How Not to Watermarble

Here is our hilarious water marble fail video lol = How Not to Watermarble. This is a ridiculous impromptu video I did with my IRL blogger friend Brittany from No Naked Nails Allowed as we were trying to learn how to watermarble. This is just for hilarity's sake, so watch and laugh!

Tell me what you think.

*Warning - it's explicit with cussing and what not*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzAjAutuaRU

Rainbow Skittle and Memories

 I've been depressed for a week or so...my best friend's death (over a year ago), my Nanna's death (3 years ago), and I've been wearing the necklace my Aunt gave to me for my wedding that belonged to my Nanna. I actually made a proper English meal (bangers the way she always used to make them, oven chips, and baked beans) for tonight. All the while I had no idea that today was actually the anniversary of her death until my mother reminded me. Just wow. 

So something we always used to do together is paint our nails/toes in pretty much every color. I remember as a tiny child we'd paint our toes together. I could never decide on a color, so she said just use whatever you want. We would be so random and they'd all end up completely different colors. My personality really makes sense now lol. So in honor of her today, I did a rainbow manicure and topped it with China Glaze Snow Globe. I swear we started this trend :P.

 I love you Nanna. 

 This is the picture I had at my wedding (6-23-2012) memorial for her, and now I keep it and the others (my best friend and my husband's grandmother) on display in my house.

 

 Here is a picture of me, my mum, and my Nanna back in the day :). I must have been 12? We all look so happy! 

This is my all time favorite picture of us, sharing a Tango at our favorite local pub down at the beach. Timeless. I love her permed overly red hair lol. She even wore short jean shorts at that age. She was sassy ;). You can even see a little bit of her "S" necklace in this picture, which I just now noticed.

 My rainbow nails with her "S" necklace. Her name was Sylvia...what a beautiful name. My granddad gave that to her around the time I was born and she wore it every moment of her life.

 

 I had it pinned to my bouquet on my wedding bouquet. I had expected just to borrow it from my Aunt, but was overwhelmed with love when she gave it to me. I wear it often now, and of course today. It feels so good to have something that is such a token of her.

I used China Glaze Hey Sailor, Orly Orange Punch, Hey Sailor and China Glaze Sunshine Pop mixed for the yellow orange, China Glaze Sunshine Pop, and Sunshine Pop and China Glaze Gaga for Green mixed to make the yellow green.

This is China Glaze Gaga for Green, the blue green is Gaga mixed with Breezi, Zoya Breezi, the indigo is Breezi mixed with Gothic Lolita, and China Glaze Gothic Lolita.

 I had my picture of Nanna with me as I painted and mixed :).

 I asked some friends if they wanted to do a rainbow mani/pedi in honor of my Nanna.

 My lovely friend Jenny submitted this picture for us :). She used Zoya Sooki, Zoya Robin, Ulta Sun of a Gun, Zoya Mira, Zoya Charisma. Thank you SO much Jenny. This means a lot. 

Nicole from Young Wild and Polished submitted a mani for my Nanna and me too :). 

 Thank you so much Nicole!!!

Made By Me also made a dedicated post for my Nanna and all the Nannas out there :). 

 I'm so flattered she liked my design too :).

If anyone else would like to do a rainbow skittle mani/pedi (it doesn't even have to be rainbow, just lots of different colors), I'd love to add it to this post at any time :). Thank you!

Secret Summer Santa Swap!

 A group of friends on Twitter arranged a secret santa swap in the middle of Summer. It was a lot of fun! Here is what I got in my surprise package from the lovely Maria at Nails Made Simple. 

 Here is the total haul!

 Some lovely real flowers for nail art

OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI, Color Club Fame and Fortune, Color Club Wild and Willing, Color Club Wish Upon a Rockstar.

 Claire's unnamed silver glitter, Loreal Amazon's Flash, NYX Gilded Glitter, Jade Hollywood Nights, NYX Prismatic Gold

 2 coats Color Club Fame and Fortune, 1 coat Color Club Wish Upon a Rockstar, 1 coat Color Club Wild and Willing, 1 coat Color Club Wild and Willing over a chocolate brown

2 coats OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI, 1 coat Claire's giltter, 1 coat Jade Hollywood Nights

2 coats Loreal Amazon's Flash, 1 coat NYX Prismatic Gold, 1 coat NYX Gilded Glitter

This was a lot of fun! My favorites are Gilded Glitter, Wild and Willing, Fame and Fortune, and Wish Upon a Rockstar. Thanks again Maria!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 And just for fun, this is what I sent to my lovely swap partner Jamie!

 So much stuff! some cheapies and samples, 2 mini lipglosses, MS glitter, 2 liquid liners, 2 mascaras, Nfu Oh 63, and Orly Glowstick.

 All packaged up and cute. This was the really fun part :). My husband even helped me wrap some!

I also made her this card. She said she liked pink lip gloss, rainbow colors, and her favorite color was glitter, so I made her this card with nail polish as the paint. Those are some super glitter bomb nails lol!

If you want to see more of the hauls from this swap session check out our hash tag thing on Twitter.

Camo Nail Art Tutorial

 So I did my very first video tutorial! I got a request for this from some of my lovely military SO friends, so I wanted to try out the video approach. It took a while to figure out, but it was fun!
So here is my video tutorial on how to do military camo nail art!

Here are the pictures I used for inspiration.
(Navy: http://tinyurl.com/9lfdwlqArmy: http://tinyurl.com/6v8l5ky)

Since I forgot to add nice close up pics at the end of the video, here is the final result.

Army Camo

Navy Camo

 UPDATE!

Then I just had to see what they looked like mattified...

 Army Camo with Matte Magic

 Navy Camo with Matte Magic

I love them mattified too! Which do you prefer? Please let me know if you try this out!

For polishes used, and the how-to, please view my video and let me know what you think :D.

Barielle Sky's the Limit

My husband gave me another pedi :D! You ladies really need to ask your man to paint your toes. It's so much more fun than doing it yourself lol.

 He chose Barielle Sky's the Limit. It is a lovely medium blue with an almost foil like finish that is packed with silvery blue shimmer. I can really see why they call it Sky's the Limit!

Here is an up close view. When he paints he never does it the proper way so you can see his brush strokes. He goes in every direction and brushes like 15 times lol.

 Sparkly bottle shot, and it really does transfer to the nails!

I loved it so much I had to wear it on my nails sometime too! (I can't stand for my fingernails and toenails to exactly match, so it was later lol.)

 It is SO shimmery and deep! It makes me think of the blue version of Barielle Lily of the Valley.

 
 Even in dimmer light it just looks gorgeous! The application was great and it was a perfect two coater.

You can buy Barielle polishes for $8 on their site. You get %15 off for registering with your email, and they're pretty much always buy one get one 50% off! Ulta also sells them and you can use their coupons if you'd prefer to buy them in person. Don't forget to check out Barielle's Facebook page too!

This product was provided to me for my unbiased review.

Megan Miller Coral Bliss

 Mmmm I am so in love with corals lately! It was even one of my wedding colors and I wore it on my nails! This is Megan Miller Coral Bliss!

 Coral Bliss is a gorgeous, very bright, Summer perfect, coral that leans more toward red than orange. It is definitely still overall pink though.

This is two coats and just like Roja, has about 98% opacity with two coats.  The formula was great and there wasn't any balding or difficulty in application like jellies sometimes have.

 Because I think it's really unique and important, I'll just quote what I said in my last post about the company in case you didn't read it: "OMG the bottles! I love how much effort they put into the design of their product. The bottles are custom and one of a kind, 3-free, I have personally never seen another company use cork for their bottle tops (which is not only more eco-friendly than plastic but easier to grip and so refined), and each bottle is hand tied with the raffia, making them truly one of a kind. The cork is not only more eco-friendly because it uses a renewable resource (as when you look inside that is much less plastic used than the usual bottle top), it's easier to grip and gives it such a unique look. 

 And what a gorgeous logo. It isn't just for looks ladies. "Inspired by the display the peacock portrays when its feathers are in full bloom, the Megan Miller collection aims to inspire you to show your grandest side with confidence and ease. Like the peacock, we look to blend a natural elegance in order to make you look good, feel complete and Be Colorful." I am so inspired by this!"

And another beautiful surprise...

Coral Bliss is a jelly so you can wear it alone with 2-3 coats, add a coat on top of another color to make it more coral, or make a jelly sani like this! This is two coats of Coral Bliss, one coat of China Glaze Techno, and one more coat of Coral Bliss. Yum!!

 

You can buy Megan Miller polish on their website $12 for a regular .5oz bottle. I've also seen deals on duos where you can get them a little cheaper! During the month of August they even have a promotion going on - like them on Facebook to get 25% off orders of $20 or more. And don't forget to follow their Twitter!

If you love buildable jellies and coral, you need Megan Miller Coral Bliss! Have you tried her polishes? I still can't get over the bottle and all the details!

This item was provided to me for my unbiased review.

ManGlazed Myself for the First Time

After winning like a million ManGlazes I finally used them and....aahhh. They're really awesome!

I used two coats of ILF and Fuck Off and Dye.

It dried in half the time of regular polish and of course looks cool! The matte finish is perfect. It did chip a little earlier than some polish, but not nearly as bad as I had expected with a matte. It still lasted a few days.

ILF is a light teal with silver shimmer.


Here is ILF while it's still shiny so you can tell what it would look like with a topcoat.

Fuck Off and Dye is a bright flowery almost hot pink with silver shimmer. I did expect it to be a little more coral based on the bottle. It looks more like what I expect Lesbihonest to look like. Perhaps I'll compare them!

 Here is Fuck Off and Dye while it's still shiny so you can tell what it would look like with a topcoat.

Join their Facebook page and Twitter, because they rock!

Megan Miller Roja

 I have been eyeing Megan Miller polishes for ages now. Adorable bottle, that cork top, the raffia accent, the font, the peacock feather logo....we all know that cuteness totally matters!

 This is two coats of Megan Miller Roja. She is a lovely mili-shade darker than true red jelly. Nice and buildable!

 And OMG the bottles! I love how much effort they put into the design of their product. The bottles are custom and one of a kind, 3-free, I have personally never seen another company use cork for their bottle tops (which is not only more eco-friendly than plastic but easier to grip and so refined), and each bottle is hand tied with the raffia, making them truly one of a kind. The cork is not only more eco-friendly because it uses a renewable resource (as when you look inside that is much less plastic used than the usual bottle top), it's easier to grip and gives it such a unique look.

 And what a gorgeous logo. It isn't just for looks ladies. "Inspired by the display the peacock portrays when its feathers are in full bloom, the Megan Miller collection aims to inspire you to show your grandest side with confidence and ease. Like the peacock, we look to blend a natural elegance in order to make you look good, feel complete and Be Colorful." I am so inspired by this!

You want to know what's really exciting? Roja is a jelly, not a creme!

Hello jelly sanis! This is two coats of Roja, one coat of Shimmer Polish Trisha, and one more coat of Roja. The brush is great, the formula is great. No patchiness, balding, nothing. It is like 98% opaque in two coats so perfect for jelly lovers and people who hate visible nail line because it's so buildable.

This is what makes Roja truly unique. More and more companies are coming out with jellies now as the consumers are loving that shiny jelly finish and the unlimited possibilities jellies allow for. I have seen teal, pink, purple, red violet, hot pink, but never ever a true red. Awesome and fun!

You can buy Megan Miller polish on their website $12 for a regular .5oz bottle. I've also seen deals on duos where you can get them a little cheaper! During the month of August they even have a promotion going on - like them on Facebook to get 25% off orders of $20 or more. And don't forget to follow their Twitter!

If you are addicted to jellies, you need Megan Miller Roja! Have you tried her polishes? I still can't get over the bottle and all the details!

This item was provided to me for my unbiased review.

Shimmer Polish Trisha

Omg I'm in love with a new indie brand! Have you heard of Shimmer Polish? I stumbled upon her brand one day and had to have some! I love how she puts little hearts on the label that  match the polish color. She even makes custom polishes! This is Shimmer Trisha!

 This is 3 coats of Trisha on her own and it's fully opaque. Super glitter bomb!

Trisha has a clear base packed with bright rusty orange micro glitter. There are large hexes in bronze, gold, and blue; small hexes in mageneta, and blue; small bright rusty orange square glitter; and micro glitter in blue, holographic gold, magenta, and light blue. Wow, SO much glitter in this polish!

She even glitters like mad in the shade! 

Here is a close up of Trisha. I love the different sizes, shapes, and colors!

And for versatility, you can even layer one coat over another color to make some awesome combos! This is one coat of Shimmer Trisha over an unnamed mini red shimmery Funky Fingers and China Glaze Call of the Wild.

The formula was a great consistency and there was no glitter dobbing needed to get it right. This polish is unique and that's always important to those of us with huge stashes. It wasn't perfectly self-leveling, but I just added another drop in that one spot, quick dry top coat, and it was perfect. I would definitely purchase from her. I might even get a custom one!

You can buy Shimmer Polish in her lovely Etsy store for $12 each and see more info on her blog. She even makes custom polishes! How do you like them? Do you have any?

This item was provided to me for my unbiased review.