Water You Waiting For?

I wanted to sneak in another of the gorgeous China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil polishes before the NYE sparkle.

I layered Water You Waiting For, a really great small glitter blue and green in a blue tinged base over Color Club Cold Metal, a gorgeous metallic blue, and loooooved the result.  I think WYWF could build up to opacity, but I don't really like the all glitter look, myself.  I would also wear CM by itself, and you'll get perfect coverage in two coats.

You can see the larger green glitter amongst the blue.

BAM!  Underwater goodness all kinds of up in yo' face.

It's got a great texture too, if you don't have to have everything shiny and high gloss.

Can't Get Enough Sandwiches

Here's a hot pink variation of the green sandwich I did earlier this month.  I am love-love-loving the way this transforms all my glitters.

Two coats of Zoya Roxy, one coat of Zoya Astra, and another of Zoya Roxy

So squishy!

It reminds me of a terrible Jell-O salad.  Maybe one filled with salt or small shards of foam.
Yummy!

La Isla Bonita

I'm recycling title stuff lately, though I can assure you that this is not South Park related.

Yes, that song has been stuck in my head for days and YES I ONLY KNOW THE CHORUS.
My life is hell.

Everyone is looking for that perfect red for themselves in a nail, a lip, a shirt?  Whatever.  It can't be too blue, and it certainly can't be too orange, and the reason there are four trillion reds is that there are four trillion lovely shades of people out there to compliment.

This makes my list of top five red nails, in case any of my fellow vampire skin folks out there are still looking.

Zoya Isla

I feel like these two pictures are out of an old Highlights magazine "Can You Spot The Differences?"

I almost couldn't, but there are one or two, and I'm just lazy enough to leave them both posted.

Zoya Isla is a fantastic blue red shimmer polish that absolutely glows.  You see how in the shade it's got some dark reflection to it?  Now that's vampy, my friends.  Two coats will have you out the door, and the formula stays where you place it (as can be evidenced by my brush strokes above that I didn't clean up).  I HAVE OTHER THINGS TO DO.

No I don't.  I'll do better next time, Internet. 

Stepping Away From The Jewel Tones

I'm about wore out on the deep sultry tones of winter.  I was rooting through my local Ross for Christmas presents for yours truly the other week and came upon an unnamed set of Color Club neons.  I've compared them to swatches of CC collections, and I just can't pinpoint it.  So though it drives the OCD monster inside of me crazy, the swatches remain unnamed.

I have loved using my thin nail art brush more, and I thought about creating a tie-dye look, a la the rubber band method we did in high school one time.  To disastrous results.

I am happy to report that not only were THESE results not disastrous, I quite like them.  You can see the progression as I couldn't leave well enough alone, and added a layer of Essie Carnival on top for some glitter.  I'm sorry, but there is nothing glitter can't make better.

I started with a base of Barielle Enduring, a creamy snow white.  I then laid down a thousand brush strokes each of the unnamed Color Club Hot Pink, Electric Blue, and Neon Yellow.  You can see where the blue wasn't quite dry yet, as the yellow turned green.

And now for the reason anyone cares - the pictures!

Like a beautiful radioactive sky.  Get your gas masks, the colors are lovely tonight.

Another angle!

This is the opposite hand with glitter!  Which kind of dulled the colors, sadly enough.  Weird.

Not weird enough to make me un-love you.  You're my precious.

A teeny bit time consuming, I consider this method completely worth the results.  I got to the point where I wasn't even cleaning the brush because, hell, it was just going back and forth anyway.  I liked the stripe variations, and yes, even the globs.

A Pretty Mild Disco

Purple and green is probably my favorite color combination.  I like playing with light purple/dark green, dark purple/light green, frosts, glitters, you name it.  They were also the colors we used for the wedding many, but not so many years ago (awwwwwwwwwwwwww!) and I love them still.

The polish was one of the gifts Ulta was handing out during the holiday Buy 2 Get 1, OPI Gift Cards For Everyone!  It's a dark purple with blue shimmer that's, apparently, pretty hard to photograph.  It's lovely and thick in one coat, but I'm not careful so I did two.  I have a whole box of hex glitter to use, and I thought I'd whip a new tub out for today's manicure in the peridot green color.

I used a toothpick dipped in topcoat to place the hexes in a kind of alternating row pattern, shellacked two coats of quick dry on top, and called it a day.

OPI Gift Cards For Everyone & Lime Green Hex Glitter

It may look like I missed one on my ring finger but I assure you - I did not.

Oh disco green, why must you torture me with only looking good in tiny doses!

Merry Christmas!

My final manicure for the Christmas season - it's kind of bittersweet, actually.  Not only because Christmas is so well encapsulated by so many awesome colors, but there are tons of cool stamps, great designs, and so much talent out there.

Until next year, Christmas.

Color Club Wild At Heart with a Bundle Monster Stamp in Barielle Enduring

Can you see some of the awesome holo in WAH?  It's all over the place.

I'll have to get the plate number, but the snowflakes are the best.

Dual Holo For The Win!

I'm just going to make this a spam post, because these two gorgeous shades speak for themselves.  It also tells a tale of what happens when you stamp a design, but forget to top coat it, and wash your hands.

Super wah wah.  I actually did a good job with the left hand transfer, and it came off because I didn't seal it. LESSON LEARNED.

A England Ascalon, a gray/lavender holo and Color Club Wild At Heart, a dark purple holo

And now with flash so you can see some of the insane sparkles:

More Holos, Please

Presented without comment.

Color Club Revvvolution with stripes of Layla Mercury Twilight

It's My Birthday!

For reals!  This isn't like a cutesy Internet "oh, gee willikers guys it's like, totally my birthday and, like, stuff!"

I'm 30 today.  About a decade older than anyone else with a nail polish blog but what and ever.

I made some cute cupcakes to celebrate, and I thought I would share them with you, dear Internet, for slogging through these posts with me each week.

Happy Birthday, self!

China Glaze Under The Boardwalk and It's A Trap-eze!

Drippy sprinkles!

So much fun.  Except for that thumb spike which looks strangely menacing.

Under The Boardwalk is a really great two coat hot red/pink.  It's a perfect creme that, to me, almost borders on a neon in the right lights.  And really, do I need to talk about It's A Trap-eze! any more?  There's nothing to say that the Internet hasn't covered - it's lovely, it's sprinkled, and it's fun.  I like it more as an accent than anything else, but when it works, it works!

Nail Art I Loved, Part 2

This is my favorite to date.

I feel like I say that a lot, but every day is a brand new day, right?  And if the end of the world is today, then go out with some style, fools!

*note*
The Claw in no way shape or form believes that 12/21 will be the end of the world.  Namely because her 30th birthday is the next day, and who ends the world BEFORE a weekend?  Heinous.
*end note*

Color Club is sponsoring a "Let It Snow!" challenge, where you submit your snowflake themed nail art to them for consideration in winning their Winter Affair and Holo Hues sets.
Um, yes please.

Yesterday you saw a lot of CC because I didn't realize it was a snowflake challenge, and painted this whole flawless tree thing before I re-checked the rules.  Dangit.

So on to my entry to that contest, today's beloved favorite!

Oooooooooooh.  Art-y.

I, again, started with a base of Color Club Wild Orchid, except for my ring finger which I covered in two coats of Color Club Wild At Heart.  Honestly, it would have been fine at one, but I'm a two-er.  You know this.

I stamped snowflakes onto my ring and thumb from different Bundle Monster plates, and freehanded the other nails using Barielle Enduring, Layla Mercury Twilight, Color Club Revvvolution, and my long striper.

Blurred for maximum sparkle.

Hello there, sweet nail art love o' mine.  I hope you enjoyed our time together.

They pick the winner today at 1pm, and though I'm sure they've received hundreds of super well qualified entries, I'm counting myself a contender.  Come on, free polish!

Nail Art I Loved, Part 1

I found myself with a few hours, a lot of polish, and chock full of the Christmas spirit.  The small tree in the living room is my tree.  It's silver holographic tinsel, neon ornaments, a purple peacock, and a bright peridot green ribbon topper.  I love it, and it happens to be one of my favorite Christmas decor decisions ever.

That being said, the inspiration for the below came from that tree.

I started out with two coats of Color Club Wild Orchid, a really pretty purple gray with a touch of shimmer.  It's sheer and streaky at one coat, but two evens things out nicely.
Next, a triangular swipe of Layla Mercury Twilight, and then I used my long striper brush to place some swipes of Color Club Wild At Heart, forming a rough tree shape.
I dotted on some neons in pink and orange for ornaments, and added a (very hard to see) bough of Color Club Gift of Sparkle.
Dotted with a silver holographic hex glitter each, I had myself some festive trees!

Ornaments are a bit more in line than I would have liked.

This picture seems so brooding.  Like it's saying "yah sure, Christmas, but what about Mother Earth, man?"

Yayyyyyyyy successful freehand!

The whole thing wasn't awful, and once I got the hang of using the striper, it all went pretty quickly.  If you're serious about nail art, I recommend going and grabbing a set of nail brushes.  It makes creating so much less intimidating.

It's A Cirque-Us

Cirque is a super epic fabulous indie brand out of NYC, with tables full of covet worthy polishes.  To be honest, I had ordered a few from them and not used them simply because the swatches were so beautiful, I wanted to have a good set-up.

XX is from the new Objet d'Art collection, and is a mess of glitters in a sparkly milky base.  I layered XX over Essie Midnight Cami to give you an idea of how much lighter this polish makes your base.

I love how XX makes any polish a galaxy manicure.  Each hex a planet, and each circle its moon.

All that microglitter really shows up in the incredible close-up.

Despite being crammed full of gorgeous glitter, I did not have one application problem with this one.  The larger pieces will drag, so take your time with the coats, but you don't have to baby it like some other glitters.

Candy. It's Like Christmas Food.

Ah, the candy cane.  That spun and molded sugar coma just begging to make your mouth and teeth red every year.  You could also lick the end into a form of shank, but it's Christmas!  So you don't.

Well, you shouldn't.

It's fairly easy to do a candy cane on your nails - just get yourself a good white, a sparkly red, some striping tape, and about an hour and a half of your life you can never get back.  Don't forget all the forgiveness you'll have to beg of your family as an endless stream of cuss words flows out of your mouth because the damn things aren't even.

Yay, Christmas!

Zoya Purity and Zoya Blaze

So glittery.  So cuticle flooded.

Strangely thick and runny at the same time.  Oh nail polish gods, what can I do to appease thee?!

If I thought it would have worked, I would have used Blaze as the base and used Purity for the stripes.  My cuticles just do.not. tolerate dark polishes, and will never give up the color, no matter how many ounces of acetone I use to burn them.  They are tortured and refuse to talk - good in a crisis, bad in a polish blog.

Pink In Three Ways

We've discussed this - if it's shiny and colorful, I will (eventually) buy it.

Orly's Pretty In Pink collection caught my eye this year because of the holo bar glitter and holo magenta pink polishes that they were flashing.  So much pink!  The base of this manicure, Zoya Anaka, is an uber shimmery hot pink that's gorgeous in one coat.  I didn't stop long enough to get a picture of it on its own, but you get the picture.  Orly Be Brave, the pink holo bar glitter, needs a lot of coats to be honest.  I couldn't get very many bars on the brush, but the clear base is thin enough that three coats didn't bulk it up too badly.  The payoff in Zoya Electra is much better, but Be Brave's bars have a pink back or pink hue or pink something on them and, well, I already had it out.

Zoya Anaka with three coats of Orly Be Brave

It's polarizing in this little nail blog community of ours, but I love bar glitter.

No, I don't know why this shows up so blue and won't color correct.

For the third wave of pink, I added a thin coat of Color Club Wing Fling, a hot pink shimmery jelly polish.

Like Liza the later years, this manicure is slightly subdued now.

Reach Your Zen

Grab a lotus flower, cross your legs, and pinch your index and middle finger together...

it's time for some meditation.

Zoya Tao stamped with Barielle Enduring and an echo of Zoya Reagan

Playing with shadows of color.

This is my favorite steel gray.

A Pattern Has Been Established

I've been pulling out a lot of reds for the Christmas work, and I'm falling in love all over again.

The Zoya Ornate collection made a lot of people's wishlists when it came out, and for good reason.  Blaze is their red entry - a lovely softly holo'd ruby red that's opaque in one careful coat, or goregously depth intense at two and a topcoat.

You...are...so...beautiful...to me.

Like a sky full of stars...if the clouds and sun had turned everything blood red.
I don't like this world I've created.

Guess What I Gave Up?!?

That freaking Christmas Challenge.

As fun as I thought it would be to force some creativity, it just became a massive burden.  And in true Claw fashion, I quit instead of committing and buckling down.  It's part of my charm.  If I feel like putting any of the remaining things up (tree, wreath, santa), I certainly will and we can celebrate them together.

But in the meantime, I'm getting back to doing stuff that just strikes me as interesting - which is usually pretty awesome by itself.

Today's manicure reminded me of gift wrap.  Maybe it's the gold and green together, and maybe it's the crisp lines.  All I know is that this is another for the "love" column, and it photographed like a champ.

Zoya Logan and accents in China Glaze I'm Not Lion

All that shimmer.  I can hardly stand it.

Ring finger kind of looks like an Anarchy symbol at the right angles.
FIGHT THE MAN, NOT THE MANICURE!

I love this photo.

Zoya Logan is such a boss color.  It has great opacity at one careful coat, it's packed full of golden and green shimmer, and it's just so darn pretty.  China Glaze I'm Not Lion is a super finely milled gold/silver/holo glitter that provides endless sparkle and is opaque in two coats.  It dries gritty, so if you don't like that texture, put a thick topcoat on, and enjoy the shine.

I can't believe that we've only got 12 days until Christmas Day.  Where on Earth has this year gone so quickly?!

Give Your Eyeballs A Break

Having just come home from an Ulta raid, thank you buy 2 get 1 free, I was swatching and searching for inspiration.  Looking to take a break from the uber-bright holiday colors (I know, I know - HERECY!!!), I wanted to do something soft and pretty.

And apparently barely noticeable.  But I like subtlety sometimes, so I'm rolling with it.

Zoya Erika and Zoya Dove

Erika is this perfect girly pink with little golden shimmery flecks to warm it up.

It's a gorgeous office day neutral, or base for a Nikki Minaj tribute?

The saran wrap method involves painting a thick coat of a second color on top of your first, then smashing some crumpled saran wrap on top, giving you a marbled effect without all the annoying water.

Yay!  Brain matter!

Swirly and soft and s...ingular?  I have no idea.

This process took almost no time, and I really like the effect.  I think, for this one, the muted colors did me more harm than good as you can't really tell the effect.  Because it's so time-effective, I'm sure that I'll do this one in a cornea searing combination sooner rather than later.

Christmas Challenge - Ugly Sweater!

When I think of an ugly Christmas Sweater, it really comes down to how it's made.  The too bright, in your face patterns, and super rough chunky knits are where it's at, don't you think?

I chose to go with an awesome color for nails, but a terrible one for sweaters, a foil-y silver blue, Barielle Snow Day, and covered it in duplicating stamps in China Glaze Deviantly Daring, Color Club Berry Bright, and Barielle Enduring.  And no sweater would be complete with the a teddy bear, of course.  Look to the pinky for confirmation.

Don't even ask about my thumb.

I certainly wouldn't wear this.

Great Balls Of Fire! It's Red!

*above quote was edited for content and to fit on your screen*

I also have to admit, much to my eldest sister's chagrin, that I have never seen "Gone With The Wind", or read the book.  I know, I know.  American institution and all that.  Listen, my attention span for 30 minute shows wanes most days, so a movie is almost always out of the question.  I'll get around to the IMDB top movies list, uh, one day.  Maybe.

Probably not.

I say all of that just to introduce today's swatch!  I'm trying to bulk up my red selection, and found another Essie stunner at CVS whilst lurking the other day.

Essie Scarlett O'Hara

A glowy shimmery red that tends more blue than orange.

An excellent primary color red, if you're looking to paint a clown nose or murder scene.  Please let them be unrelated.