Essie Shine of the Times over China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy
It's mesmerizing!
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
I whipped out the microbeads to try out another caviar manicure. It's a shame these don't last longer because they look so cool.
The polishes I used are Orly Ancient Jade, Orly Calypso Breeze, & China Glaze Spontaneous.
The microbeads are from the "Recollections" brand sold at Michael's. I mixed up some of the blue, green, and purple for this random arrangement.
Monday, 25 February 2013
U-Neek Polish sent me this polish to review. It's for a great cause and 15% of each bottle sold will be donated to the Chiari & Syringomyelia Foundation.
What is Chiari? Here is the info from U-Neek's shop:
"Chiari Malformation (kee-AHR-ee mal-for-MAY-shun) is a condition in which brain tissue protrudes into your spinal canal. It occurs when part of your skull is abnormally small or misshapen, pressing on your brain and forcing it downward. Chiari malformation is uncommon, but improved imaging tests have led to more frequent diagnoses.
The adult form, called Chiari malformation type I, develops as the skull and brain are growing. As a result, signs and symptoms may not occur until late childhood or adulthood. The most common pediatric form, called Chiari malformation type II, is present at birth (congenital).
In the past, it was estimated that the condition occurs in about one in every 1,000 births. However, the increased use of diagnostic imaging has shown that CM may be much more common. Complicating this estimation is the fact that some children who are born with the condition may not show symptoms until adolescence or adulthood, if at all. CMs occur more often in women than in men and Type II malformations are more prevalent in certain groups, including people of Celtic descent.
Treatment of Chiari malformation depends on the form, severity and associated symptoms. Regular monitoring, medications and surgery are treatment options. In some cases, no treatment is needed.
The adult form, called Chiari malformation type I, develops as the skull and brain are growing. As a result, signs and symptoms may not occur until late childhood or adulthood. The most common pediatric form, called Chiari malformation type II, is present at birth (congenital).
In the past, it was estimated that the condition occurs in about one in every 1,000 births. However, the increased use of diagnostic imaging has shown that CM may be much more common. Complicating this estimation is the fact that some children who are born with the condition may not show symptoms until adolescence or adulthood, if at all. CMs occur more often in women than in men and Type II malformations are more prevalent in certain groups, including people of Celtic descent.
Treatment of Chiari malformation depends on the form, severity and associated symptoms. Regular monitoring, medications and surgery are treatment options. In some cases, no treatment is needed.
Purple is the color of the Chiari Awareness Ribbon. "
Chiari Awareness is made of a pearl purple base with black bar, purple rainbow & micro black glitter.
This polish can be found for sale here for $8/15mL bottle.
Pictured is 3 thin coats.
I felt like I didn't get complete coverage with the polish by itself, so here I layered 2 coats over theBalm Lilac Any Sense.
The black bars are sparse and only a few come out on the nail.
Sunday, 24 February 2013
I've seen these Rimmel polishes on the blogs of international ladies, but I've only ever seen the square boring Rimmel's for sale here in my stores. I recently saw a new revamped display at my local Wal-mart with these! And they were only $1.50. So I browsed the colors and picked this light lavender.
The application was a breeze, and the brush is a medium sized paddle brush with the rounded edges to fit your cuticle perfectly. It's not as large as the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure or Insta Dri's though.
Pictured is 2 regular coats. It covered and leveled so easily.
I guess the claim is that it's dry in 60 seconds? I felt it dried fast, but not like lightning speed or anything. I did use 1 coat of topcoat in these pictures.
\
Saturday, 23 February 2013
I finally managed to get my hands on this polish from the Cirque collection from China Glaze. My Sally's never ended up having it, this specific polish was always out of stock. So I ended up ordering it from a seller on Ebay.
Here I layered 2 coats of It's a Trap-eze! over 2 coats of Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud.
It's like a clown threw up in the bottle. I love it! Lol
Friday, 22 February 2013
I really wanted the oversized heart studs to work, so I molded them around my dotting tool until they were curved enough. It was pretty easy because the metal is soft. It worked perfectly to fit them to the curve of my nails. These studs can be found here for $4.89.
My base polish is Color Club New Bohemian.
I applied 2 coats of topcoat over the studs and I still managed to lose most of them by the end of the day. I think the topcoat has a hard time adhering to the metal of the studs, so it scrapes off with normal wear, and then edges free up and snag enough to pop off.
Regardless, it's a beautiful manicure for about 12 hours! Even if that's the best you can get.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Inspired by "Nail It!" Magazine, the new nail polish/nail art magazine for non-professionals! It's wonderfully entertaining to read. All of the latest ads from big brands showing off the new collections, interviews with skilled professionals, tips and tricks, nail art tutorials, and beautifully photographed nails! The magazine only costs $11.95 for the entire year! So subscribe now, it's a steal!
I immediately knew I wanted to recreate this look that was pictured on page 105 of the March premiere issue. The combination of mint and coral is very on trend, along with the chevrons.
I started out with the intentions of copying the entire design, but once I got into it.... I realized it was simply going to take toooooooooo long! So I broke it down and just painted the rest of my nails with a basic hint at the design.
My thumb was white with a black triangle half moon.
Here is the pinky design, plus a picture by picture tutorial!
1. Paint your nails white and let it dry (I used Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud). Then apply the striping tape as shown.
2. Fill in the negative spaces with the corresponding polishes: Sinful Colors black striper, Orly Ancient Jade, & China Glaze I Wanna Lei Ya.
3. Use your black striper to freehand the half moon triangle.
4. Remove the tape and top coat!
Here is the index finger design.
1. Paint your nails white and let it dry (I used Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud). Then apply the striping tape as shown.
2. Apply the mint and coral polishes. Orly Ancient Jade & China Glaze I Wanna Lei Ya.
3. Apply the black striper polish, just freehand the half moon area.
4. Remove the tape and topcoat!
So pretty!
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Incoco was nice enough to send me 2 sets of their nail polish appliques. Both are from their Valentines Day 2013 collection.They can be found here for $8.99 Charmed. They also sent me Cross My Heart (and check out these adorable conversation hearts!)
They come in 2 strips of 8 different sizings. They offer a great variety to fit all nail shapes. I have large thumb nail beds and the largest size fits perfectly!
"Charmed" is a cute pink glitter.
It proved a little difficult to photograph because of the sparkle....
As far as wear test? They lasted 4 days with minimal tip wear, some new growth showing. I started picking at them on the 4th day because the same color for that long was maddening! Lol. If you're the kind that likes to wear the polish for a week, I feel confident that they would last as long as advertised.
Monday, 18 February 2013
Here is a pretty simple french tip design I did, and quickly regretted. The rhinestones drove me nuts.
A regular white french tip (I used Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud), you can freehand or tape them off, whichever you prefer. Then I used a skinny striper brush to line the smile line with Sally Hansen Rapid Red. Then secured a red rhinestone when I applied topcoat.
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Studs are one of the latest raves in nail art. Born Pretty sent me this mixed set of studs to review. They're awesome.... Sold here for $4.89. 12 different shapes/sizes. Stars, squares, rectangles, hearts, diamonds... You get it all.
Here I've placed a few different shapes over Catrice Sold Out Forever.
I love, love, love these rectangles!
The diamonds are really cute too, but they are a bit too large for my nails. If they were curved a bit, they would lie flatter.
The large hearts and triangles from this set are a bit too big. I'm going to have to figure out a way to still use them. Perhaps they are soft enough to bend a bit? Otherwise they will catch and snag everything.
Don't forget about my coupon code:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
