Peek a boo mani (variation of half moon mani)

This is what I have dubbed a "peek-a-boo" mani.  It's a variation on the trendy "half moon mani", but without the french style tips, and with a hint of color or glitter showing through.  Today,  I'll give you three versions:  The original "sexy" peek a boo mani.  This was a result of my husband requesting I do my nails red for his recent homecoming.  I wasn't a fan of them just red, so I was really happy with this little creation, featuring Northern Lights Holographic Silver Topcoat, and Sinful Colors "Sugar Sugar".

 (Forgive the fingerprint on my middle finger!  Tsk tsk for rushing)

 Next, we've got the sweet version, created using Essie "Kisses and Bises" as the peek a boo color, and OPI "Guy meets Gal-Veston" as the main color:

 The final version is the trendy take on this mani - it's remniscent of a sparkly pink sequined tank with a nice grey sweater.  I used Sinful Colors "I miss you" and Zoya "Kelly" for this version.  Since it's a chunky, you really want to use a good topcoat (like seche) to smooth it out if you try this one.

Tell me which version YOU love for the chance to win the supplies to make your OWN peek a boo mani!  Leave your comment here, tell your friends.  Open internationally, and to the first 50 comments or August 6th, whichever comes first!

Marble Mania and a Mermaid

Hello there!  Firstly, let me apologize for the lull in postings, as I've been crazy with family stuff.  But here are enough photos to last a few days!  I've been on a bit of a marbling kick.  :)  

This first series is Sinful Colors "I Miss You" with Zoya "Keiko" marbled over it.  I'm kind of in love with this Sinful chunky glitter, it's a nice mauve even without anything layered beneath it.

 (my favorite was this thumb!)

Next, my sister was over, and we turned her into a mermaid.  Don't you just adore her hair?  Oh, we marbled her nails.

I re-marbled mine the same evening, but chose awful colors together.  Don't know what I was thinking, I like how the marbling itself came out, but the colors...eiiieeew.

Coming soon:  Sexy "Peek a boo" nails, Essie "Aruba Blue" dupe alert, and more marbling!

Mani Fail!

If you're an addict a big nail polish fan like I am, then you know that the best thing to do at a fellow blogger's place is to use her stash to try something new.  I was inspired by Mommy Does Her Nail's awesome fishnet glitter mani, and tried to do something amazing.  Tried, being the operative word.

I used Sinful Colors "Nirvana" with LA Colors Purple Glitter, and China Glaze "Electric Pinapple" with LA Colors Teal Glitter.  I really liked how the taupe and purple nails turned out, but the others just didn't contrast in a positive way like I was hoping. 

Oh well, a mani failure once in a while happens.]

Update:  The perfectionist in me (whom I normally try and keep hushed with a steady diet of coffee and chocolate) couldn't resist retyring the mani, and it turned out pretty fantastic in comparison:

Minicure Monday: Featuring Fancy Nancy

If you don't know Fancy Nancy by now, let me just inform you that she is the quintessential girl's girl.  Glitzy.  Fabulous.  Tres' Magnifique.

And she inspired our Mini Manicure of the week, with her lovely orange hair and a penchant for pinks and purples and all things feminine.

  (This thumb was my favorite)

Her little hands are growing too too fast.

Marbled Mani for the lazy girl

But they sure are gorgeous, yes?  Base is Rimmel "Steel Grey" and the marbling colors are Sinful Colors "Tokyo Doll", Zoya "Ki", and China Glaze "Seduce Me".  I marbled two on one hand, three on the other.  A pretty fun mani, IMO!

On a side note, the Rimmel's name confuses me, as it's more of a taupey fig color than grey.  What's with that?

Ocean Mani and a baby

If you've been paying much attention, you know by now that I have several children.  Four, to be exact - one little princess and a few little froggies, too.  Her bokeh face has appeared in my minicure posts on occasion, and here's a little peek at the youngest.

These little people make my world wonderful, crazy, and a bit maddening at times.  The nails you spy are Sally Hansen "Mint Sorbet", Zoya "Breezi", Northern Lights "Silver Hologram", and OPI "Last Friday night".

Now, please excuse me...I have to go chase this little crawler before he finds my nail polish stash!

Vampires don't tan

The title may confuse you, but allow me to illustrate.  You see I have this Vampiric Irish skin that just stays white.  It's white, white, occasionally turns bright red and then just goes white again.  The point being, I love tan polishes - in the bottle.  I expect them to be a nice nude look, but they may as well be dark chocolate for how they contrast with my skin.  This is OPI "San Tan-tonio":

I couldn't handle the contrast, so I softened it up a bit with Zoya "Erin" which is a super pale nude color with a bit of shimmer in it.  It totally did the trick, I would definitely be more likely to rock this mani.

Don't Mess with OPI vs Sinful Envy

I picked up OPI's "Dont Mess with OPI" on a great deal recently, and then spied Sinful Colors "Envy" while I was out yesterday.  It looked so similar, I knew I had to do a swatch comparison.  When I first tried OPI "Don't mess with OPI" I described it as Coleman Camping gear green.  This may or may not have been the result of a Mike's Lemonade saturated camping trip I happened to be on with little hopes of sanity, but I love the color regardless.

 Upon swatching, you can see that Sinful "Envy" has a bit more blue in it.  Both are opaque and gorgeous after three coats, these are both without topcoat in the pics.  They are close enough that you could save the money by just picking up the Sinful color, and get the...awesome...ring as well.  ;)

June contest redraw!

Sadly, Shivy never contacted me regarding her win, so I"ve used Random.org to do a redraw for my monthly comment giveaway for June.  The winner is....drumrollplease...ShimmerSpark!  Check out her OSM blog, and Holly, you please shoot me your mailing address to MamaCaswell@gmail.

Leave relevant and/or friendly comments for YOUR chance to win this month!

OPI Suzie Loves Cowboys and Guy meets Gal-veston

 Index is one coat of "Guy Meets Gal-veston" layered over  2 coats of "Suzie Loves Cowboys", all others are 2 coats of  "Suzie Loves Cowboys", both OPI.  Sorry such a quickie today, but the monsters children are driving me to drink demanding today!

 Wow, apperently I should NOT post and run, that didn't even make sense!  Further proof that parenthood melts your brain.

Just a quickie today, kids...

Hi kids and unicorns.  Because I'm pretty sure unicorns read my blog, and nobody ever thinks to greet them.  Anyhow, sorry such a short post today, but this Sinful Color "Rich In Heart" kind of looks like what a garnets would look like if they bled.  It's hot.  And a bit dark, which is why I rarely wear it.  Because the love of my life isn't so into the dark polishes.  But I love him anyways.

Sparkle up your world

So I seem to have this problem lately, where I like a bunch of chunky glitter on my nails.  I"ve never been a chunky glitter girl, so you can see where this might be disturbing.  It's kind of like one of those strange dreams, where you are from the point of view that is not you...like once, I am pretty sure I was Beyonce in my dream.  Yeah, that one's a stretch ;)

So, this is my first chunky glitter layering for the blog!  This is Zoya "Keiko" with Sinful Colors "Nail Junkie" layered over the top (fitting, yes?)

 But, of course, the real magic happens in the sunlight.  Observe:

In conclusion, I think I'll be doing more layering.  And exploring more chunkies.  xD

June Comment Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Shivy, the winner of my first monthly comment giveaway! 
What's that, you weren't aware I was doing a monthly giveaway?  Well, heck yes!  What better excuse to buy even more nail polishes than to do a monthly gift to my friends and followers? 

Here's how to get a chance for this month!  Just leave me some friendly and/or relevant comments on my posts for this month, and I will use random.org to do a drawing for a winner!  I'll post it here just like I am doing now, and you just need to message me with your address so I can ship them to you.  What could be easier?

P.S.  I'll be posting new stuff later!

P.P.S.  I totally scored some new polishes this last week.

Minicure Monday: Shatter my world

So, the shatter/crackle trend has officially taken over.  All it took was this:  the color purple.  See, my little princess has a certain obsession with purple (followed only by her obsession with pink, and topped only by her sweet tooth.)

We were over at Mommy Does Her Nails' house, so we stole a few of her colors for this one.  On the bottom is Zoya "Apple", a blue LA Color Glaze glitter polish, and then China Glaze Fault Line crackle. 

 So, for mommy's matching manicure, I pulled out my China Glaze "Cracked Medallion" and slapped it on over Sally Hansen "Crushed".  It's wild, and a totally perfect look for summertime.  Hope you enjoy!

My ugly little franken (aka I hijacked their balls)

When I was in High School, I was big into theatre.  Specifically musicals.  I know, this shocks you completely.  I mean, I'm so mellow and drama free.  Anyhow, one of the shows I was in was called "HONK!", and it was a telling of the ugly duckling.  I am going to name my first little franken "HONK!" after that...I kind of love it, even though the color came out awkward, at best.  

On an amusing note, I stole the balls out of some crappy little wet and wild colors I never use, to mix this baby up.  That's worth a giggle.

So, be real here...can you imagine an uglier little franken?