I got the Kreativ Blogger Award! :D

Thank you to Traci at The Trace Face Philes! :D

Here's what I have to do:

• Write 10 facts about yourself.
• Pass the award along to 10 other bloggers and tell them about the award!

Here's my 10 facts:

1~ I'm a newlywed! My husband and I got married just 7 months ago.

2~ I have 3 kitties, Arwen, Mocha, and Lily.

3~ My greatest ambition is to be a mommy.... one that I hope to achieve next year!

4~ My other obsession is Harry Potter!

5~ I work at an Orthodontist... I  put braces on!

6~ I have one tattoo on my foot.

7~ I live in Tennessee.

8~ My in laws live in London, England.

9~ I love to travel!

10~ At the beginning of this year, I had a mere 15 bottles of nail polish! :)

I give this award to:

Painting Rainbows

Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom

Over the Taupe Beauty

Prettyfulz

Southern Sister Polish

The Manicured Monkey

Moondancerjen's Nails

Josie's Nails

heartNAT

Gotham Polish

Catrice Dirty Berry + Essence Mystic Mermaid + Scotch Tape Rays

Hey guys! Yesterday after my Crackle fail (documented on the Rainbows and Sparkles Blog Facebook page), I promptly removed Mimi. :( Loved Mimi, hated the Crackle. So, I decided to play with my new Catrice and Essence polishes sent to me by the wonderful Kati! (You still need a blog. Or at least a facebook.)

First, I used Catrice Dirty Berry.

I am loving the formula on these Catrice polishes... I just wish I could get them more easily in the US! I love the brush; it's so easy to manage! This is 2 coats. Dirty Berry is a dusty grey-ple, and it's got a beautiful silver shimmer! Or so I thought... until I went outside:

I would definitely blow these up so you can see the subtle holo glitter! WOAH! I actually verbally "Ooooooh"'d when I looked at them outside... This is gorgeous! The first thing I did was message Kati with an "OMG you didn't tell me this was a holo!!" It's comparable to the scattered holo in the Tronica's.

Of course, I couldn't leave it alone, so I layered it with another beauty that Kati sent me... Essence Mystic Mermaid. It's from their Special Effect Topper collection... along with the "Hello Holo" glitter I used last week. I accented the ring finger with Scotch Tape in a "ray" pattern.

The left hand rays look a bit cleaner than this, but I am still boycotting pictures until my nails decide they want to stop breaking. Then, because we had the elusive sunshine, I took to the porch!

Mermaid is right! This is a beautiful silver foil with just enough translucency to  show the color underneath. It's also got a bit of a holo property, and duo-chrome, as it shows silver, blue, and a bit of green. I am in LOVE with this topper! I told Kati that I will be layering this over EVERYTHING! It's beautiful! The best part? A top coat doesn't kill the look at all. ;)

Hope you guys love this as much as I do!

Followers Pick Friday: Zoya Mimi

I am baffled that you crazy ladies passed up a HOLO (Sally Hansen Night Lights) for Zoya Mimi! Buy, hey, I'm not complaining... I love my Zoya glitters!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... Zoya knows how to do it's glitters! Mimi is described by Zoya as "a royal purple sparkling metallic". Quite appropriate for the Royal wedding, right? What makes me happiest about Mimi is the pretty light purple-pink glitters that it's jam-packed full of! I love this color! Great pick, ladies!

Zoya Zara

Nothing fancy today... just one of my newbies that I bought with my spoon credit!

Ladies, I give you Zoya Zara!

Zara is a gorgeous soft lavender with a golden shimmer. This is two coats. I love this color! I couldn't stop staring at my nails! If there were such a thing as a neutral purple, this would be it.... It's color, but not in-your-face... very work appropriate. I got so many compliments on her!

See you on Friday! <3

Tronica Swirly Rainbow! (And a new bundle monster plate! :D )

I teased the hell out of this mani on my Facebook page, and I think Nita and Candice will have my head if I don't post it! So here you go!

I dreamed this up on the way home from work today. :)

The base color is Zoya Snow White, and I stamped with my China Glaze Tronicas: Electra Magenta, Laser Lime, Techno Teal, and Virtual Violet. I used one of my shiny new Bundle Monster Plates, BM-201. I LOVE this! I'm obsessed with swirls... I love em! Swirls and polkadots.... this is what my brain looks like when you cut it open! The Tronicas stamp so nicely... I'm never disappointed! I only wish the green would have shown up a bit more... but I'm happy!

I hope you guys think this is as awesome as I do! :D

Happy easter!

Hello lovies! Happy Easter! My sweet hubby surprised me today with an easter basket! I think he learned last year when I was sad because it was the first year I hadn't gotten one, ever! He's so sweet <3

Anyway, here's my easter mani!

On this mani, I used: Zoya Jolene, Bela, Jancyn, Pippa, Marley, Snow White, and Raven, Finger Paints Crysanthe-mum's The Word, and China Glaze For Audrey. I also used dotting tools and a tiny brush. :)

I hope you like it! :D

Catrice London's Weather Forecast + Essence Hello Holo!

Happy Friday again! And also  Happy Earth Day! Did you partake in Zoya's polish exchange? I did! I got Amber, Michelle, Hope, Akyra, Jo, Ibiza, Tallulah, Loredana, Savita, Cheryl, Julienne, Adina, and Happi! I had more, but narrowed down. I'm really trying to be good! I have officially decided that I will be on a no buy until my trip to England/Italy at the end of May.

Tonight, my baby sister (21) is having a Pure Romance party! I decided that yellow wasn't a party color, so I sadly removed my pretty lemon nails and opted for something else! After much debate, I satisfied my craving to play with one of my Swap Newbies, Catrice's London's Weather Forecast!

London's Weather Forecast is a gorgeous slate grey.... It doesn't lean more toward blue or green, like most grey's tend to do. I love this shade! The formula was great: opaque in 2 thin coats. This was my first run with Catrice. Their brushes are more flat and wide than what I'm used to, which I was worried about, but it was surprisingly really easy to use! 

To make LWC more fun and party-appropriate, I did (my first) glitter gradient with Essence Hello Holo, another swap newbie.

Enlarge this one, you won't be disappointed!

Hello Holo is PACKED with small holo glitters in a clear base. It's comparable to the color of China Glaze's Fairy Dust, but the glitter is bigger. The name of this polish is so appropriate... in my head, when I read it, I hear "Hell-loooooooooo Holo!" This is such a fun topper! 

Then, I took to the porch for some coveted sunlight. My nails turned into mini disco balls in the sun!

Enlarge this one too... The middle finger looks neat!

What do you think? Did I pull of a good party nail? :D

Follower's Pick: China Glaze Lemon Fizz

Is it already Friday again? I'm definitely not complaining... I get 3 days off!! Hooray!

First off, I got my second swap package from my friend Kati on Wednesday! She gets me so many cool polishes.... I feel like the polishes I'm sending her are so inferior!

From top to bottom: World Inspired Colors by Herome "Kingston", Essence "Mystic Mermaid", Teeez!  "Cool" & "Smooth", Essence "Hello Holo", Catrice "London's Weather Forecast", "Dirty Berry", "Forget-Me-Not", "Purplelized", and "I Wear My Sunglasses At Night"

Look at that holo!!

So pretty! I can't wait to swatch these for you!! She also sent me a bunch of candy..... There's these tasty coffee candies! Mmm~

Anyway, on to your pick! This week, you chose China Glaze Lemon Fizz! Now, I gotta say, I am LOVING this light box! I took THREE pictures of this.... and it's the three I used! Love it!

Lemon Fizz is a pretty pastel yellow cream. Now, as is typical with yellows, it was a bit streaky, although I will say that this was easier to apply than Zoya Pippa. This is FOUR coats, plus base and top coat. Three was almost sufficient, but I still had a few patches. As funky as it was, I love this color! So bright and springy!

I finished this manicure with a coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, which I received as part of my prize from Chloe's Nails' give away! (This mani's for you, Megan!)