10 Day Challenge - Day 6 Celebrity Nails

It was difficult to choose a favorite celebrity manicure. Entertainers such as Katy Perry, Beyonce and Lady Gaga are known for wearing some pretty funky designs. But while browsing through one of my favorite magazines I came across a happy face manicure by Rihanna. I had just received my Red Angel image plates and remembered there was an emoticon image. I thought they would be perfect to use for this mani.

I started with a base of China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, a very bright and almost neon yellow creme. Then stamped the different faces with Red Angel image plate RA-117. Red Angel is a vendor on Amazon that sells a 21-piece set of image plates similar to Bundle Monsters. This is the first plate I used from the set and it stamped very well. If you'd like to see additional images the Canadian Nail Fanatic did a great review here.

And that completes day 6. I hope you like this funny face design! Tomorrow I'll post my favorite freehand.

Happy Polishing!

10 Day Challenge - Day 5 Blue Nails

Day 5 were fun to do! A little messy but still fun.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Himalaya Blue, then went crazy with dots. I used dotting tools but you can use almost any blunt round surface: bobby pins, a pencil eraser, an old ink pen or toothpicks (my personal favorite) and the list goes on. The colors are acrylic paints which are great because they can be washed off with water or alcohol without ruining your polish.

I think they turned out pretty good. I see more dotticures in my future :)

Thanks for reading. Happy polishing!

10 Day Challenge - Day 4 Animal Print

Okay okay. I had to go back and save this horrible mani. When things don't turn out the way you want them just paint over them. Oh don't you wish life was that simple, lol. Luckily that does apply with nail polish. To save this mani I added Sally Hansen Mint sorbet on top of Savvy Prince Ala Charm. Huge improvement!

I really should invest in a light box so I don't bring you guys any terrible photos again. Please let me know if you know of a good tutorial!

Here's the original mani in case you missed it. Fail!

If I was reading ahead I would have noticed blue was for day 5 anyways, lol. Reading is fundamental! Have a great day everyone :)

10 Day Challenge - Day 3 Inspired by a Book

Oh boy, this challenge doesn't waste any time. Day 3 is inspired by a book.

I wasn't so sure what to do about this one because the only books I've read lately are required readings and I was pretty sure you guys didn't want to see a science or biology manicure. So far this mani I kept it light and based it off of the Nieman Marcus Christmas Book. I saw the cover and fell in love with the melody of butterflies. Here's what I came up with.

And here's the book cover. I thought it was very glam.

To create the mani I started with a white base and stamped with Konad pink (barely visible). Then stamped the ring finger with Bundle Monster image plate 205 and applied random Konad butterflies on the other nails using plate M36. I used acrylic paints to add color.

I hope you like what I came up with. Thanks for stopping by!

10 Day Challenge - Day 2 Rainbow Nails

When I think of rainbows I think of Care Bears. So for this challenge I created Care Bear nails :)

I started with a base of Finger Paints Blissfully Blue, then painted on the design using the Born Pretty Acrylic Paint Set. Please excuse my skin. The dust wasn't visible to the naked eye but of course the camera picked it up. Since my hands were dry I did a glycolic scrub. I didn't notice a difference but I guess it actually works!

I got the idea of hearts from Rebecca. Check out her blog here.

That's it for today. Tomorrow's design is inspired by a book. Thanks for stopping by!

~Sent for review~

Essie Luxeffects Swatches and Dupes

Tonight I have a few swatches of Luxeffects. I ordered them online before I realized I have a lot of dupes. The duplicates are swatched on my ring finger.

A Cut Above - large and small pink hex glitter in a clear base. Some enchanted evening is on the ring finger.

Pearl Perfection - white shimmer topcoat. I have China Glaze White Cap on the ring finger which is more golden.

Set In Stones - small and large silver hex glitter in clear base. I have Today Was a Fairytale on the ring finger. It's less dense and has a smoother application (must be the diamond dust ;)

Shine of The Times - clear flakie with golden highlights. I have Hidden Treasures on the ring finger. Its also less dense.

As Gold As It Gets - golden shimmer topcoat.

And a few bottle pics of duplicates.


Hidden Treasures and Shine of The Times

Some Enchanted Evening, A Cut Above and Sparkled (not a dupe, color reference)

Today Was a Fairytale, Set in Stones and Sparkling Diamonds

I was so excited to see Essie expand their horizons and include more glitters in their line but I was disappointed with the number of duplicates in this collection. It's great if you've been looking for a less expensive option to the Lippman polishes or a back up to Hidden Treasures, but not so great if you own the dupes.

10 Day Challenge - Day 1 Pink Nails

Woohoo one more day until Friday! I hope you're having a great week so far. I'm on vacation so everyday this week has been great :)

Today I'm sharing my first manicure as part of a 10 Day Challenge. I'm sure you've seen a lot of challenges floating around the blogoshpere lately. I wanted to participate in the 31 day challenge but with Christmas quickly approaching I'm afraid I won't finish before the year is out. Well the other day I came across a challenge created by Marketta at PinkPolishAddict Blog. Her 10 Day Challenge has some of the same elements of the 31 Day Challenge but it's shorter so I can commit to it knowing I'll finish.

For day 1 I used Zoya Lindsay a pink jelly shimmer. It's very sheer so it's great for layering or a syrup manicure. I used 2 layers of Lindsay and sponged the edges with Milani Hot Metal. Then I topped it off with another layer of Lindsay. For a more sheer look you can use 1 layer instead of 2. To complete the look I stamped with Konad M51 using Konad Violet Purple.

It's much prettier in person. My camera has a difficult time capturing pinks, reds and purples.

And that concludes my first day. The only ladies doing the challenge so far are Jess and Kelly but they are almost complete so you can feel free to join me on this mini challenge :)