Swimsuit...Nailed It !

To start my swatching of the Miss Universe Collection.

While this isn't the most unique polish in the collection of four that makes the Miss Universe Collection it is absolutely beautiful.

 This gorgeous blue foil is a gem to wear, the formula is smooth and applies beautifully.  The color is what I would call a "true" blue and doesn't lean towards any other shade.

 Some of the other blogs have said that this has potential as a one coat wonder, but I used my usual two.  The color is very highly saturated though so one thick coat would do the trick if you were in a rush.

 I was amazed at how quickly this dried as well.  I didn't even need to use my Seche Vite top coat on this. 

 My favorite part...how easy it cleaned up.  Usually a color saturated polish will stain my cuticles like mad at cleanup, but this one didn't.  It left a little hint of the blue in the hard to reach spots, but for the most part it was just a dream.

Would I recommend this?  Totally. 

Miss Universe Collection by OPI

I've been working for nine days straight and am a wee bit out  of it really.  What made those nine days interesting was the fact that my beloved Jeep broke down.  I was nigh unto inconsolable, I love and adore my baby. 
With everything that has been going on in my life for the last couple of months, I almost missed OPI's Miss Universe Collection, but I'm glad I didn't. I went into my local nail supply, saw it, and promptly had to have all of them.

Aren't they just pretty!

This collection is fairly small, just four polishes but I think it's well thought out, the colors are well suited.

 It's My Year is the most unique of the four.  It's a lovely rosy mauve with lots of champagne shimmer.

Oh yeah baby, bring on the blingy blingy!!  Crown Me Already has three or four different sizes of silver hexes in a clear base with even more silver glitter.  The amazing part is how smooth the application is, but more on that in the swatches posts.

 Swimsuit...Nailed It! Probably the least unique of all of the colors in this collection but is a very pretty blue foil in it's own right.  The shimmer on this is amazing.

 Congeniality Is My Middle Name... This polish I can't really say much on, why?  Because apparently some person decided to open it, smear it around the top and close it up again so now I can't even open it.  I've seen beautiful pictures of it on other blogs though so I'll be taking it back to trade for a new, unopened bottle.
I do have one concern though.

Do you see the two different layers?  That's all the shimmer that settles after sitting just a short period of time, and it settles very densely as well, so it takes a LOT of shaking to mix it up and we all know what shaking creates...  BUBBLES!   So, I'm rather hoping I got a bad bottle all together and that isn't the case for all of them.  We shall see. 

So have you tried the any of the Polishes from the Miss Universe Collection?  If so, which is your favorite?

Thanks so much for reading, I'll try to get back in the groove not that my work schedule has eased up.  Until next time, take care.

Adding Stripes

I wanted to add an additional element to my acrylic paint mani.  I thought that it would offer a great background for some stripes.

I wanted to keep the acrylic paint theme going though.  I thought that black would be too harsh but didn't have a dark brown so I blended my own using a lighter brown with a bit of black and then added some of the dark copper to give it just a bit of the metallic effect, not a lot though.

I already had a clear top coat over so didn't stress over messing up knowing I'd be able to wipe it off if I didn't like it.  My mixture came out a little muddier than I would have liked but it worked.

From there is was just a matter of painting on the stripes, I alternated them originating from one edges then the other and did some small "floater" stripes as well.

On the ring finger I added just a tiny sift of a gold holo glitter.  I wish I had put it under the stripes rather than over though.

I finished it all off with a clear top coat.  It gave the whole look a very African/safari feel which I just love!  My middle finger turned out the best.  Can't you just see the tiger slinking through the tall grass?  Watch out, it may get you!

Nails Courtesy of Acrylic Paint

I don't have a lot of acrylic paints, and mostly basic colors that I got for simple flowers and dots. You know the ones, yellow and white  for daisies, some greens for leaves etc.

Not too long ago though I picked up some metallic ones, a gold and two shades of copper.  I've not known what to do with them really but I decided to play a bit and experiment with a whole nail look.

So this mani involves no nail lacquer at all, save for the clear top coat it's exclusively acrylic paint. I had my doubts as to how it would turn out, but was pleasantly surprised.

Using a small brush I started on the nail edge with the gold and feathered it toward the center on both sides, for the center I used the  light copper in the same way and feathered it out towards the edges overlapping slightly then took the darker copper and did it just down the center blending it out toward the edges as well.

The combination of the three colors and the feathering blended the edges really well, giving a rather seamless gradient effect.  The effect can be achieved with sponging as well, but is more difficult when working from the edges because you have less room to work with than when sponging from the base to tip.

The metallic paint has a really lovely finish when you use a light touch, resembling actual metal, and any surface irregularities are smoothed out with the top coat.  Since most colors of acrylic paints are available as nail lacquer it won't ever be a replacement, but I think that for an occasional, unique look it is very effective don't you? 

So, what do you think, will you be trying an acrylic mani any time soon?

Ruby Rush

I recently picked up Sally Hansen's Insta Dry in Ruby Rush.  It was one of those must have moments.

I love this color, it's  makes me think of the big juicy mulberries that grew on my neighbors tree when I was little.  All the kids in the neighborhood would find their way to that tree, and there was no way of disguising our berry stained hands and mouths.

 Are there polishes that remind you of something from your childhood?

Just Peachy Tutorial - Pic heavy

Thanks everyone for your comments on my Just Peachy mani.  I had a request for a tutorial so figured I'd give it a go.  Lets start with the supplies you'll need.

Acrylic paint, I used three but you can easily just use two, a peach and a darker orange.

A light, medium and dark green and a brown acrylic paint.

Nail color of your choice, a top coat and a couple of brushes, one needs to be very fine (I trimmed mine down myself)  Not shown  is either a glitter polish or loose glitter, and it's also helpful to have a small pallet, a paper towel, and a small container of water

Ok, now that we have our supplies we can get started.

Paint your nail the base color of your choice and let it dry completely, that way if you mess up you can wipe the acrylic off without smudging your base color.  (Hint: a damp cotton swap is better than a dry method for getting off any glitches that might occur with acrylic paint.)

 Is your varnish dry? Ok moving on.

On your pallet put a drop of each green and the brown

With the brown, do a rough sketch of a branch.

Starting with the lightest green, daub in leaves, no need to be pretty or exact, the messier it looks the better.

Do the same with the medium and dark green.  Go easy on the dark, we're going to use it for drawn in leaves later and want to make sure they stand out.

Ok, now let the acrylic paint dry and do a top coat before we move on to the peaches.

On a clean section of your pallet put a drop each of the light, medium and dark color for your peaches.

On the nail, use your lightest color to block in your basic shape for the peaches, they're basically hearts that have one half a little bigger than the other. The size and amount is up to you.

Once you get that basic shape blocked in, take your fine liner brush and outline them with the darkest shade, make sure you bring that center line down in a curve to give the peach it's "seam".  I also like to take the brush tip and bring that darker color into the peach a bit more to give the effect of shading.

This step isn't required, it just adds some more dimension, take the medium color and do a little 'C' curve on one side.  It just highlights it a bit.

Then it's time to add your leaves.  I used the darkest green and drew in the outline and a hint of a center vein on the larger ones and just did a little line for the smaller ones.  By applying more pressure at the brush tip and easing up as you pull the brush away you get a leaf shape,

That wasn't so hard was it?  Your peaches are done and they look great!  Lets let them dry a bit before moving on to the next and final step.  Ok ready?

I didn't want glitter on my peaches, just around them so I painted my top coat around them then sprinkled a light coat of loose glitter.  I made sure to tap and blow  off any stray bits that I got where I didn't want them. Alternately, you could use a glitter polish around the peaches, which is what I did for my first version of this look. 

 And finally!!!!

Top everything with a clear top coat and you're done!  It's lovely, wait until your nails are perfectly dry and give yourself a pat on the back!!

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial, If you try this I'd love to see your version, so stop by and leave me a link.  Thanks so much for stopping by and reading.  Until next time, take care!

Just Peachy Thanks!

When I think of summer I always think of Lipton's instant Peach Iced Tea, it's my favorite!  I make it by the glass to suit my taste, which is strong with lots of ice. 

Since I've got peaches on my mind I thought I'd do a mani with peaches.  I'm rather pleased that it turned out so well.  I think if I did it over I'd do some larger peaches on at least one additional nail if not all of them, but this is good for now.

I used an un-named blue by Cosmetic Arts that I picked up at Ross Dress for Less.  It's pretty, but very thin and prone to streaks.  I had to use four coats to get a decent base color.  I was less than thrilled with that.

After that, it was all acrylic paint, I started with some branches, then dabbed on leaves before starting the peaches.  They were easy, because they're just hearts that are a little heavy on one side.  Once I had the base filled in I did an outline in a darker color and used the same to put in the "seam".  Then a darker green for the leaves and they were done.  I finished off with just a touch of Kleancolor Peaceful Heart for a tiny bit of sparkle, then a top coat for everything. 

So what makes you think of summer?