31 Day Challenge - Day 22 - Inspired by a Song

Inspired by the theme song to Sesame Street actually. Every kid knows these lyrics:

Sunny Day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street
Come and play
Everything's A-OK
Friendly neighbors there
That's where we meet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street
It's a magic carpet ride
Every door will open wide
To Happy people like you--
Happy people like
What a beautiful
Sunny Day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame street...
How to get to Sesame Street
How to get to...

 Thumb is the Sesame Street logo.

Index - Oscar the Grouch

Middle - Cookie Monster

Ring - Big Bird

Pinky - Elmo

It's always tough for me to fit tiny letters and this was no exception! 

Step by step tutorial after the jump if you're interested.

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Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pink Satin + Nail Art

More than just a swatch today. I've got a look showing it's stamp-ability as well as it's comparison to another polish. I saw this in the store and thought it looked "chrome" enough to stamp well. I'd been wanting a light pink polish to stamp with, so it came home with me.

 This is 2 coats swatched. You can tell it's just a little bit "brush-strokey." Below is compared to China Glaze Emotion. Which is just a shade darker.

 

I accidentally reversed the order of my swatch-sicles....

To take care of the visible brushstrokes, I used my tried and true method for smoothing out the finish. 

Check it out here.

Then to test out it's stamp-ability I used the Bundle Monster zebra print image to do the following.

 I used OPI Skull and Glossbones as a base polish, then stamped with China Glaze Emotion on my ring fingernail. I used Pink Satin on all the other nails.

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Sonoma Nail Art Polish - Steampunk

My friend Michelle over at Sonoma Nail Art has launched her Etsy shop for her polish creations and she's a big hit! Her shop sold out in minutes of it's launch. Thankfully I was able to snag this beauty in the mayhem.

She's the queen of crazy glitter combinations that totally "work" and are utterly unique.

I just love her special label artwork too, it makes it that much more special!

This is 2 coats of Steampunk over 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pink Satin.

It's all sorts of glitters in a clear base. Black diamonds, pink, red and orange hexes of all sizes. More glitter than I can describe!

This is what it looked like with just 1 coat. The glitter applies evenly and I didn't have a bit of trouble.

With the 2nd coat the glitter built up even more and it looked like this:

I just love it and my other Sonoma Nail Art Polish, Sonoma Sunset! Keep up the good work Michelle!

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31 Day Challenge - Day 21 - Inspired by a Color

Inspired by the color green. How about the Jolly Green Giant as nail art?

 I started with my base polish (pictured at the end of this post) and freehanded all of the details with acrylic paints. Simply his face and some leaves across the tips. I always admired his toga outfit made entirely of leaves. ;)

 My base color is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green. Just because it's gorgeous enough to deserve a plain swatch picture.

I haven't forgotten about this challenge, I'm still making my way through I promise! I've just been really busy with buying a house and now packing!

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Pink Voltage + Connect The Dots

I really liked how it looked when someone (sorry I forget it was a long time ago) posted a pic of Lynnderella Connect the Dots over a neon pink. Well this is my recreation.

I first painted 3 thin coats of China Glaze Pink Voltage (neon) and then layered 2 coats of Lynnderella Connect The Dots over it. Topped it with a coat of Seche Vite.

 Lots of pictures just because I can! :P

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Cult Nails - Baker

Finally a polish that shares my name! Well my last name anyway... Too bad its the color of baby poo. Disappointed yet again.

 Swatch is 2 coats.

 I think it comes across very orange and it just doesn't look good on my skin tone.

 The shimmer is quite nice however.... It's just not a color that works for me.

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I'm A Finalist!

I'm a finalist in a nail art contest over at BeautyStat! Head over there and vote if you like my M&M nails. Thanks so much! (You can see the original post where I featured these nails here.)

Just go to this link and write a comment with my name in it to vote.

XOXO

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Cult Nails - Manipulative

I picked this up during the $5 sale because I'm a sucker for this shade. And it looked so fantastic with an added shimmer so I was very excited! When it came in however, I was disappointed. The shimmer doesn't show up at all to the naked eye once on the nail. And let's face it. It's pretty much an exact dupe of China Glaze For Audrey.... :(

This is 2 coats

 Can you see any shimmer?

 I didn't think so. :(

Here it is on a swatch-sicle to compare.

Left is CN Manipulative

Middle is ChG For Audrey

Right is WnW I Need A Refreshment

I can barely distinguish a difference.

I still wanted to wear it, so I added one coat of Pure Ice Heartbreaker for the shimmer I was looking for!

I felt Manipulated all right..... :( Duped again.

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Foxy Skull & Glossbones

I found the perfect big sister polish to OPI Skull & Glossbones. Megan Miller Foxy. So I did this simple accent nail mani utilizing the two polishes.

This is 3 thin coats of each color.

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Milani - Twinkle

Milani One Coat Glitter has added Twinkle to the line up. Twinkle is a clear base with medium blue sized glitters, and slightly smaller pink/purple glitters. Sadly, this wasn't a one coater for me. I'm confident it will thicken up with age and might get better, but it's still quite thin now.

This is 3 coats! And you can still tell that it's not complete coverage. :( The good news is that the glitter disperses evenly and smoothly with each coat. The formula was thin for a glitter polish, but it was still pleasant to work with.

Here I layered one coat over OPI Swimsuit Nailed It! and you can see that it makes a lovely sparkle.

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Spoiled - Ants in My Pants

A dead on dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers (Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors is also a dupe). I don't normally go for such dark polishes, so I definitely wouldn't spend $18 on it, but for $2.99 I'm in. :)

It's got an incredibly sheer black base, so this is 2 coats over Sinful Colors Black on Black.

I like how it looks up close, but I wish the red were more present from further away. At a distance it just looks like black polish.... :(

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Gilded Coral Gridwork

I love Eyeko's Coral Polish for a bright pop of color to bring on the warmer weather. I applied 3 thin coats and waited for it to dry. Then I stamped using China Glaze 2030 and Bundle Monster BM-209. This is my favorite type of full nail stamp. 

I had to double stamp my thumb to cover the whole nail, and you can see that I didn't line it up exactly... but it didn't bug me too much. ;)

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