Models Own Beetlejuice Summer 2012 Collection

Well, I had created this awesome look for the 4th, but when I did it last night I was tired and I had already taken my Ambien...hehe, so it was a bit sloppy and wasn't worth sharing, although I did get some compliments on them at work today. I am so excited to have tomorrow off! Well, I will get to my non-patriotic post...

I have been drooling over this collection before it was even released but everytime I found the collection together it was never in stock...until last week! My first Models Own polishes! I was soooo excited to get them. Their store doesn't ship to the US, so thanks to Harlow & Co. I got mine in like 4 days...shipping from Canada! How awesome! I wanted the first Beetlejuice Collection, but then their summer Beetlejuice collection came out and it was love at first sight!

More than any of them I wanted Indian Ocean. So I'll show it first. This beautiful duochrome is blue, pink, lilac, but very sheer. So, as shown below, I used one coat of Pure Ice Kissy Kiss (a periwinkle color). It wasn't very opaque but that's what I was going for. I then used 2 coats of Models Own Indian Ocean, followed by a thick coat of Seche Vite- I also used basecoat Seche Clear (I will ALWAYS !use a basecoat although I may not name it in my posts- as I used the same base and top coat in all of these manis)) I LOVE this outcome! Indian Ocean also has small purple or pink glitter in it- just a subtle amount to really make it pop. One of my favorite polishes! Jen from Polishaholic also did an awesome swatch on this color here!

Next, is Tropical Sun, which I really liked but wasn't just crazy about until I put it on. This was also a sheer peachy shimmer with hints of orange pink and gold. I decided to go with the base color, coral. For this I used Sinful Colors Hazard- one coat of this opaque polish gave me a brighter Tropical Sun that I would have had otherwise. I still loved this look and as shown below shows its different "faces" in the sun.

Last, but surely not least is Copper Pot, which was, I suppose was my least favorite of these 3, which isn't saying much. Once I put it on I was impressed- although I have probably 4 polishes that are almost this same color (one being a Pure Ice for $1.99). This was strong enough not to use a base color underneath, so I just applied 2 coats of this shimmery copper, hence Copper Pot lol. Looking back, it wouldn't have hurt to use 3 coats, but it still turned out nice.

When I went outside to take these pics it looked as if it was about to rain, so there wasn't a lot of sun, which didn't really give me a lot to work with. Of course, the clouds eventually moved on and my other swatches for this came out great due to the sunlight. Yay for summer....ha. Living in Louisiana isn't much fun during this awful season...the humidity is smothering. Well, I will leave you with this fun picture:

Valentine's Day Nails- Day 1

Well, after this week of horrible weather, it's finally sunny outside...and we have Kade lol. So, it's kind of hard for me to swatch seeing as I'm constantly chasing a 15 month-old around the house, cleaning and cooking! I did manage to create this Valentine's look last night, though. I really wanted to start out with some non-traditional colors (well anything that wasn't red, pink or white). I will start from yesterday and create Valentine's Day look each day until Tuesday.  I want to see what I can come up with. I'm sure other bloggers are doing something very similar.

Pure Ice Kissy Kiss, butter LONDON Knackered,
 Konad Special Polish in Black with RA120

I used Orly Bonder- I like using a bonding basecoat even if I know I'm not going to keep the mani very long- it does what it says and the polish adheres easier to my nails. I used one coat of Pure Ice Kissy Kiss, which is a sheer jelly periwinkle color (shown in the first picture below) that I thought would bring out the lavender in butter LONDON's Knackered, which I swatched a few weeks ago with butter's Spring 2012 Collection. I love this color because it's so versatile! It's a beautiful duochrome with multi-colored micro glitter and looks different everytime I use it. I love how it shimmers and changes colors in the sun. I can take a million pictures this polish on!

I only used one coat since I knew I was going to stamp. Using Konad Special Polish in black I used Red Angel stamp RA120, as shown left.  I'm not a hearts kinda gal, but since this look is for the holiday dedicated to love, I thought I'd branch out.  Again, on the Konad special polish, I love it even though some say it's not necessary and to use regular polish, which I've been doing, but find that I like Konad better and don't mind spending the few extra bucks. I love the easy pick up and application. I never doubt it's ability to do what it was created to do and all I have to worry about is my ability to apply it well lol. I still need quite a bit of practice on my stamping, but I'm getting there.  Finally, I topped that off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat. I absolutely LOVE this stuff and will never use anything different! I will have to get a bottle to include in my giveaway (it's $10 at most retailers).

I wasn't quite thinking it through when I was stamping and should've put the hearts facing the other way so I wouldn't have to turn my hands upside down, but oh well. And my middle finger (of course) has a heart that looks a bit smudged, so please just keep in mind that this is the holiday for love:) I stopped with this simple look, because I didn't want to start a project that I literally couldn't finish. I need more practice before I start doing more complicated looks.  If left to play, I will work on my nails for 2 hours!

I will try to post another look for today (this is actually Friday's look) sometime tonight if I can get a chance to swatch.  Right now I'm cooking peanut butter brownies, washing dishes and clothes, so I'm a busy body today, but I'm sure I will make the time to do another look:)