End Of Summer Neons

So I decided to send summer out with a bang (when it came to my nails at least). This will probably be my last super bright mani of the season. I for one am super glad that summer is over; I've never been a huge fan. I suppose it is in large part due to the fact that I'm so pale I'm practically translucent. I can't be out in the sun for more than 5 minutes without turning into a lobster and I only have two shades of skin...super white or super red. And I can't stand being hot (although where we live it's foggy a good portion of the summer which I kinda love). And I don't particularly love the beach although I've lived on the coast of California my whole life. As I said, just not my favorite season. But I do love the bright colors of the season and I'm really glad that neons have made their way back into the spotlight. I really love them as nail polish colors. So for this mani I used China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard, China Glaze Sun-Kissed and Pretty & Polished Valentino.

My camera could not quite capture the true colors of these; they are too bright. As with a similar mani I was inspired for the color placement by Carly of the Lacquered Lover blog. She commented on one of my Instagram pics that she thinks of it as the Carly so that is what it shall be named as far as I'm concerned.

I love the way this style of mani looks; and it's a great way to use more than one polish. And I am still completely obsessed with black and white glitters and need to get my hands on as many as I can. They look great over any color. And of course I had to make some earrings out of this combo (although they aren't quite earrings yet, I need to get some more posts). I decided to use most of my neon polishes and I absolutely love how they turned out!

Top row L-R: Sun-Kissed, I'm With The Lifeguard, Flirty Tankini

Bottom row L-R: Rose Among Thorns, Ride The Waves, Japanese Koi

(All China Glaze)

So, there ya' have it...my last super bright mani of the season. Time to bust out the fall colors.

'Til We Meet Again...

Rebecca  :)   

*I purchased all of the products myself*

Vivid Lacquer Cookies And Cream

Hey all! (If there is anyone still around to read this). It's been a while but here I am. So, a month or a few ago, Anni from Vivid Lacquer had a Facebook post stating that she wanted bloggers to review her products. I wrote to her thinking that I would have zero chance of being chosen because, let's face it, I don't have the largest or most consistent blog out there. But she told me that didn't matter and sent me 3 of her polishes to review! I was pretty stoked to tell you the truth. Money has been a bit tight lately so I haven't been able to buy any of the new pretties coming out and it was nice to be able to get some new things. The first of the three I got was Cookies And Cream. Because I am definitely a crazy cat lady, I love the cute little cat in her logo.

Cookies And Cream is a sheer milky white base packed with small black hex glitter, black shards and matte silver shards. I used 3 coats on its own to give it more of a jelly sandwich kind of look but when I wear it again I think I'll put a white base coat beneath it. I used 3 coats with a coat of Barielle quick dry topcoat and a coat of Poshe. I tried the Barielle first because I recently got it for really cheap at Marshall's and wanted to give it a try. Ten minutes after applying it, the polish was still tacky; I don't know if the Barielle just didn't play nice with this polish or if it just doesn't like me. I'll have to try it with another polish to find out. But I put a coat of Poshe over it all and there were no issues. So here it is: 3 coats of Cookies And Cream, a coat of Barielle and a coat of Poshe.

And of course, I had to make a pair of earrings out of it too.

You can find Anni's creations in her Etsy shop here: Vivid Lacquer . She also sells stamping plates; one of which has the butterfly wing that I have been dying to try (and I'm too lacking in artistic skills to freehand it). The other 2 polishes she sent to me will be in upcoming posts. Thanks for sticking around!

'Til We Meet Again...
Rebecca  :)

*Products in this post were provided to me for review.*

 

31 Day (Or Something Like That) Nail Challenge - Day 5

Well, here we are on day 5 of the nail challenge and I'm getting to the end of what I have prepared. I'll probably have some random days here and there when I do my nails but it won't be every day. This day's challenge was blue and I chose China Glaze Frostbite.

It's a really difficult blue to capture in photos because it's so bright and saturated; but I think this pic does the best job of the ones I took. It's a beautiful, deep, bright royal blue with amazing shimmer and shine. Whenever I wear this polish I can't stop staring at my nails; it's kinda captivating. And I was feeling crafty this weekend and made a pair of earrings with it too:

So, there you have it; a polish challenge blue day. I would definitely recommend picking up this polish if you don't already have it. It's one of my faves. And as before, don't forget to check out the other blogs that are participating in the challenge.

'Til We Meet Again...
Rebecca  :)
 

31 Day (Or Something Like That) Nail Challenge - Day 4

Hello again and welcome to day 4 of the 31-day nail challenge. Today's challenge is green and I chose Milani Flamboyant Green.

This is such a pretty green; I would describe it as a dusty grass green if I had to put a label on it. Like most Milani polishes it applied so easily in 2 creamy coats. And with that short and sweet post, day 3 is done. Don't forget to check out the other blogs!

'Til We Meet Again...
Rebecca  :)
 

31-Day (Or Something Like That) Nail Challenge - Day 3

So, here we are on day 3 of the nail challenge. Whew! I haven't blogged this consistently up until now; kinda sad I know. But life tends to get in the way, ya know? Anyhoo, today is yellow. For some reason, and I really couldn't tell you why, yellow has always been my least favorite color. I can't explain it and I always felt sort of bad to have such an unwarranted prejudice against it. But these days it's growing on me. I actually had to start a second nail wheel to swatch yellows on so yellow and I are making progress. For today I chose Revlon Top Speed Electric.

I really, really like this polish; it's not quite a pastel but more of a bright I guess. And my pics don't show it at all, but it has a very pretty, subtle shimmer to it. And for a yellow polish it applied very easily. It was a bit streaky at first which is to be expected with yellow but 3 coats covered really well. It's definitely a spring/summer sort of color and I can see myself wearing it more in the future.

So, that's it for today. Be sure to check out the links for the other participants of the challenge.

'Til We Meet Again...
Rebecca  :)
 

31-Day (Or Something Like That) Nail Challenge - Day 2

*So, I was totally going to post this yesterday; even wrote it up on a break at work. All I had to do was go home and add the pics and blog links. Then my hubby texted me that the internet was down and no one could come out to look at it until today (and they gave him a freakin' 12-hour window in which to expect the the guy...WTF?). Anyway, it got fixed so here is the post.*

Well, here we are on day 2 of the challenge. I actually did enough swatches to take me through almost the first week so you're stuck with me for at least a few more days. :)

Day 2 is orange. I have been absolutely obsessed with orange polish for quite awhile now. I love the color in any shade or finish but this is one of my faves: Appolo by BB Couture. This polish was released as part of the A Touch Of Greece collection in Spring of 2011. I was lucky enough to pick it up from a blog sale and not have to pay full price or ridiculous shipping for it. And here is the bottle pic:

I really like the bottles on these; square bottles fit so much easier into storage. And here is the polish on mah nails: 

I really love this polish. It's a perfect shade of orange and it applied like a dream in 2 smooth, creamy coats. Hopefully I'll be able to get more in the future.

As before, check out the links below to see other takes on today's challenge.

'Til We Meet Again...
Rebecca  :)
 

31-Day (Or Something Like That) Nail Challenge- Day 1

Hi! So the queen of lagger bloggers (that would be me) is back! How has everyone been? Life has just been kicking my butt lately, but I'm still hanging in there.

So, I'm in a group on Facebook and we have gotten together to do a 31-day nail challenge. I got some swatches done but not even close to enough for the whole month and I was starting to stress myself out about it. And since the point of me doing it was for fun I was just going to scrap the whole thing. But then one of the girls suggested that I just do what I can and don't stress about it so that's what I decided to do. So here we go!

Day 1 is red nails. I love red nails but it just isn't something I wear very often; I usually like "edgier" colors. The red I chose was a pretty recent acquisition for me; Revlon Scarlet Letter blacker lacquer from the Dark Pleasures line. It came out years and years ago and I bought every polish except the red one. Of course, later I was kicking myself for not getting it and a few months ago I randomly came across it on a blog sale and snatched it up! So, here's the bottle pic:

I love the square bottles! For one thing, they're just easier and more convenient to store. And they just look really cool in my opinion.

Scarlet Letter is a deep, darkened, shimmery red. Even though it is an older polish I didn't have any issues with application at all. It was still smooth and applied perfectly in 2 coats. Maybe I'll do a post with the whole line; they are such pretty colors and I love them all.

But, in case anyone is wondering what the whole 31-day challenge looks like; here it is:

Like I said, I'll do what I can when I can. I'll probably do everything from here at some point, I just don't know if it will be within the August time frame. But it will be fun nonetheless. In case you want to check out any of the other blogs doing the challenge there are links at the bottom.

'Til we meet again...
Rebecca  :)