On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Snowmen!

I can't believe we are in day four of the challenge already! I have to say even though I love Halloween, I have really enjoyed the Christmas themes. Also, I think the more you do something the better you get at it. As promised today is another "two-fer", a theme and a review.

Today I bring to you another smashing stunner from Whimsical Ideas by Pam- Cookie Monster. This polish is the most amazing shade of blue ( for all of you art buffs I think this is totally International Klein Blue). It consists of multi sized cobalt matte hexes, white matte hexes, and black matte hexes. Like Peppermint Schtick, this formula was smooth and applied like a dream! This polish works well over light and dark base colors. I highly recommend any of Pam's lovely Whimsical shades.

For my mani today, I went with the seldom used accent thumb. I have smallish nails, and when I want to do something detailed I need all of the nail real estate I can get. My base coat for this mani is Ivy, a new Julep December release. It's a gorgeous cobalt/indigo duochrome micro shimmer. I topped it with two coats of Cookie Monster. Amazing.

 

For my snowman I used Finger Paints Paper Mache for the body and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City and Sinful Colors striper in Jungle for the hat. I finshed the details with Sinful Colors striper in Be My Valentine and Finger Paints striper in Ch-Art-coal Black. I finished the mani off with a Sephora by OPI matte coat. (Pam highly recommends Cookie Monster plus matte.)

Once again, thank you to Pam, Kismet, and the "Whimsical Lovelies" for their support! Please check out Pam's site and purchase often!

Please check out the talented Miss Kelly at Tuxarina. She has been rocking this challenge so far and I am so excited to be doing this with her!

On the fifth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... presents!

Stay tuned...

On the Third Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Peppermint/Candy Canes!

I am so excited for today! All the lack of enthusiasm for Santa will be made up for in today's post. Today is a bit of a "two-fer" not only is it a theme day but I will also be giving a review on an amazing polish. I was introduced to Whimsical Ideas by Pam through awesome swatches of Seuss (I kinda need that color) at Chalkboard Nails. My reaction was I have to get my hands on those some time soon. I controlled myself and decided to wait until the holiday collection, Eight Whimsical Nights was released on Black Friday.

The first of the two shades that I ordered was Peppermint Schtick. This glitter coat is all kinds of awesome. It's a selection of matte red hexes, opalescent white hexes, and metallic red micro hexes in a clear base. The application is smooth and even. There is no need to dab this polish to hunt and peck for glitter or to place it on. I was so pleased and thrilled that I sent a thank you e-mail to Pam with pictures of this manicure. She is an extremely busy lady with the high demand for her collection, but guess what- she wrote back a lovely note and even posted the pics on her Facebook page. Cool nail polish and a cool chick. What more can I say?

So on to the mani... oh yes, lovelies, it's another trigger manicure. Not sure what this says about my attitude towards the holidays this year. *giggle* I started with a base of Julep's Delaunay- a warm chili pepper red. 

I striped my index finger and thumb with Stripe Rite's white to emulate a candy cane. Meanwhile, I added a coat of Peppermint Schtick to my remaining fingers. I really think the white hexes look like pieces of glossy peppermint candy. Yum!

So I leave you with two missions, check out Whimsical Ideas from Pam and visit the fabulous Kelly at Tuxarina. I know Kelly was super psyched for today's theme as well.
Also, a big shout out to Debra and all the "Whimsical Lovelies" who have stopped by after seeing my swatches!

On the fourth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Snowmen ( and another review)!

Stay tuned...

 

On the Second Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Santa!

Ho, ho, ho! (Yeah, that is all you are getting for 6:15 am.) Mr. Claus dominates the scene today. To be quite honest, I don't really gravitate towards Santa imagery. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing out for arctic dwelling white haired jolly men, but I am more of a trees, tinsel, and snowflake girl.

I wanted to do something a bit different today- more abstract and less freehand intensive. I also had thrown out the suggestion of using a certain trend in a French manicure, and this was the perfect time. So, Velvet French Manicure meets Deconstructed Santa...

I used Julep's Demi (a great crimson). I realized that this challenge would be very red intensive and I didn't want all of the days to look similar. The feel ends up being very Victoriana Santa. I like it, it's rich.

I applied a cheap clear coat to where I wanted the flocking powder to adhere and sprinkled it on. ( This lovely white is called Snow- how perfect!) ** Now here is what no one tells you about velvet manis... I use clear because I do two to three coats of the flocking powder to achieve maximum density. If you used colored lacquer you would end up with a hot mess layering like that.**

For the pinky, I decided to add a touch of whimsy by making it his belt ( Santa's smallest waistline ever?) I used Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure in Midnight in NY and Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Golden-I.

It's time to go over and check out the lovely Kelly at Tuxarina and see how she dazzled today. Remember, share the comments, share the love...

On the third day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Peppermint/Candy Canes!

Stay tuned...

 

On the First Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Snowflakes!

(Seasons) greetings, lovelies, and welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge! I hope you enjoy what we have in store for you over the next few weeks. Kelly from Tuxarina and I have been brainstorming and stockpiling Christmas nail polishes like crazy. We will be posting on weekdays through the 21st, hopefully you will get some inspiration for your Christmas manis.

Day one starts us off with snowflakes. I wanted to capture the depth and layering of snowflakes as they fall at dusk- so New England. My base color is Revlon's Smoldering ( Butter London's Knackered dupe).

With a nail art brush and Finger Paints Paper Mache, I painted snowflakes alternating with coats of Smoldering and a coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball sandwiched inbetween. I finished with a Sephora by OPI matte coat.

Please check out my amazing Challenge Companion, Kelly's blog! Share the comments, share the love...

On the second day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me- Santa!

Stay tuned...

 

Mad for Plaid: Guest Post at Tuxarina!

Kelly graciously allowed me to Guest Post over at Tuxarina. Go on over and check it out! She has a wonderful blog with a great selection of indie polish reviews and amazing nail art. 

Also don't forget- she and I start the Christmas Challenge tomorrow and we are still looking for company...

 

12 Days of Christmas: The Announcement!

The challenge has been announced and we are starting December 6th! 

See Kelly's post at Tuxarina for the details, there is still time to join in.

(And before you say this is your first nail art free post- you are only half right. I assisted with the challenge graphic (note the ECK hanging out next to the package..lol))

Icy indigo intrigue: OPI's Tomorrow Never Dies

By now you know my obsession with OPI gelcolor, James Bond, and dark nail colors. Tomorrow Never Dies pulls all of that together in one glorious package. It is a stunning indigo shade (I refuse to say blurple... lol) with a lot of depth. In the light, cobalt blue and pink micro shimmer pop. 

Once again, this is a color that gel does it more justice than lacquer. ( I have a matching pedi in the lacquer) I was tempted to do another trigger mani or some sort of color combo, but the Skyfall gelcolor collection is only half of the size of the the standard one. (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Casino Royale, Skyfall, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and the Spy Who Loved Me) That being said, I really wanted to use On Her Majesty's Secret Service again (that shade is beyond amazing!!!) but held myself back.

 
To "ring" in December, a bit of silver and white snowflake art adorns my finger. (And this shot doubles as a nice macro!) It snowed today for most of the day. Oh, the season has begun!

 In other news, I received my Julep December Maven box and Mojo looks forward to interviewing the next group of "ladies" soon. I'll be wrapping up my birthday manicure trilogy soon and look forward to starting the Christmas Challenge. There is still time to join in... contact Kelly at Tuxarina.