Hey Hunnies! So I wanted to create a freehand damask design on my nails today...but of course I couldn't just leave it at that- so I decided to invert the tips of my nails. Hopefully it's coming across. Basically, the part of the damask that was painted in white on one half of the nail was switched to the divine OPI Thanks a Windmillion on the other half. You might have to look closely on this one ;)
This angle might be the best view to see what my intention was...Instead of one seamless pattern I think it ended up looking like two different designs lol. As long as I had fun, right?
Here is OPI Thanks a Windmillion from the Holland Spring 2012 collection. I adore this polish- slightly sea green, but very dusty gray too, and impeccable formula. So lovely :) You're looking at two coats:
Did you get your nail art fix? If you're like me....never!! I hope you're having a great day and if you are not- keep your chin up and I'll be back here for you again tomorrow!
Hey loves. Here's a quick mani for you featuring the polish Entourage from the Summer 2009 China Glaze Kicks collection. Yep- waaaaaaay back in the day ;) Actually you can get the polishes from those "vintage" collections on head2toebeauty.com and transdesign.com and it's really fun to recall collections from days gone by. I really love this shade, and I wanted to play it up with some bold colors and shapes. These are some abstractly intersecting shapes in bold colors that you can paint on a couple accent fingers, like the thumb and middle finger as I did. Take a look:
I love how Entourage has this lovely and demure shimmer running throughout to give the polish that extra...kick. Here it is at two coats on its own:
That's all for today. You are loved! Have a great one :)
Song of the Day: Of Monsters and Men- Slow and Steady
Hey ya'll! Time for some random swatching! This wasn't necessarily what I had on my nails this week, as you will suspect from the differing lengths of my nails, but some of them were on my nails this week and specifically the last polish I will share was- as it was my favorite polish of the week. Let's get random; let's get started:
Color Club Style Icon is from the Fall 2012 In True Fashion and in my light box and under the camera lens the finish looks rather splotchy but on the nail this was really gorgeous. This is two coats and applied with no problemo. It's a deeper red so if you're in the mood to be a little siren, this might be just right for you. A
Sinful Colors Eva So Bright is going to be perfect for Spring and especially Summer on your tips and toes. Really, really bright coral pink cream polish, you're looking at two coats and I think you can find this in the core collection at Walgreens or Walmart. If you're not a fan of Sinful Colors yet, you should be- they have great formula for the best price out there. A
Sephora by OPI Give Peach a Chance is a really great color in theory, but I didn't end up loving how it looked on my nails unfortunately. I do really like the color though, it's pretty to look at, but I didn't wear it very long. I need to try some Spring nail art with it and see how that goes. This is two coats and took a little work to even out, but I got it to work in the end. I give it a B-
Ooh, I love OPI Sand on Your Own Feet and I was wearing it in the March Polish Haul video I posted yesterday. This is two coats, but you can even get away with one. This comes from the Spring 2012 Too Haute to Handle collection and it's a perfect formula for a light gold, delicate metallic. Love it. I think I found it at a Marshalls. A
Revlon Colorstay Bonsai is a really fun color. As you can see, it's this lime green with gold shimmer running throughout. This really brings a lot of depth and play to this color and I was so surprised that it was on red tag clearance at CVS. Loove it. You're looking at two coats. A
Pure Ice In the Mood is a little polish I picked up forever ago and its just finally making its way to my swatchfest. It's a great light blue shimmer that has so much silver shimmer in it that it almost looks like glass fleck to me. This one was still a bit sheer after two coats so you might want a third. I did still like it though for the price. B+
China Glaze Lotus Begin is so gorgeous and comes at you from the City Flourish 2014 collection. This is two coats, and is the medium purple of the collection- not the darkest, not the lightest. I love purples so much, and this one is just such a luminescent pastel purple. One of my favs from the collection. This is two coats, and while it doesn't have the perfect cream formula, I think it's worth it. A
Fingerpaints Snow Crystals is a fabulously-blinged textured polish. As you can see it's packed with silver shimmer and even some pieces of silver glitter. It's like a chandelier in a bottle I love it! This was runner up for my polish of the week and this is two coats. I found this in the clearance bin at Sally's- it may still be there if you take a look! A
Orly Gravity Bound is one of the six polishes in the Galaxy FX collection that released earlier this year. As you can see- it's a blackened base that suspends the micro blue, and larger purple glitters, with large white hexes as well. I really enjoyed all of these glitters, even though I'm not much of a glitter lover- at least compared to other finishes. I think these are being clearanced out at Sally's so you might wanna go check. This is two coats. A-
For my A+ polish of the week, I give you Sally Hansen Complete Salon Formula Pique Side. I picked this little baby up with some extra bucks rewards and I just love how softly shimmering this dusty sea green is. The formula is perfection of course(Sally Complete Salon Formula is a dream to apply- but it is pricier for drug store). This is two coats.
That's it- all 10! Did you find anything you like? What have you been wearing on your nails this week? Maybe pull out a bottle you haven't played with in a while, or take a walk on the wild side with a neon orange?? Lots of love to you all and I hope you're having a fabulous weekend!
Sorry for being absent for a few days, I've not been feeling well, but the end of March is here so I've uploaded my March nail polish hunt/haul which includes bargains found at places like Marshalls, Sally's, Ulta, Big Lots, Ross, drug stores, and some online shopping. If you get a rush from scoring great deals on your polish, chances are you might enjoy this video. You can check that out here:
Just short and sweet today. I hope you're having a great day and tell me where you score your best polish deals! Lots of love to you!
Hi loves, I don't have a tutorial today- so sorry, but my kiddos are out of school for two weeks right now which means I didn't have any quiet time to film, but I do have this fun look that just takes a light blue holographic, some black acrylic paint and a detail brush. Take a look:
I thought this pale holographic would be perfect for this design, and after the randomly-angled linework- it ended up looking to me like stained glass, or broken glass. This was fun and took just a few minutes and I think ended up striking on the nail. Sometimes I'm not sure how to wear my holographic polishes but I think I've found a new solution. I do have to tell you about my experience with this polish however. I picked up this little baby at my Marshalls and I guess whatever formula they use to make the holographic finish dries up like crazy town. I've never had to use to much thinner to revitalize a bottle of polish- and still I don't think I got it quite right. I only did one coat for these swatches, because I just wasn't going to get away with another. Quite unfortunate but I'm glad I had the thinner on hand. I'll have to check the other bottles from this line. It's name is Sci-Fly By and it's from the Spring 2013 Hologlam collection. You're looking at one coat here without flash:
It does have a nice effect, but just look at it with flash:
Anyway, a good thing I think, to know about this line of holos. I hope you had a great day and thanks for stopping by. I'll see you back tomorrow.
Song of the Day: Alunageorge- Your Guns, Your Love
Hey loves! I had this really interesting brown/green polish from OPI that I wanted to work with today and that color doesn't always lean towards desirable imagery, especially when the name of the polish is Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window from the Touring America collection. I like interesting and intriguing shades of polish that ride the line between pretty/ugly and awkward/fashionable. I decided to take on the challenge with this one. I did think it would be the perfect backdrop for a little baby turtle. Here's what I came up with:
I wanted to feature the shell pattern and then place the little guy across two nails. I thought this turned out really fun and playful- and totally transformed my original judgement of this shade of polish. Here is Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window at two coats on its own:
What do you think- would you rock this polish? Or pass it up? Glad you stopped by today and I'll see you back tomorrow!
Hi everyone. So my daughter is OBSESSED with everything kitty cat these days. She loves our little kitty Midnight that lives at our house, but Midnight knows pretty well to run away from her so to get her kitty fix she watches youtube videos, and anytime we see Hello Kitty paraphernalia when we're out, she goes nuts! We'll just see where this takes us in the next few years...As for today, I created this manicure for her, and everytime she sees my nails she says- "meow!!" Here's the finished look:
I used acrylics for the detailing, but the base polish is the divine suede finish blackened gray OPI 4 in the Morning from the Gwen Stefani collection- which is still on 50% clearance at Sally Beauty Supply if you want to pick any of them up. Here it is on its own at 2 coats:
Hope you enjoyed this look, and that you're having a great day! I love you all and I'll see you back tomorrow.
Howdy Ho, Friendss! Are you ready for some crazy swatching?? Let's get down to it then- 10 random polishes that haven't found a way from my collection to my blog yet:
OPI Magazine Cover Mouse is this lovely almost- strawberry red textured polish. This polish was released in the 2013 Couture de Minnie collection and the thing that makes this red really special is the specs of gold and pink glitter running through- which you can really see best in the bottle shot here. I loved it, and found it in my Ulta's clearance section. Lucky me. You're looking at two coats, although I believe you could get away with one. A
This super vibrant medium pink cream is Nicole by OPI Spring Break from the 2013 Selena Gomez collection. Her collection was full of glitters and bright creams and I thought this one had a great formula. You're looking at two coats and it applied nice and evenly. A
Revlon Parfumerie Apricot Nectar is from their line of scented polishes and I have to tell you- the smell of this polish was so strong that it gave me a headache and made me sick to my stomach. I also swatched another from the line at the same time, and either I was still queasy from this beautiful cool-toned orange cream, or they were both queasiness-inducing. Very unfortunate because it has a nice formula- you're looking at two coats as usual, and it applied with no problems, but boy that smell! Even with how beautiful it is, I'd have to go with a different polish just so I wouldn't have to deal with the smell. C+
Poor little L'oreal Bananarama Love is so sheer and unflattering on the nail...This is three coats and it's still so sheer and who wants to wear a sheer yellow polish? It just ends up looking like yellowed-nails. A sheer white or cream? A sheer pink? Yes- but not a sheer yellow lol. Happily I only paid a dollar for this one that I found in a Walgreens clearance bin. Sometimes that's why those polishes are in the clearance bin... I know, some may say that I can just layer it over another color, but why bother when there are other yellows on the market that do give good opacity and look better on the nail? C
I absolutely adore Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Spare-a-Mint, even though the mix of texture and the hue of this polish make for a bit of a mess to clean up. You're looking at two coats- and this was Sally Hansen's first stab at textured polishes- and then they came out with the sugar shimmers. This one is lovely for it's flat quality and it is just so unique. This color is divine. A
What a fun shade you can pick up at the drug store for under a couple bucks- this is Spoiled Plenty of Fish in the Sea. As you can see it's this really pigmented opalescent blue that is leaning towards blue/green. For such a bargain price, this little baby packs a punch! You're looking at two coats. A
Orly Beautiful Disaster is surely beautiful, but I wouldn't call it a disaster! Maybe beautiful happenstance. I really love this shade, even though it's leaning toward traditional(yes a magenta is traditional even if it's so bright). In some lights, this appears more purple and it does have shimmer, so just know that about this little baby. I really think it's nice. This is two coats. A-
Sephora by OPI Pale is the New Tan is a very nice and clean neutral cream and it's leaning more warm than cool. It doesn't have the most fabulous formula; you have to work with it just a bit... but I think you'll be happy if you find this little baby because it is flattering on the nail. This is two coats. A-
This polish really packs a punch! It's Sinful Colors Gilded and I have it layered over over Zoya Mason. When it's on its own, two coats ends up a bit sheer, but maybe Mason was the wrong shade to layer it over... Anyhow, it's a gold foil with ruby red running throughout. This polish released in the Glitz & Glittered 2013 collection. B+
As for my favorite polish of the week, I give you China Glaze Queen B. I didn't originally pick this polish up when the Autumn Nights collection released because I just didn't think I needed it in my life, but after snatching it on one of the red tag clearance weekends in March, I quickly fell in love after swatching. It's like a dusty blurple, and it didn't run too dark on my nails which I loved. This is two creamy coats and it applied nice and evenly. You get a big A+! Congrats Queen B!
So that's the end of my swatchfest. Did you find something you like? Which was your favorite and what were you wearing and loving this week? Hope you're having a great weekend and I'll see you back tomorrow!
Song of the Day: James Morrison- You Give Me Something
So, my very favorite show on television is back on right now and that is.....Dancing With the Stars! I'm sorry if it's not your cup of tea, but I never miss an episode evarrrrrr. I created some super sassy nails to go along with the ever-sassy costumes gracing that dance floor. Once I figured out I wasn't going to be able to keep my glitter uniform, I just went with it and had fun being silly.
The glitter I wanted to use for this look was too small for my glitter placement skills, so I just taped off the sections that I didn't want glitter on, and then elementary school-style, I shook me out some glitter onto the nail and removed the tape. Oh, and there's a stud on there too, because you know they go crazy with the bling on those costumes.
Above all, I wanted to do a look using this polish called Showy Sea Green from Milani because it is amazing. I never wear polish for more than a day or two, and after two days I had zippo tip wear or chipping or dull appearance even. If you are fond of green polish, you might wanna get your buns out there to pick this baby up. I was mighty impressed. Here it is at two coats:
Hope you're having a great day. If you love haul videos, my March Beauty Haul is up on youtube and you can watch that here if you want to see the deals I scored during the month. Don't worry, my March polish hunt video will be up soon, but you can enjoy this one until then.
Happy Thursday everyone. First off, I'm excited to report that by the luck of the draw I was featured in an interview on one of my all-time favorite blogs, Nouveau Cheap and you can find that post here: http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2014/03/special-anniversary-reader-interview_19.html
The amazing author of Nouveau Cheap keeps her readers in-the-know with what's going on in the beauty community. I check her site multiple times throughout my day so I don't miss anything, because she posts so often, "bringing you the scoop on affordable cosmetics," and well I'm addicted to it ;) If you are into beauty products, you should definitely be aware of her blog: check it out!
As for this blog- today it's about the new line of Rimmel London nail polishes. You can still spot the previous line at places like Rite Aid, but these new 12ml bottles are starting to pop up (I found mine at CVS). Originally I just picked up two so I could see what the formula was like and I was pleased. I always really enjoyed the formula of the Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro, and what this new offering has going for it as well is a wider range of colors for the less conservative polish lover. It has its basics of nudes, pinks, and creams, but it also has a purple, a few blues and greens. I picked up all 14 polishes (leaving out the top and base coats in the display) when Rimmel was on BOGO, so lets look at some swatches:
Punk Rock is a cool, dark gray that almost looks purple to me in some lights. This one's great for going dark on your nails but not too severe. This is two coats, as will the rest of the swatches be.
New Romantic is a lovely pale, ballet slipper pink that isn't quite opaque at two coats, but I don't think it's meant to be. The bit of sheer quality makes it more dainty.
Soul Session is a really great basic nude. It applied evenly in two coats, and I feel like this one's going to be a go-to for me because it's simple and clean.
One of the pops of color from the collection, this is Purple Rain. It's a gorgeous and bright, cool purple that was a cinch to apply. If you love purple polish, you need this little baby :)
I thought it was fun they put an orange polish in there- this is Reggae Splash. Again, very easy to apply- no nonsense. I'm not partial to orange polishes, but this one's still a winner.
Unfortunately this gorgeous blue called Brit Pop was a mess of a stainer. It applied nicely just as the others did, but when I went to remove it- after only a few minutes btw- it did horrible things to my nails. I can't recommend this one- and you always do run that risk with some blues, but I'd suggest finding a dupe for this lovely shade.
This deeper, royal blue was not a stainer, however. It's name is Barmy Blue and definitely one of my favorites. This one has a crelly formula and again, it's just two coats for opacity and it really looks great on.
This little number is the milk chocolate shade Beige Babe. Again, two coats to opacity- this isn't my go-to shade for a neutral look, but maybe its yours?
This very sweet cream is called Chic Chick and it's very sheer, but it looks nicely that way. What do you think? This is two coats so maybe you would layer a third to make it opaque.
This lovely, bright red/coral is called Hip Hop and it's really fun for Spring and Summer. You're looking at two coats, and this one's a great formula like the rest.
Similar to the polish above, this one is less warm and has some very subtle shimmer that you may see here in this swatch. This is two coats, and the shimmer takes this from a very basic red to something special if you're in the mood for red.
This blood red crelly polish is called Red Award and this photo really isn't doing it justice. The more I had this on, the more I loved it. This is a great option if you're in the mood to wear something dark. This is two coats.
Their bright pink of the collection is called Simply Sizzling and it really is bright! This is two easy, creamy coats and the wear was really nice. If you're in the mood for a statement in pink, this might be just the trick.
Wrapping things up with this dusty army green, this is called Yes, Sir! and it has a smooth and easy application. I particularly like whipping out these kinds of greens for an everyday wear. I think they're still conservative enough to wear anywhere, but that's my opinion :)
All-in-all I was really impressed with this line. I didn't test out the 10 day wear claim in their name, so I can't report back on that unfortunately, but I can tell you that for their price tag they are a great one to try out.
Let me know if you pick any of these up. I hope you have as good an experience with them as I did. Have a great day and I'll see you back tomorrow!
