Mani-cure Monday: America! Eff yeah!

Happy Monday all! I've decided to start a new weekly schedule that will hopefully make me more productive. Not just in blogging, but overall. So part of the new schedule is blogging weekly on Mondays. I'm calling it "Mani-cure Monday". Most of us get the Monday Blues and according to the Bangles, it's just another Manic Monday. So what better way to cure the Monday Blues than with an awesome mani?!

Ok it may have taken me a while to explain it, but there you have it! This week I have a patriotic manicure of sorts. This was actually my July 4th mani, so you can tell how far behind I am in posting. I figured though that I can tie this old manicure in with recent events. As I'm sure you're all aware, the Olympics ended last night. For the last two weeks I've been glued to the television to watch as much coverage as I could. I really enjoyed the Olympics this year, especially all of the gymnastics and volleyball coverage. I also enjoyed last night's closing ceremonies, even though NBC cut some performers *ahem: Muse*. But I guess the Spice Girls performing kind of made up for that.

So to show my pride for the old U.S.A, here is my red, white and blue manicure.

I did love this combination of red, white and blue. The red is Pretty & Polished Nova, which may just be one of my favorite reds ever. There's even a bit of subtle holo in there. The white is Snow White from Brucci. I really do need a new white polish, preferably one that covers well in 1-2 coats. Any suggestions? Over the white I layered Essie's Stroke of Brilliance, the latest polish to be added to the Luxeffects line. Essie refers to Stroke of Brilliance on it's website as "platinum sparks", but the glitter is actually more blue in tone than silver. 

Lastly is a england Order of the Garter, which is a beyond gorgeous royal blue. It was a dream to work with and covered in two coats. 

Did this manicure help to cure your Monday Blues? I hope you enjoyed my new post! What is your favorite white polish? Were you addicted to the Olympics like I was? And who felt like they were back in middle school when the Spice Girls performed? 

We Are Family! KelBel Cosmetics Ava and Amanda

I'm baacckkkk! May was just not my month for blogging. I had one post the whole month. ONE! That's so sad. As always, life gets in the way or there are just times when I just don't want to sit down and edit photos. It is probably my least favorite part of nail blogging. I'm considering just getting rid of the watermark all together to make it easier. People out there seem to just crop out watermarks anyway if they really want to steal photos.

But aside from that, life is good. I just spent the weekend at my annual family reunion in the New York Catskills. We've been going to the same resort for 29 years and I've been there every year of my life except for two years for my high school graduation and for my brother's. My mom went when she was pregnant with me, so I count that "in the womb" year, haha. Basically, I think of it as the greatest place on earth. I'd rather go to Sunny Hill (the resort where we hold the reunion) than Disney World! I love my family and we always have such a great time.

The reason for the story is that it inspired today's post. My older brother and his family moved to Atlanta, GA about two years ago. Luckily, they haven't missed a Sunny Hill reunion since! In April is my niece Amanda's birthday and this year (she just turned 5) as part of her present, I created two nail polish colors and named them after Amanda and her sister, Ava. I love my nieces and miss them a lot now that they live so far away. I was able to see them this weekend and I'm always thankful for that.

Here are the bottle shots of the colors I created. I didn't swatch them since they were gifts. I have a feeling I'll recreate the colors though so I can wear them myself.

Since Amanda is only 5 years old, I went with an age-appropriate color, light pink. Once she gets older she can wear any crazy color she wants, like her Aunt. But for now, I thought it was best to stick to a classic. Plus, Amanda is a girly girl that loves anything princess related. It's the perfect color for her namesake.

My niece Ava is the big sister. I wanted something a little older, yet still fun. The color is a blurple and in real life has a subtle duo-chrome effect. I think it also matches Ava's personality. 

I had a lot of fun creating these colors as gifts for my nieces! I can't wait until I see them next. 

Have you created any custom colors for people you know as gifts? Does your family have an annual reunion? 

Something Blue: My 1st Wedding Anniversary and Your Day Giftable Nail Polish

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend, I know I did. I have a very special (and long) post for you lovely readers. Today, April 30th, marks my one year wedding anniversary! The first year really flew by and time doesn't show any signs of slowing down. My hubby and I celebrated our anniversary this weekend by going out to a nice dinner on Saturday. The restaurant we went to also holds special events and the cocktail hour for a wedding that day was in the bar section of the restaurant. It was nice to be at dinner, but also be reminded of our wedding around the same time a year ago. I hope the bride and groom of that wedding were having as much fun as we did last year.

I'll be honest that planning the wedding wasn't my favorite thing ever. I had a few meltdowns along the way and at times just hated the planning process, but it was well worth it in the end. My husband and I ended up having a great, memorable wedding. Aside from forgetting my veil at home when I went to the salon, pretty much everything that day went smoothly. The weather was gorgeous (a bright, warm spring day), everyone got there on time (including me), and we had so much fun! Everyone ate, drank and was merry, and there was a lot of dancing.

Photo credit: Meaghan Slottje Design and Photography

For today's post, I have a very special polish. About a month ago, I was notified that I had won a custom bottle of polish from Your Day - Giftable Polishes by Frances Tatulli on Facebook. Your Day makes custom nail polish for special occasions and the date of the special occasion is essentially the name of the polish. Here is the bio about Your Day:

"Your Day – Giftable Polishes by Frances Tatulli
Fran has been doing Nails, Hair & Make Up for as long as she can remember. With 4 daughters she always had plenty of girls to practice her talents.  After beginning her career as a Nail expert & designer she quickly expanded her horizons to include Hair & Make Up with over 10 years of Avon Cosmetics Industry experience. Through extensive training and education, she met and worked for celebrity manicurists which opened many doors for her. You can find Fran at New York Fashion Week, not only working but mingling with Designers. You will also find her at many charity events in NY.


Fran’s passion for color was indulged by starting Your Day, "giftable" nail polish company. Instead of naming the unique color in a bottle, her brilliant and marketable idea for all ages is to date “your day” that is sentimental to you. Bottles can be customized, as well as colors. View more on Fran’s website www.bellafiore.vpweb.com."

I like the concept of Your Day nail polish, it's a different spin on custom blended nail polish. You get to pick the color and the date, so you know that your polish is one of a kind. I had been a fan of Your Day on Facebook for a while and had been selected as the winner of the giveaway.  I was excited, of course, and had to decide what color and date I would want. Since my anniversary was coming up, I asked Fran to make me a blue polish with flecks in it and used my wedding shoes as inspiration. The date, of course, would be April 30th. For my wedding I went with a traditional french manicure and acrylic tips and Essie's Ballet Slippers for my pedicure, but blue is more my style.

The Inspiriation

Me on my wedding day!

Within a few days I received my polish and I can say that Fran did a great job! My wedding colors were blue and silver. My custom Your Day polish captured this perfectly. It's a bright blue polish with silver flecks throughout the polish. The polish is opaque in one coat and has a foil-like finish, but I always like to do two coats of polish anyway.

I used Cult Nails Get it On base coat and Wicked Fast top coat as well. I didn't really need a quick dry top coat for this polish since it dries very quickly on its own, but using a top coat helped smooth out the finish. The color actually reminds me a little bit of Wet n Wild's Stay Outta My Bismuth, but the flecks in that polish are gold rather than silver. It's fair to say I like my Your Day polish better than the Wet n Wild polish, since this holds a more personal meaning. Who doesn't love a custom color?

I have to say that having my own Your Day nail polish was a great way to commemorate my one year wedding anniversary. I love this color and the formula on it was great. I even got a compliment when I was picking up some coffee from Dunkin, which always makes me happy. (The compliment and the coffee.) 

You can contact Fran of Your Day Giftable Nail Polish through her Facebook page or through her website. The Facebook page also has pictures of other custom polish and the bottle designs. The packaging is really creative and makes a great favor for special occasions. Fran is based in the Hudson Valley region of New York and also does wedding hair and makeup. 

One of my favorite pictures of our wedding day

Share your wedding memories and stories in the comments section! I'd love to hear them. Do you like the idea of a nail polish customized for a special date or occasion? What color nail polish did you wear on your wedding day? 

Royal (Nail) Mail!

First of all, Happy Anniversary Will & Kate! Mostly I'm only aware of this fact because last year the Royal Wedding was the day before my very own wedding. But that's a post for another day.

Two weeks ago I received probably my favorite piece of nail mail, my a england order from the Tristam sale. With no tracking number, I could only wonder (and ask fellow nail polish lovers) when my order would arrive. Finally it showed up, but not without my hubby taunting me first joking that he was going to send it back.

I was so excited I even took a picture of the stamp

I'm just a little obsessed with London and England in general. I went on a Study Abroad short-term program to London during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. It was only two weeks that we actually spent in London, but I fell in love with the city. I felt so comfortable there and I just loved everything about it. My love of London was what first attracted me to a england nail polish.

But oh my goodness, the polish! Adina is a nail polish genius! I've seen gorgeous swatches on various blogs and I know everyone raves about them, but it's something entirely different to hold these beauties in your hands.  Even the hubby was impressed and put some polish on his thumbnail to test one out. Plus, I love that Adina has a story and inspiration behind each collection. She has such a strong vision and that's something I admire.

Since Saint George and Dragon were sold out, along with some others I wanted, I picked up Ascalon, Order of the Garter and Avalon. They are gorgeous in the bottle and I'm very happy with my purchase. Plus,  I love blue and purple, so all of these colors are right up my alley.

I can't wait until I've tried all three of these out. Now that I've made my first purchase from a england, I can't wait to be able to purchase more of Adina's creations. Saint George and Dragon are definitely next up from a england, as long as they stay in stock. 

Did you participate in the Tristam sale? Which colors did you purchase? Let me know in the comments section!

Cult Nails Manipulative with Seduction Accent Nail

Happy Sunday readers! I had a nice, quiet weekend that involved wine, shopping and a haircut. How was everyone else's weekend? Today has been rainy and cold for most of the day, so I've been finishing up Mad Men on Netflix and relaxing. For a Sunday, the pace has been nice and slow. I never want Sundays to end, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Now onto the polish! I have yet another Cult Nails related post. Once I got my Divas and Drama collection, I had to put it on ASAP and this was the first mani I did with the collection. I started with two coats of Manipulative, which is a blue creme polish with a very subtle shimmer. Manipulative leans a little green as well. The color was a bit darker than I thought it would be after seeing Maria's swatches and pictures, but it's gorgeous anyway.

I also love Maria's swatches of Seduction over Enticing, so I recreated the layering combination as an accent nail on my ring finger. I used two coats of Enticing, which is a sheer baby pink creme polish. It's a gorgeous polish on its own and two coats provided great coverage. One of these days I'll have to wear Enticing without covering it up. 

After everything was dry, using Wicked Fast top coat of course, I added the accent nail of 2 coats of Seduction. I also used Cult Nails Get it On for the base coat. 

So there you have it, yet another gorgeous Cult Nails combination. I think what I love most about the Divas and Drama collection is that all of the colors go so well together. They're just made to be used together, whether it's layering, accent nails or nail art. It's a collection that I'm doubt I'll ever get tired of. 

The Divas and Drama collection from Cult Nails is available here for $40 or you can buy the individual polish colors for $10 each. 

Have you tried this combo yet? What have been your favorite manicures using the Cult Nails Divas and Drama collection? Let me know in the comments section!

Nail Mail: Cult Nails Divas and Drama Collection

Last week I finally received my Cult Nails Divas and Drama Collection pre-order! I have been really excited about this collection and after waiting, it was great to finally have them in my hands!

I love the Cult Nails polish burritos! It's such a cute idea and environmentally friendly too. 

Seduction from the Divas and Drama collection has become my new favorite polish. It is absolutely gorgeous and I just want to wear it all the time. I keep thinking of new layering combos that would work great with the purple jelly base. I just love it! Plus, it's a "cousin" of Cult Nails Unicorn Puke / Clairvoyant, which I probably will sadly never own. This is the definitely the next best thing. 

Ahh, look at those flakies!

The whole order. I also added the Cult Nails Get it On Base Coat and Wicked Fast Speed Dry Top Coat to my order. They work perfectly with the rest of the Cult Nails colors.

The Divas and Drama collection from left to right: Scandalous, Enticing, Seduction and Manipulative. The entire collection is available now on the Cult Nails website for $40 for the collection or $10 each if you just want one or two. However, if you want Seduction (which I know you do) be sure to order it sooner rather than later because it's a Limited Edition (LE) color. So once it sells out, it's gone. I already missed out on Toxic Seaweed. 

I'll be posting my swatches soon hopefully. Lately this collection seems to be all I've been wearing, I love it so much!

Wet n Wild: Chrome Limited Edition Collection

Today is an exciting post! I was checking out Rite Aid, as I am wont to do, and saw a full display of a collection I had never seen or heard of before! It was a new Wet n Wild display, right next to the Be Jeweled collection. This collection is another Limited Edition called Chrome. I was so excited, I stood in front of the display for a good few minutes while I tried to decide which to take home with me. 

I decided on the above two colors, Precious Petals and Stay Outta My Bismuth. The display also had a silver, gold, purple, turquoise, and an light orange-ish color. It took me forever to decide, but I figured I couldn't go wrong with pink and blue. I also think the bottles themselves are adorable and a nice change for Wet n Wild. 

Precious Petals is a bright pink foil with a silver shimmer throughout. While foils are not my favorite finish, I do love that they dry really quickly! I would say the dry time on these is about 2 minutes. I used a top coat anyway to make the polish shine a bit more. The application was a little difficult, mostly due to the foil finish. The brush on my bottle of Precious Petals was also a little wonky. However, the polish does cover very well in two coats. 

Precious Petals is a lot more vibrant in real life. It's a perfect spring and summer color!

The second polish from the Chrome collection is Stay Outta My Bismuth. It's a bright blue foil with a golden shimmer. The application on this was better overall because the brush was better. However, be sure to wait for each coat to dry before adding another so you avoid dragging and clumping. Stay Outta My Bismuth is a fun color as well. I actually swatched these two colors at the same time, one on each hand and I really like the combination. 

I found the Wet n Wild Chrome collection at Rite Aid and the bottles retail for $3.99 each. I also received 50 cents off when I used my Rite Aid Wellness+ card. They're a bit expensive for the 8.5 ml size bottles, especially since they're higher priced than most Wet n Wild collections, but I think they're worth it if you really love foils or just want some fun new colors for the warmer weather. 

What do you think of these two from the Chrome collection? Have you seen these in stores yet? 

Autism Speaks: Lighting it Up with Barefoot in Blue

Today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. Jasmine from Colour Coated brought up the idea of participating in bringing awareness to autism as nail bloggers by painting our nails blue throughout April. The organization Autsim Speaks is encouraging people to "Light It Up Blue" today as well to help raise awareness.You can learn more about Autsim Speaks and their Light It Up Blue initiative here.

I do own a lot of nail polish and since it's to bring awareness to a good cause, I decided to participate. For today's blue mani I decided to swatch Barefoot in Blue from Essie.

Barefoot in Blue was recently added to my collection thanks to TOMS and Essie pairing up for a giveaway. I was very surprised when this polish showed up in my mailbox Friday morning and couldn't wait to wear it. The pairing of the two brands is to raise awareness for April 10th, One Day Without Shoes. I'm linking pretty much everything here, because I think the respective organizations can explain their great causes a lot better than I can.

Needless to say, I felt Barefoot in Blue was an appropriate polish for World Autism Awareness Day.

Essie Barefoot in Blue is a gorgeous blue creme polish. It's in the family of a cornflower blue. It applied beautifully in 2 coats and I topped it off with Seche Vite. Barefoot in Blue is a limited edition that was made for the partnership with TOMS. I'm not sure if it will be available in stores in the future, so keep an eye out for giveaways of this polish. 

Will you be wearing blue nail polish today and throughout April? What do you think of Essie Barefoot in Blue? Let me know in the comments section!

Layering: Whimsical Kristen

I've finally gotten around to wearing Revlon Whimsical and I must say, I love this polish. It mostly came down to finding the perfect "undies" for Whimsical, because I knew I wouldn't be able to wear it on its own. Then, thanks to Zoya's buy 3, get 3 free Spring promo, I picked up Zoya Kristen! I knew it would be a great match for Whimsical.

Kristen and Whimsical together

Zoya Kristen a a gorgeous dusty light blue creme polish from Zoya's Feel collection. Their website actually describes Kristen as a "gull gray nail polish with a mild bluish hue." Either way, I really like this color and it covered beautifully in just two coats. Plus, it shares the same name as my best friend, even though she spells it differently.

Revlon Whimsical is light pink and light blue hex glitter, with some smaller blue glitter, in a milky light blue base. This polish has gained notoriety as being a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air. Whimsical is the much more affordable version. 

I used two coats of Whimsical over Kristen. Whimsical is a little bit watery (or at least my bottle was) and placing the glitter can be a little difficult. Despite this, I think that Whimsical is worth the little bit of extra effort. After wearing so many dark colors lately, this combination was a welcome change. I didn't want to take it off!

What do you think about this combination? Do you own either of these? Don't forget to enter my Spring Fling giveaway so you can win Whimsical! The giveaway ends tomorrow!

Wet n Wild: Speak When Spoken To

Wet n Wild recently released a collection of duo-chrome glitters called Be Jeweled as part of their Coloricon line. They're similar to the China Glaze Prismatic collection, from what I've been seeing and reading, but at $2.99 a bottle, way more affordable. They are Limited Edition though, so if you really like them, better pick them up when you see them!

I wanted to do some swatches of Speak When Spoken To since it's part of my Spring Fling giveaway! This polish has so much going on. It's duo-chrome AND glitter! To show you all the full effect, I layered Speak When  Spoken To over 2 coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather.

Look at that gorgeousness! Speak When Spoken To shifts from blue to a pink purple. I like the intensity that the polish gets with black under it. I used two coats of SWST. I could have just used one, but I like doing 2 coats of glitter to even it out. I usually really dislike the Coloricon polish brushes, and while this one wasn't my favorite, I didn't have a problem with it. It's actually a brush that works well with this type of glitter polish.

I also used two coats of Seche Vite top coat to get the mani nice and smooth. The only downside of Seche is that it definitely caused shrinkage within 24 hours. I did order some Cult Nails Wicked Fast, so hopefully that won't be a problem anymore once that arrives!

So there you have it! Do you own any of the Be Jeweled collection? Which are your favorite? Do you also own any of the China Glaze Prismatic collection? If you do, which do you prefer?

Someone will be the lucky winner of this polish, so be sure to enter my giveaway!

KelBel Cosmetics: Super Grover!

Hey all! Just a quick post today. I'm going to try to get swatches up of the polishes from my Spring Fling giveaway (with the exception of Popular). I have 2 of each polish so you can be assured that the polish in the giveaway is of course not used. :) 

Today I have the swatch picture of Super Grover that's on my Etsy shop. I layered it over different colors to show how awesome this polish is!

From top to bottom: Super Grover over black, alone, over blue and over silver

Super Grover reminds me of my older brother. One day he was walking through school (I forget if it was high school or grammar school) and he decided to burst into an empty room, like Super Grover does, voice and all. But to his surprise, it was actually a classroom full of students! It's one of my favorite stories and pretty much sums up my older brother. Well maybe not exactly, but it's the kind of thing that runs in my family.

So I hope you enjoy this polish as much as I do. Most likely it will be a Limited Edition color or I'll have to make it a new formula. The winner of my Spring Fling giveaway will have a real treasure on their hands (literally). Enjoy!

What do you think of Super Grover? Let me know in the comments section!

Color Club Magnetic Force: Electro-Midnight

Hey lovely readers! Today I have swatches of my first magnetic nail polish! I picked up Electro-Midnight from the Color Club Magnetic Force collection a few weeks ago as part of my Hometown Haul. I just couldn't resist a blue magnetic polish.

The Color Club magnet on this polish makes a wavy pattern. To apply Electro-Midnight, I did each finger individually, which is a must with magnetic polish. I put on one coat of polish, then held the magnet over it for the recommended 15 seconds. The Color Club magnet is a cover that goes over the top of the nail polish bottle. You separate it from the actual brush to make it easier to use. It also has a lip on one side to rest on your finger to help keep the magnet from touching the nail. 

After covering each nail with one coat of polish, I went back over each nail with a second coat and repeated the process. I managed to only hit my nail with the magnet 2 or 3 times, but only on the first coat.

I think this mani turned out pretty well for my first time using magnetic polish. I really love the color of Electro-Midnight, it's right up my alley and was completely opaque in two coats. The formula was definitely a dream to work with. Although I would have liked the magnet to be a little bit stronger, I'm still happy with how the pattern turned out. The only downside was that I had a little chip after less than 24 hours and I noticed some tip wear/shrinkage but that could have been due to topping it with Seche Vite. 

Do you own any from the Color Club Magnetic Force collection? What is your favorite magnetic polish? 

Layering: I Need a Refresh-Mint and KelBel Cosmetics Flora

Today I have a store bought and home made nail polish combo!

I recently purchased Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint because I had been seeing it everywhere and for $1.99, I felt I HAD to own it. Of course right after I bought it, G from Nouveau Cheap (one of my favorite blogs) made this post comparing Refresh-Mint to China Glaze For Audrey. Apparently, they're dead-on dupes. Despite this, I'm still happy to own both. This is one of my favorite nail polish colors and the more versions of it I own, the better.

Please pardon the smudge on my middle finger. I really need to realize the difference between quick dry and instant dry. Just because I use Seche Vite, does not mean it is immediately dry to the touch after 5 seconds. Luckily I knew I'd be layering over this, so the smudge was no big deal. Overall, I like I Need a Refresh-Mint a lot. The color is beautiful and classic. I didn't have too much of the problem with the new, wider brush. The formula is better on For Audrey, but the formula on Refresh-mint was nice as well.

Next, I layered Flora over Refresh-mint. Flora is actually a color shifting top coat that I made and is now available in my Etsy shop! My shop is called KelBel Cosmetics and you can visit the shop here. All of the polish in the shop is made by me using clear 3 free lacquer base mixed with micas, pigments and glitters. I'll be adding more to the shop and making frequent updates in the next few months.

Flora shifts from pink to gold and has some shades in between depending on what you layer it over. The effect is a lot more subtle over a light color, but I love the combination it makes with Refresh-mint.

These pictures don't really do this combination justice. I love this in person (and not just because I made the top coat). I used two coats of Refresh-mint and two coats of Flora and topped it all off with Seche Vite of course. 

I hope you enjoy this combination. Let me know what you think in the comments!