Kell's DIY Nails

Hey Gang! I've been back from vacation for a week now and I'm ready to go back! Anyways, whenever we go to the river we always make several trips to the Walmart in Bullhead City, AZ to grab necessities and snacks (oh, and water too!). I also love to check out their Cosmetics Department because many times I find things there that I don't see at my local Walmart stores. Every trip I end up picking up something and this trip was no different. I actually found all three of the Hard Candy Eye Palettes in Sassy Eyes, Smokey Eyes, and Neutral Eyes (FYI: These are really great little palettes that remind me of the Tin Palettes from Too Faced; check 'em out if you get a chance!) as well as Salon Perfect's The Manicure System . I hadn't spotted this locally so I thought I would give it a go and we can see how well it works together! Sound like FUN?!? This system consists of a Nail Cleanser, Bonding Base Coat, and High-Shine Top Coat. The Nail Cleanser is ba...

Are you guys as excited as I am?!? Do you know what I'm talking about? Well, let me fill you in! Tonight is the Season Premiere of The Walking Dead ! Been waiting months and months for this day... Can you guess why I am wearing an accent nail of Lizzie? If you watch the show you know that one of the most explosive episodes last season was 'The Grove' . If you are behind on the show and don't want any spoilers you should cut out now. Lizzie was a young girl who basically had a mental breakdown and began seeing zombies as people. In this episode she kills her sister so she will turn into a zombie. It was quite a mind fuck. Since Lizzie was a clear danger to those around her (and shrinks don't exist in the zombie apocalypse) she was directed to ''Look at the flowers" and was dispatched. If you know what I mean.  On 3 nails:  All Aboard  is a muted deep purple creme. It's very pretty. The formula was a little on the squishy side but still opaque in 2 ea...

I'm back with Week 6 of the Polish Swap Society Nail Art Challenge! This weeks theme is:  I AM SO SPACED OUT! Pastel Galaxy nails sound fun for spring/summer right? Using this tutorial, create a set of galaxy nails! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZGHOIsMmxA I just got Spellbound Nails , Visions of Sugar Plums in a swap with a fellow member of the Polish Swap Society and I thought it would make for a great base color for this challenge. It's a very pretty dusty purple jelly with what looks to be small and medium matte white hexagons. It also has either matte white or silver stars; I'm not 100% sure because the base actually covers them and makes them look light purple. The formula was pretty thick so I applied each coat nice and slow to get even coverage. I used 2 medium coats but luckily it didn't take too long to dry and it was pretty opaque after 2 coats. I did have to fish to get the stars out but it wasn't too difficult. Lots of shaking and turning the bottle...

I no longer say 'Happy Memorial Day' because I had a vet tell me he hatred it when people said that. He didn't know why anyone would be happy on a day that honors those who perished in battle to protect our freedoms. That makes since. It really shouldn't be a 'Happy' day but a day of rememberance and respect. It's a Memorial, not a BBQ or pool party. But that's how most people view it; it's an excuse to get an extra day off and to have fun. To be honest I too used to see it that way. You don't know until someone educates you. So, now, I simply have a moment of silence and prayer for our fallen. I think hard about the ultimate sacrifice they (and their families) made. So, yeah, no Happy Memorial Day over here; instead I give thanks to those who have served and put my life above their own. It's tradition for my hubby and I to go out camping with our Uncle Jimmy (Special Forces, Navy) and his military brothers. We drive out to Death Valley in a ...

So where have I been lately... Oh just running around like a chicken with my head cut off is all! Had some 'life' come up and so nail stuff got sent to the back of the line. I almost missed a week but to be honest the submission was not up to blog standards so I didn't even post it here. I'll post it at the very end of this one in case you wanna see it. So for the 3rd week of the Polish Swap Society Nail Art Challenge the theme is a sweet treat inspired mani. Cupcakes, sprinkles, whatever you like! I looked up a few different tutorials on Google and such and found this one:  http://www.beautylish.com/v/sriuj/candy-frost-nail-art-tutorial So here are my tweaked version of frosting nails. Frosting is perfect because my husband is notorious for simply buying a tub of frosting. Makes me wanna gag. I always ask him why not get a cake mix too so he could cut his frosting a little. LOL I used a base color of Pokerface by NARS . Oh. My. Goodness. I'm now hooked and need mo...

Who's with me on the Texture Train?!?  Here we have my 1st creme texture polish. Milani released some some creme texture collections in summer and fall last year and I really liked them. I grabbed the purple & yellow from the summer release. The fall release had some really unique neutrals so I grabbed a soft sage green, a medium mauve, and this pale lavender. I swatched them on swatched sticks and put photos on my Facebook page . The great thing about this light colored texture polish is typically light colors are a bit streaky but this one is super opaque. The only reason you need a 2nd coat is to get a better texture effect. I used my typical base coat of Barielle's Hydrating Ridgefiller. The formula is thick but not thick enough to make it difficult to apply. The only issue in application was the brush didn't fan out on the nail so I had a bit more clean up than usual. Just don't try to apply the coats too thin or you will need to dip back into the bottle. I di...

Julie G, Crushed Candy. 2 coats.  These texture polishes are great; I seriously did not expect to like them so much. I don't have any of the Zoya PixieDust collection but the Gumdrop Collection by Julie G has got me. They all apply so beautifully and look great. Crushed Candy is a light red toned lavender. This particular polish has the fine texture of typical texture polishes but they added some hexagon glitters in silver and lavender in there too. It gives it a little more sparkle and makes the matte texture less noticeable.  I've also worn Hot Cinnamon from this collection which is vibrant berry red. I will be posting that one soon but Hot Cinnamon does not have the hex glitter in it and I actually liked that one better but it is a matter of which you personally prefer. I still like Crushed Candy; it looked more textured in real life than it does in this photo. It's so blingy it made the photo blur; couldn't get a single photo where it wasn't blurred. Of...

ManGlaze, Mink Mitten. 2 coats. How to begin? How about... This is freaking awesome! I love this silvery lavender foil; I didn't think I would like this color on me but I really love it. I seriously wanted to keep it on. Screw all the other purple posts. No, No, I can't do that! (Bummer!) ManGlaze is the king of all matte polishes; the formula is butter and they all apply really great. I have never had a bad ManGlaze polish. I know matte polishes don't normally have the greatest of staying power but I still love them. This one is a perfect foil finish; not a brush stroke in sight, just shimmery shiny goodness. The other great thing about mattes is they dry super quick so if you need a speedy mani just go for a matte. On this I applied two coats really quickly with no dragging or anything. I also appreciate that the formula is the perfect viscosity so it makes application pretty much goof proof; the brush is good too. I got a perfect line up to my cuticle and no clea...

Duri, Grape Swirl. 2 coats. This is a great shade if you don't happen to be a 'color' person. This is a muted down lavender and it is very unique in my stash. It has a lovely micro shimmer. There are some visible brush strokes in the photo but they were unnoticeable in real life. The formula was nice, but a little thin. The thin formula makes for easy application of thin coats but you will also want to be cautious of pooling at the cuticle and sides of your nail. The first coat went on pretty opaque with just a few bare spots so my second coat evened it all out. Dry time was pretty fast but I didn't use a base coat or top coat either. This polish does translate a little darker on the nail than in the bottle, in shade it looks like a dark grey but when the light hits it it lightens up to this mink lavender. Very pretty. Since I'm such a nut for neutrals this will definitely be a polish I will wear in the future. I bet it would be even prettier with a coat of ...

Illamasqua, Speckle. 2 coats. Here's the other Illamasqua polish I bought from the Imperfect Collection. I love these. Plus, isn't this just the perfect polish for Easter?!? A little later this week I will be posting the wear test results for my CND Shellac mani so stayed tuned. The formula on Speckle is just like Mottle; excellent. Again, I just want to exclaim how much I love these brushes; it makes application a breeze. I finished it off with a coat of Gelous and then Barielle's Manicure Extender Top Coat. I'm sure I will get lots of compliments like I did with Mottle; even some of my elderly clients loved it.  I love this sooo much!  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter; I'm just happy I'm not working but I best enjoy it now cause I won't have another day off until April 18th! LOL There's no rest for the wicked and money don't grow on trees...

Dollish Polish, Looking For My Mr. Big. 2 coats. Stamping with Bundle Monster Plate BM-317 and Wet n Wild, Wild Shine in Black Creme.  Outdoors, Sunlight.  Stamping with Bundle Monster plate BM-317   I'm a huge fan of Sex In The City; I have all of the seasons on DVD and the movies too. When I saw The PolishAholic post this I knew I had to have it. It's also perfect for Valentine's Day. It's a warm lavender with a delicate holo shine. While I always thought Big was an asshole (and still do) I can also attest that many times your love can get stronger when tested. If you can make it through the rough patches; you will find an even stronger bond waiting on the other side. As for me, I've already found my Mr. Big... er... well, no, my husband is nothing like Big. He's better because he would never mess with my heart like that. As for the polish it's nothing like Big either. It's easy to work with, much like a jelly. Initially I t...