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!

Still Painting... ^_^

Hello Lovely Readers!
I'm still painting and all my other stuff! Sadly, the pictures I took of the last couple manis didn't turn out well at all. I'm really sad about that because Sapphire In The Snow and Suzi Says Da! Are both a couple of my favorite colors! =( Sapphire In The Snow is a rich, deep, purple tinged navy with a creme finish and Suzi Says Da! is another creme finish in a shade of rich chocolate, like melted fudge. Both felt perfect for the cooler weather we're finally having!

My current mani is China Glaze Hippie Chic. I felt like wearing this one because so many of the trees by my house have this color dressing their leaves. Not to mention, it's been in my untried section for quite a while!

As I was taking the pictures I was reminded though, that the attack of the dries is well begun. Dry air, dry skin, dry lips (I put on my Clove Burt's Bees lip balm about 50 times today). But I hope you like seeing this color. It's my usual recent routine of a coat of Zoya Anchor, 2 coats of color and the Zoya fast dry drops. I hope you enjoyed seeing this color!

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

Steel-etto and Ick-A-Body

I felt grey so I pulled out one of my old favorites. It's Steel-etto by Revlon. It came out as part of their Dark Pleasures limited edition collection in Fall of 2008. There were two other "Blacker Lacquers" in the collection, all of them shimmery. One was a blackened purple, the other a rich shade of crimson. This was my favorite of the bunch, with it's shimmery charcoal base and barely noticeable blue tones sprinkled throughout.

If you like this shade, it appears that Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Gunmetal may be your closest match. Should I pick up a bottle of it for myself to swatch side by side? =)

Then after about four days of wear I noticed the tips looking a bit ragged. My local stores finally got in the China Glaze Awakening collection for Halloween so on my lunch break from classes I dashed over to snatch up my bottle of Ick-A-Body. *happy dance!* I almost got Mummy May I as well, but didn't spring for it because it didn't look quite right to me in the bottles. They looked like the glitter wasn't mixed in the right amounts or something.

I was so excited to have my hot little hands on the reddish orange glittery goodness that I couldn't help myself and swatched it right there in the parking lot! I had to wait until I got home from class to get a picture. This is two coats of old Steel-etto with one coat of China Glaze Ick-A-Body with a flash.

Remember to let the acetone-soaked cotton ball sit on your finger for a few moments before trying to remove this baby because like most glitters removal can be a bear. I really love this color though, I hope to show it to you in all its unlayered glory soon!

In other news, I forgot to mention that I changed up my manicure routine a bit. I am now using Zoya with my other colors. It is working out really well! The change took place starting with the mani of Orly Galaxy Girl, if I recall correct. I'm now using Zoya Anchor as my base coat and topping off with the HurryUp drying drops and no other top coat. I'm not sure if this change is what is allowing my manis to look fresher longer but will keep doing it for now because I am loving the results!

Another thing that's really making me happy is fall is falling here! Today it was gloriously gloomy and drizzly and downright chilly! The high was only in the 50's I believe. My daughter and I went out and got her some new boots with cozy lining and sneakers. I found for myself a pair of black and multi-color stripey mittens with the fingertips that convert to fingerless gloves! They are going to look so cute with my cat hat! =)

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

Red to Brown!

Hello Dear Readers =)

I was in the mood last week for a rich dark red, and Carolyn New York in Brooklyn looked nice in the bottle. So I put on my base coat and the two coats of color but it wasn't as dark on the nail as it was in the bottle.

This picture is with the flash. I decided to use my old picture of this mani because my current picture is completely awful! The finished mani was wonderful until I had to rush out the door to my shift at the animal shelter where it got marred badly but surprisingly wore really well for four days, with the only noticeable damage being tipwear.

I debated for a couple days about "frankening" it with some brown or black to get it to an accurate shade of what it was in the bottle and in my head. I didn't get around to doing that yet, but when I do I think I will do a half batch of black mixed in using Wet n Wild Black Creme and half with brown using OPI Suzi Says Da! Of course, I will do swatching and pictures and posting as soon as I get the chance!

Like I said, this Carolyn New York polish wore really well for four days despite the beating I was giving it. Since I was curious to hopefully see what effect brown would have on the color I had some layering fun. I topped Brooklyn with two thinnish coats of OPI Kris Kringle Makes Me Tingle. It was a Holiday exclusive at Trade Secret a couple years ago. If memory serves correctly, I was grumpy at KKMMT because it was sheer and I needed several coats to achieve the look in the bottle. So, I designated it for the layering crowd. Here is what I got...

This was taken outdoors in full sunlight. For comparison, here's my old original shot. This was taken under artificial light, no flash. I don't exactly remember how many coats it was but I think it was several. Kris Kringle Makes Me Tingle...

That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest nail adventures. Come back soon!

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

Orly Galaxy Girl

I had seen a few swatches of this one posted on my Google Reader feed and really liked what I saw on my screen. When I had a 'Coffee + Color' outing with a gal pal and saw this beauty in person it had to be mine! I told my friend to not let me leave the store without it no matter what! See, I have a tendency to pick up a color that I like and put it back on the shelf and leave, then regret it and kick myself black + blue once I get home. I kept this bottle in my hot little hand but I know my friend would have pulled through for me if I had lost my senses.

Then I was at the mall a couple days later and the MAC sales associate thought I'd gotten my hands on a promo bottle of Formidable. She said that my polish looks exactly like it and I told her that I wish I was on the companies promo lists! But that verbal exchange further cemented my love for this polish. And sadly, my picture does not do it justice at all. 

This lacquer is a beautiful deep plummy eggplant base which has a fuchsia shimmery flash to it at some angles and a teal-aqua flash at other angles. The formula was Orly's usual greatness: thin, so it dried quickly but not so thin that it was streaky or hard to work with. I did a base coat of Zoya Armor, painted on 2 coats of color and finished off with the Zoya Hurry Up Speed Dry Drops. 

Died and gone to Nail Nirvana

Ever since I first saw it I've had the world's most wicked, undying, unfulfilled lemming for Clarins #230 lacquer. Today I did a combo that reminds me a lot of it, but I like it even better! If that is at all possible!

It is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Hidden Treasure over Claire's Magic.

Here is is at a different angle to show more of it's color range...

I might play around with mixing HT and Magic in their own bottle, although I do fear that the lovely HT flakies will get 'lost' when mixed. That's what small bottles are for, I guess! I also want to try to get some better pictures. I 'only' have taken 20 so far and still am not glad with the ones I got.

Sorry for such a short post but I really wanted to share that layering right now!

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

A Few Of My Favorite Things

I love my Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat, as mentioned many times before. It is what literally saved me from totally quitting painting my nails due to drying time issues. Being a person with a busy life, as much as I'd love to sit around all night and watch paint dry, I simply can't.

California Mango Mango Mend is my own slice of heaven. I officially became addicted when my friend Myrna gave me a sample when we had a coffee + color meet up at one of our local coffee shops. I had it go missing for a while and was slightly distraught because nothing else I have works so well and smells so good!

Biotin is helping my nails stay in better shape. My left middle fingernail got slammed in the garage door by yours truly and completely fell off a few months ago. Thanks to the Biotin, it is now just as nice as my other tips! If I could remember to take it more often the results would probably be much more noticeable, but I will use my absentmindedness as an excuse to enjoy my next favorite thing...

Dairy products! Calcium and protein to help nails and hair! I put milk or half + half in my morning coffee and evening Chai lattes, spoon down some yogurt as part of breakfast or an afternoon snack, I sprinkle shredded or grated cheese on everything possible, and I know I'm part French because I sure do love my butter! We use only the real stuff when it comes to our dairy. We don't go so far as to do the raw unpasteurized things, but we have the full homogenized milk and half + half delivered weekly and straight butter.

The colors red and purple will always be in my top list. They are the most abundant in my polish stash and I have a couple great lipsticks in those families as well. I am pleased as punch that red and plum are hot this season and fully intend to rock them like nobody's business!

I hope to have some NOTDs to post soon. My pictures haven't turned out half as well as I'd like them to. Opened and cleaned my camera so maybe I'll have better luck next time I shoot my nails. School has been my top priority and finishing the quarter with two B's (Veterinary Science I and Medical Math) and an A (in Office Management) made missing out on some pretty polishing streaks worth it! Now I have a small break and hope to make up for some lost time on here!

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