Misa Little Hands!

Hey guys! I've been away for quite a while, but I am back with a post! I'm going to try and get some swatching done before my summer ends and make scheduled posts on a semi-regular basis. I've had a lot going on in my personal life as well as some changes in regard to school. I'm not going to get into them, but I just want you guys to know I haven't forgotten about you! :)

Today I'm going to show you one of my favorite minty-blue polishes, which I had some photos of already on my computer!

Misa Little Hands

Misa Little Hands

Little Hands is one of my favorite minty-blue cremes, like I said. It looks great for both manis and pedis! The application is pretty good and only requires 2 coats for full opacity. 

What do you think of Little Hands?

-Shelby

China Glaze Bahamian Escape and Liquid Crystal

It's the middle of the week and I'm back with a post! Life has been busy lately, but the weather was gorgeous today so I had to snap a few pics of my mani.

Below I'm wearing 2 coats of Bahamian Escape and 2 coats of Liquid Crystal on my ring finger.

China Glaze Bahamian Escape
China Glaze Liquid Crystal

China Glaze Bahamian Escape
China Glaze Liquid Crystal

Bahamian Escape is a bright sky-blue creme; it had a wonderful application which barely required 2 coats for full opacity. Liquid Crystal is a dense blue glitter that shifts purple in the light. It contains multi-colored larger glitters throughout and also required 2 coats for full opacity. Love the duo!

What do you think of this combo?

-Shelby

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Hey there, ladies! Today I have for you a polish that's been in my stash for quite a while: Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams. I've worn it before, but finally decided to make a blog post on it. Without further ado, here's the photos:

Below is 3 coats of Havana Dreams with topcoat (Orly In a Snap)

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Havana Dreams is a pale baby blue creme. The formula on this is super thin; it required 3 careful, thin coats for opacity. Some nails could've even used 4 coats, but I didn't want to make my nails too "thick". I do love the color and it didn't take overly long to dry. Now, I'm not sure if that's due to the new topcoat I'm testing out or the polish itself. 

What do you think of Havana Dreams?

-Shelby

China Glaze Man Hunt!

Hey again! I hope you all have been having a good week so far! I finished my last class today and am starting finals this weekend, wish me luck! :P Today I revisited a color I featured on my blog before: China Glaze Man Hunt from their On Safari collection. That post was one of my first and is a poor excuse for swatches, so I am going to attempt to re-do some of my very first posts. What do you guys think about that? Anyway, onto the polish!

China Glaze Man Hunt

China Glaze Man Hunt

China Glaze Man Hunt

Man Hunt is a high-gloss dark blue, almost navy, creme. The application of this polish is wonderful and two coats made it perfectly opaque. Sometimes dark colors can be a pain, but this one gave me no problems at all! Man Hunt has almost a jelly quality to it; extremely shiny and rather jelly-like on the first coat in terms of opacity. I love this color year-round! 

What do you think of Man Hunt?

-Shelby

Essie In the Cab-ana (Resort 2013 collection)!

Happy late Monday (or early Tuesday to some of you)! I have another Essie post in store for you guys today- swatches of In the Cab-ana from their 2013 Resort collection. The line had a lot of lovely shades, but I only picked up 2, one being ItC!

Below is 2 coats of In the Cab-ana without topcoat:

Essie In the Cab-ana 

Essie In the Cab-ana

Essie In the Cab-ana 

In the Cab-ana is such a gorgeous bright aqua creme! This is the epitome of summer; in fact, when I held my nails up next to my pool, they practically were the same color! The formula on this was rather thick, so I may thin the polish out. Due to the thickness, the application was tricky, but wasn't unmanageable. Two coats created perfect opacity.

What do you think of Essie's 2013 Resort collection?

-Shelby

Essie Summer 2013 Picks!

Hello again, surprised I'm back so soon? Well, I just couldn't stay away because I've been eager to try out a different camera for my nail photos and I am loving how great the photos are with the switch! Let me know what you guys think of the photo quality :)

Last time I was at CVS, I came across Essie's summer collection- full of shimmers and brights with nautical names. I couldn't resist and picked up 3. There's either 4 or 5 in the collection, but I passed on a couple of the shades.

Lots of photos in this post! All swatches are without topcoat.

Essie Rock the Boat 

Essie Rock the Boat

Essie Rock the Boat

First up is Rock the Boat, a light cornflower blue with silver shimmer. The shimmer is only noticeable in the sunlight, but I love the shade nonetheless! Its formula was decent; at first it was uneven and streaky, but 3 coats seemed to do the trick to create full, smooth opacity. 

Essie Sunday Funday

Essie Sunday Funday

Essie Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday is a bright coral/pink with the same silver shimmer that the whole collection has. The application was better on this one; it only required 2 coats for opacity. This color was really hard to capture on camera! In person, it's a little more pink-leaning. 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Naughty Nautical is a sea green/muted teal with the same silver shimmer. This may be my favorite from the collection because it's so unique! The application was similar to Sunday Funday and only required 2 coats. I must say the name drew me to it as well; I can't resist polishes with cute names!

What do you think of Essie's new summer collection?

-Shelby

Essence Let's Get Lost and Sally Hansen Secrets Frost

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you're all having a good first half of your week; mine has been rather long. I have tests this week and other things going on so the weekend could not come any sooner!! I am SO pumped to show you my mani that I did probably about an hour ago. Usually I photograph and take my sweet time a) uploading my photos to my computer and b) actually making a post about said photos, but I just couldn't wait to show off this beauty of a manicure!!

I recently did a combo nail/wax swap with Dana from Polished Claws Up and she gave me a couple vintage polishes from Sally Hansen. I only have a few vintage polishes myself, one being a Sally Hansen, so you better believe I was excited. Without further ado, I'll get into my mani details!

Below I used 2 coats of Essence Let's Get Lost and 2 coats of Sally Hansen Secrets Frost.

Beware: photo spam. I repeat...major photo spam! :)

Essence Let's Get Lost
Sally Hansen Secrets Frost

Essence Let's Get Lost
Sally Hansen Secrets Frost

Essence Let's Get Lost
Sally Hansen Secrets Frost

Essence Let's Get Lost
Sally Hansen Secrets Frost

Essence Let's Get Lost
Sally Hansen Secrets Frost

Essence Let's Get Lost
Sally Hansen Secrets Frost

I cannot get over how flippin' gorgeous this manicure is!! I know I've been doing an excessive amount of manis with accent nails, but this one is extremely special. Let's Get Lost is a bright blue/teal creme that was almost a one-coater. I added 2 coats for good measure and to fill in slight patchy areas (very very slight I might add). I've had odd luck with some of Essence's polishes, but Let's Get Lost gave me zero issues, I'm totally smitten! Now I am in love with Secrets Frost. It is a scattered, finely milled silver holographic glitter. Although you can't see the holo in the photos very well, I promise you that the holo is clearly there in person and twinkles. Secrets Frost had a great application and completely covered my nail in 2 coats. I love the formula of this polish! It probably has tons of nasty chemicals in it, but I can sacrifice for one polish ;) Overall, I can't get enough of this mani!!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

PS: I just realized while writing this post that the names of these two polishes rhyme. Ha!

China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-le and Sinful Colors Rainstorm

Hello, friends! I've had a long, yet relaxing weekend. I'm back at school for the week and settling into my normal routine. I wanted to share with you a manicure I wore a couple weeks ago. I've been very much into doing different dotticures lately and I especially like this one!

What I used:
2 coats China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-le
Sinful Colors Rainstorm (dotting)
medium & large sized dotting tools

Secret Peri-Wink-le is very true to its name; it's a periwinkle cream! I love all shades of periwinkle and this is no exception. I feel like this specific polish started the periwinkle trend since this came out far before others did. The formula on this polish is not my favorite. As you can tell, there are some patchy areas (index finger). I used two coats here, but three coats or two super careful coats would've been better. I then took two sized dotting tools and decorated with Rainstorm, a dark blue creme. I love the pairing of the two colors from the same color family!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

Orly Silver Pixel, Orly Gumpdrop and Nicole by OPI Confetti Fun

Hello there! I have a mani to show you today that I wore last week and totally loved! I paired a fun, bright spring shade with a metallic and glitter accent nail :)

What I used:
2 coats Orly Gumdrop on all my nails except ring finger
2 coats Orly Silver Pixel on my ring finger
1 coat Nicole by OPI Confetti Fun on my ring finger

Orly Gumdrop
Orly Silver Pixel
Nicole by OPI Confetti Fun

Orly Gumdrop
Orly Silver Pixel
 Nicole by OPI Confetti Fun

I definitely loved the look of this mani! Unfortunately, the formula of Gumdrop kind of made the process a hassle. Gumdrop was on the thicker side and was hard to make perfectly even. With that being said, I may be able to add some thinner to the polish and see if the formula improves! The painstaking process is worth it because the color is gorgeous- a bright blue/mint creme. I added Silver Pixel, a new shade added to Orly's FX line, to my ring finger for an accent. Its formulation was very easy- I love the different sized glitters in Silver Pixel because it just adds some nice dimension. Confetti Fun, from NOPI's Selena Gomez collection, tied the silver and aqua together with its rainbow large and small glitters. Confetti Fun was easy to work with and it wasn't hard to get an even amount of glitter on each nail. Overall, I love the look of this mani!

Do you have any of these shades? What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and Simmer & Shimmer

Hello ladies :) I hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday! I am so glad the week is already halfway over, I can't wait to come home and see my boyfriend this weekend. It'll be nice to relax after a long week. Last night I tweaked my back a bit and can't ride my bike around campus. So I'm hoping by this weekend I'll be feeling much better!

A couple days ago I wore a couple new polishes I got recently: OPI Can't Find My Czechbook (Euro Centrale collection) and Simmer & Shimmer (Burlesque collection)

Below I wore 2 coats of each; CFMC on all fingers but my ring finger, S&S as an accent nail:

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook
OPI Simmer & Shimmer

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook
OPI Simmer & Shimmer

I love this combo! When I first saw promo pics for the Euro Centrale collection, Can't Find My Czechbook immediately stood out to me. It's the perfect bright blue for summer and man, did it not disappoint! It applied flawlessly and I have nothing negative to say about it (other than my photos which do not do the color justice)! I finally got my hands on a couple more of the Burlesque glitters- I am in love with the glitters from that collection and was more than stoked to get more! Simmer & Shimmer is a dense uniform-sized glitter in blue, pink, gold silver, etc. I love the small-sized glitter in the same color, especially because it fully covers the nail in 2 coats! I love glitters like this!

Do you have either of these polishes? What's your go-to glitter-cream pair?

-Shelby

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party and OPI Polka.com

Hello again! I am back with a post as promised. I actually have a few lined up; hopefully this weekend I can do some swatching and get some good photographs, now that the weather is getting gorgeous again. My boyfriend will be out of town so I will have plenty of time to play catch up! Today I have for you two polishes from recent collections: China Glaze Tart-y for the Party (from the Avant Garden collection) and OPI Polka.com (from the Euro Centrale collection)!

Below I used 2 coats of Tart-y for the Party and 1 coat of Polka.com

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party
OPI Polka.com

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party
OPI Polka.com

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party
OPI Polka.com

Tart-y for the Party is a gorgeous lilac shade. I love all light purples and this is no exception! The formula was a little thick, but nothing unmanageable! It didn't streak much and I love how smooth and creamy it is! I added Polka.com (cute name huh?) on top to spice it up; Polka.com has a great formulation and I had NO issues distributing glitter onto each nail evenly! Very impressed indeed :) Polka.com contains teal, magenta, and purple large hexes as well as pink and dark blue/purple micro-glitter. I love the end result of this mani!

Do you have polishes from either of these new collections? What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

Orly Rage and Nails Inc. Hammersmith!

Hello again! I am back with an actual post! I recently got a pair of rose gold and nude oxfords and I was inspired to do some rose gold nails :) I liked the rose gold on its own, but I just had to add some glitter!

Below I did 2 coats of Orly Rage and Nails Inc. Hammersmith on the base for a reverse gradient

Orly Rage
Nails Inc Hammersmith

Orly Rage
Nails Inc Hammersmith

Orly Rage
Nails Inc Hammersmith

I surprisingly love this combination together! Orly Rage has a great application; the only downside to this polish is that it shows every imperfection, so next time I am going to use a ridge filler prior. Hammersmith is a gorgeous glitter filled with tons of silver and bright blue glitters. I think the blue and the rose gold complement one another well! Also, Hammersmith was easy to apply, no issues with coverage for the gradient. 

PS: sorry for the out of focus last photo!

Are you guys loving rose gold too still?

-Shelby

Few of my most recent Manis!

Hello again, ladies! Yes, I am back with a post after who knows how long! Like I said before, life gets in the way. I am a first-year college student and timing is never perfect for photos, but now that spring and summer are approaching, I plan on doing a lot more nail posts, especially once I move home for the summer :) I still have a lot of untried polishes in my stash and I want to purchase a couple of polishes from the spring 2013 collections as well! Side note with that...I am in love with EVERY color from the new Butter London collection...my wallet is already crying.

So I thought to make up for my ultimate lameness, I could show you guys a few of the manicures I've done lately. I don't remember all of the polish names and the photo settings are not ideal, but I'm going to give it a whirl anyway!

China Glaze It's a Trap-eze

 This first mani is a combo of 3 different colors: a lavender (possibly Essie St. Lucia Lilac or China Glaze Light as Air), a Sally Hansen nail art pen in white and China Glaze It's a Trap-eze to top off the white. I loved the effect of this design, but I wish I had made the white area in the center thinner. That way the lavender would've shined through more!

SOPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue
Nails Inc. Warwick Way & The Thames

SOPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue
Nails Inc. Warwick Way & The Thames

I love dot manis! I wish I used lighter colors for the dots or a lighter base for the polish, but whatevs. I just used alternating dotting tool sizes to create a little pattern. Warwick Way is a little on the thin side. Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue is perfection! 

Revlon Coastal Surf

I love Revlon Coastal Surf! It is such a gorgeous shade of blue- this makeshift photo does not do the color justice! Also, the formulation was great! Barely needed two coats :)

Unfortunately, I can only remember 1 polish from this mani- Zoya Ziv. Ziv has been my recent go-to gold polish and it just looks great with every type of mani! I used a nude base and sponged on Ziv as well as an Indie glitter on the tips. I love the effect this created! I will definitely recreate this for an actual post!

Revlon Provence
Confetti Lonesome Dove

Yet another poor photo, but I love this design! It's the "puzzle piece" design. I painted half my nail Revlon Provence and the other half Confetti Lonesome Dove. Then I took large dotting tools and did purple on the gray half and gray on the purple half, spacing the dots out to create this look! I love Revlon Provence, its formulation is great. I also really like Lonesome Dove, it is a great neutral gray and wallet-friendly!

I hope you guys enjoyed this!

-Shelby

Brush Stroke Mani!

Hello ladies! I hope you all had a lovely weekend :) My family had a holiday party yesterday, so I've been quite the busy bee. It was well worth it though :)

A couple days ago, I did a mani that I saw on a couple tutorials- a brush stroke type mani. Hope you like it! :)

What I used:
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Zoya Kristen
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Sinful Colors Lavender
OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui
OPI Ski Teal We Drop
China Glaze Fairy Dust

I loooove how this turned out! I used a medium-length striper brush to achieve this look. I was a little skeptical after the first couple colors, but I couldn't get enough of the final look :) I may have forgot to list a color, but I honestly can't remember.

Merry Christmas in case I don't post before then!

-Shelby

Revlon Dreamer and Spoiled Pet My Peacock

Good late-evening ladies! I wanted to show you a mani I did today, but the weather was terrible and my light box wasn't cooperating :( so I decided to show you a mani from a couple days ago!

Revlon Dreamer
Spoiled Pet My Peacock

Revlon Dreamer
Spoiled Pet My Peacock

Dreamer is a light blue creme that is a little less white-based. For full opacity, it took me 3 coats, but 2 very careful coats may be enough in the future. Pet My Peacock is a blue, teal, silver and periwinkle hex glitters in a clear base. Unfortunately, this glitter didn't meet my expectations. I had to use a dotting tool to individually place each piece of glitter since the glitter wouldn't equally go onto each nail, if at all. 

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby