Nails of November #13: Thanksgiving Haul

Today is the final post for my Nails of November series! It's a haul post of five polishes that I bought over Thanksgiving at my favorite nail polish haven store, Beautyland, and one polish that my sister gave me.
The five polishes I bought to add to my collection were: Butter London Giddy Kipper, China Glaze Highlight of My Summer, China Glaze Don't Make Me Wine, China Glaze Infra Red, and Healthy Hoof Hoof Lacquer. The sixth polish my sister gave me was Essie Lots of Lux. I can't wait to use them!

Nails of November #12: Gridlocked

This manicure is actually old. I found the photo on my camera when I was clearing out the memory and realized I never posted them! What do you think?

Nails of November #11: You Stay Classy

I went to see Catching Fire at the cinema with my older sister and there was a preview for the second Anchorman. I must admit there's a soft spot in my heart for Anchorman so I'm pretty psyched for it to come out. I went with some classy nails!
You stay classy San Diego!

Nails of November #10: Peaches and Cr--Stripes!

Please excuse the mess that is my desk usually when I do my nails...I didn't take the time to crop this photo like I normally do. For today I have a simple peach/nude manicure turned stripe fiasco on the ring finger as an accent.
For this look I used a bunch of random polishes that I pulled out of my Helmer:
China Glaze Sunset Sail as the base
Zoya Snow White
Color Club Art Club in Red
Color Club Art Club in Grape Escape
Kiss Brush-On Nail Art Paint in Soft Blue
Seche Vite on top, as always!

Nails of November #9: PUMPed Up Nails

I wanted to do a bit of stamping during Nails of November with a brand new never-used-by-me-before stamp that was really girly and fun. How did I miss this little gem? It's a stamp of HIGH HEEL PUMPS (hence the title)! What?! Yes. I have a feeling my mom would LOVE this and I have to say I don't know why I didn't think to use this for her birthday but anyway, this was exactly what I was looking for to use for today's post. 
I used China Glaze For Audrey and BundleMonster plate 213 stamped in Orly Liquid Vinyl.
Adorable, no?

Nails of November Post #8 - Swatch: OPI I Have A Herring Problem


This post is actually from the vault (aka, pulled from my computer because I forgot I made it!). Here we go, another Nails of November swatch. This time I can't say I'm left as giddy with polishaffection as I was with Sinful Colors Blue By You from November 1st but...eh, this one is just plain ok. The polish in the bottle looks much much more beautiful than it does in these pictures or on my nails. I thought the color would look really nice with my skintone but...ehhh I think I'm wrong. This polish is OPI I Have a Herring Problem. I think it might be a dupe for Zoya Skylar but, since I own Jo and not Skylar, I can't post a Dupe Dispute on that.  Overall this polish leaves me with an overwhelming sense of blah. Although my actual nail length and shape in this photo is phenoms. They are almost all even...and are pretty long for me. Too bad they are totally not like this anymore!




Nails of November Post #7 - Swatch: OPI Flit A Bit

OPI Flit A Bit is just a fun, bright, spring/summer shade that will brighten your day every time you catch sight of your nails. It applies fully opaque in one coat if you put the perfect amount on the brush (just allow a bit more dry time because the polish is thicker than a normal coat). I really like this polish all year long just because it uplifting. So if there were a few days of rain and dreary weather I would probably put this polish on just because it's "happy."


Do you have that one go-to spring color?

Nails of November #6 - Secret Garden Anyone?

This nail design reminds me of the movie The Secret Garden because of the stamped design I used. I also tried my hand at layered stamping which I saw a few times while perusing some of my favorite nail blogs. It's simple, easy, and quick, but it looks so intricate and fancy or in my case looks like a train wreck.
For this design I painted a base coat of China Glaze Recycle on all fingers and then stamped the gorgeous vine design on BundleMonster plate BM225 in either Orly Liquid Vinyl followed by Zoya Robyn or Orly Liquid Vinyl and Essence Silver Surfer (on my ring finger for a bit of an accent).

Nails of November #5: Captivating Crackled Nails

As mentioned before, I wanted to do some stamping for Nails of November because I have so many options when it comes to stamps and there are so many options for ultimate designs. For this one I kept it sort of simple with just two colors and one stamp. I used my "fauxnad" BundleMonster plate (specifically BM-215) and stamped Essie Sassy Satchel over China Glaze Sunset Sail. I think the colors look nice together. I didn't realize until now that this stamp would be giraffe designs really really easy.
Do you have a "go to" color for designs?




Also, a huge thank you to all the service members, past and present, who have spent their time serving to keep our nation safe and secure. A special thank you to my father, my dear pops, my Dad, a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. To all the Marines out there I extend a "semper fi" and an "Ooh ra" on his behalf. To all service members, God bless and thank you.

Nails of November #4: Polish for Charity

As I posted previously on October 24th, Clinique and the Happy Hearts Fund partnered up to bring polish lovers everywhere a gorgeous pink polish for a good case. With each purchase, $5 would be given to the Happy Hearts Fund, a fund created to help children who are victims of natural disasters. I posted about the polish to try to spread awareness and get my fellow polish hoarders to pick up some polish for a good price AND a good cause! And don't worry, I got one too!

It's a beautiful and cheerful pink and it totally fits it's name, "Happy", since you will smile every time you check out your nails throughout the day. The packaging was adorable too.
Also, I GOT A NEW COMPUTER!!! So, naturally I had to test out the new built-in webcam.

Not sure I'll use it for my design and close up pics because it's a little fuzzy(?). But I'm thrilled and I'm loving the new computer!

Nails of November #3: Ode to Seche Vite

If you please, a poem...

My nails are a canvas
Quite tiny at that
But still with my nail polish, 
I try to paint a cat.

Although some designs flop,
others are grand.
And if you saw them in person
they're the best in the land.

What helps these designs be so great you might ask.
Fret not dear old friend
It's quite simple a task.

The answer is a polish
That covers your hands and feet
It's clear and dries quickly
It's called SECHE VITE!

Hahahhahaha, yes that was just written and uploaded forever to the blogosphere. No regrets. Haha. On a serious note though, I seriously don't know what I would do without the Seche Vite fast-drying top coat. It dries literally in less than 15 seconds to a nice sturdy, hard finish and it cuts my nail painting time by two thirds. I recently went a tad crazy after two bottles which thickened to an un-usable point and I bought...wait for it...
Yes, a 4.0 fluid ounce bottle of the top coat (a "Professionals" product, lol) so I could refill my bottles when I run out. I didn't stop there though! I also bought the Seche Vite Restore, which will take ANY thickened polish and restore it to it's fluid awersomeness. I wish I would have known about that before I threw out my two old, thick bottles of Seche Vite.
On a more depressing note, does anyone else have any thoughts on the warnings that are on Seche Vite bottles about being a carcinogen or link to birth defects or something? Is that Cali being overly concerned with chemicals or should I consider not using Seche Vite? Any thoughts?

Remember remember, the 5th of November
The gun powder treason and plot
I know of no reason, why the gun powder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Nails of November #2: Nautical Niceness

Nails of November is hopping on the Nautical trend from last year. How adorable? I really love blue, gold, and white together and there's something about it that is just inherently perfect for a nail design. I used Orly White Out for the base color and China Glaze First Mate for the stripes. The anchor was made by hand (can't you tell?) in a detailer brush polish from the Icing but there's no name so...just a gold nail art polish from the Icing is the best description I've got. The anchor is a little not centered and a little crooked but c'est la vie!

NAILS OF NOVEMBER Post #1 - Swatch: Sinful Colors Blue By You

To make up for the fact that I have posted only sporadically for basically the whole of the year 2013...I'm going to really try to post every other day during the month of November. Let's call this "Nails of November" shall we? To kick off this little blog-event, I have a new swatch post!I haven't done a swatch post of Sinful Colors "Blue By You" and I have no idea why I haven't grabbed this polish more often because it's absolutely GORGE! I'm serious. If you don't own it go out and buy it....right now. Get yo shoes and wallet and peddle those perfectly polished feet right out the door to get your manicured hands on this baby. (Too much??) Anyway, this polish is a luxe cobalt blue that seriously will distract you all day long because it has shimmering flecks of aquamarine. Like Edward Cullen in the daylight, this little polish packs a punch and sparkles in the sunlight. It ALMOST reminds me of a holographic polish but it's not quite at that level. I only own a few Sinful Colors I love the Sinful Colors brand because it's super cheap and the formula is usually pigmented enough that it becomes opaque (but not thick or blotchy) in 2 coats. To be safe, I applied 3 because I'm like that (ya know?) but I definitely could have called it after 2 and it would've looked perfection.  As you guys know I absolutely LOVE any and every blue polish so I was very excited to try out this one. 
It's gel-icious and the flecks are to die for. I <3 this polish.
For some reason this polish makes me think of the song that goes
"I don't think you're ready for this jelly. I don't think you're ready for this jelly..." 
Anyone else??
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