Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

I have another holiday look to show you today. This was inspired by Joanne of Northern Nails' post, here.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I used a base coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, then three coats of Orly Star Spangled on all fingers but my ring finger, which got three coats of China Glaze Glittering Garland. I topped everything off with Seche Vite. Once it was good and dry, I applied the rhinestones and sealed it all with a few coats of NYC's In a New York Minute.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This was the most gorgeous in low, indoor lighting. The colors were extremely saturated,  glowy, and jewel-like but impossible for my camera to capture that way!

Enjoy the day! More soon!! ^_^

Merry Christmas Skittles!

Hello again!!

The base for this is one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener and two to three coats of Zoya Elisa (I smudged a few and had to fix my boo-boos, so some got an extra, band-aid coat.). I love this red--it reminds me of Christmas ball ornaments. It's a nice rich red with red shimmer. Absolute best holiday polish! The gold flakies are one coat of Zoya Gilty.

On my left hand, I attempted a few nail art techniques from the tutorials created by Nailside. These were simple to do, I just need some practice with the freehand holly design! I LOVED the way the tree came out (I used this very helpful tutorial.); it's done with China Glaze Glittering Garland. I topped the tree off with a holo gold star glitter I fished out of a bottle of Wet n' Wild Hollywood Walk of Fame from their Fergie line. On my thumb, I started with a coat of Nyx Algae. Once that was dry, I used Zoya Elisa to create the edge of the leaf design (tutorial here). A white striper polish, and some dots with Zoya Elisa, and ta-da!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 And now on to my elusive other hand! On my thumb, I stamped the holly leaves from BM-14, first with Glittering Garland, but it wasn't very opaque, so I stamped it again with Orly Luxe. I used the end of an un-bent bobby pin to dot on the holly berries with Orly Star Spangled. My ring finger is simply stamped with Orly Luxe and the bells from plate BM-14. Everything got finished off with a generous coat of fast dry topcoat, I used NYC In a New York Minute.
 

Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

 Hope you all have a wonderful holiday! More soon! ^_^

Well, that was unexpected...

Why hello there! Been awhile... my apologies for that. Life got in the way. On the day of my last post, my heart decided to go crazy and landed me in the hospital for a few days. Good news is: I'm really quite healthy, and there is no apparent cause for the rapid heartbeat. Medication regulates it, but I'm also seeing a cardiologist to see if we can get it to resolve completely and go back to normal. That, and with the holidays coming up, hasn't left me much time to paint my nails, which is a bummer because I had a month's worth of new and holiday polishes to swatch and a few fun holiday inspired mani's in the works. At any rate, I'll be back to post as often as I can in the next few weeks and am planning to resume our regularly scheduled program here by January 1st at the latest. Thanks for your patience!

More soon-ish!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Aurora

Hello again!!

Today I have Zoya Aurora from the Ornate Collection.

Zoya Aurora. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is a gorgeous warm purple jelly with tons of holographic shimmer.

Zoya Aurora. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 This is super sparkly and totally awesome out in the sun.

Zoya Aurora. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

No issues with the formula, which is par for the course for Zoya I've found. 

Zoya Aurora. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Zoya really hit it out of the park with the Ornate Collection holos they produced. Blaze, I've already reviewed over here, is the berry red sister to Aurora and is just as gorgeous. I've got one left, Storm, to swatch for you, but believe me, that one is great too! I used that one for a Halloween mani here. These can be found at Ulta stores, but I usually get mine straight from Zoya's website. Right now they have some pretty nice deals going on for the holidays!

Zoya Aurora. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Harvest Moon

Hello again!!

Here is another polish from the Capitol Colours Collection. This is China Glaze Harvest Moon.

China Glaze Harvest Moon. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Harvest Moon is a great fall shade. It is a fantastic, deep copper foil. The formula was excellent. It is a bit thin, but it flows easily onto the nail and was opaque in only two coats.

China Glaze Harvest Moon. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For swatches today, I started with a base of Seche Clear, then used two coats of Harvest Moon, and topped it all off with one coat of Seche Vite. This is a great foil. It doesn't show brushstrokes, and the rich copper color is lovely.

China Glaze Harvest Moon. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I love this one! I picked mine up at Sally Beauty when it was newly released, but it is from and older collection so won't likely be found there any longer. Head2Toe Beauty is my go-to place to find older releases and their prices are excellent. I see that this one is still available over there if you want to grab it.

China Glaze Harvest Moon. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze I Herd That

Hello again!!

China Glaze I Herd That. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today I have the fiery, China Glaze I Herd That from their recent Safari Collection.

China Glaze I Herd That. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is a micro glitter bomb! But, I think it's a sophisticated glitter bomb. The overall look on the nail is very lovely.

China Glaze I Herd That. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I Herd That is predominantly copper micro glitter. It has gold holographic micro glitter as well.

China Glaze I Herd That. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

Swatches today are a base of Seche Clear, three coats of I Herd That, and two coats of Seche Vite. The formula is great. It flows smoothly onto the nail, and it dries quickly. It also dries gritty, so be prepared to do an extra coat of topcoat. This is nicely opaque at three coats, but it doesn't feel too thick on the nail. It would also work at one coat as a glitter topcoat over a base.

China Glaze I Herd That. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Orly Nite Owl

Hello again! Where has the time gone? It's the last week of November already!! I feel like the last quarter of this year has gone by in a flash!

Orly Nite Owl. Indoors, artificial and natural light, no flash (near a window).

Today I have one of those polishes that made my first wishlist. This is Orly Nite Owl from the Birds of a Feather Collection from last fall, I think.

Orly Nite Owl. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is a warm grey with a strong silver shimmer. I also think I see a hint of gold shimmer in there every now and then.

Orly Nite Owl. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Nite Owl, and one coat of Seche Vite. This has a great, no-issue formula. It is subtle at one coat and could be worn that way for a soft look. It it completely opaque, as you see, at two coats.

Orly Nite Owl. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I'm very glad I picked this one up. I can't honestly remember where or when I got this bottle, but I've seen it still at Ulta recently (surprisingly, but maybe that's just my Ulta) and it's still over at Head2Toe Beauty.

Orly Nite Owl. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: Zoya Inspired Chevrons

Hello again!! Been awhile--I got caught up in the holiday and spent some time with the Mister over the long weekend. Here's what I wore last week.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with a base coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two coats Zoya Aurora and one coat of Seche Vite. Once that was dry, I used tape and one coat Zoya Rory to start the chevron tip design. I was impatient and didn't want to wait for that to be completely dry so I could use more tape for the black tip, so I just free-handed the final color with Zoya Storm.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I loved how this turned out. This was not my original idea though. My inspiration came from this bit by Zoya. I did switch up the colors, but the elements are the same.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash. Holo sparkle!

More soon!! ^_^ 

Stash Swatch Initiative: Spoiled Jewelry Heist

Hello again!!! Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy the day, the food, and your families!

Today I have a quick post to show you Spoiled Jewelry Heist.

Spoiled Jewelry Heist. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is a glitter topcoat in a clear base. Swatches today are one coat over Essie Sand Tropez from yesterday plus a coat of Seche Vite. This is predominantly light pink hexes with fewer gold hexes mixed in. I also see tiny blue glitter (I think they might be squares) and tiny iridescent hexes. At first I thought the iridescent glitters were gold, but as I wore this, I noticed they flashed blue and green at different angles. It is a really great color combination. Super pretty!

Spoiled Jewelry Heist. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

The glitter is very sparse and there seems to be an excess of the clear base. I let a lot of clear base drain off the brush (bent at an angle on the inside of the bottle neck to keep the glitter on the brush) to get the glitter coverage I wanted without having to do extra coats. The brushes on these are the flat, fat paddles like Essence Colour and Go and the Sally Hansen Gem Crush series.

Spoiled Jewelry Heist. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I think these are CVS exclusive. That's where I got mine. They retail for $2 normally, I think, but I took advantage of a 2 for $3 sale.

Spoiled Jewelry Heist. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Essie Sand Tropez

Hello again!!

Essie Sand Tropez. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I have another Essie today. I have to be honest here, I don't have much love for Essie. The first three I ever tried had bad formulas and did not match bottle color to what they actually looked like on at all. After reading about other blogger's love for this brand, I was less than impressed and a bit disappointed, to say the least. So, I pretty much wrote them off my wishlist. Recently, I've been getting a lot of those CVS Reward coupons. I swear I don't intend to go in there and purchase the required items, but a few happy coincidences left me with $30 worth of going-to-expire coupons. So, I used them to get a few Essie polishes for 'free' technically and give them a second shot.

Essie Sand Tropez. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This one is Sand Tropez. It is a neutral creme polish--almost what I expected China Glaze Sunset Sail to look like, actually.

Essie Sand Tropez. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

So, how did this one do? Well, formula is not great. It's a little streaky and took three coats over a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener to level out. Even with the one coat of Seche Vite I topped this off with, the dry time was long. I'm still sort of 'meh' about the brand. As Gold As It Gets, from last week, was another coupon purchase and that one, I have to say, is probably worth the price tag. This one... again, meh. It's a creme, so the streakiness is to be expected. It's a nice neutral, if a bit boring.

Essie Sand Tropez. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Agro

Hello again!!

China Glaze Agro. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today I'm finally getting around to showing you a swatch of China Glaze Agro from the Capitol Colours Collection released earlier this year. This one had been sitting in my stash just waiting for its debut

!

China Glaze Agro. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

Agro is a grassy green foil. It shows some minor brushstrokes, but this didn't put me off much. I haven't tried sponging on a final coat of this one yet like I'm used to doing for this type of polish, but I bet it would turn out great.

China Glaze Agro. Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two of Agro, and one coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this one is great. It is very pigmented and could be a one coat polish if you are careful.

This was available at Sally Beauty and other retailers earlier this year. I don't think I've seen any recently, but Head2Toe Beauty still has it for sale.

China Glaze Agro. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Naild'It Cha Cha Checkmate

Hello hello!!

I have a very awesome polish to start the week off! This is Naild'It Cha Cha Checkmate!

Naild'It Cha Cha Checkmate. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This polish is awesome! It's a pink jelly with three sizes of white square glitter, small black squares, black hexes, and black micro glitter. As you can see, you can build it up to great effect or layer it for a more opaque look.

Naild'It Cha Cha Checkmate. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with a base coat of Seche Clear on all my nails. Then to show you what this polish is all about, I used two coats of China Glaze Loves a Beach on my pinky and ring finger nails to serve as undies. Once that was dry, those two nails got two coats of Cha Cha Checkmate. On the rest of my nails, I went straight for the Cha Cha Checkmate and layered three coats of that over the Seche Clear. I topped everything off with a coat of Seche Vite. Formula was good. The glitter stays in place and comes out of the bottle readily. I didn't have to fish out any of the larger pieces. I didn't make note of any unruly glitters either. All win!

Naild'It Cha Cha Checkmate. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I purchased my bottle from llarowe. As I write this, it's still available over there!

Naild'It Cha Cha Checkmate. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI The Color Of Minnie

Happy Friday!! If you've been following along, you'll note that today should be a Nail of the Week post. I'm sorry to say that I didn't do anything fun or special for this week's mani. I've been just wearing a new OPI I picked up over the weekend.

OPI The Color of Minnie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is OPI The Color of Minnie from the Vintage Minnie Mouse Collection released earlier this year.

It is a fantastic bright, warm, red with subtle pink shimmer. Oh my goodness, I love this polish so much. I couldn't cover it up with any nail art. It's bright and cheery and classy. Classic OPI, in my opinion.

OPI The Color of Minnie. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Formula was good, I think--my bottle is a really tiny mini polish (it holds 1/8 an ounce!), so the brush was tiny too. It took me a bit to adjust to the brush when applying this. I started with a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener and topped the two coats of The Color of Minnie off with the OPI Fastdry topcoat that came in the mini-set. It's the first time I have used any OPI topcoat, and it seems to do the job well. It's very shiny and dried pretty quickly.

OPI The Color of Minnie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I found this mini-set at Ulta recently, but there were not many left. I love this polish. I'd love to get a full-size of this, but I'm not sure where it would be available still. Good luck if you are hunting it! I am too!

OPI The Color of Minnie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Essie As Gold As It Gets

Hello again!

A quick one today. This is Essie As Gold As It Gets from their Luxeffects Collection.

Essie As Gold As It Gets. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is one coat of As Gold As It Gets over last week's swatch of Suzi Says Feng Shui plus a coat of Seche Vite. This has a ton of gold shimmer and some tiny gold flakies in a clear base. One coat was plenty of shimmer for me over the blue, but I bet layering this up over a gold base might be fun, too. Formula was fine--nothing to report there.

Essie As Gold As It Gets over OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

Overall, this is a fun addition to my collection. It's got some versatility to it, and I think it's going to be great for the holiday season.

Essie As Gold As It Gets over OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui. Outdoors, natural light, no flash. I put this on here so you can good idea of what the shimmer looks like up close.

I found mine at CVS recently but have also spied the displays at Walgreens and Target. It should be easy to get your hands on!

Essie As Gold As It Gets over OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

More soon!! ^_^