Swap With "Little J's Nail Corner": Swatches

Good evening ladies! Tonight I have a very exciting post for you guys!

About a month ago I did a polish swap with Jennifer from Little J's Nail Corner; Jennifer is such a sweet person and I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her these past couple of months. She is extremely generous and thoughtful, so I want to say thank you, Jennifer! You guys should check her out (if you haven't already!) :)

She has excellent taste in polishes, so I knew I was in good hands! We mostly bought one another polishes off of a "wishlist" that we sent one another, but we also swapped 2 polishes that we already owned. I was able to get my hands on another indie through her :).

She also sent me some candy, but those are long gone by now :P Oh, and also some loose glitters! I can't wait to figure out how to use those for some fun manis!

Anyway, below I did some swatches of each polish! I definitely will be doing more detailed posts on the polishes later on, so let me know which ones you're interested in seeing!

Essie School of Hard Rocks

Essie Like to be Bad

Essie Size Matters

Joe Fresh Merlot

Joe Fresh Starry

Joe Fresh Teal

OPI My Very First Knockwurst 

Candeo Colors Orchid

Joe Fresh Twilight

Wet n' Wild Poison Ivy

Wet n' Wild Toxic Apple

Thank you again, Jennifer!

& in case you didn't catch it, you can find Jennifer's blog HERE

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 14: Flowers

Good evening! I know I'm a little late with this challenge day post, but I've had a busy day! I've been running around getting things for my dorm that I realized I needed once I was there. I actually did this mani last night, but didn't photograph it until today. I was super excited for this challenge day, I love flowers! I decided to do an untraditional flower print, rather than do the norm :)

What I used:
Essie Mint Candy Apple (as base)
China Glaze Devotion (for stamping)
Cheeky plate Ch12

Essie Mint Candy Apple
China Glaze Devotion

Essie Mint Candy Apple
China Glaze Devotion

Essie Mint Candy Apple
China Glaze Devotion

Surprisingly, this was my first time using Mint Candy Apple. I have so many mint shades, which caused me to put off using this one, but I'm so glad I finally used it! Mint Candy Apple is more vibrant on the nails than it appears in the bottle, which I adore! I recently got my hands on some of the China Glaze Romantique collection polishes, Devotion being one of them. It is great for stamping! I thought it was a silver metallic, but in some lights it is also purple, way cool!

What do you think of this floral mani?

-Shelby

Check out the other lovely ladies:

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista 
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles 

Models Own Gold Finger

Good evening! I just got back for the weekend from Davis and have a few polishes to show you guys from this week! Tonight I'm going to show you a polish I got from a British company, Models Own, which I haven't had the best luck with so far. Luckily, I enjoyed Gold Finger a little more :)

Below I did 2 coats of Gold Finger

Models Own Gold Finger

Models Own Gold Finger

Gold Finger is a medium-sized gold glitter. This had a decent formula; it was opaque in 2 coats, but didn't cover the tips too well (as you can see). I think this would make a great accent nail or a nice topcoat! I like this way better than Balearic Cool, but not as much as my other glitters!

What do you think of Models Own? Do you like this shade?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 13: Animal Print

Good morning! Today's challenge is animal print, which I'm usually not a fan of, but I decided to to a fall-inspired take on it!

Earlier yesterday evening I painted my roommate's nails along with my own (she is wearing Orly Rage :) ), but decided to add the stamping last minute to fit the challenge!

What I used:
2 coats OPI Rising Star
Sally Hansen Unbreakable Heart (for stamping)
Bundle Monster BM-223

OPI Rising Star
Sally Hansen Unbreakable Heart

OPI Rising
 Sally Hansen Unbreakable Heart

I like how this is a subtle animal print! Not too in-your-face :)

The subtle shimmer in Unbreakable Heart really complemented Rising Star!

I adore Rising Star on its own, so here it is before the Zebra!

OPI Rising Star

OPI Rising Star

 Rising Star is the perfect Autumn color! It's a gorgeous copper/orange color. Reminds me of Thanksgiving :)

What do you think of this zebra mani?

-Shelby

Check out the other lovely ladies:

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista 
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles 

Wet n' Wild Bite the Bullet

Hello! I've had such a busy weekend, so I'm sorry if I've been MIA! I moved into my dorm yesterday and have been getting a feel for the campus. My internet was down for the majority of the first day, which prevented me from checking up on any blogs! I am all settled in now, so I decided to post a mani I did a week or so ago.

I really like the formulas of the Wet n' Wild megalast line, so I pulled out a nice fall color: Bite the Bullet!

I used a Cheeky jumbo plate for the stamping! (wet n' wild black polish for stamping)

Wet n' Wild Bite the Bullet

Although the stamping was a little smudged on my middle finger and crooked on my index, I still like how this mani came out! I definitely like the "peacock feather" look that this stamp creates. I saw a girl do polka dots on the centers to add some spice, so I might do that next time :). 

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 12: Stripes

Good evening! I had a tricky time with today's challenge; not only were my new Cheeky plates giving me trouble, but I've been scrambling to pack (I'm moving into my dorm tomorrow!). So sorry if the stripes aren't the best :P

I got my inspiration from Candy Stripers! I like the vertical pink and white stripes on their outfits. I took a spin on it and did pink and red stripes!

Below I used 3 coats of China Glaze Gelato and Sally Hansen Cinna-snap for stamping with Cheeky plate Ch6!

China Glaze Gelato
Sally Hansen Cinna-Snap

Several of the new Cheeky plates just didn't want to work for me :(. I hope I didn't just get a bad batch! I got these just in time for this challenge :). Hope you guys still like them! Sorry for my short post, I'll be back again soon!

My inspiration:

-Shelby

check out the other participants:

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista 
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles 

JulieG Dream in Pretty & Color Club Magic Attraction

Good afternoon! Today I have for you an end-of-summer mani; it's my last chance to pull out the summer shades!

Below I used 2 coats of JulieG Dream in Pretty and Color Club Magic Attraction for the accent nail & dotting!

JulieG Dream in Pretty
Color Club Magic Attraction

JulieG Dream in Pretty
Color Club Magic Attraction

JulieG Dream in Pretty
Color Club Magic Attraction

Dream in Pretty is a gorgeous pink-leaning purple creme. The application of this wasn't the greatest, but I was able to deal with it! I added Color Club Magic Attraction as an accent nail and then used a medium-sized dotting tool and made dots along my cuticles with the same glitter! Magic Attraction is a pink and silver glitter with some holo running throughout it. This had an okay formula, too!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby 

First Attempt at Water Marbling!

Good evening ladies! Today I tested out water marbling because I know it's going to pop up in the 31 Day Challenge later on! It didn't turn out perfectly, but I like the outcome :)

What I used:
China Glaze Bahamian Escape (base)
Essie Neo Whimsical
Sally Hansen Blue Me Away
Essie Marathin

My ring finger is definitely my favorite! My middle finger didn't turn out as planned :P

What do you think of this? 

-Shelby

Blog Sale!

Hello ladies! Recently I've been going through my stash to downsize and I've decided to have a blog sale! It contains roughly 20 polishes so you should take a peak! You can either find it on my top tabs above, or HERE!

The sale includes high end, drugstore and indies!

Thank you guys so much for checking it out! All the shipping & contact information is listed there!

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 11: Polka Dots

Good afternoon! Today's challenge theme is polka dots, which I adore, but I feel like I've done polka dots quite a few times; I decided to do an untraditional polka dot manicure with one of my jumbo cheeky plates!

Below I used 3 coats of Color Club Super Saturday Teal (part of a duo for ovarian cancer awareness) and China Glaze Awaken (part of the Romantique collection) with Cheeky jumbo plate "B"!

Color Club Super Saturday Teal

Even though Super Saturday Teal required 3 coats, it gave me no problems and had a wonderful consistency! I've heard great things about China Glaze Romantique collection in conjunction with stamping, all of which I feel are true due to Awaken! Awaken was awesome for stamping and I adore how this looks! These don't look like traditional polka dots, but I'm okay with that :)

I've also decided to go on a no-buy for quite a while! I'm starting my college classes next week and a college student needs to budget! For now I'm going to focus my funds on school-related things. Also my birthday is next month, so if I get any b-day money or something, that could be my treat to buy nail polish :). 

What do you think of this polka dot mani?

-Shelby

Check out the other participants:

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista 
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles 

OPI Steady as She Rose

Good (late) evening! I've been busy all day running around trying to get stuff together for my dorm, but I especially liked the mani I wore today! I needed a palette cleanser and chose OPI Steady as She Rose to do just that and man, did she fit the bill!

Below is 2 coats of Steady as She Rose!

OPI Steady as She Rose

OPI Steady as She Rose

OPI Steady as She Rose

Steady as She Rose is a very light pink, with a slight tint of purple, creme! This is a gorgeous creme from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection. I like almost all the shades from this collection, especially the purples and pinks :). This had a great application and took 2 coats for full opacity! Don't mind any imperfections, my topcoat was on its last leg and ended up dying a slow and painful death today :P This is a great neutral to get myself ready for more creative nail designs!

What do you think of this shade?

-Shelby

Wet n' Wild Fergie Heels of Steel & Rock n' Roll

Good evening! I was at Walgreens today getting a few odds and ends when I decided to check out some of the nail polishes. I've been debating over whether I should get a couple more of the Wet n' Wild Fergie polishes and well...I did! I just couldn't help myself :P

The polishes in this line are about $4 each I believe, which is way more expensive than normal Wet n' Wild polishes. They also have the same brush as their megalast line.

I picked up Heels of Steel & Rock n' Roll, which I thought were a perfect pair! I also like both on their own :)

Below I did 2 coats of Heels of Steel!

Wet n' Wild Fergie Heels of Steel

Wet n' Wild Fergie Heels of Steel

Heels of Steel is an impressive gunmetal foil! Not only did this have a great formula, but the exact colors in the bottle translated onto my nails. Couldn't ask for anything better :). I'll definitely be using this throughout fall and predominantly during winter!

I couldn't leave this alone and added 1 coat of Rock n' Roll!

Wet n' Wild Fergie Rock n' Roll

Wet n' Wild Fergie Rock n' Roll

Wet n' Wild Fergie Rock n' Roll

Rock n' Roll contains blueish charcoal glitter with a little bit larger holo glitters in a clear base. Man, is this a pretty glitter! It's not an in-your-face glitter, but I still like it, especially over Heels of Steel! As you can see in photo #3, there is definitely some holo effect in the sun! :)

I also wanted to take the time to acknowledge all of you who read my blog, I hit 100 followers today and I couldn't be more thankful. So thank you to all of you, you always brighten my day with your comments and I thoroughly enjoy sharing my passion for nails with each and every one of you! To say thank you, I am going to start planning a giveaway. Since I am moving into my dorm in less than a week, it may take me little bit of time to get it all together, but I am determined to have one! :)

-Shelby

Whimsical Ideas by Pam- Nancy's Birthday

Good morning ladies! Today I have for you an indie polish I've had for a while, but still remained untried, until today! I came across a brand called Whimsical Ideas by Pam a while back and just had to have a polish of hers! I chose Nancy's Birthday, but I also wanted Ooh La La. Unfortunately she said that shade would be sold out indefinitely- meaning she may not ever make it again :(. You can find her on facebook here (I emailed her through her facebook to order polishes!).

Below I did 3 coats of Nancy's Birthday

Whimsical Ideas by Pam Nancy's Birthday

Whimsical Ideas by Pam Nancy's Birthday

Whimsical Ideas by Pam Nancy's Birthday

Nancy's Birthday is a pepto bismo pink base with various colored large hexes, small hexes and small glitters! This may be a little too pink for me, but I like the concept of it! The glitters went on pretty nicely. It's like doing a jelly sandwich without all the work! This polish needed 3 coats because it was still a little patchy on the second coat.

What do you think of this polish? Do you have any polishes from this brand?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 10: Gradient Nails

Good morning ladies! I was very excited to do my nails for today's challenge. Lately I've been obsessed with gradients of all sorts! I figured I could link it up with my boyfriend's request: he wanted me to do extra special nails for our 9 months, which is today. This is a scheduled post because we are going to a local reservoir and spending the day together. Today I could not be more proud and thankful for him and for us :) <3

Enough with my sappiness, straight to polish!

What I used:
China Glaze Something Sweet
OPI Sparrow Me the Drama
China Glaze Sugar High
China Glaze Heli-Yum
OPI Kangarooby

 I know what you're thinking: this screams Valentine's Day, but what the heck, I don't mind adding to the romantic mood today and I happen to like pink! Sparrow Me the Drama kinda got overtaken by Sugar High, so that would be my only complaint! Other than that, I really like this mani! I used BM 317 to do the heart; it was a full-nail stamp, but I only used one heart from it.

I originally only had the gradient; it looks so bare without the heart!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

Check out the other lovely ladies participating!

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista 
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles  

Color Club Hydrangea Kiss & Stamping

Good afternoon! I decided to pick up my stamping supplies today and do a design to match the beautiful weather :).

I used an untried of mine, Color Club Hydrangea Kiss! It's a gorgeous color and it went even better with some stamping!

Below I did 2 coats of Hydrangea Kiss and used Konad special white with BM-306!

Color Club Hydrangea Kiss

Color Club Hydrangea Kiss

Color Club Hydrangea Kiss

I never get tired of periwinkle blue cremes, like Hydrangea Kiss. I adore this color; it took 3 coats for full opacity, but I didn't mind! I decided to use my Konad special white since I hadn't in a while and boy, am I happy I did! This tulip design went perfectly with Hydrangea Kiss. A match made in heaven if you ask me ;). I was also pleased with how the stamp went on, these newer Bundle Monster plates are way better than last year's!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby