GEM Crush - Big Money

       I was so not looking forward to removing my previous mani because of all the acrylic and I have only used it twice so I wasn't sure how to take it off.  I ended up having to use the foil method and it worked like a charm!
      I know that the Sally Hanson Gem crush line has been out since November of 2011, but it takes me a while to have enough money to hoard buy all the polishes that I NEED really really really want.  The Gem crush line came out with eight colors: Showgirl Chic (silver base), Cha-Ching! (red base), Big Money (IMO gold but have heard champagne/pewter base), Bling-Tastic (blue base), Be-Jeweled (purple base), Razzle Dazzler (pink base), Lady Luck (garnet), and Glitz Gal (charcoal base).  I picked up Big Money because it was the second one that I wanted.  The first one that I wanted was of course Razzle Dazzler because I ALWAYS want the pinks.  I can't even tell you how many pink polishes I own.  I decided to go out of my comfort zone and go for something I don't have...  gold.  I abhor the color gold but the purple colored flakes pulled me right in!  I have been sitting on this polish for about a month, so you can see that I wasn't all that excited to try it out.  I am so bummed that I waited so long because I love it!  It is so beautiful.  I love that it looks like I spent a lot of time on this mani but in just three coats, ba bammm!  Look at that shine.  I am in love.  I am SO glad I waited to take pictures while I was in the sun instead of posting the pictures from last night (the last two pictures) .  I really really want to try the other ones!!

This one is in out side in the amazing sun shine!

Inside with no flash

Inside with flash

Have you guys been able to try these?  Do you like them?  Do you hate them?  Do you have any laying around you just feel the need to give me?  ;-)

Day 3 black and white challenge: Color on Black

I am oh so very excited about this mani.  I feel like I am getting better and better every day. :)  Once again, I found my inspiration from Robin Moses.  I have a feeling she will be in A LOT of my blog posts.  I saw this mani the other day:

I followed her YouTube tutorial which was so sort and so simple.  And here is my end result.

I used two coats of Wet N' Wild Black Cream for the base, white acrylic paint for the stems and leafs, and all the pink and red for the petals were acrylic as well.  The silver in the middle of the flowers is Celeb City by Sally Hanson.  So, do you guys have any feedback for me?  I have had over 200 blog views but have only had two comments left for me.  :(  I really am looking for feedback and ideas.  To inspire and to be inspired.  Please don't hesitate to comment. :)

Daisy mani and first time with acrylic painting

Wow, seriously what a LONG week.  To bad I have to work tomorrow as well.  We have been so busy and I am so exhausted.  I don't want to do anything right now, but I really wanted to get this post up because I am in love with this mani.  I bought this Sally Hanson orange color a few months ago to do a giraffe mani and never got around to it.  I really thought that I wouldn't be using it for any thing else but I should know by now to never say never.

In this post last week I discussed my sickening love for Robin Moses and how you can find her beautiful tutorials and works of art.  I was watching her tutorial for a beautiful spring wedding mani and thought, I need to try this.  I have the perfect color for it.  I hadn't played around with acrylic paints yet for my mani's so I scrounged up my tip money from the day and went to JoAnns to buy a brush and some paints.  I spent eight dollars and got five brushes and 24 little things of acrylic to play with.  This will keep me busy for a long long long time and I couldn't be happier.

I first applied my O.P.I. Nail Envy as the base.  Then applied three coats of Sally Hanson's Xtreme Wear in Sun Kissed on all fingers except my ring fingers.  On my ring fingers I applied two coats of N.Y.C's  105A.  (A silver glitter).  Three coats is more than I like to apply when it comes to a polish but it was really streaky after two coats so I had to take one for the team.

After those layers dried I applied on layer of the glitter to the fingers with the orange and then went to town following the tutorial.  No point in me explaining step by step when Robin can do it way better in her video. :)  So here is the finished product!

Not to shabby for a first time attempt at this, right?  Have you guys experienced the love for Robin Moses yet?  If not, jump on it.  You will not be let down!

I also really enjoyed playing with acrylics for the first time.  I can't wait to keep trying them out.  What are your thoughts on acrylic?

Layers by Scentsy giveaway!

There is a really cool give away going on over at Cristies Reviews . It is a really awesome giveaway so go check it out. :)

Black and White challenge day 2

So, Robin Moses is my idol when it comes to nail design.  If you don't know who she is you need to go to the link, become amazed and stalk her.  She is on Pinterest, FaceBook, YouTube, and I am sure tons of other sites as well.  Guess I am not that good of a stalker... :)  So, she inspired me for my white on black mani with her French Kiss tutorial.  (This link just takes you to the picture.  If you want to see the youtube video you can just click here).  I used two coats of Wet N' Wild Black Creme, and my Kiss Nail Art Paint in white for the lips, and they are topped with a layer of Seche Vite.  I think I did pretty good for a newbie with the nail art brushes.  I think I am going to have to follow Robin's advice and make my own custom ones for better control though.  The long brushes are hard to work with most of the time.

So, this is my left hand, which is my bad hand and I think it turned out pretty dang well!

And my right hand.  I am screwed up on my pointer finger but it kinda makes it look like a funny smiley face.  he he .

So, what do you guys think?  Is any one doing this challenge along side me?