Remembering Our Military...Memorial Day, 2013

Today is Memorial Day, 2013. It's the day that, we as a country stop to Honor Our Military, past and present.  Living in a Military town, not a day goes by that I am not reminded of all the sacrifices Our Military has made and continues to make, and for that I say "Thank You and God Bless You".

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Dear Heavenly Father,

As we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy every day, we think of how they have followed in the footsteps of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please hold our servicemen and women in your strong arms. Cover them with your sheltering grace and your presence as they stand in the gap for our protection.

We also remember the families of our troops. We ask for your unique blessings to fill their homes, and we pray your peace, provision, and strength will fill their lives.

May the members of our armed forces be supplied with courage to face each day and may they trust in the Lord's mighty power to accomplish each task. Let our military brothers and sisters feel our love and support.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

~Mary Fairchild (author)

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Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

Rite Aid Launches its 2nd Annual Online Nail Extravaganza Contest with Beauty Prizes, Coupons & Tips

Will you be the 2013 Rite Aid Nail Enthusiast?

Alright all my Nail Art Artists, get your brushes, glitter, tape, rhinestones, foil, feathers, crystals, and polishes ready.  

 Rite Aid has Launched its 2nd Annual Online Nail Extravaganza Contest. 

This Two-Tiered Design Contest is using Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest to Crown the 2013's "Rite Aid Nail Enthusiast"  

      How It Works:

To join in on all of the Nail Extravaganza conversation 

and enter to win prizes throughout the contest,

follow Rite Aid on Twitter @RiteAid, 

on Instagram @RiteAidBeauty, 

on Facebook at www.facebook.com/riteaid and 

on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/riteaidpharmacy.

See www.riteaidnails.com for official details, rules submission guidelines and descriptions of 19 additional prizes.

RiteAidNails.com is frequently updated with trend videos, visual nail designs, and beauty coupons

In addition to the ever-changing contest results that tabulate in real time, site visitors can stop by often to browse contest entries filtered by theme including classic, elegant, fun, holiday, modern, pop culture, romantic and seasonal. There are also 18 different "trend" videos showing application tips on hot design trends including pearl, dripping paint, reptilian magnetic, spun sugar, gradation (fades), velvet and gel applications plus celebrity looks from Fergie, P!nk and beauty industry insiders. Contest judges will post nail trends, advice and facts about them including their favorite nail products.

For creative inspiration, visitors can easily browse the Color Studio, which displays nearly 200 different polishes based on an interactive visual table that sorts by brand, color, nail effect and category (polish, top coat, strengthening, etc.). When clicked on, the nail design photo also shares coupons and tips to save on the featured product at Rite Aid stores. Exclusive site coupons include 19 different offers for between $1 and $12 off of nail product purchases at Rite Aid.

Rite Aid Corporation is one of the nation's leading drugstore chains with more than 4,600 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia and fiscal 2013 annual revenues of $25.4 billion. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company's website at www.riteaid.com.

TUTORIAL: Color Club Patchwork Manicure

Not too long ago, I posted a quick manicure I did while playing with my Color Club Halo Hues from the 2012 collection. I had a few people ask for a tutorial so I thought I would do a post explaining this really simple nail art.

First, I lined up my 2012 Color Club Halo Hues.  I believe that this would work with most holographic polishes, whereas polishes like creams, would have a different effect. It's the effect of the holographic polish that plays tricks on your eyes and adds to the overall look of the manicure.

I took my first polish, Cherubic and applied 1 decent coat, not too thick but thick enough to get full coverage.  Let it dry. Since I will be overlapping other polishes, I don't want the colors to mingle on the brushes.

Next line up the other polishes, I alternated with Blue Heaven, Cloud Nine, Angel Kiss and Halo-Graphic.

This really is a very simple manicure. I have added this diagram to show how I applied the polishes. Base Color, another color diagonal across, and the third color down one half of the nail. That's it. I am not one for complicated and detailed nail art. It's all smokin' mirrors. LOL! 

When applying the diagonal colors, again it's just one coat. If the coats are too thick they won't "bleed through" to give you the same effect.  Just remember the colors you use on the diagonal, Left to Right, use in the reverse order on the vertical line. (1-2-3-4, 4-3-2-1).
Once the diagonal color has dried to the touch, it's time to apply the vertical color. Again, just one thin coat. Again, remember, 1-2-3-4, 4-3-2-1.  And that's it!

As you can see, by not applying the colors too thick they appear to "bleed through" each layer; giving you a rainbow holographic effect.

I hope you like this and I hope that for those who requested a tutorial, that this was helpful. I love holographic polishes and Color Club has some of the best. What are some of your favorite holographic polishes?

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* FTC: These products were given to me as a gift from a fellow nail enthusiast.  These are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by any of these companies. This is not a sponsored post.

NOTD: Blue plus some Shimmer & Sparkle...

I was recently having a manicure block. I just could not decide on the color or colors for my next manicure. So I went to one of the make-up Facebook groups to which I belong for suggestions.  I got some really good suggestions so I should be good for the next couple of manicures. So for this NOTD I went with the first color combination idea received.  Torreys suggested "Navy Blue with Silver Accents and Shimmer".  Blue being my favorite manicure color, this was easily doable. 

So this NOTD consists of China Glaze Blue Year's Eve (Let It Snow Collection of 2011), OPI DS Coronation (Designer Series 2008), and OPI Servin' Up Sparkle (OPI/Serena Williams Glam Slam! England-Summer, 2011).  These are each older polishes but if you can still find them, they are worthy to be in your collection. 

The China Glaze Blue Year's Eve is a bright cobalt blue glass flecky with a blue/turquoise/purple duochrome.  The application was smooth and to achieve the pictured opacity level required 2 coats. This collection as a whole was good. I own several.  While it is no longer available in stores, it can still be found in many of the online retail websites. 

The Silver Shimmer accent used as mentioned was first, OPI DS Coronation which is a silver scattered holographic polish. This is one from the beloved Designer Series collection.  I really wish OPI would release more in this family. The recent DS polishes are glitter rather than holographic.

Layered over DS Coronation, I selected OPI Servin' Up Sparkle. Servin' Up Sparkle is a clear-based holographic glitter, that has multi-sized and multi-shaped holo & silver glitters. Layering these two polishes, which alone have holographic characteristics, the results is a gorgeous sparkly, shimmery, holographic accent nail.

How do you decide on a manicure when you are suffering from manicure block?

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* FTC: These products were bought with my own monies. These are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by and of these companies. This is not a sponsored post.

1st Holiday Manicure...Midnight Sky...

I know that many bloggers do 12 Days of Christmas manicures or 25 Day of Christmas manicures. I'm not even going to try that. I will just post any Christmas/Holiday related manicures as I do them. Here is my first. It's more of a New Years manicure.

I first saw a similar manicure earlier this year and really liked it. It was on Beautylish's website at Midnight Metallic Nail Tutorial.  This is my version.  I used the following polishes:

• Orly Star of Bombay as the base
• OPI Your Royal Shine-Ness for the Silver Dots
• Milani 3D for the Gold Dots
• Milani Jewel FX Gold and Silver Glitters for 3D effect

So to all my followers: Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year.

Grace, Peace, and Blessings.

My 1st Real Attempts at Nail Art...

When I first started my blog, I said that I was not big on nail art, but over time my tastes have changed. I am slowing getting into dots and stripes. It's not like I never liked nail art. Years ago when I used to get my nails professionally done, I would get nail art, especially drag art, but as my career progressed, I sort of turned away from the extremes. Now at most, I do an accent nail. Now that I am doing my nails myself, I am starting to experiment with some nail art, but still nothing too extreme. When I first starting blogging, I came across several fellow bloggers, who excel in nail art and make it look so easy. Note to all, looks can be deceiving. It ain't so easy, LOL! But thanks to the following bloggers for their dedication and inspiration:

• Another Bottle of Polish - Dots to die for , LOL!
• My Simple Little Pleasures - I haven't tried watermarble yet, but here is the guru.
• Acetone and Old Lacquer - I love her layering combinations.
• The Polished Perfectionist - Love her sponging art!

Now, on to some of my first attempts.

Here is my version of Another Bottle of Polish's Dot art. Again, I am doing just an accent nail.

Another picture of some nail art I came across was on Become Gorgeous.com.  I thought that it looks do-able.

Showing slightly blurred, to better show the holo glitter.

 
One other blogger whose work I have admired is Colette of My Simple Little Pleasures.  While, I have yet to try the water marble, she has a drag art video that I have liked for quite some time. My Simple Little Pleasures (Video).  This is going to be one I need to practice more, LOL! Since it didn't work, I layered it with China Glaze Electric Lilac.

Polishes used...

Next, I need to get my hands on a few gems, decals and rhinestones, LOL!!!

Note: please excuse the dry cuticles, it happens with swatching. I have now moisturized and they are back to normal.

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