Hey everyone! Man, I know...I've been gone for quite some time, considering I was posting pretty consistently for awhile. But, I'm back today with Day 15 of that 31 Day challenge. Now, I can assure you that you are not mistaken that it has taken me over a year to get to Day 15. I sincerely hope to actually finish the challenge before another year passes, lol.
So here we are: Day 15 - Delicate Print. I couldn't figure out what print I wanted to do...and I finally narrowed it down between lace and paisley. I would've attempted paisley....except I didn't bring the right colors to do it, lol. I basically had to do this lace print with primitive tools...well, tool, a dotting tool to be precise. It was the smallest dot, but it still was too big for my little project.
As you can see, the lines are too thick for it to be a "delicate print". It was supposed to be a line just bellow the smile line, then little hills on top of the line with dots on top and below. Yes...maybe I went a little overboard with the dots, hahahah.
Here is a slightly better picture to see the lace-ness of my nails. Basically, I have China Glaze's Shooting Stars on my tips, and then OPI's Yodel Me On My Cell for the lace pattern. Let me say that it always looks different in my head, lol.
Next time, I'll try to hunt down a tiny brush. I didn't have one available to me this morning, so I had to forgo the luxury. Heheh Also, I think I'd cut down on some of the dots. And maybe do the same design on my ring finger instead of the fishnets I attempted. Lots of stuff to improve upon!
Hmm...so I'm thinking about doing a review of Glen Ivy Hot Springs & Day Spa soon....and of course, I need to move on to Day 16: Tribal Print. Man, another tough one! In case you haven't noticed, I've never done a tribal print before. Guess I better get crackin! Hhahahah
Hey Everyone! I'm back for Day 9 of the challenge. To your left I have a rainbow on each nail, and to the bottom, I have just one color on each nail.
I'm not sure which I like better...On one hand (literally, har har) I have rainbows that look drawn by a child, and on the other hand, I have a funky manicure (which I kinda made weird with those butterfly decals). *Sigh* I feel that Rainbow Day is Full of Fail Day. I will be happy to proceed to the next challenge (Gradient) ASAP!!
If you're interested in what colors/polishes I used: Left Pic is all Nail Star (over China Glaze: White). Right Pic is (Pink) Eternal Scented, (Orange) Orly's Pumpkin Punch, (Yellow) Nina Ultra Pro: Solar Flare, (Green) China Glaze: Turned Up Turquoise Neon, (Purple) Finger Paint.
I got the butterfly decals at a local nail supply store. Admittedly they apply pretty easily, and seem to stay on okay, but now that I've tried them a couple times, I think they just look weird, hahaha. Kinda like, "what's that on your nail?!?"
I've decided on how I want to do my Gradient look, but haven't chosen colors for it yet. I will definitely get that out to you soon!
Here's the Challenge:
Till next time!
Disclaimer:
1. I bought every product I'm showing by myself (nothing was sent to me for free).
2. No one has paid me or compensated me for this video or blog.
3. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of the products I used.
4. These are my honest opinions.
Hey everyone! Day 8! Wow...I had such a hassle with this look. I know I'm reusing the crackle, but I didn't have the polish I originally had planned.
Anyhoo, so these are the colors I used:
Pink Base Color: Essie's Watermelon
Black Base Color: Orly's Goth
Metallic Crackle: China Glaze's Latticed Lilac
I'm not sure if I've reviewed Essie's Watermelon before. I absolutely love it! The color goes on wonderfully, and has a pretty good look with just one coat. I usually add a second coat just to even out the bald spots (although they aren't that noticeable). In this look that I'm wearing, I have 2 coats on my thumb, and one coat on the rest of my nails. I don't think you can even tell...Also, Essie's brushes are a little on the skinny side, but it does the job. =) Essie's polishes aren't too cheap...usually around $7 a bottle. However, I feel like Essie is a little inconsistent. You'd have an awesome coverage, awesome non-chipping polish (like Watermelon), but you also get ones that chip easily (like that Minty one). I would definitely recommend this color, but I'm not sure if I would recommend Essie as a brand in general.
Orly's Goth is also a pretty cool color. It's a nice black polish with silver glitter. I don't really have too much to say about it. It needs two coats to get a good, opaque coverage. It seems to take longer to dry than other polishes. It's pretty, and it works for this purpose.
If you read my Day 5: Blue post, you might remember that I was complaining about the China Glaze Crackle polish in pink metallic. I have found out that I have a pale purple (not pink), and I am still complaining about it. Maybe I still haven't figured out the trick to the crackling part yet....I've tried laying it on thinly, and that seems to work TERRIBLY. I only tried it because other people who have reviewed it claim the crackle effect works better when you apply a thin layer. Not for me. I actually think it works better when you apply a thicker layer, HOWEVER, you have to apply it quickly and evenly. I think my problem comes when I'm swiping my third swipe (I usually do one stripe down the middle, one to the left, and one to the right) I accidently go over my first stripe. Then that creates a non-crackling area. Did that make sense? Maybe in simpler terms, if you go over the same area more than once, it doesn't crackle. At least for me. Let me know if you have had different experiences! I think I will give this polish one more chance. Probably not for any more challenges, but for just a regular day sometime in the future. =)
I also wanted to let you guys know I bought a Silk'n Flash & Go, which I am using right now. I think in a few more weeks, I will post a review on it, just so I have some definitive idea of how well it works. Hehehe
I have a couple ideas for the next challenge, Rainbow, so I'll try to get that out to you soon!
(The Challenge:)
Till next time!
Disclaimer:
1. I bought every product I'm showing by myself (nothing was sent to me for free).
2. No one has paid me or compensated me for this video or blog.
3. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of the products I used.
4. These are my honest opinions.
Hi everyone! Woot, another post, sent in a timely manner. Don't I feel on a roll...I think I got to this point last time too, but I am determined to keep it up this year! (Even if I'm starting 4 months into it...hahhaah)
For the challenge, I have this summertime Zoya color called "Breezi", and some Hot Topic polish in a sparkly purple color on my ring finger, all topped with China Glaze's silver crackle polish.
I guess I could take this opportunity to do a mini-review on China Glaze's crackle polish line. I bought almost every color at Nail Warehouse Supply (they had a special that was buy 2 get one free). So I bought the white, silver, and pink metallic. I had already bought the black a week before. I have tested all 4 colors on a variety of polishes (and am banging my head wondering why I didn't take pics of them!!!).
Here are my thoughts:
1. You need to put the crackle coat on only after your base color has completely dried. I had one nail that was kinda wet, and the crackle polish totally did not work out too well.
2. All the colors seem to have a similar crackling amount, although it looks like Black crackles the best. Direction of crackle is dependent on which direction you apply the polish. Also, I find that having a little more on your brush works better, but some people say a very thin coat works the best. You're going to want to play around with this to find what works for you.
3. The black works best on light color polishes, especially a metallic silver. I think that combination just looks the best, in general. The silver, white, and metallic pink work best on darker colors. As you can see in my challenge pic, the dark purple just seems to have a better contrast. I actually had tried the metallic pink over a ballerina pale pink, and it just looked like I did a bad job of applying the polish, You had to look up close and personal to tell that it was a crackle polish!
4. I would definitely wear a top coat with this. The crackle polish is almost matte, and I think it would chip off easily if you don't protect it with a top coat. This mani lasted me about a week with minimal wear & tear. Unfortunately the hot topic polish chipped after 4 days (the Zoya lasted a week, lol).
5. These are relatively inexpensive (I got mine for $5 a bottle...and that one free one, lol). I'm not sure how much they charge elsewhere, but I doubt it will be more than $8 each. It's a fun and easy way to give your nails some texture without actually needing to do some tedious nail art (which I miss having the time for!).
6. Would I recommend it? OF COURSE! I absolutely enjoyed wear these polishes, and I got lots of compliments at work (yes even now, a year after crackle has made it back in, hahahah).
I will try to get out some pictures of the different colors and stuff, so you can see what I'm talking about.
Hey everyone! Finally a post that's not 6 months apart from the last one! LOL
Here is the green polish I chose for the challenge. It's China Glaze's Mistletoe Kisses. It's a very pretty color that I don't get to wear too often (because it's not deemed "work appropriate" hahaah).
I know the pic is blurry, and the color seems a little different from others, but I believe it's because I'm only wearing one coat, and maybe my lighting is weird. Overall, I really like this color and I would wear it again. =)
I will be posting Day 5 soon enough, and hopefully I'll have something set up for Day 6 soon! =)
Hey Everyone! I had an awesome time on Friday, and I'm sure you can guess where I was from the pic: BLIZZCON 2010!!! And yes, that's a glittery Horde symbol on my cheek. It took me 1/2 an hour to draw on, but I loved the way it turned out. Sorry the pic is blurry...I didn't even take backups. =/ Ah wellz!
It was sooo much fun to test out Diablo 3 (this time they had 5 classes to check out...last year they only had 3). They announced the last class: Demon Hunter...which sounds like it's going to be fun to play! I also tested out Cataclysm beta, and played Worgen for the first time (last year I only tried the Goblins). It looks like it's going to be fun as well.
But enough geek talk, moving on to makeup and nails!
So I decided to try out Finger Paints's "Be a Pal-ette". I didn't take a pic of my look before I threw on a design, but you can kinda get a good idea of the color from the pics.
The color was pretty solid after two coats, and it's a pretty, shimmery, purple for the fall. I wanted to do a Konad design, but I didn't have my plates with me at my new home (still at my parents's house, lol), so I just made do with what I had: mainly the white and silver striper polishes.
I know this kinda ends up to be my fallback design when I cover my whole nail in a polish. I really should expand to more designs, but I don't really have a long attention span at the moment. I like designs that are quick and easy. =)
In the top pic, I used Seche-V, the UV top coat. Unfortunately, it does not work the same as their regular Seche Vite top coat. I thought I had waited long enough for the design to dry, but when I applied the top coat, it smudged! This normally doesn't happen with Seche Vite. I was pretty disappointed. Plus...after I set it with the UV lamp, it still wasn't really shinier or glossier than the regular Seche Vite top coat. I might have to try this over a different polish to compare. In the other pic (the one on the left), I used Seche Vite, and like I said, I couldn't really tell a difference between the two. In fact, the one with Seche-V chipped first. Sad, isn't it? It also chipped within a few days...didn't even last a week. I couldn't stand having chipped nails, so I decided to change my look. I will say, though, the Seche-V removes pretty easily with nail polish remover. I hate it when it takes forever to remove nail polish! LOL
Next, I decided to try MissChevious's Vampire Nail design. Here's a link to her video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkgbp1mOe5Y . This pic to the right shows two coats of China Glaze's "Lubu Heels". It looks almost completely black, but you can still tell that there's a hint of red glitter. Two coats gave a pretty opaque coverage.
I know in the video, MissChevious covers her whole nail in the vampy polish, but I was in the mood for a French, lol.
I added my fangs to the ring finger, and then added some drops of blood.
I think the mani turned out to be really cute! I definitely like doing Halloween looks, although I'm not too fond of creating them myself (in case you haven't noticed, I haven't done a Halloween tut this year!).
I topped this look off with Seche Vite, and was happy to report that this look lasted a week before it chipped.
Lastly, I was tired of worrying about chipped polishes, so I decided to sport another Gelish manicure. =) I'm still wearing this look.
Basically, this is Gelish's "High Bridge" as the base color and "Gossip Girl" as the tip. I then put on a little nail art flower on each nail (from Sally's Beauty Supply), and topped it with a generous amount of Gelish's Top Seal to ensure I wouldn't lose it, lol. So far, it's been about 4 days and it's lasting just fine.
I don't plan to change my nails anytime soon, but I'll keep you updated on how this manicure lasts. Unfortunately, I broke my pointer finger on my left hand...instead of doing the "right" thing and taking off the Gelish manicure to fix, I've been trying to keep it together with just some nail glue. But of course, this doesn't work...it stays solid for only a day....the break has gotten bigger now. I may have to just suck it up and redo that nail properly. =/
Anyhoo, I realized that in my haul, I didn't mention that I did buy one other thing from the MAC Venomous Villains collection: a mineral eye shadow for Maleficent "My Dark Magic".
It's a black and pink shadow on one side, and a black and opalescent shadow on the other side.
I had a hard time deciding whether to get this duo or the other (She Who Dares). I only decided on this one because I figured I'd use these colors more. It's not very often I'd wear a dark green or dark blue shadow.
When I bought this, I was told the colors would show up better with a greasestick base (which I coincidentally already owned, lol).
As you can see, without the greasestick, the colors are very faint. I'm sure you could layer it until you got the right color, but why bother when you can easily get the dark rich colors with a greasestick?
I absolutely love how it looks with the greasestick....it's like a black base with pink/opal shimmer.
So far, everytime I've worn this shadow, I've used my greasestick. This also makes the colors stay on longer...at least 8 hours. =)
I think I'll experiment on this with my eye shadow mixing medium (aka Glycerin and water, lol). I want to know if this make any impact at all....I'll let you guys know how it turns out. =)
Anyhoo...that's all I have for now. Till next time!
PS Sorry if the blog looks a little funny...I had to change templates, and I'm having some technical difficulties, lol. Hopefully the next post will look better.
Disclaimer: 1. I bought every product I'm showing by myself (nothing was sent to me for free). 2. No one has paid me or compensated me for this video or blog. 3. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of the products I used. 4. These are my honest opinions.
Hi Everyone! I finally had some free time after my super busy weekend to update my blog and make a new video.
This look to the left was the design I sported for my best friend Liza's wedding this past weekend. Her colors were Dark Red & Silver. =) It was such a fun wedding, but seriously...my feet/ankles were super swollen with all the standing I had to do. It's a tough life, being a bridesmaid, LOL.
Anyhoo, here's the video:
What I Used:
Seche's Recondition (Base Coat)
Orly's Bare Rose
Orly's White Tips
Art Club's Silver Glitter
Art Club's Red Glitter
Art Club's White Polish
Seche Vite (Top Coat)
Silver Rhinestones
It's a pretty simple look, based on a picture I saw on CoolNailArt.com. It's a wonderful site to get ideas from!
Anyhoo...on to my HAUL! Like I said in my last blog, I haven't done one in a long while....but I decided to get a bunch of polish for the fall. There are lots of awesome new polishes, and I've always liked darker colors. =)
My new 9 Polishes:
I got two from Finger Paints (Sally's), two from China Glaze (Sally's), four from Orly (Beauty Headquarters), and one from MAC. All in all, not a bad fall collection, right?
This is Finger Paints's "Be a Pal-ette". I thought this was part of their Seduced by Fall collection (it was in the display), but when I checked on their website, I couldn't find it (AT ALL!).
Basically, this is a very deep, metallic purple. Swatched on the left is two coats. I think two coats actually gives a nice even coverage, though it's hard to tell in the picture.
This runs about $4.99 regular price, at Sally's Beauty Supply.
This next color is Finger Paints's Autumn Blaze, which is definitely part of their Seduced by Fall collection.
This is a very deep, metallic red. The color actually looks a lot darker in real life. Shown on the right is two coats. It applies beautifully and very even.
This runs about $4.99 regular price, at Sally's Beauty Supply.
Next up is China Glaze's Mummy May I. This is from their Halloween collection (obviously you can tell from the name, lol).
This is a black polish with purple glitter. Swatched on the left is three coats. I needed the third coat for a full, even coverage. Without a top coat, you can kinda see from the picture that the application leaves bumps where the glitter is. I would recommend using a thicker top coat to smooth out the bumps. I think I'll experiment a little to see which of my top coats will do the job. =)
This runs about $5.99 regular price, at Sally's Beauty Supply.
This next color is China Glaze's Lubu Heels. This isn't from their Halloween collection or anything. In fact, I'm not sure if it belongs to any collection? I just saw it on their Halloween Display and decided to pick it up, LOL.
This is a black polish with red glitter. Swatched is three coats. It pretty much applied the same as Mummy May I, and it looks really similar, except the subtle glitter color difference. It also need a thicker top coat to smooth out the glitter bumps. MissChevious (on YT) as come up with an awesome Halloween nail design, and she uses Eyeko's Vampira as her base color. I would say this China Glaze dupe comes pretty close, and I'll be trying out her look in the next couple days. =) Will definitely post pics!
This runs about $5.99 regular price, at Sally's Beauty Supply.
Next we have Orly's Winter Wonderland from their 2010 Holiday Collection. (I suppose this is more a winter look than a fall look....)
This is a very translucent polish, with very fine silver glitter. Pictured on the left is just one coat. I'm sorry it's a little blurrier than I'd like. =/ But you can still see that one coat would add a nice amount of sparkle to your nails, if you're looking for something along those lines. I'll post pics of what it looks like on normal nails, with probably three coats (depending on coverage) whenever I get the chance to put it on. It might go on my mom first, LOL. She's already sporting one of my new polishes...but I keep forgetting to take a pic of it!
This runs about $5.00 at Beauty Headquarters. At Sally's, Orly's regular polish is around $5.99, but not sure if this one is considered part of the premiums.
This next polish is Orly's Glitz and Glamour. This is also from their 2010 Holiday Collection. I think this color's wearable from fall through winter, just because it's golden. =) LOL
This is a gold metallic polish. Strangely enough, I didn't have one in my collection, so I decided to pick up this polish (I have a silver one, though...). Swatched on the right is 2 coats. I did it when it was kinda dark, so I didn't notice that the coverage was still uneven. I think a third coat would've tidied things up. When I have it on regular nails, I'll try to remember to take a pic to update. =)
This runs about $5.00 at Beauty Headquarters. At Sally's, Orly's regular polish is around $5.99, but not sure if this one is considered part of the premiums.
Next we have Orly's Out of This World. This is from their new Cosmic FX collection.
This is a deep purple polish with very fine purple & gold glitter. It's had to see the gold flecks in the picture on the nail, but you can kinda see it on the bottle.
I suppose that it's a little disappointing that it looks super cool in the bottle, yet doesn't have the same wow factor on the nail. =/
This runs about $5.00 at Beauty Headquarters. At Sally's, this polish is $8.99.
Here is another polish from the same collection: Orly's Lunar Eclipse.
This is a blue polish that has very fine blue and purple glitter. There are two coats on the swatch. I think a third would even out the tone, but still, I can't see the purple on the nail. Perhaps another disappointing polish?
This runs about $5.00 at Beauty Headquarters. At Sally's, this polish is $8.99.
And last, but not least, we have MAC's Bad Fairy, from their Villainous Villains collection. I wanted to get Formidable too, but it's sold out like EVERYWHERE!
This is a pink-ish polish, with very fine pink and gold glitter. This swatch has two coats and it doesn't look too even, but I assure you, on normal nails, two coats looks perfect. (This is what my mom is sporting atm!) The picture does not do it justice...it really does show the two-toned glitter very nicely. =)
I was told that the other two polishes in the collection have Orly dupes....but I think I'd rather have the MAC version if the Orly ones aren't cutting it....
This runs about $13.00 at MAC.
Not a bad collection, right? I will be trying these out within the next few months, so I'll try to take updated pics and whatnot.
Till next time!
Disclaimer: 1. I bought every product I'm showing by myself (nothing was sent to me for free). 2. No one has paid me or compensated me for this video or blog. 3. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of the products I used. 4. These are my honest opinions.
I got this China Glaze: Scarlet polish. I've used it before, in the LadyBug nails, but I had never used it as a regular polish. So...before I ran to a birthday party, I tossed on a basecoat and two coats of Scarlet.
Without a topcoat, the polish got dull pretty quickly. And the red is just soooo plain. the way I had worn it, it barely lasted the night.
I suppose this is really disappointing because normally China Glaze polishes perform pretty well. =(
I bought a couple more colors, but I had also gotten a bottle of essie, and I am waaaayyy more impressed with essie. But more on that later!
Originally, I was planning to start up a China Glaze collection, but I think I might hold off on it for now. I'm going to explore essie and O*P*I a bit more. I have lots of Orly already, but I think I might get more....there's a couple colors I have my eye on....
I kept saying I was going to do this haul blog thing, but I changed my mind. I'll just try to keep up w/ new items as I get them (or in this case, show them).
One of my new polish purchases was this China Glaze color called Golden Meringue. My mom had chosen it, but I don't think either of us like it as much as we thought we would.
The color is extremely sheer....I'm used to getting a more opaque color with 2 coats, but in the pictures, I have 3 coats and it's still looking really sheer.
To spruce it up, I added this random design...but you can see the design a lot better than you can see the color underneath. =(
What I Used:
NailTek (Basecoat)
China Glaze: Golden Meringue
Orly: Vixen
Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Silver Glitter
Seche Vite (Top Coat)
Dotting Tool (Medium)
What I Did:
1. Base Coat
2. 3 Coats of Golden Meringue
3. Using the Silver Glitter, make two stripes in a diagonal, parting in the middle.
4. Using the Dotting Tool and Vixen, make 6 dots, 3 up top and 3 on the bottom, going from big to smaller as you get closer to the middle of the nail.
5. Top Coat, and you're done!
It was a really easy and simple design. We weren't exactly thrilled with it, but I just needed to do something really fast before my mom dashed out and about.
I did this look last week, and I'll be posting this week's in a few min (I think!).
