4th of July Mani - Pic Heavy

I'm so excited to show you my 4th of July mani! I worked pretty hard on it and I'm kind of proud of myself for this one. It took forever but that's because it hurts my back to do nail art. I got them done in the course of two days little by little. After each nail, I had to lay down to rest my back. It was annoying but I love the look! 

I'll show you the pictures and then talk about materials and how I did it!

Materials:

Red-China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Blue-China Glaze Dorothy Who?

White-Striping Tape 

Stars-Loose silver hex glitter

First I applied China Glaze Ruby Pumps (two coats) with one coat of Seche Vite. After that was completely dry (it was actually the next day) I applied two pieces of tape on each nail to block out the rectangle shape and applied one thick coat of China Glaze Dorothy Who? and let that dry. I cut down pieces of white striping tape and placed them on my nails with tweezers and applied Seche Vite to seal them in and placed the hex glitter in the blue rectangle for the stars. After that dried, I put on another layer of Seche Vite and cleaned up the cuticles with Acetone and an angled brush! 

I hope you like them!

Thanks for reading!

-Mira

OPI Simmer and Shimmer

I promise that all of these pictures I've been posting are of my own nails. I'm just going out of order from pre acrylics to post acrylic nubs. These pictures were taken the day I got the acrylics put on. I also used my new fancy camera. I don't know very much about photography but I'm excited to have something new to learn about. I got a book on Amazon called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson and my sister is giving me pointers as well. My pictures will be weird in the beginning but, like anything else, will improve with practice and time (I hope). 

By the way, my new camera is a Nikon D5100 and the lens is a micro lens. So far, I think it's awesome but what do I know!? My sister picked it out for me. =)

On to the polish! For my first salon manicure in years, I picked OPI Simmer and Shimmer. I tried to get the owner to sell it to me but he knew what it was. Dang. Application? I'm not really sure since I'm not the one who applied it. It seemed to go on smoothly. I only got two coats but it needed three in my opinion. The top coat he used was thin which left my nails feeling gritty. This baby needs Seche Vite. It is a beautiful glitter and I wish I owned a bottle but that's ok...I really don't need it (I have a lot of polish). Simmer and Shimmer looks predominantly blue but at a closer look, you can see gold and multi colored glitter mixed in. All of the glitter is the same size (small micro glitter). 

Since I don't own the polish to pose with, I thought I'd walk around my sister's beautiful back yard and pose with flowers and I think the bottom two was a light. I can't remember now. :p

What do you think? Do you have Simmer and Shimmer? Any pointers on my picture taking? 

I hope you're enjoying your weekend! As always, thanks for reading.

-Mira

Jade Energy

I'm having a hard time finding the words to write this post. This polish is freakin amazing. I really just can't handle how strong the holo effect is.You can even see it (a little) inside....I know. This is a must have, I love it soooooo much. I really want the whole collection but I've been naughty enough. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. You may want to grab a bib or put a cup under your chin. Just sayin...

 Boring inside shot under artificial light

  Boring inside shot under artificial light

Natural light 

It's even better than that. I know. 

Now that my thoughts are collected, I suppose I should tell you about the formula! The formula was nice and smooth, I only needed two coats. I used Seche Vite for a top coat and as you can see, it didn't bother the holo effect. The brush is very nice to work with unlike another holo I've tried recently *cough Hits*. I'll tell you about that later. 

Jade holos can be purchased online at Llarowe's shop and you should all get one... or all of them. ;) 

-Mira

Nail Polish Haul - May and June 2012

I just realized how bad I've been lately. 

This is a bit embarrassing but...this is what I have acquired in the last two months or so. 

No judging! 

 Left-right: Hits Artsy, Unconventional, Dionisio, and Apolo

 My picks from the China Glaze Summer Neons Collection

Left to right: I'm with the Lifeguard, Ride the Waves, Pink Plumeria, Beach Cruise-R, and Under the Boardwalk

 Left to right: Jade Energy, Jade Hypnose, Jade Magia Negra, Jade Mystic Gold, Ozotic 534, and Ozotic 528

 Zoya Nidhi

 Left to right: Girly Bits Magically Delicious, Daddy's Little Girl, and Shift Happens (Color shifting top coat)

 So pretty!!!!!!

Left to right: OPI Sand On Your Own Feet and The Flowers are Blue-Ming!

 Left to right: Orly Mermaid Tale and Synchro

My picks from the On Safari Collection

Left to right: China GlazeI Heard That, Desert Sun, I'm Not Lion, Kalahari Kiss, Man Hunt, Jungle Queen, and Elephant Walk 

Sorry about the window glare on all of the bottles. I'm still trying to figure out this lighting thing. 

Thanks for reading and not judging me! 

-Mira

Quick Tip - Removing the film from your Bundle Monster plates.

I realize that this tip isn't necessary for those of you with long nails but my little nubbies couldn't get the job done. Using a pair of tweezers made job so much easier and faster. 

Hope this helps!

-Mira

Bundle Monster Stamping Plates 2012 - Part 2 Picture Heavy

Here is the second half of the Bundle Monster plates. Enjoy!

 So excited for the water marble stamp!!

 Love the roses, lace, and snowflakes. 

Here ya go! I hope you enjoyed checking out the new plates. Let me know if you couldn't tell what an image was and would like to closer picture. Tell me in the comments what you need. You can say something like, I'd like to see a closer picture of BM-323 bottom right (paw print). 

Thanks for reading!

-Mira

Bundle Monster Stamping Plates 2012 Part 1- Picture Heavy

The long awaited Bundle Monster plates have finally come out and I can't wait to get stamping! My set came in the mail earlier this week and I thought it would be fun to show them to you. Forgive my funky pictures, it's pretty tricky to photograph these without the camera lens and lights reflecting. I took them at a weird angle and then messed with the settings so you can see the images clearly. I don't want your computer to explode when you try to load this post so I'm breaking it up into two parts. If you need me to break it up even more let me know and I'll be happy to do it. There are a ton of pictures so I'll skip the yapping and get right to it! Enjoy! =)

BM 301 - BM 315

 Love the gradient stamp (upper right image)

 Close up of upper right image

 Anyone know what that is? I'm stumped. Spikey snail? =p

 Not a fan of the smiley face stuff but I like the crown and the chandelier. 

 Love this one although I'm bummed with how big the devil head is. It will only fit on my thumb. 

Love the butterflies!

 Yay! Flip flops! 

To be continued!

-Mira