World Diabetes Day Mani

Today mani is for diabetes awareness because November is Diabetes Awareness Month and today, November 14th is World Diabetes Day.

 This hits home for me because my little brother has Type 1 diabetes. He was diagnosed around 15 years old and it has been a major struggle for him and our family. He had to learn a whole new life and i remember many late night scares with low blood sugars when he was still getting in the hang of thing. I really hope over the course of my lifetime that diabetes research gets enough awareness and funding that some advances can be made in preventing diabetes all together.

I chose the blue circles because that is the universal logo for diabetes. I chose the fishtail braid accent nail because my brother is an avid fisherman. I chose to add the sparkly glitter because when he was little he would look at something glittery and say its so spaaaarkly with these big blue eyes.


This mani is two coats China Glaze White on White, one coat Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamonds glitter, light blue is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away, dark blue is Revlon First Class. Top coat is Sally Hansen Insta-dri.

I hope y'all enjoy this mani and take a moment to check out the International Diabetes Federation's page for World Diabetes Day!
http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday






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purple polka dots

Hi y'all!
This week is purple polka dots :) This is a color i got from Ulta a while back but haven't worn yet. Its called Femme Fatale. Its a shimmery dark red based purple. I used two coats for full coverage. The tan dots are Wet 'N Wild Megalast Wet Cement and the silvery off white ones are Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff in Rhinestone Frost (vintage polish).

I noticed less smudging withy new Sally Hansen Insta-dri Topcoat, but i also noticed my nails chipping very quickly (like one day quick) so this time i used one coat of through Insta-dri Topcoat then one coat of the Sally Hansen Instadry Clearly Quick polish. I'll let y'all know if this combo works better.


Just for fun, here is a stash picture :) just polish, tools etc are in another bag. Last count i'm at 84. I also got a new polish this weekend from target, N.Y.C. Matte Me Crazy Topcoat. I haven't tried it on a full mani yet, just a nail wheel but i like it!

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 ***  Edited to add: the day i took this polish off i realized why i loved this color combination so much. Because i made a necklace back in march (before i even had the purple or tan polishes) that matches this mani perfectly and forgot to wear them together :( guess I'll just have to wear this again soon :) here's a link to the necklace on my jewelry page, fifth picture :)
 http://steelandsashes.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-new-designs.html

We're off to see the Wizard...

This week's mani is inspired by The Wizard of Oz, one of my favorite movies!

Pinky- Dorothy's Dress
2 coats CG White on White
Lines are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away frankened with CG White on White

Ring Finger- The iconic red shoes.
3 coats CG Ruby Pumps. Two coats was opaque, i just did three to block out the magenta jelly base this polish shows on my nails when held to the light.

Middle Finger- The Tin Man
2 coats Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. Heart is Pure Ice Creme Siren and buttons are Sally Hansen Fastdry Ebony Hates Chris.

Pointer Finger- The Wicked Witch's Stockings
2 coats Sally Hansen Fastdry Ebony Hates Chris. White is L.A. Colors Art Deco White.

Thumb- Yellow Brick Road
2 coats Ulta Sun-sational frankened with Ulta Sun of a Gun. Lines made with Ulta Sun-sational frankened with a no name brown from The Color Workshop.

All have one coat base, and 2 coats Sally Hansen Insta-dri Topcoat




I also got my free Zoya Storm in today along with an acrylic nail sample of their Designer and Diva Collection NYFW 2012.  I really like FeiFei, Daul, Toni, Natty, Moot, and Song.

Rekha, Toni, Monica, Natty, Evvie, Noot

 Elisa, Suri, Song, Ray, FeiFei, Daul

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Week 5 of October manis- monster mash

This weeks mani is to match my Halloween costume for trick or treating with my son :)


Here is a picture of his costume...

And here is a picture of my hat,  and im also wearing matching legwarmers and fingerless gloves with a black sweater and jeans...

I went through 3-4 design concepts before i decided on this one so i hope y'all like it!

2 coats Pure Ice Splash, 1 coat Sally Hansen Instadry Spring Green, stripes are L.A. Colors Art Deco White, stitches are Wet N Wild Fastdry Ebony Hates Chris. One coat Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat.


The Splash was a bit sheer but workable, the Spring Green was thick but most the Instadry polishes ive tried are. Very little smudging with this new top coat. I was using Sally Hansen Instadry Clearly Quick which i think was just a clear polish.


Not sure what is up for next week so it will have to be a surprise!



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Nail Wheels :)

1.  Wet n Wild- fastdry- ebony hates chris
2.  Sally Hansen- xtreme wear- black out 24
3.  Ulta- little black dress 3403
4.  China Glaze- stone cold 1125 (matte)
5.  China Glaze- lubu heels 601
6.  China Glaze- some like it haute 1052
7.  Max Factor- Diamond Hard- midnight silver
8.  Ulta - smoke screen 3423
9.  Ulta- chic peek 3409
10.  Wet n Wild- Megalast- wet cement
11.  The color workshop- chocolate brown
12.  Pure Ice- iced penny 827cp
13.  Finger paints- fall of surprises 806611
14.  Sally Hansen- teflon tuff- rhinestone frost 22
15.  Afterthoughts- attitudes- soiled silver 233
16.  Pure Ice- silver mercedes 988cp
17.  Maybeline Express Finish-Silver Aluminum
18.  Sally Hansen- crackle overcoat- fractured foil 03 (over black)

1.  Love My Nails- Milky way 1584 (over black)
2.  Sally Hansen- diamond strength- diamonds 120 (over black)
3.  Sally Hansen- teflon tuff- rhinestone frost 22
4.  The color workshop- peach shimmer
5.  Pure Ice- twinkle 984cp
6.  China Glaze- thataway 093
7.  Pure Ice- strip tease 979cp
8.  Pure Ice- Splash 970cp
9.  Sally Hansen- diamond strength- ruby sequin 43
10.  Revlon- passion punch shimmer 196
11.  Pure Ice- flirt alert 617cp
12.  Claires- neon fire (matte)
13.  Pure Ice- creme siren 603
14.  markwins- deep red
15.  The color workshop- dark red
16.  Goldie- wulung
17.  China Glaze- ruby pumps 182
18.  The color workshop- dark mauve

1.  No Name- Metallic purple
2.  CoverGirl- NailSlicks- grape ice 110
3.  Revlon- scented- grape icy 330
4.  Claires- vegas (matte)
5.  The color workshop- eggplant
6.  Love My Nails Franken- deep violet 120
7.  Ulta - chocolate kiss 3405
8.  Ulta- femme fatale 3404
9.  Sally Hansen- diamond strength- save the date 28
10.  Finger paints- Skeych-y 806235
11.  Sally Hansen-xtreme wear- blue me away 130
12.  Revlon- top speed- first class
13.  China Glaze- shower together 650
14.  Sally Hansen-xtreme wear- marine scene 280
15.  Sally Hansen- instadry- mint sprint 440
16.  Finger paints- Tough art to follow 806172
17.  China Glaze- paper chase 720
18.  Nina Ultra Pro- lime light 709 510 (matte)

1.  Sally Hansen- instadry- spring green 03
2.  Ulta - limelight 3413
3.  N.Y.C- lime 110a
4.  Ulta - sun-sational 3414
5.  Naturalistics- Inspire
6.  Ulta - sun of a gun 4018
7. Zoya- Storm 645
8. NYC- Matte Me Crazy Top Coat 274 (over black)
9. Orly- Nite Owl 48725
10. Orly- Winter Wonderland 48623
11. Pure Ice- Pardon My French 655cp
12. Pure Ice- Viva Las Vegas 845cp
13. Zoya- Opal 583 (over black)
14. Revlon- Blue Lagoon 92
15. Revlon- Radiant 441
16. Deborah Lippmann- Across the Universe 2006B
17. Daring Digits- Blood diamonds
18. Wet N Wild- Speak When Spoken To 33825

1. GlitterDaze- QueenB
2. 365 Days of Color- Funfetti
3. Treasures by Tan- Always A Bridesmaid
4. Sinful Colors- Call You Later
5. Sinful Colors- Ice Dream
6. Zoya- Daul
7.  Zoya- Fei Fei
8. Zoya- Natty
9. Zoya- Song
10.  China Glaze- For Audrey
11.  China Glaze- Water You Waiting For
12.  Orly- Fowlplay
13.  China Glaze- Fairy Dust (over black)
14.  CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant- Always Autumn
15.  Sinful Colors- All About You
16.  LA Colors-  Wired
17.  LA Colors- Bashful
18. LA Colors-Reckless

1. China Glaze- It's A Trap-Eze!
2. LA Colors Color Craze Metallics- Pink*
3. LA Colors Color Craze Metallics- Fuchsia*
4. LA Colors Color Craze Metallics- Purple*
5. LA Colors Color Craze Metallics- Blue*
6. LA Colors Color Craze Metallics- Green*
7. LA Colors Color Craze Metallics- Grey*
8. China Glaze- Red Satin 1111
9. China Glaze- Frostbite 634
10.  China Glaze- Winter Holly 1115
11.  China Glaze- Pizzazz 1120


*The Color Workshop polishes and LA Colors Metallics are not named, these are just what i have labeled them.

*This doesn't include white creams, clears, base or top coats. 
 

 
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Saran wrap nails

These are my friends nails i did for a Halloween party this weekend. She wore a black and blue fairy costume to match.  This was my first attempt with this technique and it came out pretty well. There were a couple spots where the blue came up but it wasn't obvious. This is one coat China glaze shower together with wet n wild fastdry ebony hates Chris on top. One coat sally hansen insta-dri top coat.

I also scored some discount polish this weekend :) 3 polishes from sallys on clearance and one from amazon with a Swagbucks gift card! I had a $5 amazon gift card so i ordered this polish and a dotting tool set with free shipping on both items so 1.93 for 2 items :)

 Finger Paints Fall of Surprises 2.69 @ sallys

 Finger Paints Tough Art to Follow 2.69 @ sallys

 China Glaze Stone Cold (matte) 3.50 @ sallys

 China Glaze Some Like It Haute 1.93 on amazon

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Week 4 of October manis - Frankenstein

Here are my Frankenstein nails :) i love how they came out except my back smeared :( this was a different black than last time since maybe its my clear making it smear? Anyways i still like them :)
Base coat then taped off with scotch tape diagonally. One coat (probably should have done two) of sally hansen instadry spring green, stitches and details done with nicole by opi pen and L.A. Colors art deco white. Two coats sally hansen instadry clearly quick

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Lemming polish

Three years ago when i was having my nails done every few weeks at a salon, my nail guy picked a polish for me and i fell in love but forgot to go back and find it.
Every time i have shopped for polish since then, i look for something similar. No such luck online or in store. Too red, too purple, too black, right color but not enough shimmer/fleck, right shimmer wrong color. It has been incredibly disappointing. Until this weekend.

For reference, here is the one shot i have where you can see the original color, If anyone thinks the have a better dupe please let me know!

I ran in sallys 10 minutes before they closed while my husband and son circled the parking lot. I glanced over the China glaze display, looked at clearance, then checked out the finger paints rack. I find something i like, ask salesgirl for something to test it on and she doesn't have anything. She is nice enough to test it on her own finger for me and its my color! If not the same brand its a close dupe of whatever it was. Working off memory and the one badly lit picture i have where you can see my nails, the original may have had slightly more silver shimmer/glass fleck and the particles were larger. That gave it more of a brown tint than a red tint but its close enough to make me happy! 

close up

So long story long, here it is. Finger paints sketch-y. Gorgeous plum-wine color with red and purple shimmer/glass fleck that flashes brown, red, purple, bronze, and wine. Sparkles in the sun and gorgeous grown up shade in regular lighting. Formula was great, two coats for full coverage. Shiny finish on it own but i prefer a top coat for depth and protection. Im absolutely in love with this color. And utterly excited i finally found it :)

brown flash

Base coat, 2 coats sketch-y, one coat instadry clearly quick.

purple flash

Frankenstein mani coming up later this week!

***EDIT: I found a better picture of the color in question! This is actually not very close to it, but I believe I have found the actual polish! ***



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Week 3 of October manis- candy corn mani

Ive been looking forward to this mani all month :) no base coat, two coats of yellow Ulta sun-sational, orange stripe is Ulta Sun of a gun, and white stripe is China glaze white on white, top coat is sally hansen instadry clearly quick.

unfortunately i forgot my base coat until i had one coat of color on already. Im lazy and had a 8.5 month old who is teething so no base coat for this one and ill just deal with the staining later. (the yellow stained in the three minutes of me testing the color)

sun-sational yellow was horribly streak and full of brush strokes even with 2 coats. Its also brighter than what i wanted but the polish is not to fault for that. Sun of a gun orange was fine, nothing bad to say but nothing amazing either. The China glaze white on white is amazing. It covered yellow, orange and black when i was testing colors. And that was with a quick one coat.

All in all this worked out well, except that my freehand stripes aren't nearly as pretty on my left hand and When i added my clear coat the Sun of a gun bled on a few nails. Im not sure why, nails were completely dry as i did my clear coat nearly 24 hours later..

 Next week will be frankenstein :)

Oh and to update on that peel off layer? It did not work with mod podge. I plan to try again but i don't have high hopes this time.

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Breast Cancer Awareness nails

Two coats of Pure Ice flirt alert with polka dot tips in sally hansen hard as nails black out, and L.A.  Colors art deco white, baby pink, and silver glitter. Accent nail is two coats of sally hansen hard as nails black out, L.A. Colors art deco silver glitter polka dots and intense pink for the ribbons. One coat sally hansen instadry clearly quick on all.  instead of my normal order i added a layer of mod-podge to  attempt a peel off base (i didn't have elmers glue) i plan to try a candy corn manicure wed or thurs so ill find out then how it worked.

 

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Week 2 of October manis- black & orange glitter

2 coats Ulta little black dress and 2 coats sally hansen instadry clearly quick. Accent nail is 2 coats Ulta sun of a gun with orange glitter (walmart) sprinkled on while wet, and topped with 2 coats sally hansen instadry clearly quick also.

  flash

 shade

 

flash

Week 1 of October manis- Halloween polka dots

Two coats Ulta smoke screen with L.A. Colors basecoat. Polka dots are Ulta Sun of a Gun orange, Ulta little black dress, and China Glaze white on white.  Top coat is two coats sally hansen instadry clearly quick.

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New polishes :)

I just got 9 new polishes in the mail today! 5 Ulta's and 3 China Glaze. I let my husband pick a color combo and design and this is what he picked. It kind of reminds me of Freddie kruger lol. Base is 2 coats Ulta smoke screen, stripes are China glaze ruby pumps 182, and 2 coats sally hansen instadry clear. Both colors had good formulas and were true to color. Smoke screen could have been a one coat had i paid attention while i applied it. I have been wanting ruby pumps for a while and i love it. Packed with glitter in a red jelly base it probably wouldn't take but 2 coats to be opaque. This manicure looks much better in person however because my clear went wonky a week ago and is leaving tons of tiny bubbles but you can't see them in person. No bubbles in the bottle but it is hazy/foggy and i don't know why, its probably 2-3 months old.

 

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chic peek stripes

This is two coats Ulta chic peek and two coats clear accent nail is sally hansen diamond strength save the date, wet n wild wet cement, and Ulta chic peek. Stripes made with scotch tape.

 

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Fall mani

This (L-R) is wet n wild wet cement, Ulta chic peek, the color workshop brown, and pure ice iced copper. All are two coats color and two coats clear.

 

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pumpkin spice mani

This is my "pumpkin spice mani". The color workshop brown (they don't have color names) Accent nail is pure ice iced copper with polka dots made with a straight pin. All are two coats color, two coats clear.

 

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pure ice flirt alert

Two coats and two coats sally hansen instadry clear. Accent nail is Ulta little black dress with flirt alert polka dots. Flirt alert could be a one coat bit i prefer two, little black dress is a little more sheer and needed two coats. I used the end of a straight pin for the dots.

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China glaze lubu heels

2 coats lubu heels, 2 coats sally hansen instadry clear. The lubu is a black jelly with red glitter. Its just ok, the lubu is pretty sheer and jellyish. I wish the red glitter stood out more but the shimmer is nice. There was a little bit of shrinkage with the lubu also. Overall i don't love it just its decent.

 

 *** Y'all please take a minute to check out my jewelry page :)
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