Gray by Gray days

This is in honor of all the gray days we've been having here lately. However, things are supposed to be getting warmer and sunnier!
This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Gray by Gray, stamped with Orly Rage.

This turned out really pretty! Very proud of these nails! I happen to be holding the piece of silk that will one day be a top. I thought it went pretty well with this mani.
Until next time!
-Lynnette

Julep Rachel

So this is what I put on after my challenge mani came off. I used 2 (careful) coats of Julep Rachel as a base; a lovely copper color). I do want to mention that part of what made the week 6 challenge more challenging is I was not careful enough with Julep Elizabeth. When that was dry, I stamped a lacy design with Julep Elizabeth, then added a coat of Julep Oscar. I wanted the stamping to stand out better, so after Oscar dried I did another stamping round with Elizabeth. I did use two different plates/designs (which of course I don't remember!), but they meshed really well together.

Next to each other in the bottle (and in my mind's eye) I thought theses would be more eye catching. On the nail however, they turned out to be a little......blah? I don't know, what do you guys think? I will say that Oscar with a coat of topcoat is lovely and smooth; no grit, no texture other than smooth!

Well until next mani!

-Lynnette

Revlon Whimsical and Fingerpaints Brushstroke Blush

Hello again! The plaid didn't last long lol. The poor polish didn't stand a chance with all the cleaning i did!
The manis i'm going to show you needs a little back story: I have horrible knees. We're talking 2 dislocations of my left knee cap, and tendinitis in both all about 2 years apart; all resulting in physical therapy. I'm pretty in-tune with what's going on with them. So when i recently started having knee pain in my right knee, i had an idea what might make it feel better. It felt like the muscles in there were too tight; bending was like stretching a tight rubber band even tighter. Enter my best friend Hannah. She's a massage/occupational therapist, and agreed to give me a rub down and i did her nail in return! I feel much better; not perfect, but much better.

This is 2 coats of Revlon Whimsical over a light blue franken i made (it's a whole bottle of a Sally's mini white and dark royal blue, plus a shimmery white mineral eye shadow). The franken made Whimsical more blue; i think next time i'll try it over white and see the difference. This time i used Sally Hansen Continuous Treatment Base&Top coat for my base and top coats. This picture was taken before i went to bed and got sheet marks (and i just noticed my bad clean up job! eek!).

For Hannah, I did 3 coats of Fingerpaints Brushstroke Blush; it was good formula wise, but a bit sheer (hence 3 coats). Then we stamped the butterfly from Mash-18 with Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Flirt. It stamped over the pink quite nicely. Next I placed one of the hearts from Nicole by OPI's Step 2 the Beat of my <3. On Hannah I used my INM Out the Door quick dry topcoat (since it was getting late, and she needed to dash out the door lol). It turned out very sweet and spring-like!

I think i might try my Whimsical mani matte in the near future. If i do, i'll post a pic!
See you later!
-Lynnette

Revlon Radiant

So the color black mani didn't last too long lol. I went over to my mom's house to show her my Mash stamping plates. Originally i was going to do her nails, but she didn't want them painted :(. So i just played with mine instead! This is one coat of Wet n' Wild Black Creme, stamped with Sinful Colors Why Not using Mash plates mash-18, 15, 17 (butterfly and 2 different flowers), then covered it with Revlon Radiant.

 I tried to do a very thin coat of Radiant so i had glitter, but not so much that it covered my designs. This picture shows both the glitter and the stamping pretty well.

This picture is a bit dark, but you can (faintly) see the butterfly on the right and flowers on the left (and the horrible clean up job! eek, sorry!).

On another note, i Picked up Revlon Whimsical on my last polish shopping trip. I found it again at K-Mart this time. My K-Mart had the whole new Revlon display, so i picked up Whimsical, Radiant, Timeless, and Scandalous. I might have to start doing haul posts lol!

As much as i LOVE my Orly Bonder, i think it's slowly destroying my nails. They are peeling/flaking more and more :(. So i am on the hunt (again!) for a base coat with some grip....any suggestions?
Until we meet again!
-Lynnette

Revlon Fashionista

So i first saw this polish a little before Christmas at a Walgreens in Revlon's display of new colors (they even had Whimsical, the dupe of Deborah Lippman Glitter in the Air). I passed on it because i didn't have the extra money then and i figured that i'd see it again. I just now saw this color again. I guess Revlon came out with a different display for Walgreens, because they didn't have a spot for Whimsical this time.

This is 2 coats of Fashionista, with base and top coats.


crappy picture :( the sun had gone to bed before i got a chance to get a good one. the best description for this color is dusty navy. in the bottle it looked like it was more blue-green, pretty much the incarnation of my favorite color! However, i do still love the dusty navy color it is on the nail.

Now i just have to figure out what to do for my french mani on Sunday!
Take care! -Lynnette

Edit: ok i think i got a better picture this morning

Then i added the Peacock on my thumb using mash-15 and Professional 10 Old Hollywood.

New blog!

Hello everyone!
I'm starting this blog mainly to participate in the 52 Week Nail Art Challenge lol, but also to write about sewing, knitting and a growing polish addiction. Is that a bad reason? Anyway, here's the challenge!
1. Jan. 1st - "Make it Sparkle" Mani.
- Pull out your Best looking glitter, flakie or holo and bring in the New Year with a "Bang".
2. Jan. 8th - French Tip Mani.
- Are you classic, funky, modern or trendy! Your french tip doesn't need to be just 1 white line!
3. Jan. 15th - Color Block Mani.
4. Jan. 22nd - Plaid Mani.
5. Jan. 29th - Newspaper Mani.
6. Feb. 5th - Half-moon Mani.
7. Feb. 12th - "Valentine's Day" Mani.
8. Feb. 19th - Corset Mani.
9. Feb. 26th - "Vintage" Mani.
10. Mar. 4th - Polka Dot Mani
11. Mar. 11th - "St. Patrick's Day" Mani.
12. Mar. 18th - Skittle Mani.
13. Mar. 25th - Ruffian Mani.
14. Apr. 1st - Striped Mani.
15. Apr. 8th - "Easter Day" Mani.
16. Apr. 15th - Dotticure Mani.
17. Apr. 22nd - "Earth Appreciation" Mani.
18. Apr. 29th - Cartoon Mani.
19. May. 6th - Floral Mani.
20. May. 13th - Bows Mani.
21. May. 20th - Fruit Mani.
22. May. 27th - Splatter Mani.
23. Jun. 3rd - Ombre Mani.
24. Jun. 10th - Flag Mani.
25. Jun. 17th - Pride/Rainbow Mani.
26. Jun. 24th - Neon Mani.
27. July. 1st - "4th of July" Mani.
28. July. 8th - Gradient Mani.
29. July. 15th - "Rockstar" Mani.
30. July. 22th - Water Marble Mani.
31. July. 29th - Crackle Mani.
32. Aug. 5th - Needle Marble Mani.
33. Aug. 12th - Galaxy Mani.
34. Aug. 19th - "Bling" Mani.
35. Aug. 26th - Cupcake Mani.
36. Sept. 2nd - Tape Mani.
37. Sept. 9th - "We Remember 9/11" Mani.
38. Sept. 16th - Metallic/Magnetic Mani.
39. Sept. 23rd - Dry Marble Mani.
40. Sept. 30th - Animal Print Mani.
41. Oct. 7th - Patchwork Mani.
42. Oct. 14th - "Pink 4 Breast Cancer Awareness" Mani.
43. Oct. 21st - Spider Web Mani.
44. Oct. 28th - Halloween Mani.
45. Nov. 4th - Tribal Mani.
46. Nov. 11th - "Mustach, 4 Movember; Prostate Cancer Awareness" Mani.
47. Nov. 18th - Thanksgiving Day Mani.
48. Nov. 25th - Feather Mani.
49. Dec. 2nd - Glitter Sandwich Mani.
50. Dec. 9th - Snowflake Mani.
51. Dec. 16th - Red Mani.
52. Dec. 23rd - Christmas Mani.
- 30/31 - you've learned enough; go all out and show 2O13, what its all about!

Now, the first mani you're supposed to do is a glitter. However i didn't know about this until the day after the challenge had started :( Oh well, we'll do better for week two!
On New Years Eve/Day, I wore Orly Le Chateau by itself. On Monday i added some stamping with Wet n' Wild Metallica, and glittered my thumb with China Glaze Snowglobe. I really like how Snowglobe looks over Le Chateau, but I'm iffy about how the stamping turned out. I'm still getting the hang of stamping, so it can only get better.

My thumb.

The rest of my fingers.

I don't remember which Mash plate(s) i used for the stamping, but i'll look it up and add it later.

Well that's it for my first post. Later!
-Lynnette

Edit: Ok the mash plates i used are mash-12 for my fingers and mash-16 for my thumb.