Sunny Day Nails using Maybelline Bleached Neons

Good morning/afternoon!  I'm watching the very exciting Brazil vs. Chile World Cup game and getting ready for my husbands 20 year reunion today!  Wow we are old!  So I thought I'd share my mani for the events today - a day time BBQ then a meet up at a local bar.  I picked up some of the Maybelline Bleached Neons because they looked so lovely!  Well they are lovely!  Very fun, pastel yet bright colors that remind me of old, sun-washed photographs from the 70's.  I'm sure there's an Instagram filter named for that look.  Anyways, let's take a look at what I did!

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You know I love coral, peach and yellow shades, especially during the summer months.  So it was no surprise that I picked up  Maybelline Bleached In Peach, Citrus Collide and Coral Heat (as well as Lime Accent but I didn't use that for this mani).  I actually started with 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow on my middle and ring nails.  I then sponged a triple gradient using (from nail cuticle to nail tip) Citrus Collide, Bleached In Peach and Coral Heat.  I sponged 2 or 3 layers on and had great color payoff over the white base.  I had initially tried to sponge them on their own but they were not building up well at all.  I blinded up these nails with 2 coats of essence Space Queen, a very pale peach tinted polish full of holo and iridescent micro glitters.  I then used 3 coats of Bleached In Peach on my thumb, index and pinky nails.  Bleached In Peach is actually my favorite of the 3 colors I used because it is so unique and pretty.  It's reading more orange than peach in my photos so be sure to check the shade pics - they are more color accurate.  I found the formula and application to both be fine for a pastel (which is usually chalky and difficult to work with).  These did dry matte so I used topcoat to gloss them up. 

 *shade pictures to show accurate color*

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Kiss and Million Dollar Mermaid

My birthday came and went last month, but holy heck my friends in the nail polish blogosphere really spoiled me something fierce.  So yay for awesome friends and yay for a boat load of new nail polish to play with!  Here are 2 of the birthday polishes that came from a group of amazing friends that pitched in to get these for me.  They haven't really gotten much attention but they are gorgeous.  These are some of the new Deborah Lippmann Summer 2013 Mermaid polishes.  Do you remember how much you loved Mermaids Dream?  Well you are going to love these just as much!

I decided to use 2 of the new mermaids here.  I started with 3 coats of Mermaid's Kiss, a gorgeous pink with loads of gold shimmer, light and hot pink glitters.  I easily could have used 2 coats but used 3 to ensure I had no thin spots for my pictures.  The formula was great, applied nice and even.  I then did a gradient with Mermaid's Kiss and Million Dollar Mermaid on my accent nail.  Million Dollar Mermaid is a fun peachy-orange colored base with gold shimmer and brighter colored orange glitters.  Mermaid's Kiss has more (and more noticeable) gold shimmer, but both are very lovely.  I applied the polish in blobs directly to my triangle makeup sponge and pressed it on my nail running it up and down slightly to mix the colors.  I did this 3 times.  I am pretty pleased with how this turned out and I really LOVE the new mermaids.  Aren't they pretty!?  You need to see them in person to believe the amount of gold shimmer packed into these babies.  I finished this off with 1 layer of topcoat on all nails.  

You can purchase Deborah Lippmann 2013 Summer Mermaids on http://lippmanncollection.com, and all the major department stores (Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, etc).