Quick NOTD

Well, well, well! It's me, keeping my end of the bargain and keeping to my posting schedule.

I don't have much for you lovely people but I do have something that I'm quite proud of. I rarely do nail art. That's mostly because I get frustrated if it doesn't work out or I'm too tired, etc. A couple Saturdays ago, I was feeling ambitious and had the perfect polishes to go together. I also had a great tutorial from Globe & Nail in the back of my mind that I wanted to try. I love Emma's blog. She does such great nail art and has gorgeous swatches. The tutorial looked pretty easy and I don't bust out my striping tape nearly enough. Here's my final result!

For this manicure, I used:

Two coats Orly Nail Armor (base coat)

Two coats H&M Come Along With Me (base color)

One thick coat elf Sea Escape (accent color)

One coat Beauty Plus Salon (topcoat)

Come Along with Me is a really pretty, creamy teal with sparse teal shimmer that you really have to suss out. It went on really easy with no application problems that I can recall.

Then i laid down a square of scotch tape, at an angle,to create the half moon and a piece of striping tape down the middle. Next, I painted a thick coat of Sea Escape, which is from the Ursula portion of the elf Disney Villains nail polish cube. Sea escape is a black jelly-esque polish with teal, grean, and blue sparkles. I painted each finger, one at a time, and pulled the tapes up as soon as I painted. Top coat, and done!

The only thing I can really see wrong with this is that my lines could have been a little cleaner. Other than that, I was really happy with this. I got a lot of compliments on it when I went for my volunteer session at the satellite cat adoption center for the Erie County SPCA.

I get to hang out with these cool cats:

Corncob (top) and Paige (bottom)

My life is hard ;)

That's all for me...I'm off to watch some hockey (go Sabres!) and Parks and Rec.

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Hmmm, maybe that's an idea for some nail art?

However, I, unlike April, happen to love Ann Perkins.

over and out!

xo, ali

PS-don't forget to follow me, via bloglovin'! Just click the bloglovin' banner to the right, above my pretty picture :)

A new way to follow Dancing Phalanges

Good morning, lovely people!!

Just a quick post to let you know that there is a new way to follow my little piece of the blogosphere.

All you need to do is click here.
You can also click the Bloglovin' button over on the right sidebar.

I have one follower (Hi, Kerry!), and she needs some friends, so make sure you follow me and keep her company! :)

Have a great day!!

xo, ali

Well I mathin' suck.

Sorry, guys. 

Listen, I really want to get this blog off the ground but a few aspects of life got in the way.

Namely, family and health. I have an autoimmune thyroid disease and it mucks about with my energy levels. Some days I can go, go, go but most of the time, it's all I can do to go to work, go to the gym, come home, and paint my nails. 

With family-my older sister is getting married in May and my younger sister and I are co-maids of honor. And we are organizing a bridal shower with the two other bridesmaids. The shower is four days before Christmas. We are insane, basically. Also, my older brother was up for his last visit to Buffalo. Why his last visit? Because my parents, who have lived in Buffalo a very long time, are moving to Charlotte after my dad retires in January.

Yup. It's no wonder I want to spend the majority of my time in bed or hanging with a cat or two.

I'm trying. 

Today, though, I have four polishes for you. Four awesome polishes. They're not indies or laced with diamonds. But they are 

ADVENTURE TIME.

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Yassssss....ADVENTURE TIME (caps lock necessary)

I was so excited to find these on clearance at Hot Topic. I was even more excited when I found out that all clearance was BOGO and I was able to get all four polishes offered for about $6.

Ready? Let's go!

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Bubblegum Princess is up first.

BP is everything a princess should be--kind, smart, and pretty.

Bubblegum Princess is a blue-toned pink crelly (creme-jelly hybrid). This is three coats and no top coat, plus a huge ding in my ring finger. Oops.

I love pretty pink this is...that's the best word I can think to describe it. Just...pretty. Much like the princess, herself.

Oh, my glob, you guys. Next is:

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Lumpy Space Princess. I can sum her up in one word-sassy. She's a princess and she knows it.

This shows how pink-toned the polish is.

I love this. Again-three coats, no top coat. Crelly finish. Shiny. Almost a neon lavender. Smooth application, no streaks or bald spots. And I didn't ding my fingers on this one, either!

Then, we have the boys. 

First

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Jake, the dog. He has the tendency to creep my sister out because his limbs are so...flexible. 

He's a smooth talker, but faithful to his viola-playing lady, Lady Rainicorn.

Again, three coats, no top coat. Crelly finish.

Jake is a mustard yellow. Putting this one on, I was definitely making some sort of face. I'm not a yellow girl at all and I thought my nails looked like I dipped them in mustard. I'll definitely keep this in mind for some nail artz in the future.

And, last, but certainly not least, we have Jake's partner in crime...

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Finn is the one responsible for all of this nonsense. The land is in his imagination. And damn, is it awesome. He harbors a crush on Bubblegum Princess. Along with that, he's adventurous (duh, name of the show) and daring.

Three coats, no top coat

This one was suuuuuuuper hard to capture true to color. It's a bright blue crelly. It's not as saturated as Nails Inc. Baker Street or Sinful Colors Endless Blue but it's bright. Clearly, my iPhone 4S camera could not handle this jelly (hah!)

On the whole, this little collection was a nice little find. I'd love to see more Adventure Time polishes released for other characters like Bmo, Marceline, Ice King, and Tree Trunks. They could have a lot of fun with different finishes for those four.

I'm trying to get on a semi-regular schedule for posting to turn this into something that people can say, "oh, Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday/what-have-you. Dancing Phalanges post!"

I have some other swatches and NOTDs that just need some minor editing and they'll be ready to go--little posts, but at least it's something, right?

So, what would your dream Adventure Time collex look like? What characters would it include?

okay, guys. That will do it for me.

Thanks for reading!

xo, ali.

Dancing Phalanges! Dancing Phalanges!

I know it's been damn near two weeks since I updated and I'm so sorry. I don't have excuses. I just have a polish and a mani that I'm REALLY excited about.
If you're a Bones fan, you know where my blog title comes from. If not, here:

Bones is definitely my favorite show so I was THRILLED when I saw that  Girly Bits' Fall Sesaon Premiere Collection included three polishes inspired by Bones.  I was even more excited when one of those polishes was called Dancing Phalanges!! Pam describes Dancing Phalanges as a "raspberry pink glass fleck shimmer." And it's gorgeous. I'm sorry, but my pictures do not do it justice. Let's take a look!

As soon as I got this in the mail, I put it on. And so did my sister. I could not stop staring at it. I don't even know how to put into words how pretty this is. Juicy, bright, pink. It's perfect. This is my first indie polish and I couldn't be happier with it. This is three coats as it does start out quite sheer. It builds up opacity very nicely and this wore well, also. I had this on for at least three days before I broke down and removed it.

I also had gotten in the new Bundle Monster Create Your Own stamping plates so I added a little something extra.

I stamped using BM-416 and Wet N Wild Black Creme.

This is gorgeous. Girly Bits' polishes are absolutely gorgeous! But don't take my word for it. You can purchase them from her website. Pam offers not only pretty polishes but frankening supplies and nail care. Full size (15 mL) retails for 11.50 and she's offering free shipping in the US and Canada, right now. You can't go wrong!!

What do you think? Do you have a favorite Girly Bits polish? I'd love to hear from you!

See you soon!

--ali

Revlon Elusive

Hey lovelies!
Let's hear it for internet/Photobucket issues!

I'm back, a week later with a new fall polish for you that I found last weekend. Let's take a peek!

Revlon-Elusive

OPI Nail Envy Matte 

3 coats Elusive

Beauty Plus Salon top coat

Elusive is a black jelly full of different sizes teal hex glitters and filled with a blue/purple iridescent shimmer. This would be a great base polish for a galaxy manicure. It applied easily and dries to a matte finish. Elusive required two coats of top coat to get a smooth and shiny finish.

I have a few more shots of this gorgeous polish for your viewing pleasure, showing both the shiny finish and the matte finish. 

Full sun, so you can see how sparkly it is.

Elusive is from Revlon's Evening Opulence collection by Gucci Westman. Check your endcaps at Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Target, and Wal-Mart. I don't believe this is part of Revlon's core line.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments :)

Hope to chat soon!!

-ali

The First Nail Fail

Good evening, lovelies!
Sorry for the unexpected hiatus so soon after starting. I feel terrible but I somehow ran out of time or energy to update.
I have a really quick one for you tonight...the first documented nail fail. Usually any polish I buy without looking at swatches of first turn out to look great and I love them. That wasn't the case this time. See exhibit A.

Covergirl Outlast-Silver Lining

Artificial lighting

OPI Nail Envy Matte base coat

2 coats polish

No top coat

I didn't top coat this because I knew it was coming right off. I did not like how chalky it looked on me. I was really disappointed because I bought this based off the shimmer I saw in the bottle and it was gorgeous. It just did not translate onto the nail. 

Application was kind of a mess, too. The formula was kind of thick and went on patchy/streaky.

Due to the thickness of the polish, this may be good for stamping so I'll keep you ladies posted.

I don't have much experience with the Covergirl Outlast nail polish line because most of the colors are like ones I already have. I do have a few others that I will be sharing with you soon.

What has your experience been with the Outlast nail polishes?

Stay tuned, because I have a lot of ideas for the coming months!

--ali

Holos are a Girls Best Friend!

Happy Tuesday night, lovelies! I'm happy the day is over and I can relax with some TV. We're currently watching Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., New Girl, and the Mindy Project on Tuesday nights. New TV is one of the best things about fall!

Today, I have for you what I consider to be a staple stash polish (SSP?) and some holo-y goodness. The weather has been gorgeous here in Buffalo, with sunshine every day so I had to bust out a new Color Club holo that I just picked up this weekend.
Let's get down to business!

I started with a base of Color Club Pucci-Licious, which is from the 2010 Poptastic collection.

As you can see, Pucci-licious is a medium lavender creme. The first coat was streaky and patchy but a second coat evened out any problems. This was taken indoors, artificial lighting.

I am in love with this color and don't know what took me so long to pick it up. Everyone needs this in their stash.

I wanted to spice this up a little bit so I thought I'd add some stamping to it, in the form of Color Club Fashion Addict, from the 2009 Catwalk Queen collection. I used Konad plate M95. This is only the second time I've used a Konad plate--usually I use Shany plates--but they are amazing. The images transfer so well and come out so clear.

Indoor, fluorescent lighting

Full sunlight

This is a very distracting manicure. I keep looking at the holo in the sunlight. It's just absolutely gorgeous!

Let me know what you think in the comments. See you later!

--ali