Mermaid Mani!

NAIL ART WHAAAAAT?!  I know.  Three posts in one day AND nail art?  Who am I??!

What's better than glitter and holo?  Adding a mermaid.  Duh.

Mermaid Mani

My nails aren't long enough to fit the whole stamp, so her head kinda got cut off :/  I still like the look though!

Mermaid Mani
sun

I used Essie Butler Please, Color Club Kismet on pinky (and for stamp), and Chaos and Crocodiles Underwater Treasure to create this mani.  I ordered the Winstonia stamping plates based solely on the mermaid stamp.  Good buy I think! ;P

Lots of Manis!

Oyyy why do I put these off?! lol Let's get in to it!

I ordered more Lime Crime polish!  This is two coats Peaches <3 Cream (Peaches & Cream??).  As with the other two LC's I've used, the first coat is a little streaky, but a good thick coat followed by a thin second coat gets the job done.

Lime Crime Peaches <3 Cream

I stumbled on my Cameo Colours Lacquers thermolinear holo polishes and gave Sun Kissed a go. This is two coats, no undies.  Wonderful application and a great thermal effect.  I never did get a good sun holo pic of this one :[  When warm the polish is a light yellow when warm and a nice tangerine orange when cold.

Cameo Colours Lacquers Sun Kissed
Left, warm; Right cold

Cameo Colours Lacquers Sun Kissed
transition

Check out Cameo Colours Lacquers by clicking here to visit her Etsy shop.  Stay tuned for my second post where I show some amazingness!!! (If you follow me on IG, you already know! ;]) 
IG: @CameoColoursLacquers

Next I painted a pretty go-to of mine.  Essie Turquoise and Caicos.  I WAS going to do a mint to orange gradient that I saw in some magazine.  I've seriously tried that combo (and a million other mint/turquoise/orange combos) at least seven times.  Never works ;[  But this is pretty anyways.

Essie Turquoise & Caicos

I was major lacking motivation after that gradient nail-fail.  I turned to my indies to cheer me up.  I chose to use Disturbed Polish Strawberry Short-CAKE.  I did three coats, no undies.  SSC is a crelly off white/baby pink based polish with pretty mint, emerald, magenta, and pink hex glitters with a few pink squares sprinkled in.  I love my Disturbed Polish!  I need more in my life!! lol

Disturbed Polish Strawberry Short-CAKE

Visit the Disturbing Behavior shop by clicking here.  Annette also makes amazing body butters, soaps, lip balms, jewelry and more!  You're missing out if you haven't tried any!
IG: @playwanet

I wanted to do a contrasting mani and also use my super holo Nebula from Lust Nail Lacquer.  This is what I came up with.  Sally Hansen Onyx and China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy.  I did two coats of each and topped the SH with Nebula.  (I couldn't bear to cover up FFF)

Sally Hansen Onyx and China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

Nebula was a little thick, but it turned out okay.

Lust Nail Lacquer Nebula over Sally Hansen Onyx

Go see what other awesome polish Lust Nail Lacquer has by clicking here.
IG: @LustNailLacquer

OKAY I got really excited about finding this brand.  I alllllllways saw LTHP do manis with Sation, butI could NEVER find it ANYWHERE.  I was in the check out line at Marshall's/Homegoods and there was a bin of them!  For $2.99!  I don't know if I'm a huge fan.  The formula was really watery and thin.  This is two coats of Just Lilac That.  It is very pretty though!

Sation Just Lilac That

Alrighty loves, thats my "chunk" post.  Two or three more baby posts are coming up soon!

The Two-Week Review

Well, this is definitely more manageable: a few week's worth of work wrapped in one post with my commentary.  I'm thinking this will be my new "style" of blogging for a while.

I started out with a plain classy white.   Okay.  I WAS going to do some dot nail art, but I got busy playing with my lipstick.

SH White On with a dumb pose by my Lime Crime Red Velvet
Velvetine lippie 

One coat SH White On

This is one coat Sally Hansen (SH) White On.  I personally LOVE this polish's formula.  I have gotten mixed feelings when I post about White On on IG.  My bottle is absolutely perfect and I have no issues with it.  Some say their bottle's formula is lumpy like most other white polish; most agree with me though.  It's hit or miss and I suspect some bottles may be on the older side.

I have been having major polish block lately.  I feel like I have so many I want to use that I just get so flustered and can't decide.  A little saying popped in to my head one night - when in doubt, wear red.  Well thanks, self, I only have 17 reds to choose from!  I finally decided on China Glaze Hey Sailor because I was in a nauti mood I suppose.

ChG Hey Sailor

I did two coats Hey Sailor.  The formula is good.  Its kind of a crelly polish.  Not exactly opaque, not exactly jelly.

Next I have an couple indies!  First I have a thermo-linear polish from Cameo Colours Lacquers.  This is called Morning Dew.  Its a thermal polish that changes from lime green when warm to teal when cool.  And y'all know "linear" refers to ... (read with Oprah voice) ... HOLOOOO!

Cameo Colours Lacquers Morning Dew
Top - Warm; Bottom - Cold; Right - Transition

PS - Thermals are the lazy girl's ombre!!  This is a super fun polish to wear if you're in a pinch but want something...jazzy?  Yeah.  Jazzy.

I slapped on some Mod Lacquer 8-Bit Digits because...micro matte neon glitter goes with everything, duh!

Cameo Colours Lacquers Morning Dew with
Mod Lacquer 8-Bit Digits

Cameo Colours Lacquers Morning Dew with
Mod Lacquer 8-Bit Digits

I don't think I ever do very girly manis.  Girly in the sense of like pinks and flowery.  So I girl'd it up with two coats Essie Fiji with one coat Different Dimension Inner Goddess.

Essie Fiji and Different Dimension Inner Goddess

I really LOVED this look but had a big problem with the DD.  It was suuuuper thick and took forrrrevvvverrrr to dry.  My polish twinnie/bestie suggested thinner, but 1) I don't own any and 2) I think an indie brand should pay more attention to their products' quality.  I have no beef whatsoever with DD, I love the brand and have never had an issue before this particular polish.

sadface

Also this gorg mani lasted less than a day because housework is evil.

Now, who doesn't love some neon & holo???  I had seen this look floating around IG for a while and wanted to try it out forever.  I did a base of NOPI Make a Comet-Ment topped with Darling Diva I'm Fwee with an accent of Orly Passion Fruit.

Neon holo goodness

I went simple with some Julep Dianna from the June Boho Glam Maven box.  This is a OCW too!  In my opinion, Julep's formula has improved so much since I first signed up in September.  I just love this sea foamy mint color!

Julep Dianna

Still with me?  Almost done!

I don't know if I have ever expressed my intense lust after Emily de Molly's The Fifth Element on the blog before.  Besides Lime Crime Pastelchio (which I have ordered and am waiting to receive!!!), THIS was my main lemming.  I NEEDED this.  It was the holy grail of indie polish.  The most beautiful thing I had laid my eyes on.  A beautiful precious gem that needed to be mine.  Yes, I was obsessed.  Well.  Katie (@notjustnails on IG) sent it to me as a surprise.  It was originally just a polish loan if you will; I was supposed to send it back after I got to have this beauty on my nails.  BUT she was nice enough to actually GIVE it to me when she found a replacement.  I seriously died.  Enough rambling: here is two coats EDM The Fifth Element!

Emily de Molly The Fifth Element

LAST ONE!  A skittlette mani!  Now, I didn't do it exactly how you're supposed to (like ChitChatNails/@martawarmuz on IG), but close enough!!  I of course wanted more glitter.  I have been feeling very blah and empty lately and my polish twinnie/bestie had the idea a while ago for black vintage roses.  Seemed to fit my current mood; I took her idea and turned it into a red/dark/glitter rose mani.

Skittlette Dark Roses

Oy, I used so many polishes:
Pointer & Pinky: SH Cherry Red topped with Stardust Polish I'm Seeing Red
Da Bling Ring: Color Club Harp On It topped with ChG Make a Spectacle
Middle & Thumb (thumb not shown, but its there!!) - Base: Orly Naughty or Nice Roses: SH Grey Area, Cherry Red, Essie Chinchilly, SH White On & Essie Good as Gold


Find the indies!  Like what you saw?  Go check out their shops & IG's!
Cameo Colours Lacquers on Etsy @CameoColoursLacquers on IG
Mod Lacquer on Etsy @ModLacquer on IG
Different Dimension on Etsy @MissiBarry on IG
Stardust Polish on Big Cartel @StardustPolish on IG
Emily de Molly is an Aussie brand that can be found on Llarowe (or visit the link to EDM's Etsy shop to find other distributors) @EmilyDeMolly on IG

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Follow me on Pinterest & IG @nauti_mermaid

"Kelly Sucks" Month-in-Review Post

LOL guys what the hell?! I can NEVER keep up with posting my nail art!! So, heres a shit ton:

First I tried another half-moon mani!
I started out with China Glaze Pool Party as the base...

I got bored and put it under a black light because, somewhat like Jenna Marbles' neighbor, maybe I enjoy one-girl raves in my apartment.

Then I wore it out with my schmexay baby octopus ring.

Then I actually got around to the nail art part:

By now, y'all know I'm super OCD with my nails, and this wasn't PERFECT, so I added holo to make it less terrible.

And then it was perfect.

I did a Nauti Neon Mani using Make It Stick decals:

[China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini over SH White On; accent SH Onyx]

I did a quick mani using Hard Candy Piece of Papaya.  A while back I saw The Lacquerologist post about the new HC polishes and I had to have some....

Gorgeous color.  HATED the cleanup.  There is SO much shimmer/flakies that it got all over my fingers/cuticles.  I'm really not a messy polish applier, seriously.  But I had shimmer up to my knuckles!! What in the world?! I like it, but I don't want to wear it again for that reason :[

I decided to give bar glitter another try...

and remembered why I loathe it so.

Rockstar Polish Punk Rock Barbie was my first ever indie glitter.  Oh when I was young and dumb.  I. HATE. BAR. GLITTER. PERIOD END OF STORY. FOR.EV.ER. 

HOWEVER: I really loved this color combo [Essie Boxer Shorts is the base], so I did this mani.  And immediately regretted it.  Bar glitter doesn't cooperate with me.  It doesn't lay flat on my nail then snags on everything and scratches me ;[ WITH two coats of Seche!!

After that mani, I realized I had large talons...

 So I filed them back to normal and slapped on some Julep Oxygen Treatment.

I rediscovered a gorgeous Zoya polish I had [Maura] and loved how it matched my geranium.

Still with me?! Almost done!

And finally a Mermaid-y Mani using Essie Naughty Nautical [HOW perfect?!], Orly Jealous, Much? and Sparkling Garbage with a MIS nail decal.

WHEW!! CLEARLY I suck at blogging now, so I suggest y'all follow me on instagram if you don't already!! [@nauti_mermaid] I always post there the minute I have a mani done.

As usual, follow me on Pinterest too!

Catch Up Post! Vintage Roses, Neon Gradient & [Early] Swatch Tuesday!

Clearly I suck at keeping up with my posts on here.  I'm so used to posting on IG all the time as soon as I'm done with my manis :( Anyways, I FINALLY attempted vintage roses that turned out VERY successful in my opinion!

Vintage Roses

Vintage Roses

I used a crazy amount of nail polish for this.  Ya ready?

Yellow Base: Milani Yellow Whiz

Roses: Essie Mod Square, Cascade Cool, and Fiji

Leaves: Essie Pretty Edgy and Navigate Her

Pink Holo Accent Nail: Color Club Miss Bliss topped with Milani Jewel FX Hot Pink

When I get a little better I hope to do a tutorial for this look! 

I also did a kick ass neon gradient!

I used China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and Japanese Koi over SC Snow Me White.

ChG Neon Gradient 

ChG Neon Gradient

ChG Neon Gradient

Like my sweet new black light?!

Gradient vs. Ombre: What the Fuck is the Difference??  IS there a fucking difference?

The answer is YES THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!  and no its not because ombre is a trendy hipster term.  Damn hipsters.

I digress.

The difference between a gradient and ombre is as follows:

**********

Gradient uses two or more DIFFERENT colors...such as mine above.

Ombre uses different shades of the SAME color...such as fading from light green to dark green.

Think of it like this: GradienT, differenT; OmbrE, samE

**********

Annnnnd it IS Swatch Tuesday after all [tomorrow], so enjoy this swatch of SC Dream On.

Two coats Sinful Colors Dream On

Two coats Sinful Colors Dream On

I did two coats Dream On, no undies, no tops.  Its a beautiful vivid purple that dries squishy-matte.  I am so in love!  BUT it chips so easy!  I did this late Sunday night and I had three fingers chip before I even got to work at 8:30 this morning! :(  I'm sure it had to do with the fact I didn't topcoat it, but I loved the matte look.

So apparently I can't stick to a certain "schedule" with my manis and posting, so I'm just going to post on my blog as I do my nails.  I'll still do drinks [obviously ... TIPSY Tips lol] but it might just not be specifically on Friday any more.  And Swatch Tuesday might happen on a Monday or something.  We shall see.  Life is hard when I have to decide between cooking myself dinne [or like, showering or drooling over Don Draper on Mad Men] and doing my nails

As usual: follow me on Pinterest & IG [@nauti_mermaid].

Moscato Spritzer and Random Nail Art

Well shoot guys!  I'm out of practice!  Completely forgot about my usual Friday post so I'm scrambling to write this quickly.

Today I have this simple drink recipe that I found on Pinterest.  To make a Moscato Spritzer,

You'll Need:
Moscato [Barefoot brand is my favoritest of all]
OJ
Cranberry Juice

Make It!
This recipe only calls for one ounce of wine with 1/2 oz each of OJ & cranberry juice.  I don't know about you, but that's what I'd call a shot.  So lets step this up a tad, shall we??  Fill your glass with a few glugs of wine...about half full.  Then add OJ & cranberry to taste.  We make big girl drinks around these parts!  lol

Random Nail Arts!
In my new found freedom of polishing my nails whenever I want, I have been stepping up my nail art [yay!].  Below are a few designs I'm particularly proud of :)

First, I have a successful kick ass blue to purple gradient* topped with glittahhhh!  I used Essie Bikini So Teeny as the blue base and phased into L'Oreal Royalty Reinvented then topped with China Glaze Make a Spectacle.  I did these with my polish buddy Katie [as in nail polish...not actually Polish] for the Bestie Twin Nail tag on IG.
*my quick gradient tutorial found here.

Next is a schweeeeet nude holographic and bright red freehanded leopard print mani.  I used Color Club Cherubic as the nude base, and China Glaze Hey Sailor as the red base.  I dotted with the same and used Sally Hansen Onyx for the black.  Also did this look for BTN with Katie.

On to the mints!  I REALLY like mint lately!  I used China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint and Color Club Harp On It for this mani.  I was attempting chevrons for the NailArtMar challenge by @californails on IG.  This was my first ever "chevron" attempt.  I don't think this should actually qualify as chevron, but whatever.  It turned out decent enough.  I used painter's tape [frog tape] to make the triangles.  

Lastly, for BTN and the NailArtMar [stripes], I did mint base with gold zebra stripes.  I used Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, stamped with Essie Good As Gold [Bundle Monster stamp plate BM-223].  On the accent nail I used Black Cat Lacquer Doomsday [or as I call it: #HOLYSHITBALLZANDGLITTER].  

Okay y'all!  Enjoy your weekend!  Next Friday I hope to include a mocktail drink as well for all the youngins, pregos, or non-alcoholics...whatever your situation may be!  ;P