The Lacquer Ring: Spooky Nails

Purchased By Shelby Lou

Last time I posted I was talking about getting started with the KonMari Method. While I haven't done it all completely properly, I have managed to rid my house of tons of clutter. I still have a lot to do but I am enjoying my home more and more. I have also done some massive nail polish purging, check out my Blog Sale if you're interested in acquiring some new pretties yourself!

Today's mani is "Spooky" and will also be my Halloween mani this week. I have been wanting to try the smokey nail technique and went for some spooky fog, or perhaps supernatural mist if you will. I used Chalkboard Nails' Midnight Smoke Nail Art Tutorial. It was the first search result and ended up being all the instruction needed!

As I tend to do, I wore my black base of Cult Nails Fetish (topcoated) for a day before doing my art. Chalkboard Nails used a pale green polish for her smoke, so I used Polish My Life Green Bikini for my fog. Then I lightly sponged on the smallest amount of CND Jade Sparkle for a little more dimension. I can't help it, I love gloss and sparkle on my nails.

Shelby Lou Nails & The Lacquer Ring
"Spooky" Smoke Nail Art

The brush I used for the acetone step was very square and not very flexible so I didn't end up with the swirls I really wanted. I'm still diggin' it though. So much easier than I thought! I'd love to try some turquoise nails with this technique. I also have to make a shout-out to Baroness X Swatcher's Balm for moisturizing my nails perfectly without making them greasy for my pictures!

Shelby Lou Nails & The Lacquer Ring
"Spooky" Smoke Nail Art

What do you think, spooky enough? It's reaching, but I'm not really into the spooky part of Halloween--I'm a scaredy cat. Anyway, I love now The Lacquer Ring makes me try out all the nail art I have been admiring. Check out the other spooky manis today. Happy Halloween!

Have you loved your cuticles today?

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Stamping Saturday: DIY Vera Bradley Inspired Decals

Purchased By Shelby Lou--Rica, MoYou London
Purchased with 20% Blogger Discount--Polish My Life

I am so excited about this look today--I made Vera Bradley inspired decals!! Since I did my Jindie Nails Batman look I've been "Decal ALL the things!" I was inspired by Vera Bradley's Heather pattern, full of paisley and purple goodness.

Shelby Lou Nails
Vera Bradley Inspired
DIY Nail Decals
Polish My LifeMoYou London Fashionista 11
Rica Blackout

For this look I started with a base of Polish My Life Soho Shoppes. Soho Shoppes is a very jelly crelly blue-toned purple. I did three coats. I was rushing so I had some problems with patchiness, if you are working normally though just give yourself enough dry-time between coats.

Shelby Lou Nails
Vera Bradley Inspired
DIY Nail Decals
Polish My LifeMoYou London Fashionista 11
Rica Blackout

Luckily I have four stampers so I picked out four different spots on my MoYou London Fashionista 11 plate and stamped them all with Rica Blackout. I top-coated the stamped image on my stampers, then I went in with a teeny detail brush and filled in with some color. The accent colors are Polish My Life Breakfast On Fifth (blue-green), Greenwich Street (green), and Good Morningside (yellow). I love this little set of four cremes so much together! I top-coated everything once more so my decal was sturdy.

Shelby Lou Nails
Vera Bradley Inspired
DIY Nail Decals
Polish My LifeMoYou London Fashionista 11
Rica Blackout

Putting the actual decal on took longer than painting them in I think. I just kind of slapped on some topcoat and stuck it on, trimmed with scissors, did another coat of topcoat, cursed a lot.... anyways they got on. I have some bubbling and patchiness in my detail... but seriously, they did not take too long and they look fabulous! I am pleased. Plan on seeing more decals from this girl!

Products:
Polish My Life

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Stamping Saturday: Vintage Wallpaper

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

I am a fan of contrast: black & white, new & old, modern & vintage. I love putting opposite elements together for a new look. I do this in my clothing, accessorizing, home decorating, and of course my nails. There is something about awesomely ugly vintage prints used in the modern medium of nail art that just tickles me.

Shelby Lou Nails
Stamping Saturday: Vintage Wallpaper
Polish My Life Birthday Suit
a-england Fotheringhay Castle
MoYou London Mother Nature 02
Without Flash

When I first saw A-England Fotheringhay Castle from the newest collection, I knew it was meant for some vintage stamping goodness. For this mani I started with a base of Polish My Life Birthday Suit. Birthday Suit is one of my new go-to nude cremes, I used three creamy coats for perfect coverage. For my stamping I used part of a branch image I liked from MoYou London Mother Nature 02.

Shelby Lou Nails
Stamping Saturday: Vintage Wallpaper
Polish My Life Birthday Suit
a-england Fotheringhay Castle
MoYou London Mother Nature 02
Without Flash

Shelby Lou Nails
Stamping Saturday: Vintage Wallpaper
Polish My Life Birthday Suit
a-england Fotheringhay Castle
MoYou London Mother Nature 02
With Flash

I'm pretty happy that I was able to successfully use a full-image plate and place the image on my nails in a uniform way. I wish I had gotten the image down the sides of my nails better though. I used my Vivid Lacquer squishy rectangle stamper and it didn't quite smoosh enough down the sides of my crazy curved nails. I guess everything about me is curvy haha! Who else out there loves awesomely ugly vintage nails?

Shelby Lou Nails
Stamping Saturday: Vintage Wallpaper
Polish My Life Birthday Suit
a-england Fotheringhay Castle
MoYou London Mother Nature 02
With Flash

Products:
Polish My Life
a-england
MoYou London

Have you loved your cuticles today?

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My Favorite Nudes Comparison

Purchased By Shelby Lou 
Press Samples--Some of the Zoyas

Remember me freaking out about having to renew my social work license unexpectedly this month? Well I also just found out I need to renew my driver's license next month. Birthdays used to be fun! Now they are going to be full of boring adult chores and expenditures, like license renewal and doctor appointments. I am bitter, friends.

Anyways, today's post is about nudes! I used to think they were useless, but now I practically hoard them. My favorite combinations are neon and nude, nude and glitter, holo stamping over nude... (say this to yourself in Bubba's voice from Forrest Gump. You'll like it, I promise). Top photos in this post were taken without flash and bottom photos taken with flash. I am also impressed with myself because I only messed up numbering one set of photos, teehee.

Shelby Lou Nails
Mah nudes!
Without Flash

1. Color Club Silver Lake
2. OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
3. OPI Angel With A Lead Foot
4. KBShimmer Eyes White Open

5. Polish My Life Birthday Suit
6. OPI My Vampire Is Buff
7. Polish My Life Nude Lace
8. You're So Vain-illa

9. Zoya Chantal
10. OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons
11. Zoya Taylor

12. Zoya Rue
13. Polish My Life Mauve Rose
14. OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around
15. OPI My Very First Knockwurst

Shelby Lou Nails
Nudes--With Flash

I am pleased to find I didn't have any dupes in my carefully curated collection. How many of these do you own? I think the most iconic ones everyone should own are OPI My Vampire Is Buff, My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and My Very First Knockwurst. The Zoyas all have great formulas and their Naturel line has a great variety of darker tones if you are not fair like me. My new favorites are my indie nudes from Polish My Life! What are you favorite nudes or some others I might need to check out? I am eyeing OPI Do You Take Lei Away this year, I'm waiting for an Ulta coupon to come my way...

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Stamping Saturday: Red Lacy Things

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

Three posts this week, woo! I am killin' it as far as I'm concerned with blogging. I was on call for the Red Cross last night and it was -5 before windchill. I totally lucked out and did not have to respond to anything, which is also awesome because no one had any fires either. But mostly I'm happy I got to stay warm in my bed! In other news my Christmas tree is still up and I turn the lights on everyday. In protest of this bitterly cold weather I will take it down when it decides to stop snowing. Okay but that might be May... at least by March 31st. It's snowing right now...

For this Saturday's stamping mani I started with a base of Polish My Life Nude Lace. I am addicted to this brand already! I always drooled over swatches from @lacquerloon on instagram, but I swear she could make me love even a truly fugly polish so I wasn't sure at first. Nude Lace is a warm nude creme. It is fabulous. I only needed two coats! I have decided to own as many of these cremes as I can, they are just perfect.

Shelby Lou Nails
Red Lacy Things
Polish My Life Nude Lace
A-England Rose Bower
MoYou London Fashionista 12

I chose to stamp my nude nails with A-England Rose Bower, a bright holographic metallic. I'm still stuck on Valentine's colors--I'm a seasonal snob. I chose the pattern from MoYou London Fashionista 12. I'm not sure what this pattern is supposed to be, embroidery or lace? I like it and my obsession with the Fashionista line from MoYou remains strong. Rose Bower stamped so amazingly in these teeny lines and I really must stamp with my A-Englands more often. I'm not 100% happy with my image placement but I enjoyed the mani overall--I need to not nit-pick. Make sure you check out the other stamping manis this week! Has anyone else tried Polish My Life yet?

Products:
A-England
Polish My Life
MoYou London

Have you loved your cuticles today?

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Renaissance Cosmetics: Sweet & Sassy Duo

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

Hi guys! I hope everyone had a fun Valentine's Day. Since the hubs was working I actually had more of a Galentine's Day with my cousin (and fellow polish addict) and one of her friends. We braved the blizzard and spent the afternoon in a couple classes making some yummy chocolate cherry bread and then a stained glass heart with local artisans--you can see my heart on instagram. Otherwise Sunday was so cold (it stayed well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit all day and was even colder at night) that I pretty much just hibernated all day and played with polish. I am trying to let my nails grow out in their natural shape, but not sure how I'm liking the flare at the end... but maybe I'll break my corners less? We shall see.

This year Renaissance Cosmetics came out with the Sweet & Sassy Duo for Valentine's Day. I love these because while they are lovely for this holiday they are usable in all different ways all year! They also feature those amazing multichrome flakies. Let's take a look!

Shelby Lou Nails
Renaissance Cosmetics Sugar and Spice
from the Sassy & Sweet Valentine's Duo

First up is Sugar and Spice, the Sweet half of this duo. It has white satin and holographic rose glitters along with a generous helping of multichrome flakes. I can't get enough, it is so beautiful and delicate! For this mani I started with two coats of Polish My Life Pink Sandals and three on my accent nail. I did just one coat of RenCos Sugar and Spice, dabbing just a few of the larger satin and rose glitters where I wanted them. I did not have to do any fishing and everything spread so nicely. I added the Pegasus charm from Hex Nail Jewelry as my accent. Sweet enough for a toothache!

Shelby Lou Nails
Renaissance Cosmetics Sassy With A Vengeance
from the Sassy & Sweet Valentine's Duo

Sassy With A Vengeance is, obviously, the sassy side of this duo. It has matte black and fuchsia holographic glitters as well as those gorgeous multichrome flakes. This is the perfect Maleficent nail polish! For this look I did two luscious coats of KBShimmer Pansy-Monium. I did one coat of Sassy and dabbed some of the black glitters where I wanted them. Again, everything spread very nicely and it was easy to grab a few black glitters on the neck of the bottle for perfect placement. The bow is from Born Pretty Store. I love how dark but shimmery this came out.

The Sweet & Sassy Duo is exactly what I've been waiting for with the multichrome flakes. Make sure you check out my instagram for some amazing macros! Meghan, RenCos genius, does plan on restocking these towards the end of the month and Sugar and Spice is still available along with a Sassy-looking prototype.

Products: 
Renaissance Cosmetics
Polish My Life
Hex Nail Jewelry
KBShimmer

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Stamping Saturdays: Faded Hearts

Purchased By Shelby Lou
Press Sample (Zoya Only)

Oh man, I am really battling some seasonal depression here, guys. This week we got another ridiculous amount of snow that has been plowed into piles so high you can't see cars coming to pull out of the driveway. It has been so cold that it's even cold inside, not to mention the long and cold dreary days. I don't mind up to 6 inches of snow, just enough to cover grass and make a sparkling winter wonderland... this is a frozen wasteland and I am so done with it. I can't even make myself go grocery shopping because that would involve slogging through so much snow. There is just no where else to put it and every single parking lot is a mess. I slept most of today on the couch and binge-watched Big Love. Maybe all this blah inspired this not-so Valentine's mani haha!

Shelby Lou Nails
Faded Hearts - Without Flash

I was just not feeling inspired by all of my pinks so I went for a new, glorious pale blue I recently bought from Polish My Life called Cloud Blue. I've see lots of beautiful swatches of Polish My Life but bought just a few pastel cremes to see what all the fuss was about. Let me just say I've decided I need to buy ALL the Polish My Life cremes at this point!

Shelby Lou Nails
Faded Hearts - Without Flash

Shelby Lou Nails
Faded Hearts - Without Flash

Since I have become more confident in stamping I wanted to layer some images. First I used a diagonal stripe image from MoYou London Pro-XL 01 and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in OMGhost. Over that I stamped the hearts from Vivid Lacquer 009 in Zoya Geneviev.

Shelby Lou Nails
Faded Hearts - With Flash

Shelby Lou Nails
Faded Hearts - With Flash

I love the soft and faded look of this mani. I am not totally happy with my heart image placement, but alas I guess that's all these nubbins could take. What do you think? Anyone else suffering from the doldrums of winter?

Shelby Lou Nails
"Faded Hearts"

Have you loved your cuticles today?