Feeling Patriotic - The Americana Collection

It's collection time again!! This time I take inspiration from the upcoming 4th of July and the national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, to bring you the ultimate Americana Collection. :)

Available on:

www.spellboundnails.com

www.spellboundnails.etsy.com

www.spellboundnails.storenvy.com

This collection has a little of everything. 2 glitter toppers, 2 shimmered holographics in red and blue, and a creamy white crelly with red and blue glitter.

And did I mention how amazing they look together? I used all 5 to create this amazing mismatched mani - perfect for any patriotic holiday. It is seriously easy too! This is 2 thin coats of Star Spangled on my middle fingers, 3 thin coats of Rockets Red Glare and Twilight's Last Gleaming with one thin coat of Home of the Brave and Bombs Bursting in Air over each respectively.

Stick around to get a look at each polish. :)

Twilight's Last Gleaming is a blue holographic with a chunky blue shimmer. It dries to a matte like finish so a top coat is a must to really bring life back.

Bombs Bursting in Air is one of those very simple polishes that manages to be something amazing! It's a mix of red, white, and blue stars and bar glitter with a dose of rainbow colored shimmer. I am reminded of fireworks exploding in a night sky every time I look at this. Shown here over Carbon Copy from The Neutrals creme collection.

And here is a close-up of how it looks over Twilight's Last Gleaming. That shimmer is just to die for!!

Star Spangled is a creamy white crelly with red and blue hexes and stars that is just sheer enough to showcase every piece of glitter. Shown here is 2 thin coats. The key is keeping your layers thin so you show glimpses of the previous layers glitter. :)

This may look familiar to those of you who have been with me from the start. This is the reformulated Miss 'Merica that was tucked into orders around the 4th of July last year. Now going by Home of the Brave, this polish is a perfect fit for the Americana Collection. It's a mix of red, white, and blue glitter with blue stars. It adds a patriotic touch to any polish. Shown over Hearthstone from The Darks creme collection.

Last but no where near least is Rockets Red Glare. This one is so hard to photograph, and I really didn't manage to capture the true awesomeness of this polish. It is a red holographic with a fine red shimmer. I direct your attention to the mismatched mani at the top of this post as it really shows a lot more of its shimmer and shine in that pic. This polish also dries to a matte like finish so a top coat will really help add shine and sparkle. :)

If you stuck around through the whole post - congrats and I hope you enjoyed the Americana Collection. Do you have a favorite from this collection?

And here's a bit of real life news if you stuck around. One of my nieces just turned 16 yesterday. Where does the time go?? For the first few years of this little girl's life I helped raise her ... so I'm really feeling old. 

Until next time,
? Ashley

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Laced Up Corsets - Valentine's Day Nail Art

Valentine's Day is closing in quickly and I figured it was time to start posting some of my Valentine's Day nail art. First up - corset nails. :)

I've always wanted a corset (and the confidence to actually wear it). I guess having them on my nails is the next best thing.

I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Cheeks Tinted Red and drew a quick line down the middle with Spellbound Nails I'm All Aflutter. If I had thought this through I would have started with a base of I'm All Aflutter and taped off the middle for neater lines but the end result wasn't horrible. The laces of the corset actually helped disguise the imperfect lines so I call it a win!

A close up look of the corsets. I used Spellbound Nails Steel Wool for the metal and some unaltered white base for the laces.

Overall, this is not a hard mani at all! And if you don't feel up to doing all 10 nails as corsets these work perfectly as accent nails as well. :)

Until next time,
? Ashley ?

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Calling All Doctor Who Fans

Source: Fanpop

I warn you now - get ready for the fangirling! And images, lots of images. If you want to skip the images and go straight to the polish you can simply go to my shop and see the swatches ... but just know that you will be missing something awesome!! AWESOME, I SAY!!!

Source: Pinterest

Seriously, don't wander off! You might miss something important ... and awesome ... definitely awesome.

Photo Credit: Adrian Rogers, � BBC

Did you know that this weekend is the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who?? Did you really think a Whovian obsessed nut like me could let that day pass without releasing a special polish?

Surely you jest!

Leave The Brakes On is a Tardis blue holographic. Did anyone else really love that bit in Time of Angels where River tells the Doctor that the Tardis isn't supposed to make that noise ... he just leaves the brakes on! Maybe you didn't love that bit. Still wandering why would I take my inspiration from the Tardis?

Photo Credit: Adrian Rogers, � BBC

Well ... the Doctor is always changing. Just about the only constant of the show is the Tardis. The Tardis never changes ...

Source: Doctor Who Wiki

Except that time it was an organ ...

Source: Rebloggy

Or, ya know, that time it was a woman.

Photo taken in my lightbox

 But really, the Doctor would be nothing without the Tardis and it's ability to travel through time and space. He'd just be some odd alien bloke who works in a shop.

Source: Tumblr

Yes, yes, it's pretty in my lightbox, but check out the pictures taken with flash and in the sunlight!

Photo taken with flash.

Photo taken in sunlight

Photo taken in sunlight

Source: Tumblr

Do you see it? Do you see the awesomeness of this polish?? I thought you might, so there is only one thing left to say ...

Source: Tumblr

WHY WHY MUST THERE ALWAYS BE A GOODBYE????

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Sally Splatter and Real Life Love

Hello everyone!! I have a bit of nail art for you and some real life love. :)

I'll start with the nail art since I figure that's what you're here for.

I've been calling this one Sally Splatter in my head and it's been sitting in my nail art folder for a few weeks at least. I started with my own white base and used Sally Hansen Fuchsia Power, Lacey Lilac, and Blue Me Away! It uses only Sally Hansen nail polish and is a splatter mani hence the name. Very original, right? ;)

Ready for some real life love?

There's been a lot of rain and nasty storms this summer. Dark storm clouds like this just roll in suddenly and let loose floods of rain water. Not fun when vacation is barely weeks away and I'm still working on my tan!

Still, all that rain (if it stops before nightfall) does create the most stunningly gorgeous sunsets. And if you're wondering, yes, the rain and the sunset pics were taken on the same day. :)

And leaves the moon so bright and clear! Like, with the rest of the world around me, it was washed clean in the rain water.

While I want more than anything for some hot summer days I wouldn't give up these beautiful nights for anything!

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Patriotic Drips Nail Art Tutorial

Hello everyone!! It's been forever since I posted anything. I knew running a nail polish business was going to take time, but I guess I never realized just how much of my blogging time it would eat into. I'm working really hard to keep up with orders, restocks, and developing new releases. Any free time I manage to grasp is spent storing up nail art and swatches so I can start posting again - hopefully within the next few months.

My patriotic nail art has been getting a ton of stardom lately. My nails can even be found in the July issue of People StyleWatch magazine! If you don't have a subscription to this magazine I recommend getting one. It's one of the best magazines I've read in a long time! I didn't have to search and skim, skipping large portions of the magazine, because every page had something interesting to me.

Now, onto the nails!!! With all that interest for my patriotic nails I decided to try something different. I won't claim that I created this - someone, somewhere has probably done this before - but I will say it is something I have never seen before! I would love to see your nails if you decide to try the tutorial, so don't be scared to send them to me. I don't bite. Promise!! :)

Right click and open in a new tab if you're having trouble reading the tutorial.

That's it for now. For those who don't follow me on Facebook but enjoy my polish I will be having a big restock, complete with a ton of NEW polishes and the return of those sold out polishes some of you may be waiting for! Head over to my Etsy shop tomorrow to see what I've come up with. Hope to see ya there. :)

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Pastel Gradient with Born Pretty Store Studs

Hello again! Gradients seem to be the thing for me lately. I think it's the coming of Spring and Summer; I'm just preparing! So I dug out the most pastel colors I own for a pretty and feminine spring gradient � a little early, but it would be perfect for Easter.

Those most pastel colors I own just happened to be Sally Hansen Pink Blink, Petites Color Fever Creme Blue, and Revlon Enchanting. I decided to try a makeup sponge with this gradient instead of my usual eyeshadow applicator. I like the smooth fade between colors, but I didn't like the extra work it took to get the colors built up. I also thought it was beyond time to break out my Born Pretty Store gold metal studs. I received these by mistake with an old order and they were nice enough to let me keep them while also shipping out the ones I did order. It's been too long since I played with these studs. ;)

I'm thinking it's also been too long since I ordered anything from the Born Pretty Store. I forgot how awesome their nail decorations are! And they've come out with so much more since my last order. I'm dying for the hearts ... and the squares ... and the stars ... and ... well, I think you get the idea! I'll definitely be ordering something. 

You can use the code MLE10W21 at checkout for 10% off your order if you decide to purchase something from the Born Pretty Store too!

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Rainbow Gradient

Today is supposed to be my X nail art for the ABC Challenge, but I'm stumped on what to do for this letter. I'll think of something by next challenge ... hopefully. For now, check out the rainbow gradient I wore last weekend.

I hate the claw, but it's pretty much the only position in nails that need to include the thumb. Some of you may remember the sideways rainbow gradient from my NOH8 nails. I wanted to try something different this time so I did them as a normal gradient. I found the lightest rainbow colors from my collection to use for this.

Here are my nails before clean-up. So messy!!! I usually tape around my nails before doing something this messy, but I forget. Isn't that the way things usually go? You only forget something that would speed things up when you're in a hurry!

I took this picture in the car. It was snowing so hard and then a little bit of sunlight peeked through, and I couldn't resist snapping a few pics. It's not up to my usual standard, but there's something I really like about this picture.

I couldn't resist getting a picture of my cotton ball after I removed the gradient. I'm reminded of a clown's wig, lol.

Colors Used: Rimmel English Rose, Sinful Colors Hazard, Sally Hansen Lightening, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, Wet n Wild I Need A Refresh-Mint, Wet n Wild On a Trip

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Blogs to Love Friday #1

Welcome to the first post of the Blogs to Love Friday linkup. I was so excited when I first heard of this linkup and I'm even more excited now that it's time to share my favorite posts I read this week. But first ... if you want to join this linkup being hosted by My Beautiful, Crazy Life and Mrs. Monologues read this post and add this button to your posts.


 
<br /><a href="http://mybeautifulcrazylifex33.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-linkup-blogs-to-love-friday.html"><img src="http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/mrsmonologues/blogstolovebutton_zps827e2b62.jpg" /></a><br />
Now onto some of my favorite posts of this week. They may not have been posted this week, but I did find them and read them this week.

• These Mattified Splatter Nails by modnails may not have been posted this week, but I did find it this week. Be sure to check out her other nails because they are all amazingly awesome!!
• I use this Coconut Banana Bliss Smoothie recipe almost daily so that has to count, right? It doesn't really come from a blog. I found it on Pinterest though, which is kind of like a blog, lol. I made two very simple changes to the recipe: substituting the coconut oil with coconut water and the Sustain packet for 1 tbsp of yogurt.
• I look forward to every new post by Sensible Stylista and her newest outfit post has me wanting to rush out and buy some printed skinny jeans. Seriously? Her every post has me wanting to rush out and buy something! I know some of these things won't look good on me, but she makes them look so great that I want them anyway!
• There are many things to love about The Freckled Fox: her wonderful fashion sense, her adorable crafts, her yummy looking food, or even her amazing photos plus much, much more. However, I adore The Freckled Fox for her hair tutorials! The one I think most deserves sharing is the Posh Faux Hawk. OMG, I am so in love with this look. What odd and slightly weird girl has never dreamed of having a Mohawk at one time in their lives? I certainly have. Almost went for it too, but the reality of having to wear it day in and day out hit hard. This is one hawk you can love and leave and love again!! Still, if faux hawks aren't your thing, I'm sure she'll have a tutorial that is more your style. 
• This Double Saran Wrap Tutorial video by DullLikeGlitter is another very old post, but one I was super lucky to find on Preen.me this week! She also has a picture tutorial post on her blog. I tried this with light pink, white, and baby blue but can't wait for summer to try her bright red, yellow, and blue look!

I keep trying to expand my V-Day mani ideas to incorporate colors other than white, pink, and red. I decided to substitute the often used red for blue in this one, and I think it still has all the makings of a good V-Day mani.

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Gradient Fail

Welcome to my gradient fail. This isn't a full fail, but under any light except very direct sunlight and my lightbox these colors are just too dark to show the gorgeous fade between them.

Even with my lightbox I had a very hard time capturing this gradient. I used two polishes from the OPI Best of the Best mini collection. I got this collection as a gift Christmas 2011, and I love it to pieces.

The first polish I used, and the base of my gradient, is Russian Navy. Wow! I can see why this was one of the Best of the Best. Originally from the OPI Russian Collection, Russian Navy is now an OPI Classic shade. From the outside, Russian Navy looks purple. However, once you untwist that cap you're in for a shock! This polish is a deep indigo blue and all that purple you saw from the outside fades into a subtle shimmer.

Next, I used Lincoln Park After Dark, originally from the Chicago Collection. Alone this polish is a very deep, dark purple, but turned black when layered over Russian Navy. I was hoping once I got it sponged on and added a top coat that the beauty of this purple would shine through but I couldn't get a hint of purple on my nails no matter the light I put it under ... though some of the purple color did show in the bottle.

Lastly, I added a small amount of black to the very tips, reminiscent of a French tip.

One coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat sealed the colors together and gave my nails an amazing amount of shine. This is my very first bottle of Seche Vite, bought and paid for with a free gift card I earned with my Swagbucks account. Sign up for an account of your own and use the code JANTASTIC (before 11:59 PT tonight) and you'll start with 100 Swag Bucks. Hint: A $5 Amazon gift card is 450 Swag Bucks.

So, overall, if I was going to walk around with my hands in a lightbox this would be a perfect gradient. I don't think that idea would work very well though and, sadly, neither does this mani anywhere except these pictures. :(

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Happy Hanukkah

Two posts in one day?? Yes!! There has been an influx of Hanukkah nail art, but I still come up with very little in search engines. I'm not Jewish, but I don't think there can ever be enough nail art for holidays, any holiday. So I felt it was my nail artist duty to contribute. :)

This is based around a really beautiful menorah I saw in one of my Hanukkah searches. There were, of course, four candle holders on each side and rising up from the middle was a Star of David candle holder. There were no candles in the holders in the picture but I could just imagine how stunning it would look all lit up.  I just had to use that Star of David and put a candle on top.

As for the other nails, I thought this all deserved a beautiful and simple background to draw attention to the accent nail. After two disasters with tape, I finally just free-handed the stripes using China Glaze Blue Bells Ring over Pure Ice Silver Mercedes.

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If there is ever a holiday coming up that you want to see nail art for let me know. I barely follow US holidays let alone those internationally, but I would love the chance to attempt nail art for your favorite holiday. Leave me a comment or Contact Me so I can mark them on my calendar. :)

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China Glaze Holiday Joy � Blue Bells Ring

I am finally going to begin posting the swatches for the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. I don't own the full collection, but you'll be seeing more than a few of the glitters.

First up is Blue Bells Ring, an icy metallic blue. This is two coats, but Blue Bells Ring is a very opaque polish. I definitely could have gotten away wearing just one coat. 

I was really pleased with how well this polish went on. It has a super smooth application. It didn't streak or turn gooey while I was applying. It also came off really easily. Be extra careful with any cleanup because the blue comes off first, leaving behind the silver metallic shimmer. That only took a few extra swipes to get up, but you can see near the cuticle of my pinky finger what happens when you get too close to the polish during cleanup.

The only problem I had, big or small, was staining! The blue, once it came in contact with my polish remover, went everywhere. It got all over my hands and fingers and it took an extra cotton ball per hand to get off. It's not a huge con when weighed against so many pros, but I will say don't remove this polish while wearing or even while you're near anything expensive or fancy.

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