12 Manicures of Christmas 09 // KBShimmer Fleece Navidad & Whole Lava Lovin'

In retrospect, 2015 has been quite a year. Lots of growth and changes, both personally and on the Blog! Growth is something that I actively strive for, and in April of this year, I finally joined a Facebook group for nail bloggers, Hobby Polish Bloggers. It's a great group of women who genuinely support each other and I'm really proud to be a member.

So, when it was time to sign up for the HPB Secret Santa, of course I wanted to participate! Melissa turned out to be my Secret Santa, and when my package arrived on Friday, I couldn't wait to tear into it!!! Fleece Navidad made it onto my nails first, then last night, I added accents of Whole Lava Lovin' for a look that reminds me of candy canes...

KBShimmer Whole Lava Lovin' & Fleeve Navidad

KBShimmer Fleeve Navidad & Whole Lava Lovin'

Polishes Used:

1 Coat Fingerpaints Smooth Over Ridge Filler

4 Coats KBShimmer Fleece Navidad

4 Coats KBShimmer Whole Lava Lovin'

1 Coat SinfulColors Clear Coat

1 Coat Seche Vite

Now, I know that candy canes are white and not holographic, shimmery silver, but I just couldn't resist pairing these two up! Plus, I normally use a metallic or texture polish as an accent, so it was fun to switch it up a little.

Out of all the items on my polish wishlist, Fleece Navidad was by far the most coveted. I knew it was gorgeous in other photos I had seen, but when I saw it in person? Swoon! First of all, there's the really soft shade of gray that forms the base coat. Then there's the subtle holographic shimmer. But on top of that, Fleece Navidad also has what KBShimmer calls "blue microflakes." I see not just blue, but green to blue and blue to purple microflake shimmer.

Which. I. Love.

The formula on Fleece Navidad is great, really easy to work with. Because of the shade and finish, it is a bit sheer. But it builds nicely, and I really love how it looks on my nails. Like I said, I wore it all weekend and really loved it. If you need a pallet cleanser, which I definitely did at the time, Fleece Navidad is an excellent choice!

On to Whole Lava Lovin'!

I've been dipping my toes into the world of holographic polish, and this pinkish-red stood out because it was so incredibly pigmented. And the fact that it's one of my favorite shades of berry pink/red doesn't really hurt either. Whole Lava Lovin' has a more noticeable holographic shimmer than Fleece Navidad. In the shade, it reads as a warm red/gold shimmer that makes this polish just glow.

Whole Lava Lovin' is insanely pigmented, so I'm sure most people could get away with 2 coats and be done. I probably could've been done at two or three, but I decided to match Fleece Navidad coat for coat, shimmer for shimmer.

I really love this manicure, and I'm a little sad that I'll be taking it off tonight to paint something else. But the show must go on, and there are still more manicures to be painted!

SinfulColors Mauve On Seriotype

Whether you call it a seriotype or smooshy... (I prefer seriotype) there is just something about this style of manicure that I can't get enough of. Polishes Used: 1 Coat Fingerpaints Smooth Out Ridge Filler 3 Coats SinfulColors Mauve On Essie Leggy Legend Pahlish Autumn People Pure Ice Get in Line 1 Coat SinfulColors Clear Coat 1 Coat Seche Vite Hey there! It's been a little while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Life happens, you know? Oddly enough, I didn't stop painting my nails during my hiatus. I kept taking pictures for a while, and then that just sort of stopped to. Weird how some habits die hard, while others don't change a bit. Anyhoo... I found pictures of this mani in my files and couldn't believe I didn't share it! This was one of my favorite polishes last spring, and I recreated this exact seriotype/ a few times. This mani started out with 3 fresh coats of Mauve On. I typically wrap my tips on the 2nd c

Fishbowl Friday 073 // Recreation

Every now and then, I enjoy looking back over past manicures. Creatively, it's just neat to see how far I've come since the days I started. Oddly enough, when I chose this prompt, I knew exactly which manicure I wanted to recreate. Based loosely on Fishbowl Friday 027 , today's seriotype nails are a RECREATION ... Polishes Used: 1 Coat Fingerpaints Smooth Over Ridge Filler 3 Coats China Glaze Violet Vibes Essie Leggy Legend Pahlish Autumn People Pure Ice Get in Line SinfulShine Konstellation 2 Coats SinfulColors Clear Coat 1 Coat Seche Vite Looking back, I can honestly say that my seriotype game has come far since I first learned the method. One of the things that took me a while to master was the balance of nail polish finishes. While seriotypes made exclusively with creme polishes look cool, those made with a combination of different finishes really pop. There's more depth involved when you layer a metallic over a jelly neon and

Fishbowl Friday 072 // Hard Candy

We're going to skip that whole part where we talk about how it's been a while, because well, it's been a really long while. I'm still trying to work out how to make room for blogging and juggle everything else, and it's definitely been a challenge. But know that I am working on it, and I do really, really miss it. This place has been my Quantum of Solace for a long time, and I'm not planning on letting it go anytime soon. That being said... for this week's prompt, I was happily surprised when I pulled HARD CANDY . This is probably one of the most iconic brands of nail polish, and it's certainly gone through it's own number of changes throughout the years. Who didn't want to own a bottle of Sky once they saw it on Alicia Silverstone's nails way back in the 90's? Last year, Hard Candy celebrated their 20th anniversary by bringing back some of their most iconic shades. The collection was a mix of five original shades and three new ones.

Seize the Sparkle

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