Dara Thinks in Pinkie Pink

Go Pink Wednesday Time!!!  I'd like to take a moment to thank Andrea at  Finger Painting Fingers for putting this all together.  It has been a wonderful idea and I have enjoyed it so very much.   I have enjoyed seeing all of the different photos and pink manicures out there.  Amazing how many pinks there are to be found!  

 

Ack, I know I've been slacking, I kid you not, I have like 2-3 weeks worth of nail photos waiting to be blogged about.  Between being on vacation, my baby boy turning 6, my anniversary, soccer games and birthday parties, I've been slammed.

Then there was this nasty bitch named Sandy who tore through the past few days.

BUT, last night I watermarked and cropped a ton of photos, so hopefully this will be the LAST lull for a while.

I wanted to go out with a bang (for me at least) and do some nail art.  

I started off with three coats OPI I Think In Pink, one of the polishes from the Breast Cancer awareness set.  This is the perfect bubblegum pink, soft and creamy.  Still a bit sheer though.  

Then I put on a coat of Zoya Dara and used my dotting tool for the ruffle effect.  

Then I put on another coat of I Think In Pink on top of that, again using the dotting tool.  

Then in each corner I did a coat of Nails, Inc Pinkie Pink - their breast cancer awareness glitter.  (Proceeds to go breast cancer research).

I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

My final Pinktober PSA - once you start getting older, the need to go to the ladydoc ddiminishes.  BUT, don't forget to start going to get baseline mammograms and bi-annual mammograms.  Early detection is key!

 

Please take a moment to enjoy all of the other Go Pink blogs!  
        

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Green Goblin Feels Froggy

In keeping with the Halloween theme, I have another Halloween colored mani today.

I started off with 2 coats of Cult Nails Feeling Froggy, a beautiful green with lots of shimmer.  If you haven't purchased any Cult Nails, stop right now and go buy them!  I have quite a few of their polishes and I've NEVER been disappointed.  The formula is rich and easy to control, the color choices are unique and the wear time is outstanding.  I love supporting a great small business and I wish them all of the continued success in the world!

Look at this shimmer!

Then I sponged a bit of F4 Green Goblin on the tips.  F4 is another one of my favorite indie polishes.  They have a great formula and fantastic customer service.  They always have a great stock of items in their Etsy store.  As always the glitters were easy to get from bottle to nail and it applied easily and cleanly.  Go get F4 polishes!

Cult Nails can be purchased at their online store.  F4 polishes can be purchased through Etsy.

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Pinkerbell

Today for Go Pink Wednesday I have a pink polish that took the polish community by storm, NailVenturous Pinkerbell.

I know this is a simple manicure, but I'm actually out of town celebrating my 14th wedding anniversary in Napa with the love of my life.  I ran out of time, so I picked something pretty, pink and simple for the mani <3

Below is 3 coats of Pinkerbell.  The polish applied easily and it was easy to get it opaque but be fairwarned the glitter is not fun for cleanup!

Just a reminder - FEEL YOUR BOOBIES!!!!

NailVenturous Laquers are no longer made by Amy, but Pinkerbell can be purchased on Ninja Polish's website.

Please take a moment to visit the other blogs participating in Go Pink Wednesday!



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You Don't Know Jack

Today's manicure is KB Shimmer Jack, a gorgeous black jelly base with assorted sized orange glitter.  This was just stunning on the nail!  It was a bit sheer, so you see 3 coats below.

As with all of my KB Shimmers, the application was very easy, it went on easily and was simple to get the glitter from bottle to nail.  I loved the jelly base and how it gave it so much depth when applied to the nail.

This is definitely one of my favorite Halloween polishes!

KB Shimmer can be purchased at her online store.

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A Nebula of Regret

Every time I see a swatch of a NerdLacquer, I feel a stab of pain of regret and not getting more of them.  They were just so.... perfect.  

Great application, unique glitter spread, just gorgeous.  Every single one of the ones I've used have been perfect and have held up well over time.

I recently got Nebula in a swap and here it is in all of its glory!
 

NerdLacquers can be found on eBay and through swapping.  

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R2 goes Blue Label

Today's polish is another first for me.  Dior.

*wipes drool off of keyboard and desk*

WOW. 

Originally I was like "pfft, 23 for a bottle of polish?  Does it come with a maid to clean my toilets too?"  But then I got a gift card to Neimann Marcus for my birthday and I decided to splurge on a Dior for myself (and some other pretties)!  

Boy, what an amazing polish.  What you see here is ONE coat.  One perfect coat of gorgeous.  This is Dior Blue Label.  

This is a deep deep blue creme.  So pretty.

Then after a day or so, I added Rainbow Polish Artoo over top.  Artoo is AHMAZING.  Lots of rainbow holo flects that just went bananas in the sun.  I got tons of compliments on this mani and it is a great way to extend the life of your manicures by a few days (topping them with glitters).

 Behold, the gorgeous that is Dior!

Topped with Artoo

 Close up

Super Close Up

 Dior polishes can be purchased at Sephora or Neimann Marcus.  Rainbow Polish can be purchased at their Etsy store.

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Pros Go Picking Punkins

Today I have another beauty from the amazing Jenna at Lacquistry.

I was trying to come up with a good base and I remembered I picked up OPI Pros and Bronze recently.  I LOVE those these two worked together.

Pros & Bronze was actually pretty sheer, this was 2 coats and you can still see a big VNL, but since I was layering it 2 was good enough.  The control was amazing as all OPI polishes tend to be.

Then I put one coat of Lacquistry Pickin Punkins at the Patch on top.

This was so shiny and eye catching, I loved it!  

Pros & Bronze:

Pickin Punkins at the Patch on top.  Gosh, I loved this so much!

 OPI polishes can be found at Ulta.  Lacquistry polishes can be purchased at her Etsy Store.


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Robert lies above Aragon

Another Halloween mani today!

I started off with two coats of OPI Here Today Aragon Tomorrow a dark green jelly polish.  This applied evenly, but you could see a bit of visible nail line still.  Since I knew I'd be topping it, I didn't feel that three coats was necessary.

I love the finish and shine on this polish.

Then I added two coats of Sonoma Nail Art Here Lies Robert, an awesome glitter topper that had me looking at my nails and smiling!  The glitters match the base very well, but I loved this because it looked less "Halloween" and more like something I could wear any time of year (especially Christmas!).

This was my first time using Sonoma Nail Art and it definitely wont be my last, I managed to snag two more of her polishes at her last Etsy sale!

Here Today Aragon Tomorrow

With two coats of Here Lies Robert

Macro Shot of goodness

OPI polishes can be purchased at Ulta.  Sonoma Nail Art can be purchased at her Etsy Store.

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Hanami is Ephemeral

It is Wednesday again, time for Go Pink Wednesday!

 

Another reminder to feel the girls every month.  Any changes, go see a doctor!  As a daughter and a niece of breast cancer survivors I can assure you that prevention is crucial!

My aunt found her tumor in a self-exam.  She caught it in stage 1.

My mother found her tumor in a routine mammogram.  She also caught it in stage 1.

This is why both of them are survivors.  The earlier the cancer is caught, the far better chance for survival!

Today I picked a pair of pretty pink polishes from Rainbow Honey.  I started off with 2 coats of Ephemeral, a light shimmery pink.  I have to say the application on this one was a mess.  It was extremely thick to apply and needed a lot of effort to get it to apply properly.  This is the reason that there are no photos of this by itself, I simply didn't have any good ones to show.  I added thinner to this for future use as was recommended to me by the manufacturer.  Mind you this is a week old brand new bottle.  So bottom line is, beautiful color, but needs some love to get it to apply properly. 

Then I put one coat of Hanami on over top.  Hanami is a beautiful pink top coating polish.  This polish was more in line with the other Rainbow Honey polishes I've applied, it applied easily.  It was a perfect consistency and spread easily on the nail.   

I think the combo of these two looked perfect to me and so I'm glad I stuck it out with Ephemeral.

Both of these polishes are part of Rainbow Honey's Pink Promotion that donates a portion of the proceeds to breast cancer research.  For more details go here. 

Please check out the amazing bloggers who also have joined in for Go Pink Wednesday.  I have found so many great blogs through this event, I encourage you all to click on the links and find some new amazing blogs! 

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Noot gets Gobsmacked

I was in a dark and stormy mood when I painted my nails, so these colors called to me.  To start out I had two coats of Zoya Noot, a perfect grey for a stormy mood.  As with all of my Zoyas, this went on like a dream.  Their polish is really amazing, I've yet to be disappointed.  It is so easy to control with the brush, easy to clean up because you have such great control and goes on easily.

Then I topped it with one coat of Butter, London Gobsmacked, a beautiful grey shimmer polish.  Together these were just stunning and I loved the combination.  Sort of like lightening to cut through the storm.  Again, this polish was also perfection in one easy coat.  I felt it was sheer enough that it needed a base coat underneath, and I loved how these two paired together.

Doing my nails always makes me happy anyway.  :-)

Until next time!

Zoya Noot

Gobsmacked

Close up!

Zoya and Butter, London polishes can be purchased at Ulta.

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Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

Today is pregnancy and infant loss awareness day.  I honor all of those mothers who have had to say goodbye to a sweet angel.  Sadly, I know too many of these mothers.  

After trying for nearly a year I got pregnant with my first child.  At 7 weeks my ultrasound showed no viable fetus.  My blood work was redone and it was found my levels were all plummeting.  A week later a follow up ultrasound showed that miscarriage was eminent, still not viable fetus and I needed to have surgery immediately.  I sobbed and sobbed.  Even at only 8 weeks that child was a part of my heart and my life. 

It was one of those times where I was dying inside and the rest of the world simply moved on with life.  I was the only one left to remember the baby I lost, the future I dreamed of.  Coming on the heels of losing my father, I felt like with my dad I lost part of my past, with my unborn child I lost part of my future.  

I went on to have two beautiful and healthy sons that I am thankful for.

Knowing how hard losing a baby at 8 weeks was, my heart goes out for those that I love who have lost children at 20+ weeks, whose babies have been born still, who have held their infant children in their arms until they took their last breath.  I simply can't imagine.  I've cried with them, I've listened to them, I think about them all of the time.  

The thing about pregnancy and infant loss is that it seems so "taboo".  We don't want to tell anyone we are pregnant early on, because "what if".  But as someone who had the "what if" happen, it was awful to have to go through that without the support of my friends and family.  So I told them all anyway.  They never had a chance to share my joy, only my pain.  

Light a candle tonight for all of those babies who have gone before us long before they should have.  For all of the mothers whose arms still ache without their babies in them.  

For this manicure, I started off with Essie Instant Hot, a soft pink hued white.  I striped the tips with my Milani Silver Nail Art bottle because it reminded me of a halo.  Then for the ribbon, I did the blue half with Zoya Skylar and the Pink half with Zoya Kissy.  To top it all off I wanted something ethereal, so I went with a coat of Essie Pure Pearlfection.

I have to say I loved this so much.  It turned out perfect, exactly what I wanted.  Soft, delicate and from the heart.

Debbie, my dear friend, this is for you and your beautiful Sophia.  <3

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Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

The theme for the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge this week is "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice".

I decided to try out some nail art.

I started off with three coats of China Glaze Exquisite, the perfect shimmery pink.  Then I did chevrons freehand on the tip using China Glaze Hello, Gorgeous! from their new United line promoting breast cancer awareness.

I loved Exquisite because it reminds me of sugar, soft and shimmery.  Then Hello, Gorgeous!  is like the spice on the tips.

I was pretty happy with how this turned out.

China Glaze can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply and Ulta.

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