Pampered & Polished Party!

Yay! It was a success. I hope everyone learned some things and enjoyed themselves. I tried to take pics to share with y'all here, but I got tied up and missed some bits. I tried to keep it to a small enough group to be manageable in my size apartment. It ended up be 11 women total (I think). I tried to set up everyone a station. We removed old polish, used an exfoliating scrub provided by Jackie from Oma's Favorites, pushed back cuticles and filed, then polished & embellished! Here are my pics. Sorry if some are fuzzy or funny colors, I'm still learning how to work my new camera in non-macro mode!

My baskets of polishes sorted by color to let them choose easily.

 The lineup on my bar, before it made it's way to the stations. I love these twist and lock pumps to put remover in. I got them at Sally's for $4.99. It's great because it pumps the polish directly into the cottonball without risking spilling it everywhere.

 My mom (in the black shirt) was in charge of food. She made all sorts of crazy finger sandwich combos as well as some chips & stuff.

 Each seated where I carefully covered all of my furniture so that remover wouldn't damage anything.

 Jackie testing out Sally Hansen "So Much Fawn"

 CocoPuff is back again! Trying her hand at stamping (and failing miserably, lol!) I tried to tell them it takes some practice. There is a learning curve!

 Hold the phone! If that Kim trying something other than pink!?!?! Shock of all shocks! She went with Orly Ancient Jade!

 B already has a plan in mind involving colors to coordinate with a new purse and shoes! I like it!

 Ah! And rhinestones! :)

 CocoPuff is making a bigger mess, Jackie still can't decide and has changed her color ten times....

 B's nails turned out lovely!

 CocoPuff went with China Glaze Pink Voltage Neon, OPI Black Shatter over the top. Tonight was not the night for stamping after all....

 Sorry I didn't get more pictures of the completed manis. Some left before I thought about my camera again.

And these are the goodies I get! R gave up her whole stash because she doesn't do her nails much anymore. Even though some of the polishes are from back in the day, they're still nice. (One is "Love my Nails" anyone else remember that brand? Lol) I can use some of the polishes as bases for frankens! She even had a few OPI's! I was floored! She gave me Pearls of Wisdom & Loyalty Islands Lilac. Loyalty is apparently from back in 1997. Awesome of her to give them to me. Thanks again!

Overall it was a lot of fun and I encourage all that can, get a group of your friends together to do a spa party. It's great association.

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Saucy New Strawberry Shortcake

Why are companies sexualizing little girl's toys? I was in love with the cute, plump, toddler of Strawberry Shortcake. Why does she now have to be more "grown up" and wear a tighter dress with a shorter hemline? No wonder some of the kids of this generation have issues.

Old Strawberry Shortcake vs New:

image source

Maybe you've forgotten but in February I tried to do some original Strawberry Shortcake nails, and I felt it was a failure. Some liked it, but I didn't. Here those are. Since my skills have been refined a bit since that original try, I thought I'd give it another shot! I used the newer version of Strawberry Shortcake and her friends.

 Thumb is Strawberry Shortcake's new dress.

 
 Index is Blueberry Muffin

Middle is Strawberry Shortcake (she photographed more orange than pink, but it was more color accurate in real life)

Ring is Orange Blossom (I made sure to include this brown sugar friend, just for you Jackie!)

Pinky is random Strawberry Shortcake doodles.

How do you think I did?

Here are the broken down pics for those that are interested. I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow Matte and Sally Hansen Iced Coffee. For Orange Blossom I sponged on some Orly's Prince Charming to give her some color. ;) All the rest of the colors are blended acrylic paints.

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Play-Doh

I loved Play-Doh as a kid. How about you? I even got into polymer clay sculpting as a teen. Yep, the same thing as those "fimo canes" are made of that you see floating around in the nail art world. Interesting how things come full circle. I personally don't like how those look on nails, so that's why I haven't pulled out my stuff and made any myself. This Play-Doh look is one that I wore as a full mani since it was more discreet.

*edit* Multiple questions have been asked about what yellow I used. Sorry guys, but I forgot to include that info when I was typing the post originally! Lol
The base is China Glaze Lemon Fizz. I find this one to be a lovely shade of pale yellow. Slightly streaky, takes 3 coats to even everything out, but not chalky at all. I then sponged Hard Candy Splendid over the top of Lemon Fizz to brighten it up a bit. Splendid is also what I used on the accent nail behind the label. Splendid by itself is about the same, slightly streaky, would take 3 coats to even out by itself. These are the only 2 yellows I own at the moment. I really like them, but I also understand that there are probably better yellows out there. I hope this helps!

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Pinky & the Brain - Take Two

Alexisaurus - asked if I do both hands or just one? I know I've answered this before, but it applies to this post.

Most of the time, I only do one hand and take pics. Then I remove it and put on something more practical for my daily life. It might be different if I was a nurse on a pediatric ward, but I work with adults.... and I can't make myself wear the crazy cartoon nails to work. There are times however that I may tone it down a bit and make it wearable. Take for instance the Rocko's Modern Life cartoon post here. I wore that as a full mani for a day or so. I felt it was less "in-your-face."

I decided to do Pinky and the Brain as a full mani. One of my male coworkers is always asking what is on my nails each time I see him. He has a picture of Brain on his binder he carries around, so I decided to do it in his honor! Lol, I know he's working today and he'll see them. 

 I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Cafe Au Lait. I recently found this one and I think it's an ever better nude than Iced Coffee, for my skin tone. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White for the tips. Acrylic paints for the cartoon nails.

 I'm much more shaky when using my non dominant hand!

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Flakie Skittles

This accidentally ended up looking like Easter candy :( Not my original intention. I layered 2 coats of Nubar 2010 over different pastels that I had to create a skittle manicure.

 Thumb - China Glaze Something Sweet

Index - China Glaze Sea Spray

Middle - China Glaze Lemon Fizz

Ring - China Glaze Refresh Mint

Pinky - China Glaze Agent Lavender

 I couldn't help but take so many pictures! Each new angle brought out different colors in the flakies!

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Hello Kitty

Shadow requested Hello Kitty, so here we go.

My idea was a different character on each nail. Some turned out better than others.

Thumb = Pekkle

Index = Chococat (ended up being the cutest in my opinion.)

Middle = Keroppi

 Ring = Hello Kitty

 Pinky = Badte-maru

And here are the broken down pics if you're interested. My base was China Glaze Something Sweet with NYC Love Letters over the top. Very pink and glittery!

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