Kell's DIY Nails

I've heard good things about ACI Gelous Advanced Nail Gel Coat when used as either a base coat or between coats so I thought I would give it a try. I applied my go-to base coat of Barielle, Hydrating Ridge Filler . I then applied a coat of High Tide, a coat of Gelous, a coat of High Tide and lastly a coat of ACI In A Hurry Quick Dry Top Coat . Gelous does take awhile to dry so it did extend application time but let's see if it extends wear time as well as I've heard. After 4 days this is pretty impressive especially since I wasn't very delicate with them. After 6 days my index nail looks pretty rough but this nail is really thin and flexible right now not to mention it is peeling. My other nails look pretty good still. Sorry about the lack of sunlight in this photo; we've got a storm moving into So Cal right now. This is my left hand so let me show you my right hand (dominate  hand) too. Again, my index nail is looking rough but this one is in the same condition as...

When I was on the e.l.f. website I noticed some new(ish) colors so I thought we should take a look at them! I know these are not really Winter or Holiday colors but let's be honest it's gonna be over in a flash and then it will be Spring. These are very versatile colors and a sparkly top coat (Twinkle Twilight) just gives you even more ways to rock them.  Prissy Chrissy   made me laugh; that name! I knew a Chrissy back in my school days who was definitly prissy. This soft peach creme is a nice palette cleanser but not quite a nude so you still get some nice color. I used 2 coats for this swatch stick but I really think this one will need 3 to eliminate any streaks and sheer spots. The creamy fomula was easy to apply. I have nothing quite like Prissy Chrissy; it's definitly a peach tone but with a touch of pink and has a brightness to it like nothing in my stash. Because this is warmer toned than Barielle's Kiss Me Kate I don't think it will give me lobster hands.  ...

The Polish Swap Society Facebook Group is having an 8-week Nail Art Challenge and I decided to join in. Week 1 is Party Animal Theme. Basically you choose an animal of your choice. I decided to do my 2 Dogs and my Cat!  I used 2 different tutorials and adapted them to fit my vision: Cat: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QsRnVDhY5bo Dogs: http://www.nuthinbutanailthing.com/2013/08/dog-nail-art-tutorial.html I practiced fine tuning my idea on some swatch sticks. Translating the colors of my dogs was the hardest part. My tuxedo cat was easy-peasy. I started with a base color of  Essence Nail Art Twins in Bella . These are HTF and I recently got lucky and got them from a stash sale. My main reason for choosing this color is that it is easily a one coater and it would dry quickly so I could start the nail art. I also knew I would be using the glitter in Edward on a few of my nails. (No, I am not a Twilight fan; I just love the color of this set) Thumb: My cat...

Haze Glaze, Party Rockin. 1 coat over Barry M, Dusky Mauve. A few days after wearing Barry M, Dusky Mauve I decided I needed to add glitter. In perusing my untried glitters I found an indie I bought quite a long time ago but never got around to using. This is Haze Glaze, Party Rockin. It's a fun glitter bomb full of medium hexagon glitters in magenta, light pink, teal, light blue, and silver. There are also tiny hexagon glitters in light blue and holographic bar glitters in silver. There's still more! Unknown by me until I wore it, there is a blue shimmer in the black jelly base. Wow! It totally took Dusky Mauve in a completely different direction with a blue shimmer instead of a pink one. I'm a bit of a jerk for showing you this glitter because Haze Glaze is no longer in business. However, Haze Glaze was the very first indie polish I ever purchased and I have quite a few of her creations so you will probably see more in the future. Check out Sweet Tart and In The ...

2 coats with Gelous & In A Hurry. I'm drooling on my keyboard, guys. I finally got my little monster paws on a Nerd Lacquer and she's a stunner! Cyance Friction is a bright teal base loaded with square teal glitter, gold and bronze hexagon glitter and then the deal breaker: pink glass flecks. Good Lord! I'm dying! It's that good! The formula was actually really nice. It's a little thick but not difficult to apply. The base color is sheer but not too sheer because all I needed was 2 coats for full opacity. I hardly had any clean up too. It does dry gritty so I used a coat of Gelous and then a coat of In A Hurry to get a rock hard and glossy finish. Dry time was relatively quick as well. This is an absolutely awesome polish; it's complex but not too over the top. This is art. I can't wait to add some more Nerd's to my stash!

Hard Candy, Pixie Pink. 2 coats.  I finally got my hands on the Hard Candy Sprinkles! Yay! I wasn't having any luck finding them locally but when the hubby and I went to Needles, AZ for a wedding we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Bull Head City and I found these stocked there! I did a little happy dance right there in Wal-Mart; which by the way is a pretty awesome Super Wal-Mart that is very clean. Pixie Pink is one of the ones I picked up. I also got Sweet Tooth, Pink Taffy, and Cocoa Smore. Cocoa Smore is the one I really wanted but for some reason Pixie Pink called to me when I decided to do my nails this time around. It's a pale pink/lavender base with small hex glitter in teal, silver, and light pink. It's very squishy looking and you could call this a Jelly Sandwich in a bottle - I'm pretty sure you could call all of them that. Formula was pretty good; it was easy to apply and the brush is nice too. My first coat went on easily but a litt...

Barielle, Sweet Addiction. 2 coats. Barielle, Cosmic Kiss. 3 coats. (Ring Finger Only) Here I'm showing you the other two Shades in Barielle's Summer Brights Collection. Sweet Addiction is a great creamy teal that could easily be a one coater. The formula is super easy to work with and applies like butter. Dry time was average and I didn't experience any issues with dragging or bare spots. I then decided to add an accent nail of Cosmic Kiss; a vibrant fuchsia pink. Its almost a neon pink. Formula on Cosmic Kiss was not as great as Sweet Addiction; there's a little more sheerness to it and its a thinner consistency. I had to use a bit more caution in my application to avoid pooling at the cuticle. After 2 coats there were still bare patches so I added a 3rd coat to get it fully opaque. I also have this color on my toes because it is a perfect pedi color. Again, dry time was average. I finished my mani off with a coat of Gelou...

CND Shellac, Hotski to Tchotchke. 2 coats. I love painting my nails, but sometimes life can get a little hairy and you can't always find the time to do your nails regularly enough to keep them looking nice. For me that happens during tax season when I'm practically living at the office. It's a serious drag to feel as though you need to find some time to polish your nails yet you're not enjoying it. For a long time I have been following gel nail polish products. I even went and got a few them done at salons. Once I tried the OPI Axium Gel, then a generic that I couldn't determine the brand of, and of course I tried CND's Shellac. As far as the application and removal process goes I was drawn most to Shellac. However, when I went to a salon (listed on the CND website) and had an approved nail tech apply it, it was a total disaster. The application looked like it was done by a 7 year old and it didn't have the shine, nor the staying power; it started pe...

Icing, Twisted Fantasy. 2 coats over: Sinful Colors, Rise & Shine. 1 coat.  Sunlight. Do you ever feel the need to just be spontaneous and drop everything to go have some fun?!? Well, that's what my husband and I did for my birthday. Even though I don't have much time to take off during tax season I happened to notice that my boss didn't have me scheduled last Friday and Saturday so the hubby and I drove up to Vegas thursday night after I got off work. We spent all day Friday walking around Vegas and then ended the night with some roulette and some tequilla shots. It was pretty awesome. We spent Saturday morning recouperating and then drove home so I could go to work Sunday morning. Ah, the life of a Tax Pro. :-) I wanted to do something celebratory with my nails so I settled on Icing's Twisted Fantasy; a rainbow of confetti glitter in a sheer teal blue base. It's very sheer even at 3 coats so I used undies of Sinful Colors' Rise & Shine. Ris...