Pour some sugar on me...

I'm back!!

I have for you all today my final Halloween manicure!  This one technically overlaps Halloween and the first couple of days of November. 

Today's manicure brings in a lot of home for me, a celebration of Dia de los Muertes and the art that is sugar skulls.

Now some of you may not think it's particularly Halloween looking (other than the sugar skull kind of), but I wanted to make sure it was closer to the aesthetic of the actual celebration.  So we got the result you are about to see!

I used three coats of the colors (from thumb to pinky).  Sinful Colors Aquamarine, Julep Niecy, OPI Green-Wich Village, Orly Au Champagne, and Nina Ultra Pro Tangerine Dream.  For the detail on the sugar skull, I used black acrylic paint and some precut fimo flowers from a dial-a-style I got at Sally's.

Here's a close up of the sugar skull for you all:

I'm really like how colorful this one is!  Dia de los Muertos is such an interesting holiday to me, and there's something kind of beautiful in the symbolism and ceremony of it all.

I hope you're all enjoying this manicure too!

I'm kind of sad to see this manicure marathon end, but not this just means I get to do even more things!  Coming up I have swatches, NOTDs, nail art, and more!

If you guys have any requests, ideas, suggestions, comments, or questions feel free to leave them!  (Thanks to the suggestion of the lovely Fingers, I have now removed that pesky word verification issue, sorry about that guys.)

I look forward to so much more with all of you!!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

A little random...but hey its free stuff!

So I know this blog post kind of comes out of nowhere, but I just recently started becoming active on Influenster again and I wanted to make sure I spread the word!

Now, who out there loves free stuff?  That's what I thought, everyone!

Influenster is an awesome site where people who enjoy getting free products can fill out information and qualify to receive a box LOADED with free products based on the interests you give on the site!

I got my first VoxBox (that's what the box of free things is called) back in the Spring and it had some AMAZING things in it!  I had a full size Bath & Body Works fragrance spray, Dr. Scholl's for her high heel toe cushions, a Chap Stick, Sheer Cover foundation, Sally Hansen real nail polish strips, a SoyJoy bar, and Aveeno Daily Mostuirizing lotion!

See, amazing stuff right?

If you go to their site, www.influenster.com you can see that amzing things they've sent in other boxes like full size nail polishes, fragrance mists, Venus razors, chocolate, tea, false lashes, Goody Spin Pins, and Bath & Body Works candles to name a few!

Seriously, look into it, the box I've gotten was so cool, and soon enough you'll qualify for a box too and you can tell me and others how you like it!

That's actually all you have to do to stay active and qualified is get your box, review the products and share on your social media!  Simple enough right?

Give it a try!  You'll be glad you did!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Oh the Tangled Web We Weave...

Hello everyone!

Sorry for such a late night post, but today was crazy!  My poor little dog Kyler got in a fight with a thorn bush and snagged his ear a little bit.  Me being the paranoid mom, freaked out cause he was bleeding so much.  Rushed him to the vet, got him fixed and then got him home to have him open the cut up again...and again...and again...ultimately equaling five trips to the vet today.  Everything seems alright now, but I have a depressed, bandaged dog, and a hurting bank account. 

Very sad little dog mummy...

So that's my reason for being so behind on getting this post up (I know excuses excuses lol).  But I think it will be worth the wait.

So I know I've been posting a lot of nail art for this Halloween manicure marathon, and I guess this one technically falls into the category of nail art too, but I wanted to be sure I included a little something for those who prefer a little more subdued looks.  So today is my take on a Halloween "french" manicure of sorts.

For this one I used three coats China Glaze Riveting from the Capitol Colors Collection for the orange nails and spider web.  For the black accent nail and spider webs, I used Ulta Little Black Dress.  To create the spider webs I used a small nail art brush and the contrasting polish to the background color.

Here's a close up:

I really like the effect of the two colors.  Since Riveting is a jelly base, most of what showed up over the black was simply the glitter, which can look a bit sloppy, but I still like the look over all.

What do you guys think?

Don't forget to leave comments, questions, and requests!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Cat's Claws...the Cat's Meow

It's me again!

You know what that means, and today's Halloween manicure is a lot of fun.  I went more with cute than with spooky, but for the superstitious, this might be pushing it.

Myself, I'm not a superstitious person....but then again I'm not a cat person either.  I think they're cute to look at but I have a theory that their plotting their hostile take over of the planet...but I won't go into that, LOL.

Instead, I'll get back to the black cat manicure I've done for today!

For the main purple color I used three coats of Zoya Neeka, a nice dusty grape color with some pretty gold-green glass fleck.  Then for the cat I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism, painted over a corner of tape to make the pointed ears and then some touch up to make it look like a head.  The features of the face were done with acrylic paint.

Here's a close up of the kitty:

 

These are some cat's I can be fond of (and that won't make me sneeze of course).  I hope you like them and try the look yourself!  If you do, pass along some pictures!

As always go ahead and leave comments, questions, and requests!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

I Want My Mummy!

Hello again everyone!

I'm back with another manicure for you all (and less than creative title).

The people in the world, who like me, seem to be fascinated with the burial practices of other cultures, past and present, are likely to have at least some interest in mummies.  Other than that, anyone interested in Brendan Fraser might have their own affiliation with mummies too.

Either way...there's a good chance at some point in your life you thought the idea of mummies was interesting (even if it might have been when Scooby and the Gang found out the mummy was Old Man Jenkins all along).

All of that being said, this wouldn't be a marathon of Halloween manicures without a mummy manicure, right?

So here's mine!

For this one, I used a base of three coats of Essie Sand Tropez and then used a black stripper polish to draw on the bandages in a random way.  Then for the eyes I simply used red acrylic paint and a small dotting tool.

Here's the close up:

Oddly enough, even though they're mummies, I think they're kind of cute.  And lucky for me...there's likely no curse following these mummies, being that i never have the greatest luck to begin with!

I hope you all like this manicure (even if the post was short, that just means it's easy right?).

If you make your own version, or have another Halloween manicure to share, feel free to send them my way.  Otherwise, if you have comments, questions, or replies, leave those too!

See you all again soon!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!!

~ Cat

Grave Digger

It's me again!

Coming to you with more Halloween nail fun!  Going with another simple look, but no less fun and of course creepy!

I don't know if I'm the only one out there who is fascinated with cemeteries, but I am.  I've been a history buff for a long time, and what better way to immerse yourself in history than by exploring cemeteries?!  Older tombstones are gorgeous and just exploring in the peace and quiet has always been nice.

Oh...I'm the only one then....well alright hahaha.

Well then...who here is fascinated by fun easy nail art techniques?!  Seems like more of you...so I'll go with that angle.

First, of course let me show you my tombstone nails!

I love how these came out!  For the nail colors themselves I used two coats of China Glaze Elephant Walk, from the On Safari collection, for the base color and then Zoya Kelly for the stoney, marble effect, finishing with acrylic paint for my R.I.P.s. 

To get the marble look I used the plastic wrap technique, like the one in this video that I managed to stumble across on YouTube:

I know some people use the plastic wrap technique where they paint their second color over their nail and blot with the plastic wrap for the marble look, but the method in the video worked better for the look I wanted, either one makes a gorgeous marble finish!

Here's a close up so you can see the marble detail a bit better:

Grey polishes are some of my favorites for some reason, I just love how they look on my nails, so this one is another favorite of mine.

I hope you all liked it too and will go on to try this look or the plastic wrap method yourselves!

Feel free to leave question, comments, and requests if you'd like!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Haul 10/12-10/14 (Finally)

Hello!

So I want to start by apologizing for being so late in posting this when I kept saying it was gonna be up.  You know how things get, weekend gets busy, I get distracted...blah blah blah.

But never fear!  I am here with my haul from this weekend!

I raided the clearance aisle at Sally's and Target, found a new local beauty supply, and had some great coupons for Ulta, all of which culminated into nail polish epicness (not huge, but still nice haul I think).

L to R: Dotting tools, Orly Sunglasses at Night (Flash Glam FX Collection), Orly Go Deeper (Flash Glam FX Collection)

L to R:  Revlon ColorStay Cayenne, Finger Paints Fall-ing For You (Fall of Surprises 2012), China Glaze Sweet Hook (ElectroPop Collection 2012)

L to R:  Zoya Sarah (Flame Collection), Zoya Ray (NYFW Diva Collection), Zoya FeiFei (NYFW Diva Collection)

So there you have it guys!  My haul from this weekend!  I'm finding out that there are a whole lot more local beauty supply places around here, so I'm slowly vising them all for the wholesale goodies, haha!

If you want to see any of these swatched &/or reviewed, let me know!!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat