the Never-Ending Pile Challenge: Textured

Hey! Happy Monday! I just have a quick post for y'all tonight. Of course, it's another installment to the Never-Ending Pile Challenge and today's theme is textured. I have quite a few textured polishes. I love how they look like the inside of geodes. I just never think to wear them! Tonight, I paired two of L'Oreal's textured polishes from their Gold Dust collection.

On my pointer and pinky fingers are three coats of Hidden Gems. For my double accent nail, I used three coats of Too Dimensional?

And some macro shots for good measure.

Overall, I really like these polishes but I favor Too Dimensional? over Hidden Gems, right now. While I love the darkened teal of Hidden Gems, I wish the purple flash you can see in the bottle shot would have translated better on the nail. I've seen Hidden Gems swatched on a few different blogs and that seems to be the general consensus.

Too Dimensional? is a beautiful dusty lavender and that gold shimmer makes it look so expensive. I'll definitely be wearing it as a full mani, soon!

What have been some of your favorite textured polishes since they've come out?

Be sure to check out the other sparkly ladies and their textured tips!

xo, ali

The Never-Ending Pile Challenge: Vampy

Happy Monday! I've got another swatch for the Never-Ending Pile Challenge! I really like this challenge! It's making me think outside the box and stick to a regular posting schedule. Plus, I'm trying to make sure I have manis prepared for upcoming challenges.

Tonight, I've got an old polish that I inherited from my mom when she cleaned out her stash after moving.

This is Avon Speed Dry Presto Plum (I think). Three coats with top coat. It's a pretty brown-toned plum. While there is nothing really special about this color, it's a great go-to for a grown up, sophisticated, work appropriate mani. I would definitely suggest a color like this for a job interview.

Be sure to check out the other untrieds from tonight's prompt, below!!

xo, ali

The Never-Ending Pile Challenge: As Many As You Can

Hi! Just a quick post for you guys tonight, from my parents' couch in Charlotte. I'm having a great time here; the weather has been perfect!

The theme for May 2nd was As Many As You Can and I figured there is no better way to get in a ton of untrieds than by doing a Waterfall mani, as made famous by Sammy from the Nailasaurus. You can find her easy-to-follow tutorial here.

I used Revlon Gray Suede for my base. It is nude polish with subtle silver shimmer running through it. It's great alone, as a palate cleanser, and quite work appropriate.

To create the waterfall mani, I used China Glaze Immortal as the gray, Revlon Brilliant Strength Beguile for the dark blue, and Color Club Catwalk Queen for the vampy purple. All three of these colors are shimmery beauties that are better suited for late November, rather than early May, but I still love how this turned out. I felt sophisticated, rocking this nail art at work. 

I don't think it turned out too bad for my first try at a waterfall. They are pretty straight-forward to do but take a little practice to get used to the brushstroke. 

What do you think?

Be sure to check out what the other Pirates used for this theme. I know some got as many as 15 or 20 untrieds in!

xo, ali

The Never-Ending Pile Challenge: Least Expensive

Hey! It's Wednesday...we're halfway through the week. Except, today is my Friday. Tomorrow, I head out with my sister and her boyfriend to Charlotte for my older sister's wedding! It's going to be a great weekend; I can't wait to see my parents. But, don't worry. I have manis for the next few prompts while I'm out of town.

Today's theme is Least Expensive and I'm showing you a polish that I only shelled out 99 pennies for.

This is Sally Girl IQ in three coats. It's a steely, silvery blue. And it's got a great blue shimmer to it that really shows up in the middle picture. You do have to be kind of careful with application because it can get kind of brushstrokey.

Sally Girl polishes are a great deal. You can try out trendy shades and finishes for only a few bones (depending on how much you buy). I picked up two other ones with this beauty that I have yet to bust out. And I got them last summer. Shame on me!

That's all for me...I have to finish packing -_-

Be sure to check out what the other ladies dug out of their untrieds tonight!

xo, ali

The Never-Ending Pile Challenge: Boutique

Bonjour!As you know, I am participating in the Glittah Pirates' Never-Ending Pile Challenge. It may be sporadic participation because I don't have as many untrieds as the other lovely ladies in the group, but I am participating!

For the mani I'm about to show you, I managed to knock out two untrieds. Yesterday's theme was "Boutique" and it could be interpreted many different ways. I chose to interpret it with two polishes that I picked up at Charlotte Russe, a couple years ago. Charlotte Russe is a boutique to me, because they specialize in selling to a specific demographic. Check it out!

I used three coats of Charlotte Russe Light Pink and used a quick-dry top coat. Then i applied Washi tape on a diagonal and painted Charlotte Russe Neon Purple. I did one finger at a time and took the tape off right after I painted to give me a clean line. One the accent nails, I used 4 clear studs from a Bundle Monster wheel. Easy-peasy.

That's all from me tonight. Be sure to check out what the other pirates did for their Boutique polishes, below!

xo, ali

The Never-Ending Pile Challenge:A Random Untried

Friday! Friday night is one of my favorite nights, but not because I go out and get crazy. Don't get me wrong-I do that, from time to time, but I love Friday nights because I get to chill out, maybe stay up a little bit past my bedtime, and go to sleep knowing that both my alarms are silenced....ahhhhh!

Tonight, I have another contribution to the Never-Ending Pile Challenge. It was created by Missy and the rest of the girls over at The Glittah Pirates, which is an awesome group on Facebook that I recently joined. If you want to join in the fun, just click the link and request to join :)

The theme today is "A Random Untried" and I chose Nicole by OPI Roughles in On What Grounds? I received this in my March Ipsy bag and I was really excited to try it. Let's see what I thought.

I top coated my index finger to see what it would look like.

Macro-index with top coat, middle with no top coat.

On What Grounds? is a matte aqua sprinkled with blue and brown. These sprinkles give it the finish of a robin's egg. There is no glitter to this polish so it does dry flat but the different colors mixed in give it some depth. However, I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. I applied this last night and this morning, when I was blow-drying my hair, my index finger got caught and a piece chipped off :( 

I'm disappointed because I loved the Gumdrops collection that NOPI came out with a while ago. My Cherry Amour is one of my favorite textured polishes. Sigh. Oh well, can't win 'em all! Maybe I'll give this another shot down the line.

Make sure you check out what the other rad girlies are showing off for their random untrieds today!

Have a great weekend!!

xo, ali

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

GOT: Valentine's Day!

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

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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

GOT Challenge: Stripes

Gooooood evening loves! I hope that you are all doing well, tonight. I'm back with another installment of The Crumpet's Golden Oldie Thursday polish challenge! The theme this week was Stripes and I used it to branch out my nail art into something that I've never tried before and I think it turned out pretty good. Let's take a look at the process!

I started with three coats of Sally Hansen CSM in Mousseline, which is a light and airy ecru. I love the name of this polish because of my slight obsession with Marie Antoinette. Mousseline was the nickname given to her oldest daughter, Marie Thérèse.

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*ahem* I've put my inner history nerd back into her cage.

This was such a good palate cleanser after the neon/holo mani I was sporting last week. It would also be a great base for lots of different glitter toppers.

Mousseline was sandwiched between Orly Nail Armor and NYC Grand Central Station.

I let this dry overnight and after my Saturday morning coffee, I got to work.

On all nails, except my ring finger on each hand, I put three pieces of striping tape and painted over them with one thick coat of China Glaze Snap My Dragon from last spring's Avant Garden collection. This was one of my favorite polishes that came out last year. It's such a gorgeous, saturated pinky red, shot through with pink shimmer.

On my ring fingers, I took a large dotting tool and dotted Snap My Dragon around. Then, I mixed Mousseline with Snap MY Dragon, and using a tiny detail brush, added some highlights. For the leaves, I used Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Garden Green, which is a leafy green with a silvery-blue shimmer.

I used the Nailasaurus' tutorial to make my little roses and, while they didn't turn out as perfect as hers are, I still think I hit the mark pretty well with these!

Have you been trying any new nail art techniques? I'd love to hear about it! And be sure to check out what the other lovely ladies have done for this week's theme!

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