Float Like A Butterfly

Hey guys! Happy Friday! Here I am with yet another (late) installment of Golden Oldie Thursdays. This week's theme was orange. Orange is probably one of the colors I have the least of in my collection. It's just not a color I am drawn to. It always reminds me of Halloween or Thanksgiving or high school homecoming. We were the Tigers so of course, our colors were orange and black.

Then, it hit me. It's time to try some nail art! I found a great tutorial from Adventures In Acetone.

I started with two coats of Ulta Bang!, which came in a pop-art themed mini-set a couple of years ago.

This pumpkin orange creme went on smoothly, with no problems and minimal clean-up. The formula was consistent and there really wasn't any worry of cuticle pooling.

Next, I followed with one coat of LA Colors Color Craze in Magnetic Force

This polish added a golden sheen and some visual interest, which I really liked. I got a lot of compliments on this combination

I topcoated and then used this tutorial with an LA Colors Art Deco black striper and a generic Sally Hansen white.

Here's the finished result:

I knew this manicure was a success when one of my co-workers asked me if that was a butterfly on my ring finger :)

I'm really proud of this manicure, also. I can tell that my nail art skills are improving, slowly but surely. It helps that it is such a fun hobby and skill to curate, too!

Be sure to check out what the other girls created for this challenge!

xo, ali

Steady on Stranger Tides

(or GOT: Chevron)

I'm late to Golden Oldie Thursday and posting it on a Friday night. I guess I'm really bad at time management. What had happened was...

I went to the gym and was murdered by a Nike Training Club work out and realized that the mani I did Wednesday night didn't qualify because I used two polishes I had picked out over the weekend.

So, I regrouped and redid and here we are! Let's look :)

I dug through my oldest OPIs and found Steady As She Rose (left) and On Stranger Tides (right). Both of these originated in the Pirates of the Carribbean: Stranger Tides movie tie-in collection that hit shelves in Spring 2011. That collection came out right as I was beginning to become the polish-aholic that I am now. I picked these up at Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls, respectively.

On all nails except for the ring finger on each hand, I did two coats of Stranger Tides On my ring fingers, I did two coats of Steady As She Rose. I topcoated with Color Club 0-60 and waited a few minutes.

Once everything was dry enough, I laid down four pieces of striping tape to make the criss-crossed chevrons you see here. I painted one coat of Stranger Tides over the tape, pulled the tape up and voila!

(this shot is not for color accuracy, but detail)

I really loved how soft and pretty this was. The gray tones in each polish really worked with each other and this was a feminine twist on army green.

What do you think?

And while you're at it, check out what the other ladies thought up and posted (on time)!

xo, ali

GOT: Valentine's Day!

Happy Thursday! Or the day we Parks & Rec fans know as Galentine's Day

[source]

Galentine's Day is the day to celebrate your girlfriends. I spent the evening with my mom and sister and two good friends for dinner.

I had the perfect mani to do it in, too. 

I started with two coats of Zoya Raven

 indirect light

flash

Raven looks like your typical black but there is a hidden silver shimmer that gives it a pearly sheen. It definitely sets it apart from the pack.

The next part, I'm really proud of. I tried the plastic baggie decal method and it worked!!

While I was at the gym, I had my sister help me out and paint two squares of two coats each of Zoya Chyna, one of the first PixieDusts that came out.

When it was fully dry, I carefully peeled the squares off the baggie and, using a heart-shaped craft punch, I punched out a heart from each. I topcoated my ring finger and placed my hearts.

Here's the finished product

I'm really proud of this manicure. And even though I'm cheating a little bit because I haven't had the polishes for a year (sorry, Debbie!), this is my entry for the Golden Oldie Thursday challenge.

I have one more Valentine's Day mani lined up for tomorrow and I hope you'll like it!

Check out what the other talented ladies did for this week's challenge, below!

xo, ali

GOT Challenge: Green

Hello, and happy Thursday! We're almost to the weekend and I can't wait!

It's Thursday so you know that it means Golden Oldie Thursday. This week's theme was green. Green and I have always had a weird relationship. I've never had a lot of greens in my stash. It just wasn't a color that I thought of when I thought nail polish. Then I started giving it a try and I've built up a nice catalogue of greens.

Tonight, I'll be sharing with you China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard from their Summer 2012 Neons collection. This collection was amazing. They weren't just straight, matte neons. Most of them had a vein of shimmer running through them, perfectly.

Let's take a look!

 Three coats with top coat. Flash photo.

Indirect light

Indirect light.

I'm With the Lifeguard is a neon lime green with shimmer throughout. It does dry down to a matte/satin finish, but that's because it's a neon. Topcoat will shine this bad boy right up.

This is in your face green and definitely not for the faint of heart.  That's why it's perfect for me ;)

Are there colors you've shied away from in the past? Everyone's got at least one!

Oh, and be sure to check out what the other ladies have dreamt up for this week's challenge!

xo, ali

Black and White and Red All Over

Happy Friday! I'm here with another installment of The Crumpet's Golden Oldie Thursday challenge. And just like last week, my Thursday night was booked and I keep forgetting to schedule posts. I had good reason, though! My best friend is getting married in August and I'm the Maid of Honor :D We went dress shopping last night, for the first time and she just looked gorgeous :')

I did have a mani done for this week's prompt, which was dots. And coincedentally, it was in the wedding color scheme. I must just have it on the brain lol.

Let's get to it!!

For this dotticure, I started with two easy-peasy coats Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme, which went on so easy. It's also my go-to for black stamping. I did an accent of three coats LA Colors Energy Source, which is your typical white. It took three coats to even out the streakiness. I top coated with Color Club 0-60 Fast Dry top coat. Once that dried, I got out my dotting tools in assorted sizes and OPI Danke-Shiny Red and did my pattern. I lovelovelove this polish. It came out as part of the 2012 Germany collection. It's a bright red that has that lit from within effect, thanks to a shot of shimmer. You'll definitely see this on the blog again as a full mani but I knew it would be great for this dotticure.

I liked keeping it simple with just a pop of color. Black, white, and red is so classic and lends itself to so many puns (as in my subject line).

Be sure to check out what the other Nail Tarts did for this week and have a great weekend!!

xo, ali

The Crumpet's GOT challenge!

Good evening!

Tonight, I have a post that I'm really excited about. I'm participating in The Crumpet's Golden Oldie Challenge.

Basically the rules for this challenge are that the polish has to be at least a year old.

Easy-peasy.

Debbie is an amazing nail blogger. She always has great swatches, great stamping, and great nail art. I love reading her blog and I check it every day to see what she's posted.

This is the first challenge that I've decided to particpate in. I like that it's once a week and that it will force me to use some of my older polishes.

Today's prompt is Pink! Pink is one of my favorite colors and I know that I have tons and tons of different pinks in my stash but there was one that I really wanted to showcase tonight. And that's my first Essie polish!

For today's mani, I did three coats of Essie Pink Parka and an accent of two coats Color Club Harp On It.

Pink Parka came out as part of the Fall 2009 collection. I picked it up as part of a Halloween costume, last minute. I was a "scene kid."

It's a neon so there are some usuals that come along with it--streaky and dries matte. It took three coats to even it out and it's topped with NYC Grand Central Station to give it some shine.

I'm really looking forward to participating in this challenge and seeing what all the other talented ladies will come up with!

xo, ali