ehmkay nails

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Autism Awareness Nails

Hello All! I still have to formally show you my Easter nails and my Walking Dead finale nails, but let's be on time for one thing, okay? Yesterday was Autism Awareness day, but it is also all month. The official color for autism awareness is blue. I have a lot of experience dealing with children with autism. I don't talk about it often but it is something that has been a part of my life, so I think it's important that more people are aware of the vast spectrum of autism and the differences between high functioning and low functioning. Every person with autism has different personalities and no symptoms are alike. I think that is the most important aspect of awareness---that no two cases of autism are the same.

I originally planned a blue skittles mani but then I saw the Silverinator's manicure and she inspired me to do an accent nail! The colors used are:

Thumb: Milani Cyberspace and Wet N Wild Speak When Spoken To
Index: Illamasqua Cameo and Butter London Sprog topped with Deborah Lippman Pearly Queen
Middle: Sinful Colors Sweet Nothing, Ulta Cream of the Crop, Zoya Sooki, Barry M Prickly Pear, Wet N Wild Black Creme
Ring: Zoya Nyx
Pinky: Kiko 401 (Blue) Holographic and Elevation Polish Catch a Wave

Autism Awareness Nails

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Friday, March 29, 2013

The Nail Junkie Bouquet

When I saw the swatch photos of this polish, I knew it would be my first Nail Junkie. The polish is gorgeous, but there is a bit of preparation. While I realize separation is normal (as many of my older OPIs and Zoyas have separated), this polish completely separated within a week of purchase. Let's get to the good stuff:

First, Jen at My Nail Polish Obsession and I decided we would start something fun with all the polishes that we both own. This is our first installment of our twin day, which we both posted to our blogs and Instagram. Find Jen on Instagram here. The polish is a gorgeous mauve-pink type color (you can see it was impossible to photograph) with a slight shimmer and blue and green glitter. I used ONE coat of this polish, which is pretty amazing.

I noticed when I got the polish, all the glitter had completely sunken. I chalked it up to the shipping, as that happens. I shook and shook and could not get it off the bottom. I put it upside down for 2 days and finally some results. Then, I had it standing up the correct way and 2 days later, the entire bottle was completely separated. All shimmer and glitter on the bottom, plain pink pigment, and a curious milky layer (about one inch) on the top. Maybe because this polish is super pigmented (hence one coat) or maybe the base is being cut, that it cannot support the pigment. All I know is separation should not be that fast. In order to wear this polish, I needed to turn the bottle upside for another 2 days and still, the shimmer never mixed in correctly.

I alerted the maker of this polish, and she offered a refund and to make it right, which I declined. The thing is, the polish can still be used and IS still pretty, you just need to prep it. It's so awesome to find a polish that only needs one coat. I literally finished my nails in 8 minutes (with base and top coat).

The Nail Junkie Bouquet

Here are our twin nails! The actual color is sort of in between our pictures. Again, impossible to photograph! We will be doing these in the future. In fact, it's my fault this one is so late (whoops!)

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Red Dog Designs My Stardust Melody

Today I have a simple NOTD (Nail of the Day) with one of my favorite indies, Red Dog Designs. Every polish of hers is no short of stunning. I'm slowly buying all of her colors.

I started with Kiko Holographic 400 (Grey), which went on with an easy two coats. Then I added one coat of My Stardust Melody. This polish is crazy sparkly in person and the iridescent squares add so much depth. I only had clouds when I wore this, but you can imagine how crazy beautiful it would be in the sun since it looks this good in clouds. Quite a few bloggers have swatched this over many different colors and it always looks awesome. My Stardust Melody looks good over ANYTHING, so it's very versatile.

Red Dog Designs My Stardust Melody

Kiko Grey Holo

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Monday, March 18, 2013

Bubbles N Balms Swatches

Today I have some polishes sent for review from Bubbles N Balms. Renee, the creator, does soaps, lotions, scrubs, as well as polishes. I even got a sample of her sugar scrub and I have to say, it was amazing. I used about a teaspoon of the scrub with warm water and my hands were so smooth and refreshed. I highly suggest you check out her shop (link at the bottom).

On to the polish, all are shown without base and top coat.

Emerald Bay: Renee says this is "A blend of opalescent and green micro glitter suspended in in a deep emerald green jelly. Opaque in 2-3 coats." I much prefer this polish layered verse alone. You can see why in the swatches. My nails are fairly long, so I needed three coats. On all the other nails, I used one coat of Emerald Bay. I think the combo of Emerald Bay and Illamasqua Muse were made for each other. This is the perfect St. Patrick's Day polish for someone who wants glitter, but something that isn't so in your face.

Index to pinky: 3 coats alone, one coat over Zoya Evvie, Illamasqua Muse, Butter London Jack the Lad

Bubbles N Balms Emerald Bay

Galaxy: This glitter combination is mostly blue and "is packed with different shapes, shades and sizes of holo and matte blue glitter and a titch of iridescence." While not normally a matte glitter fan, I think the blue matte hexes give a great balance to the holographic glitter in this one.

Index to pinky: One coat over Pure Ice Blue Midnight, L'oreal Raven's Strength, Zoya Robyn, Ulta Taupe on a Rope

Bubbles N Balms Galaxy

Blurred to show the holographic glitter:

Bubbles N Balms Galaxy

Party Pants: This glitter is a "a sheer purple & black glitter polish" with iridescent glitters. This is the one I probably should have done two coats of. I recently put this over Illamasqua Baptiste on my sister and it looked amazing.

Index to pinky: One coat over Zoya Mira, Pure Ice Temptress, Essence Blue Ray, L'oreal Raven's Strength

Bubbles N Balms Party Pants

All of the glitters went on smoothly with one coat. Some I probably should have done two coats because of the mini bottle, but I feel like if you order full size bottles, one coat is all you need. Application was great--the glitters were neither too thick or too thin. None of the glitters were curled and felt relatively smooth without any top coat.

You can find Bubbles N Balms polishes and beauty products at her Etsy shop here. Here polishes range from $4.25 for minis to $8.25 for full size polishes. She even has some on sale right now. All of her beauty products are also reasonable priced so check it out.

*products in this post were provided for review

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Sunday, March 17, 2013

St. Patrick's Day NOTD

Ahhh sorry for my mini hiatus. It was my spring break (I am a teacher) and I basically went off line for the week. But I'm back with some easy nail art that I did!

I had all these big ideas, but instead, I had completely naked nails for five days and then threw this together quickly.

For my right hand and my index and pink on my left hand, I did a loose gradient of Ireland's flag colors. Then I topped it off with Red Dog Designs Lucky Charms. Lucky Charms is an awesome green glitter with a variety of shapes and gold coins. It also has smaller rainbow glitter. It was the perfect compliment to my flag nails. I used a basic white cream along with Zoya Arizona and Barry M Spring Green for the flags. The green on my middle and ring finger is also Barry M Spring green.

For the center, I did a pot of gold and a rainbow. Easy and simple. I also posted last year's pot of gold St. Patrick's Day mani.