Madam Crimson, All Dressed Up

Still gray and rainy here in my neck of the woods.  I hope somewhere the sun is shinning.

I really do love Madam Crimson by QRS but I wanted to dress it up a bit.  But how does one dress up a red as deep and elegant as this is to start with?

I decided on black french tips with an extra bit of glam on my ring finger in the form of a faux-nad rose.

I really like the way it came out.  Very classy.  I think if I'd had a teeny tiny, deep red jewel for the center of the rose it would be perfect but oh well. 

I'm getting the hang of my shorter nails finally.  I would rather have more of a free edge for french tips, but I'm learning to like the very narrow french as well.   Also, I don't have as much free space as I would like for artwork but it's becoming fun figuring out how much I can fit onto them now.

Thanks so much for reading.  And I do so appreciate the comments you leave.  Until next time, take care.

Madam Crimson by QRS

Madam Crimson is a lovely, deep, red, think Miss Scarlet all grown up.

Unfortunately I'm scheduled for gray skys and rain for the next several days (at least it's not snow) so full sun pictures are not likely to happen, but it's a very pretty color and I thought you might enjoy it. .

It does have a tendancy to bring out some ruddyness in my skin but I still like it. This is three/four coats topped with a thick coat of Seche Vite.  Love S.V.  Look at the reflection!

It needed a good mix when I started using it, there were some rather undesirable lumps in the polish when I first started using it that also necessitated a good brush wipe.  An exception rather than a rule for this brand of polish.

Now, I need to solicite some advice from you my readers.  I am slathering on loads of lotion (Curel Intensive, Gold Bond, Aquaphor) as well as my Burt's Bee's cuticle cream but working with fabric and paper and washing my hands frequently because I handle money is just sucking any moisture out of my hands.  My cuticles  are a hot mess and I was so frustrated with them snagging on things and looking so ratty that I broke down and...I hate to admit it, but... I cut them.   Arrrgh, I know, I know.  Bad me!!!  So, any suggestions? (Preferably something I can run to a store to get and isn't too expensive.)

QRS Ivy Wreath

We all have polishes in our collection that are rather "meh".  For whatever reason we don't care for them, they don't look good on us, we don't like the shade...yadda yadda.

 

Of all the QRS colors I ordered this would be my least favorite.  I think because it reminds me of green tempera paint from my childhood and every time I see it I can smell that paint.  Ick!

Unfortunately in my opinion there isn't a redeeming factor either.  There's no shimmer, no depth.  It's just a rather flat, blah green to me. It was also rather thick and difficult to apply as well and offered up some rather large scale streakage.  It's nothing personal though and I still absolutly adore the QRS brand and will be buying more of their polishes.  Considering how many of them I have it's pretty good odds that only one doesn't suit me.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, take care.

Quirius Autumn Bronze

 This is the third of my top three favorite polishes that I just got from QRS.  Autumn Bronze is just that, a lovely warm Bronze.

It may seem silly but this polish makes me want to wear a 40's fall, tweed suit and do my hair in pin curls.   

 I love the shimmer.  This is two/three coats and it went on like a dream.

 

 Yes, it's more suited for fall then spring/summer (hey, the name says it all) but I'm glad that I got it.  This is for sure on my recommend list.  

Thanks for popping by and reading.   Until next time, take care!

Quirius Kiwi Fruit

So after over a year of unemployment I'm finally back to work.  I found a part time position at my local quilt shop (another of my many hobbies.) and started there this week.  I did the most adorable mani the night before, complete with flowers and lady bugs, but didn't get pictures.  I figured working with fabric couldn't do much damage and  I'd just snap a pic after I got off...  How wrong I was, my nails were totally thrashed, I had to cut off two that day another three went today. :(  But on the happy side, I now have more money for polish!!  YAY!  Since my other mani bit the dust, you get another of my QRS colors, Kiwi Fruit.

I love this color, it borders on neon and makes me think of spring, warm sun and mixed drinks with little umbrellas.  I think this will be a great pool side polish because the darker the complexion the more neon it will appear.  I'm just starting to build up my summer tan so it's not too powerful but it will certainly bling up the darker I get.  (I do understand that tanning is not for everyone, I understand the risks, I'm just a sun worshiper.)

It's just this side shy of being yellow with the tiniest hint of green but a bit far off of actual kiwi green. 

You can probably tell I had a bit of an issue with application.  It was a bit thick and wanted to be on the streaky side.  I think a few drops of thinner would take care of this though so I'll try that next time.  Also please disregard the cat hair that managed to embed it's self on my middle finger and I somehow missed...Ah the joys of pet ownership. 

This is three coats with touch ups.

This is just a plain ol' happy color to me.  I look at these and I can't help but smile.  Happy happy! Do you have a happy color?

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Until next time have a fantabulous one!

Quirius The Arabian Nights

I should save the best for last but what the heck, I want to share so heads up ya'll, this is a must have in my book!

Another of my favorites from my QRS Beauty order The Arabian Nights is an awesome holo glitter in a black jelly base. 

These pictures do NOT do the rainbow-y goodness justice, but I'm working with fake light at night and the colors wanted to hide a bit so just trust me on this.  Here's a blur shot so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.

The black is pretty saturated as far as jelly goes and two coats is pretty opaque.  This is three for good measure.

 The finish when dry is pretty smooth and you could easily get away with not using a top coat.  I put one on just because I could.  

 

I love how this looks on my shorter nails.  

Quirius Cresskill Eve

I just got an order from QRS Beauty this weekend and again, I am beyond thrilled with my polishes.  Honestly, if you don't have any of their polishes in your collection you are seriously missing out. 
I don't have a deal with them (although I wouldn't mind) and am not getting any reward off of recommending them so this is my honest opinion. 
They have a great selection of colors and finishes. The prices are quite simply amazing ($3.99 for .5 fl oz),  They are one of the quickest companies I've ordered from, and they ship to ensure that your polish arrives safely, boxes, bubble wrap, the works.  Love them.  (And it doesn't hurt that they send a  gift with your purchase, free polish is always a good thing.)

So one of my three favorites from this order is Cresskill Eve.  The first thing that came to my to mind is a highly patinaed bronze but the easiest way to describe it is a dark olive green with gold shimmer. 

  

I haven't been able to catch any of the brief moments of sun for pictures so all of these pictures are taken via an Ott lamp in the evening.  For some reason my camera is picking up red in my skin so I look horribly sun burnt and the high contrast is making my cuticles look much worse than they are so please pardon. I swear I don't look like this in real life. 

I love the consistency of this polish.  It pretty much painted it's self onto my nails.  This is three coats although two would have probably been sufficient.

 

Here you can really see the lovely olive green  that is the base color.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  

 Another thing I really like about these polishes is the smell...or rather the fact that, at least to my nose, it's not as prominent as it is with some other polishes.  Don't get me wrong, it still smells like polish, but just not as strong.

I picked up 8 colors so plan on seeing more QRS polishes.  Thanks so much for stopping by, until next time, take care. 

An Early Spring

I think I've mentioned (more than once or twice) that I am not a cold weather type of person. It does funny things to my skin (considered yourself warned when you see my poor cuticles) and well...I just don't like being cold.
While it hasn't been as cold the last couple of days (the snow is actually melting) it's still not what I would consider warm but since it's not been too bad I thought premature spring mani was in order.

You only get four fingers because I did a major blurp on my thumb and just wasn't feeling the re-do. That and the cuticle on my thumb looks like it's been through the garbage disposal and no amount of lotion, balm or oil can get it photo worthy.

I like my little rosettes, they're so easy. I wish I could take credit for them but alas no, so for those wanting to try, there is a great tutorial on them here.

I used one of my totally awesome QRS polishes in News of the Beloved as the base color. On the ring finger I layered some SH Fire Opal Nail Glaze in Bright Opal over the top and I'm kinda wishing I'd done that on all the nails because it's super pretty. From there I used a dark purple and white acrylic paint for the rosettes with a green acrylic for the leaves. For a little bit more punch I added an eensy weensy lavender jewel in the center of two rosettes, one on my ring finger the other on my index finger. Then topped it off with Orly Sec 'n Dry

Over all I am really pleased with how this turned out. I am really enjoying my little breath of spring. What about you? Do you blame me for wanting an early spring?

In other news, I get to go to Southern California next week! The weather is supposed to be in the 80's and I am super excited! I leave Monday and get back late Friday/early Saturday...unless of course the warmth seeps into my bones and I decide to not come back until it's spring here. ;) Hmmmm, we'll see.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

One of these things just doesn't belong,

Can you tell which thing is not like the others

By the time I finish my song?

I present to you a lovely chameleon color. In the bottle it's more of a rich, delicious looking brown, Kind of like you'd envision raspberry flavored chocolate would look like but put it on your nails and POW!

What we have here is a deep, exotic, luscious red. Look at the fire in there, that's because deep down there's the tiniest touch of copper shimmer, this is one sexy color ladies!

Have I piQued your interest? Do I have your attention? Qurious as to the color of this to die for red?

Hrmmm, I have given it away, not to mention it's plastered on the pics so I'll let you in on it.
This is Q.R.S's Red Square.
The formula was a bit thick, I think I'll add some thinner before using it again but two coats gives great coverage. This actually dried with some shine to it rather than the semi-matte like the other QRS polishes I've tried. Still, it benefited from a coat of Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri.

I must admit, I am in complete love with this color. Do you blame me?

If you haven't already signed up for my give away...HURRY! It closes at midnight tonight and the winner will be announced tomorrow!

QRS Royal Love

Happy Monday all! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. I ended up repainting my nails even though I swore I was going to try and go longer than usual with the same mani. But are we really surprised? No...no we're not. Really though, what's the point of having all that beautiful polish if you don't use it?
I had a friend and her teenage daughter over for tea on Saturday and ended up doing their nails. Well, I helped with the daughters by applying the stripes for her zebra print she mostly just had a grand time playing with all my polishes. I did my friends and they turned out pretty cute, so expect to see a super short entry on them.

Anyway, on with the polish! What can I say, I'm on a Q.R.S. kick.
This is Royal Love (which is funny because their Royal Glitter is bright blue). The Blossom Collection goes from the palest of pale pinks to a lovely lavender and despite the inference of the name (Royal=purple in my mind) this color is definitely on the pink side.
I Can't say I'm as fond of this color as I was of News of the Beloved, but it's quite pretty. The formula is the same, semi matte creme that goes on little streaky, shows a little brush stroke but looks good with a top coat. Here I've got two coats.

What do you think of Royal Love?

Fun Edges Tutorial

So here's a fun addition that I made to my News of the Beloved Mani. I got the bright idea that you could use decorative scissors to create something similar to the french tip guides. I remember seeing someone using a similar idea with painters tape (sorry, can't remember where) but figured I'd share my version.

Lets pull together our supplies.
First you'll need some cool craft scissors. Being a bit of a jack of all crafts I have a multitude of decorative edge scissors as you can see. These are just some of the ones that have potential for my purpose.
I use electrical tape because it seems to be pretty close to the material they use for the nail guides. It has great adhesion and won't tear. The narrowness of the tape makes it a bit more difficult to work with so find the widest you can.

Here you can see I've taken a length of electrical tape and cut it down the center. You then have for lack of a better term a negative and a positive pattern. From here you can cut them into shorter lengths for your individual nails.


Then, just like with the nail guides, place them on your nail (which should already have a nice dry base color) and with the polish of your choice (I used Sally Hansen Xtreme 'Blue Me Away') paint from the guide out (notice how my brush strokes start in the middle of the guide) filling in any missed spots as needed. Be careful to not to use too much polish, if you do it makes it harder to achieve a nice detail. If you do accidentally use too much polish, take a cotton swap dipped in polish remover and clean as close to the edge of the guide as possible, this cuts the goopyness and hopefully allows for better detail.
Wait until the polish is almost but not quite dry and pull the guide TOWARDS you slowly. To clarify, on my nails I pulled it back towards my arm not toward the tips of my nails even though they were pointed towards me for this picture. Make sense??
From there, it's just a matter of applying your top coat and enjoying your new look.

Here are some pictures of other edges I've used (pardon the glitches...the things you don't notice until you take a closeup.). Play around with it and have fun. I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. If you try it out I'd love to see it!

QRS News of the Beloved

This is QRS's News of the Beloved.
I'm trying to figure out how the name ties in with the color which is a lovely bright lavender. My camera makes it seem a bit more blue than it is, but I don't know enough about it to fix that so you'll just have to trust me.
Coverage is ok in two coats but I'd recommend a third because the application is a little streaky. Also, it's a semi-matte that dries really fast so visible brush strokes are an issue. For the most part though a clear top coat will fix both of those issues.

I'm not a huge fan of the pastel-y colors but I am kinda in love with this one, it's super flattering to my skin tone and makes my barely there tan look like I live in California rather than vacationed there. I love finding colors that really work for me and my top two are this color and OPI's I'm Not Really A Waitress.

Do you have polishes that just work for you and enhance your skin tone?

Quirius

Greetings from California!! After a 15 hour drive we arrived to gray skies. I thought it was smog but I'm happy to report it's just a cloud cover that rolls in off the ocean during the night. It usually burns off by about 1:00. And yes, I am sunburned. Other than that, It's beautiful. We're staying about three blocks away from Venice Beach. Today we did nothing more than shop on the Boardwalk.
I've been on the lookout for new polishes and I've found some from Manic Panic and American Apparel. I'll show them off once I'm home since I didn't bring the stuff to do a polish change here. (My Artistic Azure is a bit dull with a tiny bit of tip wear, but still going strong!)
Anywho, on with the main topic of this post which I wrote up before I left home...

LunatiKitty has recently had several posts involving Quirus nail polishes.
Since I'm pretty new to this nail stuff I wasn't surprised when I hadn't ever heard of them, so I went polish hunting and discovered Q.R.S. Beauty.
Honestly, I was expecting high priced polish, imagine my surprise and delight to see that they were amazingly affordable. $3. for a single .5 Fl Oz. bottle and $15 for a set of 6. Shipping was exceptionally reasonable and gloriously quick as well.
I'll give a full mani run down of each color in later entries but as of this moment I've single nail tested a few of the colors and find the formula smooth and easy to work with. The finishes vary from gloss to a semi matte that is just fun (they don't really tell you though so it's a toss up) and for the most part, coverage is excellent in two coats.
All in all I've been absolutely delighted with my order and have every intention of purchasing from them again...soon. :)














Here is what I got:
Photo on the right, Quirius Set 03 Blossom which includes (from left to right) Nubba Dubba, Ok is Me, Chastity, Violet Pink, Royal Love, Lavender Bouquet.

Photo on the left, Caribbean Turquoise (this is one yummy blue), News of the Beloved (My free gift), Royal Glitter, Russian Red, Decades of Shades and Red Square (this color is a wonderful surprise, more on it later).



Please keep in mind that I purchased these polishes, I was not given them nor paid to endorse them (I wish). So this is my honest, unpaid opinion of the company and these polishes. I'm sure that should you choose to visit their store you will encounter the same experience