My Paprika Czechbook is Buff

Almost time for bed, and after a wonderful day of extreme scores at the nail supply shops, I had to use my new colors.

I got all 12 colors from the OPI Euro Centrale collection. Tonight, I used three:

• My Vampire is Buff
• Can't Find My Czechbook
• My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours!

Like this almost 3D look? I love it, and I love the collection!

More to come for nail art of Euro Centrale, I'm sure!

Goddesses' Garden

My once itty bitty bitten nails have really grown and become much healthier since starting the blog. They've gotten to the length where a French manicure is flattering and feminine with hand's shape, no acrylics required.

I'm embracing this grace tonight. A vine of leaves over Milky Ways from Lime Crime provides the perfect elegance. I see Greek goddesses playfully sunning and drifting to sleep after barrels of sweet wine against marble pillars adorned with delicate vines and tiny pink blossoms.

Additional colors used include Something Sweet, For Audrey, and Kalahari Kiss (China Glaze).

Ah...just thinking about that beautiful goddess life has the sultan of sleep weighing down on my eyelids.

Literal Polka Dots

I couldn't get the idea of a neon yellow gradient out of my head all day. It's something I just felt I needed to do as soon as possible. So, I picked two of my all time favorite colors: Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (China Glaze) and My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI). I know I know, that damn greyish white has made several appearances recently (here, here, here and here), but it really deserves the spotlight. It's a perfect color.

I love the way it looks under the neon yellow. Neon yellow and grey go very well together somehow. Look at the Parsons school of design workroom this season on Project Runway:

Source: http://blogs.fidm.com/projectrunway/episodes/

I wanted to add something, but since I had done polka dots last night, I wanted to do something different, but keep it round.

The solution?

Literal polka dots...with rhinestones.

The trigger finger idea came about only because my supply of black rhinestones wouldn't have been enough to cover all 10 fingers. A nifty solution for the thrifty.

Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette Nail Polish Collection Swatches and Review

The Nailed It cafe is officially open for business. In the heat of the summer, we don't want you melting away, so dip your fingers into our delicious menu.

Tonight's menu features Les Desserts d'Antoinette from Lime Crime.

Click to Expand

As you can see, we've imported some of this season's most scrumptious treats from Miss Antoinette's table straight to our cafe's treat case. We've prepared these tasty teaser shots to incite the salivation flood on your tongue.

 

Now that we have whet your appetite, as your humble maître d', let me guide you through our first dessert selection.

Our first option is Parfait Day. A soothing parfait on a hot day will surely cool you down, but also bring warmth and comfort to hungry tummies on cold, rainy days. Everybody loves parfait!

Don't miss out on the ripe picking of the season, Peaches ♥ Cream. If a juicy peach isn't enough to pucker those lips, then top it with a huge dollop of lightly whipped cream. Resistance is futile.

The summer menu peaks with this next goodie, Crema De Limón. A sour tickle on the tip of your tongue both refreshes and excites, but the cream finish levels each bite perfectly.

Difficult to sell, but impossible to resist is Pastelchio. Subtle flavor, sophisticated taste.

Once In a Blue Mousse look like the sky and feels like the clouds. You'll float through each bite into euphoric exaltation.

Floral scents dance across your palette when you dip into Lavendairy, but the taste is unmistakeably delicious.

All good things must come to an end, but ending in the creamy, sweet Milky Ways won't leave you wanting more, it will leave you needing more.

Do tell your friends to visit us sometime. Our delicacy's our unrivaled!

---

Review

Are you drooling yet? I haven't stopped since I opened up the package I received from Lime Crime yesterday. I literally have nothing bad to say about these polishes.

I had personally never heard of Lime Crime before, but I'm thrilled I now know. They specialize in makeup products, but on June 20th of this year, they dipped into the world of nail polish, and I have a feeling that once word gets out, they'll be scrambling to keep up with the demand for these colors. Seriously...grab them while you can!

Every single color from Les Desserts d'Antoinette, the collection featured here, is absolutely stunning. These bright pastels are decidedly easy to apply, and after two effortless coats, you get the opacity you see above. I applied a third coat to Milky Ways, Crema De Limón and Peaches ♥ Cream to ensure the pictures were looking their best. It's damn near impossible to find creme finishes in pastels that make such a bright yet soft impact, but Lime Crime nailed it!

Like I said, you won't here a bad thing from me about these polishes.

I've been wearing a few layers of these colors for a day now, using the sometimes problematic Seche Vite as the top coat, and there's no damage. None. And I lifted weights today.

I also have to rave about the packaging and advertising Lime Crime has for the line. The first picture is lifted straight off of their site (available as a background in several resolutions here) and is what inspired me to give you a menu to drool over rather than some hum-drum swatch info I normally deliver. You can also see that each polish comes in it's own, perfectly sized box, with the color's name on top and the bottle peaking through a punch out in the front. My inner hoarder hates the idea of throwing these away yet. I loved the packaging so much, it inspired the dripping color design seen in the first picture and below.

The application was aided by the brush's design. It's the perfect size for what it is. These cuties are only 0.3 oz (sadly), so they're squatty when sitting next to most of the other bottles in my collection. I prefer that though, as it seems the brush will reach the polish longer. That's a huge relief because I'll cry the day these run out.

You can pick up all seven of these polishes individually for $5.99 each at Lime Crime's website, or as a set for $39.99.

These products were sent to me by Lime Crime. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

My Boyfriend Scales Nails

Black and white freehand designs are simple and simply stunning. There's nothing fancy about this one, but it's pretty and it was fun to do. Practice makes perfect, because my right hand is also done well (though I didn't get a picture).

The off-white is My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI). The striper brush is from Color Madric and I picked it up at the local nail supply store. Fun huh?

Native American Rug

Native American culture is amazing. From the wall art to the baskets and blankets, Native Americans really seemed to have some serious artistic ability. Southwest U.S. states still flourish with the styles portrayed by our predecessors, and tonight's nails reminded me a little bit of this kind of art.

This simple yet striking design was really easy to create too! I coated my nails with Load (Illamasqua) first, then a small diamond shape of alternating January (Julep) and Cote D' Azur (Icing). Then it was just a matter of painting some small vertical lines outlining the diamonds and a little blob in the middle. It was easy because it's imperfect and uneven, which makes it more interesting.

I'm betting we'll be seeing a lot of these skinny little imperfect lines here at Nailed It.

EDIT: Ok...this is too hilarious not to add. After I posted this manicure, I got a comment from my mom, who reminded me of this song we used to listen to in our Plymouth Voyager mini van when I was a little girl living in Utah. Here's the lyrics to the song that must've somehow brought some emotional memory to my mind's forefront:

Ay yi yi Katy. 

Shades of red and blue.

Ay yi yi Katy.

Whatever became of that Navajo rug and you?

The lyrics aren't as innocent as the song's memory in my mind, but it's obvious it had some serious impact on me. Thanks Mom!

Nugget's V-Gap

Have you met Nugget? She's pretty great. She's just over a year old, full of life, and I think she may have an extra pair or two of vocal chords. She'll remind you if you've forgotten about dinner, and will do just about anything to get to food. She's a tiny thing, weighing in at 7.4 lbs., but I guarentee you, you've never met a cat like her. I love her.

When I got my order of Avon polishes from my friend Tammy this morning, I was surprised.

I swear I didn't choose these shades intentionally, but how good do they all look with one another? I wanted to use the brown polishes tonight, and after looking at them, I noticed that they looked like Nugget! So I give you, my Nugget V-Gap!

I used four colors for this guy. I started with Beige Blast (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri), Nomadic Nude (Color Club), Vintage Boutique (Avon), and Forbidden Fudge (Avon). It's all freehand, and I used the brushes that came in the bottles. I absolutely adore this, and so does Nugget.

Eyelet Skirt

If you haven't already joined Pinterest, I suggest you get yourself an invite...quick! It's full of some of the best things on the Internet, especially when it comes to beauty. It takes out all of the work of finding the cute outfit, and puts that burden on its users, who happily and readily pin things they find interesting. Find the right board, and you're set! I used a pin I liked for the inspiration of my manicure today.

Pinned from http://www.spool72.com/58417/727604/Dresses/Heirloom-Eyelet-Dress.html

This was a relatively simple manicure to do, though I'm unhappy with how bumpy it wound up being. The layers are composed of mainly China Glaze's, including Below Deck, Life Preserver, and Peachy Keen. I've made a mental note to break out Below Deck more often. It was hiding at the back of my Helmer, but it'll be used more now that it has seen the light of day. The only non-CG I used was Beige Blast (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri).

Show Your True Colors

I owe every bit of inspiration for tonight's manicure to an unlikely, but highly inspiring source: PixelgirlPresents. I found this site when I first got a laptop for college in 2006. That was six years ago, but now outdated Dell I was given as an awesome present from my Dad makes it seem like much longer. PixelgirlPresents offers graphic artists a chance to get their work on peoples' desktops, phones and electronic screens of other sorts. It's all run by one girl, and the submissions are always unique and colorful. I'm a fan of bold patterns and designs, so I've had this bookmarked for a long time.

Browsing it the other day for an updated background, I stumbled upon something I looked at and thought to myself, "Katy...you need to put that on your nails." I give myself great advice sometimes, so thanks past-me for that great thought (and for quickly saving the picture to your phone to reference later). 

The design I used as my guide was by the artist Plumeology, who, judging by their PixelgirlPresents bio page, has only submitted one design to the site. They do link to a company webpage though, and it seems they're a design company offering services like logo design, advertising, and business name consultation. See? Unlikely source for inspiration! If you're in San Diego, I bet they offer some pretty designs if their work is anything like their logo. 

So, without further ado, here's my interpretation of their beautiful logo!

I used Load (Illamasqua) as the base. The plumes were done with Electric Pineapple (China Glaze), Sea Breeze (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) and Dream (Savina). Yes I know, I'm reusing colors, but I keep getting drawn to the same bottles. The decorative swirls beside the plumes were done with Pelican Gray (China Glaze), and it was all freehand. Maybe that's why only two nails got the treatment.