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   >^. .^<