Thursday, May 31, 2012

Red Carpet Lacquers

Earlier this month I ordered a couple of polishes from Red Carpet Lacquers on Etsy.  They have been sitting here staring me in the face waiting for me to try them out since they arrived and today was finally the day.  I had some trouble deciding what to swatch them over but finally decided on OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  If you have other suggestions that you would like to see them swatched with, let me know and if I have it I will try it.  Both polishes are glitter polishes and are therefore a bit thick; this is a good thing!  As far as application, again, for a glitter I found them to be just as I would expect them to be meaning that you do have to work to place some of the larger pieces.  It is totally worth it though for the end result.  For both polishes what you see is one thickish coat over the base with a coat of Gelous and a topcoat of Seche.
First up is Toro.  Red, black, and white goodness!  I contemplated swatching this over black, but I didn't want to lose the black glitter.  That said, it is hard to see the white glitter in the mix but I promise it is there.  Mine seems to be missing the black squares that appear in the shops bottle shot and description, but it is beautiful nonetheless.



Then there is Hitter.  This one is packed with various sizes and shapes of black, blue, and purple glitter.  Again, great application and how fun is that??!!




What do you think?  Do you own any Red Carpet Lacquers?  Will you be stocking her shop for either of these beauties?


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Summer Sunrise

So today's challenge is "Summer Sunrise".  I had a tough time with this one, trying to decide how I wanted it to look and what colors to use.  I ended up with a base of Revlon Sunshine Sparkle and sponging on China Glaze Papaya Punch and Dance Baby, followed by a coat of Fairy Dust for some sparkle.  Can't wait to see what the other ladies came up with!


Be sure to check out the other participants!
Debbie @ The Crumpet - http://thecrumpet.blogspot.co.uk/
Alyssa at Fancy Phalanges - http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com/
Lucie @ Lucy's Stash www.lucysstash.com
Vic @ Glowstars http://glowstars.net
Rychelle @ Colorsplash Nails- http://colorsplashnails.blogspot.com/
Missy the Manicured Maniac @ http://melissahenderson95.blogspot.com/ 


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Summer Challenge day 5 - Favorite Summer Color

 I know I have missed a couple of other days during the challenge but it has been an awful week!  I will spare you the details though and get on with the post.  I had a tough time deciding on a color for this one, there are so many colors I love right now!  I finally settled on this beauty.  This was one of the first Cult Nails polishes I bought and I love them!  I just placed my pre-order for the new Fairy Tale collection.  If you haven't tried Cult Nails yet....you need to, seriously; just do it!  Doesn't this color just remind you of a perfect summer sky?


Cult Nails - Manipulative


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Summer Challenge Day 3 - Summer Dots

Today's challenge is Summer Dots.  This one started with a base of Orly's Decades of Dysfunction from the Dark Shadows collection.  I love this polish!  It is a very pale pink...almost looks beige at times, but gorgeous.  I added dots in four shades, China Glaze Aqua Baby and Riveting, Finger Paints Pretty as a Portrait and Zoya Kimber.  Topcoat of Seche.  Be sure and check out the other ladies who are participating in the challenge!



List of girls taking part in Summer Challenge

Debbie @ The Crumpet - http://thecrumpet.blogspot.co.uk/










Alyssa at Fancy Phalanges - http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com/







Lucie @ Lucy's Stash www.lucysstash.com





Vic @ Glowstars http://glowstars.net


Rychelle @ Colorsplash Nails- http://colorsplashnails.blogspot.com/




Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Daisy Nails- Purple Crumpet Fairy's Summer Challenge

A while back I decided to participate in the Purple Crumpet Fairy's Summer Challenge.  I missed the first day and I'm sure with my schedule the way it is right now I will probably miss more but I'm going to try!  At any rate, today's challenge is "Chelsea Flower Show".  Living in the US, I'm not too familiar with this, but I'm told it is a big deal in the UK and it's an excuse for flower nails.  This mani also happened sort of by accident the other night following a Twitter exchange with The Little Canvas where she suggested I try daises.  Without further ado, here is my flower mani!  Base is Cult Nails Devious Nature.


Here is a list of participants, be sure to check out their blogs as well!


Debbie @ The Crumpet - http://thecrumpet.blogspot.co.uk/








Alyssa at Fancy Phalanges - http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com/







Lucie @ Lucy's Stash www.lucysstash.com





Vic @ Glowstars http://glowstars.net


Rychelle @ Colorsplash Nails- http://colorsplashnails.blogspot.com/




Sunday, May 20, 2012

Orly Galaxy Girl Swatch and Review

I am a bit disappointed that I could not get a better pic of this polish.  There is much more shimmer IRL than is evident in the pics.  I really wanted to like this polish, in the bottle it is so pretty, but what you see here is four coats!  Maybe I am just impatient at the moment, but I'm not really a fan of dark polishes that take a ton of layers.  Other than the formula being too thin for my liking however, it did apply well and dried pretty quick considering all the layers.  Though I did help it along with Seche Vite as the topcoat....comments?


Friday, May 18, 2012

Zoya Kristen Swatch and Review

I am seriously becoming a Zoya addict...  Kristen is another of the polishes I got during Zoya's Earth Day promo and it totally lives up to my expectations.  It applies like a dream!  Kristen is sort of a blued grey (if that makes sense) with a cream finish.  For this simple, yet classy mani, I applied two coats of Kristen and once that was completely dry I added accents in black and then a stripe of silver (icy princess by essence).  Topped with a coat of Seche.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Absolutely Alice!!


Oh how I have longed for this polish!! I have been lemming for OPI's Absolutely Alice since my polish obsession began several months back and, unlike Sander-Ella, I found one I could afford!  I did apply a base of China Glaze Aqua Baby for this.  Looking at the bottles I didn't think it was going to be quite the right shade, but it turned out perfect!  Pics show 2 coats Aqua Baby, 2 coats Absolutely Alice, 1 coat Gelous, 1 coat Seche.  That lead to a perfectly smooth finish!
Direct Sun



Shade

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Shrimply Devine Pink Wednesday!

I'm really excited about today's Pink Wednesday for a couple of reasons.  1. It's PINK, 2. There is glitter.  The glitter craze is sort of growing on me with the sudden boom of all these colorful and amazing indie polishes hitting the market.  I have been snapping them up when I am able to and have quite the little collection going.  I keep thinking I am going to find the time to go through them by brand but that isn't working very well...

Anyway, today I finally decided to try one of the indies I own from All That Glitters on Etsy.  I have several of her polishes and a few more on the way and I love all of them!  So for today's pink Wednesday I layered Spotty Dottie Dark over Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Shrimply Devine.  LOVE it!  I had a tough time with Shrimply Devine and wound up needing three coats for full coverage but it was worth it for that slightly coral hot pink.  I added a coat of SDD and then a coat of Seche Vite.




Gorgeous isn't it?  See how dark that bottle is?  That is because it is PACKED with glitter!  The base is perfectly clear and it is a very easy to use glitter.  This one is currently out of stock but there are other colors as well. Then I wanted to try it matte since I also seem to have a fascination with it all of the sudden too.  My current favorite matte topcoat is NYC's.  I'm not sure which version I like best....




Tuesday, May 15, 2012

All Hail The Queen

Short and sweet today.  I bought this polish a few weeks back and finally got around to trying it and now I want to wear it all the time!  Butter London's All Hail The Queen is described by them as an "opaque holographic beige".  I could not capture the holo with my camera but it is there, more of a scattered holo than linear but gorgeous nonetheless.  Even without the holo goodness though it is a beautiful shade and was easy to apply.  I did have a few chips on the first day, however I did wear it to work and I wash my hands and use sanitizer a LOT.  Shown here with two coats of polish and a coat of SV.

All Hail The Queen


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Zoya Myrta Swatch and Review

Myrta is one of the colors I picked up as part of Zoya's recent Earth Day promo and I'm really glad I did!  I don't usually wear a lot of orange polish but for some reason this one was calling my name.  Zoya describes her as a "warm medium orange coral with red undertone, gold and silver metallic shimmer, and a foil-like finish".  I actually liked this one so much, it's on my toes too!  Good application, though not as smooth as Zoya's cream polishes which is not unexpected.  Bottom line? Beautiful color and great formula!
Zoya Myrta, 2 coats, no topcoat






Wednesday, May 9, 2012

OPI DS Magic Swatch and Review

So last night I let my hubby pick a polish from my collection for my next mani.  To my surprise, he actually spent some time looking through them, and didn't pick black! DS Magic is one of four of the DS series that i have.  I started with a base of CND Sticky and two coats of DS Magic followed by a coat of Seche Vite.  I have had this on for just over 24 hours now, through one shift at work with minimal tip wear.  I got loads of compliments on how bright and fun this color is!



Sunday, May 6, 2012

Look At Me, Look At Me!

 It has been a long and crazy week around here.  This was really my only mani this week which is unusual for me but let's just leave it at sometimes being a nurse may not have been the career I would have chosen if I knew then what I know now.  I was able to get away and spend an evening with some of my best friends though this week and we had a blast, so this was the mani I did for that occasion.  I started out with a base of CND Sticky and then two coats of Nicole by OPI Look at Me, Look at Me.  It is a beautiful blend of silver, pink, and blue microglitter.  I wanted a smooth nail so I applied a coat of Gelous followed by a coat of Seche.  Once that was all dry, I used essence Black is Back to stamp the design and then painted the tips black.  Once that was done, I applied a second coat of Seche for a glossy super smooth finish.  I got tons of compliments on this mani, what do you guys think?




Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Orly Mysterious Curse Swatch and Review

Mysterious Curse is part of Orly's Dark Shadows Collection that I picked up at Sally's a couple of days ago.  I only bought two from this collection because...well I have managed to obtain quite a few polishes lately and I have a LOT that I have yet to swatch or wear. Anyway, on to this one!  Mysterious Curse is a beautiful blue/purple duo-chrome with lots of depth to the color.  Depending on the light it can even appear to be a deep red but the blue/purple is the most noticeable.  It applies well thought it can be a bit "patchy" in places, for the most part I got away with two coats, though on some nails I could have used three.  At this point I have had it on for a little more than a day through work and some cooking without a single chip and really no tipwear.  Shown here with a topcoat of Seche Vite.



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