Hot Topic Fauxnad & Konad Plate M2

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm on a neon with Konad kick lately, and have yesterday's and today's Nails of the Day to show you.

Yesterday, I did a skittles manicure (another kick altogether) using Color Club Poptastic and topped it off with the stars pattern from one of the Hot Topic fauxnad plates.  I wish Hot Topic still made these!  The base coloes are, from thumb to pinky (or top to bottom), Pucci-liscious, Jackie Oh!, Mrs. Robinson, Chelsea Girl, and Twiggie, and I did the stamping using Konad White Special Polish.

Hot Topic Fauxnad in Konad White over Color Club Poptastic

For today, I used Essie Punchy Pink and, again using Konad White, stamped it with Konad plate M2, using two patterns.  For the picture, I had to use my back-up bottle of Punchy Pink - there's about 1/4 left in my original.  I might get another while I still can - this is my favorite pink neon, and it also makes me laugh every time I wear it when I think of the friend of mine calling it "whorish and unwearable" the first time I wore it.  I also giggle a little at the memory of wearing it to a court thing in Chicago (divorce stuff), and a guy in a sports car being a complete jerk on the drive from where I live now while I was in no mood for it.  The look on his face when I showed him a nicely manicured Punchy Pink middle finger out the window as he finally passed me was priceless.  

Konad Plate M2 in Konad White over Essie Punchy Pink

I might have to change this one - the down side to doing your nails while coffee brews is making poor choices.  I have a date with an old flame tonight, and showing up with hearts and "love" all over my nails might rightfully freak him out.

So the main points for today are that (i) Hot Topic shouldn't have discontinued their nail stamping kit, and (ii) Essie Punchy Pink is good for highway driving for the flip-off factor.

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Dino-MITE!!

Heidy-ho, neighbors! :) Today was a great day!! I participated in Corporate Challenge earlier (a Las Vegas competition between a bunch of corporations where we compete in sports, card games, etc), today's event was Kart Racing. Too bad Mike S. came in 7th, or we might have placed. :-P (Yes, Mike, that was another jab, lol) ANYWAY. lol Another fun thing I got to do today is go to the International Beauty Show! I'd never been to it before, so it was like being a kid in a candy shop... a tad overwhelming, but awesome. It was cool to see people like Nick Arrojo cutting hair a few feet away (and yes, I put in my phone number to be a hair model!! lol). I also loved going around to see all the nail booths, Nubar, CND, China Glaze, Minx, CalGel, etc. There are so many fun techniques- and I swear when I get my project done, I REALLY wanna try CalGel, it looks super rad... and I'm thinking that Shellac is going to be a must-have for this summer on my toes!!! Anyway- I'm hoping to have time to go back tomorrow, and I'll definitely be writing more about what I found, bought, saw, etc. in the next few days! :)

On to the nails... a girl named Danielle in my culinary class suggested that I do Dinosaurs.. I totally thought it was a kick ass idea, so I did it!! It's a T-Rex on my thumb, and dino footprints across the other nails! :)



I used MAC Abalone Shell as a base for the footprint nails, with Essie Mink Muffs and Zoya Dea sponged lightly on top, as well as for the footprints. For the T-Rex nail, I used Orly Snowcone for the background, L.A.Girl Army Green for the T-Rex, Nubar Forest for the shading and part of the lines, American Apparel Hassid for the eye, and the outlines, and Green Scene for the leaves at the bottom. I used Essie Matte About You on the footprint nails, and 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat on the dino nail.

RAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!

Sephora by OPI Havana Nights Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Yesterday I got Sephora by OPI's Havana Nights Collection, and I have swatches for you today.  I took the pictures yesterday in moderate natural light.  I can't really say much in general about the collection - it's really all over the place with respect to application, number of coats, color, finish... I'll just tell you about each with the picture.

Havana Dreams is a very pale pastel blue, and took three medium coats to be opaque.  It was tricky to keep this one from being streaky.

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams Nail Polish from the Havana Nights Collection

Read My Palm was one a was looking forward to, a light green creme.  It's a bit darker than Chanel Jade (I just compared bottles), and not minty.  It was good in two coats and easy to apply.

Sephora by OPI Read My Palm Nail Polish from the Havana Nights Collection

Caribbean Cocktail is a great medium blue shimmer with the little microglitter bits that are in a lot of Sephora by OPI polishes, and they're silver.  This one took three coats to be reasonably opaque, and applied relatively well.

Sephora by OPI Caribbean Cocktail Nail Polish from the Havana Nights Collection

Caliente Coral is a creme so caliente I'd call it orange, not coral.  It took three coats and applied well.

Sephora by OPI Caliente Coral Nail Polish from the Havana Nights Collection

Teal We Meet Again is another I was excited about, a teal shimmer, but it's bluer than I'd hoped for.  On the up side, it was good in two coats and applied very well.

Sephora by OPI Teal We Meet Again Nail Polish from the Havana Nights Collection

Finally, the surprise of the bunch, Rumba Romance.  It's really bold brassy gold microglitter in a clear base, and three thin coats made for metallic nails.  This one is a full manicure with top coat.

Sephora by OPI Rumba Romance Nail Polish from the Havana Nights Collection

That's the Havana Nights Collection from Sephora by OPI, and all but Teal We Meet Again and Rumba Romance are limited edition.  

My favorites based upon application and color are Rumba Romance and Read My Palm, although I definitely see wearing the other four.  Caliente Coral is a great bright for summer, and Havana Dreams is a delicate enough shade of blue to warrant being a little high maintenance.  Teal We Meet Again and Caribbean Cocktail strike me as more Fall/Winter colors, but they'll keep until then - I do like both.

That's the update this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!