NOTD: Orly Bus Stop Crimson-My All Time FAVORITE Red!!!

During this recent nail journey, I have tried to stay away from my old faithful colors--reds, and berries. I have worn blues, purples, teals, and some greens, but was determined to not fall back on my old classics. But this upcoming Friday is my birthday and I decided to go to my ALL TIME FAVORITE!!! and it is Orly Bus Stop Crimson--RED!!!! This is my perfect red!!! Not too blue, and not too orange. Fortunate for me, it is part of the Orly core collection and easy to find.  Years ago, I wore Helena Rubinstein pretty much 100% of the time, but that line was discontinued in the US so I had to find an alternative. And the angels smiled and showed me Orly Bus Stop Crimson--Hallelujah!  No matter what season I wear this shade, I get compliments.  It's the perfect Christmas Red; the perfect Summer Red; it's just my perfect Red! 



Orly Bus Stop Crimson-Flash

Review: 

• Orly Bus Stop Crimson is a deep, warm red cream. It is part of the Orly core line and easy to find at your local Saly Beauty Supply Stores.
• Application is smooth; this is two coats with BC and TC. It is streaky with only one coat, so two coats is a must.
• There are not many polishes that I feel the need to have backups for but this is a definite-I currently own 2 bottles.

Remember, Treat your nails as jewels, not tools.  Grace and Peace.

NOTD: Barielle Berry Blue w/ ChG Fairy Dust Accent

Barielle Berry Blue w/China Glaze Fairy Dust

If you have been following my blog for any time you know that my passion is with the dark blues and although I am trying to wear more of the "spring/summer colors", I had to sneak in one of my dark blues.  I recently came across a true Blurple (Blue Purple) cream in Barielle Berry Blue.  Although I have long since been familiar with Barielle's nail strengthening products, this is my first run with a Barielle polish.  With this application, the polish was a bit thick (nothing a few drops of thinner can't fix), but the application was smooth.  Barielle proudly boasts of its early concept of 3-Free: Formaldehyde, Toluene or Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) free.  They recently had a great 50% off sale.  I hope you were able to pick up some of their nail colors.  If not, keep an eye out for the next opportunity.  Locally, I purchase my Barielle polishes from Ulta.

As with most of my photos, this is BC, then two coats of NP and TC. The accent finger is two coats of Berry Blue, and two coats of China Glaze Fairy Dust followed with a TC.  Most of you are already familar with Fairy Dust-the China Glaze scattered holographic silver top coat.

Lastly, my nails are growing back nicely.  Below is the growth progress from just a little under a month.  That's all for this post.  Remember, treat your nails as Jewels, not tools. 

Grace and Peace.

NOTD: Orly Lunar Eclipse

Orly Lunar Eclipse

Living the life of a nubbie continues to be interesting.  I am continuing to use my cuticle oil mixture and following my nail regimen.  My nails are showing good growth progress. Historically, when my nails had been this short I would tend to go bare nailed.  However, I have been experimenting with colors I haven’t necessarily worn before, but do own.  This week I am sporting Orly Lunar Eclipse.  I have more than once expressed how I love the blues, so Lunar Eclipse fits right in.  I am sure you have seen many other blog posts on this polish so there is not much I could say that has not already been said. 

My Review: 

• Lunar Eclipse is part of the Orly Cosmic FX Collection.  It is a deep blue with a foil finish and pink and blue flexs.  (As seen in the bottle).
• Application:  in this picture I am wearing 3 coats.  With 1 coat it is very sheer; 2 is better, but to reach the same depth of color of the bottle, at least 3 coats is required.
• The Orly formulation is smooth.
• I was fortunate that I found this polish on the clearance rack at Sally’s for $1.99.  The e-tailers are continuing to sell it for $10.00 USD. 
• For blue lovers, this is a good blue to add to your collection.

That's all for this post.  Grace and Peace.

Time to Brighten up for the summer...

As I have more than once mentioned, I love the dark shades of polish…the dark blues, purples, greens, and reds.  Well I can’t deny it any longer, spring is here and summer is fast approaching so I need to embrace the more springy/summery colors.  My blog friend, Penelope of All Things Nails, has encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone and try the brighter shades.  So I took the first step and purchased several, but up until this point I had not worn any of them.  So as a one-two punch to help me with my recent drastic cut back, I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and try the more springy/summery shades.  This first go round, I decided to try some of my corals. 

Thursday evening I swatched four from my inventory.  At first sight, I felt safest with the Finger Paints Art Appreciation Apricot, but as the night and next morning went on, I warmed up to the more bright and “out there” OPI Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It.  If I am going to jump in, I may as well go all out and dive into the deep end.  LOL!!!  So here is my first entry into the spring/summer shades.  OPI Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It!!!  It doesn’t hurt that I have a cat named Taz either.  LOL!!!  I even took it a step further and accented my ring fingers with Milani Gold Glitz.  I got the idea from watching Lisa Price of Carol's Daughter last weekend on HSN.  She was wearing a Turquoise with the Gold Accent fingers and I really liked the look.  The Milani Gold Glitz is a glitter with faint reddish glitter also, so it works nicely with the OPI TDMMDI.

Review:  Not surprising, the application was smooth.  In this photo and the comparisons, I am wearing two coats of NP.  OPI Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It is a pretty, bright, not neon, but bright, corally, orange, creme. Great for your mani and pedi! A definite for spring and summer.

Lastly, just a quick pictorial update on my nail growth.  It has only been 2 weeks since my cut back but you can already see growth.

Thanks to Penelope for the encouragement.  Grace and Peace to all.

Kreativ Blogger Award...WOW!!!

I was recently tagged by the very sweet blogger of My Nail Polish Online. Thanks. As I have said many times before, when I started my blog, never did I think that there was an entire nail blogging world out there. Everyone that I have "met" in this very short time has been so kind and helpful. I am glad to have come across this world because most of my muggle (non-polish people) friends just don't understand my hobby.

So, the rules of this award is to tell you 10 things about myself. OK, so in the attempt not to repeat previous things I have told you, here goes...

1. Throughout my life I have had 4 cats, each was either taken in as a stray or adopted from a shelter. I would still love to have a Maine Coon-Big Cat!!!
2. I hope to one day adopt a child. I have already gone through the state's program to foster/adopt.
3. I played the flute from 5th grade through junior high.
4. I am the youngest of three.
5. Not sure if my passion for polish is rebellion or not, but as a child, my father did not allow me to wear polish, not even clear. Wonder what he would say now? LOL!!!
6. Although I live in Florida, I only like the beach after sunset...love it at night.
7. Not since I was born (40+) have I spent a night in the hospital. That's a blessing!
8. I love Mexican food!
9. I love the sound of the ocean.
10. My ideal home would be on a mountain cliff overlooking the ocean.

So, next in the rules for this award is to award (tag) 10 others. So here goes and if you have already been awarded (tagged) before that proves how stylish you are.

1. All Things Nails
2. Bright Lights, Big Color
3. Swatch and Learn
4. Kiss My Acetone
5. Afroella
6. Nailicious
7. loodie loodie loodie
8. Another Bottle of Polish
9. The Polished Perfectionist
10. Let Them Have Polish

Grace and Peace to All.

Don't miss this Great Giveaway Opportunity!!!

Quick! Run! don't Walk! over to Sonidlo's Nail Polishes for a Great Giveaway Opportunity!!!  Your choice of 8 Nubar Nail Lacquers.  Don't miss your chance!  Just from this picture, which is just a representation, these are some awesome polishes and it would difficult to decide.  To enter, click here.

NOTD: OPI-In The Spot-Light Pink

Good Day All.  I'm so sorry that it has been a while since my last post, but as I explained, I am going through a move so things have been a bit hectic.  In my last post I showed you the results of my move; I broke and/or cracked 5 nails.  And as a result, I decided to cut them all back to nubs and start over.  It had been many months since I had nubbie nails so it was difficult to decide on the 

Pre-Polish Mani

color of polish to wear for the my mani.  After much thought, I decided on a natural look.  Before my "move massacre" I had purchased from the OPI Femme De Cirque collection, In The Spot-Light Pink.  So here it is, but first, my pre-polish mani. As you look back to previous postings, you will see that this is a drastic cut back.  My nails use to be about a 5-6 on a acrylic nail form and now they are nubbies.  As I have said before, the sense of freedom with nubbies is a welcomed change, but I will be glad to have my long nails back.  I am fortunate that because of genetics, my nails tend to grow fairly fast. 

OPI, In The Spot-Light Pink

Now on to the review,  I had been looking for a "natural" polish for ages; not too pink, and not too opaque.  I think I have found it in OPI In The Spot-Light Pink.  It gives my nails a slight pink appearance but you can still see the natural nail beneath.  In this photo, I am wearing a BC (Gelous), two coats of OPI ITSLP, and one coat of SV.  The Pro-Wide brush and OPI formulation, made the application smooth and without issue.  I will eventually wear my beloved darker shades but for now, I am actually liking this sheer, pale, shade of pink and my nubbies.

Grace and Peace.

Forced to start over...

Good Day All! Happy May 1st! This year is moving fast. Sorry I have not posted recently but I have been dealing with a move so I have been out of pocket for a while. Anyway, as a result of the move I broke 5 nails (4 on the right and 1 on the left). UGH!!! Sad, but a fact of reality. So I decided to cut them all off and start over, documenting my growth progress here on my blog. Although I like my nails long, I must admit that I love the freedom of nubby-land. So here is the photo documentation of the starting point-what I like to call the "Moving Massacre".  As you can see, when I say “start over”, I mean start over.  My nails haven’t been this short in about 6-7 months.  But I will be following my regimen and using my cuticle oil, to get them back in shape and to a length more pleasing to me. Obviously, these photos are before I do my first mani; it is just showing the cut; so please excuse the cuticles and jaged edges.  I will post again later, showing the first mani.  Anyway, more later.  Grace and Peace.

Right Hand Starting Point

Left Hand Starting Point