Come on, Spring!!!

Worst. Winter. Ever. I swear,  this is the longest and coldest winter we've had in a long time. I'm over it. I live in Iowa, so seriously,  40 degrees is like summer to us. You'll see people with their windows down, shorts, picnics,  everything.  Just give me a day above 20. It's been hell on my nails and skin. It's hopefully going to be warmer today,  but that's supposed to come with snow. Ugh...


So, in effort to not slip into a sad dark depression,  I tried putting some cheery springy colors on. It didn't really help, but the niece's loved it.

My blue is Sally Hansen Baracuda, and I used several other colors for decor. I'm not sure what is going on with my lacey stamp... it looked fine in person,  but in pics it sure looks like its a little funky.

Still addicted to the cottage roses. What else can I put them on?

One more day until the weekend! !! Happy Friday Eve!
April

Lavender Gradient with Sephora X

Hey guys... so is it frigging cold out, or what?  Schools are canceled,  church services were canceled on Sunday... it's so darn cold. I'm hoping for a little spring weather,  so I broke out the cheerful spring colors to maybe get in a warmer mood.

I forget sometimes about doing thise old school techniques like gradient.  I start out with a white base, in this case I used Essie Blanc,  and then sponged on three different shades of purple.

The main reason for this is to share this amazing shade from the Sephora X line, Freaky Like Freud. Its an insanely holographic lavender top coat,  and it just explodes with rainbows when the sunlight catches it. I finished off with a leafy stamp from the Pueen Love set.

This definitely brightens my spirits a little,  but to have a day over 20 degrees would be nice too.

Stay warm, my chickadees... I'll be the girl in the knee length wool voat, scarf and hat. You may be able to recognize the tip of my nose peeking out.    =)

April

Christmas Polka!

Sooo excited my chickadees! !! Today is the last day of work for me until after Christmas.  I need to do some major baking and shopping,  so looking forward to that!

I've got a little something different today.  Definitely more my style.

I've decided to call this midnight snow globe. Base is one coat of Essie Licorice, and then a slew of white dots. Go back over the dots with red and lime green, voila! Accent nailamajig is L'Oreal Sparkalicious. This is great beginner nail art.

Ah, glitter nail, how I have missed you.


I'm sure that I will have a few more Christmas manis before the holiday,  so stay tuned.

5 pm countdown is on!!!!
April

Zoya Winter Zenith Collection

I had a coupon for Ulta and I knew I needed to use it for nail polish since you could use it on the good stuff.  I had eyeballed some of the different winter collections that I saw and picked up a few that I liked.  (side-note,  it was extremely shocking that my Ulta had these,  since it took them months to get the fall collection in.)

I only chose two of the batch because I'm not too keen on the textured polishes anymore,  and the others looked like ones I already have.

First up is Belinda,  a GORGEOUS royal purple with a magenta flash.  This is so incredibly pretty.  I have a weakness for purple polish as it is,  and this one does not disappoint. The formula is almost  a one-coater,  but I did two to make it completely opaque. It just looks so regal and rich.

Lighting : shade

The other one I purchased was Mosheen,  a holographic bar / feather glitter with holo specks too.  This was a surprise for me,  since I've tried the feathered polishes and they were just  Ok... I think I don't care for how the little flakes peak out along the tip of the nail. This one does the same,  but I forgive it because it's so unbelievably stunning.

We're lucking out today with some lovely sunshine,  and it picked up every little holo speck flash...  Just beautiful. Please forgive all of the pictures,  but I was capturing so many pretty ones!

Lighting : shade

I also really wanted Dream,  which is a deep blue with a scattered holo,  and Payton is a nice burgundy with light holo sparkle... But I figured I wouldn't wear them as much as these two.


I picked up one of Essie's new Luxe Effects polishes as well,  so I will swatch that one out to show you. It's shockingly beautiful also.

Too early for holiday collections? I'm torn.  Now that I am out of the retail sales world,  I enjoy the holidays. Although my birthday is around Christmas time and I'm always a little bitter about that... Too many cheap relatives!

Have you gotten any of this collection?
April