Monday, June 25, 2012

Hits Hera Mermaid Nails

Hello!  Today I'm going to show you another polish from the Hits No Olimpo holographic collection.  Hits is a Brazilian brand (which is NOT 3-free), and the easiest way to get it is ordering from Llarowe.

Hera is a deep teal blue color, and the photos below are shown with two gloriously smooth coats.  I really love the No Olimpo collection, the colors are so bright and sparkly, and the application is so good its ridiculous.

Flash

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Macro - Flash

And then, because the color looked so ocean-y, I decided to stamp the fish scale design from Red Angel plate RA-111 with China Glaze Metallic Muse (a slivery teal metallic).


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Flash

Flash

I was really happy with how this mani came out.  The holo in Hera is so apparent, even indoors, and the teal in Metallic Muse really made it look like mermaid scales.  

Today I have another picture of Tifa, who is literally the cutest but least photogenic animal I have ever seen.  This time she was rolling around on the bed so we got a pretty cute picture.


Thanks for reading!

XO
Gina

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Aphrodite Lacquers - Supernova

Hello everyone!
Today I have a polish from my last haul post; Supernova from Aphrodite Lacquers.  Supernova is part of Aphrodite Lacquer's "Outta This World" collection, which features a whole line of  black jelly-ish polishes with different types and colors of glitter.

Supernova is the pink glitter of the collection.  It has medium fuchsia and light pink hex glitter and slightly smaller silver hex glitter.  So pretty!

I used three coats for the pictures below.  I probably could have gotten away with two, but I wanted a lot of the glitter in this mani.  Application was ok, the glitter was a little difficult to work with and I kind of wish the base was more sheer like a normal jelly.  But overall it was pretty decent application and I'm happy with it.

I used one coat of China Glaze No-Chip Topcoat, but it was still a little gritty so I'd suggest two coats or a coat of Gealous.  I started out holding the bottle of Supernova, but then I got frustrated with the overall darkness of the mani and bottle so I switched to a bottle of topcoat.  Enjoy!

White Light

Flash

Macro - you can see the grit,  definitely should have used more topcoat 

You can purchase Aprhodite Lacquers on Etsy, However the shop is currently on vacation due to family matters.  It is scheduled to reopen on June 26th, and will offer the Sandbar, Outta This World, and Romance Novel collections.

Now, today I have some very special cat pictures for you.  This is Whitney.  She belongs to my boyfriend's mom, and they got her when he was only 3.  That mean s Whitney is very old (about 18!), and unfortunately she usually shows her age.  However, one day when I was at her house, Whitney was lookin' good!  Her fur was  fluffy and her eyes were clean and bright, so I knew I had to get pictures!  So without further ado, here's Whitney (and yes, that is Pawn Stars in the background)



Thanks for reading!

XO
Gina

Monday, June 18, 2012

Quick Polish Haul

Hi Everyone,

This post is going to be pretty quick, just some bottle shots of my most recent haul, and unfortunately, I do not have a cat picture for you today :(  But worry not, as your regularly scheduled programming of Manicures and Cats will return soon. on to the pictures!


First is three polishes from Aphrodite Lacquer's Sandbar collection; Ambrosia, Grapetini, and Rum Runner


Next is 2 polishes from Aphrodie Lacquer's Outta This World Collection; Supernova and Nebula


And finally, four Glitters from Paris Sparkles; Midnight in Paris, Confetti, Chrome, and Chataigne

You can purchase Paris Sparkles on Etsy, she is currently OPEN and stocked with plenty of polishes!
Aphrodite Lacquer can also be purchased on Etsy, but her shop is currently on vacation until June 26th.  You can check on Facebook for updates!

Thanks for reading!

XO
Gina

Friday, June 15, 2012

Whimsical Ideas by Pam - Kitty Glitter

Ahh! It's already Friday! I've been neglecting you all and I'm very sorry (I promise).  But I'll make it up to you with a post of this completely fabulous polish from Whimsical Ideas by Pam. It's Kitty Glitter! Perfect Polish for Nail Cats, right?

Kitty Glitter is so beautiful, it's a light blue jelly with silver hex and micro glitter in it.  It could totally be worn by itself, but it's a little sheer for my taste, so I layered it over China Glaze for Audrey, which is an almost perfect match.

The photos below are one coat of For Audrey, two coats of Kitty Glitter, and two coats of China Glaze No-Chip Top Coat.  On my ring finger I used one coat of For Audrey, then stamped a Kitty-inspired fish bone with Red Angel plate RA-107 and Devotion from the China Glaze Romantique collection (seriously, this collection is so great for stamping!), and topped it off with 1 coat of No-Chip Top Coat.

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White light...Again
Stamping Macro


Macro


I am so in love with this polish, Pam is literally a genius.  It applied sooooo smoothly and the glitter placement was perfect with absolutely no effort.  2 coats leaves the nail packed with glitter and that deep jelly layered look.  With the 2 coats of top coat is was smooth as glass and lasted forever, I got so many compliments from my coworkers and patients!  You should really head over to Pam's Facebook and orders yourself some of her polishes!

Finally, since this is Nail Cats, and today's manicure is kitty inspired, here is another picture of my little kitty Tifa.  She's still young and wiggly and full of energy so getting a good picture is really hard, but my boyfriend and I managed to get her to hold still of about 5 seconds for this picture.  Enjoy!


Thanks for reading!

XO
Gina

Saturday, June 9, 2012

F4 Polish - Pink Penguin

It's the weekend!  Today I have another indie polish from my haul post.  This one is Pink Penguin by F4 polish.  Pink Penguin is a clear base with small round black and white matte glitter and medium pink hex matte glitter.  I love love love matte glitter! The finished effect looks so cool and gets all kinds of attention and questions.  I also love F4's bottle packaging.  Their labels are pink and glittery and have a rhinestone in the "O" of polish.  I also think the name label on the bottom is cute, even though its plain haha.



Since the base is clear, I layered two coats of Pink Penguin over 1 coat of Liquid Leather.  White and grey are also nice base colors for this polish.  PP went on very smoothly and was fairly opaque with two coats and there was no need to try and place the pink glitter.  The only drawback is that matte glitter dries quickly so there was some dried glitter buildup around the lid.  It was a bit gritty, even with a topcoat, so i'd suggest maybe 2 coats or a thick one like gealous.

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Macro
I am so pleased with Pink Penguin, Its so cute and easy to apply and best of all, DIFFERENT.  Love.  You can buy F4 polish on Etsy.  If they don't have everything you want in stock, the girls are very nice about doing custom listings.  You can also keep up with them on their Facebook for swatches and updates on new shades.

Finally, today's cat is another that belongs to a friend.  This is Jester, a big boy with a stripey tail and blue eyes.  he likes to keep me company while I blog.  Awwww :)


XO
Gina

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Whimsical Ideas by Pam - I Believe in Fairies

Hi Everyone! today I have one of the polishes I showed you earlier in my indie haul: I Believe in Fairies from Whimsical Ideas by Pam.  IBIF, like all Pam's polishes, is packages in a square with a super cute label, silver cap, and teeny tiny black bow.  According to Facebook, Pam has changed her caps to black, because the silver ones tended to scratch easily.



IBIF is a medium purple jelly with lots of different iridescent glitters and light pink and purple stars.  Application is smooth, but a bit sheer.  I used 4 coats and you can still see some VNL.  Next time I will probable layer it over a base color.  The stars came out of the bottle without even trying, which doesn't happen very much with shaped glitter like this.  Great Job Pam!
P.S. I was really excited and impatient when doing this mani, so I didn't wait long enough between coats so the polish kind of collected in some areas.  Sorry :(  Also, I decided to photograph both hands.  Enjoy!

LT Hand -  White Light
LT Hand- Flash
RT Hand - White Light
RT Hand - Flash
Macro
Bottle Shot <3

Info for purchasing Whimsical Ideas by Pam, as well as pictures of all her available polishes are on her Facebook page.

And today you get to see a friend's cat, Pix.  She is part Siamese, cross-eyed, and totally adorable.


XO
Gina

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

China Glaze Custom Kicks

Happy Tuesday everyone! Are you all enjoying the summer as much as I am?  I can't get enough of the warm weather!

Today's mani is a very summer-y one, i think.  I started out with 2 coats of China Glaze Custom Kicks, which is a pretty teal with gold shimmer.  Two coats, it went on smoothly like China Glaze does.  But HUGE disappointment, the gold shimmer is visible in the bottle and on the nail when wet, but as soon as it dries, the gold disappears. Sad!  You could see a tiny bit of the shimmer if you looked really closely in bright light, so I guess its not a total waste?  Pictures Now.

White Light

Flash

Bottle Shot - Gold Shimmer!

So then, inspired by the gold shimmer, i use China Glaze Passion (From the Romantique collection) to stamp  some leopard print with -once again- Konad Plate M57.

Super Special plate M57

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Macro
These photos are taken without a topcoat, and I personally loved this mani! It was so cute, and the gold stamping totally made up for the absence of the shimmer.  My boyfriend liked them too, and said they "look like the beach", which I totally agree with!

And now for the promised cats, here is our kitten Tifa.  She is a year old and was being a little snot while I was making my lightbox a while ago.


XO
Gina

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Nail Mail!

Hi Everyone!

So today I'm just going to give you a quick post showing some of the lovely indie polishes I've received in the mail recently.  Manis using these polishes coming soon!!

First is my order from Whimsical Ideas by Pam.  Her polishes are so pretty and the bottles, labels, and bows are soooooo cute!  She is not on Etsy so all you have to do is look at the polishes on her facebook, shoot her and email, and in a few days she'll send you an invoice.  Its so simple and nowhere near as stressful as the mad dash to Etsy restocks.  Plus you get to ask for exactly what you want.  Check out her Facebook for all the information you need!


 L to R we have Peanut Butter and Jelly, Kismet's Pajamas, Fairy Dust, and Kitty Glitter

Next is my order from F4 Polish.  F4 has some great matte glitters ad well as super blingy glitters.  The girls at F4 are so sweet, they didn't have one color I wanted in stock so I asked for a custom listing and they gave me two options; custom listing or just buy the polishes because they restocked already!  How Fabulous.  My order came super fast and I just adore the glittery rhinestone-y labels! You can order from F4 polish Here
 L to R is Pink Penguin, Glamorous, and Pink Salmon

And Finally Darling Diva Polish.  I have another package on on the way from DDP as a giveaway prize, and I can't WAIT! Her polishes are so beautiful, she makes crazy good holos and glitters, as well and some inspired collections.  You can but her polishes on Etsy, and she is always willing to do a custom listing if something you want is sold out.
L to R is a Holo, Glitter, and Holo (my camera was being cranky and didn't want to show the holo effect)

And as a side note my Red Angel plates came too!  So excited for new stamping options!

XO
Gina