. I know most of us would buy these because of the cute bottle (I would of gotten some because of the bottle)



Traces of harmful chemicals such as benzene & toluene was found in Skin food polishes.Benzene is a known human carcinogen. You can read about that (HERE) as for toluene it is known to cause severe neurological harm. You can read about that (HERE)

Here are the 2 articles where you can read all about it.
(HERE)and (HERE)

Here is the chart showing you how much was found in Skin Food and other polishes.



Hope this was helpful.

Thanks for looking.

Pastels

Here are some not so summery nails, but I really like the pastelly palette of this one.

Plate: Fauxnad from eBay- M54
Base Colour: Barry M - Mushroom
Stamp Colour: Collection 2000 Hot Looks - Dynasty
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

The Science of Yoga

Through the practice of yoga can a person learn to control such physiologic parameters as blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory function, metabolic rate, skin resistance, brain waves and body temperature, among other body functions?

And is there evidence to support doctors prescribing yoga and meditation?

Read more

Megan Fox goddess gown

Megan Fox recently married long time fiance Brian Austin Green on a beach in Ka’upulehu, Hawaii. Barefoot and carrying a bouquet of white Gardenias & roses, she glowed in a strapless Armani Prive' gown with a 16-ft long train that billowed beautifully out around her. Bunches of flowers were scattered in the sand at the picturesque sunset ceremony.

Gradation nails

This design was a failed attempt at gradation nails :(. I started off with Sally Hansen's HD Pixel Pretty, then began to layer the TBN polish on top of it. TBN's Purple Rain is a sheer purple, but a very, very pretty shade ♥. I'm definitely going to wear it as a full mani in the future!

The gradation didn't turn out the way I expected; Purple Rain's layers were really apparent even after a topcoat. Thus glitter was applied to 'hide' the blatantly obvious layers. I'm still not really loving my nails though :(.

Thanks for dropping by.
~shazzii

Oh, How Fon-dant!

Today was my friend Gelly's baby shower, and somehow, yet again, I managed to get everything done on time. I think that I thrive on last minute pressure, since it seems to be the only time I can really focus on a project and get things done. As I mentioned yesterday, I made the cake for the shower, and also my gift for her, which I finished at 1:07 p.m. today. (I had to be to the party at 3, which was 45 min away, in North Vegas, and I still hadn't gotten ready yet!) The cake was a hit, as was the gift (a hand-crocheted baby afghan in the colors she wanted for her nursery), plus I had fun eating and hanging out with the girls. Plus, as it happens, I am a master of baby shower games, which I find funny, since I know nothing of babies. (They come from the stork, right?) Today's nail design was based on the cake that I did for the shower, incorporating the multi-colored dots of the bottom tier, and the graphic flowers of the top tier.

The inspiration:

The nails:

I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base, with OPI Parlez Vous OPI? for the purple, Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Spring Green for the green, and Milani Teddy Bare for the brown. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

The afghan that I made as a gift:

Completely off-topic, but I need a new laptop (mine is 7 years old), or at the very least, a new keyboard for mine, as mine is missing the 'f' key, which makes it difficult to type, since there is just the silicone nub that goes under the key for me to press. One day. :-D

I'm off to clean up Hurricane Buttercream/Fondant in my kitchen, and Tropical Storm Yarn in my living room. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get to the sewing table/area.

Glitter Gal Deep Green

This was a Birthday goodie from my sweet Ange!
Glitter Gal Deep Green is a nive dark forest green with chuncky holo.The finish is smooth, no glitter bumps. 2 coats to perfect!

The holo is more like the China glaze Kaleidoscopes in this one.
This is full direct sunlight

Inderect sunlight

In the shade this looks like an amazing Forest green granite.I love this color!
Thank you Ange...smooches!

Ink

I love how shiny this is! The Barbara Daly polishes are great for shine and the great thing is you can just pick one up when you're shopping for your groceries so it doesn't seem like such a chore!

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM18
Base Colour: Barbara Daly @ Tesco - Tattoo
Stamp Colour: Collection 2000 - Moonlight Shine
Top Coat of NYC

Because I can

I was bored so felt like taking some stash pic's :D I have no more room!! NOW WHERE TO PUT THEM???? LOL



Top row



Middle row



Bottom row





Look at my little army of soldiers waiting to attach :D

So how many do you think there are?????

Thanks for looking.

Happy Nails!!

I'm so happy with my nails right now that I had to share:) I use to have really ugly yellow nails that peeled and broke off now thats over (THANK GOD) So I wanted to show you what I did to finally get my nails the way I wanted them.





I started off with soaking my nails in pure lemon juice for 30 mins I did that twice, then I started with these 5 things.





P2 Ultra Strong nail hardener - I use it once a week for 4 weeks then take a break for a month then start back up again. (This soaks into the nail)

P2 Maximum Grow - I use this once a week. (This soaks into the nail)

U.M.A Cuticle remover stick - I use this every other day.

Essence sos nail saver cuticle oil - This also prevents nails from breaking and splitting.

I'm so happy I was able to find the right products that worked for me.

Check out all my sunflowers :)

I love the red coming through these ones





Look at this little guy enjoying my sunflowers.





Thanks for looking.