Sally Hanson Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet Swatches and Stamping

     I picked up Mint Sorbet the other day and I must say, I love this color.  It is just so yummy looking.  Not to mention I got a lot of compliments on this mani.  I picked up some new Essence plates as well and was so excited to try them out.  Back when I first discovered the nail polish blogging community I used to read people posts and they would say they couldn't remember how many coats they did and I thought it was funny that they couldn't remember.  Ha.  Guess what, I can't remember if  I did two or three coats of this.  :-(  I am going to start writing these things down so that  I don't ever have to write this again.

Finished product inside with no flash

Outside with no flash

Inside with flash

Inside without flash

 Outside without flash

My new plates.  The stamp that I used was on the right plate on the bottom in the center.

Base coat: Chip Skip by OPI and Smooth Beginnings from Avon

Base color: Mint Sorbet from Sally Hanson - 2 coats...I think

Stamping color: Why Not from Sinful Colors.  It did not stain when I used it as a stamping color like it did when I used it for my entire nail.

Top Coat: Out the Door

I am really liking stamping.  What about you guys?

N.Y.C. Charming Rose Creme Swatches and Tape Mani

     There are several things I love about this mani.  The glitter combination that I am showing in this post has been my favorite combination for years.  I have a back up bottle of Sparked and have gone through one bottle of the Charming Rose Cream and Sparked before.  These are the only bottle of polishes I have ever completely gone through.  Separately these colors don't do much for me but together these are great.  I even wore this color on my wedding day as the tips on a french tip manicure.
     The Charming Rose Cream is kinda streaky with just two coats.  I have never tried it with three because I always layer the glitter over it and don't want it to be to think.  Sparkled has AMAZING coverage.  This is only one coat of it and look at it!
     One of the nail pages I follow on facebook was hosting a glitter mani contest and I knew I had to use this combo but do something more to it.  If you need tips on how to do a tape mani you can look at this post.  I got a lot of compliments on this mani so I really hope that you like it.  :-)

 Before I added the Black Cream

 Inside without flash

 Outside with no flash

 Inside without flash

 Inside with flash

Base coat: OPI Chip Skip and Smooth Beginnings from Avon

Base color: Charming Rose Creme from N.Y.C. - 2 coats

Glitter: Sparked from Wet N Wild - 1 coat

Black: Black Cream from Wet N Wild - 1 coat

Top coat: Rapidry from OPI

Let me just say that I am obsessed with Chip Skip.  You apply it to your nail before you apply your base coat and it works great.  I work in food service and I have to wash my hands a hundred times a day.  Maybe not that much but it is a lot.  With my hands in and out of soap and water the polish retains water and peels like a sunburned person.  My manis are usually off my fingers by the time I get off but this barely chipped.  Only one of my nails had chips in it!

Lady Luck swatch and first successful tape mani

     As you may have seen in one of my posts a while back I failed miserably at my first tape mani.  I did try a second time and pretty much the same thing happened.  I decided not to do tape manis anymore until I saw a few blogs talking about how to successfully accomplish a tape mani.  Let me tell you, I can't believe the difference it made.  But I can show you, he he. :-)
     The first two times I did a tape mani all I knew was to make sure the base coat was dry and apply tape.  Well, there are a few more steps to this process.

• MAKE SURE your base coat is COMPLETELY dry.  If you can't wait for the polish to dry use a quick drying top coat like Sesche Vite, OPI Rapidry, or Out the Door.  
• Stick the tape to the back of your hand a few times to make the tape less sticky.  If you don't do this the base color will be pulled up when you take the tape off and you will be very upset.
• Work with one nail at a time.  Apply tape to nail in the desired pattern, apply color, and immediately remove the tape.  If you wait for the polish to dry the tape will get stuck to the nail and again you will be very upset.  

     In my first attempts I applied the tape full sticky strength to all my nails, then applied the polish, then waited for the polish to dry, then attempted to remove the tape.  Click the link in the first sentence if you want to see how your mani will turn out.

     After all that is said, I didn't really like the end result.  I think I would have enjoyed it more with out the dots in the middle.  I did however get a lot of complements on this so at least other people liked it.  :-)

 Lady Luck outside with no flash

 Lady Luck in side with no flash

Lady Luck inside with flash

Base coat: Chip Skip from OPI and Smooth Beginnings from Avon

Base color: Lady Luck from Wet N' Wild - 2 coats

Overlay color: Let's Talk from Sinful Colors - 1 coat

Black dots: Acrylic paint applied with a dotting tool

Top Coat: Rapidry from OPI

Have you tried any tape manis?  Have you wanted to scream at the top of your lungs?

I LOVE hearing from my readers, weather it be constructive criticism, complements, ideas, anything, please talk to me in the comments!  I will reply and I read each and every comment.

Sinful Colors Why Not review, swatches, and stamping

      I picked up a few new Sinful Colors the other day and was really excited to start using them.  I decided to use Why Not and really really really liked it until...I had to take it off.  Don't worry I took pictures of the staining that occurred.  I don't think that I will ever use this color unless it is on my toes and can come of all on its own but if I have to use remover with it NO WAY!  

 Inside with no flash

 Outside with no flash

 Check out this staining!!!  Ugh.  I felt like a smurf

 In order to remove this I just used water and baking soda.  The cuticles were still a little stained but I used a  Q-tip with acetone and it got rid of everything.

Have you guys experienced staining like this before?  It was really funny because my husband came in right after I took it off and he was really concerned at first.  I am just glad it came off!

Base coat: Chip Skip from OPI and Smooth Beginnings by Avon

Base color: Why Not - 2 coats from Sinful Colors

Stamping color: Innocent from Sinful Colors

Stamping plate from Essence.  The Essence plates are not numbered so I can't tell you what plate I used.  I really wish they would start numbering their plates.

Basketball Nails

     I did these nails on Friday because I was working the Harlem Globe Trotters game.  As stated in my previous blog post, I abhor sports, so I wasn't all that excited to go to this game.  But let me tell you!  It was SO much fun.  So entertaining!  I can't wait to take my kids there later in life.
     I am in love with this orange.  It looks much duller in these pictures than up close and personal.  I didn't want this mani to chip so I used OPI's Chip Skip and it was amazing.  I wore it through and entire day of work with no chips, and had a very hard time peeling the glitter off.  I only peeled it off because I wanted to see if it would come off easily since my polish usually peels off at work from washing my hands so much.

 With flash in doors

 Out door in natural light

 I know this is blurry but I wanted to show the amazingness that is this orange.  I love all the sparkles in it and all the pretty colors.

Base Coats: Chip Skip from OPI and Smooth Beginnings from Avon

Sparkly Orange: UFO - 3 coats from Sinful Colors

Orange Cream: Sunny Side Up - 3 Coats from Wet N Wild

Black stripes and brown dots: acrylic paint

Top Coat: RapiDry by OPI