I really do love snow…. 
and I wanted to give my right hand some air time.
the only down side to this snow thing is that it is FREEZING outside….. and windy. The wind chill is killing me. And since they have cleared out a lot of the snow, now it’s just blah.
I couldn’t wait to get snow again…. like REAL snow…. so-I-can’t-drive-to-work snow; need snowplows and boots snow; may have to leave work early snow!!!
And even though they aren’t forecasting a blizzard or a very large accumulation…. I’m still crossing my freshly manicured fingers – well, nails – in the hopes of the forecast just being WRONG, and flakes blanketing this place into halting.
Snow is so calming to me. And at the same time, excites me. I might even like it more than sunny days…. but that race is definitely neck & neck.
There was obviously no question about what theme would cover my nails…. it was more a query of how the interpretation would play out….
I went with the typical, and with shimmery silver….. but I tried my first “gradient” and “sponging” manicure. There. will. be. repeats. TRUST. ME.
It turned out to be much easier than I expected and I love the look.
I used OPI “Moon Over Mumbai” as my base.
Then sponged on:
Color Club “Sheer Disguise”
OPI “What’s With The Cattitude”
Essie “Coat Azure”
China Glaze “Sky High-Top”
Sinful Colors “Midnight Blue”
I used a white nail art striper (and a silver glitter one to add to one snowflake on my ring fingernail) to create my snowflakes. White polish with a tiny dotting tool for random dots of snow falling, and Sinful Colors “Queen of Beauty” for some shimmer over the snowflakes.
Sounds like a lot, and I definitely didn’t need to use that many blues…but it was still faster than some of my “regular” manicures!!
I need a new camera. Clearly.
This is the prettiest PURPLE! But all my camera seems to pick up these days is blue 
. I’m not even a real “blue” fan…. I mean, I checked my polish stash and I have PLENTY of blues there…. but when I’m polishing PURPLE, I want PURPLE to be seen… SMH.
I have to get a new camera SOON! I thought my Nikon was good too. oh well. On to the polish….
Color Club “Pucci-licious”
w/ yellow acrylic paint dots
Smooth pretty creamy luscious purple. Set off by little yellow dots….my favorite. Soon I will have to do a “polka dot month” of manicures. I’m certain of it.
Just to brag some more on my Automatic Nail Polish Remover Machine….. it removes bright red like a miracle!
my previous polish 
Even in this short two months that I’ve been posting, the support and positive energy I have received has truly been overwhelming.
You all make me smile! THANK YOU so much for sharing in my hobby (& extreme distraction). luv u all!!!
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On Saturday my roomie, Renée (from undergrad) surprised me with the most wonderful text:
You Inspire Me!!!:-)
I couldn’t have been happier to see this manicure again…..
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Then, that evening, one of my closest friends, Aisha, sent me an email with this beautiful OPI gel manicure… she said I inspired her to get color (she’s more into the neutrals)!! yayyy!!
a beautiful choice!
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Changing hands, one nail at a time. 
I love you guys!
****Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. – Charles Caleb Colton***
{click pics for link to original blogposts}
I first saw Erika’s “Chloe’s Nail’s” & PolishHoarder’s Valentine Nails. By the time I saw Rachel’s TopCoatIt post (which is insanely gorgeous)….. I had to get in on the “UNshining” process!!! 
They made matte gorgeous. And they inspired my current manicure. My previous hatred for matte has dissolved… I don’t know that I’m ready to go all the way matte…. but this is a definite start in that direction.
Revlon “FireFox” Matte Suede
w/ Seche Vite Top Coat “Frenched” tips
This is a very cheery (no, not cherry, though I guess it could also be classified as such) red with a glittery shimmer that gives the color a bit more dimension. It was thinner than I expected, so I used three coats to get my desired coverage. It doesn’t look like suede to me, but I do like it.
Definitely now going to purchase a mattifying topcoat and will be on the lookout for more matte polish to experiment with!!
& Essie “We Can Do It Pink”
I started here:
just couldn’t make a decision…. Hannah chose the stripes…. Nikki chose the polka dots.
After a trial…. Nikki’s choice looked better on… and then, I do still have that affection for polka dots. LOL.
Essie “We Can Do It Pink” & Sinful Colors “Feeling Great”
I feel like I’m in a strawberry patch. 
I couldn’t decide:
So Hannah told me to do the stripes…..
I started. It was beautiful!!!!!
China Glaze “Empowerment”
and I felt empowered and pretty. lol
then, apparently, I got out of line…. and ended up with this. -__- me no likey.
so I erased them faster than the time it took me to paint them.
Shamefully, this has become a sort of “go-to” design when my brain cells go blank.
Drawing a blank is the worst for any artist, I’m sure.
So sitting there with random-sized dotting tools rolling across the desk in front of me, and my latent desire to just use acrylic paint ALL OF THE TIME…..
of course, dots came. I let them happen whatever way they happened this time. Had no clue what my nails were going to look like.
China Glaze “Concrete Catwalk” w/ acrylic paint dots 
My sister would say my nails look like they have leprosy or something… and for several moments I thought “Why did you basically hide that beautiful charcoal gray polish?” But the Dotter in my spirit won out… and I love these dots even more than the dots that have come before.
I am falling in love with my new Automatic Nail Polish Remover machine.
Maybe for the wrong reason today.
I happened upon these Kiss Nail Art Stencil sets with striper polishes while traversing the aisles of CVS on a break from work. Nope, had no business even going to that section of the store.
Geeked is an UNDERSTATEMENT! I was like Woot! Woot! This might be a great alternative to purchasing a stamping kit…. which I have certainly been considering while perusing the zillions of nail polish blogs out there in the blogosphere with amazing nail designs. I’ve been extremely hesitant because for some reason I feel like a purist with nail design and want the “graphics” to be organic. *shrugs* I don’t even know what that really means…SMH. The stamps somehow seem contrived to me. (Watch, I’ll have a stamping kit next week – with ALL plates available, will be singing the stamping praises and have the best rebuttal known to mankind to explain the contradictory behavior and mindset. I should be a politician!)
I rushed home from work to create a work of art!! -_- NOT. I ended up with this horrific blue monstrosity and raggedy stencil designs that weren’t worth the dot of polish I dabbed onto my nails. 
China Glaze “Sky High-Top”
Super underwhelming, ugly even.
And I can’t even blame the polish color. I think it was brought down by the flat color choices for the design. In the bottle, the color was really rather attractive. Still fell completely flat.
These stencils: ONE TIME USE ONLY! No I don’t mean “use for multiple nails” for one time. I mean, you can effectively use ONE stencil for ONE nail for ONE time and that’s pretty much the life cycle of the stencil. Unnecessarily difficult to work with. And though the material is decent for the first application, they don’t hold up. The design easily stretches out of shape and is therefore no more good. There is also no credible way to clean the old polish from the stencil. I tried both acetone (which really I should have known was going to nearly melt the poor stencil – I mean, that’s what is used to remove acrylic nails and glue. LOL) and polish thinner. I paid approximately $8 for this stencil set. At least I got 3 nail art stripers (which would have costs me about $2 a piece) and 24 stencils out of it.
THIS is where my super crush began on my new automatic nail polish remover machine. LOL.
I can personally attest to this machine’s efficacy. See for yourself:
**Disclaimer: “NO COTTON SQUARES WERE HARMED IN THE REMOVAL OF THIS HEAVILY TINTED NAIL POLISH.” lol.
I got these results after having already removed the past 2 manicures’ polish which included acrylic paint dots AND 5 coats of glitter polish. I did NOT change the remover solution before removing this polish. I was WAY too anxious to get this mess off my nails!
Go ahead and click the picture… link to the www.transdesign.com website and get one. You know you want one. 
….as if it were ever really gone. Though glitter is evil; GLITTER RULES!
I was on a glitter hiatus until I got my Automatic Nail Polish Remover Machine….
it arrived, and seems to work nicely. So now to test out one of polish remover’s nemesis: GLITTER.
…and to try a tape design, as inspired by Audrey (mine still wasn’t nearly as complex or creative as hers… but I’ll get there 
).
I had an impromptu polish haul at Bed Bath & Beyond. They had everything in their nail section. I was surprised! Nicole by OPI, Essie & Sinful Colors had full out displays with a quite impressive collection selection. So I picked up 5 bottles of polish, including these 2 Color Club selections…. that I certainly didn’t NEED. But what’s need got to do with it?!
Color Club “Wild And Willing” & “ Revvvolution”
“Wild & Willing” “Revvvolution”
I wish “Wild & Willing” was more opaque… “Revvolution” is perfect. Reminds me of OPI’s “My Private Jet” and has a very smooth and covering formulation. Just nice all around.
I’m still not a fan of tape 
. I guess I’m just too impatient. I want to get on with the design. I almost feel like I could have done just as good a job on the diagonal lines freehand… but that might just be my confidence on swell. Tape works. lol. You just have to waaaaaaiiiiiitttttt for the base color to dry.
Polish2Times 