Liberace's Favorite

Even though my nails are really crappy right now, I shouldn't let that stop me from posting swatches of past.  Funny how I don't think about posting when my current nail condition has nothing to do with past recorded manicures.   I need to get over that one!

Do I like Orly or, do I like China Glaze more?  Hmmm...I don't know if I can answer that one.  I really like both of them.   And I'm even harder pressed to chose one with the cool Holiday collections they gave us this year.

I'm on a gold kick!  Where I never would have imagined wearing something so presumptuous as gold polish, I am now enamored.  This swatch is with Orly's 'Glitz and Glamour.'  Before you look at the photos, you just might want to put on a pair of dark shades; this gold has its high beams on.

 

These photos were taken at the sunny window.  The consistency of the polish fascinated me.  I am pleased with myself that I was able to capture it with the camera.  The polish is  a gold base with more gold glitter in it than Liberace's wardrobe. 

                                                          Michael S. Yamashita / Corbis
Well....after looking at this photo from his museum (now defunct), maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.  (Ya think?)

Outside in the sun, it blazes like the sun, doesn't it?  The amount of gold color is unbelievable.  The photo has more copper tones showing, but it truly is a perfect shade of gluttonous, glittering gold.  (I lopped off a chunk of my nail on my middle finger.  Totally bummed that it is on my swatching hand too.)

Orly was spot on by naming this 'Glitz and Glamour'.  I don't think I could have topped that.  And, if Liberace ever wore nail polish, I bet you bouillons to piano keys, he would have worn this. 

The Liberace museum, in Las Vegas,  closed in mid-October.  It was due to lack of tourist draw.  And that's quite sad.  I grew up watching him on color TV at my grandparent's house.  What a performer.   This was well before Madonna, Lady Gaga....hell, Cher had hardly taken off her fur vest yet!   Ahhh, the innocence of being so young and only seeing Liberace for his performances; nothing else.

Do you think this polish is aptly named?  Are you old enough to remember seeing Liberace's show on TV?  I bet a good part of my followers are not.  You might know who he is, hopefully.  But sadly, that's why the museum shut down; lack of an audience that remembers him.

This is a giveaway I'd love to win.  But, it's not for me; it's for Libby.
Please click here and take a look at this outdoor Kritter Kondo.  Libby, and her brother, Sebastian, would love so much to be outdoors.  But, they have always lived indoors.  And since Ragdolls are overly docile, they could so easily be hurt outside.

Winning this would be perfect for them!  It's way better than them just smelling the air at the patio doors.

What Does Good King Wencelas Drink?

As long as it is the Holiday Season, let's just max it out!  I made this one with the name 'Good King Wencelas Blacks Out.'  Here's why...

I started off with a couple of coats of Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in 'Black Out.'  This is my core, solid black polish I keep on hand (literally!).   

Then, I used the new Holiday polish from Finger Paints, 'Sparkle Top Coat.'  I can't believe I just had to look on the bottle to remember the name.  Like, it's so memorable and all. *eye roll*

It would have been very easy to miss this polish at Sally's.  The ones that I have visited have it buried amongst all the other impulse purchases at the cash wrap.

Looks like snow with the sun dancing off of it.  Reminds me of Good King Wenceslas.  (Rendition by Loreena McKennitt, one of my favorite musical artists.)

I think a clever person would have named this polish 'Good King Wenceslas.'  Top Coat is so, so...so generic.  But the polish is not.  It's sparkly!!!  Micro iridescent glitter suspended perfectly in the clear base just like a Cirque du Soleil performer.  (Warning: don't click on the previous link if you do not like hunky, six-pack abs men in very tight tights.  Just sayin'...)

 So, 'King Wenceslas' lays one on for a 'Black Out.'  But no one pitches a fit because it ends up looking so ritzy.

You can just barely see the iridescent flickers. 

Ahhhh, very sparkly!  And these are being hidden away because 1) I don't wear flip flops and 2) it's actually cool here in Orlando.  I'm going to get my 5 days of boot wearing time!

What do you think Good King Wenceslas drinks?  My guess is Wassail. 

Is the Christmas 'Beast' Gone Hog Wild?

Just Peachy has me pegged this month.  She has kidded me about going 'hog wild' with mattes and blings and such.  If you want to check out some very cute and doable mineral makeup looks, you can check out her blog here.  She's the cutest tom boy I've ever seen!

Yep, I think Christmas/Winter Holidays are all about excess.  Can you think of one thing that is known to be 'held back' at this time of year?  Food, no.  Spending, hell no!  Alcohol, no.  Being with family, no.  Bling? Oh, Hell, No!!

This mani is so festive I couldn't take it off tonight.  I want to wear it just one more day.

This is Milani's 'Melt With U.'  I picked it up this summer.  So, actually, it's not from a Holiday collection.  But anything that is this fiery red and sparkly becomes a Holiday nail wear automatically in my stash.  The photos make it more orange than it is in real life.  Shimmery red with golden shimmers within.  If you wear this for summer, it could be a July 4th color.  However, it screams 'Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown' to me. 

Sunny window.

Bright Florida sunshine.

This Milani is a charm to apply.  Most are.  This one looked quite nice with one coat but I did a second for maximum coverage.  I have the regular BC, 1 Seche Clear, 2 color coats, 1 Seche Clear and then Quick 'n Slick for the top coat.  I actually wore this mani a day before spicing up...

Green star rhinestones and some white dot rhinestones.  All random.  All Bling.  I used one of the dotting tools I got in a kit that was my first giveaway winnings.  The rhinestones I got in a lot package at the beauty supply store.  After placing the stones, I used a couple of coats of Seche Vite to keep them in place.  Over night only one came off and that was a star off the pinky.  Other than that, I worked today and nary a one popped off.

For the Holiday, I'm going to be flying to Denver to be with my brother and his family.  I think I will recreate this mani or a very similar one when I go.  Not that I expect my brother to notice (however, he is a very loving, perceptive man) but, it will help me feel more in a festive mood too.  I think the snow and cold weather won't hurt either!

Do you have your Holiday/Christmas mani planned out yet?

I Created Visions of Sugar Plums

We have enjoyed a quite, tranquil holiday weekend at home.  Just me, hubs and the two cats.
And I have got a lot of swatching done.  It wasn't work at all.  More like playing.

I wanted to try a green polish and use 'Hidden Treasure' over it, then matte it.  I think most of my readers will truly understand how these combinations will just pop into your head.  Well, at least they do for me.  In fact, some nights I fall asleep coming up with creations and then dream about them. 

So, I dug in the unswatched pile, and found Ulta's 'Jaded.'  Perfect, I wanted to try a green that wasn't from a Holiday collection.

This is frosty with some shimmer in it.  You can't see that shimmer in the photo.  It's very minuet.  Boy, the first 2 coats of this were watery.  So on the third one, I went a bit thicker to get it to be opaque.

My polishing was great, for me.  But the ugliest cuticles ever, kill the look.  I'm not got to apologize for them.  I'm going to take action about making them over. 

All my photos here are indoor lighting.  I'm right at my desk and just loved the light at the moment.

Now for the flakies.  I was going to do this all with Sally Hansen's 'Hidden Treasure.'  But as I dug in my unswatched stack, I found an Essence's 'Space Queen'.  I know they are not even close, but I wanted to see what they'd look like side by side.

'Hidden Treasure' is on thumb, middle and pinky.  'Space Queen' is on index and ring finger.  As you can see, 'Hidden Treasure' is a flakey.  'Space Queen', she's an iridescent glitter.  Both give a nice winter Holiday feel.  But I wasn't done with my creative madness.

You've heard that song by The Stones, 'Paint It Black'?  It goes, "I see a red door and I want to paint it black."  Just what in the hell does that mean???  Well, I see a pretty color and I want to paint it matte.

Mattified!  Index is 'Space Queen' and ring finger is 'Hidden Treasure.'

And here is my entire left hand alternating.  And a very BIG DRATS!  I have a tear on the outside of my thumb nail.  Grrrr!!!  Before nail blogging, I would have just chopped it off.  But, heck, my nails are so close to being uniform.  sigh

Sparkles or matte?  Hidden Treasure or Space Queen?

And, I would like to share with you, my Ultimate Favorite Christmas song: Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Canon.