Kell's DIY Nails

Time to break out my stamping supplies! First I had to clean off an area on my nail table because its getting cluttered up with all kinds of nail polish. I've been doing some organizing but at the same time it seems I make a bigger mess than what I started with. Anyways, I used Bundle Monster Plate BM-308 ; it has two different citrus images. One is a full nail stamp, and the other is just a small stamp. I started with a base color of OPI, Sparrow Me The Drama from the Pirates of the Caribbean Collection released in 2011. I swear I just had to have this pink because I loved all the swatches I saw but after getting it on my nails I'm so not impressed. I think my skin tone does nothing for it and vice versa. It just looks like a boring mauve on me. Meh. Also, the formula was streaky; I used 2 coats but still have some visible nail line and it didn't self level. This photo shows without top coat since I was going to be stamping on top of it anyway. I know I was supposed ...

Back in the Summer of 2009 I was sitting at the reception desk of a dead-end job. The sad thing is I was lucky to have the job because the job scene was in the toilet. It was quite possibly the most boring job I have ever had except for the fact that there were 3 salesmen whom I bonded with and we found ways to keep ourselves occupied and entertained. Of course we had to make sure the branch manager and his pet monkey (the counter salesman) didn't catch on to any of it (we were known to play pranks on those two). We were kinda like 'The Office' but a little less obvious and there was no office romance (unless you counted the branch manager and his pet monkey). I spent much time goofing off on the Internet. Before you ask; No, there was nothing else for me to do. I already did it all. I turned that office around as far as organization and filing was concerned. I even kicked ass in doing all the customer service stuff (talking to unhappy customers, returns, all that junk)....

I have been drooling over the Catherine Arley Holographic Nail Lacquer for quite sometime. Just a few months back someone had this on their Swap/Sell Board so I went for it. These holos were originally released back in 2010. Catherine Arley is a Turkish brand so it can be a bit difficult to get your hands on these. I'm a lover of all things neutral so I love this light beige. Formula was actually very, very smooth and I love the brush; it fans out over the nail with a very soft touch and it was a breeze getting a nice line at the cuticle. The formula is very sheer; I used 3 coats here. However, dry time was excellent and I didn't use any top coat with this so that super shiny, glossy finish you see there is all from the polish. I had a little visible nail line but nothing that bothers me in real life. I didn't use a base coat for this swatch because I don't have a good base for holos. Amazingly, even with 3 coats I did not experience any drag or bare spots. Thi...

Back in 2010 I was taking the H&R Block Income Tax Course. Next to the H&R Block where I was taking the classes was a Beauty Supply Store. It was actually a great place to go dusty hunting; lots of old Jessica Nail Lacquers and they even carried Zoya. They always had the current OPI collections out and one of them was the Burlesque Collection. I know a lot of people were hoping that these glitters would be like the Alice In Wonderland glitters, but they just weren't quite there. I did however, take a liking to Sparkle-icious. A clear base full of small hexagon glitters in gold, blue, and fuchsia. It has good coverage in just one coat as you can see in the photo. I layered one coat over Revlon, Cherry Crush but it can easily be built up to opacity on it's own in 2-3 coats. Formula wise this is as good as glitters get. Normally, I hate these pro-wide brushes but with this glitter it applied very easily and evenly. Dry time was fast as usual with glitters. I topped it o...

Back when I got married in 2008 I had a very difficult decision to make: What to put on my tootsies. It all came about when I ended up buying open toed shoes instead of closed toe. They were pale gold kitten heels by Nine West. Quite possibly the best shoes for your wedding because they were elegant and glamorous without the risk of tripping and falling flat on your face in the aisle. Initially I wanted closed toe but these were the perfect shoe so I then started the task of finding the perfect pedi color. The colors of my wedding were pretty various because I hate matchy-matchy. I always go with what works, not what matches. My main pop of color was red though, a deep rose red. I used the red as an accent color and my other colors were neutrals (off-white, grey, and light blue) and metallics (gold & silver). My nails were going to be natural (but better using a sheer wash of a french shade) so I quickly decided my toes needed to have a pop of color. I wanted something deep, ri...

I've never done a Nail Challenge before but I stumbled upon this one and it's actually totally up my ally... Not too involved and a great way for me to show some of my older favorites. This blog post will tell you all about it: http://polishedmarvels.blogspot.com/2013/07/vintage-challenge-week.html Another problem I run into is that many of my older favorites are from companies that are no longer Cruelty Free so I don't want to advertise for them on my blog. Be sure to follow along with Polished Marvels & Little Miss Nailpolish ; they will have a Link Tool where you can upload your photos. You don't even need to have a blog to participate!