Psychedelic Cotton Candy

Day 88

Hey all!! Feeling tons better today- still not 100%, but much, much better. YAY! Sorry today's post is so late- I was at the office working all day...

Anyway, I got a package in the mail today from American Apparel!! They sent me three of their new polishes to try out- so of course- I decided to use them for my nails today!! I was excited because of the 3 she sent me, the only one that I had already purchased myself was Peacock, so I'm totally stoked- it's my first polish sent to me to try out EVER!! :) (Ok, so I'm a big dork, and this totally made my day- I never expected to get free stuff because of this blog!!) Also, I'm super excited because my cuticles are starting to look far less crappy!! Hooray for LUSH Lemony Flutter. It's a cuticle godsend, I swear.

Anyway, I've tried 4 of the AA polishes so far, 3 of the ones I've purchased myself, and one of the three sent to me, and I have to say, they apply well, my major qualm with them is the smell. They smell unlike any other polishes I own, and not in a good way, I generally like the smell of polish, but not these...at all. However, that said, I had no problems with streakiness in application, but the pink, Coney Island, did take 3 coats to be opaque, and probably could've used 4. As you can see though, Peacock is more than opaque enough for Konading, and it's a really, really pretty color. While Coney Island is a pretty color, it's not really my thing, I'm not much of a pink kinda gal, but I can totally see where others would love it, it's just too girly for me. :-P



Today's nails were inspired by The Swatchaholic's Hello Kitty nails the other day, where she layered the swirls in two different directions. I used American Apparel Coney Island as a base, with American Apparel Peacock and Essie Foot Loose applied with Konad Plate m69. Topped it off with Seche Vite top coat.


Disclosure: American Apparel Coney Island and American Apparel Peacock were provided by American Apparel for me for review.

Hope This Makes the Grad-ient

Day 87

Hey everyone! Day 6 of the plague- feeling marginally better, thanks to handfuls of Tylenol Sinus Severe Congestion pills. I'd estimate my head's weight at approximately 39 lb. now!! (Which goes to help out my New Year's resolution #1- lose a few lb.!! WOOOO!)

Anyway, so I fell asleep on the couch at like 8:30 last night, without eating dinner even, and woke up this morning at 7:00, and was shaking so bad I couldn't hand paint anything, so I decided to sponge a gradient, and do some Konading. :-P YAY FOR KONAD!!! I also got to use the American Apparel polishes I bought the other day, and they're great. Really great. Honestly? I'm a tad surprised at how much I like them, and at $6, or since I bought 6 of them, 3 for $15, you can't really beat em.



I used American Apparel Mouse as a base, with American Apparel Mount Royal sponged on top of it, and then China Glaze Millennium applied with Konad Disc C05 from the Coraline I Kit. Topped it off with Seche Vite top coat. :-)

Happy Friday!!

TRIPLE WORD SCORE!!

Day 86

Hey all, day 5 of the stupid plague, pretty sure it's the worst day yet, and that my head weighs about 45 lb., still I plugged away on my blog and painted my damn nails. lol :-P Today's nails are inspired by the board game we all know and love...SCRABBLE!! Fun fact: The highest score ever achieved in one turn at Scrabble was achieved by Michael Cresta, in 2006, with the word QUIXOTRY, scoring him a whopping 365 points! Another fun fact, Jason Mraz, geeky crooner extraordinaire, whom I adore, is a Scrabble lover! :)

Anyway, on to the nails, (sorry the pinky got dented- I guess they weren't totally dry when I went to bed, whoops)...



I used Urban Outfitters Matte Nude 3 as a base, Zoya Dea to paint wood grain, topped off with some Zoya Charlize to soften the grain a bit, and then Zoya Raven to paint the letters and numbers. I wasn't terribly in love with the way the woodgrain turned out, but there's always next time...wait... umm...I guess maybe in 279 days? ;)

What's your best scrabble score?

My Nails Have Gone Viral!!

Day 85

Hahaa, just a different sort of viral than some of the other designs... ;)

I did my nails with these designs today for two reasons....#1. I'm sick. lol #2, My sister, Stacey, works in the lab at St. Mary's Hospital as a Med Tech, and she's gotten a bunch of her fellow co-workers there interested in the blog, and I thought they might get a kick out of these designs... :-P From Thumb to pinky, the viruses are (or cause) : Sore Throat, Common Cold, Flu, Swine Flu, and The Plague. :-) (based off the images from the awesome Giant Plush Microbes)

UPDATE: So I was informed by my sister that I misspoke, and infact, the pinky and thumb are bacteria, not viruses. The thumb is the bacteria Streptococcus Pyogenes, and the pinky is Yersinia pestis



I used:

Thumb: Sore Throat

Zoya Ravenas a base with Zoya Dakota, China Glaze Salsa, Zoya Stephanie, and a bit of mixing with Stephanie and Salsa, applied with a dotting tool to make the virus.

Index: Common Cold

Zoya Raven as a base, with Zoya Yummy to paint the viruses, and mixed with Diamond Cosmetics Giddy for highlight, and BB Couture Opposites Attract to shade.

Middle: Flu

Illamasqua Rampage as a base, with LA Girl polish in Army Girl for the viruses, and mixed with American Apparel Cotton for lighter green, and then Zoya Envy lightly sponged on top for texture and spots.

Ring: Swine Flu

American Apparel Cotton as a base, with BB Couture Opposites Attract
sponged on top for the grey splotchy texture, then the viruses are painted with China Glaze White on White as a base, then covered with Zoya Stephanie, and shaded with a mixture of Zoya Stephanie, Zoya Dakota, and BB Couture Opposites Attract, and the dark red is a mixture of Zoya Dakota and BB Couture Opposites Attract. The outline is Zoya Raven.

Pinky: The Plague

Diamond Cosmetics Giddy as a base, with Orly Mirror, Mirror for the virus, and outlined with BB Couture Opposites Attract. BB Couture Opposites Attract was also lightly sponged over to simulate the gunk around the virus. lol (so technical, right?)

I topped everything off with 2 liberal coats of Seche Vite top coat. :)

Steer clear of these bad boys and you should stay healthy this season!! :-P

TAXI!!

Day 84

Hey guys! I passed out on the couch last night at around 830, so sorry these nails are kinda simple & a bit sloppy, I had to wake up this morning before work and do them! I like the idea, just not the execution so much, it was hard to line up the Konad plate checkered french tip with the freehand white tip without the Konad design drying out before I got it matched up. Y'all get the idea tho. Let's chalk it up to my head weighing about 45 pounds, and my throat feeling like I swallowed emery boards. :)



I used Diamond Cosmetics #319 Lemon Yellow Zest as a base, with China Glaze White on White for the tips, and Zoya Raven applied with Konad Plate m56. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat too, of course. :)

Take care- don't get sick!!

With a Flourish

Day 83

Hey all! Sorry today's post is on the late side, even though I'm not on vacation- got in late last night, so I am still on the wrong time schedule. Tomorrow's will be in the morning as it was before Christmas. :)



I used Diamond Cosmetics #326 Don't Teal My Heart Away as a base, with freehand flourishes painted in Diamond Cosmetics #319 Lemon Yellow Zest. I am really loving these polishes, they were really inexpensive, only $2.25 apiece, and the colors are great- the teal only took 2 coats to be completely opaque- it was pretty close to opaque with one coat! I love it! I totally recommend you check this brand out, I just recently discovered it on another nail blog, and ordered 6 colors. :)

Anyway, I'm going to go lie down, I feel like crap, caught the plague while I visited Michigan.

OCNailArt coupon code!

Hey everyone!! Just wanted to let you all know that if you like the Konad designs that I do occasionally, and want to give Konad a whirl, check out OC Nail Art, it's where I get all my Konad supplies, and can't say enough good about the site! Recently, I contacted the lovely Kathleen, and asked if she'd extend a discount to my readers, and she did! If you enter "dailynail" at checkout, you get 30% off, and free domestic AND INTERNATIONAL shipping with $20 purchase. International free shipping requirements change from $20 purchase to $40 purchase on January 15, 2010, so order quick! This code doesn't expire, so shop away!

UPDATE:Forgot to update this post, but Konad USA has required that all sellers of Konad products had to discontinue any and all coupon codes for their products as of March 5, 2010.