Christmas Manicures

Here are some manicures i have sported during my Christmas Holidays.

Mani #1
applied this mani on Dec 23 pics were taken 1 day (Dec 26) after Christmas so they have some chips and wear.

index finger was a quick fix on christmas day, like my ring finger the best 

close up of pinky...love this

will do this design again but not with red christmas mani

i did a quick mani before heading to my brother and gf house and didn't have time to redo for Christmas Day.  i'm not thrilled with this mani, i should have stuck with my design on the pinky finger (apply base coat of Avon French Tip White and add the  red stripes) but i wanted to use my new green stripe brush.  Also i was experimenting with application.  Applied the purple onto the base color, thinking that the chi was a winecolor and then i just went with it cause i didn't have time to redo.


legend mani 1:
Avon - French Tip White
Silkline White
Green Art LA colors deco nail art lacquer
Red LA Colors Art deco nail art lacquer
Chi Behind closed doors

Mani #2 on Boxing Day

right hand

Tried out the Christmas tree with my copper striprite, the christmas tree design was from Blue Tape and Nails tips

Legend for Mani #2
OPI Here today...Aragon Tomorrow (is a suede but added top coat otherwise will chip in few hours)
Red LA Colors Art Deco nail art lacquer
Copper So Easy Stripe Rite
Gold/Brown Rhinestone
Top coat Seche Vite

Christmas Mani on Dec 20

I had a mani & music night with my new friend JQ from flippery digits.

Loved the colors of this mani but the photos didn't turn out that well, also using the old canon camera that takes a million photos to get one decent macro not fuzzy photo *i exaggerate a little*.

attempted a candy cane pinky and i should have made it gold with konad instead

Used Sinful colors to stamp so the design was not fully picked up

Legend:
sinful colors Sugar Sugar and Orly gold (??)
red rhinestones and the green stripes were Chi (don't remember now)
Konad Christmas Plate M12 (that's a guess cause i'm posting this at parents house and don't have plates with me)
Also used Konad M3

China Glaze Turned up Turquoise (Neon) & Hynoptized Chi

Tomorrow night my computer is going to the IT guy for a new hard drive, but I will be busy packing for my week long trip to my parents house in Alberta. I fly out on Wed and arrive back to Saskatoon the following Wed. I will try to upload some pics and show everyone my xmas designs. The one i'm sporting now is pretty, subtle and not easy to photography, i will take pics tomorrow morning after shower cleanup & then i can upload more blog-worthy pictures.  In the mean time this is a design that i did 5 days ago.  This was a day after my soccer (i'm goalie so i wear the goalie gloves)  I used Sally Hansen Mega Shine Extended Wear Top Coat, which i'm not impressed with yet, it dries to the touch but then it dents very easily.

Ring finger has CND Copper Shimmer added

Haul - Yah for Xmas presents

At work, the women get together for a secret santa. We draw *EDIT* names from a hat and purchase a $20.00 gift for that person. We then all meet at a restaurant...also drawn from a hat for an evening of laughter, cheer, food and of course opening presents.

Carol got my name and she knows i love polish as i show her my nails every new mani and she let me accompany her to the nail salon warehouse shops one lunch hour. Where i got amazing prices...(how do i get a professional number with out being a hairdresser or a estetitian...i dream). Anyways i digress....look at all the amazing Chi products she got me...amazing that the colors she picked up are not like any in my collection...bonus. Oh and check out the amazing silkline pens...i've been lemming them for a while.  (i was the one of two women in our group of 20 with a gift of nailpolish or beauty related...Heidi got bath related stuff)

French tip and first attempt at a stargazer lily

I'm finally getting caught up on mani's.  One more to go.  Anyways with this mani i followed this 3Tanja on youtube with this tutorial.  I love the fact you can do a french tip but add a white sheer overtop (why didn't i know this before or think i could do this)  As my natural nails are still yellowed on the top part of the nails i feel not right letting them go bare...even with a french tip.

The starglazer was pretty easy to do and looked so much better about 3 steps before the final picture.  As you can see i went a little too heavy on the outlining and lost the pedals and i used a dotting tool that was too big...oh well first attempt and it will be better next time. Oh and next time i attempt this mani i will put a seche vite layer before adding the rhinestones as you can tell the french tip white moved with the rhinestones and i need to purchase some gold rhinestones/beads for the middle of the flower.

I also did this stargazer lily as it's my Mom's favorite flower and the next day was her birthday and i purchased a boutique of flowers for her, my only request to the lady on the phone was a boutique - pretty with lilies. The florist choose the starglazers...i'm still awaiting pictures of the flower arrangement...Mama lives in the next province over(Alberta)

French tip - Avon french tip white
Base coat over top the french tip - Zoya Melanie
Starglazer colors used - Nicole Mauver & Shaker, Mary Kay Lavender Moon and Sinful Colors Folly and OPI Funky Dunky

Orly Glitz and konad

This was my pre-Christmas party mani.  I was going to leave this for the party the next evening but my new purchased shirt the next day called for another konad. (which i don't have pics of)   These pics were taken immediately after the mani was completed.  I know the cuticle cleanup wasn't done but i only wore this shopping the next day.  My camera was not in focus for these pics so these are the best ones i have. 

Konad green & red
Orly Glitz
Konad plate m12

Shimmering Mauve & CND Shimmer Copper

Seche Plus Fortified Strengthener
Base coat - Stickey

Base color - Orly Shimmering Mauve

Ring finger - applyed CND Shimmer Copper top coat with rhinestones and Kiss Nail Art stripes
applied Sally girl pink glitter to the rest of the names but the look silver to me in these pics.
Top coat - Sally Hansen Mega Shine

I didn't mind this mani but i'm really getting annoyed with the polish tips wearing after one day. this Mani was Nov 30,  i'm behind in posting.

a little mini update

i have managed to keep polish off my nails for an entire week.  Yah me, but it really has made this blog very unexciting.  The yellow on my nails don't look as bad and i might have been able to stop the peeling tips.   I am so ready for a color this weekend, but it will not be amazing but it will include a base color of green (Rider green) and maybe some konad or a nailart.  It will be to support our Saskatchewan Roughriders as they are in the grey cup finales on Sunday start time 6:00pm.  Go Riders Go. Yah friend's housewarming/Grey cup party.
The nailart depends on how alert and untired i will be on Sunday morning/afternoon; as tomorrow is way to busy of a day - Santa's Breakfast volunteering from 730am-11:15am then off to soccer game for the 2nd game of the tournament for the Girls Under 16 Soccer (i'm assistant coach)12-1, then checking out the Weaver's Guild and try to pick up some amazing jewelry from JQ at flippery digits/ hearts on fibre (there is 2 separate links back there);  then back home to relax for a bit and off to my coed soccer game at 6:00pm and have some drinks with the team afterwards.   Wow that sounds just too much as I'm typing it, how do people try to manage schedules like this.

Well stay tuned for a nail manicure in the next 2 days.

My little unpolished broken nails

It was time to file down all my nails; the left hand had many nails that were very tiny anyways and i have this peeling issue i'm trying to get rid of.  As you can see i have discoloration of the nails.  (half of them yellow, with growth that is not yellowed...that is when i started to use the Seche Vite thickener & base coat before each mani) i'm going to try to leave them unpolished for a while maybe that will help to soften up the yellowing...but from what i've read on other blogs  i need to wait till the nails grow out past the yellow parts. What is your gals take on yellow nails? and how to treat? or if i can.

i have to file this thumb down even more

Notice the damage that i did to the left thumb.....the culprit is below in the next picture

Side view - Note for me*when wire wrapping a stone do not use your thumb nail even if the instructions tell you to.

Painted Lady Fingers contest

I

I just entered Painted Lady Fingers contest.  Contest ends on November 24 so get your entries in.
Follow the link for details about the contest and how to earn extra points.

Computer problems - virus

Stupid me, downloaded a virus from my email that said Fedex...i'm waiting on Ebay products - polymar clay rods so i was excited.  Had 2 or 3 clues that this was a virus but i opened anyways and then thought oh no...virus.  Sure enough.

Well writing a short email to state i have new pics of mani but can't download them till computer is fixed, hopefully it will be fixed by weekend.

Sunday is Yoga in No Room

I'm so excited, it's sunday night and i created a very pretty, not planned, well besides a rough plan using OPI "No Room for the blues", and OPI "Yoga-ta get this blue" and one size (the pink) dotting tool and thought for a freehand diagonal line for division of each color.  Applied the seche vite, cleanuped, DL pics and upload to bed and off to bed - almost 2.5 hours later, (i really need to improve this time).   Just hope this mani doesn't chip after tomorrow's work day is done. Having some peeling issues with a couple of my nails...anyone have any tips in this regard?  Is it time to give the polish on my nails a break?

at first i thought to do a diagonal line but tried to change it up so it was kinda swiggly. as you can see by the time i got to the left hand i was mostly doing diagonal again.

 left hand

 right hand

 left thumb

Will try for some daylight pictures tomorrow. as these aren't great.

Venus + soccer gloves + konad = double fail

This is Avon nailwear Pro - Venus.  I applied two coats and was very unhappy with the streakness, wonder if i went three if it would have evened out.  The only two nails that are not streaky are the thumb and the pinky (on the last two pictures.

I wore this for one day.

then evening of first day decided to try to konad them to savage the mani.
Here is my attempt.  My black konad color was awful, the color keep drying to the stamper or not transfering.  I have a new stamper and tried the trick of running the nail file across the rubber stamp. Tried to use half the plate image of m64 to try to recreate simply rins design. Well i had lots of trouble with the polish not adhering to the nail so i attempted to double stamp some areas on the nails and well look at the pics you will see what happened. Question for the konad addicts; do you have the special polish and have you had a ugly formula.  Think maybe it's time to look for another black polish to use in my stamping.

 pointer finger is really worn as i had soccer last night (right after i did this konad) and i play goalie so my hands were in the keeper gloves. Attempted to put the silver konad top coat on the middle finger as it was really not a straight konad stamp.

Sorry that some pics are not focused, and disregard the cuticles.  Having some dry hand issues this fall time.
Tonight i'm attempting my nail art for Simply Rins  one year blog anniversary contest.
Ali