Dandy Nails Week! Day 6: Just Hugs

Good morning, readers! Our Dandy Nails Week is almost over, I hope you have been enjoying it! Don't worry, we still have 2 polishes to take a look at. If you are just joining us for Dandy Nails Week, or missed any earlier posts, you can find them below!

Day 1: Started Out with a Kiss
Day 2: Bound to Fall
Day 3: Piece of Youth
Day 4: Wish it Away
Day 5: Paranoia is in Bloom

Today, we have the second glitter topper from the new Dandy Nails collection: Just Hugs. Sandy describes it as, "red dots, micro, and just a hint of holographic glitter in a clear base. " CIRCLE GLITTERS! I just absolutely love circle glitters, they seem to be coming out more lately and that makes me super happy. It's like instant polka dots! I had no issues with applying Just Hugs and am showing only ONE coat below! Shown with top coat over Ulta Mint Condition.

What do you think of Just Hugs? It's an awesome Valentine's Day glitter but I feel like it could be worn all year long as well! 

You can purchase this for $8(15 mL) and $4.50(5 mL) at the Dandy Nails Etsy Shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DandyNails

International Buyers can purchase at Ninja Polish: http://ninjapolish.com/home.php?cat=361

Don't forget to "Like" Dandy Nails on Facebook for updates:

https://www.facebook.com/dandynailspolish?fref=ts

Come back tomorrow for a very special polish and the last day of Dandy Nails Week!

Thanks for reading!

*The polish in this post was send for me to review with my honest opinion.

St. Patrick's Day Nails!

Hello readers! I am really loving these nails and just had to get on and share them as soon as I took pictures! There is a St. Patrick's Day nail design contest on Facebook so this is what I came up with for my entry! I saw something very similar done by Laurie at Dressed Up Digits here and I knew I wanted to try it out!

First of all, I need to tell you how amazingly beautiful Zoya Ivanka is. I am so sad that the gorgeous gold glass flecks don't show in my sun pictures. Indoors, it is such an amazing color. This has made me realize that Zoya Charla, Mimi, and Ivanka are in the top favorite polishes in my entire stash. Glass flecks are apparently my weakness. Way to go, Zoya!

Ivanka is even more green than these pictures are showing. Imagine a much golder tint to it. I could only adjust my photo temperature so much before I had orange fingers, so just take my word for it.

I used:

Base coat of Cult Nails Get It On

3 coats of Zoya Ivanka

Rainbow stripes with a striper and these polishes:

 Zoya Posh

 OPI In My Back Pocket

 Orly Lemonade

 Ulta Limelight

 Zoya Phoebe

 Zoya Savita

China Glaze Passion and a dotter for the clover

Wet n Wild Ink Well and a striper for the pot of gold
Gold buillon beads for the "gold coins"

2 coats of Cult Nails Wicked Fast

What do you think? I'm hoping to leave this mani on as long as I can. It's just too cute! Thanks for reading!

It's A...

BOY!

Hello readers! I have some exciting news to share with you all today! I haven't posted this yet, so don't feel out of the loop, but we are expecting our 2nd child! We just found out it's a boy and I was so excited that I wanted to do special "boy" nails. I kept it simple with blues and white instead of designs for this one but I really like how it turned out!

The sun wouldn't come out today so this is an overcast picture.

I  used: 

A base coat of Cult Nails Get It On

2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow

A striper brush and each of these colors:

OPI Blue My Mind

Ulta Faded Blues

OPI No Room For The Blues

Nubar Night Sparkle 

1 coat of CDN Silver Sparkling Effect

Top coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast

And for anyone who wants to know more about the baby, read on:

We are 18 weeks this week, due mid July. We will name him Owen James and are all really excited to add a little boy to our family since we have Hailey (3 3/4yrs) now. He kicks and moves around all day but I'm loving it! Morning sickness is long gone so I'm enjoying this pregnancy! 

Here are 2 comparison belly pictures for you. First one is 8 weeks and then the next is 18 weeks. :) I can't wait for my belly to get bigger and bigger and bigger!

And here is one of our latest ultrasound pictures of baby Owen:

So that's my exciting personal news update for you all! Thanks for reading and sharing in our special week!

Ulta Pro Denim Blues Collection Vol 2

Hello readers! I have more swatches for you today! This post will be all about the Denim Blues Collection Volume 2 box set I picked up recently. Seems that Ulta jumped on the blue jeans bandwagon that we've been seeing in more expensive brands. I love blues lately so I was glad to snag this up. Only $9.99 at Ulta! These were all 2 coat swatches.

First up we have Faded Blues:

shady shot

sunnier shot

I like this blue because I don't have many other light blues like this. Not sure how often I would use it, but it's pretty!

Next up we have Gray Couture:

shady shot

sunny shot

This is a metallic/frosty silver. I like it more in the sun but dislike the brush strokes that come with frosty polishes. Not sure how many people have silver jeans so I'm wondering why it's in this set, but I'll let it go. 

On to my favorite of the bunch, Denim Glitz:

shady shot

sunny shot

This is my favorite! There is a slight purple duochrome at certain angles but it was too hard to capture for my pics. I love the shimmery flecks in this polish, as well as the bright color of it. Love love love.

On to my other favorite, Soho Skinny:

shady shot

sunny shot

Look at that hidden shimmer!! Such a gorgeous polish. Love it!!

And the last polish in this set, Rhinestone Rocker:

shady shot

sunny shot

This would be a great base color for a Galaxy mani! Black with different sparkles in it. Not totally unique, though, as Ulta also has this exact shade in their normal polish line called "Little Black Dress." 

What do you think of this collection? I am continuously impressed with Ulta polishes lately! 2 coaters with great formulas! Yay, Ulta! Thanks for reading!

Ulta Glitterati Minis..AKA Deborah Lippmann Dupe Set

Good morning, readers! I have a fun post for you today! Remember my new Ulta polish sets I showed you in my haul post yesterday? This post will show you one of those sets: the Glitterati set. I got this set free with my $5 off coupon, but it is on sale for $4.99 now if you want to snag it at your local Ulta. I was impressed with all of them because they only needed 2 coats! At least 3 of these are very close to popular and pricey Deborah Lippmann polishes. Maybe you can help with with the 4th one and tell me if it's also a dupe?

Here we go:

This is a close up of the box set. They are not labeled individually but the box is labeled.

Note: these swatches are a little bumpy because I didn't use topcoat. :)

First up we have Ulta Hide and Go Sequins. This is a dupe to DL Bad Romance. I don't own any Deborah Lippmanns but I did already have the recent Revlon Facets of Fuchsia dupe!  

Index and Ring finger have Ulta Hide and Go Sequins and Middle and Pinky nails are Revlon Facets of Fuchsia. The Ulta is only 2 coats while Revlon required 3. 

Next up we have Fashionable Late. This is the only one that I'm unsure of any DL dupes. It looks to be similar to Today Was a Fairy Tale but more gunmetal colored and not silver. 

This is only 2 coats. I love this! You can see the 2 different sized glitters in the darker base color.

Next up we have Black Tie Affair. This seems like a dupe for DL Ruby Red Slippers. I have the other RRS dupe: Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors from the On The Prowl Collection to compare for you.

Index and Ring fingers are Ulta Black Tie Affair and Middle and Pinky are WnW Behind Closed Doors. Again, Ulta only needed 2 coats while Wet n Wild needed 3. 

Lastly, we have Glamoflauge. This seems like a dupe to Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe. That is the only DL I've ever had on my wishlist and I feel now that I can erase that and enjoy this little beauty. I don't have anything to compare for you, but you can see ATU swatches here from my friend Sarah at Chalkboard Nails. 

Only 2 coats. Lovely isn't it? This is the polish that I bought the entire set for. I love love love it!

What do you think? Are you going to go get this set, or do you already have it? I was pleasantly surprised with this set and hope they decide to make them full sized! Thanks for reading!

New Nail Mail and Haul Post!

Hello readers!! Since I've been keeping my manis on longer lately, I haven't had as much to post. So yay for enough new nail polish for a haul post!

Here are all of the recent things I've acquired:

First I have my amazing Secret Santa polishes from Lyncia:

L-R: OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air, OPI Rainbow Connection, OPI Gone Gonzo, China Glaze Twinkle Lights, China Glaze Snow Globe! How awesome are all of these? 

Next up is a polish I got myself during a sale at Ulta while buying for others:

China Glaze Marry A Millionaire from the new Eye Candy collection. Can't wait to try it!

These are from another Ulta trip I took yesterday with some amazing coupons and freebies:

The Ulta Pro Denim Blues Collection Vol 2, and Glitterati sets. 

Denim Blues L-R: Faded Blues, Gray Couture, Denim Glitz, Soho Skinny, and Rhinestone Rocker.

Glitterati L-R: Hide and Go Sequins, Fashionably Late, Black Tie Affair, and Glamoflauge.

Lastly, my Julep Maven December box arrived yesterday!!

A huge 4 oz tub of Pomegranate body creme, Fast Dry Top Coat, Helena, and a little case of pink/coral colored pearls. Awesome! Stay tuned for a Julep box post.

Well, there you have it! My most recent purchases and nail mail. I have to add these to my stash list so I'm not sure how many I am up to now! Eeek! Thanks for reading!

Green Zebra Mani!

Good morning, readers! I decided that I have really been ignoring my stamp set lately and decided to pull out my plates and use them again. I forgot how easy and nice stamped nails are! I love the uniformity of the design!

Tried to get a close up for you to see that the base really has that green shimmer in it!

I used: Base Coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

2 coats of Ulta Professional Green With Envy

Stamped with Color Club Perfect Mol-ten(from the Foiled collection)

Bundle Monster zebra stamp design on plate BM-223

Top Coat of Poshe.

What do you think? This was my first time stamping with one of the Foiled colors and it worked out very well! I like the sparkle texture compared to a smooth metallic color. I also really liked the base color because it almost looks black but its a different tone so it's not so harsh against my skin color. When you are out in the sun, you really see the green in it. Lovely.

Thanks for reading!

Day 19: Galaxies

Good morning everyone and thank you for stopping by my blog! Today's challenge was Galaxy Nails and I was a bit nervous about this one. Thankfully, though, it's a lot easier than I thought and I ended up loving it MUCH more than those half moon nails yesterday! It was a lot of different colors and glitters sponged on with a ripped up makeup triangle and I don't even think my pictures do it justice. Much prettier in person because the different angles show the different types of glitters.

 In the sun.

Out of direct sunlight.

I used: Base color of Pure Ice Electric!

A coat over that of OPI I Juggle...Men

Then I sponged on in various areas:

Essie Blanc,

Ulta Material Girl,

piCture pOlish denim,

Wet n Wild Jungle Fever,

a-england Lady of the Lake,

Ozotic 528,

China Glaze White Cap,

and Nubar 2010.

Top Coat of Out the Door.

I really like how these turned out and keep looking at them. I even love my right hand because it was easy enough to look as good as the left in this mani! You should definitely try it sometime!! Thanks for reading!

Nail Mail and Haul Post!

The past 2 weeks have been big for me in terms of getting nail polish! I got a lot of nail mail, and also had some new hauls from Ulta, Sally's, and Kroger. Here are the pictures(please click to enlarge!):

 a-england Lady of the Lake and Tristam! Purchased at Llarowe

 Ozotic 528, 505, and piCture pOlish denim from my husband!

 OPI Roadhouse Blues and I Lily Love You from Kroger grocery store!

 China Glaze Traffic Jam from Sally's Beauty Supply!

 My Ulta Haul on the butterLONDON sale day!

 L-R: Ulta Taupe on a Rope, Ulta Chic Peek, bL British Racing Green, bL Big Smoke, Ulta Army of 1, and Ulta Material Girl.

 The entire Wet n Wild On The Prowl Collection!! My friend Alyssa was able to find these for me and send them my way! 

L-R: Buy Me A Drink, Ready To Pounce, Behind Closed Doors, Tangled In My Web, Correction Tape, Jungle Fever, Ink Well, and Cougar Attack

essence nail art twins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(the extra bella and edward for my giveaway aren't pictured). Ruth was able to send these to me from Spain! I love them!!!!!

L-R: Bella, Edward, Thelma, Louise, Chuck, and Blair.

Such an amazing 2 weeks of polish for me!! Hope you enjoyed reading!

He's Home!!

Hey there everyone! I just wanted to share my exciting news that my husband arrived home safely from Afghanistan! I have a few pictures to share with you, as well as my awesome camo nails I did for when we went to the airport to pick him up!

Here are my nails:

"MY <3 IS HOME" on the fingers. 

I used: Base Coat of OPI Nail Envy

Base color: Ulta Taupe on a Rope

Camo pattern(using my biggest dotting tool and making irregular shapes) with: butterLONDON British Racing Green, Ulta Army of 1, and OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys.

Striper Brush and Sally Hansen Insta Dri Quick Brick for the words.

Top Coat of Out The Door.

What do you think? I wish the red was more of a contrast since it seems a little harder to read the words on the camo, but I still love how they turned out. 

Here are 2 more pictures from our day:

 Here is the sign we made for our door this morning. :)

And here is our group shot at the airport. :) We are so happy to be all together again!! 

Thanks for reading! I have a few days worth of scheduled posts so we can spend some family time together.