Nail Flavor of the Week: Pink Lace

Good morning! I hope you are having a good week. In spite of the gray, rainy skies, this week has been filled with plenty of sunshine for me because my husband returned home from a 7-month Naval deployment. I am thankful to God that Hubby came back in one piece and in good health!

Needless to say, in the midst of my homecoming preparations, I neglected to take a picture of my nails earlier in the week. Here is what I snapped today. Ignore the minor chipping and tip wear.

Base color: OPI Hello Kitty Collection in Let's Be Friends!
stamp color: Wet n Wild in Black Creme
nail stamp: Pueen Collection - 24M Make Your Day, plate 103

The stamp I used features leaves with detailing that reminds me of lace. Hubby asked if the design was Spiderman...SMH. #thingsmensay 

A few notes on this look:
-I really love this OPI polish. I have worn it at least 3 times since purchasing it. That is rare because I usually try to rotate the colors in my stash.
-To avoid streaking with my stamp designs, I need to try waiting longer for the design to dry before adding the top coat.
-I know I really need to just suck it up and buy some stamping polish.
-My nails had a growth spurt in the fall around the time my husband first deployed. Ironically, all of them have broken except my left ring finger. It appears the nails on my right hand aren't even growing right now. This is in spite of me using a nail treatment by Nailtiques.

I am still enjoying my nail stamps, although time does not always allow to create a full look with them. This look proves a few nails with stamped designs can look just as good...if not better!

Nail Flavor of the Week: Cotton Candy & Sprinkles

Hello and happy Hump Day! Time sure flies when one is not creating blog posts! Work wore me down (literally), which led to me getting sick with something between a cold and the flu, which took till this week for me to completely get over...which happens to be spring break, which I am thoroughly enjoying! 

BLOG LESSON #1 (personal insight - If I may be transparent for a moment): This blogging venture has helped me to realize how, like other things I do from day to day, I have to intentionally carve out time to create posts (perhaps more than one at a time) and be very purposeful about the time I spend on content, especially if I want to post on a regular basis; otherwise, blogging could easily get placed on the back burner. The difference between blogging and some of the other things I am tasked with doing is that I enjoy blogging...I don't always enjoy some of the other things. But just because I enjoy something, doesn't always mean finding creating time to dedicate to it will come easily. I will have to commit to scheduling blogging on my calendar like I do anything else that's important to me. I'm still learning y'all...I hope that serves as a nugget of information for someone who may be contemplating blogging or just starting out. 

Anywho, I am here to share this week's nail look, which features one of the OPI polishes from the Hello Kitty collection. This one is called Let's Be Friends:

Since you get to see the shade of pink in the bottle with the camera flash, I am featuring my nail look without the flash:

base coat - OPI in Let's Be Friends; accent nails - China Glaze in I'm a Go Glitter 

While I have enjoyed this look with my two glittery nails, I am looking forward to wearing this polish all by itself. It is the perfect work-appropriate neutral that will likely compliment a variety of skin tones. This would also be a great color to wear on your toes during the summer! Based on this past week, the wear of this polish is decent, but not the best. I've worn it about 4 days prior to noticing tip wear. We'll see what results it yields when I wear it again by itself.

What are your favorite polishes to wear that might be suitable for any work environment? 

Nail Flavor of the Week: Rose Petals

Hey there! How was your Valentine's Day/Presidents' Day weekend? Hopefully you had an extra day to relax and to spend time with your special someone! I got to rest up, treat myself to various things I wanted to do and spend quality time with the hubby!

This week's manicure features a nail color I just picked up from TJ Maxx. I love buying polishes by brands like OPI and Essie there because the savings are fabulous! It does not matter to me that they are "past season," as I typically do not keep up with new polish releases nor aim to buy polish as soon as they hit the shelves. I will, however, be making an exception for OPI's Hello Kitty collection that recently came out! Here is a look at my mani:

Base color - Grand Canyon Sunset by OPI; nail stamp color - Black Creme by Wet n' Wild; stamp design from Pueen's Nature Lover Collection stamping plate 01

In the bottle, this OPI polish reminds me of the reddish brown color of the Grand Canyon's rocks, plus a hint of a pearl shimmer. When I applied it to my nails, however, I definitely saw more of the rosy pink undertones this polish has. Either way, it is a beautiful, slightly muted, understated shade; it would be suitable for office wear and all seasons! The polish was opaque after one coat, but I applied two. It does not maintain a shine after it dries (typical for quick drying polishes like this one), so a top coat is a must if you prefer a glossy finish.

This stamp design from Pueen's Nature Lover Collection is a beautiful abstract design of overlapping flower petals and was a breeze to use. I had much more success with this one compared to the last design I used. It took much less effort to transfer the design to each nail. The only difficulty I had was getting the stamper (also be Pueen) completely clean, which I was particular about because I did not want the polish residue to transfer to my nail. I am not sure if I should blame the leftover polish on the stamper or the polish...time will tell. I will eventually post a review on stamping tools once I get more experience in this area of DIY nail art!

Hope your week is filled with love, happiness and fulfillment!

Nail Flavor of the Week: Black with Confetti Glitter

Hey there! How was your weekend? Mine went well but too quickly because I was busy the whole time! This week won't let up either, given the various events on my calendar...a lady's work is never done!

This week's nail look features black polish, which I just got into in the past year. I typically like wearing bright colors (nails, lipstick and certain clothing items)...but sometimes I like to be a bit vampy and edgy and darken things up a bit.

Base color - Maybelline Color Show: Black to Black in Smoky Black; accent nails - OPI in Where's My Blanket???

I bought the Color Show polish during a random trip to Target (I LOVE Tar-jay); the store had several Maybelline items on clearance. I like this shade of black because it has the consistency of a jelly polish. It takes 3 coats to build it up to this level of opacity; fewer layers make it look more smoky, thus the name. The picture doesn't do the shade enough justice, because the shade still maintains its smoky look with the 3 layers. 

The OPI polish has black flecks mixed in with yellow and pink, adding a bit of dimension to the smokiness.

I am so annoyed that my pointer fingernail is so short. It broke last Friday as I rushed to leave work. The nails on my left hand have been on a growth spurt lately. They usually don't grow too long beyond the summer months (when I am on vacation and not using my hands as much). I guess taking Biotin on a consistent basis has helped to build their strength. I recently started using Nailtiques nail hardener as well...guess I need to go back to adding a coat everyday to make my nails even stronger!

Anybody have any special tips, tricks or products that seem to help build strong, long nails? If so, please share! That's all for now...have a great week!