two posts in one

So I've been ridiculously busy with the whole end of the school year stuff, and my sisters wedding...plus there was the whole, not knowing what school I will be in next year (long story).  Anyhoo, I've haven't blogged in awhile, so I'm showing two mani's in one here.....

Mani #1

This polish matched PERFECTLY with the gel polish I already had on my nails...really quite amazing!  I don't remember the name of it, and its upstairs, and I'm outside, but its a really pretty red.

So, first I painted two coats of this beautiful red to cover any flaws and re-growth, then topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.

I got some nail tape in the mail last week, and was really excited to use it!  I applied the nail tape to my pointer and ring finger, and painted this beautiful essie purple color over it (again...the polish is upstairs, sorry)

And voila!  Add a another coat of Seche Vite to the purple nails, and you are done!

Mani #2

For this mani I used two colors from Orly.  Liquid Vinyl is a very shiny very black, black...it's a really cool color!  On top of the black I added Be Brave.  This is a glitter polish, but instead of the glitter being small and round they are long, like confetti...very cool looking!

Here is an outside picture to really show the sparkles...they are so pretty!  Next time I will be using two top coats..some of the sparkles don't lay flat, and its really noticeable after they dry.  I just filed the stubborn pieces down a bit with the glass nail file...but another top coat would have also done the trick.

On a side note....when I was reading about techniques to get your polish to stay on longer, and also how to do your own gel polish manicures (see below!!!) I kept seeing people say "make sure you seal the nail"...I'm thinking what the hell is that?
Basically its when you paint the whole nail and then paint the very tip of the nail, holding the brush sideways, so you are "sealing in" the polish.  This is so amazing!!!  I've had the above glitter mani for 4 days and no chips!!!  With the base coat I used (because I took the gel polish off, and I didn't want my nails to break before I put new on) my nails usually only make it one or two days before I get a few chips!!!  But with this new technique...no chips!!!

For my birthday my hubby got me a UV light to dry gel polish!  Now I can do my own gel polish!!  I am super excited!!!
I am waiting on the Gelish starter kit to arrive in the mail (it should get here today or tomorrow), (just an fyi....its $50 in Sally's but only $20 at Amazon...the starter kit, not the light.  Chris got the light off Amazon for about $50), I also ordered two really pretty nail colors, but they won't be here until next week.  So I went to Sally's to see if they had any on sale - they did, they are the "funky" colors, but they're pretty.  I will also be experimenting with using regular polish in-between the gelish top and bottom coats...stay tuned!

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wedding nails

I got another new gel mani for my sisters wedding this past weekend.  I absolutely love the color!!!  The gal that did them had a little bit of a different technique than my usual girl.  She got closer to my cuticle, which I like because the re-growth will be less obvious.  They are also thinner...I like the look, but I'm not sure that they will stop my nails from breaking....we shall see. :)

Look how thin!!!  It just looks like regular polish!

And what a beautiful polish color it is!!!  I wish I new the name of the color!  I love it!  I am really thinking about investing in a UV light and some Gelish polishes of my own.  I really think I can do this at home.

I did however get a chip on day 4...that never happens when my girl at home does them!

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Grey with Black tips

Gave myself a new manicure...I'm getting my nails done for the wedding on Friday, so I wanted to change things up one more time before then.  I love this grey color from China Glaze, called Recycle.  You can't even see the re-growth from my gel mani!

I then added a black tip using scotch tape and Sinful Colors Secret Admirer.

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recording studio

This is my make-shift recording studio....isn't it fancy!!!  I was practicing for my sisters wedding (Ave Maria) and decided to do a little recording as well.  It works for what I use it for.  I am new to GarageBand, I used MixCraft on my Dell.  So far, I like MixCraft a little better, although I can hear my own voice through my headphones in GarageBand which is a huge winning point!

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China and Sin over Gel

I came across a few thin paint brushes in my "craft bin", and I thought they would make good nail polish brushes...I was right!

I painted on top of my Gelish manicure.  I taped off half the nail and painted China Glaze For Audrey on 4 of my nails, and Sinful Colors Dream On, on my ring finger.  Then I used my thin paint brush to paint on the thin stripes (much easier on my left hand then my right).  Topped it all of with Seche Vite!

And a picture without the flash...so pretty :)

Pink Leopard Print

I am really loving the current state of my nails...the purple is really pretty, and the gel polish is looking very nice.  But, alas, I feel the need to add a little something...call it boredom....whatever :)

Here is my before picture, I got the gel nail polish 5 days ago.

I got a tip from another Konad stamper that you can mix your Konad polishes with other polishes to give you a larger variety without having to buy all the different Konad nail polishes....what a wonderful idea!   Now why didn't I think of that?

I used my silver Konad polish and mixed it with Sinful Colors Dream On.  I really like this Sinful Colors polish, and its pretty cheap, only $1.99.  It has the quality of OPI, and the price of Wet N Wild.

Add a blob of silver to the Konad plate, then add a blob of Dream On, mix together (I used a pointed Q-Tip to mix the colors).

I read about a roll on, roll off technique with the Konad stamper....it works a lot better than press on, press off!!!  See below...

All clean!!!  Add two coats of Seche Vite, and the look is complete!  Love the look!  Just what I wanted...a little touch of something pretty and different :) 

Picture without the camera flash, its really more of a pink color than purple.

New Gel Mani

I got a new gel mani today!  I really love this pale purple color I chose!  It's so pretty, and when I get lighter colors, its easier to paint over when I get sick of it in a few days.

I also got my toesies done....the color is pretty close....close enough anyway (I don't get gel polish on my toes...its a waste of money)

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