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

Hare Magic Mist and Sally Hansen Good to Grape

Good afternoon! A while back, I finally got my hands on one of my major lemmings: Hare Magic Mist. Somehow it got lost in my abyss of nail polish. The other day I came across it and was so excited that I found it, that I told myself I'd use it in a mani ASAP. Now here I am, using it in a manicure :)

What I used:
2 coats Sally Hansen Good to Grape
1 coat Hare Magic Mist

Hare Polish Magic Mist
Sally Hansen Good to Grape

Hare Polish Magic Mist
Sally Hansen Good to Grape

Magic Mist contains pink, orange, blue and purple various-sized glitters in a purple base. Oh. my god. I am head over heels for this polish! It's absolutely gorgeous and the glitter spreads easily and evenly. Good to Grape is a great base because it's a purple creme, very similar in shade to Magic Mist. I really liked wearing this mani!

What do you think of this mani? Have you used Hare Polish before?

-Shelby

Essie Who is the Boss & Candeo Colors Joker

Good morning! Today's post in an exciting one for me; I finally got my hands on a specific indie glitter I've been lemming over for months: Candeo Colors Joker! I've been waiting for the perfect time to wear it, but I just decided to pull it out yesterday!

I paired Joker with Essie Who is the Boss, from the Essie Wedding collection (from this year?).

Below I did 2 coats of Who is the Boss and 1 coat of Joker on my ring finger and thumb!

Essie Who is the Boss
Candeo Colors Joker

Essie Who is the Boss
Candeo Colors Joker

Who is the Boss is a light blue/green creme with a hint of grey to it. I adore this color! Sometimes it looks blue, sometimes it looks green. Usually pastel cremes don't have this effect, but I really like it! Joker is a glitter bomb: various shades of blue, purple and silver small, medium and large hex and circular glitters! Both polishes had perfect applications. Who is the Boss required 2 coats for full opacity and I believe Joker would become opaque in another generous coat. I'm diggin' this mani!

My boyfriend really likes it too :) He always enjoys seeing my various manis!

What do you think of this combo?

-Shelby

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

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

Different Dimension Light It Up Blue & OPI My Pointe Exactly

Hello ladies! I attempted another jelly sandwich this evening, but I'm not sure how much I like it >.<

I was skyping with my boyfriend while I did this mani, so I didn't pay much attention to the color combo. Tell me what you think!

What I used:
2 coats OPI My Pointe Exactly
1 coat Different Dimension Light It Up Blue
1 coat OPI My Pointe Exactly

Different Dimension Light It Up Blue
OPI My Pointe Exactly

Different Dimension Light It Up Blue
OPI My Pointe Exactly

My Pointe Exactly is a gray jelly! I liked the formula of this, 2 coats beneath the glitter was perfect! I'm not sure how I like Light It Up Blue paired with My Pointe Exactly, but I thought I'd show you anyway. Light It Up Blue is a blue and silver glitter with large white hexes in a clear base. I believe this color may be glow in the dark, too!

What do you think of this combo? I'm still on the fence about it!

-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

Jelly Sandwich: OPI Care to Danse? & Lush Lacquer Party Rockin

Good afternoon ladies! Today I was in the mood to do a jelly sandwich, specifically with OPI Care to Danse?. I adore light purples, so a light purple jelly is right up my alley! I also have been meaning to try Lush Lacquer Party Rockin for quite some time. What happens when you mix the two? You get an awesome jelly sandwich :)

What I used:
2 coats OPI Care to Danse?
1 coat Lush Lacquer Party Rockin
1 coat OPI Care to Danse?

OPI Care to Danse?
Lush Lacquer Party Rockin

OPI Care to Danse?
Lush Lacquer Party Rockin

OPI Care to Danse?
Lush Lacquer Party Rockin

 Care to Danse? is a warm-toned lavender jelly. This polish applies really well! I probably will only use it for jelly sandwiches or with glitter on top due to it's sheer nature, but I like it nonetheless! Party Rockin is a total glitter bomb! It has small orange, yellow, light blue glitters, medium light blue hexes, large dark and light blue hexes and light blue bar glitters all in a clear base with a blue tinge! Dang, that is a mouthful!! The blue tinge caused Care to Danse? to lean more blue than it really is.

OPI Care to Danse?
Lush Lacquer Party Rockin

OPI Care to Danse?
Lush Lacquer Party Rockin

Here's Party Rockin before I applied the last coat of Care to Danse?; I also like how this looks! Here you can really see all the colors of the polish. It didn't give me too many problems, but I found it hard to get even amounts of larger glitters on each nail. Other than that, I liked it :). The only true downfall this polish has is that is makes me think of the song Party Rockin, which I don't like all that much! haha

What do you think of this jelly sandwich? Do you like Lush Lacquer?

Until next time,

-Shelby

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

Wonder Beauty Products Cosmic Princess & Color Club Secret Rendezvous

Good afternoon! I hope everyone's Sundays are going well! :)

Today I have another indie polish to show you! This time it's from the brand Wonder Beauty Products, which can be purchased at their etsy store. I purchased 2 colors: Cosmic Princess and Crotch Rocket. Today, I'm showing you Cosmic Princess!

Below I started off with two coats of Color Club Secret Rendezvous and topped that off with one coat of Cosmic Princess

Wonder Beauty Products Cosmic Princess
Color Club Secret Rendezvous

Wonder Beauty Products Cosmic Princess
Color Club Secret Rendezvous

Wonder Beauty Products Cosmic Princess
Color Club Secret Rendezvous

Cosmic Princess is a glitter composed of large gold pieces and small blue and pink pieces in a pink base! I thought the application of this was pretty good. I may be able to wear it on its own with 2 coats, but I like it layered over Secret Rendezvous, which is a sheer milky lavender/light pink. This is a really girly mani and I think it'll be good for the spring months!

What do you think of this polish? Do you have anything from Wonder Beauty Products?

Until next time,

-Shelby