Natural-ish-is Body Butter and Lip Soak

For the past week I have been using a body butter and lip soak by Natural-ish-is. This stuff is amazing! I got the body butter in Mint Chocolate scent and the lip soak in Chocolate Covered Blueberries. The smell of both of these is soo yummy! These products are 90% organic and 100% non-toxic. The ingredients are listed on the labels so you can see for yourself how natural they are. Ive been using the lip soak at night, just before bed and my lips have never been softer. It lasts all night long. The body butter is solid,  in the tin it comes in, but turns to an oil when you start rubbing it in. I use it on my hands, elbows and feet, and rub it into my cuticles. A little of this goes a long way! It does feel oily but after just a minute, it soaks in and leaves my skin feeling so super soft. I put some on my arms this afternoon after mowing and getting a slight sunburn and the mint in it really had a cooling effect on the burn. Bonus! Thank you Melanie for such awesome natural products! Please go check out her site for all kinds of organic body products.

www.naturalishis.com

Revlon Parfumerie Wintermint

Tonights swatch is Revlon Parfumerie in Wintermint. This is a gorgeous light green scented polish. I wasn't too sure about this one with the first coat but it turned out to be very buildable. This is three coats with no topcoat. Adding a topcoat does not affect the smell. Its a strong minty scent, which I love. The only thing that I don't like about this polish, it looks lumpy. Not like a texture polish,  just not quite right. Maybe its just my slight OCD, just wanted to let yall know :) I have two of these polishes (thanks sissy) the other of which Ill be swatching for you tomorrow. Be sure to follow me on google+ and/or sign up for email notices so you dont miss it! Thanks for reading!

Tip of The Day

Tip of the day..use a staple remover to spread keyrings to add or remove keys. NEVER use your nails to pry things open...no no no no!

Doodling With Sis

I was chatting with my sister @designsbyaddy a few nights ago. She was bored and doodling while I was playing with polish, of course..lol, and feeling really uninspired. Then she sent me her pics....perfect!

Henry Golden Boy

My husband just recently purchased a Henry Golden Boy rifle. He had been wanting one for a long time. I wanted to put the rifle on my nails for him. He loved it! What do you think?

Depression Awareness

Recently, over 1000 people in the nail community joined together for one day to bring awareness to depression. I think we have all heard about the very sad untimely death of Robin Williams, a very beloved comedian and tv star. Not many people don't know who he is and even fewer have never seen his talents. I grew up watching him on Mork and Mindy and later he played the loveable genie in Aladdin and the lead woman in Mrs. Doubtfire. Everything he touched turned to laughs. But as it turns out, he himself suffered from depression. It shows that no amount of money or fame can protect people from this horrible disease, also deemed a silent killer. Most people suffering form this don't tell anyone from fear of being ridiculed or told its all in their heads. I know, Ive been there and am still not completely away from it. I have my bad days but it gets better too. There are signs that people can look for in friends and loved ones but I have always believed that a huge way to help is just to be a nicer person, to everyone. I know firsthand how much it can mean to be on the receiving end of a smile, to hear a nice hello from a stranger, to get a pat on the back, a door held open....the list goes on and on. I think all of us, myself included, could gain alot from paying it forward by means of kindness. I know this isn't a fix for everything but people often don't know what to do to help and I don't have all the answers but I do know this can make a difference in someones day and life. For those of you still fighting it, please, talk to someone you can trust, let your loved ones know what you are feeling and going through. Talk to your doctor or priest. It helps to get things off your chest. If you feel you have no one to turn to, I am listing phone numbers below you can call anonymously and talk to professionals who can help or just listen if thats what you need. Please don't hesitate to let someone be there for you. You ARE worth it and mean more than you think to the people who love you and care about you.

The numbers:
Depression Hotline: 1-888-771-5166
Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-2433

Back To School

Its that time of year again. Back to school! Some are sending kids to school, some are going to back to school themselves...for me, another reason to do my nails. I do have a middle schooler this year too. Decided to do back-to-school nails to mark the occassion. I think these turned out better than last years did, although hubby is a big fan of last years nails. We were high school sweethearts so its his initials on my nails...hehe

Last year...

This year...

Yellow Stopper as a Peel-off Basecoat

Today Im going to attempt to answer all the questions about using Yellow Stopper as a peel-off basecoat.
When I first started seeing this being called a peel-off basecoat, I was very skeptical. You all know the old saying.."If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I started doing alot of research online trying to find out all the details about how to use it, number of coats, drying time, etc. Everything I found was kinda vague on details, only saying that it works, soo I decided to do my own research. I went to my local Sallys Beauty Supply and purchased the big bottle of American Classics Yellow Stopper.

 It was $6.99 for a 2.5 oz bottle. I thought that was a really good price for a bottle of clear polish even if it didnt work so what did I have to lose?
Okay, first test. I applied two normal coats of yellow stopper on clean nails. Then, wanting to REALLY test it out, I applied one coat of texture polish and one coat of glitter. I also used one coat of top coat. I waited until later on the next evening and tried to peel the glitter off. It was a disaster.

 It did not peel off at all! I managed to get the polish on one finger to come off in pieces, but I could've done that without a special basecoat! I was really disappointed. I wasn't ready to give up though. I was going to test till I ran out of options. Second test...I applied two thick coats of yellow stopper on clean nails, then two coats of glitter with no topcoat. The next day, same results. I actually peeled off pieces of my nail trying to pick off the polish! I was getting really aggravated at this point! I went back online and started asking alot of questions. I found pics that women had posted saying it working and started sending out messages...alot of messages. To say the least I was determined. The two best answers I got came from @tikaramel971 and @abigailspolish on Instagram. Thank you so very much ladies for saving my sanity!! One of them said to use 4 coats of yellow stopper and another said she had used 3 coats before and it worked really well. Here we go again. I decided to try both suggestions. On one hand I used 3 coats of yellow stopper, letting each coat dry completely. Then I applied two coats of regular polish and did a glitter gradient on top of that. It was actually one of my manis for #depressionawareness. On the other hand I used 4 coats of yellow stopper, again letting each coat dry before the next. I then applied two coats of a really dense glitter, OPI More Than A Glimmer. I was really excited when I awoke the next morning and my polish was already peeling on its own!!

It was on the hand that I only used three coats on and was able to peel off two nails rather quickly.

I tried one of the nails that had 4 coats of the yellow stopper and it peeled off even easier!! Sooo excitng! I then started thinking if it works this well on my fingernails, what about toenails?? I love using glitter on my toes just HATE taking it off. Guess what? Works just as well! I did use 4 coats of yellow stopper on my toes.
Now, I was sharing all this with my sissy during all the research and testing so she decided to give it a try as well. She used three coats and that same night two nails had completely popped off on their own! I'm not sure why it worked even better on her nails. I suspect its just the nails themselves. The level of dryness or oil in the nails may have an effect on how well it works.
Whatever the reason, I hope this helps anyone who is still on the fence about whether or not to invest in this little miracle.

As a side note, even if you don't decide to use this as a peel off basecoat, this stuff makes nails look fantastic!! It has a UV protectant in it which gives it its slightly purple tint. When applied to the nail, even just one coat, it makes the nail bed look pinker and the tips looks whiter. Its like a french tip in a bottle. To me, that alone makes it worth it.

If you have any tips and/or suggestions on using this or would like to share your experience with it, please leave me a comment. Thank you!

KISS

This is one of my favorite manis. I grew up rocking out to KISS and still do. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed doing it.

Reverse Stamping Technique

Today I'll be showing you a neat little trick with stamping, reverse stamping. 

These are the things you will need plus a basecoat and a polish color of your choice. I use black here to stamp with then different colors depending on what you are coloring in.

Such a simple Idea. First paint squares on the baggie with your basecoat And let that dry.

Next, stamp the mage you want onto the basecoat and let that dry. Once Its dry just Use a dotting tool or even a toothpick and color In the mages you want colored.

Let that dry and just peel it off the baggie.

Put a clear coat on your nail then just stick your decal on, clearcoat side up. You can then Use acetone to clean up the edges and voila! It really is that easy. You dont even need to apply a topcoat since you started with one on your baggie.

Nail Vinyls DIY

Just discovered a neat little DIY for nail art..nail vinyls!!

I've been wanting to do chevrons on my nails forever but my freehand isn't even close to being good. I tried using scotch tape but it always pulled polish off with it, so aggravating! The more I looked at buying nail vinyls, the more determined I was to make my own. Now, I don't know if anyone else has done this before but it worked for me.

Electrical tape!! Thats right..regular black electrical tape. My husband was an electrician for years so we have tons of this stuff laying around. I found a roll, got out my scrapbooking scissors and started playing. To my surprise it worked perfectly. They stick really well and come off without bringing your basecoat up with it. You can cut alot at once and just stick them to wax paper for later use. The possibilities are endless!

Bringing Sexy Back

I'm bringing sexy back...well, on my nails anyway..lol I've had this picture in my head and on paper for quite a while now, just finally decided to put it to nail. I don't know what inspired me to do these, just wanted a challenge I guess. Hope yall like 'em.

Colors used: For skintone I used Wet n Wild Megalast Private Viewing

White background is Orly Decades Of Dysfunction

Black is Orly Liquid Vinyl (best black ever!)

Sheer black is Enderman Sheer - homemade and named by my son :)

Red is Wet n Wild Megalast I Red A Good Book

Black beads are from Born Pretty Store (see right side of page for 10% discount)

For all the detailing I used a very small detailing brush


Just a quick tip to help all the struggling nail artists out there.....I just recently started doing really small drawing on my nails. I never could draw AT ALL on any kind of medium, not just nails. I found that by drawing my ideas on a piece of paper first, with a pencil, and getting it exactly as I wanted it to look, I was able to easily transfer that design to my nails. It still requires some practice but planning the design on paper makes it alot easir. Trust me, this works! Hope this helps anyone out there trying to learn to freehand art on their nails. Any questions? Email or kik Comments? Leave em below! Thanks for reading

Mani Swap With Dreamcatchers!

I recently had the joy of doing a maniswap with Lisa @lala_lacquer. Really enjoyed recreating one of her designs.

This is her original dreamcatcher design.

These are my recreation.

This is my original gradient palm tree design.

This is her perfect recreation.

I loved doing this mani swap with her as she has amazing talent. Please go check out her Instagram account here , her blog here and her facebook page here.

Mani Swap With Owls!

A while back I had joy of doing a mani swap with Edda @lemmeseethosenails This was my first ever mani swap and I had so much fun!

I decided to recreate her cute little black and gold owls and she recreated my gradient sunset palm tree nails.

These are her original owl nails

These are my version of her owls.

These are my original palm tree nails.

This is her recreation. She did a fantastic job with these!

This was a blast to do. I love challenging myself I'm hoping to do more of these in the future.

Please go take a look at her Instagram page @lemmeseethosenails

Essie Summer Neons

Today I'll be sharing the 2014 Essie Summer Neons Collection. There are six colors in this collection.

Now, here's my first opinion on this collection. They are not neons. The colors are certainly gorgeous, but not neon. These were also my first Essie polishes and I was not impressed. I got a good price on these but there's no way I would pay the regular $8.50 a bottle for them. On to the swatches...

The first two colors we have are Chills & Thrills (dark purple) and Vices Versa (green). Index finger is Chills & Thrills, two coats over white base and middle finger is two coats alone. This one didn't really need a white base under it. Both nails turned out exactly the same. The ring finger is Vices Versa, two coats over white and pinkie is two coats alone.

These next two are Too Taboo (pink) and I'm Addicted (blue). These are my favorite two out of the collection. Index finger is Too Taboo, two coats over white and middle finger is two coats alone. Ring finger is I'm Addicted, two coats over white and pinkie is two coats alone.

Last two colors are Sittin' Pretty and Serial Shopper. Index finger is Sittin' Pretty, two coats over white and middle finger is two coats alone. Ring finger is Serial Shopper, two coats over white and pinkie is two coats alone.

My final thoughts on these.....meh...

Like I mentioned, I was not impressed. Being my first time trying Essie, I probably won't buy anymore. The formulas didn't build very well and, with exception of the dark purple, you have to use a white base to get the true color. I hate having to do that. They did level out ok after applying a topcoat and are pretty colors but nothing really unique.