Challenge Gallery- Vampire

It's time to see this week's "Vampire" themed challenge entries!
Don't stare for too long... You might make them mad!

[In no particular order]
Kitschy Suburbia Blog:

Art Of Nail Blog:

Fab Ur Nails Blog:

Borricua's Entry:

If I were a vampire I'd have nails as sparkley as my skin and I'd wear nothing but white. I'd look like an angel instead of death.

NOX twilight "Poseidon"

NOX twilight "Poseidon"

Good morning! It's not quite time for the challenge gallery, so here is another polish by NOX twilight! This is "Poseidon"!

NOX twilight "Citrus"

NOX twilight "Citrus"

There must be something wrong with me... I'm so critical of polish when I see it in the bottle. This one I honestly was not too excited about trying. Hey, I'm just being honest... But LOOK! It's GORGEOUS!

NOX twilight "Wine And Dine"

NOX twilight "Wine & Dine"

I told you I'd be back with more NOX! This is 2 coats of "Wine & Dine"...

NOX twilight "Sugar Plum"

NOX twilight "Sugar Plum"

Sticking to this week's vampire theme, here is a polish that is part of the Twilight Beauty line. This one is called "Sugar Plum". It is one of my favorite colors of the bunch because it unique to any other polish I own.

Challenge (Vampire)

Challenge time!

This week is all about blood-suckers! Create a manicure that you think would be suitable for a vampire. If it helps, imagine that you are one... What shape are your nails? What color of polish do you wear? What is your fashion style? And if you want, give yourself a name! Just have fun :) I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

"Seriously, Polish Hoarder?" Vampires in July??" Yes guys! It's the perfect time for it! The 3rd season of True Blood is finally airing and I just saw the newest movie of the Twilight series, Eclipse (best one so far! It was also my favorite book)... PLUS, Halloween is just around the corner! By the way, if you were wondering, yes that is half of my face in the challenge photo. I was a vampire a couple Halloweens ago. Fun teeth, eh? :)

• Send me your "Vampire" nail designs by Friday (7-30-10) at midnight (CST) to polishhoarder@gmail.com! COPY AND PASTE your blog address into your email if you would like me to include it with your entry!
• PLEASE, please (!) use these dimensions as your final image size: 7" WIDE x 5.25" TALL @ 72 dpi
• And lastly, DON'T FORGET to name your file like this: "nameofblog_yourfirstname.jpg"

Challenge Gallery- Color Accent

Time to see who sent in photos for this week's challenge! [Click HERE to see the challenge details] This is really my kind of challenge! Why? Well, because I guess it matches my personal style more than anything. I wear a lot of black and/or white clothes and then add color to my outfit with a layering camisole or some fun jewelry. Enough about me...

Here are the entries! [In no particular order]

Emerald Sparkled Blog:

Fab Ur Nails Blog:

Fleur's Nails And Stuff Blog:

{To see the rest of the entries, click "Read Entire Post" below!}

(OPI Franken) "Kickin' Ash"

Okay so, many of you know I am hosting a challenge this week and the theme is "Color Accent". The deal is, you have to create a grayscale manicure and add a pop of color. I have everything except gray! Seriously! How does a polish hoarder have every polish under the sun but simple gray? I don't have an answer for that, but I have a solution! Mix your own!

The idea came to me right before I fell asleep last night... Since I was running low on "Alpine Snow" I picked myself up a backup the other day. That means I had 2 bottles of white. Well, it doesn't take much black to create a gray so I mixed some into my half empty bottle of white polish! It all worked out so well. It's like it was meant to be. The best part about my gray is the name! "Kickin' Ash!"

Ready for swatches of my one-of-a-kind (but super easy to dupe!) OPI gray?

Alright! Here ya go:

OPI Franken "Kickin' Ash"

Oh my gosh, it is perfect! This is just 2 coats. Can you believe it?!

No... that's not a real label. I Photoshop-ed that in there :)

Now, it's time to get started on my challenge entry!

Have you done yours???

A Bee-bee

Not that kind of bee! ... I meant this kind:

Since my nail post for today is still a work-in-progress, here is a photo of my nephew that I took when I visited last weekend. You have not seen him yet. He is four months old now and beginning to eat baby cereal. He absolutely loves it! :)

Overexposed In South Beach

OPI "Overexposed In South Beach"

Good morning everyone! Here are the nails I'm sporting today. This is 3 coats of "Overexposed In South Beach". I really like this color because it has only a tiny hint of shimmer (which you can see in the above photo). Just enough that it looks like a creme finish from a distance... and by now you might know that I prefer creme polishes over shimmers :)

Like with all polishes, the color changes under different lighting. Indoors, it seems very dark (it reminds me of "No Spain No Gain") but outside it lightens up! The photos were taken very close to a lamp so that brightens the color even more.

This is a really great color but it might be more appropriate for the fall rather than the middle of July... even though it was part of OPI's collection last summer! How do you like it? On another note: LOOK! My nails are growing out, finally :)

Challenge (Color Accent)

Hello! Sorry this is a day late! But to make up for it, I'm giving you an extra day to submit your files to me. I will be posting the challenge gallery on Sunday instead of Saturday!

This week's challenge is to create a grayscale nail design and include a pop of color! You can only use one color so make it a good one :) Also, you may use that color as much as you want. It just has to be the ONLY color besides black, white, and gray. That's it! Have fun!

Send me your "Color Accent" nail designs by Saturday (7-24-10) at midnight (CST) to polishhoarder@gmail.com! Add a link to your blog if you would like me to include it with your entry!

PLEASE, please (!) use these dimensions as your final image size: 7" WIDE x 5.25" TALL @ 72 dpi

And lastly, DON'T FORGET to name your file like this: "nameofblog_yourfirstname.jpg"

Challenge Gallery- Fashion Inspiration

Let's not waste any time! Here are the amazing entries for this week's "Fashion Inspired (Betsey Johnson)" nail challenge.

[In no particular order]

The Art Of Nails Blog:

Pretty My Nails Blog:

Polish Freshie Blog:

{Click "Read Entire Post" to see all entries!}

Queen Of West Web-erly

OPI "Queen Of West Web-erly"

This is one of my favorite fall shades. Sometimes it looks purple and sometimes it looks like a deep magenta... but always gorgeous :)

I'm not normally a huge shimmer fan. I like them, but I don't like wearing them... This one is different though. The shimmer makes the polish glow where it reflects the light, while the edges remain dark... like when you bump up the contrast in a photograph. Unfortunately, the effect is more obvious in real life. Hopefully you believe me :)

Nails that could stop traffic...

...or in my case, cause a car accident because I CAN'T STOP STARING AT THEM (even while driving)!

These gems are BRIGHT! P.S. Sorry for the uneven nails. They are surprisingly hard to shape when they are this short! Anyways, back to the polish... This is 3 coats of Zoya "Trixie", topped with Seche Vite to last longer, and then covered with 2 coats of OPI "Paris Couture For Sure" glitter top coat. Look below at the rainbow awesomeness!

Yah, it really is THAT good. I love this top coat and I can't believe I've had it sitting around this long without using it! What is up with that!?

I should try it over black to create my own version of My Private Jet! Will anyone ever know the difference? Probably not. There's already 72 other versions out there!!

If you are wondering why I applied Seche Vite BEFORE "Paris Couture For Sure", that's because you can't use a top coat over some holographic polishes because it significantly diminishes their effect. It makes the holo turn from a rainbow into just scattered colorful specs... definitely not as cool.

Nail Wheel #10

Nail Wheel #9

Nail Wheel #8

Nail Wheel #7

Nail Wheel #6

Nail Wheel #5

Nail Wheel #4

Nail Wheel #3

Nail Wheel #2

Challenge (Fashion Inspiration)

I'm super excited about this week's challenge! It was influenced by the suggestions of ABOP and Trinty! So thank you two for the inspiration! Let's see the challenge!

Sounds fun, doesn't it!? I love Betsey Johnson's fashion line. Most of it is way too over-the-top, not to mention expensive, for my taste but I think it is so creative and makes a great muse for nail design!... Sooooo... Go HERE to pick out your dress and get painting! :) And don't tell me you can't find anything because there are 12 pages of dresses to choose from ;)

Make a photo collage of your nails AND your selected dress, -OR- send me both images in their original size so I can merge them for you :) If you create the collage yourself, please use these dimensions as your final image size: 7" WIDE x 5.25" TALL @ 72 dpi

DON'T FORGET to name your file like this: "nameofblog_yourfirstname.jpg"

Send me your "Fashion Inspiration" nail designs by Friday (7-16-10) at midnight (CST) to polishhoarder@gmail.com! Add a link to your blog if you would like me to include it with your entry!

Thanks a bunch!

I'm excited to see your creations!!

Challenge Gallery- Summer Sponging

Hello and thanks for stopping by! Here are the wonderful entries for this week's "Summer Sponging" challenge. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do! Maybe they will inspire some of you to create your own nail art :)

[In the order which I received them]

Emerald Sparkled Blog:

Tigirlyly Konadicures Blog:

Kitschy Suburbia Blog:

Pretty My Nails Blog:

Amanda's Entry:

Nail Talez & More Blog:

Kristin's Entry:

Fab Ur Nails Blog:

My Nail Polish Addiction Blog:

Borricua's Entries:

Pink Nail Blog:

Polish Freshie Blog:

My Simple Little Pleasures Blog:

Enamel Girl Blog:

Pretty My Nails Blog:

And lastly...

Here is my nail art of a summer picnic under the clouds :)

I must say, the new way of renaming the files worked out really well! Thank you to all that remembered :) And thanks again to everyone for participating! I loved seeing all of your entries...Without them, my challenges would be nothing. Thank you!!