Orly Rage and Essie A Cut Above

Hello, ladies! I hope all of you are having a good start to your week. I don't know about you guys, but it's been SO hot here! California needs to cool down, fast. I have for you today a combo a did over the weekend- rose gold inspired!

Below I used 2 coats of Orly Rage, topped with 1 coat of Essie A Cut Above

Orly Rage Essie A Cut Above

Orly Rage Essie A Cut Above

Rage is a rose gold foil; it's application is good and it only required 2 coats of complete opacity. I really like this polish on its own, but I wanted to add even more pink-y bling to it. I added A Cut Above, which is a two-sized rosy pink glitter in a clear base. With one coat, enough glitter was dispersed onto each nail, without having to do the "dabbing" method. The combination was sparkly in the sunlight, which was perfect during this weather!

What do you think of this combo?

-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

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

Revlon Copper Penny and Hit Polish Precious Metal

Good evening! I've been away the past few days for two reasons: Sunday was my boyfriend and my Anniversary and the past couple days I haven't been feeling my best. But I did manage to do a mani last night and I got decent light today for photos!

Below I used 1 coat of Revlon Copper Penny and 1 coat of Hit Polish Precious Metal

Revlon Copper Penny
 Hit Polish Precious Metal

Revlon Copper Penny
Hit Polish Precious Metal

Copper Penny is a copper foil polish- pretty basic. The formula was pretty good and 1 coat was good as undies. Precious Metal is a copper and gold glitter bomb of various shapes and sizes! I had to thin this polish out a bit because the formula was ultra thick.

What do you think of this combo?

-Shelby

Sephora by OPI Don't Feed the Hand Models, Butter London West End Wonderland and Zoya Ziv

Good afternoon ladies! I hope you all are having a lovely holiday season. I've been doing some Christmas shopping recently and oh man, are the stores packed. I walked into Sephora today to take a quick browse and the line was 15 people long. Geesh, I'm glad I wasn't purchasing anything :)

Last night I visited with my boyfriend and played a fun game with him and his sisters (telestrations): it's a combo of telephone and pictionary. If you guys have kids/nieces/nephews/etc. around the age of 10-15 you should consider getting this game for them! Lots of fun and laughs :)

I have a mani for you guys that I did a few days ago; I absolutely love the combo!

What I used:
2 coats Sephora by OPI Don't Feed the Hand Models (except ring finger)
2 coats Zoya Ziv (ring finger)
1 coat Butter London West End Wonderland (ring finger)

Sephora by OPI Don't Feed the Hand Models
Butter London West End Wonderland
Zoya Ziv

Sephora by OPI Don't Feed the Hand Models
Butter London West End Wonderland
Zoya Ziv

Sephora by OPI Don't Feed the Hand Models
 Butter London West End Wonderland
Zoya Ziv

Don't Feed the Hand Models is a gorgeous cool-toned nude creme. This kind of nude is what suits my skintone best; the more beige nudes don't suit me too well. This was opaque in 2 coats. Ziv is a phenomenal gold foil. I am smitten for this polish! It may be my new fav :D. Or maybe the combo of Ziv and West End Wonderland, a gold and red glitter polish. They are just stunning and almost look like one polish when combined. 

What do you think?

-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

31 Day Challenge, Day 8: Metallic

Good morning! Today's theme for the 31 day challenge is metallic and to be honest, I don't own a lot of straight up metallic polishes! I own far more foils in my collection, so I figured it'd be okay to cheat a little and use a foil today!

I decided to do a tape mani with China Glaze Loft-y Ambitions and China Glaze Icicle!

China Glaze Icicle and Loft-y Ambitions

China Glaze Icicle and Loft-y Ambitions

I started off with 1 coat of Loft-y Ambitions, a wine color with subtle silver shimmer veining, and used striping tape with Icicle, a classic silver foil. I like the concept, but I wish all my stripes were as close together as my pinky! I like how that finger turned out the best :) The formula on both polishes was good, no issues!

I hope you guys enjoyed!

-Shelby

Check out the other lovely ladies participating in this challenge!

-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  

Milani HD

Good morning! Today I'm going to see that new Meryl Streep movie with my mom; I hope you guys are having a nice, relaxing Friday as well! I have a mani I did a couple days ago with 2 Milani polishes: HD layered over Silver Stilettos. I liked the combo of a holo over a foil, so I thought I'd share it!

Below I started with 2 coats of Silver Stilettos and topped it off with 1 coat of HD!

Milani HD
Milani Silver Stilettos

Milani HD
Milani Silver Stilettos

Milani HD
Milani Silver Stilettos

HD is a silver holo polish. It was my first holo before I knew holos existed :P. I didn't want to use multiple coats to make it opaque, so I layered it over a foil instead. In photo #3 you can kinda see the silver foil, Silver Stilettos. In photo #1 you can see how gorgeous HD is in the sunlight! It flashes so many colors, I can't get enough of it! Both applied well; Silver Stilettos is a little tricky though, since foils can show brushstrokes easily. Luckily, I didn't have much of a problem.

I liked this mani a lot! I feel like Milani is overlooked often, but they make great polishes. I took a look at their display the other day and liked a lot of their shades! Next time you pull out a holo topcoat, try it over a foil :) I also think I'm going to do a comparison post soon; HD is a dead-on dupe for OPI DS Coronation!

I hope you enjoyed!

-Shelby