Poppy nails in honor of Remembrance Day.

IMG_1293(1)

Today, November 11th, is Remembrance Day and in honor of that I did a special manicure.

I grew up as part of a military family — both past and present generations have served in the Air Force, Army and Navy. I even have a Great Uncle who was held prisoner in a POW camp during WW2.  Because of that I’ve always made sure to take the time to stop, reflect, and remember those who have fought so hard to defend our freedom–those who came, those who didn’t, and those who were forever changed all in the name of Peace and Freedom. I wanted to do a simple Poppy manicure in memory and remembrance, and I think they came out perfectly.

IMG_1294

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • ACO by Ardene Day Dreamer — base color.
  • ACO by Ardene Strawberry Fields — red.
  • Mariposa Black.
  • OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls — white.
  • Seche Vite fast dry top coat.

IMG_1301

IMG_1303

IMG_1372

 

So what do you think of these Poppy Nails in honor of Remembrance Day?How do you mark the day? I went to my local Remembrance Day services this morning with my father (who is retired from the Air Force) and the boyfriend and it was amazing to see everyone gathering together to pay tribute.

Fall floral.

First off, I apologize for being MIA the last week. Not only have I had an extremely hectic week at work, but I got struck down with the cold from hell. So while I’ve still been trying to paint my nails, I haven’t had the energy for blogging at all! I’m going to try and make up for that this week though!

 

I did this manicure I couple weeks ago, before fall officially hit but the weather was definitely Fall-like. I had pulled out my beloved Cashmere Bathrobe by Essie, and decided I wanted to do a pretty design with it. But what? I hadn’t done a floral in a while so I thought why not! Floral doesn’t just have to be for Spring/Summer 😉

floral

 

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essie Cashmere Bathrobe.
  • OPI I Snow You Love Me.
  • Bourjois Paris 1965 Le Rouge fidele
  • Bourjois Paris 1938 Mais Oui!
  • Bourjois Paris 1913 Cendres de Roses
  • ACO by Ardene Green Peace
  • Sinful Colors Strapped.
  • Nutra Nail Quick Dry Top Coat.

 

These turned out so well, and I had so much fun wearing these that I kept them on for almost 3 days. Who says that floral can’t be worn for fall as well. 😉

floral2

 

floral3

China Glaze “Choo-Choo Choose You” and a comparison.

 

 

Today I have one of the polishes from China Glaze’s All Aboard collection, which they’ve released for fall. When I first saw swatches of all the polishes, I fell absolutely in love with all the gorgeous colors, so I knew that I needed to check these out. In stores, when looking at the bottles, my eyes were immediately drawn to the polish below.

 

IMG-20140916-02469_1410893401830_n

 

China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You in almost indescribable. But according to the press release China Glaze released for the collection, it is described as purple grey smokey shimmer. When I was checking out the polishes at my local Chatters, I wasn’t sure which one to get but my eyes kept coming back to this one. The polish was just so striking and gorgeous! And I had to have it.

 

IMG-20140916-02470_1410893428322_n

IMG-20140916-02473_1410893457398_n

Choo-Choo Choose You is definitely a one of a kind polish when it comes to my collection. The different flashes of color remind me of almost an oil slick on my nails (in a good way). I couldn’t really think of any other polish in my stash as beautiful as this polish, or similar. So naturally I had to go looking. =)

The only other polish I have in my stash similar to Choo-Choo Choose You is Essie For the Twill of It. Naturally, I had to swatch the two side by side to see how similar they were, and you can see below they’re not as similar as I originally thought. On my pointer and ring finger I have For the Twill of It, and on my middle and pinky I have Choo-Choo Choose You. For the Twill of It pulls much more blue/grey while you can really see the purple of Choo-Choo Chose You while the two are side by side. As well, you can seriously see the brush strokes in For the Twill of It which is in part to my own application, but still… Choo-Choo Choose You does not have the same issue. Actually, the application was absolute perfection.

IMG-20140916-02487_1410893361017_n

IMG-20140916-02481_1410893327883_n

IMG-20140916-02479_1410893299656_n

IMG-20140916-02478_1410893269185_n

Of the two, I definitely think I prefer Choo-Choo Choose You, but that could be because I’m a sucker for purple. And the polish itself is just so different from anything else in my stash. It makes me understand why it’s been a popular choice recently. It is an amazing color for fall and I am so, so glad I choo-choo chose it. (haha sorry).

 

Grey and Pink Chevron Tips.

IMG-20140911-02380_1410436885518_n

 

You may have noticed that pink and grey are in my top favorite fall colors (as well as purple and gold.) Steel grey, in particular, is a favorite for me. I own a few in my stash and every so often I pull them out to play with. I was really feeling like doing some chevron tips–this is almost the opposite of my last grey and pink manicure.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Essence Color and Go Luxury Secret.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in Pink (light pink).
  • Stripe Rite Striping Polish in Pink (dark pink).
  • Nutra Nail Quick Dry Top Coat.

 

IMG-20140911-02381_1410436929854_n

IMG-20140911-02384_1410511054207_n

IMG-20140911-02395_1410511354325_n

Fall themed chevrons.

IMG-20140830-02210_1409433851080_n

 

 

Who doesn’t love a good fall nail polish? It’s officially September now, and there is no denying Fall it’s on its way–you can feel that little chill in the air, slowly creeping towards us. I can’t even complain. As much as I love Summer, I’ve been craving fall fashion–oversized sweaters, knit socks, layer after layer, and of course boots!

Today’s NOTD was my nod to fall fashion.

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essie Vested Interest (from the fall 2013 collection).
  • Stripe Rite Striping Polish in Pink.
  • Nutra Nail Quick Dry Top Coat with Green Tea.

 

First off, I absolutely love Vested Interest from last years Fall Collection from Essie which is this fabulous greenish grey. I scored a collection of four mini bottles last year from the collection at Winners, which all quickly became favorites. Vested Interest is just such a great color for fall. But I think adding my freehand chevrons with the pink just took these nails over the top. Both are dark, rich color so they compliment each other. (In my eyes at least). These are the perfect fall nails–all I need is to pair them with an oversized knit sweater, knee high socks, and a couple scarves.

 

 

 

IMG-20140830-02215_1409406722737_n

IMG-20140830-02217_1409406755226_n

IMG-20140830-02218_1409406810164_n

So what do you think of these nails? I’m really proud of how my chevrons turned out. I know a lot of people are rocking amazing chevron nails using those nail vinyls, but I’ve yet been able to invest in them. I don’t want to be out of the chevron loop though–thank goodness for Stripe Rite’s striping polish. I’m definitely going to need to take a trip to Sally’s and invest in some new ones–my black is on it’s last legs sadly and they just made freehand nail art so much easier!

Now it’s time to go spend my day off reorganizing my closet and drawers for Fall. Can you tell I’m excited?! I’m such a dork haha. =)