For Someone Special

I have a very special friend.  I’ve never actually met her face to face but there was an instant connection.  I would do anything for her.  I would take all her pain away if I could.  You see, my friend suffers from Lyme's Disease. 

Lyme’s Disease, if caught early, can be cured with antibiotics.  If not detected soon enough the symptoms range from fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and neurocognitive symptoms persisting for years, despite antibiotic treatment.  Sadly my friend was diagnosed too late.  She suffers daily from a gamut of symptoms making everyday actions nearly impossible.


May is Lyme’s Disease Awareness Month.  Green is the symbolic color for Lyme’s Disease Awareness.  In honor of my special friend I painted my nails in Orly Green Apple.  But because my friend’s personality sparkles I added a top coat of OPI New York City Ballet Pirouette My Whistle. I love how it turned out!  Thank you Jeanie, for being my special friend.

If you want more information on Lyme’s Disease and it’s prevention you can check out these websites:
http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/ds00116/dsection=symptoms
http://www.aldf.com/
http://www.lymedisease.org/

Peanut Butter…..JELLY!: OPI Don’t Touch My Tutu Jelly Sandwich

The obsession with glitter continues.  I don’t know what it is about me and glitter these days.  I thought I was over the whole glitter fad this winter when it seemed the polish market was being flooded.  Maybe it was all the fantastic Indie polishes hitting the scene that changed my mind.  The Indie polishes seem to have the glitter thing down to a science though by mixing just the right combination of glitter with the polish base that provide the ideal amount of bling on the nails.  The retail and salon polish companies could learn a thing or two from these girls.

Anyway……



I recently obtained several of the OPI New York City Ballet polishes. My main reason for wanting these polishes was because of the jelly/sorbet finish they had. Perfect for jelly sandwiches. I was playing around and the above is the end result.  The base is two coats of Don’t Touch My Tutu.  I then layered a coat of Ulta Piñata-Yada-Yada and one more coat of Don’t Touch My Tutu.  I smoothed it out with a coat of Poshe top coat.

I love the way this turned out and I wore it for several days.  Next time I will probably ad a second layer of the jelly polish on top.  I didn’t quite achieve the filmy look I was going for with this jelly sandwich.  Maybe the glitter was too bright?  Have you created any jelly sandwiches using the New York City Ballet Collection?  I would love to see your creations! 

Nail Art: Sinful Colors Tape Manicure

Just a quick post of some nail art I did recently.  I was feeling inspired by some new Sinful Colors polishes I had picked up and thought they would look fantastic on my nails together.  The polishes I used are Olympia, Mint Apple and Unicorn.  I topped them off with a coat of Poshe.  I did learn one thing why applying this manicure, apply the lightest color as your base.  Because Unicorn was such a light yellow it required two coats to cover the darker green completely.  As a result, the tip looked “heavier” with paint than the rest of the nail.  Otherwise I am pretty pleased with the way this turned out.



What do you think of this manicure?  Would you like to see more of my feeble attempts at nail art?

: Girly Bits Rogue

For those of you who follow The Kracked Kat, you know that when my nail polish obsession began I was not a fan of red nail color.  I just didn’t think it looked good on me.  Then a red polish aficionado convinced me I just hadn’t tried the right color red.  Since then I have been branching out and I looking at the color red differently.  Then I saw Girly Bits Rogue… 



The moment I saw Girly Bits Rogue I knew I had to have it.  Not only was it created by my friend, Pam but her inspiration was my red loving friend.  Rogue is a red jelly base with pink and violet glitter, and red micro bar glitter. I layered two coats of Rogue over Ali’s Big Break from the OPI Burlesque collection.  I couldn’t be happier with the way this manicure turned out, but then again I have never been disappointed with a Girly Bits polish.  Thank you Pam!

Be Mine?: Lynderella Liquid Valentine

In keeping with the glitter theme, I would like to share with you a special glitter polish that was recently added to my ever growing polish collection by two very dear friends in the polish community.  It is because of their caring and unselfish generosity that I have become a new Lynderella convert.  To be honest didn’t understand what all the hoopla was about until I tried on this little gem.



This is Lynderella Liquid Valentine, an exclusive indie glitter polish.  Lynderella polishes are famous for their mixture of multicolored glitter in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Liquid Valentine is no exception, containing glitter in pinks, purples, reds and sliver in a variety of shapes such as micro rounds, diamonds, hearts and squares.  But that is not all.  All that sparkly glitter is suspended in a pale pink base.  I layered Liquid Valentine over China Glaze Dance Baby from the recent Electropop collection then topped it with a heavy coat of Seche Vite. 

Since receiving Liquid Valentine I have added a few more Lynderella polishes to my collection that I cannot wait to share with you.  Rumor has it that there might be a new Lynderella collection appearing soon.  Lynderella polishes can be purchased from the Llarowe.  

A Splash of Radiance: Revlon Radiant Swatches

I have developed a new appreciation of glitter polishes as of late.  This can be partly attributed to the fact that I have finally learned how to tame the rough feeling that results after applying glitter polish.  Glitter polish is notorious for absorbing the base it is suspended in.  The result is is a bump and rough feel to the nails.  One or two heavy coats of a really good, thick top coat over the glitter will even out the rough feel and make your nails smooth.  My two favorite top coats to apply over glitter polishes are currently Seche Vite and Poshe, but I am open to suggestions.

So today I thought I would show you a glitter mani I wore some time ago. 



This is Revlon’s Radiant over Pure Ice Splash.  Radiant sparkles with hexagonal glitter in silver, light blue and some bright green thrown in for good measure all surrounded by silver and teal micro glitter in a clear base.  I applied two coats of Radiant to pump up the sparkle quotient and to ensure that the larger hexagonal glitter was represented equally.  Then I applied a top coat of Seche Vite to smooth the glitter out.  Absolutely…Radiant!

Brand                  Revlon
Name                  Radiant
Polish Type         Glitter
Color                         4 

color scale of 1 to 4

                   1 – utter crud
                   2 – not so great
                   3 – pretty but…
                   4 – Lovin’ It

Wear                         3               

wear scale of 1 to 4

                    1 – chippy, chip, chip
                    2 – don’t wash dishes in this
                    3 – lasted longer than my deodorant
                    4 -  Only super glue is stronger

Be Back Soon

Welcome to all my new followers!  I have taken a temporary leave of absence recently but will be returning very soon with tons of new polish, new to me anyway, to share with you.  Be on the look out for some new and exciting things starting soon and thank you again for joining me in my adventures in polish!

<3 Shannon