Favorite Nails Of 2012

On Monday I do Monday Blues, which means a manicure with blue polish. I've been doing it for a while so I figured I could post some of my favorite blue polishes and manicures of the last year.

You can find all of them on the blog, filed under NAILS in the menu on the homepage, or by clicking HERE, so if you want to know more about one of them, check it out or just ask.

I've arranged them chronologically, so I'll start out with the oldest, working my way up to the newest

My first water marble attempt*Polka dots with my eyebrow brush*Olympic Nails  

Gold leaf nails*Barry M Aqua Glitter*Rhinestone nails made with glitter   

The prettiest nails I've ever had*Oxblood glitter nails*Roses and polka dots 

Essie Bobbing For Baubles*Color block nails *Snowflake glitter ombre nails

So what do you think? Any favorites?                  

I do believe that the ladies are putting up they Monday blue nails as usual so you can check them out here:

Gosia from Life in Color!

Mihaela from Lacquerbuzz

Mandy from Chameleon Stampede

Marisa from Polish Obsession

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Monday Blues : Mermaid Nails

And it's back to the fishbowl on this lovely day of Monday.
Speaking of fishbowls and fish, I had been meaning to make Mermaid Nails happen for a while but it just slipped my mind over and over, until I saw a rather gorgeous interpretation of the water maiden nails last week and decided I have to make that happen too.

I know the idea behind mermaid nails are scales but I like the idea of water on my nails quite a lot too, so I combined the two. More or less.

The glitter is a bit more Aqua than it looks, seen as it is indeed called Aqua Glitter and is by Barry M.
You might remember it as my favorite glitter, from this overexcited Post .
The polish underneath is W7 Envy , and it is much greener than these pictures let on. It's because the glitter made it blue in the end. The polish is pretty great on its own too and I'll show it to you in my Metallics Top 5....or 10, that I'm working on.

I really am surprised how well these two polishes work together,because if you see them separately,you might assume they're going to clash.
Ah but lovely harmony it is!
Here's the two I used.

So what do you say, do these nails look mermaid enough for you?
I like them quite a lot and I really get a feeling of the deep blue when I look at them.


Hope your Monday is looking great and if you want more blues, here's some ladies who have it

Gosia from Life in Color!

Mihaela from Lacquerbuzz

Marisa from Polish Obsession



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Monday Blues: Rhinestone Nails

Well... not technically rhinestones, but glitter that if placed well, will look like you have little gems on your nails.

It's a bit less blue than other Monday Blues posts, but I like to think it's blue enough to brighten up some grumpy Mondays.

I own a silver ring that has exactly 3 blue stones in the middle, and one day, while looking at it I started wondering why I don't do that on my nails too.

Initially I just wanted to put a regular blue on some silver looking polish, but then I remembered I have some great blue glitter I haven't used nearly enough ever since I got it..

And thus, the nails were born!
You can see that the first two fingers are a slight bit off center but I'll just blame it on artistry.

Doesn't this glitter just look like rhinestones? I was very surprised to see what a gorgeous effect it had when I started dotting it around the nail.

I used W7 Cosmic Blue that I got together with every other W7 glitter I could find. Yes...someone has a glitter problem, I know.
I put it over a long lost Kallos silver polish whose name got lost along the way.Not from my own fault, but because they number their polishes and stick the number in quite an insecure manner on the bottom. One wrong move and off goes your number.Let's just call it "awesome silver".


So what do you think, do you like it as much as me? I've been looking at it and giggling for a while now,hehe.

With that being said, here's the other sisters in blue doing their magic:

Gosia from Life in Color!

Mihaela from Lacquerbuzz

Marisa from Polish Obsession



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Monday Blues: Black and Blue Glitter Tips

By the time you'll read this...I'll be a work.

Been having a bit of a sorta flu this week-end so I was more in the mood for black than blue, which should also explain my manicure.
This is Monday blues after all, so I just added some sparkly blue.

This glitter is hands down my favorite one and it confirmed once more how easy it is to take it off, a very strange fact for a glitter!
I swooned about it on a previous Monday Blues post that you can find HERE and I can tell you it's 100% pure glitter goodness!

I actually like the contrast of the black and the blue a lot!
It probably will take the number 2 spot in my favorite list after black and gold.

The black I used, Catrice Back to Black  also has a great almost blue shimmer in it that works really well with the Barry M Aqua Glitter. 

Sure, not the cheeriest mani, but then again Monday isn't the cheeriest day either and I'm still under flu influence so I'm not the cheeriest either. But the glitter is a great pick-me-up!

With that being said, I wish to direct you to the other lovely ladies who went all blue today

Gosia from Life in Color!

Mihaela from Lacquerbuzz

Marisa from Polish Obsession



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Oxblood Glitter Nails

A while ago, I did a post bout a manicure I had tried and became completely obsessed with. I kept staring at my hands and repeating in my head how pretty it looked. In case you missed it, you can see it Here and tell me if I'm wrong about how pretty they are.

Well, it isn't something too complicated and it got me thinking what other color could work with gold.
I find silver glitter doesn't really do such a great job as gold in delivering something really pretty.

So upon being flooded with Fashion Week material and trends, the term Oxblood was floating around pretty much everywhere I looked. Sounds pretty macabre doesn't it, "Oxblood" ? I'd assume even Bunnyblood would have worked, since it's pretty much the same color, but it wouldn't have had the same street cred that Oxblood brings with it.

In any case, since this is clearly becoming Nail Week on the blog, I will continue this week with showing you Bunnyblood glitter nails.No, just kidding, it's still Oxblood and no bunnies were harmed...just some cows.

I think these go from pretty to quite chic . Much of the baroque era operated on black or burgundy and gold.
I only had this particular shade of burgundy at my disposal at that particular point, but went out and got a lighter and more shimmery shade a few days later and I'm thinking about repeating this manicure with that.

In any case, I am really liking this combination. It will probably work amazingly well with black too if you want to give it a bit of a gothic twist or you can try some mint greens or  sky blues if you're feeling fresh.
The blues and greens might be a clearer option in spring, but why not brighten up the day a bit now already?
Also, white will probably look gorgeously pure.

Ok, this just makes me want to try a whole bunch of new combination now. What have I done!
Back to painting my nails it is then!

And don't forget to check out my First International Giveaway where you can also win a cute polish that might work with glitter tips! 



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Prettiest Nails I've Ever Had!

I really wanted to post this later, as there were already posts scheduled but for the past 2 days I'm staring at my nails going "so pretty!" each time. I figured I have to share the prettiness, because maybe then, my obsession with them might tone down.

Here they are, the mani I do not wish to ever take off:

I don't know why I haven't done these before, as it's a pretty basic thing as far as glitter goes: Fine glitter, chunky glitter on top of that and all on a nude polish base.
Sounds brainless, my brain just seemed to need a while to get to this conclusion too.

I usually just use one kind of glitter, either on the tips or at the base of the nail. Also because I had forgotten I have chunky gold glitter. I need to start taking lecithin because my memory is clearly keeping me from having pretty nails.

Was thinking about using other colors too, as I still have silver and blue chunky and fine glitters, I just have a feeling they might not look as delicate as these ones.

Here's a Tip: When making them, make sure you use a polish that fits your skin color. Go peachy if you have darker skin and keep it light nude if your skin color is fair.
It will make a clear difference and will look much more "custom made".

A funny thing is that I've never been a big fan of gold, but as you can see, I'm even wearing a gold ring now.
I find this manicure to make anything look pretty. Even my early morning outfit becomes Pijama Chic. Should think about copyrighting that but it's for another time.


Now tell me,are they not super girly? I personally am very very in like with them!

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Monday Blues: Glitter Tips

Guess what? It's Monday again!
And you know what that means? Means it's time for blue nails again!

Have to admit, I'm starting to wonder what I'm gonna do when I run out of blues? Might create my own polish then and show it off, hehe.

But on to today's show and tell. We have Manhattan No.78C and W7 Cosmic Blue.
I don't know if you remember Cosmic Blue from Here and the Manhattan polish from my little polish pile purchase (phenomenal alliteration!) Here.

The first time I tried putting glitter on my tips, it was with a purple polish and glitter and I ended up staring at my hands all day. Then I forgot to do it again and while looking through my stash today, I saw these two polishes and realized none had been tried on yet and both could work well together,so I figured 'why not!'

As it happens with some blues, they don't photograph like in reality so I had to tweak it in Photoshop. I will say it again, I never photoshop nail photos,because the main idea is to show the actual color of it, not to make it look surreal but pretty. But in this case, I needed to edit it for it to look like the real deal.

Of course, I then became artistic and used the sun as a prop. This is what it looks like:

Here's a picture of the polishes I used:  W7 Cosmic Blue and Manhattan No. 78C

The W7 is a mostly blue glitter,but has some silver and gold glitter flakes scattered around. As for the Manhattan polish, I was surprised to see it looks much more blue than in the bottle.

I really like the combo and will probably do it again. Have you ever played around with glitter on your tips?


Here's the other lovely ladies who turned blue today and their pretty nails:

Gosia from Life in Color!

Mihaela from Lacquerbuzz

Mandy from Chameleon Stampede

Marisa from Polish Obsession

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GUEST POST: Gosia's Glittery Nail Show & Tell!

Hello to all Treasure Chest readers!!

My name is Gosia and I’m a host of Life In Color!, one of the many nail blogs out there.  Joanna and I just recently have become acquainted when she decided to join our Monday Blues team!!  I love how her blog contains a little bit of everything, including some great advice and fabulous pictures!

I tried to come up with something that Joanna would like, and I KNOW that she likes glitter!  Just look at her awesome nail posts, so many of them show glitter!!  Therefore I’ve decided to use some too!

First, I used “underwear” polish, in this case 2 coats OPI “Don’t Pretzel My Buttons” which I got from the latest OPI Germany collection.  For my accent nail I used 2 coats of China Glaze “Snow”.

Then I applied 2 coats of China Glaze “I Herd That” (from the 2012 Safari collection) and freehanded a little design on my accent finger.  I really really like this polish; it’s a very densely packed yellow and red glitter in a clear base.  If there is such a thing, I would call it a nude glitter!!  Very not-in-your-face but still sparkly and pretty!!

 In sunlight

 

I hope you guys all enjoyed my little creation!!  Thank you so much, Joanna, for letting me entertain your guests today!!!  

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Monday Blues: BarryM Aqua Glitter

Hellooooo Monday! Way too much cheerfulness in that statement,wasn't it?
Let's try again:
Oh hey!
Sounds more plausible. Now let's get to the awesome part, The Glitter! BarryM Aqua Glitter to be exact.

On Saturday, the lovely Mihaela handed me this bottle of unicorn...eh...tears, and whatever post was planned could wait, because I had to have it on my nails and show it off!

Because I am part of Monday Blues, that you can read all about in my post from last week and see the previous blue and gold leaf nail art tutorial I did then, I am posting pretty blue things each Monday.

I'm wearing 3 coats on these photos and nothing but a base coat underneath. As you can see, it does a pretty great job in terms of coverage.
What I was super surprised by was how easy you can take it off! 
Alu foil and scrubbing glitter off? Not At All!
It came off just like any other nail polish.With a rub of the cotton pad and the polish remover it was gone forever.

I am in total and absolute like with this polish! It also is the perfect aqua, as the name says.I have quite a bunch of blue glitters, but none really hit that perfect blue color that you want to have on your nails on a hot summer day where all you can think of is jumping into a sea of blue.


Do you have any glitters you're dying to get your hands on? This was on my Wishlist for a very very long time!

Also, make sure you check out what the other lovely blue ladies have in store for you today:

Gosia from Life in Color!

Mihaela from Lacquerbuzz

Mandy from Chameleon Stampede

Marisa from Polish Obsession

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Glitter and Nail Polish Making Sneak Peak

Yesterday I came across a place that sold glitter and you can be sure I got some of the shiny stuff!



Why you ask? Because I really wanted to give frankening some polish a try. Frankening pretty much means making your own.
So far I had issues finding glitters anywhere and the idea of paying for overpriced stuff on Ebay wasn't on my to do list.

But then I found these guys.

And of course, last night I had to try and make some!
Here's my first attempt, and a tiny preview of what I'm gonna be showing you soon!
( Yes ,it's purposely a slight bit blurry, this is a Sneak Peak after all,isn't it? :)

Have you ever tried making your own polish?




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Polish Days : Olympics

Polish Days are here!




This is my first time taking part in it,and this month's theme were of course....THE OLYMPICS !

When I think Olympics,my head goes straight to "Medals" .
That's why  Gold,Silver and Bronze had to be part of it,don't you think?
So here's what I did  :

The funny thing about it is,I had done another design prior to this, but my boyfriend thought it wasn't cool enough. As a result, the Gold,Silver and Bronze nails are his design.

You heard me:  A guy designed my nail art!
That has to be a first and I must say,his idea looks pretty great,doesn't it?


I really wanted it to be as shiny as possible, so I used  all glitters:W7 Gold and Silver Dazzle and a combo of Catrice In the Bronx base and Farmasi bronze glitter.
Speaking of glitters, some of THESE will be up for winning once I reach 100 followers on the blog.

Of course, because this year we have the Games in London, you can't just ignore the pretty flag now can you?
So I dedicated my thumb to it. Why my thumb? Because when you do 'thumbs up' you get the UK flag! 
I consider it to be the best strategic position :)

Hope you like it,because I loved wearing it! 

Here's also the rest of the participant list:

A Lacquered Affair	http://alacqueredaffair.onsugar.com/Polish-Days-3-Olympics-24320650
Alena - Why Hello Nails	http://whyhellonails.tumblr.com/post/28953933168/polly-polish-days
Alexis - Glitter Tips	http://www.glittertips22.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/polish-days-olympics.html
Ariane - The Frenzied Polisher	http://thefrenziedpolisher.blogspot.sg/2012/08/polish-days-olympic-games.html
Chiro - Nail of This Week	http://nailofthisweek.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/052-olympic-games-mani-day.html
Cuti-CLUE-les	http://cuti-clue-les.blogspot.ie/2012/08/polish-days-olympics.html
Deborah - Love Varnish	http://www.lovevarnish.com/2012/08/an-olympic-manicure-for-polisholympics.html
Hannah - Polly Polish	http://www.pollypolish.com/polish-days-polish-olympics-time
Heidi - Pretty Painted Nails	http://prettypaintednails.com/nail-polish-trends/gold-nail-polish-olympic-nail-polish-day/
Inky - Inky Polisholicious	http://inkypolisholicious.blogspot.sg/2012/08/polish-days-3-olympic-games.html
Ishah - Ishah X Beauty	http://www.ishahxbeauty.com/2012/08/polish-olympics.html
Jen - The Nail Polish Project	http://thenailpolishproject.com/?p=2548
Jenny - Beauty By Jenny	http://beautybyjenny.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/polish-olympics-swedish-style/
Jessica - Sparkles & Shine Nails	http://sparklesandshinenails.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/polly-polish-polish-olympics.html
Joanna - The Treasure Chest	http://thetreasurechestt.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-olympics.html
Joanne - Northern Nails	http://therockchicksrambles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/going-for-gold.html
Karine - karinea0a	http://karinea0a.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-olympic-games.html?m=1
Kat - Hooked on Polish	http://www.hookedonpolish.com/2012/08/a-different-kind-of-olympic-mani.html
Kate - Polish Cart	http://polishcart.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-gold-medals-galore.html
Keisha - Refined & Polished	http://refinedandpolished.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-olympics.html
Lani - Nail Photos by Lani	http://nailphotosbylani.blogspot.no/2012/08/polish-olympics-polish-days-august.html
Maria - So Marvellous	http://somarvellous.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-olympics.html
MariJo - Polish Obsession	http://marijonails.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-olympics.html
Melissa - The Crimson Petal	http://the-crimson-petal.onsugar.com/Polish-Olympics-24266423
Mihaela - Lacquer Buzz	http://www.lacquerbuzz.com/2012/08/polish-olympics.html
My Nail Polish Online	http://www.mynailpolishonline.com/2012/08/skittle-nails/polish-days-olympic-games/
Nail Tart	http://nailtart.com/?p=709
Nicole - Nearly Nailed	http://nearlynailed.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-olympics.html
Pris - Pris Nails	http://prisnails.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-olympic-nails.html
Sabine - My Polish Stash	http://mypolishstash.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-vol-3-polish-olympics.html
Samantha - Polished Art	http://polishedart.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-olympics.html
Sammy - The Nailasaurus	http://www.thenailasaurus.com/2012/08/polish-days-polish-olympics.html
Sophia - Unhas a Trois	http://unhasatrois.blogspot.com/2012/08/polish-days-unhas-olimpicas.html
Stephanie - Sincerely Stephanie	http://www.sincerelystephanienails.com/2012/08/olympic-themed-polish-days.html
Wendy - Wendy's Delights	http://wendysdelights.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/polish-days-olympic-nails.html

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Mi-Ny: Glam F. Blue

We interrupt our program for a special message that is about how I found a whole big nail polish store at the mall yesterday and almost had a happiness stroke!
The brand is MiNy or Mi-Ny (I'm still unsure about the hyphen). They're an italian brand that has everything my little polish addicted heart desires. Obviously I couldn't leave the store empty handed,so I got the first two polishes that I remembered I was missing. Let it be said,they have so so so so many colors!

Today,I present you : Glam F. Blue
I initially grabbed it because I thought it was grey but then I saw the lovely blue shiny particles in it and was hooked.

Here's a better view of how the blue particles shine. They are less visible as such on the nail,but overall,you get a very icy look,with slight blue reflexes and me likey a lot!

As you can see,they are free of Toluene,Formaldehyd,Dbp and Camphor.Plus points!

Favorite Blue

Long time no nails,don't you think?
And this is coming from a nail fanatic,so it must be long.
The following polish is one that I came across by a complete accident. I saw it on someone's nails and asked what it was.When she said it was Golden Rose I figured I should look for and get one myself.
And may I just say,I was surprised in so many ways!
First up,the formula is great. I do know that with Golden Rose polishes you kinda get a hit or miss situation since I had tried one before and was not too impressed.

The color is beautiful and it has the best sheen I have ever seen! Not to mention the fact that it stays on for days on end without even the slightest indication of its desire to chip.

Golden Rose don't give names to their polishes,just numbers.So this is Golden Rose No.53

 And here you have it,my favorite blue:

 

Here's something for next time; a combo of this polish and a lovely blue glitter from W7 that I love wearing.

Pictures will be coming very soon!

No Photoshop was used in the making of this post :)

Cosmic Black

A while ago I got a bunch of W7 glitters,including Cosmic Black. It fascinated me because it was,well...black. Black glitter you say? Tres interesting!
It ended up being more silver glitter in black grainy base,but still fascinating.

 

As you can see (click on the pic to enlarge.If I post it bigger,it doesn't fit in nicely in the layout anymore),it has a bit of a grainy texture.It reminded me of pitch or bitumen.I could almost envision a potential highway being built on top of it.

It's a pretty interesting polish,and like the Gold Dazzle before it,it stays on your nails quite a while,since it's not jelly based. The feel is something to get used to though,because even with top coat,it keeps some of the the graininess,so don't expect extra smooth stuff.

Gorgeous Nail Of The Day: China Glaze Liquid Crystal

Oh my goodness,this is beyond gorgeous! I am completely impressed with this polish.It is from the China Glazed Prismatic collection and it's called Liquid Crystal. And what a fitting name it is! Looking at it,you really get the feeling that your nails are bedazzled with crystals.My nails at least :)
I will say nothing else and just show you pictures of it because it is quite possibly the best looking glitter polish.

Glitter Mania!

You will find out this about me: I am crazy for glitter. This is why,when I see it,I wish to have it.In piles!
Such was the case with these W7 polishes.

 

Here's a close up at each of them.Swatches will of course follow!

Cosmic Blue

Cosmic Black

Actually tried this on one finger. Not a good idea to wear it without a top coat,because of the feel,but it looks pretty great.

Cosmic Mauve

Silver Dazzle

And of course,the amazing Gold Dazzle that I've already tried!