Dexter Nails

Cara's Nails

Tonight is the premier of the 7th season of Dexter! I've been a huge fan since the first season. All week I look forward to an hour long panic attack!! This is an old mani from last season's premier. But I thought I'd give it a second look. What do you think? 

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 4

Kate's Nails

If you tuned in to last week's Ravens/Patriots game, you got to see one hell of a game!  It was a very close one, and all came down to a barely-made field goal.  That field goal inspired today's nails.  Since I did these nails last night, I didn't know that the regular refs would be back, or else I would have done celebratory NFL Referee nails!  Maybe next week...

Sorry for the terrible picture.  I was a bit rushed this morning!

Polishes Used:

Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Zoya Natty

Essie Mojito Madness

Sally Hansen Going Green

Ulta Sun-Sational

Butter London Teetotal



Baltimore Orioles Nails

Last night we went to the Orioles game with a group of co-workers.  Even though the Orioles lost to the Blue Jays, we had a lot of fun.  Here is the nail art we did for the occasion!

Kate's Nails

For the black nails and the "O", I used China Glaze's Liquid Leather .  The baseball is Sinful Color's Snow Me White and Wet N Wild's Red Red. The orange nail is a mix of Sinful Color's Big Daddy and Sally Hansen's Sun Kissed.

Cara's Nails

It wouldn't be a game in Baltimore without BOH! I used Black is Back from Essence for the black nails. My middle nail is 9.0.2.1.Orange from Wet and Wild. I used acrylic paint to the dotted lines and Boh's features.

Baltimore Ravens - Week 3

Kate's Nails

Tonight on Sunday Night Football the Ravens take on the New England Patriots.  The last time we faced the Patriots, we had a heartbreaking loss in the AFC Championship.  It was a tough way to end the season last year, and I'm glad that we get a rematch this year!  I'm especially glad that we get to face the Patriots in Baltimore this time.  The Ravens have won 11 straight home games, and hopefully tonight will make it 12!!

For this week's nails, I did a fishtail design.  I first saw this design on Amber Did It when she did Ravens nails for her NFL series (check them out, she's awesome!).  I tried it last football season, and knew that I wanted to try it again.  This design is actually pretty easy, once you figure it out.  Amber has a link on her post to a good tutorial.  It was also much easier this year now that I have a gold that covers in one coat!  I used a new color for my football nail this week, thanks to Ulta's recent Butter London sale.  Loving my new polishes!

Let's go Ravens!!

 

 

Polishes Used:

Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober

Butter Teetotal

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Essie Good as Gold

Rosie Lee Gradient

Cara's Nails

I'm continuing with my exploration of Butter London polishes. I'm behind on the times I know. I was in the mood for something glittery and bold this time.So I ended up with this dramatic pink gradient over a dark dark green. 

I used Rosie Lee(adorable name) from Butter London sponged overtop of Styleconimcs from Essie. 

Halogram V-Gaps

Cara's Nails

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am totally in love with Dodgy Barnett from Butter London! Here is the fun halo under a coat of Zoya's Kelly. 

 I have notice the halogram trend all over recently. But I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. Especially because the price of a halo polish is somewhere in the range of $15.  I can't force myself to pay that for a gimmicky polish. I have to admit I am really happy with this polish and it was worth every penny!!! What is your take on halo polishes?

The Scottish Polish

Kate's Nails

Ulta recently had a buy one get one free sale on Butter London polishes.  I had never tried any of their polishes before, because I just couldn't justify spending $14 per bottle on my teacher budget.  But damn if I didn't eye them up every time I went into Ulta!  Macbeth is one that I've been ogling for quite a while, so when Ulta announced their sale, I knew it had to be mine!  The formula is great with this color.  It's a solid two coater that dried darker and nicely covered up the nail line.  I've paired it here with Sally Hansen's Coral Reef and Diamonds. I'm so glad that I finally got to give Macbeth a try!



Butter London Swatches

Cara's Nails

I wanted to share my latest haul from Ulta!!! Butter London lacquers were buy one, get one free. Awesome deal I know! So here are some swatches of my latest buys.

Dodgy Barnett is a sparkly halo. I used two coats here. In the bottle it looked more like a silver but on my nails you can see it has this extra glittery, hologram effect. I couldn't keep my eyes off this stuff!! I kept holding it up in differnet lights to see the sparkle.

Slapper is a sea green/teal color. This color is pretty fantastic for spring when you want something really vibrant. The formula is pretty great. This is another two coats but one covered very well. 

Because it is what I do, I had to pick up a blue polish. Sprog is a creamy periwinkle blue. Another springy color but I plan to rock this one throughout the fall season anyway. 

Yes I am now up to four polishes. I wasn't kidding when I said I was taking advantage of an awesome deal.

Finally, here is Rosie Lee. I check this color out every time I'm at Ulta but can never convince myself to pick it up. This is a rocking pink glitter with a pink base. I needed three coats to cover fully but it still went on pretty thick. I'm quite happy I finally picked this one up. Isn't it fun?

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 2

Kate's Nails

It's the battle of the birds today as the Baltimore Ravens take on the Philadelphia Eagles.  I'm really excited for the game today! This week's nails are confetti nails in the Ravens colors - Purple, Black and Gold.

Go Ravens!!

Polishes Used:

Sinful Colors Snow me White

Ulta Taupe on a Rope

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Essie Good as Gold

Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober



LCN Urban Expression Swatches

Last week, we got the Fall 2012 Collection from LCN in the mail!  We were very excited to try these out, since the colors looked gorgeous in their press release.  We had never tried LCN polishes before, and didn't know what to expect.  Let us just say, we were not disappointed!  The formula on all of these polishes is AMAZING.  Every color applied with two thin coats (and we really could have gotten away with one coat).  The polish leveled out beautifully, and looked very smooth.  We really can't say enough good things about the formula.  It's one of the best on the market! You can find these products on their website http://www.lcnboutique.com/ for $7.50 each. Or you can pick up a trend box with all 4 colors for around $30.

The Fall 2012 collection is called "Urban Expression". It is described as "sleek and sophisticated" with "haute hues", and we completely agree with that description.  Kate swatched London Beat and Tokyo Expression, and Cara swatched Paris Chic and New York Glam.

London Beat

London Beat is described as "a delicate rose smoke".  I definitely see the smoke, but the rose didn't show up as much with my skin tone.  This is a great neutral polish.  I'll be wearing this one a lot this fall and winter.

In the shade

In full sunlight

Tokyo Expression

To me, this polish is the clear winner of the collection.  I have worn it on my fingers twice, and am currently rocking it on my toes.  LCN describes it as "a steely titanium gray".  It definitely has a hint of blue to it, as well as the gray.  The color is very rich.  I'm also impressed with the durability of this polish.  I have issues with chipping, especially with darker polishes.  Tokyo Expression lasted two days on my nails (without chipping - I just changed polishes), and has been on my toes for 5 days now without a single chip!.

Ok, I'll stop gushing about this polish now.  Here are some more pictures.

Paris Chic 

Paris Chic is an understated gray.In some lights it even has some green undertones. LCN describes it as "A timeless nougat beige". Although I was not wowed by the color, I would recommend it as a nice fall gray. It went on easily and barely needed a second coat. Something you do not normally find with a neutral like this. 

New York Beat

I am desperately in love with New York Beat!! I am aware that fall is just starting, but ever since the fall collections started rolling out I have been seeking the perfect autumnal green. I have tried out dark greens by Essie and OPI and the color always turns out too dark, almost black. I am so thrilled with this color! I would describe it as a creamy, subtle, olive green with grey tones. The LCN website calls it a "stormy green-grey" and I think that is a perfect description. I have been wearing this color for the past 3 days and still am in love. I must also give credit to the fact that after 3 days of wear, the polish is still holding up pretty well.  


So there you have it - the Urban Expression Collection from LCN.  Which one is your favorite??

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 1

Kate's Nails

The Ravens regular season kicked off tonight!! So excited!  Right now the Ravens are holding strong against the Bengals.  Here's hoping they keep it up for the rest of the game!  Here are my Ravens nails for the week:

Polishes Used:

Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green

Ulta Taupe on a Rope

White Acrylic Paint

 

Glow in the Dark Polish

Kate's Nails

At a recent trip to Ulta, I got drawn in by the Halloween display from Wet N Wild (and who wouldn't?! How cute are these bottles??)  I saw that they had a glow in the dark polish, and I figured for $1.99 it was worth a try.

 

The bottle suggested applying three coats.  So I did that, and then turned off the lights.  And nothing happened.  But then I remembered that sometimes you have to hold glow in the dark things under a light for a bit to make them work.  So I tried that, and hot damn, my nails were glowing!

 

My camera had a hard time capturing it, so here's the best I could get!  About 10 minutes later I turned off the lights again, and they were barely glowing.  So unfortunately I don't think these would work for all night glowing nails.  But they're cool for a quick effect.

 

And, the polish barely has a color to it, so you could easily layer 3 coats over another color. 

 

All in all, this was not as cool as I hoped, but for $1.99 it's a neat effect!



Pink and Grey with Bows

Kate's Nails

In a PREVIOUS POST I professed my love for OPI's My Very First Knockwurst. Well, that love has not faded over time.  I'm constantly reaching for this color, and this week I wanted to do something girly with it.  I love pinks and greys together, and I think Knockwurst looks great with Sally Hansen's Eel Skin. The bows were done in Liquid Leather by China Glaze (my go-to black).  The glitter is a light coat of Sally Hansen's Strobe Light.  The bows were surprisingly difficult to paint, but I really like the end result!

In sunlight

In indoor light



Every Month is Oktoberfest!

Cara's Nails

I have another fall color for you today. This one is Every Month is Oktoberfest from the OPI Germany collection. This a vampy maroon color with a shimmer and in some lights a bluish tone. The accent nail is Joined at the Hippo from Ulta Professionals.

Jimmy Buffett Nails

Kate's Nails

I like mine with lettuce and tomato...

 

Yesterday I went to the Jimmy Buffett concert in Virginia with my brother, aunt, and uncle.  We had an awesome time, as always.  I had to do some Jimmy Buffett nail art for the occasion (obviously).  Jimmy Buffett's songs lend themselves well to nail art, and I had a bunch of design ideas in mind - the hardest part was choosing one!  I finally decided on this design: A Cheeseburger in Paradise.

 

 

For the cheeseburger I used:

Essie Brooch the Subject

Sonia Kashuk Chocoholic

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow

Essie Mojito Madness

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green

Revlon Cherry

 

For "paradise" I used:

Ulta Sun-Sational

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Coral Reef

China Glaze Liquid Leather



Fun with Zoya Fei Fei

Cara's Nails

Zoya's Diva fall collection has a large selection of great colors. Fei Fei is one of my favorite colors from this collection. The color itself is very unique with a blue base and tons of glittery color flecks throughout. And of course with blues being my weakness, I had to have it. It went on sheer at first but built up well. Here I have on 3 coats. This is a great color to just wear on its own.Unfortunately, the color is better appreciated in person. No photo I took could capture its awesomeness just right.

Here's Fei Fei  paired with Monica v-gaps from the Zoya Designer Collection.