Mermaid Manicure

I love mermaids. I have always wanted to be a mermaid -- I love the ocean and would like nothing better than to live there forever. Anyway, I wasn't feeling great last week, so I decided to cheer myself up with a mermaid manicure.

I used China Glaze Metallic Muse as the base (GORGEOUS color), and then layered Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor (my new favorite glitter) over it. I then used Sinful Colors Beauty Queen at the base for a pop of silver glitter.

On my thumbs, I used mermaid nail decals from Lucky Star Style.




So sparkly!

China Glaze Up & Away Collection @ Head2Toe Beauty!

The awesome new China Glaze Up & Away collection is now available at Head2Toe Beauty. Use coupon code JAN05 to get 5 percent off your order.

My New Favorite Top Coat

Wet 'n' Wild MegaLast Quick Dry Ultra Gloss Top Coat.

Whew, that's a mouthful. A mouthful of AWESOME. (OK, so that made no sense. Bear with me. I do have a point.)

I picked this little gem up for $1.99 at CVS Pharmacy last week. While I love my Seche Vite, I wanted something with more shine to it, and at that price, I thought, Why the hell not? And -- happy dance! -- it is one of the best top coats I have ever used, ever.

Ultra Gloss applies like a dream. The consistency is thin but not too runny -- no big, immovable globs like with some top coats. The brush is pretty great, too, as this top coat doesn't streak at all going on, even in a quick-and-careless application: it covers the whole nail evenly and perfectly. Nails are dry to the touch within a minute, and I have yet to have a smudge problem (knock on wood). And it's shiny and glossy, but not over-the-top, and seems to be long-lasting...although, of course, it's hard for me to judge that since I change polish at least every other day.

Also? It's Big Three Free. Which I sort of care about, but also sort of don't (I prefer polishes that are BTF, but I don't exclude those that aren't).

In short...I may have found the perfect top coat. At least for my own use. Huzzah!

Weird Colors & Polish

April and Ashley posted an interesting link: Top 10 Weird Colors You've Never Heard Of (although my English-degree-holding brain wants it to say "Top 10 Weird Colors of Which You've Never Heard," because ending sentences with prepositions is something up with which I will not put).

They then issued a challenge to fellow nail polish bloggers to come up with a nail polish to go with each color: Malachite, Gamboge, Fallow, Razzmatazz, Falu Red, Arsenic, Feldgrau, United Nations Blue, Xanadu, and Caput Mortuum. I decided to take that challenge, which turned into a lot of fun. The hardest color BY FAR to find a matching polish for was Gamboge, a dark spicy mustard color. Yellows and golds don't look good on me anyway, so I'm not very knowledgeable about this polish color family.

If you want to see pictures of the polishes, I recommend the awesome Community Nail Polish Gallery.




Malachite - vibrant dark teal

Rescue Beauty Lounge Orbis Non Sufficit
Misa Dirty Sexy Money
Nails Inc. Upper St



Fallow - fawn-like light brown

Essie Oriental X-Presso
Butter London Fash Pack
China Glaze Heirloom Organza
OPI Barefoot in Barcelona



Razzmatazz - dusky rose

Orly Pink Chocolate
Sinful Colors Vacation Time
Essie My Place Or Yours



Falu Red - dark barn-red

Sephora by OPI Brunette on the Internet
Diamond Cosmetics The Naughty Intern
Essie Berry Hard



United Nations Blue - bright pastel blue

Hot Looks BMX Bandit
Amoresse Maui Maui
Orly Calypso Breeze



Xanadu - green-grey

Butter London Artful Dodger
Essie Greenport
Sephora by OPI Ocean Love Potion



Caput Mortuum - dark rust - red/purple/brown

Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat
Misa Can't Nobody Take Me Down
Color Club Haute Couture
Zoya Nina



Arsenic - dark grey-blue

Precision U Rock & I Roll
Ruby Kisses Blue Denim
Ciate Paint Pots Superficial



Feldgrau - grey, very common in military uniforms

Sinful Colors Soho
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Dangerous
L.A. Girl Flare Galaxy



Gamboge - dark spicy mustard

Creative Nail Design Kumquat Dahlia
p2 Color Victim Joyful

Sexy Mani

After rocking my Green Peace Mani, I wanted to go in a completely different direction: sexy/trashy. And what's trashier than a mudflap girl? I drew her as an accent on my index finger, and drew fishnet stockings on the other nails.

I used Zoya Dita (GORGEOUS pinup pink color -- these photos don't show it well) and a Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in black.

Green Peace Mani

I was born in the wrong decade, and I have come to accept that. Still, inside this '80s-born, '90s-raised body beats the heart of a hippie. So I decided to do a manicure celebrating the quintessential hippie symbol: the peace sign.

I used China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise (a neon that dries matte), and a Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in white.

Left Hand:

Right Hand:

I can't believe I was able to draw those letters as well as I did left-handed. I just thought of them as separate strokes and concentrated.