Swatch: Hybrid

Since I used it in my Funky Flowered French post I figured I'd do a swatch post of the color too. Of course if I had been thinking I would have posted the swatch then the design but eh whatever, we break the rules here! Hybrid is one of China Glaze's 6 Ecollection polishes from Spring, 2008 and to my surprise I realized I actually own all six: Unplugged, Shower Together, Solar Power, Tree Hugger, Recycle, and of course Hybrid. Swatches may be coming soon of the other polishes but for now it's just Hybrid.


This is a beige polish with a very faint pinkish tint and a bit of gold shimmer. I'll admit it's not a color I would normally be drawn to since I tend to favor the in-your-face attention-grabbing colors but I do think this a beautiful color in it's own muted, classy way. It was a welcomed addition to my collection a long time ago and I'm glad to have finally put it on my nails!

 

Black Flowered French

Happy Hump Day everyone! Today's manicure is a Nikki's Nail Files twist on a French manicure with design. I saw China Glaze Hybrid sitting in my arsenal of polishes and realized I hadn't used it yet--like seriously never before since I bought it. Here's my take on black, flowered French  manicure:

China Glaze Hybrid served as my base with Orly Liquid Vinyl added for a black tip. The flower design was made with Orly Liquid Vinyl and BundleMonster Plate 12. 

So what do you think? Do you prefer the original and classic French Manicure or do you favor a funky and creative French?

Patchwork Accent

I was thinking about the color collection from American Eagle and I decided to use a couple of them in the same design. After finding inspiration in the form of Chloe's (of Chloe's Nails) patchwork manicures I wanted to give it a shot. For these I used AE Saturday Night Special, Ready Aim Fire!, and Orly Liquid Vinyl. Sadly, I realized I didn't have any tape too late in this mani so I went ahead free handing the diagonals. I did one patchwork nail as an accent because seriously I love Saturday Night Special.

Toetally Tuesday #7 - Whi-whi-white out!

(instead of wipe out...which is defined on urban dictionary as: to trip and fall while running. Usually this is caused by tripping over one's own feet, or tripping over an object on the ground, such as a tree branch. See this blog is both fun AND educational!) Ok, ok, just kidding. It's just educational ;) Anyway, voila:

Happy Tuesday everyone! This is the *7th* Toetally Tuesday post and I won't lie I am a huge fan of white nails. So what if you can't wear white shirts and stuff right now? I'm a rule breaker, baby, so just hand over that white polish! ;) This is Orly White Out with Color Club Art Club stripers in black and red and Kiss Brush-On Nail Art paint in silver and silver glitter as the intersecting lines design. 

Swatch: AE Color Collection 1

Today's swatches are of an American Eagle Color Collection given to me for Christmas. I know what you're thinking: Who knew AE even sold nail polishes??

I'm not sure how many "color collections" American Eagle sells but I have *two* of them :D  Each collection contains four .17 oz polishes and, while the total collection doesn't have a name, each polish does. Shown above in the packaging are (from L to R) "It's a Disco Ball!", "Ready, Aim, Fire!", "Saturday Night Special", and "In Vino Veritas". They all dried really fast and had surprisingly great formulas. My favorite is definitely Saturday Night Special but enough gabbing...to the polish!

First up is It's a Disco Ball!, a thick silver/white glitter polish. Shockingly I don't have anything like it in my collection so I'm pleased to have this addition. This is 3 coats.

 

Next is Ready, Aim, Fire!, a very pigmented red creme polish. I did three coats but two coats would have been fine for this polish. My pictures turned out a lot more pink than how it really comes off but eh I guess that's what I get for using my Droid as a camera ;)

 

Third in the set is Saturday Night Special. I'm not really sure how to describe this polish. It looks so exciting in these pictures with the flash but it's really subtle in real life. I guess I'd say it's a black/gray/brown base with gold/brown micro glitter? Sure that sounds good :) 

And this last one with no flash:

Last up is In Vino Veritas, which has a jelly (I think) finish. It's a deep red polish that was seriously opaque in 1 coat. Who doesn't love that? But because I'm me and I always do 3 coats the pictures have 3.

Here they all are sharing my hand: In Vino Veritas, Ready, Aim, Fire!, Saturday Night Special, and It's a Disco Ball!

Pretty :)

A Little Pizzazz

Hey everyone! Here is a manicure from "the files" (meaning it's one I did a while ago and am just posting now). It's NYColor Mulberry Street base with an Ulta Professionals Cocktail Waitress arrow tip and a Color Club Art Club White line. I also added two little rhinestones for a little pizzazz :) It's almost identical to my "Bling It On" post but I tried it in red instead. Tomorrow I have some swatches for all of you! I hope you have an enjoyable weekend!

Blue Suede Shoes

Not to step on Elvis' blue suede shoes or anything....but all I've got is Orly's Blue Suede polish for now and I used it in today's post. This is a simple manicure but I really like it! Orly Blue Suede is the base with 1 coat of Brucci Jessica's Wedding Bells to make a horizontal stripe. Check it out :)

Only 3?!

Hey guys! This post is call for help--in choosing the best 3 polishes to order from Zoya during their AMAZING "sale" (I guess you could call it that). I have narrowed it down to like 10 or so polishes but seriously I cannot narrow them down any more. What do you guys all think? Which 3? I'm thinking I might just buy 5 since their deal is so awesome I think they should get some actual business too.

I think you can click to enlarge so you can see the colors better. We've got (top row L-R): Akyra, Dawn, Robyn, Tallulah and Ivanka and then (bottom row L-R): Yummy, Ki, Shawn, Kristi and Savita. All these pictures were thrown together from swatches I found in Google images.

Toetally Tuesday #6 - New Years Pedi

Hello :) Sorry it's been a couple days, I wish I could say I was busy but seriously--I was just being lazy. Anyway, I hope 2011 is off to a great start for all of you and yay! tonight is the fifth Toetally Tuesday post! :) As as I watch the movie Chicago, I'm posting the pedicure I had/still have on for New Years. I didn't get to do anything exciting this New Years Eve since I ended up working (bleh) but it ended up being worth it so that's always good. Also, I used a 2010 China Glaze Holiday collection polish I received for Christmas from a family member: Naughty and Nice (I like how we get to be both, by the way ;) ). Swatches will be up soon! Then to spice the pedi up a bit and make it flashy "New Years Eve" appropriate I added Orly Glitz and Glamour and Kleancolor Silver Pearl.

And a picture of the bottles (something I used to add in my posts but haven't in a while because I'm l-a-z-y):

Oh! And last but not least, make sure you go to zoya.com and use the code found on their facebook page! They got their 200,000 fans and are now giving away 3 full size bottles of ANY Zoya polish for only the cost of shipping! It ends Friday so get in on it! I think I'm going to order Charla, Shawn, and Paris (yes simply because of the name on that last one).

11 Things for 2011

Happy New Year everyone! I hope your 2010 was a great year and you're looking forward to 2011!


For the last couple of days I've been thinking about resolutions. Most people use a new year as a time to mark new beginnings (like the couple I waited on at the diner who had just gotten engaged--props for deciding to come to diner after that) or to create resolutions (like the Brunette Suburbanite did here) but I couldn't decide whether I wanted to create resolutions that I probably won't keep or to just not make any resolutions and let 2011 "bring it." Eh, I finally made up my mind to create not resolutions (since that word seems to be cursed with imminent failure) but "to-do"s. So here are my 11 things to do in 2011 in no particular order of course:

1. Save money. No idea what for though, I'm thinking my 21st birthday, a trip to Paris, a new TV, nail polishes.
2. Continue to do well in my undergrad courses and be a strong law school applicant this fall (ohh that sounds really soon *grabs LSAT practice book and starts studying*). 
3. Get better at Black Ops. Ok don't laugh just yet-- I have a thirteen year old brother who plays nothing but that game and I never play it so then when I decide to go against him..he always kicks my butt! Just once I'd like to beat him!
4. Plan/Have an amazing 21st birthday in an amazing location with my sister/family (She LOVES planning vacations and stuff and we're thinking Vegas/Miami/New Orleans/a cruise). AHHH SO EXCITING!
5. Use EACH of my polishes for the base of a design.
6. Swatch EACH of my polishes.
7. Eat healthier and exercise more. Ok so I really enjoy being fit (I was a gymnast for thirteen years) and I really enjoy working out...I just don't anymore. And as far as eating goes...I eat like most people my age do--horribly. I hope to make yoga, working out, and eating healthier legit habits in 2011.
8. Dress better. Ok, not that I dress horribly but seriously I love the way my sister dresses. Of course, I've walked the "copycat younger sister" path basically all my adolescent life so I'd like to NOT do that now. She does dress really cute though.
9. Keep my room organized for longer than 6 days. I feel like I have to organize it at least once a week to prevent all out havoc.
10. Watch all my movies at least once since, like my nail polish collection, my movie collection is a tad...enormous.

And last but not least, my 11th To-Do: Finish everything I start, whatever it might be. Right now I'm looking at a cross-stitch project I started last Christmas that I've been working on the last week. That will be the first unfinished business to be completed!


Hope you all had fun bringing in the new year What are some of your resolutions/to-dos/ideas for 2011?