Sister/Cousin Nail Art Ventures

I'm hoping my internet holds out long enough for me to churn out this quick post.  Once in a while a page spontaneously manages to load, but it's normally just a tease and cuts right out.  My boyfriend left at 4:30 this morning :(.  I wish he could stay up in NH longer, but one of us has to be responsible and go to work.  I've been laying around in the sun all day and feel totally baked.  It's terrible but I love it.  Anyways, I wanted to show you the manis I gave my 18 year old sister, cousin and my 13 year old sister.  The first mani came about by accident when I was just playing around before dinner.  She decided she wanted me to give it to her as a full mani the next day, and the rest followed her lead!

Nfu Oh 65 + Orly Instant Artist Stripes + Seche Vite, sunlight-ish

RGB Slate/Butter London Wallis with divider stripes + Seche Vite, sunlight

Nubar Reclaim + Orly Instant Artist + Seche Vite, flash

I need to figure out a better way to get posts out to the blogosphere from here.  This is torture!

~Shbecky

Nubar Jewel

Hey guys!  Just a quick post because I'm feeling a little uninspired by the swatches I have saved up.  This is Nubar Jewel.  It's a a pale coppery metallic base with fine scattered holographic glitter.  It's 3 free and relatively easy to apply.  NO - you aren't imagining that my fingers, particularly my pinky, are tinted green.  I don't know what I was swatching before this, but I don't think it was green.  Weird!  Anyways this is a nice polish.  I wasn't expecting it to have holographic glitter, but it does.  Pleasant surprise!

2 coats Jewel, no top coat, artificial light

 For some reason I didn't swatch this with top coat.  It needs it.  This looks totally gritty in the above photo.  It has impressive lumps for just 2 coats of polish considering the glitter is really fine.  The flash picture below catches the glitter better. 

2 coats Jewel, no top coat, flash

Part of me likes this, but part of me is very against this polish.  I guess I need to try it again!

~Shbecky

The Painted Nail (Nubar) Love My Loubys Nail Art

Hey guys!  I hope you all enjoyed your weekends.  They never last as long as you hope or plan.  Oh well.  While I was away for July 4th I was lucky enough to receive a message from Michelle at All Lacquered Up telling me that I had been selected for her The Painted Nail Give Away.  It corresponded with the release of The Nail Files, the new salon centered reality show on TV Guide Network.  As part of my prize pack I received one of the polishes that salon owner Katie Carzola has created with Nubar.  Nubar has an awesome formula to begin with and as a nail blog follower Katie has created a great color with a great formula!  Love My Loubys is a bright blood red creme that was perfectly opaque in 2 coats.

The formula on this was incredible and stayed exactly where I placed my brush.  The bottle is the same shape as the standard Nubar bottle with the cap that sits so easily in your hand.  While I couldn't find the details on The Painted Nail's specific polishes, Nubar polishes are 3 Free and cruelty free.  I would assume that these would be too!

2 coats Love My Loubys +Seche Vite and Orly Instant Artist, artificial light

Being that I did this mani over the weekend, I couldn't leave it plain red.  I added stripes using my new set of Orly Instant Artist polishes.  It's nothing exciting, but it's still summery and fun and reflects this horrible heat wave that we are stuck in right now.  This is also me just practicing with the striper polishes.  I would highly recommend the Orly Instant Artist polishes to anyone interested in venturing into the world of basic nail art!  Also, I will be purchasing some more of Katie's polishes and would suggest that those of you who have been contemplating a purchase get on it!  You can buy them here!

~Shbecky

Butter London: All Hail The Queen

Hey everyone!  I just finished my second day at my internship.  It actually went REALLY well.  I was nervous after yesterday that I wouldn't enjoy it or be able to figure things out.  Realistically yesterday was just a disaster.  I felt out of place, because I sit with the a different group of staffers than the ones that I am actually working with.  I had no one to get lunch with, and my metro broke down on the way home.  I topped it off by getting off at the wrong bus stop and had to walk really far.  I thought today was going to be the same way - especially when I got on a different metro line without realizing it.  I realized it too late, but it turns out that it's a HUGE short cut.  Even though I had to get off, go back, and transfer metros I still got there faster. 

What does all this work stuff have to do with my nails?  Well, as I mentioned previously, work means neutral polishes.  I wore Rosa Rosa from Estee Lauder today with a brand new grey/brown dress that I love.  When I swing through the mall on my way home, I stopped at the Chanel counter in Macy's and I noticed that Chanel Paradoxical matched perfectly and somehow wasn't too out there for work!  I obviously bought it.   Now (finally) I bring you my first work mani.  Butter London: All Hail The Queen is tan shimmery/holographic polish.  It applies fantastically!

2 coats All Hail The Queen, no top coat + artificial light

Butter London are 3 Free and have the unique rectangular bottles with the top that pops off to reveal a ridged and relatively small grip.  They come with these great British-ized names.  This one is on its second name as far as I'm aware.  I think this was originally called All Hail McQueen after the British designer Alexander McQueen, who tragically took his own life in the last year.  I'm not sure why it's been switched.  Any ideas?  Application was a breeze.  I expect nothing less from Butter London.  I swear this polish is holographic, but who would know it.  You can kinda see it in the bottle. 

Verdict?  Love it!  What do you think?

Now for a bonus!  I topped Atlantic with Nubar 2010 and it looks even more mermaid-like.

2 coats Altantic + Nubar 2010, artificial light

-Shbecky

P.S. - Check out our new Giveaway Roundup page!