The Great Gatsby

Hello! November! It's flying by and I just spent the last week, digging out of 5 feet of snow! I live in Buffalo, as I've mentioned before, and we got SLAMMED, starting Monday night. Luckily, it's moved out of the area because my parents are getting ready to come up and visit, this week, for Thanksgiving!

This afternoon I have my first installment of November's Nail Challenge Collaborative theme: Inspired by Books! I'm kicking off this series of four with my favorite book-the Great Gatsby.

For this manicure, I took my inspiration from a symbolic object in the book and movie-the run-down, distressed billboard of Dr. TJ Eckleburg.

For this manicure, I started with a base of China Glaze Sea Spray, a shimmery, dusty blue. Then I sponged on Zoya Kelly and gilded the tips with Elf Pot of Gold from the Disney Villains polish cube. The rim of the glasses was done with Nailtini Champagne with Kelly and Sea Spray for the eyes.

I was really proud of this manicure. I think I translated Eckleburg's eyes onto my nails well, even if no one knew what it was. That was also one of my favorite parts of the manicure. From far away, it was a mash of subdued neutrals and gilded metals but you could see the detail up close!

Be sure to check out the first volume that the other ladies chose!

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

Nail Fail: Color Club Ms. Hautie

Happy Wednesday! Hope it finds you warm. It's not here, that's for sure. The calendar says spring but the temperature says mid-January, and I'm NOT happy! All it makes me want to do is curl up and watch TV.
But you're not here to listen to me whine about the weather. You're here for the polish!

I don't know if you know this but I put myself on a polish no-buy for Lent (unfamiliar with Lent? Here's a quick lesson.). Here's where I let my Roman-Catholic upbringing and practices show. My wonderful mother informed me that yesterday was the Solemnity of the Annunciation, which, according to the Bible, is when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was with child. It's supposed to be a day of celebration and it's the one freebie you have for all of Lent. So, I bought some polish. Tonight, I'm going to show you one that I picked up yesterday--Color Club Ms. Hautie.

I wanted to use a few bottle shots because the polish in the bottle is absolutely stunning! It's a grayed out silver with holo micro-glitters and a pink iridescent flash. I was so excited to put this on my nails. 

But, as you can see, the glitters were a problem. Instead of translating onto the nail, the glitters left the manicure a bumpy mess :( 

Plus, the pink iridescent shimmer didn't come across on the nail.

Sad panda.

I mean, just look at the polish in the bottle!! I WISH it looked that great on my nails. 

I usually have such luck with Color Club polishes. Their holos are great, as are their shimmers but this was a definite miss for me. Good thing Color Clubs were buy one, get two free at my local beauty supply. They're clearing out old stock to make way for the newly branded and redesigned bottles. My Color Club collection has grown a little bit since I discovered that sale ;)

What do you think? Can this polish be saved? Love to hear about it!

xo, ali

Suzi and Dorien-A Blizzard Adventure

Hey, hey! I'm coming to you, live from my living room, as I begin my second straight day of being stuck indoors. The Blizzard of 2014 is "over"in the Buffalo area and now we start digging out. The driving bans are lifted and the expressways and thruways are open but the roads are a MESS. And I'm the worst winter driver.

I took this opportunity to do something creative with my nails, because I had a great block of time.

I started with two coats of OPI Suzi and the Seven Dusseldorfs on my thumb, index, middle, and pinky and two coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dorien Gray.

Suzi and the Seven Dusseldorfs is from the Germany collection that was released in Fall 2012. She's a gooooorgeous red-toned purple shimmer that covered well in two coats. 

Dorien Gray is a milky cement gray that I picked up in a CSM five-pack from Big Lots, last year. This covered decently in two coats but if I were wearing this as a regular manicure, I'd definitely use three coats to cover up any patchiness. I figured since I'd be stamping over, it would be okay.

I did all the base work in the afternoon and topped it with NYC Grand Central Station. Then I did what you should do on a snow day--take a nap! 

Later in the evening, I got out my stamping plates and picked BM-410 from the 2013 Create Your Own collection and stamped using Suzi and the Seven Dusseldorfs

(I don't know what is with the coloring on this one...)

I can't tell if these are fish bones or arrows but I really like this pattern. Suzi stamped so well! I was really happy with how the design came out. Of course, the awesome quality of the BM plates contributed to this, as well.

I top coated with OPI top coat, and, using a dot of top coat and a dotting tool, placed a rhinestone at the base. The rhinestones are from Bundle Monster as well and I think that it added a little something extra to the mani.

I'm really proud of this manicure and my nubbins are coming along, quite nicely, I think.

Did you get snowed in? Or are you guys popsicles? How are you staying warm?

I'll be wrapped up on my couch with 

Tim Riggins--hubba hubba!

[source]

xo, ali