Luck of the Bloggish!

I'm sure you're just dying to know what we've been wearing during my unplanned (read: I was lazy) hiatus from the nail blog. We celebrated St. Patrick's day last Friday, since we're in our thirties and have kids that get up early for school and general mayhem.

So, what did I wear to THE green event of the season?


Even though China Glaze "Mistletoe Kisses" is technically a Christmas color, you can't deny that the outrageous green sparkles make it perfect for pulling double duty on St. Paddy's day.
Here it is with some tip wear, because this photo was taken post-party, through what has to be the worst hangover anyone in the known universe has ever suffered.

I will also be wearing this color to Ann Arbor's Hash Bash on April 2nd, unless I decide to get crafty and put some Marijuana-themed nail art on there.

Two more holiday manicures for the 12 days of the Holidays

This is a base of China Glaze "Jolly Holly" with L.A. colors red and black nail art polishes. Very easy design to do, just paint an equilateral cross, then two triangles, and use the black to outline the bow!

This is a white from Sinful Colors, along with Ulta's "Steppin' Out" and China Glaze "Jolly Holly" in a water-marble manicure. I topped it with China Glaze "Party Hearty" for some festive flash!

When layering attacks!

This year there were sooooo many lemmings for me in the holiday collections everyone rolled out. My number one? "Mistletoe Kisses" by China Glaze. Usually, I get super bored of the red and green Christmas polishes, but "Mistletoe Kisses" rose ahead of the pack. It's a minty green glitter in a sheer green base, and it looks exactly like green Christmas lights on your nails:
I was so in love with this last night that I kept staring at my nails. But this morning, one of the other lemmings in the pack was calling to me... OPI "Simmer & Shimmer". The mad scientist part of my brain wondered what would happen if I layered the two glitters... would there be some shine-related explosion? Would the sheer amout of sparkle blind someone?

The end result as nothing short of fab!
One coat of "Simmer & Shimmer" and Seche Vite (though I should have used two) and no clean up. I know the second photo is blurry, but it was the best way to show how much it cools down the already cool shade of "Mistletoe Kisses" and adds color and sparkle.

I loved it on my left hand so much, I decided I just had to try layering OPI "Sparkle-icious" over "Mistletoe Kisses" on the right!Again, one coat "Sparkle-icious" and one coat Seche Vite over "Mistletoe Kisses" with no clean up (because I'm not really intending to walk around with two different manicures today).

This will be my Fat Tuesday NOTD, because the colors are so suited to Mardi Gras! Where "Simmer & Shimmer" cooled things down, the gold and purple in "Sparkle-icious" really warmed things up.

So there you have it! Tons of sparkle to be had this holiday season!

China Glaze "For Audrey" and Incorrect Descriptions Thereof...

I see a lot of people online talking about how "For Audrey" is a "perfect Tiffany blue!" or "the exact color of a Tiffany's box!"

BULL HONK!

Now, you may or may not be aware that Tiffany & Co. actually own that color blue. As in, no one else may replicate that exact color. But the moment I saw "For Audrey" in person, I realized that no way, no how, was it in danger of infringing upon their trademark.

In the interest of science (nail polish can be science, right?) I thought I would put "For Audrey" to the test:

In the bottle, they look pretty close. Let's compare on the nail. More accurately, on the nail wheel:
Next to those other blues, it looks pretty close. Still, you can really see how much darker the color is than actual Tiffany blue.

There was really only one way to see the difference without a doubt. I had to put the polish on the box:

See? This is dry, so it's not like the moisture darkened the color or anything.

I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "Mommy, that polish came out in 2007. You're just figuring this out now?" Well, no. It was just brought to my attention today, because R.E.I.T. and I needed to find a new solution for storing our stash:


What better place to store our precious jewels than a Tiffany & Co. box?

Munchkin Manicure Monday!

Since the past few Wednesdays have been crazy, R.E.I.T. hasn't shared her nail looks. And since I just took off my lovely acrylics and cut my nails super short to recover, I will mercifully shield you from the sight of my stubby nails. Wednesday has been wearing some pretty inventive Skittles looks lately. Today, though, she came up with a real winner (and one I'm actually thinking of trying out, myself):

She decided to try out China Glaze "Solar Powered" under Studio M "Gold Glitter". Don't you just love the Studio M names? Does what it says on the tin, I guess.

Anyway, I was pretty impressed by her choice. And she was so happy with it, she wore these colors on all ten of her fingers! Quite an accomplishment, from this kid, who usually goes through four colors in one manicure.

Mommy: "Do you have anything you want to say on the blog today?"
R.E.I.T.: "Yes. I paint. A mommy paint. Watch!"

So, I guess she thinks this is something I would wear. And you know, it wouldn't be a bad look for New Years!

Shopping Haul and Bloggish News

Good afternoon everyone! R.E.I.T. and I just spent a wonderful afternoon at Sally's Beauty Supply. You see, today is Daddy's and my wedding anniversary (only four years, though we've been together eight), so as a present, Daddy let us go out on a little shopping splurge. What did we get? Soooo glad you asked. Here's what I picked out:


L-R: Finger Paints "Autumn Allure", Orly "Galaxy Girl", Seche Vite

I know what you're thinking. "Seche Vite? Top coats aren't wonderful and interesting, they're just clear." This is wonderful and interesting to me. For years I've used Sally Hansen Hard As Nails as my topcoat, and then when I started getting interested in nail blogs, I notice that just everyone uses Seche Vite and sang its praises. I've finally given in to the hype, and I'll do a comparison post after I do, so we can all find out if Sally has lost her crown.

Here's what R.E.I.T. picked:


L-R: Orly "Old School Orange", China Glaze "Solar Power", Orly "Royal Navy"

At one point, R.E.I.T. also had Orly "Purple Pleather" in her hand, then decided that it was too much like another purple. At least, I think that's what she meant by, "No, it's same. Same. Too same! Back!" before she put it back.

I also pointed out to Daddy that "Royal Navy" and "Solar Power" look a lot like Blue and Maize... the colors of Daddy's hated rival school, University of Michigan (Daddy is a diehard MSU fan). He was less than thrilled, so I promised that she would never be allowed to wear the two together.

I'll definitely be reviewing "Old School Orange" for a later post, as it is the most bizarre texture/color of any nail polish I have ever seen.

Now, onto bloggish news. Over on the right there, you should be able to see little mini-updates from all the nail blogs that R.E.I.T. and I like to read together. I'll be adding more in the next few days. If you know of a really kick-ass nail blog, drop us a link and we'll check it out. We love making new blog friends!

What's Wednesday Wearing?

R.E.I.T. is wearing a very complex look today. She started out with China Glaze "Secret Peri-wink-le" on her left hand, and Nicole by OPI "Show You Care" on her right hand. She then selected a few nails on each hand for french tips. The left hand got white and silver glitter tips, and the right hand got gold. You can't say she doesn't know what colors go together, can you?

Since we skipped a day of showing you our stash, let's get on with it, and show you our blacks:

L-R: Wet N' Wild "Black Creme", China Glaze "Lubu Heels", Sinful Colors "What's Your Name?", Sinful Colors "Secret Admirer".

Now, why are these all classified as black, when one looks kind of red, one kind of bluish, and one kind of silver? Because the bases of each polish are black. "Lubu Heels" is explained in our last post. "What's Your Name" is black with tons of micro-glitter that looks different depending what the angle is. Head on, it looks teal, but if you tilt your hand (or the bottle) and there's an aura of purple. Still, if you just looked at it on someone's hands, just a brief glance, it looks black. But my absolute favorite of these is "Secret Admirer". It's so full of silver micro-glitter, it should be blindingly sparkly on the nail, but it's not. Instead, it looks like you painted your nails with pieces of heavy artillery. It's definitely not a mess around kind of color.

Mommy: "Hey, R.E.I.T., do you have something you want to say on the blog today?
R.E.I.T.: "No!"

Well, I guess that's just about it for us today!

Monday Tuesday Mommy Manicure

Since Monday was a holiday, I decided to bump Mommy Manicure Monday a day. So, today I'm reviewing China Glaze "Lubu Heels".


That's my hand, a tiny bottle of brandy. Please excuse the messy job and the overall horrible condition of my cuticles.

"Lubu Heels" is a basic black creme with blood-red micro-glitter. That's three coats in the picture, with Sally Hansen Hard As Nails for a top coat. I really like the finish on this polish. It looks black, until you get it into the light, when the very subtle sparkle comes out. The best part of this polish is that it actually stayed on. China Glaze has amazing colors, but they always just sort of flake off within an hour or two on me. This one stayed put four days with minimal tip wear.

I don't know how often I'll wear this one, but I'm glad I bought it.