Twinsie Tuesday: Splatter Mani

My apologies for missing last week. If any of you have taken a summer course, you would know that it's a pain in the membrane!

This week's theme was a real challenge. A while ago when I first started blogging, I did a splatter mani, you can see that here. After attempting that not so great one, I decided that I would never ever do a splatter mani again. 1. It took way too long to try to get the splatters right, 2. The clean up was pain. So here is my new and sort of improved version besides the knick on index.

 

I tried to mattify it, but the mattifying top coat that I used took so long. But I hope you like this look. The whole free hand splatter probably doesn't look at legit, but I enjoyed this and adore the color combo! Let me know what you think!

Anna 

Check out my Twinsie splatter manis!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Roisin at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Traci at DrinkCitra

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Twinsie Tuesday: Fishtail Mani

First off, I want to give a warm welcome to our newest Twinsie additions! Lakeisha at Refined and Polished, Kelly at Tuxarina and lastly Traci at DrinkCitra. Welcome aboard ladies!

Now this week's challenge is definitely not one that I particularly enjoyed. I have attempted this technique before I wasn't too fond of it. However, I hope you enjoy this!

My second attempt at this Fishtail Mani thing. I really didn't enjoy it because I just don't have the time and patience for each layer to dry but luckily these dried out pretty well. However, I think it came out not too shabby.

The colors that I used are: Essie Avenue Maintain, Sally Hansen I Pink I Can and BFE Andrea.

I really enjoyed the outcome and hope you did too!

Anna

Check out my Twinsies' fishtail manis today!

 Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Brandi at The Beaulieu Review

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Jamie at Polish, Please!

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Traci at DrinkCitra

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Guest Post from Polish Obsession

As some of you know and some don't, I broke my nail on Friday as you can see here. And Marisa from Polish Obsession, one of my Twinsie was sweet enough to compose a guest post for me since I literally have nothing but nubbin's on my nails.

So take a look, you'll be drooling all over your keyboard just like me!
________________________________________________________________________

Hi fellow nail polish lovers!!!

I'm Marisa from Polish Obsession. I'm so excited to do a guest post for Anna, I love her blog! Typically, I do swatches and a bit of nail art. When thinking of what to do for this post, I decided to do a subtle layering.

I started off with Sally Hansen Jade Jump, a lovely green creme from their Insta Dri Line. It's one of my favorite greens. I then added a coat of Girly Bits Hocus Pocus, a sheer holographic top coat. Finally, I added Kleancolor Sparkle Emerald, a clear base with green holographic microglitter. Here's the result.

Artificial Light

Artificial Light

Artificial Light

Artificial Light

Sunlight

Natural Light

Sunlight

I used Orly Nail Defense as a base and Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. I really liked this subtle sparkly look. These polishes worked really well together.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Thanks for having me Anna!
 ________________________________________________________________________

Seriously, isn't this combo to die for? First off, I love, really love the Sally Hansen Jade Jump, and to top it off with the Girly Bits and the Kleancolor top coats, I am just blown away.

I love the simplicity and beauty of this. It speaks volumes of gorgeousness. I am beginning to feel like I need all 3 polishes in my life (thanks Marisa, as if I didn't need more on wishlist!)

So thanks Marisa so much for guesting posting here! I am so thankful!

Well, I hope you readers enjoyed! And don't forget to check out her amazing blog!

Anna

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Broken Nail

I don't even know when this happened but this morning, I was pulling my bangs back with my hair while driving in the car and I felt a little tug. Upon putting my hands back on the steering wheel, I saw little pieces of hairs on my finger nail and come to find it, it was stuck in between the crack/cut of my nail. Sad day.

A picture like this really doesn't need a watermark, oh well.

Yes. What a very sad day. There was no way that I could save this nail. A missing tiny chunk of the nail, no hope there unfortunately. So until they grow back to the length I enjoy them at, I will be relying on back up swatches and guest posts. I will also be exploring on other topics that I could possibly post here on my blog.

In the mean time, I hope you will bare with me and enjoy these upcoming posts!

Thanks a ton!
Anna

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Breast Cancer Awareness by the Numbers

In honor of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Julep teamed up with  The Edith Sanford Breast Cancer Foundation in hopes of raising breast cancer awareness and educate you with the changes that you can make to avoid it. 

In honor of this month, I present to you my very first Breast Cancer Awareness mani!

I promise you, it's pink and white but for some reason, it looks like peach leaning orange. But it's really pink! I'm not sure why it is so very washed out. However, I hope you can make out the ribbon! I'm not too happy with the way it turned out, but I have definitely have had worse nail art mani days, so I can't be too hard on myself!

I used a white base by Sally Hansen and for the glitter I used Sinful Colors Queen of Beauty. For the rest of the pink and white, I used red and white acrylic paints in attempt to avoid any smearing. 

With that said, I really hope you look through the photo above and inform yourself with this very important information.

Do you support breast cancer awareness month?
Anna

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V Gap Tip

I'm not sure if there's an official name for this mani or what not, but I hope you like it!

It was sort of hard since the black polish kept bleeding into the tips but I think it turned out pretty good. This mani is super simple and eye catchy! I love it!

I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out, WnW Grammy Gold and WnW Precious Petals. I truly adore this combo! I think it could've been executed much much cleaner, none the less, I had fun wearing this!

Please excuse my absence this past week. The funeral is over with and I'm finally getting into the swing of thing! I'm  catching up on a lot of lost sleep and am definitely going to through all your comments and missed blog posts! Most of these posts have been schedule since I knew I was going to be pretty busy, but I hope I can make it up to you soon!

Thanks for understanding!
Anna

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Twinsie Tuesday: Triple Layer

Today's challenge turned out to be a bit better than I thought!

This triple layer experiment seemed pretty scary to me and was definitely a challenge. Take a look for yourself!

 

So, I used Sally Hansen Shell We Dance? for the base, China Glaze Merry a Millionaire (thanks Jenna!) and then layered Milani Gold Jewel FX. It turned out pretty ok. 

This really isn't my cup of tea but was really fun to do. 

Planning to try this at all?
Anna 

Check out my Twinsies' Triple Layers!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi
Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch
Tara at Polishy of Truth

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Days Late Twinsie Tuesday Post

Hello all!

I have been gone for days again. Sorry. Life is happening, and I am sure you all know how that can be.

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy my boring Twinsie post today.

As many of you already know, this past Twinsie Tuesday challenge was: color of your car. My car color is boring and basic, but I love my car!

Yup. It's just a plain old white car. It's a family car.

For my nails again, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White Out in 2 opaque coats. That's why I love the Xtreme Wears. I am also proud to say that I have used up half of the bottle! That really doesn't come around! I mean, how many bottles have you ever actually finished using (excluding any bottles that you may have frankened with)? This one however is becoming a bit goopy but I am sure it's nothing a thinner can't fix

Image Source

This picture is not mine, but I have the same exact one. 2007 Honda CR-V, white, all wheel drive. Fun, eh? I used to drive this before my baby though.

Image Source

Again. this photo is not mine. But I used to drive a Civic Si. What can I say? Gotta love them Honda's! I loved the color of this car. And I have to say, I miss this car a lot. Now, if I were still driving this car, the polish that came to mind was:

Image Source

(All three photos below are not mine.)

Sinful Colors What's Your Name. This is a black base with tons of blue micro glitter shimmer. This perfectly describes how the Si looks like.

Anywho. That's all for now.

What's the color of your car?
Anna

If you haven't already done so, check out the color of my Twinsies' car!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi
Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch
Tara at Polishy of Truth

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Twinsie Tuesday: Color Block

I have to say that color blocking is one of my least favorite nail arts to do. So you already know, this week was a real challenge: color blocking.

Originally in my mind I agreed to only do 1 nail as an accent but somehow as I began polishing, I totally forgot about it and started polishing all of them. I guess they turned out okay but definitely not something I would showcase again on my blog.

 

So I straight up just free handed the lines. I don't have the patience to tape each and everyone one of the colors, though it may have looked better. But hey, it is what is! I'm usually a perfectionist but I just could not get this right. 

Like what Amandalandish said, I'm not even sure if these pictures deserve a watermark.

For the teal'ish, I used Sinful Colors Athens, for the black, I used Sally Hansen Black Out and Ulta High Roller. Color blocking manis are totally not my thing and I probably won't ever try them again. And lines that aren't crisp just drive me crazy! 

What do you think of color blocked nails?

Anna 

Excited to see my Twinsies' color block manis?

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi
Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch
Tara at Polishy of Truth

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Black and White Stripes are Breezi

I hope you enjoyed this one as much I as did. It's simple and cute - and most of the time that's what I like!

Before the pictures, I want to apologize how yellow the pictures look. As you can tell, I recently just started using a light box and I am still trying to figure this thing out. Oh how I wish natural sunlight was more dependable.

If any of you light box users have any tips and tricks, please be sure to let me know!

Now, for yellow pictures.

For the blue, I used Zoya Breezi from my post the other day. I love this color and can't get enough of it. After a about a day or so, I added the black and white stripes just to add a fun little twist. For the white base on the pointer and thumb fingers, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme White Out and just a plain black acrylic paint for the stripes. Boy does it take steady hands to make those lines! I must say that was a real challenge but I am proud to say they look pretty decent!

Again, please pardon my weird colored looking skin. I personally prefer natural sunlight but with winter coming around, I'll have to play around with time considering that we barely get enough sun time out. So hopefully soon the lighting will be perfected! In the mean time, please bare with me.

So please let me know if you have any tips! I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!
Anna

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Dove Jazzed Up

Are you ready for today's post? In my previous post, I said that I would be jazzing up Dove. So take a look!

What do you think?

I have yet to perfect the gradient look, but hey! I'm getting there. I'd say pretty ok for my first attempt.  Practice makes perfection! Oh and sorry about the messy cleanup. I didn't see it until after I already erased my nails and took these photos.

As you know, this is Zoya Dove with Sally Hansen Black out sponged and then a nice coat of Nubar Black Polka dot coated on top.

I'm so digging this! Hopefully I'll perfect this technique!

Have you done any gradient sponging?
Anna 

PS - Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

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Coral Stripes

These summer days have been a killer. Blasting the A/C in the house like cray cray! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Hopefully better than here!

This is what I have for you today!

I truly love the simplicity of it. I used Sally Hansen White On as the base, for the coral I used OPI Call Me Gwen-ever then a regular black acrylic paint for the black stripes as I didn't want any smudging, or whatever, you know what I mean.

This was so simple and easy. All polishes were very easy to work with and are very pigmented. So I hope you enjoy it!

By the way, happy July 4th once again to the Americans! Are any of you planning to watch the fireworks?

Does this seem a bit nautical to you?
Anna

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Twinsie Tuesday: Half Moon Mani

This weeks theme was a real challenge and made me cringe: half moon mani using a neon and a pastel.

The neon and pastel together on a nail makes me go cray cray. I can definitely do it if it were clothing articles put together to make an outfit. Or maybe it was just me who couldn't pull off the neon and pastel half moon mani. This was a real hot mess. 

For the pastel mint, I used Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet and a blue neon polish that I will be doing a post on soon. So stay tuned! Both polishes applied perfectly and evenly in 2 coats.

I freehanded this bad boy because I didn't have enough time to allow for the mint polish to dry and adding then adding the guide before adding the blue neon.  Lately, my Twinsie Tuesday posts haven't been the greatest. I need to get back in game! So please excuse my slack. I also had a hard time because I couldn't decide what was a good combo for a neon and a pastel to be put together to form a half moon mani, so I hope it doesn't look too bad!

On a side note, only 1 more class lecture then finals and summer break is finally here! Woo-hoo!

What are some neon and pastel combos you think would look good together?
Anna 

Check out the other Twsinsies' neon and pastel half moon mani!

 Amanda at Amandalandish

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi
Cordia at Srsly Swatched

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch
Tara at Polishy of Truth

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Haul-age

I am suppose to be on a "no-buy" but I admit that I have failed terribly. Fortunately though, I purchased all of these on a great deal!

Deborah Lippmann

L-R:  Dancing In The Sheets, Footloose, Almost Paradise, Let's Hear It For The Boy

OPI

I'm All Ears, Nothin' Mousie 'Bout It, Not Fun In The Summer-Lime

 L-R: Orly Butterflies, Maybelline Cool Coutue, Sally Hanse HD Spectrum

 L-R: Layla Flash Black, NOPI Kim Konfidential, Sally Hansen Teal-y Fast

China Glaze

Ride The Waves, Riveting, Splish Splash, Flirty Tankini, Beach Cruis-er

I had to make a new rack for this new lovelies since I don't have much space in my shoebox apartment. Anywho, I wanted the neon in Hang Ten Toes but the Sally's that I went to didn't have any. Sad day. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up soon. Til then!

Have you hauled any polishes lately?

Anna

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Funky French Tip

Back to reality Monday. I think I'm coming down with something. My son had a very high fever last night and now, I think I caught it. Better me sick than my son - gladly, he's back to normal. All the glory to Abba.

Something weird and something different. I didn't really like it and took it off right away. But this is 2 coats of  China Glaze Shower Together. This was a bad boy. It was super duper runny. It flooded my cuticles all over. The brush applicator was super nasty - sorry I didn't but should've pictured it. However, I think it's a really pretty color. For the black tip I used Sally Hansen Black Out.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Monday!

What do you think of the tips?
Anna

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Twinsie Tuesday: Tape Mani

Hello! This weeks Twinsie Tuesday edition is: tape mani.

Lately, I haven't been having any good picture days. I thought those days were over when I graduated highschool. But I've learned to embrace it and accept that everyday can't be a perfect picture day. You just make the best of it! I like to think that goes for everything else. That being said on to the mani!

One, I don't really do tape manis because for some reason I can never get clean crisp lines. And that bothers the living thing out of me. So I just stay away from it. But today is a small exception.

I think this is one of my worst manis yet. After I polished this manis and took pictures, I took it off. The crooked lines would not make me happy. By the way, sorry for the dent on the index. That was from my son.

For this mani I used Sally Hansen X treme wear in Wet Cemet, Lacey Lilac and Mint Sorbet. Most of them were opaque in 2 coats.

Well, tell me what you think. Maybe I've been too hard on myself lately.
Anna

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie ladies for their awesome tape mani!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I''m just me...ChiChi

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

And don't forget to enter my 100 Followers giveaway! (=

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Dots And A Bow

Good afternoon Thursday! Tomorrow is Friday, YAY!

I wanted something chic and fun and so here it is.

For this mani, I used Sally Hansen Black Out and White on with 2 coats then one lovely buttery smooth coat of Zoya Kristi. This was very simple and easy since I didn't want something too time consuming. I was really surprised that Kristi only took 1 coat?! How often can you find polishes like that? Amazing! Zoya, you never cease to amaze me!

I hope you enjoyed this super easy mani! Have a happy Thursday!

What do you think? Yay for 1 coaters?
Anna

Sorry for the blurry pic but he was moving around a lot. Anywho, he is officially 8 months old today. That number scares me. Soon enough, he'll be asking for candy. His top two teeth are beginning to poke out already. My, my they grow up fast. I can't believe it's been long months already.

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DEAL Alert: Sally Hansen Polishes

Hello! It's Thursday - it's finally my weekend! No work, but definitely homework.

I had a meeting with my professor after class but it wasn't until later and I had sometime in between, so I decided to make a stop at Dollar Tree and I found some goodies!

A picture hanging on the rack

 Left to right, top to bottom: Twinkle Twinkle Lime Light, Midnight Sky, Teal-y Cool

My total was $2.15 after taxes. 

So pretty much each polish was only $.50 cents. Good deal?!

Have you spotted this at your local Dollar Tree?
Anna

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