Red Roses

Good morning everyone. Happy Thursday! 

Today's post is all about some red nails I did for a collaboration over on Instagram. NailsLikeLace and ChristaBellNails put together a second rainbow mani collaboration. I can't imagine what a pain this had to have been for them, but I am so glad they did it. Go check out their Instagrams, they do great work and are super sweet. And this was a big task they took on. 

There were 200 nail girls involved in this one. I was in the "firetruck" group, which just meant that we had to use red. Our manicure had to be at least 95% red anyway, so we could do some nail art in there too. Red is one of my least favorite polish colors to use on myself.... I feel like they put me in there on purpose. But that's good, I like being pushed out of my comfort zone with manicures. (signing up for collabs is a great way to do that to yourself... lol)

The only thing I knew right away was that I was going to use Zoya Sooki, it's a perfect red. I started with that, and ended up with this mani. 

This is the pic I submitted for the collage. 

Natural Sunlight

Light Box

  

Light Box

For my ring finger and thumb I started with a base of Essie Mint Candy Apple. I then used Zoya Sookie and China Glaze Merry Berry and Red Satin to start my roses. I also mixed a little Wet-n-Wild Blank Canvas in with Sooki to get a light color for highlights. Then I used OPI Jade Is the New Black and Zoya Josie for the leaves. My other nails are 2 coats of Zoya Sooki with 1 coat of Glossy Glam on top of it all to seal it in and make it glossy. 

What do you think? I loved this mani, even if it is red. I like the way red looks, mostly... But what I really don't like is working with it. It stains and is just a pain in the butt for me. But that's just me. :) 

Here is the collage that the girls made with all 200 manis. Pretty awesome huh? I'm on the left side, 7th from the bottom. :)

You should head over to Instagram an check out the tag #rainbow2collab to see all of the other lovely manis! 

I hope you all enjoyed this post! I'll talk to you soon!

~casey

**All polishes in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use.**

Small Talk

Good morning everybody! Happy Friday! I know Friday isn't the end of the work week for all of you, but it is the end of the work week for me. And today I'm leaving work a little early, so I'm extra excited. I love my job and my hospital, but there is something about having a Friday afternoon off. 

Today I have my first Lac Attack polish for you. Lac Attack was one of the first indie polishes that I found and started stalking. I'm not sure why I hadn't bought any before now, but a few weeks ago Anastasia posted that she was having a sale before she changed sites so I jumped on. 

This is one of two polishes that I purchased, and as part of the sale she threw in an extra mini. How sweet is that? 

This is Small Talk, it was part of her Candy Hearts Collection from earlier this year. I would call this a shimmery mint green base with dark and light pink hex glitter pieces in large and small sizes. There's also an interesting dark shimmer to this. I'm not sure how to describe it, at first I thought it was pigment that didn't get mixed in, but no matter what I like the look. 

I had some minor application issues with this. I think it would behave better if it was layered over an opaque color. I did 3 coats for these pics and had a little drag. But I was a little rushed. Overall I think this is a really pretty polish, I just don't think it's as easy to work with as some of the other indies I've tried. I love the dark and light pink pieces in it, it makes me think of kiwi strawberry candy or something. It's a sweet polish. 

My middle finger got bumped and a little smudged in the process, I'm sorry about that. I didn't see it until after I had already taken the pics and removed the polish. 

The sun wasn't playing nice on the day I did these, so all of my pics are in my trusty light box. The macro shot is really the one that does it the best justice. :)

This is 3 coats of Small Talk topped with 1 coat of Seche Vite. 

What do you think? I think this color will be perfect for spring and I think I'll create some fun Easter looks with it. 

Lac Attack polishes can be purchased through Anastasia's online store. However the store is currently closed while she changes hosts. I'm not sure if Small Talk will still be available when she reopens, but she has a lot of amazing polishes to choose from! Including the Magical Musings collection, which I've been drooling over for a long time.  Check her site and Instagram for store updates. 

**the polishes in the post were purchased by me for my own personal use**