Anatomy of a Mani! AKA: Mama's Mani Madness

Disclaimer: I am not a nail blogger or professional (so sometimes I color outside of the lines and my cuticles look a bit ragged). I am merely a girl who LOVES nail polish!

Want to know more about the polishes used? Keep reading...

As always, I started with my favorite base coat, Essie's Ridge Filling Base Coat, and topped it off with two coats of the BEAUTIFUL Revlon ColorStay polish in 170 Coastal Surf. The formula on this polish is FANTASTIC, so smooth and thick without causing bubbles. This is the first bottle of this polish I've tried, and I'm so super impressed that I feel a buying spree coming on (it doesn't help that they're on sale at Target right now). This particular color is a gorgeous blue creme-somewhere between Tarheel and Robin's Egg Blue.

Finished Mani-No Flash

On my accent nail, I used 3 coats of China Glaze's Make a Spectacle (it's part of the Wicked Collection I think, and I got it at Ulta, but I can't seem to find a direct link for it anywhere). As I said, I'm no nail polish expert, so in my laywoman's terms I would describe this as holographic micro and chunky glitters in a sheer, opalescent base (but that description could be wrong, as I don't know the technical terminology for nail polish glitters and such). What I can tell you is that I LOVE it, and I will be using it A LOT!!!

Final Mani-With Flash

And as usual I finished everything with Seche Vite (which was great because Kenzie woke up as soon as I painted the fast drying top coat on the last nail). I have to admit that I love this mani and while I generally try to not repeat them (there's too much color and too many combinations to play with to repeat), I'm tempted to come back to this again at some future date. 

I also had the time (finally) to change the paint job on my toes. I won't be sharing pictures of my feet (a girl has to keep some things to herself), but I will share what I used, because it did turn out kind of awesome!

I used Julep's Base Coat to start. I used two coats of China Glaze's Mahogany Magic (from the Hunger Games Collection) on most of my toes and was really surprised by how it turned out. I was on the fence about purchasing it, but I had nothing like it in my collection and I thought it would be perfect for the fall (plus it was on sale). It looks more toffee/burnt caramel colored in the bottle, but on the nails it's a beautiful, rich milk chocolate shade. I do accent nails on my toes too, and for them I used Julep's Rachel, a gorgeous metallic, reddish copper shade, and topped it off with Sally Hansen Gem Crush Nail Color in 03 Big Money, copious amounts of champagne colored micro glitter with chunkier flecks of purple glitter. I finished all off with Julep's Fast Dry Top Coat.


What's on your nails now? My inquiring mind wants to know! Leave a comment below and let me know. Until next time...

I got it at:

Sally Beauty Supply 

Target

Ulta Beauty