I haven't ever done a haul post, but this deal was too good to keep from you. Keep reading how you can get these for $4.99 or less each.
Why haven't I done a haul post before? Well, they kinda embarrass me....how many I purchase....how long it takes me to use them....etc. But I am making an exception this time. Here are the new pretty bottles, swatched, color coded and ready to be tucked into my drawer.
I'm letting you, my beloved followers, know where I got these at such a great price before I Tweet or put it on Facebook. I got these at 6pm.com. You can find a huge selection of SpaRitual HERE.
Have a great night!
Tina
This is going to be a quick little post because I need to sleep sometime! So I have joined a group that is doing blue manis for Autism Awareness Month. So this mani is pulling double duty, Monkey See Monkey Do and the Different Shades of Blue challenge. Here is the itinerary for the new challenge.
Today's theme is blue flowers. I was inspired by Rin's mani found HERE. Her's, of course, is much cuter :)
So I started with two coats of Avon Ballerina. Then I did my first freehand french manicure with China Glaze Fade Into Hue. Isn't this the most lovely periwinkle blue? I am kinda proud how my first attempt without guides turned out. It is not perfect, but then, when is a first time ever perfect, at least for me?
Next I stamped with Bundle Monster BM -315 and Barry M Blackberry. I wish I had stamped this sam image with white first to give it more dimension and opaqueness. (Wow, that is a real word, at least according to spell check.) Oh well, lesson learned.
Finally I dotted with Zoya Piaf. I really like the delicate look this shimmery pastel yellow gave this.
So go check out the other Monkey See manis.
And here are the girls doing the Different Shades of Blue Challenge
Tina from Light of the Moon Nails
Be forewarned, this post is pic HEAVY!
It is Sunday, which means I am going to get back to Adventures in Stamping. I love all the groups I belong to, but this one holds a special place in my heart because my polish obsession started with my first Konad stamp.
The theme for today is stamped over orange. Ok....I like orange, but I tend to use it as an accent....unless it is October. So I looked through my stash for inspiration and stumbled across exactly what I wanted. Last month I won a giveaway from Laney Says. I won my choice of Aly's Dream Polish. This is what I chose.
This is Aly's Dream Polish #64 Copper. Before I tell you all about it, I have to say that you should go check out her store HERE.
Her store is filled with holos in every color imaginable! And if this is any indication of the quality...well, just look at the rest of these pics!
As soon as I painted this gorgeous burnt orange holo on my nails I was thankful that I actually started this mani during the day! I ran outside immediately to see if the sun was still out, so please forgive the poor clean up.
I kept trying to capture the linear scatter on this holo, because it really is there, but this is the closest I could get.
This went on smoothly, with no dragging and was fully opaque in two coats. One coat had enough coverage that I think this could end up being a good stamper. Shown is two coats of holo goodness with Sech Vite on all but the pinky. All my Layla holos are dramatically dulled by topcoat, so I wanted to see if the same happened with this....I didn't dull it, but my A type personality sees a little tiny bit of scattering to the linearness (why won't spell check recognize my made up words? Tee hee). Maybe if I used something other than Sech? Hmmm....
Next I stamped with LeaLaC XL B (purchased from Llarowe) and Konad Special Black. I have been having some trouble with my Special Black not stamping as well as it's first days. I think it has thickened maybe? Anyone know if I can use a thinner in it?
As an aside, some may remember the streaking I was getting with Konad Special black when I applied topcoat. I topped this with Cult Nails Wicked Fast with no streaking at all! During the last Cult Nails sale, I added several Cults to my stash (YEAH) and was surprised to find Wicked Fast added to my package. Smart of them, since it has since become my favorite topcoat. Sech is still my go to if I need to smooth out glitters, but Wicked Fast dries just as quickly as Sech and gives a glassy smooth finish, which is what I want in a topcoat.
Okay, back to the mani! Although this is nice on it's own, I have been wanting to play with some flocking powder I purchased from Born Pretty.
One nail at a time, I added dots of black polish with my large dotting tool, added flocking powder and gently pressed the powder down. After giving it all a chance to dry, I brushed the excess powder off.
I learned a couple of things from this experience. First, don't blow to get off the excess! I ended up with flocking powder everywhere! DUH. Secondly, yes, you do need to press the flocking powder gently into the polish. I tried one finger without pressing and had to go back and do it again. Finally, tapping the flocking powder down made my dots "spread", so in the future I will try making the attaching polish smaller than I want it to actually end up....does that make sense?
What do you think of my fancy pom poms (tee hee)? Thanks for looking and see you tomorrow!
Tina
So I know I was going to do Fashion Fridays this month, but today is the one year anniversary of The Nail Challenge Collaborative. I really love this group. It is smaller than other groups I am in and they have monthly challenges that are not daily. The theme for April is pastels, which is definately going to get me out of my dark vampy comfort zone. Can't wait to show you all the pretty candy colors. I decided to do a birthday theme on top of the polish I wore most all of Easter weekend, from Thursday night to Monday night.
This is two coats of Candeo Jelly Bean. Is this not the best Easter polish? It reminds me a bit of the Robins Egg candy that only comes out at Easter and that I cannot get enough of. If you find any more left on the shelves, send some my way!
Jelly Bean is a lovely pale yellow cream filled with tiny multicolor glitters and larger matte pastel hexes. This applied like a dream with no need for manipulation of glitters. This polish is currently out of stock at Candeo's store but still available at Lllarowe HERE. I know it is a little late for this Easter, but it would also make a nice summery base for some stamping. Besides, who says it's to early to start planning next year's Easter mani (tee hee).
After wearing this for so many days, I had some chipping on my middle nail, so I decided that this would make a great cupcake base. I added stripes of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue Away along the bottom half sides of the nails, then added Orly Chocoholic (appropriately) down the middle. Next I added more Jelly Bean with a dotting tool to give the impression of frosting. I didn't add topcoat because I didn't want to ruin the bumpiness of the "frosting".
So happy birthday NCC! Check all the other manis celebrating this birthday.
Have you been seeing lots of blue manicures today? If you have, you probably know that it is World Autism Awareness Day.
All of you have seen my lovely 17 yr old daughter, Bria, featured often on this blog. What you may not know is that Bria is cognitively delayed. Although her primary diagnosis is a speech and language delay, many of her symptoms fall within the autism spectrum. She is socially delayed, does not like to be touched and prefers solitary activities. She has limited conversation skills and holding a one on one conversation can be emotionally stressful for her. She has abnormal obsessions and disruption in routines can cause emotional disruption. Although she is a very emotional girl, the language of emotions is foreign to her.
We first knew something was "different" about Brianna when she was young and was not communicating the way we saw her peers communicate. When she was still not talking at 2, we had her evaluated. She has been in special education since the age of 3 and at 16 years, she was functioning at the level of a 7 year old in most cognitive areas.
I know the moment that I realized that Bria might be on the Autism spectrum. It was a day when she was about 5 years old. I was sitting watching TV and Bria came over, sat next to me on the couch and snuggled up to me. Sounds normal doesn't it....except for the fact that it shocked me. I was overwhelmed with emotion. You see, although I had not recognized it until that moment, having Bria snuggled up to me was a foreign feeling. I could count on one hand the number of times I could remember her initiating this kind of contact.
Despite all of these hurdles, Bria is the sweetest girl you could know, and very loving in her way. She has a strong sense of right and wrong (sometimes to her detriment) and is willing to stand up for what she believes in. Considering all that she struggles with, she is a very happy girl and I cannot imagine having a "normal" 17 year old girl. She delights me every day.
All this to say that this day resonates with me. So I thought I would show you a special polish that I purchased on a special girls tips.
This photo was taken in the early days of my mani obsession, so please forgive the poor picture quality. I will make it up to with the rest of the pics (tee hee)
This is Different Dimension Light It Up Blue layered over Nina Caribbean Blue. Light It Up Blue is special for several reasons. First and foremost, Missi donates $2.00 for every bottle sold to Autism Speaks. Secondly, this light blue jelly with blue, holo and white hexes is a lovely glitter polish. But what made this so special to Bria is that it GLOWS BLUE in the dark! I tried to capture this on her nails, but wasn't successful, so I did some bottle shots. Check it!
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If you want to see better swatches of this amazing polish, check Chalkboard Nails post HERE
This final pic shows that Light It Up Blue, although it does have a light blue tint to the suspension, is sheer and is best layered over another polish unless you want to use multiple coats.
This polish made Bria sooo happy. She would hold her nails under a light and then run into a dark room to check them out. She even convinced her teacher at school to turn off the classroom light for a moment so everyone could see her glowing nails! They were very popular.
If you are interested in this awesome polish, you can purchase it at Missi's Etsy store HERE.
Thanks to all the nail bloggers who have shown their support for this day!
Tina
Monkey See Monkey Do Mondays!
Hey all! We had a health scare in our household last week, so the blog kinda took a back burner for several days. But I am back today with the first installment of Monkey See Monkey Do Mondays. Some us over at Crumpet's Nail Tarts are practicing the highest form of flattery....imitation!
Today's mani was inspired by Emily at Holy Grail Nails. If you haven't been to her blog before, you must check it out. She is the queen of step by step tutorials of her manis. I tried to recreate her sushi nails found HERE.
Go check what inspired me and leave her some love!
So, my children love sushi, especially Bria. Bria's favorite is Tobiko, which is flying fish roe, or fish eggs. I know, I have strange children (tee hee)
This started with two coats of Contrary Polish The Way I Am. I purchased this at Llarowe.
This is a lovely olive color with purple glitter. I LOVE Contrary Polish! Every color Carrie has created (at least the ones I have purchased....and I have purchased quite a few!) is not only gorgeous, but of excellent quality. This is without any topcoat.
If you want to see how to do this, go check out Emily's tutorial HERE.
Want to see more recreations? Check these!
It is a little early for flowers here in Minnesota, but the theme for Adventures in Stamping is spring flowers, so at least there are flowers on my tips.
Cult Nails recently had a sale, so I scaled down my wish list a little. This started with Cult Nails Baker.
This is three coats of Baker. I don't know why I love this orange leaning peach, but I do. It is so full of gold flakies. I feel like this is the teenage sister of China Glaze Fast Track and hope to do combo or comparison post on these two soon.
Maria describes Baker better than I can, so here is how it is described on the website HERE.
A rich butterscoth/tan creme provides the base for Baker. But, what tan doesn't look better with just the right amount of a golden glow? Baker adds a touch of gold shimmer which makes it anything but ordinary.
Yep, this certainly isn't ordinary, which is why I love it so!
Next I stamped with Revlon Reality Star (another magnetic polish great for stamping) and Bundle Monster BM-324 on my ring finger and BM-318 on all my other fingers.
Then I used a technique I found at Messy Mansion HERE. Go check it! It will change the way you stamp! Basically, you use your stamper to create nail "decals". It is a great way to reverse images, apply only portions of a stamp and place stamps exactly where you want them!
This method is sorta similar to stamping onto plastic baggies, but I have never been able to get that to work as I couldn't get the whole thing to peel off the baggie. Plus with this technique, you can use a really thin top coat so that the "sticker" isn't very thick. It peels right off that rubber stamper like....I don't know....something that peels easily....a banana peel? You can kinda see where I didn't get all the edges on the "decal" flat on my pointer finger, but it isn't even noticeable IRL. I used Ulta Celebutante for the flowers. Once you have the "stickers" placed, you just add another layer of top coat to even it all out.
I can't tell you how easy this was. With my one Konad stamper and two sided Born Pretty stamper, I was able to get 3 images going at the same time. I love this! I think this is going to revolutionize my stamping!
If you try this technique, let me know! Thanks for looking!
Tina
So I had day two of the Tri-Polish Challenge scheduled to post on Thursday....It disappeared. Checked today and saw it didn't post, so I though maybe I scheduled it and forgot to publish (I've done that before), but no...it was GONE. Nowhere to be found. So I'll post again. If this seems a bit brief, that's why. Did it before, don't feel like doing it again. Frustrated. Here's my second take on green, purple and coral, sans coral.
Don't really like my pics without my thumb. Oh well, it is slowly growing. I started with a two coats of Zoya Gemma. Want to see Gemma on her own? Check it HERE. Then I taped off about half of the nail and added one coat of Zoya Lotus. You'll get to see her on her own next week.
Stamped with Bundle Monster BM07 and China Glaze Gold Fusion. One last look and then check the others.
Welcome to my first Fashion Friday! Let's get right to it. This was my inspiration, an Albert Ferretti Embroidered Virgin Wool Coat.
Pretty, ain't it! And here is what I did.
I really like these! It was what inspired the whole Fashion Friday thing in the first place.
I started with two coats of Dandy Nails Bound To Fall.
This was purchased by me at Sandy's Etsy store HERE.
(There ya go FTC). I can't begin to say how much I love this grey polish filled with dark grey/black speckles and iridescent flakes. The flakies flash a beautiful blue, which you can just barely see in the macro above. It applied smoothly with no dragging and balanced distribution of speckles and flakes. It looked like I had granite on my nails....or maybe a sparkly felt.
Next I stamped off center with Bundle Monster BM-213 and Konad Special Black. Shall we look again?
What do you think? Good representation of the inspiration? Most of these Fashion Friday manis' will not be an exact copy of the fashion, more like using it as a spring board for the nail art. Anyway, welcome to Fashion Fridays!
Thanks for looking!
Tina
Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY
It is another bitterly cold Minnesota morning, so I thought I might warm your heart with another giveaway. Why? Let me count the reasons.
- My first giveaway was painless and easy!
- Sunday saw my 100th post.
- Monday was my birthday.
- I'm an idiot.
Wait....What? Yep, you read #4 right. Let me show you the prizes and everything will become clear (maybe).
Prize 1
- Julep Pomegranate Body Scrub - This came in the wonderful Spring surprise box I just got. I'm just not a "body scrub girl". I want in and out of the shower as quick as possible and this would just languish in my bathroom, so I'm finding it an appreciative home.
- StrangeBeautiful Dose Lacquer - IDIOT for not reading descriptions close enough. I saw these on Beautylish. Pill shaped polish bottles? How could I resist. They were decently priced (I thought) for three colors, especially when I used my $10 credit. Then the package arrived. WTF? I guess I didn't read the description close enough. These are adorable, but miniscule. I mean, I love minis, but I think each bottle would last through 2...maybe 3 manis'. If I had the polish space I want, these would go in a place of honor as a display....little pills for my polish addiction....but sadly, there is no such thing now, so I thought someone else might enjoy them as much as I wish I could. There is a nice creme purple, a gorgeous dusty purple and a deep red.
Prize 2
- Contrary Polish Better Together - IDIOT for not realizing I already had this in my cart! This is a blue leaning grey loaded with turquoises glitter. During my last Llarowe restock rush, I was desperate to get every single one of the Contrary Polish Love Lyrics Spring 2013 collection. I had missed out on them a couple times already. In my self induced panic, I added two of these beauties to my cart without realizing. I swear I double checked my cart (because I have done this before, IDIOT) and thought there might have been a mistake when I received the package....nope, there it is on the invoice....quantity 2. My IDIOT, your WIN.
- Duri Gossip Exclusive - Almost dupe IDIOT. I have been wanting to add a Duri to my stash and did so in a cart complete for free shipping. What I didn't realize was that it is very similar to Contrary Polish Mystery, which I just happened to be swatching on my polishicles at the same time. I looked at these moody browns and decided I didn't really need them both. Mystery won the chance to stay. Gossip is really lovely and barely lost out. It is a plumish brown with a pinkish silver shimmer. It has been swatched on one "nail" from a polish wheel.
- Zoya Kate - Stash duplicate IDIOT. This was another one of those "Okay, I need one more polish for free shipping, what do I want?" moments. It was in my wishlist on Pinterest, but not on the site. Did I already have this in my stash? I'll keep looking to see if I want something else more and check my stash before purchase. Yeah right. Of course it is already in my stash. I swear I switched this out for something else before I confirmed purchase, but I guess I didn't. I gotta stop filling polish carts late at night. Another win for you!
So, is it clear now? The question is, why did I go to all this trouble to prove what an IDIOT I am? Just to entertain you, of course!
Enter the giveaway through Rafflecopter below. I only ship to US addresses (sorry to my international followers). Must be 18 or older to enter. Full rules under the Terms & Conditions.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
See you a little later with day 2 of the Tri-Polish Challenge. Good luck!
Tina
Light of the IDIOT Nails (tee hee)
