Purply cult nails goodness

It does seem a shame that I haven't posted in a bit, I AM working on it I promise. Another shame? That a few weeks ago my hands were all pretty with some Cult Nails goodness, and now my nails are a peeling mess. Working with my hands on the regular, plus moving into a new apartment, plus helping my friend/roommate AND her mom move as well has been hell on them. Not for lack of trying though, I've been coating my nails on the regular with Duri Rejuvacote. But the banging around has been a bit too much to take. But, this polish... this polish... I want to wear it all the time.

Cult Nails - My Kind of Kool Aid needs to live on my nails for the rest of my life. Now Cult nails has a consistent rotation of limited edition colors, that are all awesome. But this one is permanent, and I can see why. It's just so pretty and flattering, and flows onto the nails like silk. Even a klutz-o like myself can manage it.

This baby lasted on my nails with minor tip wear , even with the abuse given to them at the time. So, if you haven't joined the Cult yet you should get on their website TODAY because they have a kick ass sale going on. 40 % off Limited Edition colors with the code FLASH48, or 20% off sitewide with the code CELEBRATE. Plus purchases of 20 bucks gets you free shipping. You won't regret it man.

Collection post!

I've been meaning to show my collection of my babies, errr I mean my polishes, but I didn't want to be a bragger and show off. I'm always jumping on a near by soap box talking about bragging and how much I loath it! I think it's a middle child thing, who knows. I just hate bragging, but I figured this is a nail blog, and showing your nail polish would be exciting, and hopefully not go over into bragging territory.

Do you think I like Zoya?

It makes me so sad that OPI for Sephora is done-zo. They had a great formula, and you can tell that I used them a lot! My fave being the Perdiot dupe Sage is just a number. And Mermaid to order. I love those colors! 

My small collection of Nubar, OPI and China Glaze. I do like those brands but Zoya is my love! I also have a few other brands in there, like a N Fu oh  (awesome holographic nail polish)

Tink hanging out, like you do. She loves her "Pixie Dust" Haha get it? :P

ESSIES! I am starting to get more into Essie, since they have become more adventurous with different colors and textures. They used to be so blah and blend, but the last few collections have been amazing! There is a single Martini nails polish that is very pretty but I wasn't crazy about the application. And my only Color Club, poor CC.. I need to get more of them in the future. And my Butter London polishes, which I love but wish they weren't so pricey. 

A barielle called Elle's Spell, gorgeous flakie gifted from Julie! My revlon scented polishes (the green one gifted from Tarah, and my Marc Jacobs Nail polish from Reneeeee. And MY CHANELS!

All gifts from my boss on her travels, I can't bring myself to buy one for myself... Vendetta is a purple that is really hard to photograph. Grrrr.

Confession time, this isn't my whole collection. I've got an Ikea helmer filled with three draws. But I thought I would do that for another post. Pace myself. Okay that's it for now!

My most favorite nail art post!

I can't believe its been like 3 years since I did this! Man time flies when you are painting your nails way too much. I always want to redo this one and maybe since spring has finally sprung, I can give it another go.

I really had a fun time with this one, it was really simple but yielded professional looks. If anyone wants me to do a quick tutorial, please comment and let me know. Maybe try with different colors?

Gel Nails.. #thisjusthappened.

Yes, you read it here. I finally gave in and got a gel manicure. I think after a week of non-stop craziness with the girls I nanny for, it was well deserved, and cheap to boot!

The process was very relaxing, I didn't feel rushed to pick a color, and they said I picked a color that was good for my skin tone.
When I sat down, the lady who did my nails was named Tina and she said I had very nice nails and they were smooth and had a nice shape (THANK YOU NAIL ENVY). At first I thought maybe she was being nice for a tip, but then she said to my boss, who goes there every 2 weeks, very bluntly that her nails looked very bad (she was right, they were a hot mess). After that I knew she was speaking her mind, and not buttering me up for a tip.

She shaped them in the "squval" shape, and neatened my cuticles. And applied the base gel coat, it went in the lamp for about a minute and then applied the color which is called A GRAPE FIT by OPI. I knew I wanted something purple when I walked in, and they had a ton of purples to choose from. I love this color so much I think I may get the nail polish version of it, its a bit darker then planks a lot from them, which I own. Basically it was a base protective coat, 2 coats of A GRAPE FIT, and then  top coat that was cured in an UV Lamp. I know there is a ton of OMG they are bad for you, so I didn't go in there, with no idea about the risks. But I plan on making this a special occasion thing. Yeah I know.. I know.. Overall the whole process took about 20 minutes. I also had a hand massage as well. It was heaven.  So overall, a wonderful experience :)

New Sally Hansen Triple Shine Palm Beach jellies in Grape Jelly.

Do yo remember about 15 years ago, omg why did I date myself.. when Maybelline came to with Maybelline waters  They were awesome. I bought like 4 of them, but the red was my favorite. I miss them.

Well a few months ago, news that Sally Hansen was bringing the tinted nail polish back (and OPI too...) and I was like ...what? So I bought one, the purple one. I had high hopes for this one, but its a fail polish.

Mind the cuticles.

This was after 8 coats. YES EIGHT COATS. Its very subtle but I thought seriously 8 coats? Not impressed. I will try it over a white nail polish next time. Come on Sally, get it together!

BAD BLOGGER!'

Hi everyone, thank you Tarah for posting. I've been a bit MIA lately and no excuses! (well one.. two words...dental problems..) It's hard to gather enthusiasm  when you have a throbbing tooth almost everyday. Ive been to the dentist and the outlook is grim.. root canals. Im going to be very poor the next few months. blerg. I did want to throw up a quick blog post to show that we are still alive, still living la Vida loca (maybe) and still painting up a storm! Here are a few manicures Ive done in the past month, that I will do a separate post on!

Well, Hello there!

I know you guys haven't seen a post on this blog in awhile. But as another long time friend of Erika's, and a reader/ supporter of this blog, I mentioned to her that I hadn't seen any posts in awhile. I do like to support anything my friends do, and have been reading since the beginning. So she asked if I'd like to take part, and here I am!

Now i'm nowhere near as good with a brush as Erika, Renee, and Julie are. More like Ernestina Does A Manicure, in my honest opinion. And I think I may be dating myself with that paraphrased reference. :-P But I do love polish, and have a willingness to get better so bear with me!

I've been buying polish since middle school when all I could afford is a 99 cent bottle of Wet 'N Wild, sadly those hideous colors of blue and metallic apple green are long dried out, but the memories remain (of hideous manicures). Painting something pretty on your nails makes you feel good, and why shouldn't we all treat ourselves to some good feels now and again?

For my first post I decided to post on a polish that was bought for me as a gift from Erika when I went up to NY to visit; Deborah Lippman's Lets Go Crazy. You should know, I'm a HUGE sucker for purple and glitter so this polish was a no brainer for my first Lippman. I've read around  about it, and the consensus is that it's chunky,  the purple is murky... Well you all can google that if you're interested. Also, until I get my camera charger in the mail, I'm stuck with my 2 year old ancient smartphone camera. So no judging on the picture quality until I say so! :)

Rejuvacote, Lets Go Crazy, Out The Door Topcoat. 

Plus showing off some possibilities for future posts :)

First things first, I LOVE this polish. I do think it needs some work to come out well, though. It could be me who knows. But sheer purple, with tons of colored glitter? I'm probably biased as a lover of purple shiny things. 

These pictures will get better I promise. I'll also invest in something to get those bits of polish off by my next post

So this was one coat of Rejuvacote, which is my standard base coat. Two thick coats of Lets Go Crazy, followed by one thick coat of Out the Door. I did have to fish every few nails because the glitter was getting sparse, as well as a quick cap and roll. But despite that, and some streakiness, I still have a big mushy soft spot for this polish. As I get more used to doing my nails more often i'll definitely revisit to see if I have the same issues. Anyone have this polish have the same issues? Let me know!

Bonus: Have any of you seen this link for cute Valentines mani ideas? Now I'd change the pink to purple, as i'm not a pink fan. But that's just me. A solid purple mani, with maybe a red heart on the thumb is as Valentine-y as I get. But, they're all super creative. :)

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gift from my awesome sister! and please ignore my gross cuticles...

Helllo everyone! I hope someone is still reading this blog, I know we were terrible bloggers and abandoned ship. School.. work... family problems and babies! Kinda took over, hopefully we will all be blogging again, I hope! But on to the nails:)

My sister is currently in Morocco, with my niece and I have been helping her with packages and such, so I was so happy to receive a sephora box in the mail with my name on the box. I thought for a second I won something because I am always entering contests and I knew I entered a few from sephora ( a girl can hope!) but when I opened the box, there was a note from my sister that of course made my day, and goodies in the form of Nars Nail polish and the sephora lip favorites! I love my sister because she always gets me things that I want but never buy myself, like Nars nail polish which I have had my eyes on for a long time!

She bought me this awesome set:

NARS

Pierre Hardy Nail Duo

The colors are both called "sharp lines"but basically one is a peach that is opaque in 2 coats and a burgundy that gives vamp a run for its over priced money!

I painted my nails in the burgundy and at the last minute added a cover girl glosstini from The Hunger Games collection called Violet flicker that was too pretty to pass up at Cvs the other day. I will do a blog entry about that lil guy, they are so cute. A tad overpriced for the amount but the colors are so amazing I had to get one.

bottom- all the way to the left.

It was so hard photographing this polish, I mean I tried different lighting and angles, but this was the best I could do without resorting to going outside in the cold.. BRR!

Halloween manicure (late!)

Yep this is about a week late, but forgive me, I am quite lazy. And the week goes by so fast. Nope Im lazy.

A little Nightmare before Christmas anyone? Im a big fan of the movie, as well as my boss, so I had to do some Jack nails! And they were so easy! Black Zoya raven nail polish, white nail polish from an off brand (No name, sorry!) and Black detailing marker and striper from Sally Hansen. And of course my beloved Seche, which I bought a brand new bottle of because I accidentally threw my bottle away, how... No idea. But its gone. Oh well. Life goes on!

Me and the girls, trick or treating, I am of course SOFT KITTY! The girls: Gina is Snow White and Coley is Mulan. Not a lot of love for Mulan these days so I was pretty happy when I saw that she picked out Mulan, Go Coley!

Overall a very easy manicure, and Im sure if you go on pinterest you can find the exact manicure, as it really is not that original!

Mermaids tail dupe! From the past manicure files!

A few months ago I was in Urban Outfitters, perusing the new wares. I like Urban Outfitters. Now I'm not a cheer leader by any chance, But I do like a few things they sell. I bought two polishes from them, one called Sea Dust. and a tomato red color aptly titled "Cherry Tomato' GORGEOUS!

The original

The second I saw sea dust I knew it was a dupe for Mermaid's Tail! Now I don't own the actual polish because its a pretty color but I can't see myself spending 20$ on a glittery nail polish, but 2 for 8? I can do!

I call this my little mermaid inspired manicure because I had watched the little mermaid about 30 times that week, it was fitting, you think?

The red used for the hearts is "Cherry Tomato" so pretty!

The wear is about 4 days before its chipped off, which isn't that bad. Not amazing but good for someone like me who changes their polish often. Too often!

I can't find the polish on the web site so something is telling me this is a store only thing, or they don't sell it anymore. Shame.

Essie "For the twill of it" (MAGIC)

How I mean how could I pass this one up. It's magic in a bottle. AND REALLY HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH. So I'm totally using Essie's photo of it:

I mean what is that? That is magic. 

Here is my attempt at photographing it. Yup, as good as it gets.  With the lovely "The Lace is On".

greens...

purples....

silvery pinks?

It is opaque in about 2 coats, a little thick, but totally makes up for the awesomeness of the color. Dry time is about 10 minutes with seche vite, god bless seche vite. I also used a new base coat. The gel like strengthener from Sally Hansen.  I seriously need help in the strengthening department. I think if this one is a stinker, Ill give nail envy from OPI a try. But once again, MAGIC IN A BOTTLE.