Sparkley Red, White, & Blue

Howdy and Happy 4th of July to all the U.S. readers!  Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays...I mean, who doesn't love a government sanctioned day of blowing stuff up?  I got to celebrate the day by going to see Magic Mike this afternoon.  I liked the movie, I know it's getting some mixed reviews, but I found it entertaining.  Could have used a bit more Dancing Channing, but certainly a fair amount of eye candy involved.

 I also went to a White Sox game with my uncle and cousin who are in town...it was a fun time, but man! is it hot out there!  I moved from Kansas to Chicago partly so I wouldn't have to endure 100 degree summers any more.  How silly of me!

 Anyway, on to the manicure for the day!  Of course the 4th of July calls for something red, white, and blue with a good amount of sparkle thrown in.  I found this mani from Nailside and decided to do a version of it myself.  I think it turned out pretty well.

I started with 2 coats of Wet 'n' Wild's Fast Dry in Saved by the Blue; a bright royal blue shimmer.  For the striped nails, I used my 1/4 inch art tape and taped off lines then painted Revlon's Diamonds Are Forever which is a super shiny silver metallic polish.  

For the "fireworks" on my thumb and ring fingers, I tapped off sections and painted on a coat of Wet 'n' Wild's Wild Shine in Red Red, which definitely lives up to its name by being a true cherry red creme.  While that was still wet and before taking the tape off, I added a quick layer of Julep's America-the Beautiful, a red, blue and silver glitter with silver stars.  After that dried, I taped off another section and painted on Diamonds Are Forever.  I topped those nails off with some stars from a Cina Nail Art kit and from Wet 'n' Wild's Fast Dry Stars & Stripes.

My pinky finger got some of the stars from the Cina kit as well and then I finished all the nails off with a coat of Wet 'n' Wild's Wild Shine in Kaleidoscope, a small holographic glitter in a clear base.  Kaleidoscope is one of my favorites for a topcoat, it looks like a disco ball on your nails!  In fact, if I didn't know or didn't care how difficult glitter is to remove, I might try to do enough coats of it to cover my whole nail.  But I'm not sure I have the patience for clean up.

Sorry for the long-winded detail here.  I keep this blog mostly for a record of the manicures I've done, so I know how I did them, in case I feel the need to recreate some of them in the future.  I definitely appreciate everyone who comes to take a look and I hope you all enjoy reading my posts.  However, I totally understand if all you do is look at the pictures lol  In any case, thanks as always for stopping by!

Explosive!

Hello, hello!  I hope everyone is having a lovely week so far.  I had a fantastic dinner with my friend, Shannon (who assures me she reads my blog, so Hi Shannon!) and am looking to make it an early night.  Sleep just would not come last night and I'm bushed!  This manicure was done from Nailside's Explosion tutorial.  This is my version with only one explosion layer :)

 

I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Folly (seriously, my favorite pink ever!) and then taped off the "explosion" with scotch tape.  I filled that area in with Checkin' into Rehab from Wet 'n' Wild's new Spoiled line (on sale last week at CVS for $0.99 each!).  Checkin' into Rehab is a small, fuchsia glitter in a deep purple base.  Love it!  It works really well with Folly, although I don't think my pictures show it to full effect; it's very sparkly in the sunlight!  You might also notice that I got a little crazy with my Seche Vite on this one.  I think I applied it too early, so the edges of my taped lines are a little fuzzy but I kind of like the effect.  Here's a closer view.

As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Geometric Gems

Hello!  We are fast approaching mid-week and I, for one, cannot wait for the weekend.  I managed to snag Monday AND Tuesday off (those of you who know me know that two days in a row off is rare for me) after working for 21 days straight.  I'm pooped!  It'll be nice to have a bit of a break.  What's everyone doing for Memorial Day?  I'm certain I'll manage to get a manicure or two in while I'm relaxing ;)

Speaking of that, after much frustration with my nails last night (which caused the lack of post-age), I've come up with something today that I really like!  Take a look.

I started with two coats of China Glaze in Secret Peri-wink-le, which is a lovely version of that hue; a blue/grey/lavender creme.  After that, I taped off narrow triangles with the points ending at the tips of my nails.  Don't judge, but the triangles are far from perfect.  It's difficult to find the center of your nail at the tip and then center the base of the triangle at the base of the nail...but overall, I think I did alright.  I filled in the triangles with another China Glaze in First Mate, a deep navy blue creme.  After a coat of Seche Vite, I topped this look off with some little blue "gems" that I found at Dollar Tree.  I found this multi-pack of sparklies for $1, so expect to see more of them in the future!  I love the way the light shines through the little jewel to pick up the bright blue color.  I'll try to get a picture in the sun tomorrow to show that a little better.

That's all I've got for this evening.  I hope everyone has a great week and thanks for stopping by!