Bond... James Bond...Magnetic

 

Being a fan of the James Bond movies, OPI, and magnetic polishes, picking up one of the new Skyfall magnetics was a must.  The magnet design was unique to all other magnets I've seen.  It is comfortable and simple to use.  The gold tone of Bond..James Bond is warm and complements my skin tone.

 

 

The magnet brings out the silver design.

 

I wanted to add a little color to make it more "Holiday Festive".  I decided on green gems vs red ones.

 

Does anyone remember the James Bond Jr. cartoon.  It was a favorite of mine.  I still remember the phrase  "The name's Bond..James Bond...Jr".  They should bring it back for the new generation.

My China Glaze Crackle Dried Up!

Every six weeks or so, my daughter and I go through my nail polish collection and give each one a good shaking up.  The glitters get flipped opposite of how it was standing, thick polishes get some thinner, etc, etc...  This month, the Revlon Moon Candies needed thinner.  This is a little too soon, considering I just got them about 3-4 months ago. But what I'm really surprised about is how my CG Metalic Crackle completely dried up.  The bottle was shut tight and it looked fine last time I went through my polishes.  I'm not sure how long shelf life is for a Crackle/Shatter.  I've had it about 1 1/2 years.  Some of my OPI Shatters I've had longer and they are still good (the white IS getting thicker).
Has anyone else had this happen?

Snowflakes

It took three days to complete this look and I'm liking the results. I hope it lasts awhile. This is a simple manicure, but I had other things going and wanted to take pics before I did the stamping. I used Essie Smooth Sailing as my base color. It is a nice periwinkle blue infused with silver sparkle. A perfect winter color ( even though its from a summer collection). I sponged on Sinful Colors Cinderella ( a slightly sheer baby blue with pink sparkle). The two blues blended nicely. It stayed like this for a couple days before I used the full snowflake BM-323 plate design with Konad white polish. Sealed the design with Konad top coat. I really like the silver and pink sparkle combo that shines through the snowflakes. I'm thinking this will be my favorite manicure this month and have no intention of removing it anytime soon.

Claire's Sun Changers and Special Edition BM plate

I normally don't buy Claire's polishes because they usually chip within a day (on me anyway), however, these Sunchangers were too fun to pass up.  They don't change under a lamp-sunlight only. The color change is almost instant.  The two I picked up are sheer and best layered over another color.  I didn't try them on yet, but I wanted to post these up since they are Buy 1 Get 1 50% off.  Priced at $7.00/each. 

I also received my Bundle Monster SE1 plate.  Since I live in Hawaii- it was a had to have design plate.  It was free with order.  Great excuse to finally get the Nail Gem wheels I had been wanting.  The images are large and don't all fit on my nubbies right now.  I'm really liking the gift wrap with poinsettia on it.   Maybe by the end of the month my nails will have grown out enough to fit some of the images.

First Holiday Manicure and what I've been doing through November

Oh my! I've neglected my blog for a while. It's because I painted both of my daughters rooms during the November month. My nails were covered in primer and paint. Paint also sticks to nail polish and does not scrub off. I had textured lime green nails that looked like a version of the upcoming spring China Glazes. I finally stopped so I could decorate for the holidays and focus on all things Christmas. I still have to finish the windows in one room and the entire closet in the other. That will have to wait until after New Years.
My nails got chopped short due to all the wear, tear, and breakage.  By the time it grows back, I will have started to paint again.
This is my first official December manicure.  I wanted something frosty and glittery-like a holiday ornament.  Here is what I came up with.

For this manicure, I used
Seche Vite base coat
2 coats SH Gem Crush in Big Money
I coat OPI Don't Touch My Tutu
A dot of Big Money along my cuticles and spread it down using a dotting tool
A dot of Milani Lavender Jewel FX and spread it by brushing over a top coat

Here are some pics of the rooms.

This pic shows up more yellow but it is actually a honeydew green.

My 5 year olds room.  It has a princess theme that suits her well.

My 3 year olds room.  It's fun and playful.

Her bed is a mess, but I love this pose.

This is what the room walls looked like before. 
It was dark and her room doesn't catch the sunlight well. 

Grape purples

I was in a purple mood so I reached for my favorite grape purple- Funky Dunkey. I then sponged over Grape, Set, Match over. The gradient is really subtle. My Funkey Dunkey has reached the halfway level in the bottle and I've only had it for less than two years. I didn't realize I wore it that much. I was going through my stamp plates and ended up choosing something I've done before using BM-323. Barbed wire (Celeb City) with fimo roses alternating with full roses (The Color of Minnie). I sealed everything using Out the Door. I like this version better than the black/white one I did. It's less "in you face".

All That Glitters

I told myself I was going to skip this years Mac Holiday collection. Then I saw it in person and all rational thinking went out the door.  The MAC girl even remembered me from last year. I went cuckoo over the Glitter and Ice showcase. This years Glamour Daze isn't as great to me ( thank goodness) but I did find the perfect lipstick for me in "Innocence".  It was already sold out online. I also finished my collection of SE brushes with the pink "classic" set. Two of The fluid liners were the first items I went home with and last I grabbed All That Glitters polish. I was nervous when I approached the display and is wasn't there. The MAC girl had 2 left which made my final decision to buy it. All That Glitters is a black polish with pink and blue glitter. It is a two coater and dries fairly quick. No problems with streaking and it dries to a matte. I used a top coat but it sucked it up and feels grainy. Wear time was only a day. By the following evening, all nails had a lot of chipping along the tips. I didn't need remover, everything flaked off by the time I came out of the shower that night. Glitter polish does chip fast but this one takes the cake. 

Here Today, Aragon Tommorrow

November is here and there is no shortage of activities and events.  I think I have something going every weekend of this month.  I'm going to have to check what I previously commiited for.   Hopefully I can still keep up doing my nails and posting them.  I have a list of ideas for this month that I'd like to use.  Today is something that I've had in a folder for a few months.  It was for a guest post that didn't happen.  This is OPI Here Today, Aragon Tommorrow.  It's a classic in my books.  I used BM-316 with OPI Happy Anniversary and alternated with BM Fimo Flowers to brighten things up.

Lava

This is two coats of Lustre Shine Lava over OPI Flit a Bit (orange cream). Lava is sheer and I wanted to try it over a color. I thought I would really like Lava, but I'm really not that impressed with it. The strong duochrome is there, it flashes pink/orange.  I was hoping it would be more opaque with a red/orange duochrome. I added some Cosmic flakies from Revlons Moon Candy. Even though I'm not happy with it, I've gotten quite a few comments on this color.  I'll try layering it over another color and see if I can find a combo that I'm satisfied with.
All pics were taken indoors.  I didn't get a chance to take pictures in direct sunlight.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!  Tonight we are going to stay in and watch movies since its a school night. My girls and I went to the mall event this past Saturday and that was their Halloween.  My three year old also has a event at school today so she will probably sleep early.   I feel like it's been Halloween all month.  We decorated at the beginning of the month and every Friday they have been practicing Trick or Treating around the house.  We've done halloween art projects, watched halloween cartoons, baked cookies, and I've been doing halloween manicures throughtout the month.  The pumpkin was also carved two weeks ago.  Everything we did was staggered because I didn't want to overwhelm the girls by doing everything around the same time.  Trick or Treating at their age is one big event as it is.
Today I'm showing you one of the designs I did for the Bundle Monster design contest that didn't make the entry.  I used OPI Funky Donkey as the base and sponged Milani Silver Dazzle on the tips.  The ring finger was SC Neon Melon as a base and using a reenforcer, I brushed on Funky Donkey.  All stamps was from the 2012 BM plate set.  X-treme Wear Celeb City was used to do the stamping.

 

Have a safe, Happy Halloween! Please watch out for the children who are out trick or treating tonight.

Formidable

This is my only post this week.  That's a first.  Life has been busy and I haven't had time to change my nails or edit pics.  One of the things I have going this week is my daughter's school book fair.  I'm one of the volunteers and have been having fun doing it and meeting a lot of really nice people.  After the book fair this afternoon, I start a cooking class that is also at school.  It's a four week course and I get to learn some healthy, cost efficient recipes. 
Today I am showing you MAC Formidable. It was a lemming for a long time and I'm happy that it is now part of their permanent line. I used two coats but could have gone for three for full coverage. It went on smooth and dried fairly quick without a top coat. There is blue glitter in the polish that gives it a nice blue flash. I then stamped the spiderwebs and spiders with Bundle Monster BM13 using Konad white polish. I would probably wear this combo again even if its not October. It's subtle but interesting to look at.

Moon Candy Meteor

There are two new colors added to the Revlon Moon Candy line.  Eclipse and Meteor.  Today I used Meteor.  The base is an army green that needed two coats for opacity.  I brushed on a coat of Fantasy Makers Glow in the Dark polish.  I think it needed two coats because I don't see a glow.  The flakies went on very smooth in one coat and gave good coverage. More coverage than Galactic.  The flakies flash green, gold, and teal.  Fimo stars completed this manicure.

Mystery Half Moon

I've been wanting to try a half-moon mani for quite some time now.  Now I can mark that off my list.  I paired WNW Fastdry in Twining Vines with OPI DS Mystery.  Because of the greenish glitter in Mystery, the two polishes compliment each other well.  I still need more practice using the reinforcement labels. This was taken after a couple days of use-hence the tip wear.

Halloween Nails

Here is another Halloween design.  I used 2 coats of OPI Into the Night. Below my cuticles is Icing Glamourous (a holographic glitter).  I have been neglecting my cuticles and am a little embarrassed to show them. The stamping was with Konad white polish and this years Bundle Monster plates.  I finally used the Batman fimo.  I kept this on for a few days and was kind of bummed to remove it.