DizzyNails: 08.2009

Short but SWEET

Thursday I stopped by Sally's in search of the new China Glaze Glitters. I had to go to a second Sally's across town to actually find a few! But hooray! I picked up five, quite happily. The gorgeous sparkly, holorific Atlantis is one of them. China Glaze, you da bomb, yo!!

Here is two coats of Nicole by OPI Blues in the Night (I think - it doesn't have a label, but I'm pretty sure) with one coat of China Glaze Atlantis, then topped with Konad Special White and a design from plate m51.

In the next picture you can see that I placed the design in the same way on my right index and middle fingers, much to my chagrin! I was trying to do the design in a different orientation on each nail. Oh well!

Here, below, you can finally see what the Blues in the Night (Nicole by OPI) looks like on its own (in the bottle).

Bling! Bling! Bling!

This evening I had a fabulous surprise upon my arrival home from a weekend away in Homer, NY. Sid and I went to a college buddy of his' wedding. I wasn't really expecting any packages, so the gears in my mind starting churning. When I got the package in my hands I read "Deborah Lippmann" on the return address label. Holy smokes!! I won the Allure giveaway from a few months back! I completely freaked (and am in fact still freaking out). I never win anything, seriously. Check them out!

The really funny part is that I agonized over buying this collection when it came out and I did end up purchasing it. Ha!! Figures.

Stars and Daisies

Posted by Lauren dizzy comments (7)

I debated whether or not to post the next picture. Remember how I had these awful tears in the sides of my nails? Well, the Orly rescue product helped for a while but the tears were just too severe for me to leave them alone. My poor two wittle nails cannot get any shorter.

Don't cry for me, nail polish lovers. I'll be okay. You'll probably just be seeing more of my right hand for the next few weeks. ;)

Today's nails feature the faboo Shades by Barielle Falling Star. The first time I saw this polish I knew I had to have it. I am mesmerized by the marriage of the copper glittahs and the dreamy calm of the blue.

I'm reviving my Konad skills, as well. This is design plate m41 with China Glaze Poetic.

Don't laugh, but I have the entire Romantiques collection and have never before used a single one. I know, I know! And what everyone says is true, because they are perfect for Konading! I was skeptical, I'm not gonna lie. I'm fully converted and be sure that you will be seeing plenty of Romantique Konads in the future. Gorg!

If I had it to do over again I think I would place the daisies a little further up the tips so that more blue shows.

I do love this design. It's clean, pretty, and interesting.

Not all cotton rounds are created equal!

Posted by Lauren dizzy comments (2)

I'm so glad to be posting!! I've been wanting to post for quite some time, but have been busy living it up with my bud. We've been to the beach, Epcot, Sea World, by the pool, shopping, and have had tons more fun. It's been totally awesome. We picked out some really gorgeous Sinful polishes today at Walgreens and also got two new Fall Maybellines (bogo!). Look forward, peeps!!

I think I'll be posting more often now, as the vacay is coming to a tragic close. I have so many new polishes to swatch and wear...oh boy. I'm dizzy with excitement!! Below is a no-named Delia's neon turquoise blue polish. It's so pretty. I topped it with NYX glittah Silver Blue.

Here are pictures in the hot hot sun!

The other day I was in Neiman's and nearly DIED when I found Shu Uemura Tanzanite Aquarium from last Fall! Behold the loverliness!

I have to confess that my pictures of it do not do it justice. Also, I had some slight bubbling and textural issues on a few fingers. I'm not sure why but I think there may have been some debris either on my nails or in my base coat. Boo!

It dried to a very dark and dangerous navy dream.

This morning I added a little 'nad, 'cause it's been waaay too long since I 'nadded. I'm a little rusty, so pay no attention to my messiness. I used plate m72 and Princess Polish in Coral.

I love this design!

Unfortunately, the light blue stamping doesn't show much unless it is in sun or bright light. It's still pretty sweet, though.

And as a special treat, I've included my bud Krista's nails! She is sporting the fabulous Zoya Pinta, Konad Princess Polish in Violet Pearl, with Zoya Sparkle Gloss top coat. Oh, and it's plate m61 for the cow spots/clouds.

I had some smudging and a bit of sheerness with the stamping but overall I think it looks super cool! I believe that the stamping polish was maybe a bit too sheer to transfer the clouds completely (which is weird since it's Konad). Either that or my technique needs improvement.

Are you wondering what in the world my post title refers to? Well, let me tell you. I have these cotton rounds that I got at Target or somewhere. Haven't used them to Konad before. Omigoodnessgracious they stink so bad! The rounds I had previously were really terrific and non-linty. These ones get little pieces of lint and fiber all over the place during the stamping process. So.Not.Cool! Does anyone love hairy 'nads?! No. In any case, just thought I'd share. If y'all are trying to 'nad and have issues with fibers, then it might just be your craptastic cotton rounds.

Thanks for sticking with me! :)

Oh NUBS

Posted by Lauren dizzy comments (5)

Hello Lovelies! I know it's been a while since I posted. My best bud is here on vacay (yeah, I'm on vacay, too) so I haven't been able to spend much time on my computer. I'm still trucking with the fabulous manis, though! She loves polish, too, so we're having fun painting our nails often.

The other day when I took my yellow/purple glittah psychotic mani off I noticed some tears on my index and middle finger nails. Ohhhhh the horror! I was so upset. They were torn across a bit way too far down. I debated what to do. I decided to cut 'em all short in an effort to not cause additional strain that might encourage the tear or a full break. It was so much harder than I thought it would be. I guess I had gotten used to my "long" nails. I know - my nails were by no means legitimately long, but for me they had never been that long in my whole life. In any case, you will all be gazing upon my awesome nubs for a while - until they grow back, that is!

This is Barry M Racing Green. It is awesome.

Here is Barry M Blue Glitter with Shu Uemera Nuance Top Coat. Glittah Bomb-tastic!

I rocked these out at Cocoa Beach yesterday and they were so freaking gorg in the blinding beach sun. I definitely caught myself staring at them a lot, in between watching crazy little yellow crabs run all over around me.

The Shu top coat is little tiny holo glitter flecks, if you recall. Maybe I'm the only one who has nails packed with fabuloso blue glittah and thinks to myself, "these need something, for sure! Maybe a little....glittah?" :)

I tried a cool product from Orly called Nail Rescue. It's basically super glue that you paint on your nail, then dip the nail into some fine white powder substance, and finally buff it to a smooth finish. We got it for my bud whose thumb nail has a huge, bogus crack down the middle. It filled in and evened out the crack and also filled in some mega ridges she had. I put some over the tears in my nails and it seems to be helping to keep them strong! Super cool! The super glue is crazy and you have to be really careful not to get it on your finger or cuticle, but other than that it's a terrific save in my book. I'm hoping that it keeps my nails in tact and my brain sane until my nails grow back out.

Posted by Lauren dizzy comments (4)

Back by popular demand! It's more Anna Sui!! Here we have the lovely Dolly Girl mini 404. It's a smokin' hawt fire-engine red with shimmery glittah! It screams: Look at me!!

Here is Anna Sui 201, a creamy mauevy, lavender with delicate shimmah. I had some awesome shrinkage, as you can see, partly due to Poshe and partly due to my need to take a shower very shortly after painting my nails. Did you even know that showering too soon after painting your nails with a quick-drying top coat could cause shrinkage?! I didn't until recently, thanks to the lovely ladies on MUA.

Shrinkage or not, it's still gorgeous.

And last is the odd one out, Nfu-Oh 65. This is a celebratory mani for my best bud coming to visit me today. Hoooooraaaaaay!! I love this color very muchly. :D