Mother's Day and Sunday Stamping

First I would like to wish all the moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day! I wish you all a wonderful day and hope you get spoiled as you deserve! May you always 'bee' happy! :)

The manicure today had a lot of self-imposed requirements to meet. I wanted it to be Spring-like, have flowers for Mother's Day and use a stamping plate ending in 5 (the theme for today's Sunday Stamping challenge in the group Adventures in Stamping). I'm quite happy to say that all the requirements were met and I can rest easy.

Essie BHG Beautiful Glitter Sandwich

A few weeks ago I received a package in the mail from Essie. You should have seen the confused look on my face as I opened it since I did not order anything from Essie and have not been contacted by them for any reviews. Inside the package was one Essie polish with the name of BHG Beautiful on the bottom. No other messages in the package to indicate why I was receiving this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about getting free polish, just a bit baffled at the source. After some investigating it turns out that I won a Better Homes and Garden Essie Giveaway that I entered in September of last year. Better late than never I guess... :D

Barielle Nail Rebuilding Protein and Ultra Speed Dry Manicure Extender Review

Along with a number of polishes (most of which I have already shown you), Barielle was kind enough to send me a bottle of their Nail Rebuilding Protein and Ultra Speed Dry Manicure Extender to test out. While I love trying new polishes and showing those on the blog, reviewing a a base/top coat is new territory for me. I think I have finally tried them enough times to be able to tell you what I think...

Barielle - Elle's Spell

I do believe it has been way to long since I've had a flakie manicure, so it was time for a other one. This beauty is Barielle Elle's Spell. A red flakie that shifts to gold and then blue/green. The flakies are suspended in a burgundy jelly base. Since the base is sheer, I decided to layer the polish over black. It is kind of a prerequisite for me to test a flakie over black since in my opinion that is when it shines. I have, however, seen swatches of it layered over burgundy polishes and it is also gorgeous, so that is on my to try list...

OPI: The Amazing Spider-Man Collection for Summer 2012

This weekend I finally got the chance to swatch the new OPI The Amazing Spider-Man Collection. The collection has everything from cream to shimmer to duochrome. Colors that range from light to dark. It has in addition fulfilled a leming of mine! Since there are lots and lots of photos, I will get on with showing them...

Sunday Stamping: Unnatural Animals

This week the stamping challenge for the group Adventure in Stamping was truly a fun one. The challenge was a stamped manicure with the theme of unnatural animals. I have been wanting to try a rainbow gradient animal print for quite a while, so this was the perfect opportunity for it. What could be more unnatural than a rainbow zebra?

I'm home!

I'm finally home after a week long trip of vising family in Chicago and attending a gorgeous wedding. I am so thrilled that I got to go and wish the newlyweds all the best! I had scheduled posts for my time away and intended to reply to comments while there, but I ended up with no internet access. I did borrow a smart phone here and there, but I'm seriously incapable of functioning on those so I couldn't respond. I will be catching up with all your comments as soon as I can :)

Since being back I have things to catch up on at home and I've had to work longer hours to make up for some of the time off so I have no manicures to show you. Instead I want to show you just a few photos from the trip. It was my first trip to Chicago and I really fell in love with the city...