Two Manicures and a Missing Dog

Howdy, everyone!  I hope you all had a great holiday, I certainly did!  I got to spend a week back home in Kansas with my family.  It's always so great to see everyone, but at the end of a week I'm ready to get back to Chicago and my own bed! 

I have a couple of manicures to show you today.  I'm way behind on posting and am trying to get back into the swing here, so I hope some of you are still out there reading.  The first manicure is one I wore for a few days in Kansas.  My stepmom loved it and couldn't get over how pretty it was...I felt the same way.  Here's a look:

.........more after the jump........

 
Bling!  And brrr, don't my hands look cold?!  We got a bit of snow back home while I was there.  The upside was that there was plenty of light for photos.  For this manicure, I started with 2 coats of e.l.f.'s Violet Velvet, a deep purple metallic (even though it looks more plum-y in the pics).  On top of that, I applied Seche's new Collage Overlay topcoat.  Oh my goodness! Such sparkly goodness at that! CO has tons of holographic and white hex glitter mixed with holographic bar glitter all in a clear base.  Serious wow factor here.  If you get a chance, grab this polish!  The one that I bought has a pink cast to the glitter and I believe the sales girl at Sally's told me there's a gold version as well, though my Sally's didn't have it. 

Here's another look:

This is one of those polishes that has you staring at your hands all day because it's just so pretty!

On to my second manicure, which I'm currently wearing.  I purchased Julep's Mystery Box this month and received 5 polishes from them.  Unfortunately for me, 2 of the 5 were exact duplicates of polishes I already own.  Fortunately for you guys, those will end up in a giveaway I have planned after the first of the year!  By the way, Julep is currently having a HUGE sale so you should go check them out before all the good stuff is sold!  Here's a look at my current manicure:

I am loving this color!  This is 2 coats of Boris & Nicole, a beautiful coppery brown frost.  I normally don't go in for frosts and I can't give you a good reason why.  B&N is swaying my opinion though, it's just so lovely!  For an accent, I dabbed a bit of Hilary (also from Julep) on my ring fingers.  Hilary is a copper and silver glitter and a perfect pairing with B&N.  My boyfriend convinced me not to "glitter out" and do a glitter gradient on each nail, though I really wanted to.  He seems to think understatement is best, but I still think it could use a bit more sparkle.   Here's another look:

I do like B&N on it's own so maybe he's on to something.  Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, I suppose.

Now for some sad news.  A high school friend of mine has lost her little Miniature Pinscher, Maddox.  Maddox got loose from his pet sitter on Christmas Eve in Oklahoma City.  If any of my readers live in that area, keep an eye out for him.  If you have any information on Maddox's whereabouts, you can find Jackie's contact info here.  Jackie and her husband are worried sick over their baby boy and would appreciate any help anyone can offer.  Those of us who have pets can understand the sadness, anxiety and fear over a lost pet.  Please take a moment to pass that info on via facebook if you can! 

Thanks so much for reading!