Let's Get Nailed

Do I smell Grapes?

So one day I was blog stalking/surfing and I saw that someone had found some amazing deals at TJ Maxx.  Now, I didn't even know that they sold nail polishes....so this was definitely new and interesting news to me.  So with my new knowledge, I dragged Ericka to our local TJ Maxx to see what we could find.  To my delight, we found Color Club nail polishes!  I was extremely excited because I don't currently own this brand of nail polishes.  I purchased the 'Wicked Sweet' collection.  There were 7 scented colors. 

The first polish that I decided to show you is  Gimme A Grape Big Kiss.  This polish is a lovely grapey pinkish purple jelly.  I really loved the look of this polish, but the scent...not so much.  Let me start by telling you that I have always hated the scent/taste of any artificial grape flavoring and this scented nail polish was not the exception. I was hoping that putting a coat of SV on would help keep some of the scent in, but this was not the case.  However it was so pretty that I still wore it :)
Taken outside in the sun :) Also the SV definitely shrunk the color on the tips...boo.
I also recently ordered a new cover for my Ipod Touch and the color of one of the strips matched my nails, so I had to share it with you :)
So on a little bit of a different note, I wanted to let everyone know that once we hit 25 followers we are planning on having a giveaway.  So if you're not a follower already, please follow :) Thanks!

~Nailed by Brittany~
Let's Get Nailed

Orangey Red Nails With Sparkly Glittery Stuff On Half! Yummy!

This past weekend I went to Cosmoprof with my cousin. I mentioned her before and the great deals she helps me get, its nice to have family who can help you out :) I didn't go quite as crazy as I did last time but I got some great stuff and more importantly I picked up some fall colors. Obviously I love O.P.I. so this time around that's the only brand I bought. It is just so cheap to buy it at Cosmoprof and so expensive anywhere else I feel like I always need to stock up.  I got 2 collections with 4 small bottles each, a box set of the Serena Williams collection, and 7 individual polishes. I was especially thrilled because I got 2 new polishes from the Designer Series. I own one of these already (DS Magic) and I adore it. This time I got 'DS Reflection' and 'DS Radiance'. Reflection is a gorgeous rose pink with holo glitters and Radiance is a shiny silver, most of the Designer Series polishes appear to be holos but Radiance looked like aluminum foil in a small swatch. Its still pretty though. Next is 'Significant Other Colour' Its an iridescent purple that looks green/yellow tinted depending on how you hold the bottle. 'I Eat Mailely Lobster' is part of the O.P.I. Fall 2011 Touring America collection. I got a box set of a few of these but this wasn't included, I liked the color so much I picked it up on its own. 'I Eat Mainely Lobster' is a peachy coral color. I also picked up 'O.P.I. Ink' its a dark blue with silver glitter. This is a suede polish which I've never had before, I thought it would be nice to use with a matte top coat. I'm not a big fan of the next polish 'What's With The Cattitude' but the other day I was searching through my collection looking for a light blue and I realized I don't have one, so when I saw this I had to pick it up. The final color is 'Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It' Its a very bright red. I'm not even sure why I grabbed this one, it was just so bright I felt compelled to buy it. 

DS Reflection; DS Radience; Significant Other Colour, I Eat Mainely Lobster; O.P.I. Ink; Whats With The Cattitude; Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It
The first box set is a select few of O.P.I's Fall 2011 Touring America collection. The colors include: My Address Is Hollywood a salmon-ish pink with a little bit of shimmer; French Quarter For Your Thoughts a really pretty cream grey; A-Taupe The Space Needle (I honestly wouldn't have picked this if it wasn't in the collection, brown is my least favorite color ever) its a medium taupe color, sort of a brown/green; and last but not least Honk If You Love O.P.I. a dark smokey purple. The next collection is The Femme De Cirque polishes. These were part of O.P.I's Spring 2011 collection. They are all really light and very sheer but pretty feminine colors. The first one in the box is 'I Juggle Men' This one is actually an iridescent top coat and probably not intended to be worn alone, it looks beautiful in the bottle though and I can't wait to use it. Next is 'So Many Clowns... So Little Time' this one is a cream color. 'In the Spot Light-Pink' just like the name implies is a beautiful light pink color. The last polish in this collection is 'Step Right Up' it is a shimmery white with a subtle hint of pink. The final box set I picked up is part of the Serena Williams Collection. I grabbed these on whim because I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the other 2 polishes I have from this collection. Once again I was thrilled with this purchase. 'Pros and Bronze' is a glittery bronze (obviously), that has hints of pink which make it sort of a rose gold. This is such a dynamic color I couldn't wait to use it (see the photos below). The other polish is 'Love Is A Racket' it is a semi jelly red/pink with red glitter. I have it on my nails right now and I love it.

From Left to Right: My Address Is Hollywood, French Quarter For Your Thoughts, A-Taupe The Space Needle, Honk If You Love O.P.I; I Juggle Men, So Many Clowns... So Little Time, In The Spot Light-Pink, Step Right Up; Love Is A Racket, Pros and Bronze
To really see the beauty of the polishes click on the photos, they are pretty much huge but the photo quality is great. I couldn't decide which of the new colors I wanted to use so I started with 'I Eat Mainely Lobster' and then used tape to make a diagonal line and painted 'Pros and Bronze' on the other half. I think the colors went together really well.

2 Coats 'I Eat Maine-ly Lobster', 1 Coat 'Pros and Bronze'
I'm usually not great with tape manis so I was pleased by how clean the lines came out. I did put a coat of SV between the colors to help it dry quicker.  

I broke the nail on my ring finger, its probably not that noticeable but its all I see in these photos!
'I Eat Maine-ly Lobster' got great coverage and probably would have been fine with 1 coat but I'm obsessive so I did 2. On its own 'Pros and Bronze' probably needs 2 coats but with a base it was good with 1. Overall this turned out a little more orange tinted then I expected, 'I Eat Maine-ly Lobster' is much more pink in the bottle than it was on my nails, could be the 'Pros and Bronze' giving it that tint too. Still it was pretty and I liked it.
I topped with a coat of Seche Vite which really enhanced the shine of 'Pros and Bronze'
One last thing on this super long post, my brother went back to school this week as he is my photographer he took all of my photos with him on his computer. Since he is so nice he put them in posts for me and I'm just adding words. When he posted them he added crazy titles, I thought it was funny so I'm leaving this crazy title :) 
~Nailed by Jen~
Let's Get Nailed

Extra, Extra... Read all about it!

Since the nail painting craze started this summer, my students are just starting to notice that my nails are different nearly every day. They've taken this as a sign that I'm open for suggestions and they should request looks they would like to see. Don't get me wrong... I love new ideas and inspiration. I only wish they were half as concerned with learning as they are with my nails :)

With a great suggestion from one of them, I decided to test out "newspaper nails" this weekend. We had some ads laying around the apartment and I googled what to do. The suggestions including using rubbing alcohol, almond extract, or vodka. I chose vodka :) We have collected quite a stash and never drink it, so I figured why not use it for my nails?

I started off the mani by painting 2 coats of OPI - Play the Peonies. I really love this color and the shimmer it gives off. To prep the newspaper-ing, I cut out 10 rectangles of print from the ads (btw these were not glossy ads... just black ink). Being that it was my first time, I experimented using texts of varying sizes and fonts. After the base color was completely dry (and without a topcoat), I dipped each rectangle into a tiny bit of vodka and placed it over my nail. I left the paper on for a few minutes and then peeled them off to find a terrific surprise. Almost all of my nails worked on attempt number one! I immediately put on a top coat and called it a day :)
Outside in the sun. I swear I'm not a giant... it's just a mini-bottle :)






My pointer on my right hand could have used some more text!

Yum! My delicious sandwich at Melt :)
Has anyone else ever tried newspaper nails? Let me know. I'd love to see them!


~ Nailed by Ericka ~


Let's Get Nailed

Sparkly Purple....Yes, Please!


Last night, I was trying to decide if I wanted to keep the same color on my nails or if I wanted to repaint them.  I wasn't loving the idea of having the same color on for more than one day, so I got this great idea that I would I would attempt some nail art.  Let's just say that this didn't go well.....I don't even think FAIL fully describes how bad my attempt was. 

So moving on from the disaster, I decided use Wet n Wild Hannah Pinktana.  This polish is a gorgeous purple holo.  I started with one coat of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Lacey Lilac.  I topped Lacey Lilac with 2 coats of Wet n Wild Hannah Pinktana and coat of SV.  The WnW is so pretty and layered over the lilac color it was just perfect.  The holo glitter in this polish is just lovely to stare at and thats exactly what I did all day.  
It was cloudy today, so I took pics inside.  This is the most color accurate.
I loved the way the bottle looks in this picture.  Tried to get the glitter to show.
I know this is blurry, but I loved that you could see the rainbow colors.
However, there was something else to stare at and that was the movie set that is being built right outside my window.  Lots of progress was made today, and you can finally see what was being created.  The building beside me has been vacant for a few years, but today it looks like a big Bed, Bath & Beyond.  They also brought down some of the cars and building pieces from the set on East 9th.  Here are some pics from my 10th floor office.  I can’t wait until they actually start filming, because I should have a front row view :) (Sorry that these are from my ipod.)



~Nailed by Brittany~
Let's Get Nailed

The Grape Escape

Since we've started the blog, I've taken pictures of almost all of the manicures I've done. Some of them I've showed you and some I've kept for an emergency stash in case I can't get around to painting my nails when it's my turn to post. With the start of school, my teaching responsibilities are slowing replacing my time to paint my nails each day. On a day like today, when the students have wore me down and I'm just not up to fight with the glitter on my nails, I'd like to reach for my stash and choose a mani for you. However, my computer decided to crash on me and I've lost everything! Boo! Luckily, I had these on my camera card and have something to share with you.

A few weekends ago, Brittany and I went to Ulta since they had an awesome coupon. If you bought $17.50 worth of Ulta cosmetics (nail polish included), you saved $3 and received a free bag with make-up. It was a deal we couldn't resist. I picked up this color and fell in love. I put on two coats of Ulta - Grape Escape and paired it with Nubar 2010. This is also my first time testing out the flakes and they are beautiful in the sun!

Taken outside in the sunlight.

Flakies in the shade. Look at all those colors!

On another note, here's some updates from the set of The Avengers. Be sure to look at the last one for a special treat :)
This is the set they are building in Public Square and by Tower City. They are replicating a town in Germany.
NY Truck on the set on E. 9th
I love this photo because it looks like that man is smelling his armpit :)
See the lights on the building? They filmed while we were there.
South view down E. 9th from Euclid.
 And the best part....

Captain America! Chris Evans walking out from the set.

 I apologize for all of the photos, but I hope you enjoyed them :) I know I enjoyed taking them!


~ Nailed by Ericka ~
Let's Get Nailed

Candy Coated

Earlier this summer, we got the chance to see Katy Perry in concert. She was amazing. Prior to the concert I was inspired to order the O.P.I. Katy Perry collection. Unfortunately it didn't arrive before the concert. In fact it didn't arrive at all. After a few weeks I sent an email to the sender, when that went ignored I turned to Amazon. My money was refunded immediately by Amazon which was nice, but I still didn't have my polishes. I used my refund money to buy the collection from another seller and thankfully it arrived within 2 days. And I couldn't wait to use it. Also I apologize in advance because this post is long and pic heavy.

 
Not Like The Movies; Last Friday Night; The One That Got Away; Teenage Dream


In my excitement to use the polishes I didn't really get any good photos of them. So this weekend Joe and I set up a photo shoot with swatches of the polishes and assorted candies and sweets, since that was the theme of the concert. I'm pretty proud of the pictures in spite of the terrible lighting we have in our house.
3 Coats of 'Not Like The Movies'
'Not Like The Movies' is a metallic that looks silver, lavender, or green depending on the angle and the lighting. There are also some small flecks of glitter in this shade. I liked the color but its definitely my least favorite of the collection. It took 3 coats to achieve opacity and still ended up a bit streaky. When I wore this for more than a swatch, I put Black Shatter (also included in the collection) on top and I really liked the results I got from that. 
Not Like The Movies + Some Gummy Bears
3 Coats of 'Last Friday Night'
Last Friday Night is a light blue base with tiny foil glitters and larger blue, pink and purple hexagonal glitters. This is by far my favorite in the bottles but sadly the bright blue of this polish does not translate well onto my nails. The photos show my nails with 3 coats and its still pretty sheer on its own. I tried this on a variety of base colors but nothing captured the beauty of the polish that you see in the bottle.

Last Friday Night + Blue Cotton Candy
2 Coats of "The One That Got Away'
The One That Got Away was a pleasant surprise for me. In the bottle it just looks like a standard raspberry colored polish but on my nails it was beautiful. Its hard to capture the glitter essence of this polish in the photos but it was shiny and glittery and it went on beautifully in 2 coats. I have some other photos of this in natural light that I will post later because it is gorgeous.

'The One That Got Away' + Some Peppermint Candies
1 Coat 'Teenage Dream' Over 2 Coats "Pink Voltage'
Teenage Dream is color that is similar in formula to Last Friday Night. I must say that I prefer Teenage Dream though, in large part because I found a base color that makes it look gorgeous. Teenage Dream is a light pink base with small pink glitters and large hexagonal holos. Unlike Last Friday Night, Teenage Dream actually layers pretty well and isn't so sheer, but I still like it better on a base color. I chose China Glaze Pink Voltage. Pink Voltage is a neon pink and is probably my favorite color at the moment. When I put Teenage Dream on top I was told that my nails looked like something a Barbie doll would wear. To some people this would be offensive, for me it was about the best thing you could tell me. I loved the way this one turned out.

Teenage Dream + Pink Cotton Candy
Katy Perry!!
So that's it for the swatches. I had very high expectations for this collection so I was a bit disappointed that I didn't absolutely love every color. Still in general I liked the collection and I'm sure these colors will be making future appearances on the blog.
Let's Get Nailed

Oh Baby...It's Vintage Velvet

Today I have a lovely fall color for you, which  is actually kind of perfect because it was nice cool day.  Which is definitely a nice change to the crazy hot days that we have been having lately.  For this mani, I started with 2 coats of Finger Paints Vintage Velvet.  This color is part of Finger Paints new fall collections.  The color of this polish is beautiful dusty bluish green. I don't have any other color like this in my collections, so I was very excited to add it :)

I also picked up Pure Ice - Oh Baby! on Saturday night.  I thought it would be a good topper for this lovely green.  I really loved the results.  What do you think?
So they haven't started filming on the street beside me yet, but as soon as they do I will add pics.


~Nailed by Brittany~
Let's Get Nailed

Hello Holo!

In honor of my first day of school this past week, I planned on putting an apple on my finger with a stencil I got this summer. Like all plans I usually have for my nails, this was a big fail. I needed another idea and looked over to the shelf for inspiration. I've been staring at this holo on our shelf for quite some time now and have been dying to try it out. I figured this was the perfect chance!

I already had a white base coat on and layered Milani 3D Holographic - HD. I put on 2 coats and topped it with SV. The look was beautiful in the end. I love holographics in the sun. Both of the pictures below were taken on a sunny Ohio day :)


 This past weekend Brittany and I ventured Downtown so I could check out The Avengers set as well. I have photos and will post them when I get a chance this week.

~ Nailed by Ericka ~
Let's Get Nailed

Sparkles

A few weeks ago I purchased a box set of O.P.I. polishes that were part of the Serena Williams collection. There was a pretty purple and a chunky glitter. The glitter (Servin' up Sparkle) is really pretty in the bottle with small silver glitters and large holographic pieces. I painted it on my toes over a black polish and i liked it but I felt like the glitter was maybe too intense for my finger nails. But then I got Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Navy Baby. The navy blue was nice but it needed a little something so on an impulse I did a coat of Servin' Up Sparkle on top and it far exceeded my expectations.

2 Coats Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Navy Baby, 1 Coat O.P.I . Servin' Up Sparkle
My only disappointment is that the navy looks really dark, almost black, especially in the photos. In person though it looked nice, the navy was just a little more subtle than a strait black polish underneath.

I love the holo glitters.
I ended up really loving this manicure. I think its because I had low expectations so I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out so pretty. From now on I'll just expect the worst that way when things turn out good it will be twice as exciting. 
~Nailed by Jen~
Let's Get Nailed

Deja Blue & Avengers Part 2

That rhymes! Lol.  Anyways,  on my first Avengers post I showed off my first cupcake mani, and said that I would show you the base color.  So here we go.  I did 2 coats of Savvy Deja Blue.  I picked up this polish at Sally's a couple of weeks ago (they had a buy 2 get 1 free sale) and I love blue polish.  This color is gorgeous.  Its a lovely dark blue with a shimmer to it.  It definitely has that lit from within quality.  I hope you like this color as much as I do.
Taken outside in the shade.

Sun! So pretty :)

This color is just pretty....
Ok, so now I have a few more pictures for 'The Avengers'.  Sadly, I still haven't seen them actually filming, but we did walk around to the other side of the set, and it was pretty cool down there.  Ericka and I are planning on heading there again today to see if we can see some action.  Fingers crossed!  Also, these photos are from Thursday and Friday.  They set the vehicles up differently like 4 times a day, so that's why there may be some that look different.

Some Army Tanks and A Lion King poster.

Grand Central Station on the right side.

I love this guy :)
 


So that's all for now.  Hope you enjoyed it.  I can't wait for the movie to come out, so I actually know what they were doing down there all this time :)

~Nailed by Brittany~

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