Smitten Polish: You're Turning Violet, Violet!

Hello ladies!  I hope everyone is taking it easy after last night's election!  We were glued to CNN all night!  That Anderson Cooper is one hot sexy man!

Today I have my first Smitten Polish ever!  Ladies and germs, meet You're Turning Violet, Violet!  YTVV is a fantastic violet crelly with glowy blue holo hexes and silver, blue, and pink shimmer.  This is two easy peasy coats, no undies needed!



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Application is smooth like butter!  Unfortunately, I don't have any other Smittens to compare her to (YET), so I don't know (YET) if that's the norm in this gorgeous indie line!



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  Do you see that gorgeous electric shimmer?  My gf Becky says it reminds her of jellyfish. :)


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  This is not a great polish photo, but you can see the glowiness in the bottle a bit better.  That glowiness translates onto the nail beautifully in real life!


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 She dried fairly smooth.  I only used one layer of topcoat, but two layers or some Gelous would turn her to glass.

I will definitely be collecting more Smittens, I love this one so much!!!!  You can find Smitten Polish at www.llarowe.com and www.etsy.com/shop/SmittenPolish.

I'm counting the minutes until tonight's episode of American Horror Story: Asylum!  Between AHS and Ghost Hunters, Wednesday is the best tv night of the week!

Happy Wednesday!  xoxo Kris

KB Shimmer Clown Puke!

Hello ladies!  I am sooooo glad to be home with my men (who did the dishes, the grocery shopping, and baked me a ham dinner!) after the crazy day I had at the salon!  I'm not sure I could have gotten through the day without my awesome girlfriends!  Not to mention the super fantasticalness that is happening on my nails right now!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you... CLOWN PUKE!!!!



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I am dying right now!  Is this just amazing? She's my new favorite multi-colored glitter!!!  I ordered this from KB Shimmer's website... pretty fast turnaround and shipping, and I love that she has a shipping insurance option (I think I paid like $1.50 for the insurance), and her polishes are insane!!!!  Sadly, this is the only one I ordered since we are on a budget until our big move to Washington in the spring, but I am sooooo glad this is the one I got!!!!!



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 Clown Puke is lots of different-sized hexes, glitters, squares, shards, and bars in a thick clear base.  I see red, green, teal, blue, purple, gold, silver, white, black, yellow, orange, pink, lavender... you name it, it's in there!  This is two coats of Clown Puke over China Glaze White on White, followed by one thick coat of Tough Coat sealer (the finish is slightly pebbly to the touch).  There was no fishing involved; the brush was full of glitter every time.  I did have to do some dabbing for placement, but that's to be expected in a glitter this thick.  I think it would pop more over black, but I've been in the mood for lighter manis after all the dark colors I did in October.  I'm also going to try it over a Christmas tree green  in December... I think all the sparkly colors and different shapes and sizes will look like lights and ornaments!


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 You can find Clown Puke and her sisters at KB Shimmer and Harlow & Co.   Go!  Run!  Quick like a bunny!  I'll be here with my tummy full of ham and Halloween candy, staring at the gorgeousness on my fingertips!

Happy Saturday! xoxo Kris

Pretty and Polished Valentino

Hello ladies!  I am so in love with the polish I'm showing you today!  The girls at work fah-reaked out when they saw this, it's so cool!

Pretty and Polished Valentino is lots of different sizes of black and white matte glitter in a clear base.  This is 1 coat plus some dabbing to cover bald spots over China Glaze Recycle.  I did have to do some serious fishing for the giant hexes, but otherwise application was easy as pie.

Looooove it!  This would look super awesome over neons like green and pink to make the white and black really pop!

 I got this awesomesauce polish from www.shop.llarowe.com.  Even better, it's on sale right now!  See?  The planets are aligning!  It's meant to be!  YOU NEED THIS!

Happy Friday! xoxo Kris

This Is Halloween: Trick or Treat!

So.  I've learned a valuable lesson from this challenge.  I've learned that I am a slacker.  I was a day late of some posts and I skipped two posts altogether.  Oh, the pressure!  Maybe I'll forget how bad I was at this by the time the Christmas challenges roll around.  For now, I'm glad to be back to regular random posts!

Behold my final This Is Halloween design: Trick or Treat!

I was too lazy to use a dotting tool for the dots and just used my black and white stripers.   The orange Maybelline Color Show Sweet Clementine.  It's a thinnish formula and needs about three coats for good coverage, but I love her juicy color!

I hope everyone had tons of fun, stayed safe, and got enough candy to last until Christmas!

Happy Thursday! xoxo Kris

This Is Halloween 10/29: Graveyard

Hello ladies!  Halloween is only two days away!  Our weekend was super spooky: we did two costume parties, saw one of my clients play a Monster Mash show with his surf band, did some costume bowling, visited the pumpkin patch, and watched the Giants sweep Detroit in the World Series!  I need a day off to rest up from my day off lol!

Today's theme is Graveyards!  I'm one of those weird people who thinks graveyards are just gorgeous.  I love taking walks through cemeteries and reading all the headstones and peering in mausoleums.  It's so peaceful and relaxing.  BTW, do you know what the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery is?  A graveyard is attached to a church, and a cemetery stands alone.  Just a little useless trivia.

As always, this design looked soooooo much better in my head!

This is two coats of China Glaze Spontaneous, a dusky purple.  I wanted to give a twilighty effect, like the sky is caught in the limbo between light and darkness.  For the design, I used Finger Paints Nail Art in Ch-ART-coal.  I used all black to silhouette the stones against the sky.  The blobs and scratches in the sky are supposed to be tree branches and birds. :/  On my thumb I tried to do a cemetery gate and crescent moon. 

I actually liked the effect of this design.  It had a still, somber vibe.  Sorry about the stained fingertips... I had just removed a navy blue polish and glitter and apparently one layer of base coat was insufficient lol!

Coming tomorrow: Trick or Treat!

Happy Monday! xoxo Kris

This Is Halloween 10/26: Witches

I can't believe there are only five days until Halloween!  I hope your weekend plans include a costume party... ours includes two!  I SUPER want to be Honey Boo Boo, but I still haven't made it out to the costume shop, so I'll probably end up being a kitty or something equally unoriginal.

I'm pretty excited about today's mani!  I had fun with this one!  The theme for today is witches, and when I think of witches, I think of my most favorite non-scary Halloween movie ever, Hocus Pocus!

Greatest family Halloween movie EVER!!!!

Winifred's mossy green cloak and corset inspired the middle nail, Mary's crimson cloak and corset inspired the index nail, and Sarah's deep purple cloak and plum corset inspired the ring finger nail.  The pinky nail represents Winnie's zombie ex-boyfriend Billy Butcherson.  She killed him after she caught him making out with Sarah, but not before sewing his mouth shut so he couldn't tell her witchy secrets.  The thumb represents the Black Flame Candle.  When lit by a virgin on Halloween Night, The Black Flame Candle brings the Sanderson Sisters back to life.

Black Flame Candle Nail
Base: OPI Skull and Glossbones
Sparkly flame: China Glaze I Herd That
Black flame and candle: Finger Paints Nail Art Ch-ART-coal Black
Candle highlights: Sinful Colors Nail Art in white (no label)

Mary Nail
China Glaze Ruby Pumps
Finger Paints Nail Art Ch-ART-coal Black

Winifred Nail
A England Tess D'urbervilles
Finger Paints Nail Art Ch-ART-coal Black

Sarah Nail
OPI Grape...Set...Match!
Finger Paints Nail Art Ch-ART-coal Black

Billy Butcherson Nail
OPI Skull and Glossbones
Finger Paints Nail Art Ch-ART-coal Black

I hope everyone has already watched Hocus Pocus this season!  We've watched it twice over here, and will watch it at least one more time before Halloween... and probably a few more times before Thanksgiving!

Happy Friday!!! xoxo Kris

This Is Halloween 10/23: Gradient

Hey ladies!  I'm a day late on the gradient. :(  Maybe you'll think it was worth the wait, because I super liked this look!

I love the combination of these colors!  It's kind of Frankensteiny!

I started with two coats of China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, a fun semi-shimmery neon green.  Then I did two coats of a sponge gradient with OPI Purple With a Purpose and China Glaze Liquid Leather.  The purple and green didn't blend very well, so I dabbed on some sparkle with Orly Monster Mash, CrowsToes Cheshire, and Orly Androgynie.  I really love the result... it was so eye-catching!  It looked waaaay better in real life lol!

I'm off to stir my roasting pumpkin seeds!  Happy Tuesday!  xoxo Kris

This Is Halloween 10/18: Bats

Oops, I'm a day early.  I work until eight tomorrow night and Friday night is reserved for my men, so I'm posting today. :)

BATS!!!



I think this is a cute concept, but my execution is once again sorely lacking.  I drew the bat faces with Fingerpaints Ch-ART-coal Black Nail Art over my existing mani of China Glaze No Plain Jane, a no-name lavender glitter from Rite Aid, and China Glaze Fairy Dust (layered in that order).  Then I dotted on the eyes with China Glaze Ruby Pumps (I love how they look like they're glowing!).  Those white splotches (Sinful Colors Nail Art in white) are supposed to be vampire teeth.  Sorry.

I'm looking forward to the next This Is Halloween prompt: gradient!  That's something even I can do! :D

Happy Thursday!!! xoxo Kris

This Is Halloween 10/15: ZOMBIES

So as much as I loooove the scary stuff, I'm not that into zombies.  I know there's a giant zombie movement going on in the US right now, but I just don't get it.  Maybe they don't scare me because they don't really exist, or if they did, what's scary about a dumb staggery guy who can't control his body and can't run after you?  It's like skeletons.  What's scary about a skeleton?  They rattle their bones at you?

Anyway.  I kind of love this mani.

BRAIIIIIIINNNNNNNSSSSSSS

I coated my nails and cuticles in tinted moisturizer and dabbed on darkish matte brown eyeshadow and matte bronzer with a makeup sponge to make my nails and creases look dirty.  Then I sponged on some China Glaze Tree Hugger around my nails to give a diseased, decaying effect.  Finally, I used China Glaze Adventure Red-y for the blood.  I wiped the brush until it was almost dry and then freehanded the blood.  The almost-dry brush created dry crunchy pieces that, to me, look like bits of human flesh stuck in the blood!

You can see the fleshy bits really well here!

Coming 10/19: Bats!

Happy Monday! xoxo Kris

More OPI Germany Collection!

Hello ladies!  So I didn't get around to doing yesterday's This Is Halloween jack-o-lantern post, and now I can't find the photos.  Maybe it's for the best; they were a complete fail anyway and I've embarrassed myself enough for one week with my sad nail art.  Instead, I have three more polishes from OPI's Germany Collection to go with My Very First Knockwurst and Every Month is Oktoberfest.  Sind Sie bereit?  Die Let gehen!

First is German-icure by OPI.  I am so in love.  She's a vampy blackened burgundy red shimmer, heavy on the red shimmer, which means she's also perfect for Christmas.  Two coats, no topcoat-- shiny!

Next is Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! combines two colors I cannot, CANNOT, resist: green and gray.  Jeez, she's gorgeous.  So creamy and rich.  Again, two coats, no topcoat.

Last up is Deutsch You Want Me Baby?, another amazing deep shimmer!  She's a fantastic reddish orange.  She can lean further either way depending on the lighting: more red in bright light, more orange in lower light.  Again, two coats, no topcoat.  She is autumn in a bottle, amirite?

The formulas on all five of my OPI frauleins are super easy to work with.  The shimmers are the perfect consistency and easy to control with great brush flow.  The cremes are slightly runnier and just slightly streaky on the first coat, but not enough to be an issue.  You can find OPI at ULTA, Regis, JCPenney, Cosmoprof, Saloncentric, and lots of salons.

I'm sorry the jack-o-lanterns slipped away from me!  I'm pretty excited about the This Is Halloween zombie theme on the fifteenth... I have a few really cool ideas, but we all know the finish product never looks as good as it does in my head!

Happy Saturday! xoxo Kris

NOTD: OPI My Very First Knockwurst and Essie A Cut Above

Hello ladies!  Today I have another one of OPI's Germany Collection polishes to show you!  My Very First Knockwurst is a beautiful pinky nude that strangely pulled a bit lavender on me, but I don't mind that because her finish is so gorgeous!  Usually I can only wear peachy nudes, but this one has just a hint of gray that is super flattering against my skin.

Her application is pretty awesome, just like the other OPI Germany ladies I've picked up.  She is perfectly smooth, creamy, even, and opaque in two coats.  She's beautifully feminine and sophisticated.  Just fantastic.

She's layered under one thickish coat of Essie A Cut Above on my ring finger.  I super like the effect.  ACA is a crazy shiny rose gold glitter in a clear base.  You could probably get her opaque in three good coats, but I really love her for layering!  She's part of Essie's My Luxeffects topcoat collection.  I'm going to try her next over a deep raspberry!

I'll be swatching the rest of the colors that I bought from OPI's Germany collection in between my "This Is Halloween" posts.  The colors and formulas are insane and I can't wait to show you!!!

You can pick up your OPI at ULTA, JCPenney, Regis Salons, Cosmoprof, Saloncentric, and lots of salons and etailers.  Grab your Essie at ULTA, Walgreens, and etailers like www.transdesign.com.

I'm off to bed... tomorrow is my day off and I have a busy morning of sleeping in planned.  Happy Wednesday!  xoxo Kris

"This Is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge 10/8: Ghosts!

Hello ladies!  I can't believe we are already a quarter of the way through October!  It's moving too fast!  The weather here is finally autumny and perfect, and I'm super enjoying all the Halloween movies on the Disney Channel!

So today's Halloween theme challenge is ghosts.  I loooove ghosty stuff... ghost stories, ghost movies, ghosts photos, ghost hunting, all of it.  So I wanted to do something super cool for today's ghost theme, but as we all learned from Horror Movie day, I am Teh Suck at nail art, so I had to completely paint over my original design and make some generic ghost faces.  What's crappy is even these are lame lol!  Notice the black of my first design around the edges of my nails!  I used two coats of China Glaze White on White as a base and drew the faces and the Boo with China Glaze Liquid Leather using a dotting tool.

It's not perfect, but it's fun!

Happy Monday!  xoxo Kris

Orly SpellBound Halloween 2012 Collection

Hello ladies!!!  Today I have three polishes from the Orly's SpellBound Halloween 2012 Collection.  There is a fourth as well, but it's just a repromote of their shiny black creme, so I skipped that one.  Keep reading!

First up is Right Amount of Evil.  She's small holo hexes, fine holo bars and superfine orange glitter in an orange jelly base.  Truth be told, I'm not that into her.  She just doesn't scream Halloween to me.  I wasn't feeling her at Sally's, but I carpe diemed and got her anyway.  I should have listened to my cosmetical instincts.  First of all, she's completely misnamed.  There is nothing evil about her.  She looks like a goldfish, for crap's sake.  Not Halloweeny at all.  She feels really springy to me.  Maybe I'd feel differently if I put her over black.  Anyway, this is one coat of RAOE over two coats of Maybelline New York Color Show Sweet Clementine.  No application issues.

Next up is R.I.P.  She's small coppery hexes and glitter in a black jelly base.  I like her much better.  I layered her over two coats of OPI Deutsch You Want Me Baby because I was expecting her to be much more sheer than she is.  I do like the kind of backlit glow DYWMB is giving, but I think next time I will try two or three coats on her own.  Easy, smooth application, good glitter payoff.

Last, and easily my favorite, is Monster Mash.  WHAT.  She is bright grassy green holo hexes with fine holo bars and fine holo glitter in a kind of limey jelly base.  It's insane.  This is one coat over two coats of OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!  I love the contrast of the bright shiny green glitter over the murky grayish green of NNNOF.  This is Husband's favorite of the bunch, too.  I told him the color combo reminds me of a big boobie girl running from a werewolf in a foggy swampy forest kind of horror movie, but he didn't get it.  Whatever.  Again, great application and glitter payoff.  I will be buying a backup.  I feel like she could be worn almost year round depending on what she is layered over.

Look at all that holo color play!!!!

What do you think of this collection?  Is it full of goldfish and swamp monster things, or am I just crazy?

Happy Saturday!!! xoxo Kris

This Is Halloween 10/5: Watermarble

Hello friends!!!  It's finally starting to feel like fall here in NorCal!!!  Today's "This Is Halloween" challenge is watermarble!

Since I suck at watermarbling almost as much as I suck at freehand (which is to say, a lot), I cheated and used a great dry watermarbling technique I learned here.  Sooo much easier and a ton less mess and cleanup!  For my color theme, I went with easily the most recognizable and nastiest-tasting Halloween treat, candy corn.

Seriously.  Does anyone like candy corn?  I take mental notes of the houses that give my kid candy corn.  You best believe they won't be seeing us again next Halloween.  Same thing goes for Swedish fish and granola bars.

I really liked the combination of these colors, but I wish I had gotten a little more orange in the mix.  The formula was thinner than the yellow and white, so I'm thinking that may have been the problem.  This is not a perfect watermarble by any means, but it's waaaay better than any marbling I've done before!

Example:


Crap Watermarble

Told you so.



Orange: Maybelline New York Color Show Sweet Clementine
Yellow: Orly Spark
White (also used as a base under the watermarble): China Glaze White on White

Happy Friday! xoxo Kris