opi - window lavender

i've had this on for a few days, so excuse any tipwear in the photos.

i used opi uh-oh roll down the window as my base, picked this up at ulta, it was on clearance.  i'm not sure which collection it was from.

1 coat of pink yet lavender was then added.  this is from the mariah carey collection they just released.  not a fan of her music but, that doesn't matter, i liked the color :P

1 coat of gelous and a coat of poshe were used for my topcoats.

blaaah, nubbins.  going to not let them grow out as long as they were in my last blog post.  it seems like they break when they get around that length. 

espresso toffee

ha, this is my 100th post.   wheeee!

i made this for an 'iron chef' competition at work.  the secret ingredient was coffee.  i figured the other teams would go for the obvious...cake or  brownies...so i wanted to try something different.  i originally went with truffles with kahlua.  they were good, but i need to not use as much bittersweet chocolate as the recipe i found called for next time i make them.  they were suuuuuper rich. 

the feedback i got on it was great.  i'll definitely be making this one quite often.

ingredients:

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold water
• 10 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, sifted to remove all lumps
• 1 tablespoon finely ground espresso, or powdered instant espresso
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces dark chocolate, tempered
• 6 ounces toasted almonds,  (about 1 cup)  i used sliced, but any should be fine 

first thing to do is line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  i found this cool stuff at target that had parchment on one side, foil on the other.  it held up quite well.

 

 

next thing is measure all of the ingredients out.  once the toffee hits the right temperature you need to move fast to avoid over cooking it, so having the salt, soda and espresso ready to go is a must.

in a large heavy saucepan combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water.

turn the temp on the stove up to medium and let this come to a boil.  once it starts to boil place your candy thermometer in the mix.  let this go until it hits 300 degrees.  i stirred a few times while waiting for this to come up to temperature.

add the baking soda, salt and espresso and stir fast to incorporate.  i used finely ground espresso beans instead of powder, since that's what i had on hand.

spread this mixture out over the lined pan and allow to cool for about an hour.

temper your chocolate and spread this over the cooled toffee.   i used sliced almonds and pressed them gently into the warm chocolate.  let this cool for a few hours before cutting into squares.

this smells amazing as it's cooking.  

i found this originally here. 

cut cut cut

so on sunday i noticed my thumb nail had cracked, i have no idea how it happened.  it was at work and i couldn't put a wrap on it.  by the time i got home there was no saving it.

i'm ocd about having them all the same size, so all of my nails got a good cut sunday.   i'm guessing no water marbles for a while for me lol.  i will probably try to keep them around half of the length of my last post.  i haven't had any issues with them breaking at that length.

i'll keep posting manicures, but these nails are nubbins for a while :(

picture polish - orbit

this is 2 coats of orbit, 1 coat of poshe.  i probably could have gotten away with 1 coat, but out of habit did 2.

the silver  sparkle in this is so pretty in person.

this was purchased from llarowe.

hare polish - bury the hatchetfish

this is part of hare's illuminated life:  fall 2012 collection.  i have worn electric flame and have a post here.  hatchetfish had the same weird consistency issue, i used quite a bit of polish thinner and it still wasn't where i would have liked it to be.  i know that others have also mentioned the thickness of this polish, but it is worth dealing with.  it is another that just glows from inside and it is really a unique combination of colors.

the below pics are 3 thin...or 3 attempted thin coats (lol)  1 coat of gelous, though it didn't need it, i wanted to use it for the shine, and 1 coat of poshe topcoat.  no cleanup was needed near my cuticles...it was so thick it just kinda laid where i wanted it to.  you can see on the tip of my middle finger where it looks like a glob.  my sister pointed this out last night when she saw it in person. this must have happened as i was waiting for it to dry, i'm guessing it just shifted as it was drying?  i've not had a polish do that before to me.

i think i will wait before trying any new hare polishes to see if the consistency has gotten better before just buying them.  i still have quite a few of them to go through, so i am set for a while with this brand ;)

this was purchased from llarowe.

girly bits - eggnogoholic

so this one has to be my favorite light colored polish that came out in 2012.  i like that it's not blinding white and more of a cream color.  i don't own anything close to it. 

it was purchased from llarowe.  this is also available on the girly bits site here.

i did use 1 coat of orly - decades of dysfunction as my base, i didn't know how sheer it was going to be.  2 coats of eggnogoholic were used, 1 coat of poshe.  application was perfect with this and decades of dysfunction, no cleanup was needed for either.

hits - unconventional

this was purchased from llarowe.  this color shift in this one is really really strong.  i absolutely love it.

i used cult nails - nevermore as my base, 2 coats of unconventional, 1 coat of poshe.  after a few days i went back and added opi - man with the golden gun over the top.

i couldn't get a great bottle shot of unconventional, my flash kept turning it dark purple.

ozotic - 910 scatter chrome

first off...coffee.

had that while doing my manicure today.

so this is an extremely picture heavy post.

this ozotic was purchased from llarowe.  i used 1 coat of cult nails nevermore, 1 coat of 910 and a poshe as my topcoat.

speaking of nevermore, i mention that i use it as a base for a lot of the manicures that i do, but i don't think i've shown it on its own.   it's the perfect 1 coat black.

no topcoat in the following:

now with 1 coat of 910

ozotics have been my weakness for ages and this one is no exception.  it is gorgeous in person, almost impossible to capture all of the color shifts.

nail nation 3000 - riddle me this #36

so this lasted all day through cooking a turkey and sides...maria's polishes do wear like iron.

this is 3 thin coats of riddle me this with 1 coat of poshe topcoat.

i love this one in person, depending on different lighting, it looks like a different polish.

as with the other nail nation polishes i've tried, there was no cleanup with this.  it applies perfectly.