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

31 Day Challenge, Day 18: Half Moons

Hello! Today's challenge is half moons, which was kinda hard for me, considering I don't have rounded tape guides! I saw someone do a "necklace" manicure and I thought it'd work great for the challenge!

What I used:
Essie Lapis of Luxury
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Essie Lapis of Luxury
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Essie Lapis of Luxury
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

I like this alternative for a half moon mani! Lapis of Luxury is gorgeous- a little sheer, but 2 careful coats will make it opaque. I like My Boyfriend Scales Walls because it's not stark white, so it's perfect for detailing! It also went well with Silver Mercedes! :)

What do you think of this 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 

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

31 Day Challenge, Day 9: Rainbow

Good morning! I am excited to show you my post for day 9 of the 31 day challenge, which incorporates a rainbow design! I decided to use my dotters for this mani to create a gradient dot effect; you guys know how much I've been into gradients lately! :P

Polishes I used:
Sally Hansen White On
China Glaze Hey Sailor
Sally Hansen Sun Kissed
China Glaze Lemon Fizz
Essie Mojito Madness
Essie Mesmerize
China Glaze Spontaneous

Rainbow Dotticure

Rainbow Dotticure

I think this turned out pretty awesome! I think my dots for the darker colors could have been slightly bigger, but I don't need to nit pick the fine details :P. These remind me of Skittles; not the skittle mani, but actual Skittles! haha.

What do you think of this 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  

Pretty & Polished Spam!

Good afternoon! I hope you all are having a lovely Tuesday :). I spent the evening with my boyfriend last night after not seeing him for almost ten days, so that put me in a good mood for today!

A few weeks ago, Pretty & Polished restocked their inventory on Etsy. Right when they released their inventory, I snatched 4 polishes up: Sand Art, Party on my Yacht, Tart, and PHAT Camp!

Beware, this post is picture heavy...I'm going to show pics of the base colors I used before I added the Pretty & Polished glitters to the manis!

Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!

Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!

 Sally Hansen Blue Me Away! is a perfect bright blue creme! It's vibrant, but not too "in your face". The application was awesome; fully opaque in 2 coats! I thought it was a great base for Sand Art!

Pretty & Polished Sand Art

Pretty & Polished Sand Art

 Sand Art is a lime green, purple, blue and pink glitters in a clear base. This was a truly unique color! The glitters seemed somewhat matte and almost spherical, rather than flat. I used 1 coat over Blue Me Away! and really liked the outcome!

Pretty & Polished Party on my Yacht

Pretty & Polished Party on my Yacht

Pretty & Polished Party on my Yacht

Party on my Yacht is gold, purple, green glitters with hidden blue bar glitters in a white, milky base. This color didn't require a base color, but took 3 coats to reach full opacity. I like this color, but I feel like it'll look especially good around Christmas or Easter since it seems somewhat festive to me. The application was pretty good and I didn't have any problems with it :).

OPI Rumple's Wiggin'

OPI Rumple's Wiggin' is a nice lavender creme from the OPI Shrek Collection. This is a classic lavender, possibly my first ever lavender polish! It's a little sheer and streaky, but totally worth it! I used 2 coats semi-thick coats to reach opacity.

Pretty & Polished Tart

Pretty & Polished Tart

 Tart is micro purple, small gold, pink, magenta, blue hexes, and large white/lavender hexes in a milky lilac base. I probably could've reached opacity with this polish in around 3 coats, but I decided to put 1 coat over Rumple's Wiggin' instead! I had no issues with this polish; the application was good and I didn't have a hard time getting glitter onto my nails!

Sinful Colors Ocean Side

 Sinful Colors Ocean Side is a teal creme with a bit of gray in it! I like this color a lot!! I got it on sale for 99 cents at Walgreens and am really impressed with the formula. When I swatched it on a nail wheel, it was a little sheer, but when applied to the nails, it was perfect! No complaints about this gorgeous, ocean-like teal :).

Pretty & Polished PHAT Camp

Pretty & Polished PHAT Camp

PHAT Camp is teal and purple large glitters and pink/purple small glitters in a clear base. This color was really hard to capture in the sun; the teal glitters were kind of invisible in the teal polish! I had no issues with the application, but I'd say this is my least favorite of the bunch, which is funny since I thought I'd like it the most! I still like this combo though :)

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with Pretty & Polished! I didn't have a problem getting the glitter to go onto my nails evenly, which was nice for a change! I would buy from them again :)

What do you think of Pretty & Polished?

Until next time,

-Shelby

First Attempt at Nail Stamping!

Hi guys! I recently ordered some nail stamping plates, along with the Konad stamper and scraper. I ordered a couple Konad plates, but mostly Bundle Monster & Cheeky plates. I had a hard time getting the stamp to transfer from the stamper onto my nail, but I worked with it. I started out with Essie's Play Date as my base and then used the Konad white special polish to stamp.

Below I did 2 coats of Play Date & I used BM-221 (a floral design). The first two are kind of shaded, while the third is in direct light.

Essie Play Date
BM-221

Essie Play Date
BM-221

Essie Play Date
BM-221

As you can tell, my ring finger had a bit of smudging. My pointer and middle fingers turned out the best.

I'm looking forward to trying out more designs!

What do you think?

-Shelby