19 Wednesday Feb 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Playing catch-up for the next few days. Worst flare in a year, could barely walk let alone work a nail polish brush 🙂 Hopefully I will be caught up in a few days.
For this theme, I also incorporated the Crumpet’s Tri-Polish Tuesday manicure!
I used 2 coats of Nails Inc. Foubert’s Place as my base.
I dotted with Color Club Mrs. Robinson and I stamped with Milani Dark Coffee and Bundle Monster plate BM 322.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
12 Wednesday Feb 2014
Posted in Nail Art
The first thing I thought of were my pets “hiding” themselves away. Affie is particularly good at it and she will be in my next Flashback Friday post!
Affie is a white dog, hiding in a white couch and I couldn’t quite capture the look on my nails. Instead, I went for a more traditional take on animals hiding amongst the foliage!
I used 2 coats of Zoya Suvi as my base.
Polishes used for Detailing:
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
11 Tuesday Feb 2014
Posted in Nail Art
What makes us a geek? Is it the clothes we wear? The subjects we study? Nope, it is our own DNA, our own blood! We all geek out about one thing or another. Embrace it! I certainly do! 🙂
This manicure also serves for The Crumpet’s Tri-Polish Tuesday Challenge as well.
I used 2 coats of Nails Inc. Foubert’s Place. This polish actually cracked on my third finger as it was drying. Has that happened to anyone else?
I stamped with Milani Dark Coffee and MoYou London plate 03 from the Scholars Collection.
I “blood-splattered” with Chanel Le Vernis Gondola.
I hope you enjoy!
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
20 Monday Jan 2014
Posted in Nail Art
My submission for Sam’s FingerFood themed weeks on Facebook!
One night it is snowing, the following day it is in the 50s and sunny, the evening is wonderful, and the next is frigid. No wonder I had trouble making up my mind on this theme!
Lightening is definitely not an original nail art idea but I wanted to give it a try, so I took inspiration from the design on my credit card! (Uh oh…I just saw Sam’s submission and I didn’t realize mine was so similar! I definitely did not mean to do that!)
Gradient Base: (in order from bottom to top)
Detailing Polishes: (I did a lot of mixing to get the colors)
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
10 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in Nail Art
Tags
Apologies on the photo! I am having severe issues with lighting…
3 coats Essie Tart Deco. Awful, awful polish. It is really tacky and thick and overall just gross.
1 coat Nails Inc. Sprinkles Special Effects Sweets Way on my ring finger.
Gingerbread water decals from Born Pretty Store and dots in Julie G White Orchid.
I do not know if other people have this problem but whenever I apply top coat the decals smear like mad?
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
20 Sunday Oct 2013
Posted in Nail Art
Tags
Bundle Monster, marbling, Milani, Nail Art, Nails Inc, Orly, Sephora by OPI, stamping
To see the accompanying post, click on the images below.
I decided to mirror my frustrations about the invisibility of this disease with a dark water marble and my angry little demon stamp. (Which in reality is the cutest thing ever!)
Apologies on the quality of the photos. It was difficult to capture the marble. I kept trying to mess with the pictures and this was the best I came up with.
The bases I used were Milani “Black Swift” and Nails Inc. “London Town”.
I used Milani “Dark Coffee” and Bundle Monsters plate “BM 305” for the stamping.
I marbled with Orly “Bonder”, Sephora by OPI “Mr. Right Now”, “Go My Own Way” and “Cover Me in Petals”, and Milani “Dark Coffee”.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
26 Thursday Sep 2013
Posted in Reviews
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Sometimes, I just want a nice, simple color to complete my look. Below (with swatches) are the nail colors I love to cycle through during this crazy Eastern seaboard weather change.
Sephora by OPI “Mr. Right Now”
This is a great dark red. The formula is neither thin nor runny, however, when I apply it to the nail it streaks. Luckily, it dries to an even jelly finish.
I do not mind adding coats for full opacity. What I dislike about this polish is that even after three coats I have to “spot-treat” bald areas. The silver lining of this is that even when adding to those extra spots, the polish dries evenly.
Unfortunately, the polish remains sheer around the cuticles where I cannot perfectly overlap each coat.
3 coats. No top coat.
Chanel “Taboo”
This is a highly pigmented deep royal purple with red, purple and gold shimmer. In the bottle it appears purple with red shimmer or red with gold shimmer. Unfortunately, the red and gold combination does not transfer to the nail.
It does not dry very quickly and if the color bleeds onto the nail sans base coat it stains.
I only need one coat and it is unnecessary to apply more!
It was extremely difficult to photograph but I wanted to show the difference between the nail and bottle.
1 coat. No top coat.
Sephora by OPI “Metro Chic”
I love grey for fall. It is completely neutral and goes with every color.
Metro Chic is not a true grey. It has a purple tinge to it and the warm tone works well with darker skin tones.
The formula is not great. It is not runny but I need at least 3 coats to reach full opacity. Even then there are bald spots. Unlike Mr. Right Now, I have to apply one full coat to the entire nail, otherwise, it dries patchily.
Even though I adore grey for fall, I find it boring on my nails. The accent nail is Pretty Jelly “Dream Cloud” (a great silver holographic polish).
3 coats. No top coat.
Nails Inc. “London Town”
Before the magnet the polish appears as a high-shine frosty brown. After the magnet, the brown is clear and deep.
This is my funny polish. It always gets lost in my polish hoard but whenever I dig it out, I absolutely love it on my nails. Yet, I continue to forget it.
The formula is nice and thick. It is not goopy and applies evenly and without streaks. I apply two coats then use the magnet while the second coat is still wet.
2 coats. No top coat. The pinky shows the polish without magnetization.
Cult Nails “Captivated”
For the colder days, I brighten my manicure. During the seasonal change, I enjoy bright orange.
The base is coral-orange and the glitters are orange and gold. The color is a lot brighter in the bottle than on the nail but it is still very pretty.
The formula is chunky because of the glitter. It dries evenly and quickly. Top coat is needed to smooth the coats out.
I layered this over 3 coats of Urban Outfitters “Banana Hammock” and Color Club “Wham! Pow!”.
3 coats of Banana Hammock, 1 coat of Wham! Pow!, 2 coats of Captivated. No top coat.
Banana Hammock
I am not sure why each nail came out differently but I really like the look.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
