First sponged gradient mani

I did my first sponge mani yesterday.

I used a base coat of Skin Food BL509.

I sponged on WnW I need a refresh-mint, LA Color Craze Atomic and Orly Le Chateau. My accent nail is a base coat of Skin Food BL509 with a Sinful Colors Nail Junkie on top.

I topped it with a coat of Seche Vite. The SV seems to have broken down the Atomic and made the color spread more. I am not a fan of this. Anyone ever had a similar experience with SV?

These were quick shots after a day of shopping and swimming and the sun was just starting to go down, but I wanted to make sure I got a few pictures at least. See the chipping on my middle finger? My pinkie was worse, which is why its not included. And yes, I'm holding a lighter, but in my defense I didn't have a bottle of polish with me and just grabbed something! 

OKC Thunder Mani

I did this last week for the finals.

Sinful Colors Midnight Blue

OPI Osaka-to-me Orange

The lightning bolts were done with a nail stencil and the letters were done free hand with a pen that ran out of ink.

Sinful Colors Midnight Blue

I have a huge soft spot for blue and green polishes. I'm sure you will see these two colors a lot. This is the 2nd blue manicure that I've done this week. I'll have pictures of the first one for you later. This was the first time I've used this polish so, review time!

After the first coat,  I was a little nervous, it was pretty sheer and streaky. The second coat made all the difference in the world, smother and more opaque. This is a beautiful metallic royal blue.

This is 2 coats with no top coat. I picked this up for .99 at Walgreens. (normally $1.99)

Overall, I love it. :)

Comparison: Revlon Plum Seduction and OPI All That Razz-berry

I haven't been blogging quite as much because I've had some eczema flare ups over the last few weeks. The skin around my nails is pretty dry and cracked in these pictures because of it. My toes are even worse. I've been working on the blog and trying to get my skin to calm down. A week later, they are doing much better. 

I started out thinking these were dupes, however, they are ever so slightly different. I have the Revlon on my pointer and middle finger and OPI on my ring and pinkie finger. Have a look for yourself:

bottle shot, full sun

both bottles, and one nail of each color

Plum Seduction on pointer and middle, All That Razz-berry on ring and pinkie

Ever so slightly different.

The OPI is just a little teeny, tiny bit darker. I don't think I'd be able to chose which one is my favorite because they are so similar. They are both pictured with 2 coats and no top coat.

I don't consider them dupes, do you?

My sons toes are green...

My sons toes are painted because he asked me to paint them green. Not just any green, John Deere green.  Anyone who knows him will know that something "John Deere green" is not anything new around our house. He absolutely loves John Deere. When I bought him a toddler bed, he wanted a John Deere green one. So I bought a frame at the thrift store for $10 that was white metal and painted it John Deere green:

 I also made him this John Deere rag quilt. The child absolutely loves John Deere.

So, the John Deere green request came as no surprise to me. I was surprised that he asked me to paint his toe nails. I didn't think twice about doing it, just surprised he asked. I brought him to the store with me to pick out his perfect idea of John Deere green. He chose Wet n' Wild Fast Dry "Sagreena the teenage witch"

So I guess this post is less about nail polish, and more about how I love my son and will paint his toes whenever he asks me to.

(my favorite is color is also green, can't wait to use this polish on myself!)