Kell's DIY Nails

Applying for jobs is a full-time job ya'll.... I've been hitting it extra hard lately. I've had some success (which has been a long time coming) so I'm really hoping good things come of it. Meanwhile, I did manage to paint both my finger nails and toe nails this gorgeous summery shade. Zoya, Myrta is described on Zoya's website as: 'a warm medium orange coral with red undertone, gold and silver metallic shimmer, and a foil-like finish. The coral color of Myrta is soft, but the foil finish gives it added warmth and glow.' I think that description is dead-on accurate. I love these types of corals for summer. It's no secret that one of my all time favorite nail polishes is Essie's Escapades which is also in that same color family. It's a shame that Essie is no longer cruelty free. The formula on this polish is ideal; it's buttery smooth and applies with ease. 2 coats and done. Very little clean up needed. Zoya polishes ar...

Happy New Year! To ring in my New Year (which hopefully will be 110% better than 2014 - Good Riddance!) I went with an interesting combo that tuned out looking a lot like Fruit Cake! LOL I applied 2 coats of Zoya, Anja which I got in my Zoya Mystery Bag (it's a mini). Zoya's website describes it as   'a rich, deep, vampy red-toned wine purple with a glossy creme finish. This vampy shade is both sexy and elegant.'  but I see it as more of a dark burgundy. Either way it is a very vampy color and if you love black polish I think you will like this as well. In low lighting it looks black. Formula was a little on the thin side so I had to be cautious to avoid using too much product but otherwise it applied nicely. It definitly requires 2 thin coats for full opacity. Dry time was good as well. I then topped Anja with one coat of Dollish Polish , 1, 2, Freddy's Coming For You . This was one I meant to  wear in October but circumstances occured where I wasn't able to p...

I hope you all are enjoying your Christmas (or other holiday) festivities!  I've got another Christmasy mani for you today... I applied 2 coats of Zoya's Veruschka which is one of the MatteVelvet shades that dry matte. This is a deep evergreen with beautiful shimmer. It applied very nicely and since it is a matte it dried quickly. These MatteVelvet's might not be around for long so I suggest getting them now while you can; they are some of the most beautiful mattes. Then I dabbed on one coat of Lumina Lacquer , Hooked On Christmas . Sadly, this particular polish is no longer available but there is one called Jingle Bells that you might like. I love circle glitter and this is various sizes of circle and hexagon glitter in red and various shades of green. There's also a variety of matte, metallic, and holographic finishes. The clear base is a very thick suspension base which required a slightly longer dry time. It also dried a little bumpy but a few coats of ACI's I...

Today I've got a little 'Extend-A-Mani' action for you. I layered 1 coat of Sprinkles , multisized matte hexagon glitters in White and Magenta, over Zoya, Rory . The clear base is very thick but definitely suspends the glitter well. I used the dabbing method to get good glitter placement. Dry time was quick and did dry a little gritty so I used a coat of Gelous and then In A Hurry to smooth everything out. P.S. 62 Days til Halloween! I'm so excite! I'm already planning out my decorations and outfits; but I still haven't decided on my costume... I want to be The Ringmaster or Zombie Bride or maybe even a Gunslinger . What costumes are you guys looking at? Have you already decided what you are dressing up as? Or do just not dress up? Personally, I love it. Halloween is my favorite holiday! I've got my Halloween Board on Pinterest that I've been busy pinning too; check it out!

I just got this polish from Zoya; they had another great promo so I got this one and Channing . It has such a nice formula and it's packed with a silvery white shimmer. I knew I had to put it on right away! Am I the only one who thinks of The Gilmore Girls when I see the name Rory? I used 2 coats of Zoya, Rory and the formula was very nice and easy to apply. Dry time was average. I always find that shimmer polishes like these are always very nice in formula and consistency. Rory is from the 2012 Summer Beach & Surf Collection . She looks very pink in these photos but she also has some cool lilac undertones; a unique pink and also unique to my stash. She falls right between SpaRitual, Courage (lighter, more mauve) and Illamasqua, Ouija (much brighter pink).  In looking at my pinks I have found they have become the underdog in my collection; I will need to remedy that. Can you recommend any great pinks? What's your favorite pink?

Back in the early 90's I was in Jr. High and among all of the trendy and popular brands was Maui and Sons . They make board shorts, tshirts, tanks, hoodies, etc.; it's all beach inspired wear. A trademark of theirs was a shark called Sharkey. They used either neons or washed out colors in their designs so I thought I would close out Shark Week with a Maui and Sons inspired shark mani. Thumb & Pinkie: I used 3 coats of Julep, Nadia . This soft golden yellow shimmer isn't bad; I was expecting it to be sheerer than it is. I also thought it would be streaky and plagued with brush strokes but I was pleasantly surprised. The formula was easy to work with; I actually used my Plié Wand for the first time doing this mani and it worked pretty well. Dry time was average. Do you know what type of shark this is? Index & Ring: 3 coats of Julep, MacKenzie . I really like this bright lime green shimmer and it would probably look even brighter over a white base. It's a lot...

Hey, Guys! On Tuesday I saw Motley Crüe for their Final Tour and I'm still dragging ass! Fun but exhausting! My nails were pretty basic; I didn't have time to do anything more. I started with a base color of Zoya, Raven , a nice black with very fine silver shimmer (sorry, no photo of Raven). I used one medium coat and I had a few sheer spots but for this mani it wasn't an issue. Two thin coats would have been ideal. Good formula and easy to apply. After Raven was dry I added one coat of Orly, Space Cadet . I've been waiting for the perfect time to wear this... and this was it. I love the metallic oil slick look! Formula was super easy to apply. I also applied Illamasqua's UV Glow Top Coat, Geist , because Michaela suggested it but it turned out there weren't any black lights at the concert. Just had to do 'Devil Horns'! Sorry about the tip wear in the photos but it took me 2 days to take photos. Here's a quick 60 second clip of the open...

Week 5 of the Polish Swap Society Nail Art Challenge is Cornucopia of Fruit! Create a fruit themed mani. Watermelons, fimo fruit, whatever you chose! I didn't use a tutorial; just kind of had an idea pop in my head and I ran with it. We have a Tangelo Tree in our backyard and twice a year we get a bumper crop of these delicious sweet tarts. Tangelos are a hybrid of the orange and grapefruit, so they are a sweeter version of an orange. They are a good sized fruit leaning towards the size of a large orange. They are also easier to peel than an orange (much like a tangerine). So, as you can see they combine the best qualities of all the citrus fruits. The easiest way to identify a Tangelo is by the little nub on the top at the stem.  My base color is Barielle, Teaser . Fantastic formula! Applied like a dream and I didn't have any clean up. I used 2 coats for opacity and dry time was average. I love this green; it's absolutely beautiful and it's a very close dupe of OPI,...

Hey, Hey, Hey!! I'm back from my tax season hiatus! This was one weird tax season, let me tell you... And I'm glad it's over. I didn't do so hot this year; I was literally 100 returns down from last year. Very disappointing and I won't be seeing a very nice commission check which makes me sad.  But, here's something that made me happy: My nails in Zoya's Hudson & Monet. I wore this in the begining of April to celebrate the approach of Spring.  These are part of Zoya's New Spring Collection this year called Awaken . Hudson is a soft shimmering purple. It's a bit on the sheer side but the formula is nice and easy to work with. My photo shows 2 coats but 3 would give more opaque coverage.  On my accent nail I applied 1 thin coat of Monet which is irridescent hex glitter in a clear base. The suspension base is very thick but this way you are not fishing for glitter. I like the amount and dispersement on my nail but I know that those who like heavy ...

Are you wearing your green today?!? I sure hope so or you just might get pinched!! The month of March has been very inspired for me and I've done more nail art this month than usual. I did some Mardi Gras Nails that I adored and was very proud of.  I also did a few different green manis earlier this month that I still need to post, but first I want to show you the nails I am wearing today.   Shade. Sun. I started with 2 coats of Jessica, Lime Cooler . This fantastic pastel lime green creme is from the Summer 2012 Gelato Mio! Collection. I picked this up from Ninja Polish quite a while ago because it made me think of Essie's Navigate Her. It's no dupe but I like it even better. I used 2 coats. The first coat was pretty streaky and would drag if you over worked it so I gave the 1st coat plenty of time to dry before adding the 2nd. It then became nicely opaque. Formula was a bit thick. I also got a wonky brush with this polish; the brush is nice and fans out over the nail ni...

Just a quickie to post my Mardi Gras Nails. I did this to enter Barielle's Mardi Gras Manicure Contest. I didn't win but that's cool; I still love them and I am very happy with how they came out. I started with a base of ManGlaze, Matte is Murder, a shimmery matte black. It's got a great formula and I only used one coat. I used 2 Barielle Shades: Holiday Madness, a shimmering bright sage green, and Rio's Rockin Bands, a shimmery red-toned purple. To apply these I used a dry flat tipped nail art brush and dabbed at the cuticle and then dry brushed towards the tips to give it the feathered look.  To finish the look I used one coat of Zoya's Gilty, a gold flake topper. I sealed it all with a coat of Gelous, In A Hurry.

I just can't stop with the textures; I love them so much! Please forgive me if you are not a fan of textures. I am trying to scatter other types of polish between my textures but I do realize they are starting to dominate the blog.  Here we have a magenta pink glittery texture from Zoya: Arabella . The formula was actually much nicer with Arabella in comparison to Tomoko. The brush did fan out nicely on the nail and I got really precise application. 2 fast drying coats and I was done!  I thought I would pull out some pinks for the month of February and hopefully I will have the opportunity to do some nail art too, but no promises. Tax Season has been unpredictable and it's been coming in ebs and flows unlike prior years. The hubby also started a job for the plumbers union and he is up in Barstow all week long working 6 10's. So, I miss my better half.  Arabella is available on Zoya's website . Be sure to sign up for an account because they had had some great promos rece...

It's all about the texture! Whoop! Whoop! This time I decided to try the Zoya Pixie Dust in Tomoko . I loved all the swatch photos I was seeing out there; it's a super glittery white that consists of silver and gold. It gives it an off white look. Super pretty. I know you are not supposed to use a base coat but I did anyways. I used my Barielle Hydrating Ridgefiller because I like the added benefit of it hydrating and protecting my nails. I didn't have any issues using Tomoko with my base coat. I used 2 coats, probably should have done a 3rd for more opacity but I was in a rush. Work called to see if I could come in early... Really?!? Already?!? Aarg. The formula was good, not as good as the Julie G texture line but still easy to apply. I wish the Zoya brush would fan out on the nail more with these; the brush wants to stick to itself with this texture. It took a little longer to dry but not as long as a cream. Of course I omitted top coat.  The wear time was excellent; I...

One coat of Zoya, Opal over China Glaze, Smoke and Ashes. It's time to break out some dark and mysterious nails with Halloween approaching. I fiddled around at my Smart Deco IntelliDesk with some dark colors and some color shifters and came up with this; It looks like the Wicked Witch meets the Emerald City. One coat of China Glaze, Smoke and Ashes. No top coat. I layered one coat of Zoya, Opal over 1 coat of China Glaze, Smoke and Ashes and it's pretty darn awesome. Can you believe that Smoke and Ashes only took one coat? It's a very opaque black base loaded fine green glitter flakes; it's fantastic. I'm not normally a fan of black polish but this one is a necessary part of my stash. The formula was also very easy to control and apply. Smoke and Ashes was released with their Hunger Games, Capitol Colors Collection . Opal's formula was pretty awesome too; you can keep reworking it until you get the coverage of flakies you desire. It's anothe...

Zoya, Aurora. 2 coats. With Gelous & Seche Vite. A little blurred to show the holographic particles. My husband picked this out for me when I was stumped with too many choices (Too Much Good Stuff!). I must say I am very impressed with his selection. Aurora is from Zoya's Ornate Holiday/Winter 2012 Collection . It's a purple jelly packed with holographic particles. It's much more dense and opaque than the Gloss Collection Jellies. I got great coverage in 2 easy coats. Of course the formula is butter with it being a jelly; I didn't have any application issues and dry time was excellent. I topped it off with a coat of Gelous & Seche Vite . I had excellent wear with this mani as well. It lasted me a good 7 days with very minor chipping at the end. I would gladly recommend this to anyone and everyone; it looks great and the wear time was impressive. I used my favorite base coat; Barielle's Hydrating Ridge Filler .

On Tuesday, March 5th H&R Block had a 2nd Look Rally Day... Do you know what a 2nd Look is? If not, it's where we take a second look at a return that was prepared by another tax preparing service or done by the taxpayer themselves either by pen and paper or on an online tax prep site. Basically it's a way for us to show you how good we are at preparing taxes as well as to check your returns for accuracy and we just might find deductions or credits that were missed. It's a huge thing H&R Block has implemented because it gives everyone a chance to get know our service. Plus, we offer this service for Free to all new clients. For every new client who brought us a prior year return to look at, they got entered into a drawing to win a $25 VISA Gift Card. There was also an incentive that the Tax Pro with the most 2nd Looks in the Region (All of So. Cal) would win an Apple i Product of their choice. I had a ton of 2nd Looks to work on. I even had an awesome success story...

Zoya, Crystal. 3 coats.  Sunlight. January makes me think of heavy snow fall, ice covered car windows and frozen water hoses. It's just plain cold. Here, in Norco, we don't see any of that snow but when I lived in the High Desert (Hesperia, CA) we got one huge snow storm in January that dumped 11 inches (more in other areas) on us. In some ways it was awesome; couldn't go to work for 3 days :-). In other ways it was a real bother; No fast food runs, and when the fun of the snow wore off it was a real pain getting my dogs to go outside and potty. Luckily, we only got hit once in 4 years like that. Crystal makes me think of shimmery ice crystals; a metallic light blue with golden flecks. She went on a little sheer so 3 coats was necessary to build it up to opacity. In addition, it did take quite a while for each coat to dry. I did experience some dragging which could be my base coat of Barielle's Hydrating Ridgefiller; sometimes it doesn't play...