Les Miserables inspired mani

My husband and I saw Les Miserables, 25th anniversary tour, last Saturday. I really wanted to get this manicure done before the show, but ran out of time. I am a lover of theater, and this story, set, characters, songs take my breath away! I first saw this show 17 years ago, in the same theater, during my first or second year of college. It was very nostalgic!


Yes, I have VNL's. I doesn't bother me, though.
This Orly Shine is quite sheer.



I did 2 coats of Orly Shine. Then I replicated the French flag on my thumb nails, since they had the biggest area to work with. The blue is Ulta Moody Blues and the red is Sephora Cerise. I'm quite pleased with the ease of this. Scotch tape manis are fun and easy - I encourage you to try it!

Thanks for reading!

New stamping plates!

I bought these Bundle Monster plates on Amazon, and they just arrived yesterday! I purchased sets 1 and 2 because I couldn't decide between the two. So many designs to choose from!!!!

There are so many awesome designs here, which of couse,

you can't see. I'll be doing a LOT of konadicures in the future!

Base coat: Ulta Chocolate Kiss. For stamping: Orly Rave



One thing I've observed: Using a shimmer/metallic for both base and design does not allow the design to show crisply. I would do a shimmer for one or the other but not both. I'll be trying something else tonight. The number of combos of colors/design is limitless!!!

Thanks for reading!

I loathe bubbles!

After many CRAPTASTIC manis with bubbles galore, I've become determined to find the cause. At first, I thought it was because I was shaking the bottle too much and introducing air bubbles. So, I gently rolled the bottle, like the nail techs do. Still bubbles. I waited five minutes between coats to let it dry completely. Still bubbles. I could not believe how bad this red jelly looked. Behold, the horror:

This is Ultra Professional nail lacquer in "What a Maroon". I'm sparing you a close-up

because I'm embarrassed by its hideousness.

So, then I decided to search the Makeup Alley nail board for information on how to prevent bubbles, and found this "scientific" explanation:

http://www.blogger.com/links/out.asp?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elacquerized%2Ecom%2F2010%2F10%2Fhow%2Dto%2Dprevent%2Dbubbling%2Ehtml%23IDComment103705950

"The nail polish is not absorbing air bubbles. The bubbles are not actually air, at all. They are formed when the volatile chemicals in the polish evaporate. That's how nail polish dries. If you apply very thick coats, the surface of the layer of polish will dry while it's still wet underneath. The volatile chemicals in the still-wet layer try to evaporate, but are now trapped under the already-dry top layer, and they form tiny bubbles. If your coats are thin, each coat will dry uniformly and none of the volatile gasses will be trapped between coats, so your mani will be bubble-free. "
legal disclaimer: Not Affiliated

Sooooo, I tried three very thin coats and this is my result:

This is Ulta Goddess. It is a shear peachy pink nude with a gold shimmer.

It was overcast today. And my camera didn't capture the gold very well.

I had a few bubbles on each nail, but they are difficult to see. In reality, I should have done the red again, but it just doesn't feel right for spring. I'm in a nudes and pastels state of mind.

I feel the need to make this blog more interesting. I'm going to focus on more nail art, especially free hand stuff. I've got a lot of ideas rolling around in my head: easter mani, spring colors. I guess I should find-out when Easter is!

Zoya, baby! Mini haul

I'm very excited to see that Ulta now carries Zoya nail polish. Maybe they have for a while, but I try to avoid Ulta, for fear of polish binging. At $7 a bottle, that seems very reasonable. OPI is $8.50 - and I think their colors are boring. I also picked-up an awesome red jelly, on clearance for $3.25! Love Jellies!!!

Ulta Professional, What a Maroon, Zoya Marley, Caitlin, and Gemma

I had to have this one - Army green with a purple flash!

I'm thinking Marley would look awesome with Deborah Lippman, Glitter in the Air on top - really lusting for that color. Price tag scares me though, at $18 a bottle. I'll want all of them.