Pink of Hearts Skittles

My aunt recently gifted me the OPI 2012 Pink of Hearts set.  She saw it at her hair dresser and thought of me.  This is my first Pink of Hearts polish and was very excited to receive it.  I kept it on my table for a week before deciding on this skittle. 
My ring finger is two coats of You Glitter be Good To Me.  It is not meant to be a full coverage glitter.  Even though there are bald spaces, the color combo of the glitter keeps it from being noticeable in person.  Middle finger is three coats of I Think In Pink.  This one is labeled as a "dreamy sheer pink".  It reminds me a little of I Theodora You, but slightly more pink.  All other fingers are two coats of The One That Got Away.  I still have my mini bottle from the Katy Perry Collection.  I brushed halfway down from my cuticles a thin coat of You Glitter Be Good To Me. 

Its been overcast and raining a lot so I'm really liking my sparkly nails to brighten things up.

Fuzzy Coat Wool Lite

I am really liking the double accents.  This is the third in a row I've done.  I don't know if I can go back to using one color on all ten fingers.  Using different colors at once keeps it interesting and I don't have the urge to change my polish that often. 
My pointer and pinkie is WNW Wild Shine in Night Prowl, Revlon Facets of Fuschia on thumb (not pictured), and OPI Steady As She Rose topped with Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat in Wool Lite on middle and ring.  Four polishes total.

 

I'm still trying to figure out my new camera.  I've been taking a lot of blurry pictures and missing all those Kodak moments.  With the girls, I have to be fast to get a good picture.  They won't wait for me to adjust modes and color.  My daughter just had her May Day school program this morning and all the pictures are blurry.  I used Auto and Live modes and just found out I have a low light option.  For the moment, it's set on portrait.  I just want to point and shoot, not have to make everyone wait while I adjust my camera.  This is one of the better pictures taken.  It's not sharp or color accurate.  But at least their faces aren't blurred.

Double Accent Nails

This is my first bright manicure of the month. "When Monkeys Fly" has been sitting on my dresser waiting for another turn.  I paired it with "My Boyfriend Scales Walls"-my go to white.  I'm over the single accent nail and have not yet mastered the art of skittles.  Doing a double accent is very much in my comfort zone.  It feels more balanced-if that makes any sense.  My thumb, pointer, and pinkie is "Conga-Line Coral".  This is an OPI from back in Summer of 2009.  It doesn't look like much in the bottle.  I found it in a $2 clearance bin about three years ago when I was rebuilding my nail polish collection.  I'm glad I got it.  On the nail-it's a stunner! 

Right now I'm downsizing my polish collection.  I grew it too much.  I just sold thirteen bottles this weekend in a garage sale.  I'm planning on going through my dupes and non OPI brands and eliminating more polishes.  It will make my monthly polish maintenance routine a little less time consuming.  It will also mean that beautiful colors like the ones I'm wearing will get more use.  I'm also being ultra selective when purchasing new colors.  I haven't bought anything new for three weeks now. 

Stranger Tides with Shine of the Times and Polish Maintenance

It's the time of year when I bring out my Pirates of the Carribean polish collection.  I'm really fond of this set.  I have the mini pack and some full size bottles.  Stranger Tides is in a mini bottle.  It is half empty.  I think I have two more uses left.  I added a drop of thinner to it, but I really should use it up this year before it gets goopy or streaky.  I used two coats and then brushed Essie Shine of the Times from the tip going up halfway.  That is another beautiful polish that is no longer available.   The stamping was done with plates BM-311 and Konad m66 using SH Insta-Dri in Coco-a-Go-Go.   Coco was another limited polish that I hope they bring back.  It is my favorite color to stamp with. 
This was done right before my nails broke and I had to trim them really short.

About once a month/month and a half, I do some polish maintenance.  I go through EVERY bottle and give them a good shake so they don't permanently separate.  If it is starting to thicken, I will add a few drops of thinner.   What I have never done until now is clean the bottle necks.  Only found out about doing that very recently.  No wonder two of my shatters dried up.  The polish dries up around the top and no matter how tight you think you are closing your bottle, air is still coming in, slowly drying up your polish.  It took a while, but every bottle (including all my nail art bottles) are cleaned.  They were all pretty crusty around the top.  Even some drugstore polishes that I've never used yet.
It's a pet peeve of mine when people open nail polish in the store and paint the shelves and make a mess of the bottles.  I don't think I would be able to work in the cosmetic department of a store.  I would be giving lectures to customers.  Painting the shelf is not going to tell you how a polish is.  There are so many swatches online that it is not neccessary to paint the shelf or the little paper they tape on the rack.  The polish section in Wal-Mart is awful.  There is paint on the racks and it looks like several bottles had dropped and spilled polish all over the floor.  They just got a new display, but the worker said it won't stay that nice for long.  I stopped buying from Wal-Mart because I feel like I'm buying used polish.  Okay I'm done ranting and completely got off track.
Why am I being so anal about polish maintenance you might ask?  Well, on a lot of sites, they say nail polish lasts about two years.  It can be true.  If you don't store, shake, and clean your bottles properly.  Most polishes are not cheap.  Even some drugstore brands.  It's an investment that I want to take care of.  I want to be able to use a polish until it is empty before throwing it out.    I am in quite a ranting mood today.

Moody Nails

I usually change my nails to match my mood.  In the evening, I had on Softshade Skittles.  It was light and pretty.  The next morning, it looked quite irratating and I removed it immediately.  Right now, I have my polish in groups.  A basket of Summer shades, a basket for Spring.  All others are in their designated place in my nail cabinet.  There was nothing I felt like in either basket and wanted a dark Fall shade instead.  In the pictures it looks black.  This is two "sister" colors.  Both OPI.  My pinkie and pointer is DS Mystery-a dark purple with fine gold glitter.  Middle and ring is Live and Let Die  from the holiday Skyfall collection.  It is a dark green/teal with the same fine gold glitter.  The stamping is with Konad plate m77 and Sally Hansen X-treme Wear in Golden-I (a polish reserved just for stamping).  In person, both colors are obvious.  On camera it just looks black.  I tried taking pics in the lightbox-didn't make a difference.  Tried lightening the photos, adjusting color balance.  Still black.  Oh well.  I am happy with my "moody" nails.