It's below zero...why not wear some floral nails?

It's winter here in Minnesota. It's below zero outside. There are no nice days in the foreseeable future. Christmas is over. It's a looooong time til spring.

Alright. Enough griping about how crummy it is here, let's focus on bright happy things. Floral print sounds nice doesn't it? This mani makes me think of bright, soft, cottony fabric. I needed something to brighten up my icy mood yesterday. :-)

I chose a matte topcoat, because I thought it looked more like fabric. My love for matte topcoats is growing. This one is by NYC and it's called "Matte me crazy". I picked it up at target for under $2!

The two main colors in this mani are OPI's "My Vampire is Buff" and China Glaze "A Rose Among Thorns". For the flowers and the dots, I used my dotting tools!

I'm pretty pleased with my floral print mani, what do you think of it?

When beauty betrays you...

Alright...time for some cold, hard reality. We all know that nail polish is awesome. We all know that the color options out there are staggering. I love painting my nails every day, at times. Sometimes I have 5, 6 or more polishes going on in one mani. 

Sometimes, those lovely colors betray you.

EEEEEEEEEK!!! That is what's left on my nails after removing my Christmas Mani. For the green I used Klean Color's "metallic green". Never again. Never again will I use that color. I had TWO COATS of nail envy under that polish! 

In my crisis, I consulted with some fellow online lacqueristas. I've heard in the past that baking soda, water and lemon is a good way to get rid of staining. My pal Erin had some Christmas staining too, and she recommended that I try making a paste with those three things and SCRUBBING, SCRUBBING, SCRUBBING!!!

I worked with this consistency for awhile, but then added more baking soda until it was more like wet sand. I scrubbed for a very long time, and I have to say...it did work! After I felt like I couldn't scrub anymore, I washed my hands well and grabbed my buffing block. 

HOORAY! 99% stain free. There are still a few faint spots, but I didn't want to buff them anymore than I had already.  Please pardon my dry cuticles. After a couple generous coats of nail envy, at bedtime I loaded my nails up with my new Emerald and Ash Pumpkin Apple Butter cuticle oil!

That cuticle oil just might be my new favorite. It smells delicious, and it soaks into the skin right away. Today, my cuticles feel moisturized and they don't look quite as tore up!

Here is my final result. Much better, right??

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! It's Christmas! This is my last Holiday mani for the year, so I thought I'd make it count! I'm also very proud of the stamping in this one. I am really lacking in the nail stamping department, but I like how it turned out! 

I've got a whole lot of colors in this mani...a little bit of Butter London, a little bit of Revlon Top Speed and a LOT of Model City! It's fun, it's festive, and over the top (of course).

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Love,

Cass 

I've got stars in my eyes!

Oh my goodness gracious you guys. I am so in love with this gorgeous rose gold flakie by Indigo Bananas! It is called, "A Star to Sail By" and it is just an beautiful as I'd hoped it would be.

In my pictures I used three coats, and I probably could have used four, for better coverage. 

This polish is so different from the other rose gold sparkles I've seen. Rather than pieces of glitter, this one has flakes of color! It's got a mirror like effect, right?

This color is perfect for a holiday party! It's flashy, without being over the top!

You can find Indigo Bananas on Etsy. Check them out for this, and TONS of other gorgeous colors!