Wingdust Deep Deep Trouble Swatch And Review

April 15, 2013, 12:02 am

≫ Next: Lacquer Lust Eternal Bliss and Babycakes Swatch And review

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! Mine was quick but thankfully I have Monday off too. My brother visited with his family and we had a lovely time. If there's one thing my family loves to do, that would be eating. Whenever my brother visits, we have to hit our favorite food spots so that meant lots of tacos, Korean food, and dessert. Yum!

Tonight I have a denim blue glitter polish by Wingdust Collections called Deep Deep Trouble. It's a cream based polish that contains large red and black hex glitters, smaller sizes of red, pink, and gold hex glitters, and finished with lovely iridescent flakes. I found the formula to be quite easy to work with and used two layers for opacity. It dried slightly matte so I used a layer of Essence Gel Look Topcoat and a final layer of SH Insta Dri for extra shine.

Wingdust Deep Deep Trouble

This is my time using Wingdust polishes and I have to say that I'm impressed by the quality and application. I have some more to swatch and hopefully they'll be just as great as this one is. Have you tried any Wingdust yet?

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Lacquer Lust Eternal Bliss and Babycakes Swatch And review

April 15, 2013, 10:59 pm

≫ Next: L.A. Girls 3D Holographic Purple Effect Swatch And Review #purplenailsforboston

≪ Previous: Wingdust Deep Deep Trouble Swatch And Review

I'm very upset about what happen in Boston today. It's a tragedy in every respect, and my heart goes out to all the victims of the explosions. Most of all, I'm devastated that an 8 year old boy had to lose his life over someone's selfish agenda. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families and people who are suffering in Boston right now.

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I have two Lacquer Lust polishes to show you tonight, since I was finally able to snag a couple during the last restock. She doesn't stock too many polishes during her restocks so the bottles sell out lighting fast.

The first polish I have is Babycakes, a delicate pink tinged white crelly polish with hex glitters in dark gold, pink, white, and blue. The first coat was super sheer but I was able to get opacity with three coats. It dried smooth on its own and I only needed a coat of Poshe to add some extra shine.

Lacquer Lust Babycakes

Next I have Eternal Bliss, a beautiful silvery white holo. I had trouble getting the holo to show up on camera but there was definitely a faint silvery rainbow. The formula was sheer as well and I used three coats to get opacity. No topcoat in these pics. The first photo is in taken in the light tent, the rest are taken directly under light.

Lacquer Lust Eternal Bliss

I wish Eternal Bliss had a bigger holo flare but it was really difficult to see indoors, even under direct light. Next time I try this I'll see if the holo peeks out in sunshine. It's still a very pretty delicate looking polish that I could see myself wearing. Babycakes was equally as pretty but maybe not as unique as other indies I've seen. I really like the dark gold glitters though, there doesn't seem to be many polishes that have that color. After seeing these, would you f5 refresh repeatedly to score some Lacquer Lust polishes?

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L.A. Girls 3D Holographic Purple Effect Swatch And Review #purplenailsforboston

April 17, 2013, 1:30 am

≫ Next: YSL Bronze Aztec Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Lacquer Lust Eternal Bliss and Babycakes Swatch And review

In remembrance of what happened Monday in Boston, ladies across the internet are wearing purple nails. For my contribution, I have L.A. Girls 3D Holographic Purple Effect, a stunning scattered holo in a purple jelly base. It's an amazing polish and I think it helps represent the amazing people of Boston who pulled together and helped each other out through an otherwise tragic day.

I had difficulty capturing the gorgeous holographic sparkle on camera, but IRL it's really prevalent and the purple jelly base is deliciously squishy. I used three coats in these pictures, but I think you could probably get away with two coats. The formula was a little sticky and thick but overall it was still easily workable once I got use to the consistency. No topcoat in these pictures so you can see it's natural shine.

Warning, this is super picture heavy! I don't think I could take enough photos to capture this beauty. First pic is in the light tent, the rest are under direct light.

L.A. Girls 3D Holographic Purple Effect

There is a whole range of colors from this line, and I have two more to show you at a later date. After using Purple Effect, I'm excited to use the other two. There's been such a huge influx linear holos but not so many scattered, so it's nice to finally some more, especially at such a great price! Have you picked any of these up yet, or do you know of any other new scattered holos out there?

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YSL Bronze Aztec Swatch And Review

April 17, 2013, 11:07 pm

≫ Next: Zoya Earth Day Exchange 2013! Some swatches for ya!

≪ Previous: L.A. Girls 3D Holographic Purple Effect Swatch And Review #purplenailsforboston

I've got a quickie for you tonight and that's Yves Saint Laurent Bronze Aztec, a dark blackened bronze shimmer. The formula was consistent with YSL polishes that I've tried in the past, which is smooth and with the perfect consistency. The polish was highly pigmented, so I only needed two coats for full opacity. I used topcoat to hasten drying and add some shine.

YSL Bronze Aztec

The color is not terribly unique, but it's still a gorgeous color. There's something terribly sexy about a darkened bronze polish. It leans slightly vampy but not quite. The only gripe I have is that I ordered this without realizing that I already own it in the Holiday Trio that was released a couple years ago. Ooops. Have you double purchased a polish that you already own?

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Zoya Earth Day Exchange 2013! Some swatches for ya!

April 19, 2013, 12:46 am

≫ Next: Hare Atolla Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: YSL Bronze Aztec Swatch And Review

This weekend is the annual Zoya Earth Day Polish Exchange, where you can trade in your old polishes for free Zoya polishes, plus shipping and handling(essentially $4 each). I've participated in this in the past, and it's the best time of the year to stock up on Zoya. They don't actually expect you to mail in the old polishes, but it's a great motivator to get you to clean out your polish drawer and donate the old bottles elsewhere. I hear a lot of women's shelters will accept them, or you can leave them in your office bathroom for your coworkers.

This year's promo code is ZOYAEARTH2013, and you're welcome to use my referral link if you've never ordered from Zoya before. It'll get you a free bottle!

I have a few swatches for you to enjoy... I randomly picked some bottles out of my Zoya drawer. No topcoat in any of these pics, and that's because Zoya is so amazingly shiny on its own!

Zoya Anastasia is described on the website as a warm brown with strong purple tones with golden oxblood plum duochrome and heavy gold, gilded microglitter. Magical and versatile for sparkling fall beauty. Three coats shown here.

Zoya Anastasia

Zoya Edyta is described on the website as a complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smoky grey with a sparkling metallic finish.A dark shade balanced with sparkle for a dramatic look. I only needed two coats for this because it was super pigmented. Beware, there is staining upon removal. It's worth it though! This is what I wish Hard Candy Crush On Tin looked like.

Zoya Edyta

Zoya Irene is described as a muted, mossy camouflage olive green accented by fine yellow-based green shimmer. An earthy way to wear the green nail trend. I love the shimmer of this, it almost looks duochromatic in some lights, shifting to a dark green shade. This was slightly sheer and I used three coats for opacity.

Zoya Irene

Zoya Meadow is described on the website as a soft medium pinkish peach with mauve undertones and warm frosty golden shimmer. Golden and flesh-toned, a sparkling nude for warm skin tones. I really like this soft pink with golden shimmer! Very pretty. Three coats shown here.

Zoya Meadow

Zoya Pasha is described on the website as a soft, pale, taupe-kissed beige nude with silver frost and the barest hint of silver microglitter. Very unique and fashionable- not a boring greige, nude by any means. This is one of my first Zoyas ever, and I wore this for weeks on end. Love it! Two coats shown here.

Zoya Pasha

Zoya Shivon is described on the website as a dark rose gold with hints of purple and bronze and strong gold duochrome shimmer. This color flickers and changes with light and movement so you'll never be bored. Love the gold shimmer in this. It's a less subdued version of Faye, but with a darker pink base. Three coats shown here.

Zoya Shivon

I really love Zoya because they're five free and the formula is always consistently stellar. All the polishes swatched above had no streaking or pooling whatsoever. They last forever on me as well, with very minimal chipping. Are you planning on placing an order this weekend, and what colors will you be getting?

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Hare Atolla Swatch And Review

April 20, 2013, 1:15 am

≫ Next: Hard Candy Crushed Chromes in Amethyst, Lava, and Raisin

≪ Previous: Zoya Earth Day Exchange 2013! Some swatches for ya!

Yay for the weekend! I hope everyone a nice week. This weekend I'll be reorganizing my polishes into a new cabinet that I bought this week, so I'm stoked. I ordered it online and it's solid wood and as ten drawers. It's about the size of an Ikea Alex but without the larger drawers on the bottom. How do you suggest I organize them? I'm thinking of doing it by color instead of brand. My only problem will be finding all my hidden stashes in the kitchen!

I've been trying to wear more red polishes, and tonight's polish is a fantastic red packed with iridescent hex glitters and flakes called Atolla by Hare Polish. It's designed after the Atolla jellyfish which is red and glows in the dark. I found application to be wonderfully easy, with no clumping, dragging, or pooling. I used three coats in these pis but two would have been fine. I finished with a layer of topcoat.

Hare Atolla

This polish is part of the Illuminated Life collection that was released last fall. I've swatched Bury the Hatchetfish and Medusa Luminosa previously, check them out if you want to see some more amazing iridescent glitter. Have you worn any reds lately?

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Hard Candy Crushed Chromes in Amethyst, Lava, and Raisin

April 22, 2013, 1:18 am

≫ Next: Elevation Polish Muztagh Ata Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Hare Atolla Swatch And Review

How was your weekend lovelies? I hope you were able to get some fun and rest. I caught up on some of my shows and took quite a few naps with LO.

I have the rest of the Hard Candy polishes that I picked up while I was in NC, and looking at them, it looks like I really liked the Crushed Chromes collection. I also picked up Black Tie Optional but it's not swatched here. I'll save that for a later time. Meanwhile, check out Crush on Tin, the first Crushed Chrome I tried.

First I have Crushed Amethyst, a violet foil with silver flecks. It was super easy to apply and two coat was enough for opacity. No topcoat in these pictures.

Crush On Amethyst

Next I have Crush On Lava, which I think is the star of all the Crushed Chromes, if not all of the Hard Candies that were released. It's a stunning duochrome foil that shifts from orange to red to purple in the right light. I think that MAC Bad Fairy or Accessorize Pink Spice might be close dupes, but this is much easier to find and cheaper too. Two easy coats for this as well, no topcoat.

Hard Candy Crush On Lava

Crush On Lava

Lastly I have Crushed On Raisin, a pretty pink foil with gold flecks. I really liked this one, surprisingly, but then again, I really love pink and gold together. Formula and application were similar to the others, two coats and no topcoat.

Crush On Raisin

I loved the easy application of these considering they were foil like. There were no brush strokes visible once dry and the polishes weren't thick and self leveled really well. Next time I wear these, I want to matte them out. My favorite is a tie between Crush On Tin and Crush On Lava, followed by Crush on Raisin. Are you impressed with these as much as I am?

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Elevation Polish Muztagh Ata Swatch And Review

April 22, 2013, 11:26 pm

≫ Next: L.A. Girl 3D Holographic in Sparkle Ruby and Black Illusion plus bonus nail art!

≪ Previous: Hard Candy Crushed Chromes in Amethyst, Lava, and Raisin

I had a lovely day today, because I had no work and spent the entire day with LO walking around the city. I did a little shopping too. I stopped into Sephora and managed to walk out with only two eyeshadow pans(I love golden greens) after VIB discount, and then found a lovely jade maxi dress at the mall. I mananged to haul only one nailpolish during my excursion, aren't you proud of me for not splurging? I had a late lunch, but I was really bad. I walked by the restaurant that my friends had promised to go with me for my upcoming birthday, and I could not stop myself from walking in and ordering lunch. Oops. Don't tell them, please!

I try to avoid going to Elevation Polish's website whenever I can because I know when I looking, I can't help but order something from her. She makes gorgeous shimmers that are my kryptonite. So when I heard she was on vacation and her family was having a scratch and dent sale while she was away, I could not resist! I found a few lovely shades for a discounted price, and I added tonight's polish as well. I'd seen Muztagh Ata on a few blogs already, and it's a teal holo - already it's love at first sight!

Muztagh Ata is a blue leaning teal cream linear holo, and it was nearly opaque after one coat. The formula was buttery smooth and self leveled well. It was really pigmented and I imagine it would be perfect for stamping. I used two coats here with no topcoat - look at that shine!

In the light tent:

Elevation Polish Muztagh Ata

Directly under light:

Elevation Polish Muztagh Ata

Gah, how pretty is that? I can't take it... I barely made it through a whole day because I kept getting distracted by this beauty. Elevation doesn't make too many holos, but when she does, she knocks it out of the park. Does this make your pitter patter like it does mine?

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L.A. Girl 3D Holographic in Sparkle Ruby and Black Illusion plus bonus nail art!

April 24, 2013, 12:45 am

≫ Next: Love & Beauty Grey / Hot Pink Swatch and Review

≪ Previous: Elevation Polish Muztagh Ata Swatch And Review

The other day I showed you L.A. Girl's 3D Holographic in Purple Effect, and now I have my other two picks from that same collection. These both had similar formula and application like Purple Effect, and that's a little sticky but workable jelly base. I used two coats for all of these pictures. Warning, this is super picture heavy!!

First is Sparkle Ruby, a berry leaning red scattered jelly holo. I really love this shade and wore if for three days! The tipwear on this was excellent as well - barely any after two days of work. I wish the holo was easier to capture, but it's definitely visible with movement. First pic is in the light tent, the rest are under direct light.

LA Girl 3D Holographic Sparkle Ruby

Next is Black Illusion, a black jelly with scattered holo. I really like this option of black nail polish instead of traditional black cream. The hint of holo is fabulous. Again, first pic is in the light tent, the rest in direct light. I think I managed to capture a bit of the holo in one of the pics!

LA Girl 3D Holographic Black Illusion

L.A. Girl 3D Holographic Black Illusion

LA Girl 3D Holographic Black Illusion

And, now a little nail art - nothing over the top but first is a gradient with Sparkle Ruby and Black Illusion.

L.A. Girl 3D Holographic in Sparkle Ruby and Black Illusion Gradient

And finally my attempt at a water marble... it's sloppy but I think partly it's due to the stickiness of the LA Girl formula... whenever I tried to use the orange stick to make the swirls, it would drag in th water and clump more than I wanted. Oh well. It's still pretty, I like the translucence of the marble. I did all three colors over Sparkle Ruby.

L.A. Girl 3D Holographic in Sparkle Ruby, Purple Effect and Black Illusion

Sorry for the picture heavy post! I just wanted to share how much fun I had with these polishes. I really enjoyed all of them and would definitely consider picking up the rest of the colors despite their somewhat boring names. If you haven't gotten any yet, I highly recommend that you seek them out!

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Love & Beauty Grey / Hot Pink Swatch and Review

April 24, 2013, 11:23 pm

≫ Next: Illamasqua Venous and Comparison of YSL Vert D'Orient with China Glaze Exotic Encounters

≪ Previous: L.A. Girl 3D Holographic in Sparkle Ruby and Black Illusion plus bonus nail art!

Remember the other day I mentioned that I was out shopping and came home with only one nail polish? Well tonight I have that one polish to show you, and that's Love & Beauty Grey/Hot Pink from Forever 21. Grey/Hot Pink is the only name description I can find on the bottle, and it does not give the polish any justice with its description. It's a sheer grey crelly base with teal and hot pink hex glitters with tiny hot pink microglitter throughout. I used three slightly thick coats in this mani and did not experience any problems. The glitter density is perfect - not too much and not too little. I'd say this is a great start to seeing more crelly polishes by mainstream manufacturers!

Love & Beauty Grey / Hot Pink

Don't you love the combination of colors in this? I don't see enough grey based glitter polishes so I was immediately drawn to this. I can't believe I found this at Forever 21! FYI, Love & Beauty is made by the same manufacturer of LA Girl nail polish, but it's cheaper than the 3Ds at $2.80 a pop. What a great price! Have you seen other cream glitters out in the wild?

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Illamasqua Venous and Comparison of YSL Vert D'Orient with China Glaze Exotic Encounters

April 26, 2013, 1:26 am

≫ Next: Sinful Shine Amazonian Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Love & Beauty Grey / Hot Pink Swatch and Review

Happy Friday! I hope you've got some great plans for the weekend, that way I can vicariously live through you while I'm working on Saturday. Aside from work, it's my five year wedding anniversary and we're planning on going to one of Roy Choi's restaurants for dinner. I'm really looking forward to it because I've been seeing so much of his food on tv lately.

I have another fantastic dark teal for you today, and that is Illamasqua's Venous. It's a dark green leaning teal cream that had a superb formula. With absolutely no issues with application, this polish nearly painted itself on my nails. I almost got away with one coat but used two to be safe and then finished with a layer of Poshe.

Illamasqua Venous

And as promised, I have a comparison of Illamasqua Venous, YSL Vert D'Orient, and China Glaze Exotic Encounters.

Comparison of YSL Vert D'Orient, Illamasqua Venous, and China Glaze Exotic Encounters

As you can see, Venous and Vert D'Orient are closer in shade than Exotic Encounters. EE leans more darker and dusty. Application-wise, China Glaze was streaky and thinner than either YSL or Illamasqua, but Illamasqua wins hands down in formula and ease of application. The YSL was a bit thicker and didn't self level at all, unlike the Illa that smoothed itself out. I'll keep looking for a cheaper alternative, but if you like this shade of teal, I definitely recommend the Illa over the other brands.

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Sinful Shine Amazonian Swatch And Review

April 28, 2013, 1:37 am

≫ Next: My Ten Friends Lunar Love Song Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Illamasqua Venous and Comparison of YSL Vert D'Orient with China Glaze Exotic Encounters

Tonight DH and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe how quickly time has passed! We went to a restaurant by Roy Choi that was featured on the new Anthony Bourdain show and on Top Chef, and I have to admit I wasn't very impressed. My chicken was really dry and the sauces didn't seem to compliment the food. On the upside, seating was community style and we sat next to a couple that didn't live far from us. We had a great conversation throughout dinner with them. Roy Choi popped into the restaurant while we were dining, and it was sort of a treat to see a semi-celebrity.

The other day when I was hunting for the LA Girls, I ran across the new Sinful Shine display. I wasn't overly impressed with the color selection because they seemed very similar to the standard Sinful Color polishes. There were mostly creams but there was a stunning forest green glassfleck that popped out at me. I came home with Amazonian, and while swatching it, I saw yellow flecks in it too. But does the $2.99 bottle live up to the claim of having a super gel like shine to it once dry? Almost! It's definitely shinier than most polishes, but it's still not quite a gel like shine. Is it worth the $2.99? I think so. These pics are two coats of Amazonian with no topcoat.

Sinful Shine Amazonian

I finally unearthed my missing bottle of Essie Matte About You during my reorganization of my stash, so I used this opportunity to use it. I love how the green changes after the matte topcoat.

Sinful Shine Amazonian Matted

I think after trying out this shade, I want to go and pick up some more but I'll probably wait until they go on sale. The shiny finish is great but for me, I'd probably still use a quick drying topcoat because I'm impatient and I always ding my nails. Have you tried these yet, and if so, how do you like the shine?

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My Ten Friends Lunar Love Song Swatch And Review

April 29, 2013, 1:01 am

≫ Next: Emily De Molly Harmony Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Sinful Shine Amazonian Swatch And Review

After more digging and organizing, I found my order of My Ten Friends that I received a month ago. In this order is Lunar Love Song, a lovely teal blue jelly base glitter that has gold, orange, pink multi shape/sized glitter and golden shimmer. I love how the orange glitters pop against the base. I found the formula to be really sheer and packed with glitter. Application wise it was thick but workable. It becomes semi-opaque after three coats but is really full of glitter. I used a layer of Essence Gel Like Topcoat to finish it off.

My Ten Friends Lunar Love Song

I wasn't happy with the base not showing through well, so I layered one coat over American Apparel The Valley, a bright sky blue cream. I think it looks much better this way because the glitters really contrast more against the blue.

My Ten Friends Lunar Love Song Over American Apparel The Valley

Which way do you prefer this? Have you ordered from My Ten Friends before? I had no idea it took a month for her to fulfill the order, not to mention it took me another month to figure out where I stashed it(remember I had guests in March?). Overall, I really like the mixture of glitter in this polish.

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Emily De Molly Harmony Swatch And Review

April 29, 2013, 11:12 pm

≫ Next: L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Berry Nice, Jolly Lolly, and Miss Pixie

≪ Previous: My Ten Friends Lunar Love Song Swatch And Review

I've been trying to circumvent "the system" these days and I figured out a way to keep my unlimited data on my Verizon phone. I want the new Samsung Galaxy S4 when it's released, but if I use my current line to upgrade, I lose my unlimited data plan. After snooping on the internet, I realized I can add a new line with the new Samsung. When the phone arrives, I need to activate it on my current line instead of the new line, and then activate a old non-data phone on the new line. That works perfectly for me because we don't have a landline at home. So double win for me, a new landline for the house and new Samsung Galaxy S4 for me without losing my unlimited data plan! Now if only I can keep the new phone out of LO's mouth!

Another lost-but-now-found polish, this is Emily de Molly's Harmony for you tonight. This is a light lavender cream base with multisized hex glitters in dark purple, teal blue and matte white. I had no issues with application and it had the standard indie glitter consistency in formula. I used three coats here with Essence Gel Look Topcoat to finish.

Emily De Molly Harmony

I wish Emily De Molly polishes were easier to get here in the states rather though third party sellers, but it's still worth the extra hassle and money. I found this to be a nice palette cleanser after using several dark polishes lately, not to mention I can never get enough matte white glitter. What's your favorite type of glitter?

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L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Berry Nice, Jolly Lolly, and Miss Pixie

May 1, 2013, 12:31 am

≫ Next: Elevation Polish Azure Caverns Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Emily De Molly Harmony Swatch And Review

Today was a long long day for me. I had to leave work in the middle of the day to care for LO while DH was at a health fair, and then return to work to finish out the day. I feel like I spent two days at work! Luckily I have a three day weekend to look forward to so hopefully the week will fly by for me.

Recently, I was able to find some of the L'Oreal Miss Candy Jellies that everyone has been raving about, and I have to admit that they're worth the rave. The formula and application are pretty good for jellies, and the finish and shine are amazing! I can't wait to play around with these and try some layering combinations.

First is Berry Nice, a dark purple jelly that looks black on the bottle but translates lighter on the nail and darkens as you layer it. I can see this working really well with silver glitter sammiches. I used four layers in these pics, which is a lot for me but I was trying to minimize VNL. Each layer dried fairly quickly and I didn't experience any dragging which usually happens with the jellies I've tried before. No topcoat so you can see its natural shine. Look how squishy it looks!

L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Berry Nice

Next is Jolly Lolly, a red jelly that starts out with a pink hue than darkens as you layer it to a bright cherry red. This is three layers, with a layer of Milani Gems on my ring finger to create a sammich. No topcoat.

L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Jolly Lolly

L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Jolly Lolly with Milani Gems Sammich

Finally I have Miss Pixie, and in my humble opinion, the star of the bunch. It's a stunning royal blue jelly that I think other brands have tried to create but never hit the mark. Below is four layers with no topcoat.

L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Miss Pixie

For fun, I tried an ombre with Miss Pixie by using one layer on my pointer, two layers on my middle, three on my ring and four on my pinky.

L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Miss Pixie Ombre

I can see these making a home in my permanent collection and becoming useful for when I want to get creative with layering and making sammiches. The formula on all of these were excellent and they really make jellies a joy to work with. The shine is awesome on these as well, no topcoat needed and there's a lot of depth and squishiness when dry. If you can find these, definitely pick them up. I found a display at my local Walgreens and Rite-Aid and waited until they were on sale to purchase. Are you a fan of jellies?

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Elevation Polish Azure Caverns Swatch And Review

May 1, 2013, 11:39 pm

≫ Next: Emily de Molly No Love Lost Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Berry Nice, Jolly Lolly, and Miss Pixie

Hello lovelies! I hope you're enjoying your week! It seems like summer is just around the corner here, I can't believe how fast spring has passed us by. I'm really enjoying the warmer weather and I've been trying to spend more times outdoors, especially with LO at the park. Have you been taking advantage of the lovely spring weather?

I was in the mood for some iridescent glitter today and after digging in my stash, I found the perfect polish by Elevation called Azure Caverns. It's a bright blue jelly base with small iridescent hex glitters and shimmer. Two coats of perfection with one layer of topcoat.

Elevation Polish Azure Caverns

Bonus picture! I used My Ten Friends Dirtball as an accent nail and gradient on the tips. Dirtball is a charcoal jelly base with silver and teal green hex glitters.

Elevation Polish Azure Caverns with My Ten Friends Dirtball

I love how Azure Caverns looks like Caribbean surf water, complete with bubbles. I wish I could find more colors exactly with this finish. Do you like my glitter gradient? I've been dabbling with gradients and trying to incorporate more accent nails and skittlettes into my routine. I'm not very good but I think practice will make perfect!

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Emily de Molly No Love Lost Swatch And Review

May 3, 2013, 12:56 am

≫ Next: Pahlish Body Electric Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Elevation Polish Azure Caverns Swatch And Review

Yay, it's Friday! Do you have any plans for the weekend? It feels like the city is more alive because there are so many events going on. Today I plan on going to the museum to check out a dance exhibition and then Saturday I want to check out the Butterfly Pavilion. I'm going to trying to catch Iron Man 3 at some point too. With so many things to see and do, I hope you enjoy your weekend!

I have another Emily de Molly to show you tonight. I wasn't planning on it but once I put it on, I could not take it off. This irresistible beauty is No Love Lost, a stunning red jelly with hex silver and gold glitters with a smattering of matte white square glitters. The red jelly base is perfect and opaque after two coats, but I used three in these pics because I wanted more glitter. There was some slight dragging of the glitters during application so you'll notice there may be more glitters towards the tips. This had a wonderful shine on its own but I finished with a layer of SH Insta Dri.

Emily de Molly No Love Lost

I love the shade of this red. It leans slightly berry but once layered it turns true red. The glitters add depth to the jelly but honestly I would be happy to have the jelly alone. Don't get me wrong, the glitters are fabulous, especially the matte white squares, but that jelly is amazing. Don't you just want to squeeze it??

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Pahlish Body Electric Swatch And Review

May 5, 2013, 3:35 am

≫ Next: Dior Birds Of Paradise Samba 001 Duo Swatch And Review

≪ Previous: Emily de Molly No Love Lost Swatch And Review

Happy Funday Sunday! Are you enjoying your weekend so far? We didn't get a chance to go to the Butterfly Pavilion yesterday so I'm hoping we'll go today. I think LO will like watching the butterfly flit by her, plus it'll be a nice opportunity to check out the Natural History Museum.

Before spring passes by too quickly, I have a wonderful pastel that was released last month by Pahlish lacquers called Body Electric. This was released as part of the Coney Island collection and is a cornflower blue cream with fuchsia mini hex glitters and fuchsia shimmer. I used two easy coats with no issues and finished with a layer of Poshe.

Pahlish Body Electric

After seeing so many indie polishes with larger glitter, it's nice to wear a polish with more delicate glitters and contrasting shimmer. Pahlish is innovative and she always seems to be ahead of the pack with her creativity. Body Electric wears like a regular blue cream but twinkles with glints of fuchsia which bring a smile to my face whenever I see it. Have you worn any Pahlishes lately?

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Dior Birds Of Paradise Samba 001 Duo Swatch And Review

May 6, 2013, 1:12 am

≫ Next: Catrice No Snow Petrol, Lilactric, and Mint Me Up with bonus nail art

≪ Previous: Pahlish Body Electric Swatch And Review

Happy Monday! Hopefully you've had a great start to your week. Today I'm meeting up with some out of town friends for breakfast and the Mommy and Me movie which is Iron Man. I might do a little sightseeing with them too, we'll see how the day pans out!

Who can resist two Dior polishes for the bargain price of $29? Not me. I had to pick up this duo when I saw how stunning the colors were. The polishes themselves do not have names, but rather go by number. Each bottle is 7ml which is fairly small, but considering that I've never finished a bottle of colored nail polish, doesn't really bother me. If anything, it makes the bottle more travel friendly. Samba 402 is a lovely vibrant jade cream that becomes opaque after two coats. Despite what I've read, application for me was a little streaky and the formula did not level well on its own. A layer of Poshe topcoat hides the imperfections well.

Dior Birds Of Paradise Samba 402

I used some striping tape before adding the second polish of the duo. It's my first time using it, hopefully it turned out ok! Samba 794 is a dark teal foil that has some duochrome to it, changing to a dark blue in some lights. Application of this was really smooth and not streaky from what I can tell, and I only needed one coat on top of 402 to get opacity. Once dry there was very minimal brush strokes, win!

Dior Birds Of Paradise Samba 794

I really like both colors in this set and I think I'll definitely be able to get a lot of use out of them despite being tiny bottles. Samba 794 is a great color on its own and will be perfect for pedis in the summer. I'm sure that there will be dupes of these colors out soon, so you may want to wait for those if you want larger bottles for less money. Have you picked up any of the Birds Of Paradise, and what's your favorite color from this collection?

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Catrice No Snow Petrol, Lilactric, and Mint Me Up with bonus nail art

May 6, 2013, 11:24 pm

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≪ Previous: Dior Birds Of Paradise Samba 001 Duo Swatch And Review

Recently I won a raffle by the lovely Ceitie over at Pollia Polish, and I received the package this weekend. Wow, what a prize! I'm so excited by everything that was included in the package. I've already eaten the Haribo gummy frogs she included, but polish-wise, she included a Catherine Arley holo, four Catrice polishes*swoon*, an e.l.f., two Essence polishes including one from the Fruity line*hooray* and finally a new to me indie by SoFlaJo. Look at all the pretties!!

I've been lemming Catrice polishes so hard and I'm so incredibly happy that Ceitie included so many Catrices for me to play with. The first one that caught my attention was No Snow Petrol, a lovely dark shimmering teal with light green shimmer. TDF! My only regret is that I couldn't capture the shimmer through the pics. I used two wonderfully easy coats with no streaking in this mani, followed with a layer of Poshe.

Catrice No Snow Petrol

I wanted to try some more nail art, so I stamped my index and ring finger with Mint Me Up using the peacock print from a Bundle Monster plate. My final touch was to add a gradient on my middle finger. I didn't initially look at Mint Me Up too closely the first time around, but second glace I noticed the copper flakes in it. Oh. Em. Gee. Love! I'll have to swatch that one alone at a later time so you can see how gorgeous it is.

My second swatch tonight is Catrice Lilactric, a pale lavender with pale golden shimmer. It's really pretty in real live but again, the shimmer was so difficult to capture on camera. I used two coats again here, with very minimal streaking and brushstrokes and finished with a layer of Poshe.

Catrice Lilactric

Finally, I'll finish this post with another attempt at nail art. Recently on instagram, @kgrdnr posted a tutorial on how to make a stone mani. I tried to follow her technique to make a purple version but it didn't turn out very well. I used Essence Twilight 2's Piece of Forever sponged across all nails, and the tried to do the spotted technique with China Glaze Urban Night. I couldn't get the spots to come out properly on the water so it looks more like a splatter. Maybe I need to use a standard pump hair spray rather than an aerosol hairspray.

Try not to laugh too hard at that. I'll keep trying and hopefully be able to post a before and after comparison. Big thanks to Ceitie for having such an awesome giveaway! I'm so grateful to have won and I had soooo much fun with all the polishes. I plan on swatching the rest another night - I need to try that Essence polish ASAP! It's so difficult to get overseas polishes and I'm really pleased at how well these polishes performed overall. I'm happy to add these to my collection.

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