My first Zoya!

I had done a mani for Day 7 before I left for Hilton Head, but in the hoopla of getting six people out the door, I forgot to get pics. It was pretty spiffy, I thought! In honor of the beach trip, I chose a gradient with L'Oreal Walk on the Beach and Sinful Colors Mint Apple with a coat of Pure Ice Busted over the top. It looked like the ocean washing up to the shore, with the beautiful lavender sparkles of Busted like the sun glinting off the sea and sand. Alas, no documentation, and I just didn't feel like repeating it when I came home from the beach. Why? Because the bestest husband ever let me pick out my first two Zoyas and an OPI at Ulta on the island. Woohoo! I got Zoya's Robyn and Jem and OPI Ski Teal We Drop.

So, for Day 7's Gradient, Ombre, or Skittle, I ended up with this skittle featuring Jem. The accent and stamping are with Color Show Bold Gold—have I mentioned this polish is, in my opinion, only good for stamping?! Check out the streaking and bubbling on my ring fingers.

Please also note the wonky stars on my right index. This was my third DOOVER of that finger; I could not get that darn image to stamp on that finger for all the tea in China! And my right pinky image isn't centered, but by that point, I didn't give a flip.

This shot is solely for the purpose of showing off the gorgeous pinky-golden flecks in Jem!

It's late, hubs is waiting on me to watch a movie with him, homemade mocha ice cream is calling from the kitchen, and I can't be bothered to list all the stamp plates. Cheers!

I will survive having gold nails!

Ah, no, I'm not a big fan of gold. Not in jewelry, not on my fingers. For Day 3: Gold, I was tempted to pick a fave color base and use gold as the stamping polish or glitter or whatnot, but in the spirit of sticking to untrieds/frankens/hardly used polishes, I decided to go for a base of China Glaze Rare & Radient. I get the flashes of green in this duochrome, but I mostly see the old gold color. I discovered two things about this polish: 1) It applies SO much better than Maybelline Color Show Bold Gold (which drags big time), and 2) other bloggers are not kidding when they say it's "brushstrokey". I need to remember that for future wear, because I will definitely try wrapping my tips BEFORE I paint each nail, rather than after, because the blackish undertone of this polish seems to make the wrapping of my nail tips show up glaringly. (The dark spot on my pinky is just a shadow.)

I stamped the rose full-nail image from BM-323 with Nina Ultra Pro Brandywine. God alone knows how old this polish is! I've had it for about 5 years; it came in a cardboard box full of polishes my hubby's aunt bought off someone at the flea market! Works like a dream, though it's so old and I hardly ever use it.

I'm keeping these dadgum gold nails on for three whole days! Two is about the max I can stand for colors/manis I don't particularly like, but if I hold off until tomorrow night to redo, I'll have a nice, fresh mani for church on Sunday.

Mani Happy Memories

Day 14: Flowers. Hmm, how to fit that into a Christmas mani? Poinsettias, of course. But I was getting a little bored with the bright red and bright green already. I was staring at my bin of green polishes, and it hit me! In the mid-80s, my family lived in Miami for 2 years. Our whole neighborhood was full of stuccoed houses with mica flakes mixed into the stucco so that all the houses sparkled. Very beachy, very...Easter eggish. Our house was mint green. I kid you not. Mint green with sparkles!  OK, there's a point, and I'm getting there! My mom found out that in Miami's sub-tropical climate, you could plant all those lovely poinsettias from coworkers, etc. right in your yard! So, out in front of our minty, glittery house was a flower bed filled with a whole row of bright red poinsettias. Hence, my flower/Christmas mani from a memory of my childhood:

I couldn't capture the glittery silver very well; my photography skills are minimal. For this mani, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mint Sorbet topped with a nameless silver glitter from The Supply Source. I used acrylic paints to make the poinsettias and leaves (although technically the "flowers" are leaves!) and for the centers I dotted on Supply Source's gold glitter polish with a homemade dotting tool. I really like how this turned out!