China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Hi guys! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! I sure am! I love being off school to focus on family! My favorite holiday polish is BY FAR China Glaze's Ruby Pumps.

It's not necessarily a holiday color, but it is SO pretty even mu husband commented on my nails!

Honestly this is my favorite red ever and I think it was my first China Glaze polish ever, it DOES NOT photograph well! This was like my 15th picture and I finally was able to capture the sparkle!

Here it is!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! Happy Hanukkah! only 4 days until Christmas!

Love,

Brielle, Adam, Comet, and our newest addition to the fam, Tennyson!

Velvet Bow and Ring in the Red

Hi bloggers!

Before you look at the pictures and say to yourself "Her nails are chipped! Why would she post a picture of chipped nails?!", let me explain. This manicure lasted me a full 7 days with very minimal chipping.  I changed up my nail polish routine a little bit but for the most part it still the same to my Mani Prep post plus two more tips. I'll do a blog post about them soon.

Anyway, on to the nails! The two colors I used were China Glaze Velvet Bow and China Glaze Ring in the Red as an accent.

As you can see, very little chipping!  Be on the look out for more details on how I made it last longer!

Hope everyone has a good holiday :) I'm not sure how many posts will have up before the new year but we'll see you on the other side! 

Lindsey

Holly-Day and Twinkle Lights

Hey bloggers!

Just a quick Holiday NOTD. The green base color is China Glaze Holly-Day and the lovely multicolor glitter is China Glaze Twinkle Lights.

Such a pretty combination! I usually don't really care for greens but with the glitter and it being so close to the holidays, I don't mind wearing it!

Hope you enjoyed! 

Lindsey

Big Money

Hi everyone!

Here is just a quick nail of the day look. Browsing through Meijer I saw a display for the Gem Crush line from Sally Hansen and LOVED them all. After looking closer at them and obviously telling myself not to buy all of them, I realized I had similar ones as some of them but I found one that I didn't have one close to at all and that was Big Money, a fine gold glitter with larger light purple glitter. Sooooo pretty!

 And a little closer up just so show the prettiness!

Hope you guys enjoyed!
-Lindsey

VitaSurge Growth Gel

Hi bloggers!

As I mentioned in my fall water marble post, my nails haven't been doing too good! Five of them broke all within a few days  of each other so I figured I would give a new growth treatment a go. I grabbed Sally Hansen VitaSurge Growth Gel with micro-encapsulated vitamins. It's a five day treatment for brittle nails that crack and break promising longer, healthy looking nails. Well I had all the best intentions of doing the five days I was suppose to, but I missed two days. I think missing the two days did make a difference but it didn't really affect how much I liked this product. First let's take a look at the bottle and applicator.

So it's green with little blue ball things throughout it. I was a little worried that it would leave my nails a little green but it didn't! I was surprised by the applicator. Instead of it being a brush, it was more like a lip gloss applicator. I thought it was a little strange but it worked well. You just applied it to your nail and massaged it in. It left a nice, natural look to your nails. On the left is my nails without anything before I started, and the right is after day five.

My nails that didn't break, didn't grow very much, but the nails that did break grew a decent amount. My pointer finger and middle ringer on my right hand (the last set of pictures) broke AGAIN during the five days so they didn't really grow at all.

Overall, I liked this product. I wish I would have followed through with the whole five days in order to have gotten better results which was my own fault. Also, the gel itself smells nice. It doesn't have a chemical, nail polish smell to it like a lot of growth treatments do so that was a nice plus. So, if your nails are doing poorly and you have five days to spear, this product is worth taking a looking at!

Be on the look out for some holiday nails soon!
Lindsey

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

YOU GUYS!

While I am terrible at keeping up on this thing, I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Okay, actually, I love the holidays. Anywhere from the beginning of football season (counts as a holiday in our books) to New Years we are happy campers! There are loads of things to do, and loads of things to buy!

Honestly, I didn't have my nails painted for almost THREE WEEKS! I do not know what is up, but I just wasn't making time for a manicure! It's hard, because first I was doing football, and during the season it is so hard to get the motivation to paint my nails because I know they'll be chipped well within 24 hours! Now, I am in a teaching practicum. Did I mention I'm in school to become a teacher? I can't remember if I told you or not! But, I am! So I spend 10-11 hours a week in a middle school and it's hard for me to determine what polishes would be school appropriate or which ones would be a little flamboyant. Does anyone else have this problem - either in the classroom or at a conservative work place? Please let me know!

For my holiday themed nails (BECAUSE I LOVE CHRISTMAS!), I painted them a white base OPI Mummy knows best, with China Glaze's Party Harty layered on top!

It makes me giddy to think that Christmas is so close!  My nails are just an expression of my feelings :)

I hope everyone is having a spectacular holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza! Enjoy this time with family and friends!

Love love love!

Brielle

Paint the Town Red and Kissy

Hi bloggers!

Two or three weekends ago, my boyfriend and I went to his college formal and danced the night away (well, mainly me)! My dress was black with some lace and to add a little color, I wore red suede high heels. Red tends to be my go to color when it gets colder out and obviously since my shoes were red, my nails had to match! I layered two colors for this look. The colors I used were Milani Paint the Town Red and Zoya Kissy, which is more on the pink side than red but I really wanted to use it!

I'm still trying to find the best lighting in my house to take pictures of my nails now that the time change has happened, during the week I don't get home in time for the sun to be high enough in the sky to take good pictures outside so bear with me!

Anyone else getting excited about the holidays coming up? I sure am!
-Lindsey

Fall Water Marble

Hi bloggers!

As I'm sure you've notices, we've been a little MIA lately! We are so, so sorry about that. With Thanksgiving having just passed, we were both really busy in our personal life between work, school, the holiday, and family time so hopefully we'll get some good posts in before Christmas!

I took the next two posts of mine before the holiday, as well as before I let my nails go naked for about a week which resulted in six of them breaking. Six, yes six of them broke. I wasn't too happy about that but I got a new growth treatment to try out so now is the perfect time to! It's a 5 day treatment to you guys will be seeing the results sometime before Christmas so keep an eye out.

Anyway, on with the pictures! The colors I used from left to right: OPI Peach-A-Boo!, OPI Take the Stage, and Sephora by OPI What's Your Point-settia?.

I used Peach-A-Boo! as my base coat and it was a lot more shear that I had hoped it was going to be. I though once I had the second layer on from the water marble it would help some. It did but it was still a lot more shear than I had hoped for. I loved this color combination though regardless!

Hope you enjoyed!
Lindsey

A little break

Hey bloggers!

Sorry we haven't updated in a while, things have been a little busy for the both us but we haven't forgot about you!! Hope you guys haven't forgot about us either. We'll hopefully have some posts up this weekend for you so hang in there :)

Brielle & Lindsey

Grave Stones

Hi bloggers!

The Halloween nails continue with grave stone nails. I used a wet Q-tip to create this look similar to my glitter gradient and galaxy nail designs. I also used come crackle polishes as well. The base coat I used was Dove from Zoya and the crackle I used was Sally Hansen Fractured Foil Crackle Overcoat. The colors used to with the wet Q-tip where Avocado from Love & Beauty and Sephora by OPI A Leg-Warmer. The black detail is China Glaze Liquid Leather and the green grass is China Glaze Jolly Holly.

I hope you guys have liked our Halloween posts and given them a shot!
Lindsey

Game day and Halloween!

Hi everyone! We had another game last weekend and of course I wore black and orange!

I would LOVE to tell you about these polishes, but honestly, I got them in a six pack (neon purple, neon pink, neon orange, black, black sparkle, orange sparkle) from.... MEIJER! They're mini's and they were great for this look! They went on really well with not a problem! They lasted forever! And, I don't even know what they're called.. sorry guys!

The orange went on SO well, HONEST, this is one coat. I loved this look and so did many parents and players that saw them! The orange contrasted really well against the the black. I loved it and I CANNOT wait for Halloween on Monday. I have a great nail look for this Saturday and I hope it can continue through Halloween!

I hope everyone is enjoy the almost holiday season! Be safe this weekend!!

Brielle

Glowing Pumpkins!

Hey bloggers!

Cute pumpkins that glow under black light would be a great look for a party or clubbing night. The colors used for the pumpkin included the black light orange from the drug store, China Glaze Jolly Holly that is the green stem, and China Glaze Liquid Leather for the details, and for the crackle I used OPI Black Shatter.

My boyfriend and I named the pumpkin Hugo. 

I don't have a black light to see if the orange really does glow but from the consistency of it, I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Also, as you can tell my shatter, didn't shatter very well. I got this when OPI first came out with the black shatter so it is getting a little old. Has anyone else noticed theirs getting worse as it gets older? I'm kind of mad about it because only one of my nails really shattered instead of just streaking.

I've got at least one more look coming, possibly two so be on the look out!
Lindsey

Simple Ghosts

Hi bloggers!

Here is another easy Halloween manicure featuring some pretty flakes and a ghost or two! I bought two different Halloween polishes from the drug store and this purple flaky goodness was one of them. It was definitely more of a jelly than I had expected so I had to layer on the polish and I still didn't get it as dark as I had wanted. I should have done a test to see if I needed to put down a darker base coat or not, but I obviously didn't. I wanted the purple to sort of look like the night sky, a dark purple or blue would have done the trick as a base. For the ghost accent nails I used China Glazes White on White and Liquid Leather.

Obviously if you wanted all of your nails to have different ghosts, you could do every nail or every other or whatever you'd like but you guys know how I love my accent nails!

Also, I noticed with this manicure and a few others that cheaper drug store nail polishes smell. I realize that ALL nail polish smells when you put it on but cheap nail polish doesn't loose it's smell over time like higher end polishes do. I know it's something that isn't a huge deal and might sound a little snobby but sometimes I get a whiff of it a few days later and it's just gross! Has anyone else noticed that? 

Hope you enjoyed!
Lindsey

ICK-A-BOD-Y

Hi bloggers!

Here is a super simple Halloween mani that is fun but doesn't scream Halloween nails!

This is Ick-A-Bod-Y from China Glaze. It came out last year with their Halloween collection. Although it came out last year, you can easily get a similar look with a black base coat and orange glitter top coat which I've seen tons in the different Halloween displays.

I've got a few more looks that will be posted before Halloween so be on the look out!
Lindsey

P.S. What's everyone being this year?!

Finding Cancer Survivior Networks

Hi bloggers!

Recently we were contacted by David Haas, a strong advocate for cancer patients to see if we would allow him to do a guest post on our site. As you guys know, it is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we've done several posts showing our support for the cure but here is a little bit more information that David wanted to share with our readers!

There are a number of benefits to cancer survivor networks. However, one difficult thing about these networks is that is can be difficult to find one applicable to you. There are support groups for all different kinds of cancers including common cancer like breast cancer and even rare cancers such as mesothelioma.  Finding a cancer network that provides support for the type of cancer you have will be able to provide you with emotional support.

Emotional support is very positive and uplifting, it is just what many cancer patients need after having gone through many harsh treatments such as chemotherapy. Many doctors actually go so far as to recommend that their patients seek out cancer support networks in order to help with treatment. Chances are if you are undergoing treatment for cancer your doctor will suggest that you seek out a survivor network to help you on the road to recovery. 

The American Cancer Society is a great way to network and find support programs and services. Their website, contains a list of a number of services and programs to benefit those undergoing cancer treatments. Support groups are beneficial to those with just about any type of ailment. But, when you consider the personal struggles that individuals have to go through with breast, or testicular cancers you can start to see the validity in having a knowledgeable and caring person to talk to about your own personal issues. 

Forums and email are a great way to find support. Many cancer networks have both of these services available to members. Often times you can find free forums online that are made specifically by survivors to help other survivors or those that are still battling cancer cope with the problems that they are facing. Even though friends and loved ones care and would like to provide support there is nothing as good as being able to confide in someone who personally knows what you are going through. Of course the support of one’s personal friends and loved ones is as important as being able to find solace and support in a Cancer Network. Online you can learn to cope by finding facts and information about your cancer, your treatment, and other things you may want to know. There are never charges for services offered online by the American Cancer Society as they have been put in place for the benefits of suffers and survivors alike.

By: David Haas

As we've said before, we all know of someone who has had to battle with cancer and it is important that they know they are not alone. Help change the lives of those you love and help fight for the cure, reach out to the support networks and volunteer your time and/or money and make a difference. It's never to late.

We want to thank David for this great guest blog post! If you want to check out some good content that isn't so beauty related (but very important), check out is blog here.

Brielle and Lindsey

Breast Cancer Awareness Post: Pink Water Marble

Hi bloggers!

Here is my last Breast Cancer Awareness Post and it is a pink water marble! I tried a few different color combinations, as well as different color orders before I got something that actually worked well. The colors from left to right: China Glaze Fuschia, OPI Play the Peonies, and Sephora by OPI BYOBoy. 

Be sure to do your part this month to support Breast Cancer Awareness. Donate money, participate in a charity walk/race, donate your time to the charity walk/races, do something and get involved to help cure breast cancer! Besides painting my nails to show my support, I donated money to support the cure! Keep in mind that you can support the cure year around, not only during certain months so get out there and help support the fight for any and all cancers because we all know of someone who has or had some form of cancer or another.

Hope you guys enjoyed!
-Lindsey

OPI Mummy Knows Best

Hi guys! Gosh, I know I am always apologizing about not posting, my life has been crazy! I honestly have not had my nails painted in at least a week. How awful. 

Football season is still raging on. We are now on week 6 of 10! Things have been going good. I am just so busy with my school, teaching in a middle school, and of course football. It's been crazy! 

OPI is so great. This is Mummy Knows Best. A pure white from the Halloween Mini's from this year. I  absolutely love having white nails. It's honestly my new favorite. I just love having clean looking nails! It makes me think of a blank slate, or a clean start. It's just so nice!

By the way, this was totally taken at practice. Can you see one of the boys running in the background. hahaha so funny.

Application was perfect, no chalkiness or goopiness. Mummy Knows Best is a dream and it's definitely my #1 white nail polish. The only little thing is, the edges (sides of my nails) never come out smooth and with white you can really tell - yikes!

I hope everyone is enjoying the change of weather and the cooler temperatures. I know I am! We're going to pick out some pumpkins this weekend!

I will do better at this, I promise.

Brielle

Breast Cancer Awareness Post: Hot Pink Ribbons

Hi bloggers!
Here is my third breast cancer awareness post, this one featuring the pink cancer ribbon! My other posts are more inspired simply by using the color pink, but this one really screams what it's all about! The two colors I used were China Glaze Fucshia and Sephora by OPI Dear Diary. Fuchsia is a great hot pink, especially for the summer and Dear Diary is a great sheer light pink.

Sorry the second picture is a bit blurry, my cat bumped my arm EVERY picture I tried to take because she wanted some attention.

One more breast cancer awareness post then on to some Halloween ones, hope you enjoyed!
-Lindsey

Breast Cancer Awareness Post: Mystery Muse

Hi bloggers!

Another Breast Cancer Awareness Post, just a quick one today. This look is featuring Mystery Muse from Finger Paints, a nice metallic light pink. Although it isn't all that noticeable, I did use China Glaze Magic Matte on my ring fingers as an accent.

I've got two more Breast Cancer Awareness posts that will be posted in the next few days and then on to Halloween nails! Hope you enjoyed!

-Lindsey

Breast Cancer Awareness Post: Light Pink Diamonds

Hi bloggers!
As I'm sure we all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so in honor of that, I decided to do a few pink posts dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness. The first look is a light pink, layered shear with glitter on top. The colors used from left to right: Sephora by OPI Wardrobe Change, Translucent by Studio M, and Covered in Diamonds by Studio M. The two first colors are very shear but I still only did a coat of each color and then the Diamonds as a top coat. 

I really like the Diamonds because it isn't an actual glitter or flakes, it's larger particles that sometimes stick up from your nails which can be a little annoying and get caught on things but it's so pretty I don't really mind.

Hope you enjoyed and be on the look out for a few more pink posts and then some Halloween posts!
-Lindsey

Barry M Pink Flamingo

Hi bloggers!

As promised, here is one of the polishes Boldnbella sent us! Pink Flamingo from Barry M.

It is such a pretty color! It's a wonderful summer color but with the season's changing, I definitely have found myself going for deeper, richer colors or nudes but this is still a beauty!

I also have another set of dupes for you. Essie Nice is Nice and China Glaze Light As Air.

The main difference between these two polishes is how opaque they are. China Glaze could have cover fine with one good coat while Essie would nee probably three coats to get around the same even, opacity. That being said, both colors or equally as pretty. 

Hope you enjoyed and have had a good week so far! 

-Lindsey

Galaxy Nails

Hi bloggers!

I know galaxy nails have been going around for a while now but I just got around to giving them a try. I liked a lot of the pictures I've seen posted online and watched a tutorial on how to do them a while ago and decided to give them a shot finally.

I started off with a black base coat, China Glaze Liquid Leather. Next, I decided some flakes would be a great idea to add some interest to the black so it wasn't just a flat black. I used Hidden Treasure from Sally Hansen, the most beautiful flakes ever.

I used a lot of different colors, probably more than I needed to but oh well. I had fun creating the nebula effect on my nails. I created this by using a wet Q-tip, similar to my glitter gradient post. The colors used in the order they were used from left to right: China Glaze Liquid Leather, Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, Sephora by OPI Blue Grotto, Zoya Caitlin Love and Beauty Lime, China Glaze Touch of Glamour, Sephora by OPI Wardrobe Change, China Glaze White Cap, and for the stars I used China Glaze White On White.

If I were to do these again, I would definitely want to find a tool to make smaller stars because mine turned out way too big for my liking. Also, I would probably want to use a yellow for my stars instead of white, or maybe mix some yellow and white together to get a good color for the stars because I feel like the white looks a little out of place. You could also just go without the stars at all, I really liked just the nebula look by itself.

Hope you guys enjoyed!
-Lindsey