California Nails - Set 1

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: Big Lots for $2.50
COMMENTS: These are just quick swatches as requested. The colors in this set applied really nicely. The silver one is an amazing chrome and isn't hard to keep smooth. These little bottles really packed a punch - a pleasant surprise! The purple shimmer probably needs a third coat, but all the others were opaque in 2 coats. My favorites are the turquoise and the silver.

As a reminder, these are from the set on the far right, second set from the top in the pink box:

OPI - Guy Meets Gal-veston

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 3
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: JCPenney
COMMENTS: After the previous manicure I still wanted more jelly-finish polish and glitter, so I decided to finally try one of the OPI "sorbets" that I managed to get with a coupon at JCP. This one is lovely and applies beautifully. I grabbed some glitter to match. Sadly, these gorgeous iridescent glitters lose their color if mixed in a bottle with nail polish. I placed them individually  between the second and third coat of color.

Oh, and yes, I cut my nails again! They were getting too long :)

Love and Beauty - Green and a jelly sandwich!

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 before glitter, 1 after glitter
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Forever 21 store last year, Glitter from Ulta (Ulta - Pinata Yada Yada)
COMMENTS: This is one of the colors my hubby bought me when we went to get a gift card for a niece last year. I've tried wearing it on it's own, but didn't like the way it looked. Now I've found a fabulous way to wear it though! My jelly sandwich = 2 "slices" of color, 1 "slice" of glitter, and a final "slice" of color. Love it! Um yeah, and I took a lot of photos....

Not such a flattering color on its own (2 coats):

Add glitter (One coat of Ulta - Pinata Yada Yada):

And one more coat of color:

Look at all the fun possibilities!!!  These are all with 1 coat color, 1 coat glitter, 1 coat color.

Gifted Flakie-Jelly Franken - Dreaming of Purple

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Franken made by Jossie - she wore the lighter version here: Dreaming of Purple that she included in her swap package (thanks again, chica!)
COMMENTS: Jelly plus flakies? Yes please! Hard to capture how gorgeous this franken is, so I took a ton of pictures.  I added the orange (Nina Ultra Pro - Tangerine Dream) at the very tip to accentuate the predominant flake color.

Indoors - sunset and artificial light:

Look at all the flakie goodness ...

Outdoors - in the sun

Outdoors - in the shade:

Bettina - Peppermint vs. Simple Pleasures - Unnamed blue (T)

APPLICATION: Smooth on both, the Simple Pleasures polish had a few tiny black flecks in it though (I think from mixing balls that are disintegrating)
COATS: 2 of each
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: Bettina came from a swap with the lovely Jossie in Puerto Rico, (blog: PinkBeauty), and the Simple Pleasures from Ross in a set of 7 polishes.
COMMENTS: I got a ton of gorgeous Bettinas from Jossie, and was itching to try one out. I noticed that in the bottle these two looked very similar, so I figured I would wear them in the same manicure. The photos show the difference. The  Simple Pleasures polish is on my thumb and ring fingernails.

Monthly Mani-Fest July 2011

Another month has passed!
Here's a look back at all my manicures last month.
*To see an individual post, click on the link below the photo which interests you. 

ABOP Franken - Sheer Strawberry Save

L'Oreal - Mango-Get-Em and Wet N Wild - Blazed

Frankens of frankens...  

H & M - Brown and Nabi - Mocha 

 

Fingerpaints water marble

Nabi - Light Green, Baby Green and Green Glitter

  

Stamping with Diamond Cosmetics - Tranquility 

Making crackle polish work for me  

Golden Rose Super Shine & Lasting - #107

 

Diamond Cosmetics - Plum Pie in the Sky and Drift Away

 

Simple Pleasures - Unnamed Dark Berry  

Water Marble - with Kleancolors

 

Rimmel - Wild Orchid and Sally Hansen - No Hard Feelings