I decided to try my hand at a taped explosion mani. I’ve never taped before, aside from the black French tips the other day. There’s definitely a learning curve to it. I made plenty of mistakes before I figured out what I was doing, so you can see plenty of blemishes in the finish, unfortunately. Oh well, live and learn. i’ll know better next time.

I made it harder on myself by mixing matte with shiny. For a first try, that was probably a little ambitious. The base is Manglaze “Fuggen Ugly,” one of my favorite polishes. It looks like wet concrete and I love it more than I can describe. The POW is China Glaze “Ruby Pumps.” I was really happy with this one, too. First of all, it’s just a gorgeous red. Second, it’s pretty damn opaque. considering I laid it over something as dark as this base, it really pops red without needing a red undercoat. And it’s glittery, oh yes it’s glittery.

I couldn’t find any Hot Wheels for this picture. I bought a wicked sweet scorpion car and one of my kids immediately rolled it under the sectional. That sucker is gone, man. So this time it’s an elephant. Enjoy the elephant.