China Glaze's "Seaspray"

February 28:

I have only bought one color from the China Glaze Anchors Away collection but I think I will be back for more. The color I chose to buy was "Seaspray". It is such a pretty, delicate blue and I have yarn that is the same exact color that I had to have it.

This color seems so refreshing! I think it looks exactly like seaspray. It is a gorgeous blue-gray with a slight silver shimmer. I think that this shimmer is more prominent in the bottle but it translates very well on the nail. This three coats of polish and one coat of Seche Vite. I really did need the three coats, after two there were still a few uneven patches on the nail. But that is my only complaint.

I am thinking of going back for the yellow polish from the Anchor's Away collection, it is so pretty!

Until next time,

Happy painting!

The Nailventuress

Valentine's Day Manicure

February 17:

This manicure was not very Valentine's themed but it is very special to me. This was my Valentine's day present that the boyfriend gave to me early so I could do a manicure with it for Valentine's day (best boyfriend ever!). It was also a polish that I have been craving since July when I saw the pictures on The Nailphile's blog.

Here I give you the beautiful Rescue Beauty Lounge "Catherine"

I do not have enough words to describe this polish. It is a deep pewter royal purple with blue and pink micro shimmer. In some lights it looks grey and others the purple is very prominent. I felt regal just wearing this. It truly is a polish fit for a queen. I wish someone could make me a whole wardrobe that is this same color.

Since this is my first RBL polish I was excited to see how the formula and brush compared to other brands. The formula is simply amazing. I was worried that it was going to chip quickly since I had heard that it would but it lasted four days with no chipping. This was only two coats with perfect coverage. The brush was small but easy to control and I love the shape of the bottle.

Does this make me want more RBL...yes! But I think "Catherine" and I won't mind having some one on one time with each other.

Until next time,

Happy painting!

The Nailventuress

A Rose for a Tudor

February 10:

Since my senior year of high school I have been obsessed with the Tudors. AP European History is to blame. First it started with Elizabeth I after we watched "Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen". Then it moved on to Henry VIII and his six wives. In honor of my favorite royal house I decided to do Tudor Rose nails. The colors of the Tudor house are green and white and the rose is red and white. I had an idea for a manicure like this for a long time but only put it together yesterday. This is also in anticipation for my Rescue Beauty Lounge "Catherine" manicure!

Just a warning, this a pic heavy from here on out. I am so in love with this manicure!

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tudor_Rose.jpg

On my pinky and middle fingers and my thumbs I have three coats of Nina Pro "Salsa". I have never used this brand before and I definitely approve. This color was the perfect "Tudor" green. I also used this for the leaves for the flowers.

On my ring and pointer fingers I have three coats of Sally Hansen "White On". For the first time this polish actually behaved.

To paint the flower I used OPI's "20 Candles on My Cake" and a dotting tool (I can't live without this!). Then I drew a little dot in the center of the rose with Sinful Colors "This Is It" (I'm not entirely sure that is the correct name). And of course added the leaves with Nina Pro "Salsa".

This totally feeds my Tudor addiction. Now I think I shall lug out one of my giant Tudor biographies and hunker down later today. Anyone ever choose a favorite Henry VIII wife? Mine was always Anne but then I feel bad because I like Catherine too...and Anne of Cleaves...and Catherine Parr...

Until next time,

Happy painting!

The Nailventuress

Fun with Fimo!

February 6:

I mentioned this post a little while ago, and then forgot about it, but I went back through my pictures and remembered that I wanted to post it. After waiting for 2 months I finally received my order of fimo canes from Born Pretty and so of course I had to try it out. Last weekend while at my college's radio station (a place where I frequently paint my nails) I hunkered down with some holo polish, my swiss army knife and my fimo canes. The end result was this:

Cute colorful kittens with bows and rainbows...surprisingly I am cringing. I think it is the black holo that tones down the cuteness. Anyways, This was two coats of Color Club's "Revvvolution". This polish is quickly becoming one of my ultimate favorite to work with. The formula is super pigmented and very easy to work with. It cleans up and wears well. This is actually the second week in a row that I have had this polish on. Something about the gunmetal charcoal holo keeps me coming back for more. I should note that this polish is not very shiny when it dries but it is a lot more holographic. Top coat kind of kills the holo so if anyone knows any topcoats that don't affect holos let me know.

I used my Swiss Army knife to cut the fimo, which worked out a lot better than I thought it would, and put three kittens on my ring fingers and one kitten and a bow on my thumbs. I was surprised at how easy the fimo was to work with. Since this was my first time cutting the canes the pieces came out thick but last Wednesday I couldn't stop cutting the fimo and I got pretty good at getting them thin. Something else that surprised me was how well they stayed on my nails. Rhinestones seem to pop off if I even think about it but fimo canes stayed on even though I kept knocking my nails up against everything.

Overall I loved this obnoxiously cute manicure. It was fun, fast and full of kittens. I will definitely be working with fimo again.

Until next time,

Happy painting!

The Nailventuress

Beautiful Blogger Award!!!

February 6:

I would have gotten around to posting this sooner but I had 2-3 ft of snow to deal with which left me utterly exhausted. That does not mean it is any less important/exciting! I can't believe I got another award from Une Ruxi a Paris, she is the best!!!

So here we go, 3 questions to answer, 3 bloggers to tag:

1. When and how did you start your love for polish?

-Hockey. Yes, hockey. I started painting my nails religiously when the Blackhawks were in their playoff series against the Canucks (May 2010). I figured the best way to cheer on the team was painting my nails. Every Saturday I would pack up my entire collection (10 bottles of polish) and bring it with me to my radio show. Once there me and the other host would paint nails and play music, fun times! Eventually the Blackhawks won the Stanley cup, however, at that point I was too hooked on doing my nails to stop. The length of time I have worn my manicures has shortened a lot since those days and the amount of polish I bought has increased significantly.

2.. If you could choose to do anything in the whole world what would it be?

-Besides anything that I do/plan on doing (teacher, radio host, etc...) I would be a cake decorator. For some reason I always found this job to be incredibly fun. Who wouldn't want to eat and decorate cake all day? Every year I get the chance to live out this dream job when I decorate gingerbread houses but hopefully at some point I can make this a bigger hobby of mine. Oh and of course I'd love to be a nail technician :)

3. What's your favorite lovestory?

-Hmmmm, this is a terrible question to ask a romantic. I guess Holly and Jerry from "P.S. I Love You". If you have not read the book/seen the movie go out an do so. This movie makes me cry every time but I love the story that it tells.

Now on to the bloggers I choose:

1. Scrangie

2. Aurora's Nails

3. Fashioned in Finland

Blizzard of 2011 Manicure

February 1:

As some of you may or may not know, the Midwest is being pounded by a crazy snow storm of...well...East Coast proportions. Having grown up on the EC I don't think it will be too bad, but everyone else thinks it is. In the hopes that my college would cancel class on Wednesday (they closed school twice in the past 30 years for snow), I decided to do a winter mani. Kind of like a rain dance but better. And the good news is that my snow day blizzard mani worked. Our college canceled classes for tomorrow already!!!

To do this manicure I started off with three coats of Sally Hansen's "White On". Since I was painting my nails while doing homework I actually allowed the coats of polish to dry. After I finished with the white I topped it with one coat of Orly's "Winter Wonderland" for a snowy effect. This is probably one of the best combinations that I have ever done on my nails. I even considered just leaving this as my manicure but I had planned on doing snowflake stamps so I kept with that idea. WW is such a unique and fun polish. I don't think it would be too good on its own since it is sheer but layered over white it turns into wintery snowy goodness!!!

The snowflake stamps were from the bundle monster plates and I used OPI's "OPI Ink" and "Russian Navy" for the stamping polish. I found it very funny that both OPIs did not look like the bottle color when they stamped, but the color combo is gorgeous. I was even able to take a picture of my nails with the snowflakes on my scarf!

My sister loves this manicure so much that she wants me to paint it on her nails too. Tomorrow, my wonderful snow day, will be full of pajamas, movie watching, knitting and nail painting! If you live in the Midwest stay inside with some tea and layers of blankets!

Until next time,

Happy Painting!

The Nailventuress