Wednesday, April 30, 2014

OPI Far East Fuchsia

Well, it's Wednesday and I decided to wear pink!  Far East Fuchsia is from the Far East Collection for Spring 2000.  It's a bright fuchsia (duh!) with a fairly subtle pink/purple/blue shimmer that just didn't to show up.

Being from 2000, this one is a black label and therefore not 3-free.  Application was lovely.  Have I said I love black label OPI's?

This is 2 coats.

OPI Far East Fuchsia pink nail polish brown skin

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Femme Fatale Cosmetics Noble Garden over Nfu-Oh! 569

Happy Earthday!  Of course I had to wear green nail polish.  Today I have for you some Nfu-Oh! 569, a dark green jelly that I bought a while ago when NARS Zulu was hard to find, and Femme Fatale's Noble Garden, multi sized green glitters interspersed with pink and orange/red glitter in a green tinted base.

569 has a decent application, but is a the slightest bit difficult to control.  Because it's a jelly, it's also a little patchy if you aren't careful.  Noble Garden is jam packed with glitter, so it dries gritty and clumps a little, but it's not unmanageable and can be worn on it's own in a few coats.

This is 2 coats 569 with 1 coat Noble Garden.





Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter! / Neon-Nude Gradient

Hey everyone, happy Easter!

This is just a quick post.  My nails aren't really Easter themed, but I've been wanting to do this combo for a while since I saw it on Brackett0701 on instagram.  I used Color Club Nomadic in Nude and Orly Glowstick.

orly-glowstick-color-club-nomadic-in-nude-neon-gradient

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Nude Dotticure with OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy

Today I have some really simple nail art.  It's dotticure week over on the nail board on MUA and since I've never done one, I decided to try.  I wanted something a bit more subtle, so as a base I used OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy.  The one I have is black label (not big 3 free).  I'd forgotten how perfect black label OPI applied as well as how intense the smell is.  I used Wet n Wild Black for the dots.  To make it even more subtle, I made my dots tiny and sparse.  I really like it although I'd probably use acrylic paint and be patient and wait for the dot to dry to avoid the "strings."  Good thing its not obvious in real life.  Damn you macro!

This is 3 coats of OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy.




Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Nayll Create Your Own Polish Swatches and Review

*Press Sample*

Today I have for you some polishes I created through a new brand Nayll.  Nayll has an awesome concept in which you can create and name your own polish.  On the website you choose a base (clear, blue, red, pink, yellow and black) and then choose what glitters or shimmers you want to add to make a unique polish.  Within 48 hours of ordering, you polish is mixed and shipped to you.  They also have a line of previously mixed polishes.

I had lots of fun making my own mixes and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

First is a polish I named In a Galaxy Far Far Away.  I was watching Cosmos while creating.  This one has a black jelly base with gold and white stars, holo bar glitter, and gold micro glitter.  I absolutely loved how it came out.  I was also pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to fish out the stars.  No complaints about application.  This polish builds up to opaque in about 3 coats, but I chose to layer one coat over a black creme to better show it off.






Next is a polish I called Golden but kind of wish I called Black Gold.  This one is a shimmer I created by mixing gold and black/gray pigments.  It came out like a blackened, vampy brown/bronze.  Again, no complaints about application.  This is 2 coats.





Dynasty is the only one that I'm not absolutely in love with.  It's what happens when you don't quite think things through.  It has a red jelly base with black micro glitter and gold holo glitter.  It sounded good while creating, but didn't come out like I envisioned.  The base wasn't as bright red as I thought and in the bottle looked more brown than red.  I swatched it on its own and then layered it over Sally Hansen Cherry.  Three coats alone, 1 coat over the red.






Opposites Attract is another one of my favorites.  My mom actually tried to steal this one from me!  It has a blue jelly base with different sized blue glitter and both circle and square red glitter.  Love it!  It's definitely glitter dense.  Since I added so much glitter, it did get a bit clumpy, but it was definitely workable.  This is 2 coats.




Last but not least, I have a polish from their pre mixed line called Birthday Shots.  This one is a glitter topper with gold micro glitter and blue and pink bar glitter.  I layered one coat over both black and white.




I had so much fun creating these!  It would make such a cute gift!  Each polish starts off at $12 and for each glitter/shimmer you add on 30-40 cents.

Nayll Polish can be created at Nayll.com

These items were sent for my honest review.  For more information, please see my disclosure.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Zoya Awaken Collection for Spring 2014 Swatches and Review

*Press Sample*

Hey everyone!  I'm a little late to the party, but today I have swatches of Zoya's Spring 2014 Collection Awaken.  It's filled with lots of pastels (which are mandatory for spring), shimmers, and a few cremes.  Let's get started.

First up is Dillon.  Dillon is a pastel mint with tons of shimmer.  The shimmer is mostly white with hints of gold.  It reminds me of a turned up version of Sinful Colors Mint Apple.  Definitely one of my favorites in the collection.  Formula was nice.  It applied evenly and didn't require an insane amount of coats.  These pictures show 2 coats.




Next is Brooklyn.  Now I have to admit I wasn't that excited about this one.  It's not a color I'd normally go out and buy.  I prefer my golds darker and more of a bronze color.  Brooklyn is a frosty pale gold that's more of a champagne gold.  It's delicate and the longer I wore it, the more it grew on me.  I loved the way it looked in the shade or dim lighting.  It almost glowed.  Aside from brushstrokes, this one was a winner in the application department.  This is 2 coats.




Cole is the one I expected to be my favorite.  It's a creamy pastel orange and I absolutely love it in the bottle, but it didn't look that great on me.  I had some trouble with the formula.  It went on streaky and uneven.  This is 3 coats.




Hudson is another one of the shimmers in this collection.  It's a pastel, slightly muted purple with loads of gold and white shimmer.  Very pretty, but not for my skin tone.  The formula was nice.  No complaints.  This is 2 coats.





Rebel is the last shimmer of the group.  It's light blue with white shimmer.  My younger cousin said it reminded her of the movie Frozen.  Like the other shimmers, the formula was nice and it went on perfectly.  This is 2 coats.





Dot is a lovely work appropriate ballet pink.  I got lots of compliments wearing this one.  While I love how it looks, application was painful.  It was streaky, didn't want to even out, and all around finicky.  This is 4 coats.




And last but not least, we have the glitter topper Monet.  The glitters in this are pastel and iridescent.  I love the concept, but the formula left a lot to be desired.  The base was almost gel like and it made it difficult to apply.  This is one coat over dot.




Over all this is a lovely collection for spring.  My personal favorites were Dillon, Brooklyn and Dot.

The Awaken Collection and Monet are available on the Zoya website and retail for $9 each.

These items wee sent for my honest review.  For more information, please see my disclosure.


Thursday, April 3, 2014

Orly Melodious Utopia

Can I just say that I love yellow polish?  I love it but I have so few in my collection and half of them are neon.  I need more in my life.

So today I decided to wear Melodious Utopia which was apart of Orly's Hope and Freedom Fest Collection for Spring 2013.  It's a lovely squishy pastel yellow with shimmer that shifts subtly from gold to orange to pink.  It's definitely a unique polish.  I don't have anything like it in my collection.

Application on this wasn't horrible like a lot of yellows, but it wasn't anything to write home about.  It's also a bit thick.

This is 3 coats.  I had a hard time capturing the shimmer, but if you enlarge the second picture it's more visible.






Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Jessica Surfer Boyz 'n Berry

Hey everyone!  It's been about a month since I last posted because life and horribly broken nails have gotten in the way, but I'm back!  I've been trying to organize my stash and update my spread sheet and it's been slow going, but it's obvious I need another helmer or two.

Anyways, since it's spring, I wanted to wear a pastel and this Jessica polish was perfect!  Surfer Boyz 'n Berry is from the Gelato Mio Collection for Summer 2012.  I believe I posted the yellow from this collection a while back.  At first glance it looks like a pastel blue creme, but it's more of a turquoise with a little more blue in it.  It reminds me a little of China Glaze's For Audrey.

Application on this was pretty decent for a pastel.  First coat was streaky, but it builds nicely and isn't overly thick.

This is 3 coats.