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.

Party Hearty Steals My Heart

This has been one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the Holiday.  Here's China Glaze's 'Party Hearty'...

No cute build up before I reveal the finished work.  Here it is right off the bat.  I layered 'Party Hearty' over a French white tip by OPI.  The surprise is that the red glitter are teeny stars!  In a clear base it is mixed with different sizes of green glitter.

This is one I so would have grabbed out of my mother's hand if it was the last bottle.  But I would have quickly remarked 'But we can share!'

I worked on this one different ways...

I got this French white tip polish in a French mani set from OPI.  I realllllly wish nail polish makers could make all their polishes in this size bottle.  One, I could pretty much be sure I'd use up all the polish, two, I wouldn't end up with globby, gunky polish near the end and three, I think the prices would come down.  More for everybody!!!

This is the experiment.  On the thumb and middle finger, just 'Party Hearty' all by itself.  To see if I could enhance the pizzazz, I used the OPI white on the index and ring finger.  On the little finger I put on some Orly's 'Winter Wonderland'.  I am going to try 'Party Hearty' with that one momentarily.  However, this is 2 coats of 'Party Hearty' on each nail.

This is Orly's 'Winter Wonderland' and it's from their Holiday collection as well.  I'm admitting I'm still a novice at calling out types of polishes.  However, I'm loving my education from the blogs I follow.  (Check out who I follow over on the right hand column.)  And I'm going to venture that this is a sheer white base with ultra-micro silver white glitter.  Here's one thing I am sure of, it's purdy...

I did just the pinky with this color.  This is with two coats.

Next I put 2 coats of 'Party Hearty' over that.  At first, I was concerned that putting on the 'Winter Wonderland' and then the 'Party Hearty' was going to be over-kill.  (Yes, smarties, I do know what over-kill is!!!)  But you can see, that using 'Winter Wonderland' isn't any different than my middle finger with no undercoat.  I guess 'Winter Wonderland' will have to go on as its sheer self.  Or, an overlay.

Of course, it was a bear to take off!  But I think it is a very Holiday 'Party' manicure.


All this glitter too over the top for you? 

Winner of the Glitter Giveaway

I had Sebastian (aka Sabbie), Libby's real life brother, help me with my drawing tonight.

What?  Who, me?  Do what?  Just play with little bits of paper?

Oh, looky!  I want to tap my paw on them.  They make a funny noise that interests me.

I'm getting one to come out of the pile.  I want to draw it near me so I can bit it!

Shhh...don't tell Mommy.  I got one that I'm going to chew on in just a moment.

Mommy took away the bit of paper to reveal the WINNER!!!  It's MISS JACKIE S!!!!

Sabbie says congratulations to Jackie.  He just wants his credit for being the lovely assistant.  I am the doting Mommy; he is just a lovable, adorable bubba.

I sent an email to Jackie to let her know she won.  When I matched up her entry to her post, she wrote that the drawing would be held on her birthday!!!!  So this is quite a surprise for her on her birthday.

Thanks everyone that entered.  I think this was my largest entry giveaway ever.  I'm going to take it that my followers like the items/themes I have as giveaways.  I want you to know that I like having you hang out with me.  Keep hanging around, cuz I have more giveaways to come. :D

Mrs. Claus Slips Into Something 'Special'

This song is fun to sing.  Once the Christmas decorations and commercials start showing up, it's time for me to sing the Christmas anthem.  And out comes the Holiday jewelry.  No Christmas sweaters though!  But I do wear a lot of red.  And that goes for nail polishes.


This is China Glaze's 'Mrs. Claus', one from the Holiday collection.

What an interesting combination of colors.  The base is a medium magenta color.  The micro-glitter is red and silver.  I used 3 coats for this pedi as it was thin and I wanted it opaque, fit for the 'First Lady of Christmas Spirit'.

Know what Mrs. Claus' first name is?  If you watch 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' you learn the story about Kris Kringle and when he met JESSICA!

This last photo shows 'Mrs. Claus' to be a bit on the orange side.  Not really so.  I think the camera is picking up the gold and washing out the blue hues.  The top photo shows a better representation.

This polish is the one I'd pick if I were wearing high-heel peep toe, sling-backs to a Christmas party.  This red would work with almost any Christmas color from red to green, white and then my favorite; black.  Of course, not your run of the mill little black dress. ;)

I work for myself and the companies I contract with are all in other states.  Then, my husband, he's retired.   So, there's no company party there.  I miss those company parties too.  It is the one time of the year I would DECK out!  And if there had been a party to go to this year, I would have taken 'Mrs. (Jessica) Claus' with me.

How do you like 'Mrs. Claus'?  What color of polish will you wear to your Christmas party?

There's Gold In Them There Toes

There's always going to be sparkles and glitter and twinkles in makeup during the Holidays.  It's an international law.  I've never been cited.

Today I played with some Holiday colors and glitters. On my finger nails, that's a sneak peek for the next posting.

First, we have a tale of two golds.  Not meant to be twins.  Surely from the same gold mine, though.  China Glaze's 'Midnight Kiss' is from their current holiday collection.  And the second China Glaze, 'Medallion,' which their site lists as a 'Specialty.'

'Midnight Kiss' is a shimmery, buffed gold.  It reminds me of one of the gold colors from Black Hills gold jewelry.  Only took 2 coats to be opaque but not terribly dense.  'Medallion' is an in your face, gold glitter with a bit of iridescent glitter as well.  Can you see that red Sally's clearance sticker on the 'Medallion' bottle?  $4, clearance.

I wanted to swatch as many Holiday colors as I can get in for the next 30 days so I did a pedicure using both of these golds.

Inside light, then outside light.  Here's what I did.  I alternated each nail with the two colors.  So the big toe on the left foot, it's 'Midnight Kiss.'  The big toe on the right foot starts off with 'Medallion.'

I did two coats of each.  Just one top coat of Seche Clear.  The last photo gives a better representation of the two golds side by side.  'Medallion' may show up again on the blog as an overlay.  But doesn't the 'Midnight Kiss' seem regal?  I like the muted color.  This would be a color I'd love to wear to a Winter evening wedding.

Oh, and I've been to the Black Hills.  It's a beautiful area. 

Which do you like the best; 'Medallion' or 'Midnight Kiss'? 

Twinkle Toes Show For The Giveaway

I'm hosting a giveaway that ends November 27, Saturday, at 10 PM EST.  Click on over there and enter.  There are some gorgeous glitter polishes in this prize.

Many times when I'm out blowing money  shopping, I am on the lookout for items what would make a fun giveaway.  I was really excited about this one.  And rarely usually I will want one of the items for myself.  This polish was one of them...

The boutique 'Forever XXI (21)' has some of the cutest clothes, jewelry and cosmetics.  There are 2 huge stores here in Orlando at malls.  Fortunately, I have clients I visit in both of these malls.  I wonder, sometimes, if having clients in retail establishments is a good idea.  That's because it tends to GIVE me ideas.

This is where I found all the glitter nail polish for my giveaway.  Forever XXI calls their makeup line 'love and beauty.'  As you can see on the label, they are not expensive and they are gorgeous.  But, do they perform well?  I did a pedicure to test it out.

This particular one is a medium dark purple base that has iridescent micro glitter in it.  The glitter is so tiny I couldn't tell, easily, if it was a bunch of different colors or all iridescent.

Here, I have put on 3 coats to get to opaque.  3 coats isn't too bad.  But the negative was that it did puddle around the cuticle.  I don't know if it would have done that on my finger nails, but I did use some back strokes to even it out.  Albeit, it's hard to see in the photos, the glitter is noticeable.   I think the middle photo above shows it the best, however, it shows up very much like what you see in the bottle.

I'm glad I got the purple for myself.  Though, I am sorry it just has the name 'Dark Purple.'  I hope the winner of the giveaway will not only give these a good home but maybe some come up with a few cute names.

Have you entered the giveaway yet?  Whatcha waitin' for!!!

Taking It To The Matte

Do you know any 'all or nothing' types of people?  How about those types that find something new and then just OD on it?  Should you not like those characteristics in a person, well, you might want to just skip over this post.

There has been a lot of ooohhhh'ing and awwwww'ing with the Christmas collections in 'Nail Whoville.'  And, rightfully so.   I don't think I've changed my (nail) clothes this many times in one day since I was in high school!

Honestly, I wasn't a 'wild child'.  I had lots of fun but I wasn't loose off the line like Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears.  And, about as 'out there' that I got was sporting some red, racy nail polish.  I'm sure I had just one red color and wore it a lot.  I still love to wear red nail polish.  Makes me feel saucy!

Wouldn't it be blasphemy if a Holiday collection did not have a least one red in it?  Yep, right up there with the Grinch that stole all the red nail polish!  Shutter!  Thankfully, we got reds, and are they saucalicious!!!

This is from Finger Paint's Holiday collection: Mulberry Madness...

Madness is right.  I went a bit 'squeee-ing' over this one.  Don't know what 'squeee-ing' is?  That's what you do when you find those pair of shoes you have been wanting for 2 months and they are on clearance at 90% off and the only pair left is your size, and you've got them!

Indoors or outdoors, this red wins.  This is a dark, fuchsia that has red and lavender/purple micro glitter.  Perfect color for a holiday party.  I have on three coats.  I put a third one on this morning because I had tip wear over night.  No funny business; it just wore off.  I think it was because I used Seche Prep instead of regular alcohol to prep for color.  So, this jelly base polish didn't wear long. 

Not to worry.  I still wanted to play.  Here's where the overkill comes in...

Matted.  This has a totally different attitude.  OK, a cat hair got in there.  Ugh...how'd that happen?

Nail polishes, shine or matte, are of no concern when it comes to Libby and Sebastian.


Just one coat of China Glaze Matte Magic.  And it is magical.

Matte shouldn't be photographed in the direct sunlight.  Naw...it is a softer side of vamp.  It actually deserves candlelight.  Hmmmm...I wonder if I can convince my hubs on that.  I guess not.  It was burrito night.



Do you wear any reds for the Holidays?  Got a favorite one?  What 'all or nothing' attitude do you have?