Verde lucido è il mio amore

Isn't that a great title?  Are you confused? Trust me, I always have a reason for my madness! Read on!

I did a huge massive swap with Simona of Light Your Nails. I just received my package the other day and immediately fell in love with Italian polish! I'm talking brands like Kiko, Collistar, BeYu and Layla.  Stuff I'd never be able to get my hands on if it weren't for Simona!  Thank you my dear!

Oh the choices I had to make! What to wear first.  I decided on Kiko.  The bummer is, these colors have no names only numbers.  I hate that! I chose 02 and 349 to use first.  Can you tell what colors they are? Of course not, they're numbers!

Here's your silly bottle shot.

On the left is 02, the right 349. 02 is a steely dark green and 349 is a light sage green.  They are resting on XL plate B which I used for this mani.

I started with 02.  The formula is very nice on these.  The brush is a little stiff so I had to be careful not to get drag marks.  Here are your shots.

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Shade

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It's not an in your face obvious green.  It's got a lot of steel grey in it.  I think it's lovely. I then stamped with 349, did some doodling with my art pens and topped it off with a 349 funky french.  Are you ready?  Here it is.

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Shade

Indoors

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Macro

What do you think?  I didn't want to totally cover up the pretty green base color.  Not sure I'm loving the brown lines.  I couldn't draw them straight so that's why I didn't do the whole design with it.  I do love these two greens together.

So another green and brown mani for you! You know how much I love those two colors. Hence the title which means "Green polish is my love."  Make sure and check out Simona's blog.  It's awesome.

See I told you there was a reason for my madness!  Thoughts out there?

Shift Happens

Pay attention people! This post today is gonna be life changing.  OK maybe not, it is just nail polish after all right?  All I can say is this may be a near dupe for Clarins 230!

For today's post, I thought about all sorts of witty titles.  But decided I like Shift Happens.  Very close to sh*t happens right?  It also happens to be the name of the polish I am spotlighting today.  There's a first for everything right?  I don't usually give you the polish name in the title.

No I am NOT going soft!!

First up, the silly bottle shot.

This is OPI A Taupe the Space Needle, Pam's Girly Bits Shift Happens and Orly Bus Stop Crimson.

I decided I needed a brown day.  It is my favorite color and I wanted to do a me mani.  I have done these before.  It's a mani that really only I can see the design.  But the magic of Shift Happens can be seen by all.

I started with the OPI.  This is a lovely taupe creme.  Simply stunning.  Here are your shots.

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Shade

Isn't this pretty? Oh how I swoon for browns.  Got a comment the other day from a reader wanting to know some of my favorite browns.  Think I gave her like a list of ten or so!  Probably more than she asked for.  But how can I pick just one brown?

Anywho, I then added two layers of Pam's Shift Happens.  Now this has been touted as a pretty close dupe to Clarins 230.  Someone did a swatch comparison and it seems Shift Happens is a little more orange than the Clarins 230 but Pam says she's gonna tweak it to be closer.  Nevertheless, this stuff is amazing!  Here are your shots.

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It is so much more spectacular in real life.  Shimmers and flashes and red and gold. Simply divine.  I didn't want to cover up all this awesomeness with a huge design.  So I used my XXL plate 4 and my konad special polish in red wine.  I then did a few dots on the design and topped it off with Orly Bus Stop Crimson funky french.  Here are the shots.  There are a ton!

Direct Sun

Shade

Indoors

Late afternoon sun

Direct sun

Late afternoon sun

Close Up

Macro

This is some amazing stuff right?  I could not stop staring at my nails.  I kept trying to get all different angles in the sun.  Took about a billion pictures.  Was really hard to narrow them down to these.

I have to say that this makes three posts in a row where I feature Pam's Girly Bits polish.  I think this means I really love her polish!  I have more to show you but I just got in my massive haul swap from Italy.  So I must take a break from Pam's polish and show you some amazing Italian goodies!

Until next time people.  Any thoughts out there?

I'm told this looks Sci-Fi

As you all know, I am in the midst of a fury of stamping, layering and coloring.  I haven't slowed down yet! I am so psyched about what I've been coming up with, it's given me a whole new excitement for nail polish.

In my mind, I thought today's mani was gonna be a HUGE fail.  I consulted with my peeps and am told this is not a fail but looks rather sci-fi.  We shall see what you think. I have included two different options for this mani so you can tell me which way is better.

First up, you know it, the silly bottle shot.

This is Essie Loophole, Sew Psyched and oh yeah another Girly Bits Stormy Skies.  I just can't stop playing with Pam's polishes.  You need some of her polish in your life!

I started with one coat of Sew Psyched which is a light khaki green and topped it off with two layers of Stormy Skies which is a blue grey shimmer.  Here are your shots.

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Isn't this so pretty?  I love this combination.  I then stamped with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White with XL plate B.  Here is the before combination.

Sun

Yes this is my right hand, I added a funky of the original Sew Psyched.  This is the before.  I then doodled with my nail art pens.  I finished with my funky french in Loophole, which is a silver metallic.  Here are the results.

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Shade

Indoors

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Close Up

Macro

I first want to point out the beautiful blue sky in the background of these pictures.  Isn't it awesome?  So now I ask you people, is this a fail? Was it better before I doodled or do you agree with my peeps and think this looks sci-fi?

Thoughts out there?

Spring Flowers?

I am continuing on with my layered stamping with added color.  Are you getting tired of it yet?  I know I'm not!

I just got in a bunch of polish from Pam at Girly Bits.  I am very excited about these colors!  I decided I wanted to start with her Cosmic Ocean.  This is a duochrome top coat and of course, my camera is about to ruin its awesomeness.

But first up, the silly bottle shot.

This is Rescue Beauty Lounge 360, Pam's Cosmic Ocean, Essie Go Overboard. In front are some of the nail art pens I used for this design.

I started with Go Overboard from Essie's newest collection. I spied it at Target the other day and HAD to have it.  It is a gorgeous teal creme.  I am so loving this color.  Be warned, my camera is showing this way too  blue.  It has much more green in it.  Here are your shots.

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I would say isn't this stunning but it just isn't the exact shade of this Essie. Trust me, it's more gorgeous in real life!  I then added two layers of Pam's Cosmic Ocean which shows an amazing green blue shimmer.  Here are the shots.

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Shade

I am in love with this.  I just love Pam's creations!  I then stamped with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White and XXL plate 4, then added dots with my art pens and topped it off with my funky french using RBL 230.  Here are the final results!

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Shade

Indoors

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Close Up

Macro

Holy Crap this is awesome right??  I wish my camera would cooperate and not change the shades! I am so in love with this mani.

I also want to send a shout out to Jen at Just Foolin Blog Designs for helping me tweak my blog design so the dots aren't as intrusive as before and allows me to do bigger pictures.  Do you guys like this new design?

Thoughts out there?