Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Another Apology

Hey you guys. I'm sorry I haven't been posting like I said I would. I really am trying to post more, but life is so crazy hectic. My grandfather is having surgery on Friday, and I have been trying to run around and get stuff together to send to this amazing girl Ryah, who recently lost her home, possessions, and family pets to a tragic house fire. So I've been busy doing that. I do have SO MUCH nail mail coming to me soon, so I hope to be able to share some of that with you when it gets here. But I do appreciate you all sticking with me through this. I'm sorry to say that I'll probably be MIA for another week, due to my grandfather's surgery and my boyfriend coming down from Maryland this weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures of my nail mail & other goodies! :)


Thanks guys.
TTFN.
MissFancyNails
xxoo

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

So Many Mani's!!

Heyyyyyy guyssssss. :)

So we had ANOTHER snow day today, which means I actually had some SPARE TIME! Oh my glitter, it was such a strange feeling! But I am very glad I had this spare time because I was able to upload a bunch of my mani pictures and watermark them so I could put them up here for you! As I said before, I have not had any time at all for legitimate swatching of all the polishes I've gotten recently, including the OPI Brazil collection, so I kind of stuck to mani's for now. I may have more time this week for swatching, hopefully. I actually have quite a bit of nail mail coming my way, so I may just bite the bullet and wait for all that to get here and then just do a GIANT day of swatching. I may be doing it all next friday (3/14, it should all be here by then.) because I'm off from work that day, because my grandfather is having surgery that day, and I'll have the available time while he's in the OR and stuff. So I'll hopefully have time next Friday. Until then… You'll just have to accept mani's! ;)

I will say that I'm going to be quite busy this week/weekend, and I have a doctors appointment Monday, and I have to finish my friend's hair at some point in time, so my mani's may be kept pretty simple this upcoming week and the next.

I actually have gotten one part of my Born Pretty store packages, and this was the one that I personally purchased myself. I have another package coming, but that package contains items they have sent me for review, so I will definitely be letting you know what exactly those items are, so there is no confusion as to what I've purchased and what has been sent to me. I actually was given a discount code for you guys to use so you can get 10% off on your order! If 10 people use the code, the Born Pretty store will host a giveaway on my blog! So go shop! They have such adorable stuff, at such amazing prices! So go, go, go!!


Alright, enough of my mindless ramblings! Onward to the mani pictures! 

Well. First off… Let's just talk about the tragedy that has struck me. This… This is what my nails USED to look like. I tried going naked for one day, trying to give my nails a slight break from all the acetone and polish and such. BAD IDEA. 

BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED. IT BROKE, GUYS. IT BROKE. I WAS VERY NOT OKAY. I HAD TO FILE ALL THE OTHER ONES DOWN SO IT DIDN'T LOOK SO NUBBISH. AUGH. THE AGONY!!


 Well. About two weeks later, TRAGEDY STRUCK AGAIN. My right hand had remained intact. UNTIL LAST NIGHT. I had literally JUST taken my polish off before I got in the shower, because I was planning on doing a full cuticle care routine, and I figured taking a quick shower to remove any excess glitter that was latching on to my phalanges was a good idea. All I was doing was washing my hair. I WASNT SCRUBBING WITH MY NAILS. Because cosmetology school taught me that was a no-no. But all of a sudden, I felt something snagging on my hair, so I looked at my hands, thinking it was my rings. NO. IT WAS MY NAIL. THIS HAPPENED WHILE I WASHED MY HAIR. AUGH. MORE AGONY. So the rest had to be filed down so, again, it wouldn't look nebbish. :( 

Thank you for listening to me bitch and moan. I greatly appreciate it. 

Here are the actual manis. I promise.

Something simple to start off. I did a simple mani using Essie's Sugar Daddy & Blanc. On my ring finger, I used Mentality polish Requested, with Lacquerlicious V-Day=D-Day over top. I absolutely LOVE VD=DD. It's got so many fun glitters in it, and it's seriously wonderful. I didn't have many issues with fishing at all, so that was great. I've done swatches of this polish before, so you should definitely check those out if you'd like a closer look! :)

 Well, here's two pictures of a Twin Mani I was supposed to do, but the other person (who shall remain nameless) kinda bailed on it, so these pictures just kind of got lost in my camera roll. But here they are for your visual enjoyment. I used Color Club Blue Ming, Sally Hansen Golden Rule, and Essie Blanc. I literally did this mani in about 15 minutes. My lines are definitely not clean, so I know it's not my best. But I like the colors. This IS a recreation of a mani that was found on Pinterest, so I DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS DESIGN.


 Here is a really quick and simple mani that I did using two FingerPaints polishes. The stunning pink is Matisse's Mirage, and the gorgeous silver is Colorful Collage over OPI's This Gown Needs a Crown. I seriously love this silver glitter. It's so pretty and makes my finger look like a disco ball! The pink is honestly so squishy and sassy. I have NOT yet tried it for a jelly sammich, but I think it may be in my near future. ;)





Here is actually a swatch from OPI's Brazil collection! This is Don't Bossanova Me Around. I LOVE THIS COLOR. It is legitimately the most perfect nude ever. It's a pinky nude, and it goes on completely opaque in two coats. If you have any streaking problems (some people have had this issue) then an extra third coat will solve those issues. :) I would definitely suggest this one for anyone looking for a perfect nude. 


 This is Inner Goddess by Different Dimension. Its a pretty sheer polish with flakies and glitters in it, its just so fitting to its name. It'd be beautiful topped over some other polishes as well. I just wanted a simple, feminine mani that I could do really quickly. I really liked the simplicity of this, while also keeping it interesting. :)

This was actually my Valentines Day mani! I used OPI Mod About You, Kiss Me I'm Brazilian, and I tried using Red Hot Rio, but it was too sheer for me, so I used a Nicka K polish I received in a birchbox over it. I wasn't the biggest fan of this. My mom loved it, but I wasn't obsessed. It came off that same night. =/



 Soooo I took Meghan (my goddaughter) to see Disney on Ice. Of course… I love me some Disney, and the princesses. So I definitely did a Disney Princess inspired mani. There's quite a few polishes used for this beauty, so bear with me! Jasmine's nail was done using two coats of Turquoise & Caicos from Essie, and I free handed the gold lines using Bold Gold from Maybelline Color Show, and added a little turquoise rhinestone. Ariel's nail is pretty simple, actually. I used Essie Trophy Wife and topped it with the most perfect squishy Little Mermaid polish from Gypsyanna polish named But Daddy, I Love Him! Cinderella's nail is Nicole by OPI in Stand By Your Manny, topped with Last Friday Night from OPI. Then to give it some more glam, I added some clear rhinestones to the edge of my nail. Belle (my favorite princess) was done with OPI I Can't Cope-Acabana, topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust, and I added a little rose decal on the corner. My Aurora nail was made using China Glaze Wish On A Starfish, and Sally Hansen Blue Blast. Then I glued alternating blue & pink rhinestones down the middle :)

 Next up is a mani I did using Mentality polish in Kablooey and Color Club Warhol. I used Nail Vinyls from the wonderful Linda over at nailvinyls.storenvy.com to create my chevrons. I seriously love these polishes. Kablooey is stunning, and Warhol is such an amazing pink. It's so bright & cheerful. I'm honestly in love with this color combination. 


 In this mani, I used about 3 coats of Zoya Dot and about 3 coats of Why Am I Such A Misfit by Different Dimension polish. I love both of these babies, and they look so Easter-y! Since I'm ready for spring to get here, this was perfect! I only had one Zoya polish before Dot came along in my Ipsy bag this month, so I was extremely happy to welcome her to the family. ;)

 Well, this mani was done because I was mourning the loss of my nail. Simple black matte mani using Essie Licorice and OPI's Matte Top Coat. 

This beauty… This gorgeous beauty is Citrine from Eighty4 polish. I was having such a dreary, miserable, rainy day and I needed some sunshine in my day. So I layered this baby ALL OVER my nails. It immediately brightened up my day! :)

 This was a quick mani I did using OPI La Paz-Itively Hot and Essie Blanc & Licorice. I added a little star stud I bought from amazon, and used Nail Vinyls (I see a pattern.) for my chevrons. I used a matte top coat over La Paz-Itively Hot. I heard of the matte version of this polish, but figured why bother purchasing it when I could just use a matte top coat over the one I already had. I really like the look of this polish when its matte. 


 This is a mani I did because I just REALLY wanted to use OPI AmazON-AmazOFF. I usually HATE  blue polish on myself, because I just don't think it looks right. So I wanted to do something that would take the emphasis off the blue, while still letting it be its amazing self. :) I used Loaded Lacquer Tornado in a Trailer Park, and I used Mentality Polish Requested for my middle finger. I really loved the way these polishes looked together. Unfortunately, I had to change it the next day because STUPID Seche Vite caused major frickin shrinkage. UGH. Seche Vite- Ruining manicures, one shrunken nail at a time.



Here was a recreation mani I did. The original picture is on my instagram, if you'd like to see what my inspiration was! :) I had always struggled with dotticures, because I have massive OCD and I always wanted them to be perfectly even. But a lovely lady named Tracey told me to just not think about it. So when I was trying this recreation, I did just that and I love how this turned out. I used OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian, This Gown Needs A Crown, and Black Onyx. 


 This was another recreation that I did using Hey Baby from OPI, and Sally Hansen's Golden Rule. I used a nail decal for the key. The original had an arrow, but I didn't have an arrow decal and I could not draw one freehanded to save my life. So I gave up and went with the key. :) I really like how this turned out!


This was my FIRST GRADIENT EVER. I recreated a mani that Darcy over at @sparrownails on instagram did awhile back. I saw it on Pinterest and searched EVERYWHERE to find it. I didn't have any of the polishes she used, so I used Essie A Crewed Interest, OPI Elephantastic Pink and Essie Watermelon. I topped it with China Glaze Fairy Dust. I was so proud of myself and how it turned out! 

 So I got a little excited with the gradient idea, and since it had been snowing so much where I am, I decided I needed a little summer in my life. So I did a gradient using OPI I Can't Cope-Acabana, Toucan Do It If You Try, and Koala Berry. I used some fimo slices for the flowers and a nail decal for the palm tree. I topped it with Fairy Dust and Essie Good To Go top coat. I love love love this mani. I simply refuse to take it off!


Andddd this isn't a mani but these are two of my new rings from the born pretty store and I LOVE THEM. I don't want to take them off. They're SO CUTE.



Alright, well thats it for today's post! Hopefully I'll be able to get some swatches done soon for you guys! I'll do the best I can to get some more mani posts up for you, if anyone can manage to get this tropical gradient off my fingers! ;)


TTFN!
MissFancyNails
xxoo



Monday, March 3, 2014

I'm so neglectful.

Hey guyssssss….


Yeah, I'm sorry. =/

I haven't updated in awhile and for that, I am sorry. I thought my work schedule would be easier for blogging, but it's not. I haven't had a consistent schedule in weeks. People would call out so my schedule would get changed, so my hours have been all over. It's completely exhausted me and I just haven't had the time or energy to focus on this. I've been on instagram and doing a few recreations of mani's, but I haven't had time to do all my watermarking (because I just can't seem to find an app that works for me) and I haven't had time to swatch properly. So hopefully, that'll be getting done soon… We'll see how life works for me. But I did just want to check in and let you all know that I haven't forgotten you & I didn't just quit.

Since today is a snow day for me (AGAIN.) I might be able to get some watermarking done for the pictures of mani's I've recreated & get those posted so you all can see those too. Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to get any swatching done this week or this weekend. Maybe Monday, or next weekend. But my grandfather is having surgery next Friday, and I have a doctors appointment myself on Monday. I also have to do my mom's hair & finish my friend Jayme's hair too. So I am unfortunately very, very busy. I'm doing what I can to keep everything balanced, but this blog has had to take the backseat compared to other things. I'll be trying my best to update this more often, but life isn't always so willing to let me do that.


So thank you for hanging in there with me, and I hope you all haven't abandoned me.

TTFN.
MissFancyNails
xxoo

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Swatching ALL THE INDIES!

Alright. So… I know myself all too well, and I know that if I don't just bite the bullet and put ALL of these in one HUGE blog post… It's going to take me years to get it all done and get all the swatches up. I still have some of the OPI Brazil polishes sitting on my dresser waiting to be swatched, along with a few other pretties I purchased at Sally's. I haven't made any more indie polish purchases because I've put myself on a No-Buy for any more indies for a while. Every time I get excited about a new indie polish collection I want…. My bank account quietly reminds me to calm the heck down. So. There's that. But I still have these beauties that I can play with, and I haven't used most of them yet other than swatches. So I think I shall survive. :) I really needed to get these swatches up so I can get around to posting more swatches of my store-bought polishes! They need love too! ;) 

Let's just jump into it.

This is Love To Hate You from Different Dimension polish. It's a clear based polish with circles, stars, diamonds, and hearts in different shades of purple and white. I used it with Play Date from Essie, and I think it was super pretty. Some of the purple glitters weren't as visible as others, but it still came out looking really nice. I had no fishing issues at all, which is always wonderful! I really love all of my Different Dimension polishes. They're all amazing, with amazing application. I haven't had any issues with any of them. I'm officially in love. 
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 This is actually two swatches in one! This is Different Dimension polish (imagine that!) in Lucky, and my accent nail is Legion Lacquer in Jar of Crushed Hearts. These polishes together!? Oh my lawwwwd. Gorgeous. Seriously. They're STUNNING. Both of them. As I said in my previous post… I swore that Legion Lacquer's Valentine's Day collection HAD to be mine. I already showed you two out of three… So here is the last beauty from that collection. And its paired with one of my favorite holos. Lucky is a gorgeous deep pink holo that I can't even describe with words. It's just so perfect. Jar of Crushed Hearts looks exactly as its described. It's a beautiful glitter that can be full coverage in about two coats, or worn over another polish. I cannot say enough about these two polishes. They're just amazing. This swatch is what my motto is all about. OH MY GLITTER.
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 This, again, is a double swatch. I used a gold polish from Maybelline's Color Show polish line called Bold Gold. The bottle says it's holographic (thats a lie. just sayin.) but it was the first gold polish I grabbed out of my collection. This swatch is of Cult Stay Gold and Loaded Lacquer in Tornado in a Trailer Park. I am really loving my Cult polishes, making me completely wish I had the financial ability to get the blackbox every month, because I really don't think I'd ever be disappointed. But that will have to wait for now. I'm also loving the Loaded Lacquer polishes I have, and this is one I was more excited about. But unfortunately, I had fishing issues. And as we all know, I am NOT about to pour my polish out to get some glitter. This polish has a lot of different sized glitters in it, and a lot of the smaller ones are the ones I could get. The bigger, heavier glitters just seemed to want to stick to the side of the bottle, even after I let it sit upside down, AND rolled it between my palms for a bit. So I was a bit disappointed with the fishing issue, but its still a great polish, nonetheless. If I could sit and fish some of the glitters out, I'd be fine. I just didn't have the patience. But here they are!

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And here we have ANOTHER Different Dimension polish! (Can you guess which indie brand I purchased the most from?!) This polish is actually very dear to my heart, and I actually purchased TWO bottles. This is Never Grow Up. Now, I know its a T. Swift song, and ever since her second album, I haven't listened to her much. But on June 29th 2011, my beautiful goddaughter was born. She immediately became my entire world, capturing my heart the second I laid eyes on her. Well, about 6 months later, I was in Target with my mom (who is obsessed with Tay-Tay) and saw her new "Deluxe" edition and immediately asked me to get it and burn her a copy. I told her I didn't need to buy it at Target, that I could just as easily get it on iTunes. I went home and downloaded it (because my mommy told me to) and as I was burning the CD, Never Grow Up came on. And as soon as I heard the first two lines, I started BAWLING my eyes out. It just so happened that I had just moved out to live with my fiancĂ© at the time (no, we did not get married. #teamforeveralonewithmypolish) and of course, I was a bit nervous about being on my own. So hearing the lyrics to that song hit me hard. I immediately called her mom and made her listen to it, and she cried too. From that point on, it has always been my song to my goddaughter. It carries such special meaning for me, so when I saw this polish and I read its name… I immediately bought two bottles. One is with me, and the other belongs to my goddaughter (who is, indeed, a polish addict in training.) So THANK YOU, Missi for making this polish. It means more than you know, even though it wasn't made specially for me. :)

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Also from Different Dimension polish is Hearts on Fire. I used it with Cult Matador, which is my new favorite red. And I normally hate red polishes. Go figure, right?! Hearts on Fire is a really pretty glitter bomb with stars, hearts, circles, and flowers in red and gold and yellow. I even think I saw a few orange babies in there too! It's so completely different than anything I have in my collection. I really really like this, and I kind of want to slather it over some white! Maybe I'll do that sometime soon! :) 
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Here are some drug store products that I purchased. This is Sinful Colors Starry Night (I think this is a texture polish…) and Pure Ice It's Complicated. I really don't like texture polishes very much. I'm a picker, so if theres anything on my nail that I can feel… I'm going to pick it. I'm working on it, though. But this polish wasn't TOO bad. I had previously purchased Belugaria from Essie and I HATED IT. It's the worst texture polish I've ever used (only because I'm a picker!) and Starry Night kind of reminds me of a toned down version of Belugaria. And It's Complicated is just a super fun glitter bomb that goes on super easy and makes any mani more fun. It seriously goes with anything. It's kind of like a little black dress :) Take a peek!
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And LAST SWATCH is a Polish Addict polish in Lipstick & Shades that I purchased from a destash. I paired it with a simple black polish from Wet N Wild. This polish has white and pink glitters, and I think it looks seriously perfect with black. The pink really pops, and I had no issue getting any of them out of the bottle. It's my first Polish Addict nail polish, and I'm really happy with it! I think I'll be looking more into them and maybe making a real purchase when my No-Buy is over! 
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And along with Lipstick and Shades, I threw on V-Day=D-Day from Lacquerlicious over the black. It is a charity polish to help raise money for Pitbull rescue! It's so pretty, and so fun! It has skull & cross bones, stars, hearts and all other shapes & goodies! It definitely fits the name! I swatched this polish with another colored polish which you can find on instagram @missfancynails_xo.
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Alright. I know, this post went on for EVER. But all the swatches are now done, and I can move on to swatching my store-bought polishes this weekend!! So keep an eye out for those! 

Don't forget to follow me on instagram @missfancynails_xo
and like my page on Facebook- Facebook.com/missfancynailsxo
Once I hit 500 likes on Facebook, or 500 followers on instagram, I'll be doing a giveaway! So tell your friends! :)

TTFN!
MissFancyNails
xxoo