Muddy Purple Ombre

I've been neglectful over the past week. Sitting around and being lazy and watching TV. We all need that from time to time. :) On to the mani...

For some reason I've wanted to build this ombre for a while. It dawned on me that I had it! I purchased 'I Brake for Manicures' thinking it was a purple and then discovered it's a brown. I put it in this mani and found out I'm not crazy because it really is a purple side of brown. This brought out the purple in it for me and when I put my thumb next to brown objects I saw the purple. In my pink/grey ombre mani I mentioned the 'Porchester Square' has a purple tint and finished off this ombre perfectly! Unfortunately the pics show more of the brown than the purple in these polishes, especially the sun photo.

For my bottle shot I have sun on top and shade on bottom.

Pink/Grey Ombre

Good morning lovelies! Continuing on with my Neutral Theme as of late I started trying out my handful of neutral-ish polishes and found that Nails Inc. Porchester Square has a pink/purple tone to it. I therefore decided to do an ombre mani with it. :)

The Bottle Shot: which I sometimes do... :)

Porchester Square was purchased on Clearance at Sephora!

The 2 pinks are more different than the camera picked up but sometimes they look the same. 

You may notice the tip of my middle finger- the fiberglass started to ship with clipped my fingernail. :(

Hope you enjoyed my pink/grey ombre! These are fun to do. 

Celebrating My Nails!

I mentioned in a previous post that a nice lady commented on my nails. She thought I had fake nails and when I told her my nails are real she mentioned to me that she uses Shellac and her nails are awful. I told her about a few things that I've used and encouraged her to try them out under nail polish for a while and see if her nails will strengthen up and get prettier. It was a nice moment to encourage someone to embrace her nails and make then pretty again so she can proudly display them!

With that I want to take some time to celebrate my own nails! When I started this blog back in February I took some photos of my nails at the time. You can see the original post Here or click on 'naked nails' in my Labels. Here are what my nails look like today. (Before the tear last week)

I can't seem to get rid of the stains :( I've used a stain remover and I ALWAYS use a base coat and yet my nails are determined to be yellow. I'm pretty sure my cuticles hate me too. Oie! I'm just glad my nails are stronger and healthier!

Click to see the mani that followed :)

Neutral 'Interview' Nails... with a Twist

Good Morning Lovlies!

I really hate being sick! :( I had a cold last week which kept me down because I was sleeping every chance I had so didn't have time to post. I did, however, still paint my nails. I had a chat last week about possible job opportunities and I wanted to keep my nails neutral for this chat. It was kind of an interview but I know the person well so it wasn't like a normal interview. It went well though!! Even though I tried to keep my nails neutral she still commented on how pretty they are. This happened again yesterday with someone else but I'll save that story for later because it's heart warming. :)

I used my favorite neutral so far (and pretty much my only opaque one until I get more from the new OPI Germany collection!) OPI Dulce de Leche!

Here are the pics! The sun pics give a better representation of the color(s).

I decided to add a little something. Can't just wear one color!! 

OPI DS Opulence with a bit of NOPI Over the Gold Shoulder

I added some tape nail art the next day or so :)

It makes me think of caramel and cherry chocolate delicacies! Yumm

I used blue painters tape this time. It was nice because it didn't tear and leave bits of tape on my wet nails. However, it didn't leave straight lines either. 

I figured you might be wondering how I got the circle on my index finger so I took a couple pics for you! I placed the hole reinforcement on the corner of the blue tape and drew a line. I then used the line as a guide to cut the circle shape. I placed it on my nail and painted then pulled it off.  

And for the bottle shot. OPI: IS&ImAC is a darker burgundy/ maroon color. Desert sun is a perfect caramel color that I feel I should be able to eat! You get a better representation in the nail shots. 

OMG! I'm so in Love :)

I ordered this oldie but goodie quite a few months ago and never got around to wearing it. I woke up this morning, no wait, yesterday morning and decided I wanted to wear it. I took pics today (so there's tip wear because I didn't have time for a top coat before going to work yesterday) and added some vampy french tips. I am so loving this and don't want to take it off! (except that my lacquer ADD is already wanting to change again!)

So, without further ado I present OPI The Show Must Go On! with OPI DS Mystery!

I thought seriously about stamping over this with black but my SC black doesn't stamp well. Any good lacquers for stamping??

I hope you enjoyed this! I know I do :)

I Eat Mainly Lobster in the Clouds

This is all about my favorite color for the summer! I always want to wear this color because it's so bright! It's like wearing a neon except it isn't categorized as such. It's not overbearingly bright but when you get in the sun it really pops! I added some nail art using NOPI: The Gold Shouder and OPI Turquoise Shatter and Super Bass Shatter. Those last pics were taken in the morning before the sun really came up. I love the end result of this mani and its my first time doing the 'cloud' nail art. I hope you enjoy!

I thought I would try something different today for the way I post my pictures. Do you like it? I'm always interested in feedback to make my posts better. I would absolutely love to hear any thoughts!

Have a fantastic day!

~SillyCR

Just Spotted the Cat.... I mean Lizard!

This has to be one of my favorite manis to date! Yesterday I decided I wanted to wear OPI: Just Spotted the Lizard and also wanted to use one of my many and barely touched Shatters. Originally I wanted to use a bright color but after swatting decided on black. I had Jessica: Iridescent Eye (title) stuck in my head and wanted to do a cat eye. Everything else just happened as I started painting my nails with the black. The Tiger nail is my favorite! I love how it turned out! :) I also love the Shatter. I know, it was yesterdays news when I finally started wearing shatter but the black with this gold is simply stunning.

On to the pics!

OK! I'm leaving for NYC in a couple of days and want to do an awesome mani to last my trip. This is my first trip to NYC and I want nails to commemorate the occasion. I'm thinking a gradient based on this amazing gradient! I have to do my nails tomorrow along with pack and everything else! I need something fairly simple. I thought about stamping as well but that takes a while. Or maybe an elegant glitter sami. IDK! Help!

Best Wishes!
Silly CR

Vamp Chic

So now that I've finally gotten the guts to go for the stamping I freggin love it! I don't have many polishes that will work for stamping but I have tons that are sheer are great for layering so I thought I would try one of those. Also, I've been dying to wear one of my dark purples! It's summer so I've put it off but decided it was time to bring one out and try this stamping mani. :) I'm so happy with how this turned out! Can't wait until I can do way more of these over winter!!

And thanks to Fingers Polish Mania for her encouragement!! :)

I like my accent nail so left one out.

Here is my right hand. I think it turned out better. :)

I used OPI: Lincoln Park After Dark and SOPI: Wardrobe Change

Happy Coloring!
Silly CR

Sparkly Ombre

This stemmed from the Rockin' Robin Mani. It's a kind of skittle ombre. I'm glad I have these two blues. I love this shade. I'm also loving 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls' because it's white but the slight hint of grey makes it more subtle.

#10 Butterflies

April Showers Bring May Flowers 

hosted by: Polished Prisms

Took me a while to get around to this one because I was so indecisive! I finally decided on monarchs but I wanted to punch it up a notch :) Here are my polishes! In order of appearance...

I started with OPI and added a layer of Ulta. Then I wiped most of 'Rising Star' off the brush and used it on most of the nail, leaving alone the top corner. I then used the black art brush and for the think lines and 'Black on Black' for the corner. I used a dotting tool for the white dots. (I still need to buy actual white lacquer!)

 Shade

 Sun- you can see 'Rising Star' sparkling!

OK now for my accent nail! 

I am very pleased with this mani! Hope you like it as well. :)

Now for the other lovely ladies...

Hannah from Polished Prisms

Amanda from Mandy's Polish
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!
Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 
Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind
Sarah from All This Polish
April from Munia's Nails
Sharra from The Blahg
Jess from Nearly Natural Nails

OPI Green & Gold

I waited and waited and finally bought OPI 'Just Spotted the Lizard' and it seemed to be a perfect pairing for SOPI 'Tempted by Teal' which is a brilliant frosty (?) teal with gold running through it.

When I put on the SOPI lacquer the gold didn't show through. It's very subtle and mostly hides under the teal so you only see it when you take it off. It also stains your fingers when taking off. I take my polish off right before I get in the shower so it washed off. :) The downfall of these is they show how bad my nails are. (They've been pealing a lot lately) and also every brushstroke so you have to be purposeful about painting your nails!

Here is my attempt to show you the duo-chrome of 'Just Spotted the Lizard' ... not very successful though. I think it would be easier if I had all my fingers painted with this color.

I really like these colors- even if they weren't as expected. What do you think?

SillyCR xx

I Brake for Manicures

A while ago I went looking for a dark, slightly grey toned, purple and picked up 'I Brake for Manicures'...

This is not purple at all, it's brown. At first I had a hard time figuring out what color this is because it's so dark but after a while I figured it out. These pictured were taken 1 March so it's taken a while to make it to the blog. All pics were taken in the sun. These dark polished were really difficult to capture and I had taken a LOT of pics but narrowed it down to these. I was playing around and here is the result.

 I Juggle... Men on Ring finger

 Light My Sapphire on Ring finger

 Light My Sapphire and I Brake for Manicures

 I Juggle... Men on all fingers

I hope you found this somewhat intriguing :)

Best wishes,
SillyCR

#8 Matte Magic

April Showers Bring May Flowers 

hosted by: Polished Prisms

I find that Matte polish is most noticeable on dark cremes. Since this is a spring challenge I went with a dark hot pink and did a diagonal tape mani to show matte vs. shiny!

Before Matte

 Sun

Shade

The Polishes

You can see how the reflection stops at where the Matte starts. I loved the color combo (just not the bubbles) and once I start stamping I want to use this same color combo! :)

Time to see all the other awesome polishes!

Time to check on the other ladies :)

Hannah from Polished Prisms

Amanda from Mandy's Polish
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!
Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 
Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind
Sarah from All This Polish
April from Munia's Nails
Sharra from The Blahg
Jess from Nearly Natural Nails

#5 A Rainbow After the Rain

April Showers Bring May Flowers 

hosted by: Polished Prisms

So... I'm not really sure what happened but I accidentally skipped #5! I remember thinking about doing it but somehow missed it. Oh well, here it is! I had a hard time with this one. There are sooooo many ways to represent a rainbow. This was my final decision...

I had to get my pastel rainbow in there ;) so it's on my thumb! As I was painting this on I wasn't sure if I would like it but I love it! And I've gotten all sorts of compliments on it! Especially the glitter sami, everyone loves the glitter sami. I like how it breaks up the stripes a bit so they're not overwhelming. :)

Time to check on the other ladies :)

Hannah from Polished Prisms

Amanda from Mandy's Polish
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!
Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 
Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind
Sarah from All This Polish
April from Munia's Nails
Sharra from The Blahg
Jess from Nearly Natural Nails

#7 Glitter Tips

 April Showers Bring May Flowers 

hosted by: Polished Prisms

OK so this turned out to be one of my all time favorites and I didn't want to take it off!

OPI Polishes:

Care to Danse?

Don't Touch my Tutu

Pirouette My Whistle

Accent: Crown Me Already

I know it doesn't look like I used the lilac polish on all my fingers but really I did. Here's what is so awesome, besides the fact that my nails are long enough to do this. I was helping a lady and she complimented my nails and asked where I got them done. I told her I did them myself and she asked if I was a nail tech! She is a nail tech herself and thought I had my nails professionally done! How cool is that! I've come a long way in the last couple months and if feels sooo good! Now if I can de-yellow my nails!

I'm sure the rest of the challengers are way ahead of me. Thank goodness it's not a race :)

Hannah from Polished Prisms

Amanda from Mandy's Polish
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!
Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 
Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind
Sarah from All This Polish
April from Munia's Nails
Sharra from The Blahg
Jess from Nearly Natural Nails

#6 Ombre

 April Showers Bring May Flowers 

hosted by: Polished Prisms

I've been wanting to do one of these ever since I saw a pic of them on interest. As this is a challenge I wanted to do something a little extra so I added polka dots. (I know, you are probably getting tired of me doing polka dots but I seriously love them!). I tried to go with the old cartoons/ newspaper print where everything is bunches of colored dots. Anyway, here it is!

This is the story of my life. I have a talent for messing up my nails and it happened a bit before I was able to take the pic. And I was doing so well too! Unfortunately I didn't have anything with me to try to remedy the problem so I just had to take pics of my sad nails. :( I had fun doing them though!

As for the rest of the lovely ASBMF ladies...

Hannah from Polished Prisms

Amanda from Mandy's Polish
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!
Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 
Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind
Sarah from All This Polish
April from Munia's Nails
Sharra from The Blahg
Jess from Nearly Natural Nails

#3 Glitter Sami

 April Showers Bring May Flowers 

hosted by: Polished Prisms

I cannot express how incredibly happy this mani makes me! I bought the orange in an OPI duo pack that had pretty nail clippers in it ;) I didn't realize it was a jelly until I tried it one day and I was excited to see that I had at least 1 jelly. I also have a really bad habit of impulse buying and the berry just went on clearance and even though I have a LOT in this color family I bought it anyway. I did not however have any jellies in this family so I got home and went to check it out and was excited that now I have 2 jellies! And just in time for this challenge too! Yay!

The orange looks the same as in the bottle but the berry looks darker in the bottle and more red rather than purple. My thumb is also orange. I've been having some frustrating manis lately but this mani makes me so happy and I can't stop looking at my nails!

Ok- for the other bloggers - not sure if this is all of them or not!
Amanda from Mandy's Polish
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!
Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 
Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind
Sarah from All This Polish
April from Munia's Nails
Sharra from The Blahg
Jess from Nearly Natural Nails

#1 Spring Pastels

OK Here goes my next challenge. Still wondering why I decided to this, and then I look at the manis and get excited so here goes nothing! Side Note: The first challenge I did I lost interest after the third mani. Sadly, I tend to lose interest quickly on stuff. Not sure how I'm managing to even keep this blog going considering I don't have a great blog track record. Anyway, I digress.

And the challenge is...

April Showers Bring May Flowers 

hosted by: Polished Prisms

I created a pastel mani (the dotted easter eggs) right about the time this challenge commenced but didn't know about it yet. I debated whether to back track or create another pastel mani and decided to start fresh as I felt like it was kinda cheating otherwise. I'm soooooo glad I did! I finally did a sponge mani and it was so easy and fun! Yay!

I started with Yellow on Ring and Thumb and Silver on index, middle, and pinky and then sponged purple and pink on all of them. 

Side note: if any of you have followed anything about my quest so make my nails better (I swear I will have another post with reviews of what I'm using, one of these days) I started this blog with ugly peeling nails and the nails are getting better but my cuticles are rigged and need some more help. Unfortunately I don't have time to do the cuticle remover more than about once a week. I try to use Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle Cream every day but that doesn't always happen. Anyways, my question for you all is- Any suggestions for making my cuticles prettier? I trim them- is that bad?

OK peeps! Until next time :) 

Other April Showers Bring May Flowers Bloggers

Amanda from Mandy's Polish
Heidi from DIY Polish & More!
Katee from A Girl and Her Polish 
Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails
Tess from Football and Fingernails
Karine at Karinea0a
Victoria from Manicurator
Ashley from One Nail To Another
Dani from Rustic Comfort
Sue from Creative Nail Design by Sue
Amanda from Counting Down to Bliss
Kayono from Neues vom Kellerkind
Sarah from All This Polish
April from Munia's Nails
Sharra from The Blahg
Jess from Nearly Natural Nails