Valentines Theme

DISCLAIMER:  Photos taken before cuticle cleanup.  
Please don't hold it against me, I hadn't decided to blog yet.  Also that I am a normal every day type of woman that has a day job that at times wreaks havocs on my nails.  My nails and cuticles are not always perfect thanks to exposure to weather and animals.






 The mani on the upper right was inspired by Nails by Linda165.

Mani on the left I'm sure was inspired by something I've seen but I'm not exactly sure.

The hand painting was done with acrylic paints.

Some of my zoo A.K.A. Welcome to the Jungle

Just sharing some of my zoo.


Any wonder about me and bright colors???

A bit of bamboo

This is a mani I sported last week.

Not my best work but I was just playing around with foil and stamps.

I started with base coat using an old Orly polish then using foil glue I painted on some bamboo then applied a gold foil.  That was followed by stamping on a bamboo pattern in black and white.

Wicked Hot Nails...

...to go with the wicked hot dress in my profile photo. This was for Valentines evening out with the girls.

Simple and elegant using a black base coat and clear rectangular/square/teardrop rhinestones.

Getting naked!

My naked nails or as they've been called before claws and talons. This picture is from a few months ago they have since been filed down a bit and any repairs have long since grown out.

Taking the bite out of pure acetone

Now that I've got the explanation of the family curse out of the way it is time for me to get busy with some content so here we go.

Blah, blah, blah you know the difference between non-acetone, acetone and pure acetone right?  If not Google it so I can spare others of the redundancy.  OK then what can I post about polish remover that isn't redundant?  I'm glad you asked!

For the most part I use pure acetone unless I have a repair in place.  I keep three separate dispensers.  One with non-acetone, one pure acetone and one pure acetone + (my own little concoction.)

I love, love, love how quickly pure acetone takes off the polish but hate the cold, drying and skin whitening effects it leaves behind when in its pure form.  Anyone else feel the same way?

The Family Curse

Why would I consider my nails the family curse you may ask?

Well I inherited my nails from the maternal side of the family.  My grandmother always had strong, beautifully curved nails as did my mother.  I don't think I've ever seen either of them with naked nails.

As the consummate tomboy my nail care and length varied.  When I didn't grow out and paint my nails my grandmother would yell at me, "Women pays lots of money to have what you have naturally.  Grow your damned nails".  When I did grow and paint my nails I'd get yelled at for my polish choices.  My grandmother was big on pinks and lavenders and here's me sporting neon colors, blacks, blues, greens and well you get the picture.  So I was damned when I did and damned when I didn't.

I am happy to say that I had her wearing some awesome nail art before she passed away.  Hell I even did stained glass nails using loose glitter and she loved it.  I miss you Mimi.

Well that's the story behind the family curse.  :-)