Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year!

I usually don't make resolutions because, well, I know I'll break them.  So this year I am making some blogging resolutions that I know I can keep!

1) I will take better pictures.  I have a great camera, but I don't fully understand how to use all the features.  To remedy this, I'm taking a class on the second that is being offered by an amazing local photographer by the name of Craig Gum.  He has helped me with some white balance issues in the past, and I'm super stoked to have the opportunity to pick his brain some more.  Check out his use of light!  (Disclaimer: some of his work includes tasteful nudity)

2) I will try new techniques and do more video tutorials.  I experimented outside of my comfort zone in 2013 and picked up a few new techniques, but I really plan to test the limits in 2014.

3) I have been supported over the past few months by some incredible bloggers in the nail community.  In 2014, I will do one manicure a month that is inspired by another blogger - and attempt to do techniques with gel that are usually done with RNP.

4) I will post more than one shot of each manicure to better show the colors and art. 

Ok, ok...enough about my blogging resolutions.  Want to see my New Years mani?  I thought you might.

The base for this mani is LeChat Mood Frozen Cold Spell.  I swatched it previously in this post.  I then stamped them with Color Club Harp On It using images from Pueen 44 (ring finger) and Dashica XL sdp-8.  Stars aren't usually my thing, but I love the effect of the holographic stars over the thermal polish.

Here are a few more shots. 

I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve/Day and wish you the best year in 2014!

~Michelle

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More LeChat Perfect Match Mood Swatches (and this week's mani)

I have two more LeChat Perfect Match Mood swatches for you today.  Crimson Nightfall from the newest release and Frozen Cold Spell from a previous release.

Crimson Nightfall

Crimson Nightfall is a gorgeous blue leaning red cream that shifts to a dark cherry red when cold.  Please excuse the poor application on the index finger.  It's not a problem with the polish.  Like all of my LeChats, it applied like a dream.  My son simply woke up early from his nap and caused me to rush.

 Frozen Cold Spell

Frozen Cold Spell is a tough one to photograph.  It shifts from a gorgeous blue with purple shimmer when warm to a deep shimmery purple when cold.  While in natural transition, it is a subtle fade.  I actually planned to swatch one other color today, but when I saw this one in action I decided I had to keep it for a bit.  This has officially become my favorite mood polish for cooler weather. :)

And I couldn't resist going back and adding this adorable bird stamp from MoYou London Pro Collection 04. 

MoYou London (not to be confused with another UK company by the name of MoYou which I have not tried) is currently releasing some amazing images.  I have pre-ordered some of the new XL images and can't wait to get my hands on them after seeing how well this one stamped.  (Note: the image above is a forced color shift using water on the tips to better show the color change since the natural transition is so subtle in the comparison above.)

That's all for now.  No crazy rambling today like my last post.  Be on the lookout for a few Ink swatches next weekend.  ;)

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LeChat Perfect Match Mood Polish

I have three fun swatches to share today.  LeChat Partly Cloudy, LeChat Lavender Blooms, and LeChat Moonlit Eclipse.  These are three of the mood soak off gels.  I love LeChat.  It applies nicely and wears very well for me.  Plus the matching traditional nail polish is fun for pedicures when I don't feel like doing gel.  However, please note that even though the moods are included in the Perfect Match line, they do not come with the matching bottle of nail polish.

These are really fun gels to play with as they are constantly changing throughout the day.  It's the end of August here in the South, which means some pretty warm weather still, but I was constantly seeing these shift regardless of the warmer temperatures.  Though I will say that it was a little strange to look down and realize that one of your hands is much warmer than the other so your polish doesn't match all the time.  :)  Please excuse the water droplets in the pictures.  I had a hard time keeping them in the warm and cold phases over the entire nail. 

Partly Cloudy

Partly Cloudy is a semi-sheer frost from the first color release.  I wish it was more opaque as the VNL drives me nuts with this one, but a quick coat of nude underneath (aka undies) would make a world of difference.

Lavender Blooms

Lavender Blooms is one of the newly released colors.  LeChat really improved the formula with this new release.  These are much more pigmented than the first group of moods, and the colors pairings are a lot of fun too.  

Moonlit Eclipse

Moonlit Eclipse is another from the new release.  I'm really loving this one.  I'm a sucker for dark colors right now, and most of the time it looked like a fade while I was wearing it. What you can't tell from the pictures is this has a gorgeous scattered holographic shimmer.  I tried to capture it, but my camera simply refused to pick it up. 

I plan to pick up a few more of the new moods this week, so watch for those swatches in the near future.  :)

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