'Merica!!

Happy Friday! And Happy Fourth of July! The calendar gods smiled down on us, this year, and gave us a three-day weekend. Woo-hoo!

I'm heading out to spend the day with family but before I go, I want to share what I'm sporting on my tips to celebrate 'Merica!!

Oh, there's Pacific Blue. This was my first time using this and everything said about it was true--amazing formula, amazing color saturation, funky smell. I am so glad that one of my local polish friends had a bottle put aside for me at Walgreens so I could have a piece of unofficial nail polish history. The community has been up in arms since we found out that Sally Hansen changed the formula. See what G at Nouveau Cheap had to say about it, here.

I digress. I used two easy coats of Pacific Blue on all nails but the ring finger. For the accent nail, I used three coats of NYC French White Tip. Once it was topcoated and dry, I laid down striping tape and painted over them with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Cherry Red. I lifted the tape and just absolutely goggled at how straight my lines were. That is a first for me!

I put star studs from a Forever 21 wheel on my blue fingers and topcoated the whole shebang.

It's a manicure that Captain America would be proud of.

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Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

xo, ali

Springtime Skittlette

Happy Monday! That really seems like an oxymoron to me, but I survived the day and I'm here to bring you a quick skittlette I did last week, while watching Frozen for the first time.

Why were lil Elsa and Anna so darn cute?!

Anyways. I was having a crappy night, one night last week and my friend brought me a little cheer-up gift, including a new polish. Let's take a look at how I used it.

This is the gifted polish-Sinful Colors Out of Bounds. This polish came out last spring, but it's dead on for Pantone's Color of the Year 2014: Radiant Orchid.

I also busted out China Glaze Fancy Pants, which was part of last spring's Avant Garden collection. Fancy Pants is a purple creme with pink and blue shimmer running throughout.

I also used Kleancolor Kiss Goodbye which is a mix of pink, blue, and gold microglitters in a clear base. It's got the typical Kleancolor smell but it's such a pretty mixture.

 I tried my best to channel the queen of Skittlettes-Marta from ChitChat Nails. Just look at any one of her posts. She's a master.

I did two coats of Out of Bounds and top coated. Then I took BM-404 and stamped my index and middle fingers with Fancy Pants. Kiss Goodbye was applied in one coat each on my pinky and thumb. A fimo bow from a Forever 21 wheel finished off the look.

What do you think? If only this would bring spring to Buffalo, really and truly!

xo, ali

Once Upon a Dream

Hey! Happy Tuesday! I hope it finds you all well and warm. I wish Spring would hurry up and get here!

I have a manicure that I really loved to share with you tonight, so let's look!

ooh there's a little sneak peek of one of my tattoos...my heart on my sleeve ;)

Sorry about the janky cuticles! I had to be quick to get the natural day light!

This is three coats of a polish I picked up from Forever 21's revamped polish line. They have a lot of unique colors this time around, but the names are still terrible. This was called "Blue/Pink" but, being a Disney fan, I've dubbed this:

Once Upon a Dream.

Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney movie, with the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast second and third.

This polish is a baby blue creme flecked with magenta and iridescent hexes and iridescent bar glitters. Props to Forever 21 for picking up on the indie polish trend. I absolutely love this and definitely look forward to wearing it again.

Once it was dry (thanks to Color Club 0-60), I used Cult Nails Time Traveler (inspired by a certain Doctor) and one of my best friend's Mash plates to stamp the swirly design. 

I really loved this. Once Upon A Dream applied well but it didn't last long, which might not be a bad thing when you have polish ADD like me!

What do you think? What's your favorite Disney movie, or polish inspired by it?

xo, ali

GOT(F?): BLUE!

Good evening, polished pretties!

I'm sharing another challenge mani with you from The Crumpet's Golden Oldie Thursday challenge. It's on Friday for me this week because I was on a really bad date last night. Oh, the woes of being single. I should really start a separate blog for my online dating horror stories.

Let's get on with it!

I was digging through my stash, looking for an old blue that I could use and I landed on something that I haven't used since I first got it, about two years ago.

Sadly, I only have one shot of it for you guys tonight because Picasa isn't syncing right :(

This is from Forever 21's Love and Beauty cosmetics line. Usually they're terrible at naming their polishes but this one was called Imperial Blue. And I think imperial is the right way to describe this. A gorgeous, deep royal blue jelly filled with a duochrome glass fleck that flashes purple and blue. Can you believe this polish cost a little under $3?!

However, it chipped the very next day :\

What do you think? What's your favorite cheap polish?

Be sure to check out what my fellow lacquer lovers did for their blue nails!!

xo, ali