OPI My Very First Knockwurst and Essie Beyond Cozy

Happy weekend, ladies! :) I am so relieved to be home for the weekend! I'll have some down time to just relax, which also means time to catch up on blog posts! I think I may make a few scheduled posts for the next week or two since I am finishing up my current University year.

Today I have for you a simple mani I did a week or so ago: OPI My Very First Knockwurst with a slight glitter gradient of Essie Beyond Cozy.

OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Essie Beyond Cozy

OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Essie Beyond Cozy

My Very First Knockwurst is probably my favorite pink-nude creme in my collection! Its formula and application is a dream and I love how it looks against my skintone. I added a slight gradient effect to my ring finger with a recent purchase of mine, Beyond Cozy, which is a silver and gold fine glitter. I love this combo together!

What do you think of this pairing?

-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 Bold Sangria, OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel and China Glaze Prism

Good evening! Tonight I have for you a kind of mish-mash mani. I couldn't really decide what to do, so I kept adding to it!

Revlon Bold Sangria
OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel
China Glaze Prism

Revlon Bold Sangria
OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel
China Glaze Prism

Revlon Bold Sangria
OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel
China Glaze Prism

Bold Sangria is the perfect bright plum shade. It's high-gloss and is very opaque. It's bright nature doesn't display well in my photos though! Suzi Takes the Wheel is a green-toned gray. I thought the two looked nice together for the Fall season. To add something extra, I made a reverse gradient with Prism, a lavender micro glitter with rainbow larger round glitters!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

Revlon Midnight Affair and NYX Turks and Caicos

Good evening ladies! I am just beginning my finals week, so life is a tad stressful at the moment! I still have time to destress and paint my nails, though :)

Tonight I have for you a glitter gradient using 2 untrieds: Revlon Midnight Affair and NYX Turks and Caicos!

Revlon Midnight Affair
NYX Turks and Caicos

Revlon Midnight Affair
NYX Turks and Caicos

Revlon Midnight Affair
NYX Turks and Caicos

Revlon Midnight Affair
NYX Turks and Caicos

Midnight Affair is a dark navy blue with subtle navy shimmers that just add the right amount of dimension to this polish. It became opaque in only 1 coat! Seriously? That's crazy and makes a polish 10x better in my book :). It's a bummer this shade is discontinued, but I found mine on eBay for a great price. Turks and Caicos is an iridescent glitter suspended in a clear-blue jelly base. The polish was a bit thick and hard to work with on the sponge, but I made it happen. Unfortunately, the polish gooped and din't want to dry properly, making my manicure not last too long.

What do you think?

-Shelby

Essie Recessionista and OPI Glow Up Already!

Good evening ladies! Today I have for you a reverse glitter gradient I did yesterday :) This was my first time trying the non-sponge method- not sure how I like it yet!

Below I used 2 coats of Essie Recessionista & OPI Glow Up Already! for the gradient

Essie Recessionista
OPI Glow Up Already!

Essie Recessionista
OPI Glow Up Already!

Essie Recessionista
OPI Glow Up Already!

Recessionista, from Essie's fall Stylenomics collection, is a deep berry creme. This is a gorgeous shade and went on in 2 easy coats. I added a reverse gradient with OPI Glow Up Already!, a finely milled gold, orange, green, pink, and silver glitter in a clear base. I believe it's from the OPI Burlesque collection. This wasn't too hard to work with- I really like it!

I hope you guys enjoyed!

-Shelby

Sephora by OPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue and Orly Fowl Play

Good morning ladies! Today I have for you an exciting mani to show you- a matte glitter gradient! :D

What I used:
2 coats SOPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue
Orly Fowl Play (sponged)
Essie Matte About You

Sephora by OPI Seriously It's a Naan-Issue
Orly Fowl Play

Sephora by OPI Seriously It's a Naan-Issue
 Orly Fowl Play

Sephora by OPI Seriously It's a Naan-Issue
Orly Fowl Play

Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue is a gorgeous eggplant creme. The formula was amazing and it was perfectly opaque in 2 coats. Fowl Play was the perfect match for a glitter gradient. Once I added the matte topcoat, the different glitters were even more visible :)

What do you think of this?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 24: Inspired by a Book

Good afternoon! Today's challenge stumped me a little. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading quite often, but the novels that I read wouldn't be easy to recreate on my nails. I like Nicholas Sparks' novels; I guess you could say I'm a sappy romantic. Instead of using one of his novels for inspiration, I used a very popular book (unread by me, though) for inspiration: 50 Shades of Grey

What I used:
Ulta Concrete Evidence (base)
Sephora by OPI Frankly, I Don't Give A-dam
China Glaze Recycle
Nails Inc The Thames
Essie Stylenomics
Orly Atomic Splash

Gray Gradient

Gray Gradient

I kinda took the easy way out with a gradient, but I like the outcome, especially with the dark gray glitter! All the polishes were fairly good for sponging, except Stylenomics was giving me a hard time on the tips. This is a very obvious mani: 50 Shades of Grey...different shades of gray on my nails, but hey, at least you get my inspiration :P!

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 

31 Day Challenge, Day 21: Inspired by a Color

Hello! I'm so excited that we are onto the final third of the challenge: the "inspired by" section!

Today's theme is "inspired by a color", which was very convenient for me since yesterday I did a gradient! Made things extra convenient :)

What I used:
OPI If You Moust You Moust
OPI Dim Sum Plum
OPI Casino Royale

OPI If You Moust You Moust
OPI Dim Sum Plum
OPI Casino Royale

OPI If You Moust You Moust
OPI Dim Sum Plum
OPI Casino Royale

As you can see, I chose pink/berry as my color! Casino Royale and Dim Sum Plum are more on the berry side, but when layered over If You Moust You Moust, they look more pink! I still really like gradients, they don't take a lot of time or effort, but look awesome! No complaints about any of these formulas either :)

My 12 year old cousin recently went to a Justin Bieber concert (she's a huge fan) and she requested that I feature her manicure on my blog. As promised, here are Phoebe's creative nails!

She told me she used a picture cut-out, placed it on her ring finger and topped it off with clear coat. 

I think the purple with the hearts is very cute :)

What do you think of these manis?

-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 

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  

Guest Post on OhThreeOhFour!

Last week, Dulcie from ohthreeohfour asked me to guest post on her blog while she's moving and of course I said yes! You guys should check out her blog, if you haven't already. She likes glitter as much as I do, if not more! Thank you so much Dulcie for this opportunity!

check out the post here

here's a quick photo of the gradient I did for the post!

Make sure to check out Dulcie's blog & my guest post!
-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 6: Violet

Good morning! As you can tell by the title, today's theme is violet! I'm a huge fan of purple so I was excited for this challenge day. I was inspired by a purple gradient on another blog, so I thought I would recreate it in a sense for my post!

I used 2 Nubar glitters: Petunia Sparkle & Violet Sparkle (how fitting for "violet" day!)

Below I did 2 coats of Petunia Sparkle and 1 sponged on 1 coat of Violet Sparkle

Nubar Petunia Sparkle & Violet Sparkle

Nubar Petunia Sparkle & Violet Sparkle

Nubar Petunia Sparkle & Violet Sparkle

Nubar Petunia Sparkle & Violet Sparkle

Petunia Sparkle is a gorgeous pinky-purple glitter & Violet Sparkle is a violet glitter! Both have the same formula. They're both extremely gritty and would need several coats of topcoat to smooth it out! Nonetheless, I think both are spectacular. The photos do not do them justice; I tried to capture a bit of the sparkle in photo #3 (though it's out of focus). 

What do you think of my violet challenge day 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

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 at Sweet Polish of Mine

Patty Greenberg

Liz and Lisa at Lozlosa 

Mari at Nailista 

Greta at How Was Your Day?

Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

Nicole at The Color Republic

Gini at Sassy Paints
Mandy at Chameleon Stampede

Misa Someone Like You & China Glaze I'm Not Lion

Hello again! Last night I was trying out another glitter gradient and was very pleased with my outcome!  I was inspired by another blog post to use fine glitter for the gradient, rather than chunky glitter!

I used 2 coats of Misa Someone Like You & sponged China Glaze I'm Not Lion onto the tips!

Misa Someone Like You
China Glaze I'm Not Lion

Misa Someone Like You
China Glaze I'm Not Lion

Misa Someone Like You
China Glaze I'm Not Lion

Someone Like You is a nude creme with a bit of a pinky/peach tone to it! This color applied great and was fully opaque in 2 coats! This color always makes me think about the Adele song & I start singing haha. To add some sparkle, I added I'm Not Lion, which is a gorgeous silver and gold fine glitter that's somewhat holo in the sun. In photo 3 you can see how it twinkles in the sunlight! I think this mani is very classy/elegant yet fun! I would wear it to a formal event or cocktail party if I were to go to one!

What do you think of this mani? Are you getting tired of glitter gradients? :P

-Shelby

Essie Glitter Gradient!

Hello ladies! Last night I did a mani that I just had to show you! I decided to do a glitter gradient; all 3 of my polishes used ended up being Essie! haha.

I used 2 coats of Boxer Shorts as my base and sponged Stroke of Brilliance onto all of my nails except my ring finger, which I sponged Set in Stones onto instead! I've really been enjoying the Luxe Effects polishes; I have 4 and enjoy all of them! The size of the glitter is great as a topcoat and for gradients!

Essie Boxer Shorts, Stroke of Brilliance, Set in Stones

Essie Boxer Shorts, Stroke of Brilliance, Set in Stones

Essie Boxer Shorts, Stroke of Brilliance, Set in Stones

Stroke of Brilliance is a beautiful periwinkle/blue glitter in a clear base. In the sun, it kind of likes to shine somewhat silver, but indoors you can definitely see the blue! Set in Stones is the same sized glitter as Stroke of Brilliance, but it is silver! Both worked really well for sponging and I thought they looked awesome over Boxer Shorts, a purple/blue/periwinkle; I thoroughly enjoy wearing this color!

I hope you guys enjoyed this mani!

-Shelby

Night Sky Gradient

Good morning lovely ladies! Today I have for you gradient nails! This is a scheduled post since I am headed off to my boyfriend's family picnic/reunion today (that means my post coming up for this afternoon is also scheduled)! I wanted to do something fun for the occasion, so I went with a gradient!

It looks like a night sky to me with the different shades of blues, purples and glitter like the stars. I hope you guys like it!

Polishes used:
China Glaze Bahamian Escape
Nubar Lavender
OPI Funky Dunkey
Nicole by OPI Listen to Your Momager!
Sinful Colors See You Soon
Shimmer Polish Jenny

Night Sky Gradient

Night Sky Gradient

Night Sky Gradient

Night Sky Gradient

I actually am very pleased with how this gradient turned out! I like how each nail is slightly different and more unique than the last :) I used the sponging method to create this gradient. I didn't have too much of an issue with cleanup this time; I decided to tape my nails. I think next time I'll try a gradient without glitter because that'll help with the cleanup even more! I topped this mani off with 1 coat of Out the Door and 1 coat of Diamond Dry, just so the glitter didn't remain gritty. The last photo is a closeup of the gradient; you can clearly see each color there!

What do you think of this gradient? Have any gradient recommendations/ideas?

Until next time,

-Shelby

Shimmer Polish Karen Gradient Nails

Happy Thursday! I hope everyone's day is going well so far; I am in a good mood because today is a special day for my boyfriend and me! :). Today I decided to finally try gradient nails! I also added some glitter to spice it up. Next time I am definitely using tape around my nails if I do glitter...it wouldn't come off my fingers no matter what I did!

I started off with my previous manicure from yesterday (2 coats Sephora by OPI It's Hippo to Be Square & 1 coat Sally Hansen Insta-Dri). Then I sponged on OPI Funky Dunkey and Shimmer Polish Karen! I like the look I achieved, but next time I may just try using 3 different non-glitter shades for practice :).

SOPI It's Hippo to Be Square
OPI Funky Dunkey
Shimmer Karen

SOPI It's Hippo to Be Square
OPI Funky Dunkey
Shimmer Karen

SOPI It's Hippo to Be Square
OPI Funky Dunkey
Shimmer Karen

I didn't have a good warm-tone purple glitter, so I went with Karen, a predominantly pinky-purple and silver glitter with some blue and purple glitter mixed in. Karen gave me a hard time with cleanup; the glitter refused to unstick, even with pure acetone. Funky Dunkey, on the other hand, didn't give me any problems. Since it was quite a bit darker than the SOPI color, it was hard to blend. I think with practice I will become better at doing these types of manicures! :)

I hope you guys enjoyed!

Until next time,

-Shelby