Polishment Polish Party — The Sequel

With summer in full swing and a cool pool at my disposal, the decision to have a small polish get-together practically made itself. The first one was such a blast!

I invited a few gals over for an afternoon of sunbathing, cocktail sipping and, of course, fingernail painting.

A you can see, my little fete was filled with fun. Can't wait for the next one!

kittenkisses, Francesca

P.S. To the chagrin of a few at the party but to the delight of MANY, I shook things up with my new cocktail: Kitten Kiss.

A Kitten Kiss is made of the following ingredients:

To make your engine really purr, add 1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder (may I recommend Medaglia d'Oro). Mix well. I added the espresso directly to the vodka, stirred aggressively with a small spoon and then, when the espresso and vodka were completely blended, I added the chocolate milk. I sprinkled a light dusting of espresso powder on top and speared some fresh chocolate-dipped raspberries for a garnish.

Saucers of milk are for cats, but milk plus some sauce is the cat's MEOW.

Polishment Polish Party

As you guys know, I switch up my manicure once a week. But there are only so many weeks in a year! And there are so many colors to try, so many dots to paint, so many tape strips to apply! I realized I needed either more time... or more hands. So I wrangled up the girls in the office and said, "Hey LADIEZ! We need a Polishment Polish Party. Immediately. I bring the lacquer, you bring the liquor."

And it's happening tonight!

We're going try some new Texture Coats from Nicole by OPI; they're like crackle top coats except, instead of solid color, it's GLITTER. And you know how I feel about glitter. <3

We'll also dabble with some other shades I've been squirreling away and try a few nail art experiments.

Any suggestions? We're up for anything!

winemusicsnacksandpolish, Francesca

It's... Aliiive! Candy Corn Halloween Manicure — DOs and DON'Ts. Mostly DON'Ts.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. — Buddha

Well, I definitely went all the way on this one. TWICE.

You know that sinking feeling you get, about halfway through a project, when you realize that everything's gone to hell in a handbasket? Why, yes — yes, I do.

I had this awesome (though not necessarily revolutionary) idea for Candy Corn Nailz. Emboldened by my recent Mummy Tape Mani success, I figured I was Master of All Things Tape now, so it would be easy peasy.

White near the cuticle, orange in the middle, and yellow tips. Thumbs would be mellocreme pumpkins, complete with bright green "stem." Maybe I'd even make a few nails look like chocolate candy corn. Why not?

... And why stop there? Why not ALSO do my friend (to protect her identity, we shall call her "Bubbles") Bubbles's nails, too!

I made several missteps, and I will share them with you now, so you avoid the same fate.

1. Out of fear of lightening up my colors too much, I did not do a white base. In a moment of very poor judgement, I taped off the middle section first and painted it orange. LESSON: Should have done a white base. LESSON II: Taping off and painting the middle section nail is tricky, time-consuming, and not recommended.

2. Not only did I foolishly paint the middle orange... I made a custom orange. That's right. Custom. And that's just asking for trouble, especially when you don't mix enough of the custom color at one time. It was more of an inside joke with myself. Nail bloggers call custom mixes "frankens," as in Frankenstein. And this manicure was Halloween themed. Get it? Halloween? Franken! Haha ha ha ahh... Okay. LESSON: Beware of custom mixes, and if you are going to do custom, make it in a bottle or else you will a) not have enough polish or b) it will dry up on your low-budget tin foil palette before you can put on a second coat. True story.

3. I tried a new product for the first time: Stripe Rite. It's made for nail "art." I thought it was same ole same ole polish, just in a cute little retro bottle with a tiny brush. It's not. It's paint. Real paint. It dried matte and chunky, like the tempura paints from elementary school. LESSON: Nail art polish is for nail art only, not for an entire third of your nail. LESSON II: Don't try a weird new product when you're working on something tricky like this. And definitely don't use your friend as the guinea pig first. :( Teehee! ;)

In summation, a Candy Corn Manicure has the potential to look really cute, and if you learn from my mistakes, you can achieve a clean, expert looking Halloween mani. Please let me know if you do — I'd love to post your pics!

And so, here are pictures of my hideous work. True to its Halloween theme, it's absolutely horrifying, don't you agree? Note: blurry pictures deliberately chosen.

tearstearstearsxxo, GLOSS 

P.S. The good news is, I had found Revlon Royal earlier that afternoon at my local Walgreens. And it's fast-drying, thank goodness. The night was saved. Stay tuned for a review!

Mummy Tape Mani & Orly Androgynie Review

Whilst browsing the Internet, I stumbled across an amazing blog: Nailside.

Jane, at the tender age of 21, is absolutely amazing. I clicked and clicked and clicked away on her blog, filled with inspiration. I plan to try out a lot of her techniques over the next few months, so I decided I'd better master the basics first.

I used her "Mummy Tape Mani" tutorial as my guide. I was a little apprehensive, so I decided just to do a few accent nails. I chose my left ring finger and thumb, then threw in my right pinky for a little extra cray cray.

MAH COLORZ

Accent nails: I used Essie Mint Candy Apple as my base, and Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Black Heart as my top coat. "Normal" nails: Orly Androgynie

 

 

Let's just say my dreams came crashing back to earth. Everyone said the gray jelly base is too dark, leaving you with a "dead glitter" look. "Dead glitter? What does that even mean??" I asked myself. Now I know!

The base is just too dark. I used three light coats and you can barely see any glitter. The base obscures any possible sparkle. Not to mention, the glitter sticks to the sides and bottom of the bottle. I shook vigorously for a very long time, but it didn't do much good. I ended up tapping the "stick" part of the brush onto my nails to steal glitter off of it. Low budget, right?

I would not advise the purchase of this particular Orly shade. If you truly feel like shelling out the dough, check out Alexandra's mani. She did it; must be witchcraft. ;)

xxo, GLOSS