golden agro

so, long story but a coworker's exboyfriend used to tease her every time she wore green that she was a lesbian. (i guess in asshole logic, lesbians like green?) anywho, the joke is now that whenever i wear green, i'm totally gay for her. which is true at all times to be honest. 

so she's been away from work for three weeks and in her honor, i decided to do my tips in Agro from the China Glaze Hunger Games Collection. (okay, we may have also read the Hunger Games together) 

this is one - yes, one!!!! - coat of Agro with two layers of essie as gold as it gets on the tips. this was a dream to apply, even more so than my other China Glaze polishes. i love how subtle the essie is, but i think it adds something to the manicure. Agro has a nice golden glow to it on it's own and it isn't nearly as dark as i thought it would be...i'm kind of in love with it in all fairness. 

lamplight

the cold harsh light of a soulless cubicle

sparkly monday tips

so i did this once with a dark blue and decided to try the opposite with Zoya's Snow White. turned out super cute, but i am super disappointed with the bubbling from the top coat. i managed to do a better job applying the Snow White this time. it is super thick and took two heavy coats to get opaque and even then i had a little bit of streaking around the edges. 

over all i was super happy with the white, it isn't too stark for an all over nail color and with the little bit of sparkle i think it's a pretty fun (but not quite every day) manicure.

 

subtle glitter makes me smile

i decided i wanted to try something i saw on pinterest. why is grey so pretty with glitter?? (another example here) but i wanted it matte...

this is two coats of revlon timeless, and btw i love this grey. it isn't blueish, greenish or even tan tilting. it is just a neutral grey. one quick coat of milani jewel fx gems, which is seriously my favorite glitters. so many sizes and so many colors! not a complicated mani, but still made me happy for a bit :)

pixie dust comin' out of my finger tips

not a very exciting story here... i read and have seen the tinkerbell movies a few too many times and got it in my head to do a tinkerbell/pixie dust manicure. i used OPI Who the Shrek are You? as a base, did two layers of essie's as gold as it gets (one covering half of the nail, the second covering a third) and then a kind of pressed on the Milani Jewel FX Gold on the tips of the nails. it isn't perfect and it sure doesn't photograph easily, but it is sparkly and to me, entirely tinkerbell-tastic.

One Saturday / Two Easter Inspired Manicures

 so talking about Pippa yesterday got me itching to try it all over again. so two coats later, as the AT&T guys worked on setting up my new internet connection, i applied two coats of Pippa, and then decided that Lola could be a good companion for dear Pippa.i did the Lola with an almost dry brush, working my way to the tip where i pretty much just drew in a french tip in Lola. Lola was sheer enough layer well for this, but i think for wear on it's own it would be a little too sheer for my tastes. the colors truly popped and it was 80's-riffic. until i decided to toss on my gardening gloves an *HOUR* later to finish planting some herbs. i took off my gloves and whomp, whomp...i had wrecked nails. i didn't take pictures, though i was tempted :D so this was my three hour super bright easter manicure

so bear went to bed and i got out my brand new GMA trio and decided to play with my newest creamy periwinkle, Yummy. Can we just laugh for a moment because my first non-school email was ExtraYummy at some horrible old url? anywho. Yummy was a dream to put on, i want to say this is just one thick layer on some fingers, and two thinner layers on the others.  the color was dreamy and soon enough i'll wear it on it's own, but as it dried i started thinking about April showers bringing May flowers, so my manicures represented this. just backwards. okay it's a stretch, shut up. so along that train of slightly warped (i blame sun exposure) i put Pure Pearlfection over top and had a shimmery, delicious cool manicure to counter the super warm and bright one from earlier in the day. actually wore it most of the day today too...

Work Safe Wednesday - Thursday Edition

ok, we all know i was super bitter about how badly my EUT accent nail turned out yesterday. so i decided to keep the Amanda and jazz it up a bit. i redid the ring finger with one coat of Amanda and added Set in Stones. I did my best to use a light hand with SiS, but all of that glorious shiny silver glitter has a mind of it's own. i have read some complaints about the flat nature of the silver glitter, but i happen to love it. the shine is phenomenal and i get so many compliments every time i wear it. it truly is eye-catching. 

also if you can't tell from the massive dent in the bottle, i love matte top coats, they dry so quickly and especially combined with glitter it adds an unexpected element to my manicures. there is also something so pretty about the combination of a nude + glitter + matte...

i am resisting the urge to take this manicure 2.0 and make them all matte. 

oh, excuse the broken pinkie nail. i got a little manic with the cleaning yesterday and in my enthusiasm i apparently lost a little soldier. it ripped low so it'll be a little hidden for the next week or two.