Tats and Tips

Hello and Happy Friday!  It's been a long, long week for me.  I had Monday and Tuesday off, but my mini vacation didn't really go according to plan so it was really less than relaxing.  Add to that two nights in a row of being at the jewelry studio working til 11 PM and I'm pretty pooped!  But not so much that I don't have a fun manicure for you this evening :)

  

Now that I tried the Sally Hansen polish strips, I can't get enough!  I'm wearing Tattoo Much on my ring fingers as an accent for this manicure.  This design uses fun flash tattoos of swallows, hearts, roses and stars. For the other nails, I started with three coats of Wet n Wild Fast Dry in FuchsiaRama (LOVE the name!).  Just like it sounds, FuchsiaRama is a bright purple-y pink jelly.  And I know everyone loves jellies, but they really aren't my favorite.  I like opaque polish that takes 2 coats or less to cover and I had to use three here.  The color is totally worth it, however.  I also think the finish is a little strange...sort of a semi-matte.  I end up covering with Seche Vite to make it shiny anyway.

As for the rest of this mani, I finally managed to get to Staples today to buy some hole reinforcements; you know, those little doughnut shaped stickers that you use to reinforce the holes in your notebook paper?  They are great for guidelines on manicures, whether used for French manicures or half-moons or anything else you can dream up.  I ended up cutting them in half and applying them to make a scalloped edge for my nail tips.  I think it gives the nail a little retro feel to go with the flash tattoo designs on the polish strip :)  I used Mac's Vestral White (a recent gift from my friend, Joe. Thanks again!)  for the tips.  Topped everything off with Seche Vite, of course!  Here's a detail view.

I hope you like this one as much as I do!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend :)

Cute Chicks

Hello!  I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day holiday.  I've had a much needed two days off in a row and I've been using my free time to relax to the best of my ability :)  In addition to relaxing, I finally got to try a product I've had my eye on for a long time!  Sunday evening, I took a trip to Target.  I was checking out the clearance end cap in Cosmetics and came across some Sally Hansen polish strips for roughly half price!  I've wanted to try these strips forever, but have held off because I've been disappointed in EVERY other polish strip I've tried.  They've either been difficult to apply or have not stayed put at all.  I didn't want to fork over the $10 (approximate) for these if they didn't work out.  So far, however, Sally Hansen's brand out-strips them all (if you'll pardon the pun)!  Here's the result.

Cute little birdies!  I'm pretty sure these are more of an Easter pattern (the strips are titled "Not a Peep"), but I thought they were adorable for any day wear.  The strips have a silver background and the chicks are multicolored in yellow, pink, and blue.  I chose to use the strips on just accent nails and painted the others with 2 coats of a franken between Sinful Colors Unicorn and China Glaze Solar Power.  I was attempting to match the yellow on the birds themselves...not sure if I accomplished it exactly but I still like the outcome.  Unicorn is an opaque light yellow and Solar Power has a bit more punch as well as a subtle shimmer. After a coat of Seche Vite on the yellow, I used my homemade dotting tool to create polka dots with Sinful Colors Folly (which is quite possibly my favorite pink polish ever).   

There's a detail view of the chicks/birds.  I'm never sure which direction to place designs on my nails.  I tend to place things so that they're right side up when I look down on them.  I figure I spend the most time looking at them any way, so I might as well get to see them the right way :)  

I'm planning to put a top coat yet on the accent nails, I've heard that it helps the strips to last longer but I'm actually more concerned that the strips don't have a lot of thickness and my nails feel a little naked.  After years of biting my nails and just general poor care, I'm still unused to their current length.  I'm constantly worried that they're going to break like they used to, so an extra coat of polish helps me feel a bit more secure.

I hope you enjoyed this manicure and thanks for stopping by!