Candy Land

I did this mani a while back with V-day in mind... but it didn't quite turn out that way, lol.  It actually reminds me more of easter.  But then it also reminds me of candy.  Like cotton candy or peeps or something.  Which brings me back to feeling like it's easter.

Wow, I look tan!  LMAO!  Anyway, this is 3 coats of American Apparel Coney Island topped with Nubar Hyacinth Sparkle.  I did the sparkle in a gradient so it would be thicker towards the tip.  I think it looks like I dipped my nails in sugar!

SOOOOOO pretty!!  I got a lot of compliments on this too.  I think because it's so shiny, lol.  The American Apparel went on fairly well.  I needed the 3 coats for full coverage.  The Nubar is PACKED with glitter so I had to essentially use a dry brush to get the sparse glitter near the base.

It happened to be crazy sunny the day I did this one, so I took a full sun photo.  It actually kinda makes the glitter NOT as good.  Is that possible?  Oh well.  Anyway, it worked better indoors, lol.

Grey skies

I had to check out the new OPI collection, of course.  And everything is based on Texas.  The land of the bigger and better.  Well, I think a lot of the colors look too similar, lol.  There's an orange, 2 coral shades and like 4 pink/red/purple shades... which are all in the same family.  From looking at other blogger's swatches, they all pretty much look the same to me!  But this one is different.  This is like a mega grey!

This is 3 coats of OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It.  I added flowers with OPI A Grape Fit!  I cannot sing enough praises about this polish.  It's a lavender grey with PINK shimmer.  Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to capture on camera... but my first finger there shows some.

Here's a close up on my index finger.  See that pink shimmer in there?  It's SO pretty!  It's easier to see in person, but it's not something others are going to see.  I tend to like polish like this because it's pretty for everyone looking at it, but it's SUPER cool to me.  Haha.

This photo shows pretty much none of that pink shimmer.  But it's still a pretty silver grey color.

Another shot, somewhat shaded.  This shows how sheer it is.  Apparently sheer is the new thing for OPI, lol.  I like the jelly quality of the "sorbet" polish they have in the collection, which is pretty much all the colors I mentioned above, but for this?  I'd rather have opaque.  If I wore it again, I'd use a grey base coat first.

OPI: Just a Little Dangerous

When I saw this advertised in the Sephora magazine, it looked AMAZING!  In person, not so much.  I can't find their promo pic now, but they made it seem like this was purple with pink and blue glitter.  There is definitely a shimmer in here, but it's no where near as obvious as they made it out to be.

Sorry for the quick and dirty application.  I was in a rush to get a new color on and had to be somewhere, lol.  Never a good combination.  Anyway, this is 3 coats Sephora by OPI Just a Little Dangerous.  It's definitely pretty, just not the WOW I was hoping for.  It went on fairly well, it was a bit streaky at first.  The pink shimmer is definitely more noticeable than the blue.  Especially in low light where the pink is barely visible at all.

Ewww, horrible cuticles, haha.  I'm messy.  And don't mind that tip wear.  I had to take pics after my day and yeah... it didn't turn out so great.  Oh well.  Really this was only worth something in the sun.  In the shade it was just another royal purple.

China Glaze Awakening

I have to say, I'm extremely pleased with the China Glaze Awakening set.  I love the colors and the glitter!  I like that it's not the classic orange creme.  It's fun and exciting and eye-catching for sure!

First up is Mummy May I.  This looks like a really dark purple, but maybe it's black.  It's loaded with magenta-purple square glitter!  This is 3 coats of pure heaven.  So much better than my previous Wet 'n Wild purchase that wants to be a dupe.  I LOVE this color.  And it would work all year round.

Next is Zombie Zest.  This is also 3 coats, and you can see I still have VNL.  It's a really cool yellowish green color with gold-yellow fine glitter.  It reminds me of snot or something, haha.  It kinda grosses me out.  To me, this is Halloween only.

Last up is Ick-A-Bod-Y.  This is really cool looking.  3 coats.  It's appears to be a dark greenish base with orange chunky glitter.  I really love this.  I was actually unsure about this color before trying it, but it looks really good on!  It reminds me of the fall and leaves changing color and harvest, which is my fave!  This was a surprising like for me, I didn't think I would enjoy this one.  But it's really bumpy without top coat, haha.

Overall, application was easy.  With glitter, it's sometimes hard to get it on evenly and looking well distributed.  This wasn't as hard as I've dealt with in the past, but it wasn't perfect either.  Zombie Zest had fine glitter and the other two are chunky and lumpy.  You'd definitely need a top coat.  And if you don't like VNL, you'll need a base with Zombie Zest.

Don't forget to check out my giveaway where you have a chance to win these beauties!!  (Don't worry, I bought 2 of these, so the ones in the giveaway are still unused!)

OPI: The Color to Watch

This is another color that surprised me.  I saw some swatches and didn't really like it.  But I had already bought it.  So it sat there for a bit before I actually tried it.  I heard a few people mention it was sheer, so I didn't bother trying it naked, I started with a base.

This is 1 coat OPI A Grape Fit! which is a nice bright purple.  Then 2 coats of OPI The Color toWatch on top.  This is a really amazing color.  It's like an icy purple color with magenta and blue flecks of sparkle.  It's shimmery and gorgeous!  It's most pretty in full sun, but you can see the flecks indoors too, just not as well.

Check those flecks of color!  How beautiful!  I loved this color.  It really is very neat.  It had good application and went on nice and smooth.  And so pretty.

I also used a new top coat for this mani.  China Glaze Fast Forward.  I have to say, it freakin smells!  BUT it worked like a charm.  These photos are after 3 days of wear.  Wear is the tip wear?  Not there!  What?!  Seriously, 3 days and zero tip wear, with OPI.  I couldn't believe it.  I will keep using it and do a review after a bit.  But so far, I'm impressed!

Orly: Galaxy Girl

OMG squeeee!  This is the most amazing color!  I had looked at people swatching Urban Decay Bruise and wanted it... but then this came out!  I love purple and this isn't just flat purple, it's awesome!  I love love love love love it.  Did I mention I love it?  HA!

Ok, so application wasn't that great for me.  However, I think this is pretty much user error.  I was sitting in front of a fan that day and that's my own darned fault.  So you can see some cuticle drag, but it's not horrid.  This is 3 coats Orly Galaxy Girl.  Good coverage, not too thick or too thin.  It wasn't easy peasy, but it was pretty good.

This is a good shot of the magenta-purple and the teal flash.  Every angle of this polish looked unique.  I love that kind of shade where you look and it's one color and then you look and it's another color.  And wait, did it change again?  It's mesmerizing, haha.

Another shot just because it's so pretty!  Wow, I can't sing enough praises on this.  LOVE!

OPI: Go Goth!

I talked about Halloween a little bit in an earlier post.  I really like the fall.  For some reason this time of year is just my favorite.  The air gets cooler, crisper... the colors of the leaves, the apples, the harvest.  I don't know, I just love it.  Anyway, Halloween is all a part of it too!  I love horror movies, blood and gore are awesome (just don't show someone up-chucking, I can't stand that).  OPI's new mini set is really cute.  They did a good array of colors and styles.  I will warn, my sun started going away and my outdoor shots started sucking, so only half the post is really any good, LOL!

This is 2 coats of OPI Unripened alone.  This went on nice and smooth, good coverage, no trouble getting it on.  In the bottle you can see a hint of purple in the blue shimmer, but I couldn't capture it on my camera and honestly I didn't really see it on my nails IRL either.

This is 2 coats of OPI Nevermore.  If you have OPI Ink, you do NOT need this color.  I actually have Ink on one of the four fingers shown here (honest!)  Can you tell which one?  Application was good, again, nice and smooth, good coverage, no real issues.  I love Ink, it's purple which blue and magenta and awesomeness!  If you don't have Ink, get it... at least you'll get a full size amount of this beauty.

This is 2 coats of OPI Obscurity.  A nice flat matte black.  Application was great.  It does dry fast, but not too fast to be able to apply it evenly.  It gave good coverage, I can't complain.

This is the most suck-tastic pic of the bunch.  I could not capture this color indoors or outdoors with the lack of sun.  Anyway, this is 3 coats OPI Sanguine.  It's a really nice deep merlot type wine-like red.  It gets really dark in shadow and has a good shimmer in the light.  Sorry my pic sucks so bad, lol.

So overall, not a bad group of colors.  I am disappointed that one is a dupe for a fave of mine.  Oh well.  I think it's cute that they included a little stretch lacey bracelet too, lol.  What they should have done is included black eyeliner!  Then I could get some too-light compact powder and brownish lipstick and relive my highschool days.  Hahahaha.  Just kidding... I won't subject you all to that, don't worry.  Happy Fall!!

Models Own: Purple Grey

To Chanel or not to Chanel... lol.  This is the rip off of Chanel Paradoxal.  I lurve it.  This is 2 coats Models Own Purple Grey and one coat CND Amethyst Sparkle.  Models Own polish is gorgeous by itself, but add in the CND effect and WOW!  I love the application on both of these.  The Models Own Purple Grey is very pigmented and gave nice even coverage.  The effect is nice and saturated so you only need one coat for that shimmer to pop!  I love the fact that the shimmer barely changed the color of the Models Own as well.  It just made the whole thing come to life.

Here's a better shot of the shimmer.  Sooooo pretty!  Love, love, love.  I think I said this in a comment... but I kinda wish I had interchangeable hands and I could just change them as often as I like.  Haha.  It would be fun.  Anyway, I love this color.  I would definitely wear this again.  So simple, but so pleasing!

Viva la Nails Review

So pretty and funky and cool!  How did I do it?  With the help of some goodies from Viva la Nails!!

I heard about a sample package you can get if you blog, so I ordered one!  It's coming from overseas (I'm in the USA), so it took a while to get here, but it was worth the wait!  So much stuff and everything looked awesome.  Here's the haul...

Such a great variety!  Something for everyone really.  I like it all.  I will say, I got a lot of yellow, but that's ok, it's a pretty good color to work with as far as accenting goes.  Gold and silver go with everything, lol.

I immediately picked out the star shaped dazzlings.  For this mani I started with 3 coats of OPI Rumple's Wiggin on all but the ring fingers.  On the ring fingers I used 3 coats of Avon Jade.  I used the Hollow Stars in Mauve on the ring fingers putting one outline and 2 centers on each ring finger.  I put a random number of Punched Stars in Azure on the remaining fingers.  Then I figured it needed some extra bling to make it nice and fancy so I threw on some of the Glitter in Green.

OMG!  It's righty!  Haha.  I don't often show my right hand... usually because it looks ugly... but this time it came out cute!

Right hand closer

Left hand closer

I think these nail art items were super easy to work with.  The dazzlings are thicker, so I put on a good thick coat of regular clear and then 2 coats of Seche Vite on top.  I did still have some corners that were pointy, but I kept the mani on for 4 days and nothing ripped off!

All the nail art items featured in this post can be purchased at Viva la Nails website for under £2!!!

[All nail polish in this post is my own and was purchased by me.]
[All Viva la Nails products were provided to me for review.]

Wet 'n Wild: Berry Jubilee

Please ignore the chip on my middle finger, I didn't take this photo until I'd worn this polish for several days and that was the only chip!  This is kind of sheer and I didn't see in RL, but on here it's more obvious that it's a little uneven still.  This is 3 coats Wet 'n Wild Berry Jubilee with 2 coats Seche Vite.  I like the shade, it's like a redish purple.  But I was expecting it to be darker I think.  And I wish it were more opaque.  This would be so much better if it were a one-coater like WnW Cherry Pop.  Oh well.  Still pretty.

Models Own: Lilac Dream

How awesome is this color?  I have to admit, I wasn't that exited about this shade when I saw it on swatches because it looked too pink.  But once I got it on, I love it!  It is on the pink side of lilac, but it's very flattering.  Some lilacs tend to look dusty and that makes your skin look pale, but this is vibrant and warm.  This is 2 coats Models Own Lilac Dream with Milani Hi-Res for the dots.  Topped with 2 coats Seche Vite.  Application was very smooth and easy, great coverage, no cuticle drag.  Very dreamy if I do say so myself.  And to top it all off, this pic is after 4 days of wear.  There's some tip wear, but no chipping.  Pretty darn good.  I will definitely go to this color again soon.

Lilac and flowers

I am going through some stuff.  Some pretty major stuff.  I really don't know what to do or how to feel or when it's going to end.  Some days are better than others.  And I guess I know it will eventually get better because it always does.  But at the moment, I don't see a light at the end of this tunnel and frankly I don't know if I want to.  I'm depressed and numb at the same time.  But I have to distract myself and keep going.  So I'm trying to keep going.  Sorry in advance...

Anyway, I went to Ulta this past weekend because I had to get out of the house and I had a coupon for two free "salon" polishes... basically the Essie, OPI, China Glaze, etc... So I picked up two of those and a few other things.  I got the new Essie minis for their new collection.  They look super cute, so look out for them.  I also picked up the Essence stampy set because I am wanting Konad, but haven't gotten it yet.

This is 3 coats of Essence No More Drama from the Colour & Go collection.  Then I stamped with OPI Dim Sum Plum on just the ring and thumb.  You can tell I started with this ring finger.  Fail-ish... but not too terrible.  I really like this one actually.  I think it's nice and spring-like.  Something to look at to brighten my mood a little.

Midnight Shimmer

Ooooo... pretty!  My last mani started chipping like crazy, so I had to change it.  It was late at night and I didn't want to do anything too involved.  So I grabbed a couple new polishes that I bought from GoIndulge.  I did 2 coats of CND Asphalt and topped it off with one coat of CND Amethyst Sparkle.

I have to say, these are my first CND polishes.  I absolutely love Asphalt!  It applied like a dream and was nearly opaque with one coat.  If you do a thick coat, you can get away with just one.  It's a very nice grey creme.  I hate when dark grey looks too black, but this one is definitely grey.  And I love the Amethyst Sparkle as well.  It changed the whole look.  It looks almost like a blue mani in the above pic.  In real life, if you catch the shadow, it just looks grey, but when you catch the light it flashes with pink/purple.  It's not really a glitter and you can't feel it at all, but it's fairly dense shimmer-like.  I really like this mani.  And I got lots of compliments on it as well!

Pink Glitter

Ooooo... glitter.  I was in Sephora the other day and couldn't resist this pink glitter, Sephora by OPI It's Bouquet with Me.  I knew just by looking at it that it would take too many coats to be opaque and I'd NEVER get it off, haha.  So I started with a single coat of OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry.  I think they match up pretty well.  I was considering using a bright pink or a neon purple, but I like this look.  It's kinda in between pink and purple.  And then I tried to do a flower with a Sally Hansen nail art pen, but I failed.  It started out looking fine and the polish was flowing normally, but then it stopped flowing, so I dabbed it once on a napkin and it came back, but as soon as I touched my nail again, all this water pink liquid flew out... OMG!  So I quick grabbed a cotton ball and wiped it off, but some of it had started to dry.  So I tried to brush some acetone over the nail to get it off... I knew it wouldn't take the glitter right off.  You can see a tiny bit on my thumb nail still, oh well.  It blends in under most light.  So I added the white swoopy things with Stripe Rite White.  Problem solved!

Moody Purple

Ewwww!  Nubbin alert!  Haha.  I hate that all my nails broke off while I was vacationing.  Some of them were painfully short.  Thank goodness it's been about a week now and they're starting to get better.

I went shopping over the weekend and stopped by Claire's for this much-raved-about Mood Polish!  I have to say, I wasn't expecting greatness... but I was pleasantly surprised!  I used 3 coats of Claire's Mood Polish in Calm/Wild.  Then I added 3 dots of Sephora by OPI It's Bouquet With Me.  I like the simplicity.  Topped with 2 coats Seche Vite.  Ahhh, back to my HG, hehe.  This bright purple seems to be how my nails have looked most... my hands are usually cold.

I will say that the application was not fantastic with the Claire's polish.  I had cuticle drag issues.  But overall, it provides good coverage in 3 coats.  I wasn't expecting it to be wonderfully opaque, so that is a good bonus!

I ran some hot water over my hand to take some pics, but by the time I got outside, the tips started changing back, haha.

It's rainy and gloomy, so the light is still pretty low.  The middle finger is the most pink still.  I kind of like this ombre effect and would love it if it stayed like this, but it doesn't seem too.  Especially since I have nubbins and there's virtually no free edge on the majority of my fingers at the moment.

Indoor with Ott light.  My hands were cold, they were changing fast!  Haha.  Really interesting and fun to watch!  All day I caught myself checking out my fingers to see what color they were.  Endless entertainment!

Orly: Cotton Candy

So after my mani fail, I wanted something that would definitely look cute.  I looked at my recent haul and pulled out the super cute Orly Cotton Candy.  One of my fav colors is pink, so I just had to.

This is 4 coats of Cotton Candy with Seche Vite.  It looks more peachy in the pic than it does IRL.  It truly is a nice pink creme.  It's fairly bright, but still pastel.  The formula gave me some trouble tho.  I had some intense cuticle drag and it was pretty streaky.  I can still see some vague streakiness after 4 coats, but it's not that apparent, especially since most people look from a little further away, hehe.  I started off doing thinner coats, but had to move to thicker coats for better coverage.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased.  I think the color is worth the hassle.

After all that, I figured I wanted to do an accent nail, so I added a little art to the ring finger.

I drew a horizontal line at the "tip" line with Stripe Rite Pink Glitter.  Then I made some tiny polka dots with Borghese Plumaggio Purple on just the tip.  (I will say I may as well have used black for this because you can't tell it's purple).  I added a large pink rhinestone to top it off.  I nearly forgot to take photos of this.  I thought I had when I first did the art.  I was getting ready to take it off and ripped off the rhinestone on my left hand when I had this pang... did I take pics?  I checked and... nope!  Ooops!  So I quick snapped a few of my right hand, lol.  Please excuse the dry cuticles and tip wear.

Valentine's Day

These actually came out cuter than I thought they would.  I was second guessing my choice of a purple and pink design and almost changed it all to pink.  I like it this way.  Hopefully you do too!

I started with a base of Essie Baby Cakes, sponged on OPI Meet me on the Star Ferry once about 2/3 of the nail and again just on the tip to darken it.  One quick coat of Orly Etoile (a very subtle silver/purple glitter) over the whole thing for some sparkle.  Then I used Avon Fuschia with a fairly dry brush to make two fat lines which made a small heart shape.

Purple Dots

This was actually my first venture into nail art.  I only took this one photo.  I took it with my cell phone in my bathroom, so the lighting sucks, haha.

Start with a base of Sally Hansen Pat on the Black.  I used Stripe Rite White and Silver Glitter to make the flower in the bottom corner.  I made a few dots coming out of the flower with OPI A grape fit!  Then I used some clear top coat to stick a purple rhinestone in the center of the flower.