Hopping on the Crackle Train

Maybe I won't be gone from blogging here after all. It turns out my thumbs are surviving the abuses of my life so they can be featured for swatch shots and there's new pretties in my stash. So I've decided to just stick with it despite these little snags that keep happening. I've also decided I probably won't limit myself to doing only dark colors. They are fun and still reign as my favorite colors to wear, but there are so many other pretties out there.

The first Crackle I have for you is the black crackle by Sally Hansen, "Ink" topped with an old China Glaze, "Mer-Maid In The Shade". Normally the crackle is supposed to be the top coat but I did use a base coat and was interested to see if there would be a different effect layering on top of the crackle.

China Glaze "Mer-Maid In The Shade" over Sally Hansen Crackle "Ink"

 It actually turned out pretty consistent with what I imagined it would. I didn't think the crackle would un-crackle or anything and I love layering with Mer-Maid In The Shade.

The next ride on the crackle train was interesting as well. I am learning a little more about these special effect polishes each time I use them and it seems like the best results are achieved with thin coverage and long brush strokes. My thumbs turned out the best and the nails with thick crackle coats turned out with the results not as noticable.

China Glaze "Fault Line" over Finger Paints "Easel Come Easel Go"

This time I did a base of Finger Paints "Easel Come Easel Go" and topped it with China Glaze "Fault Line". These crackles are fun! I have a credit at Target so I'm hoping to go back and get more pretties soon!

Happy Scratches!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

Another Break, It Seems.

I've been trying my best to maintain my nail care routine, but this quarter at school has been really rough on them. The constant in and out of Latex gloves and seemingly endless hand washing is really taking it's toll. They are all short stumpy messes. Plus, there's the slammed pointer finger looking uglier every day and it  bums me out too much to get motivated to paint. So, I think it would be wise of me to announce another beauty blogging break. I may be sharing the story of my door damaged nails relatively soon and digging some previous mani pictures out from the claw-set to show you.

For now I leave you with some Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Polar Bare. I really like the brush on these CSM polishes. It is slightly wide, slightly stiff, and has a rounded tip. This color was actually semi-sheer. With two generous coats there was a bit of visable nail line present but other than that it was a nice one to use. I made the mistake of using drying drops instead of my usual Poshe top coat and woke up with sheet marks. The mani stayed on for a couple days, regardless. The white was really refreshing and calming for me.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Polar Bare, indirect natural light

Happy Scratches! (and I hope to see you again soon)
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

Brooklyn Franken Fail

I had been debating about whether or not I should even share this mani, since I'm so unhappy with it but decided to share it anyway because I'm hoping one of you can help.

A long time ago I did a mani with Carolyn New York in Brooklyn. In the bottle it was a lovely vampy red but then when I got it on the nails and dried, it seemed a couple shades lighter. So I made plans to add black to it. Well, I tried and it didn't work. It looks darker in the bottle, but again, shows up lighter on the nail. That was the first disappointment. Then, I did a terrible job cleaning it up. Reds are one of the worst for staining my skin when cleaning up with a brush and acetone so I opted to scrape off the bits that got on my cuticle with a cuticle pusher and trimmer instead. My nails were left with odd ridges at the edges and after my shower the color started lifting up in areas. Enough griping. Here is my mani and bottle of Carolyn New York, with 20 drops of black added in. Wet n Wild Black Creme to be exact.

 

This shot was taken in the morning with bright, indirect sun light. If anyone had suggestions for a blackened neutral red which is easy to find, please let me know. Thank you! Also, I'm sorry, but I do believe this brand is discontinued and have taken down their website. I keep hitting reload on the home page linked to on my long trusted All Lacquered Up, but get a 404 Not Found error.

In other news, I have a monster of a post on the back burner which I hope to complete and share with you soon. As you can probably see, my pointer finger nail looks different. Well, it got slammed in my garage door a while ago and is on the long ugly road to recovery. The funny, sad, thing is that last year I slammed my middle finger in the door and went through the healing process with that. Complete with photo documentation of the different stages. In my first few posts on this blog I mentioned it briefly and you can look closely to see the different texture of the injured nail. 

I have now gathered up some of the 'highlight' photos from these adventures and am writing the memoir of this journey. So, stay tuned for that, but it probably will not be for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. And... I"m now nearly falling asleep on my keyboard so good night!

Happy Scratches!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

My Private Jet / All Purpled Up

It has been a good morning so far- cinnamon rolls + coffee in my tummy and spent some time in the sun with my Canon for you! I did get some good representation of My Private Jet (by OPI) and All Purpled Up (by Ruby Kisses) so here they are.

This is the over all effect in direct sunlight. When in the shade, it looks like purple glitter over a black base. To see the holo of MPJ it needs to be in the bright light.

Now, to tell you more about that Ruby Kisses, All Purpled Up. It applied nicely. The glitter doesn't come out as packed on the nail as it appears in the bottle so I consider this one to definitely be for layering. I think it will look smashing over the similarly named Charged Up by Orly. Be careful to not let this one pool up around the cuticles or it will leave white crusties when it dries. I put two plain coats on my toes and two coats over MPJ on my tips. Here is a sample of All Purpled Up on it's own.

 

As you can see, the 'moon' of my nail shows through at the bottom but the amount of the glitter is still fairly dense. Most glitters are a pain to remove, but it seems like this one has a nice clear suspension so I have hope that my Army of cotton won't suffer too many losses.

Happy Scratches!
(mew) carakitty >^. .^<

Recent Paintings

Hello Everyone! It's been a long time again, hasn't it? Well, I've missed you so I thought I would pop in real quick to share some of my recent paint jobs. =)

This one is an old Maybelline called Twinkle Twinkle. I got it at a dollar store. It was my originally planned Independence Day mani but it 'died' and then I decided on a different color.

Here we have a shade by Orly called Charged Up. I have become a slight baseball nut lately and got it in my head that I must obtain as many nail polishes as possible to match my team colors.

Last for now is my sort-of current shade. It is My Private Jet by OPI, shown here with the bottle of my brand-spankin-new Rockies purple. The purple is All Purpled Up by Ruby Kisses and is now over the MPJ.

Tomorrow will hopefully be nice and sunny so some shots can be taken of this glittery holo goodness which is gracing my nails right now!