Top Coat Comparison Pt. 2 - Seche Vite vs. Essie Good to Go vs Poshe vs SH Insta-Dri

Whoa that was a moutful! (That's what she said teehee).

Well, back again for another top coat comparison! This time around I'm pitting more topcoats against the one, the only, the mighty Secheeeee Viiiittee! Ever since my first top coat comparison, it was always meant to be a series of sorts, I just never had the chance to get it done. Until now that is!

In this round, we'll be comparing Essie Good To Go, Poshe, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Clearly Quick with Seche Vite. Little disclaimer, while doing this I could tell that my polishing 'style' has definitely changed since last time. I have learned how to apply polish more evenly with thinner coats I think, so that's something that probably affected the results. Also, to eliminate any other influence that could alter the results, I used the same polish I used for my last comparison, OPI Thanks a Windmillion.

Here's what I did to compare: I applied my basecoat and two coats of polish as normal, and waited ~1 minute while I did cleanup. Then, I applied the top coats, waited 5 minutes, and started making dents in the polish with my own fingernail at 5 minute intervals so 4 dents = 20 min. of drying time.

To see the rest of the pictures and the results you have to do a click. I'm sorry, I don't make the rules. Give that button a click. He's a good guy. You never know, you might enjoy it.

31 Day Challenge Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

Hi guys!

Today's challenge was Inspired by a Book! I really hit a wall with this prompt too, I looked at my little bookcase hoping to be inspired by one of the book covers or one of the scenes in the book but no such luck. In a desperate attempt to not miss another challenge day, I asked my mom what my favorite book was when I was little. The answer was El Principito.

"The Little Prince" is a children's book that is insanely popular here (and maybe elsewhere?). I have very fond memories of it though I admit I have no idea what its about anymore. I just know I remember the cover vividly, and he was standing on a moon for some reason.

I decided to do my nails just from memory instead of looking it up. I started with two coats of Sation It's All Navy Baby, which is an awesome deep inky blue jelly. It has so much depth and just glassy shine and I'm so happy I found it by its lonesome at TJ Maxx.

I think the lighting is making the color look a smidge lighter. IRL, it looks more like my thumb. Then I added a pretty silver holo glitter from Forever 21.

This macro was taken after topcoat, which made my tips matte again for some reason.

Then I re-did my middle finger so I could do the moon without the glitter disturbing the background. I did the moon mixing Illamasqua Load with China Glaze Elephant Walk.

I totally regret the yellow stars but, by then, I had looked up images of the book cover and it had really pretty yellow stars, so I added them and promptly effed it up. Here's an image of the book:

Image Source

I hope you guys like this and can forgive me for skipping 'Inspired by a Movie' day. To make up for it, I have some unrelated posts lined up, starting tomorrow with a spanking new top coat comparison!

Have a great last day of the weekend and visit the other 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 

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

-Gini at Sassy Paints 

-Chameleon Stampede 

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish 

- Robin Sparkles

Excuses, excuses...

Hello ladies!

Sorry I haven't been able to get my posts up, its been a busy couple of days. Boyfriend's friends are in from NYC for the weekend so I've gone out with them a couple of times and haven't had as much free time to blog. I'll definitely be back tomorrow with the regular challenge post but I'll most probably skip the 'Inspired by a Movie' challenge because I truly just hit a wall and couldn't come up with anything.

Upside is I have a new top coat comparison almost ready to post so be sure to check back on Monday for that!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

(Sorry if this post looks weird but I'm writing this from my phone)

31 Day Challenge Day 22 - Inspired by a Song

Hello lovelies! Mondays suck as usual. Let's go straight to the point.

Today's prompt is 'Inspired by a Song'. I'm very tempted to just put the pictures and the first person to guess the song in the comments gets a little prize..... Yeah I think I'm going to do that.

I started with two coats of Illamasqua Kink, from their Theatre of the Nameless collection a while back, which were all rubber finishes. I'm so in love with this forest green, its flawless and fall-y! Other colors I used were Milani Rapid Cherry, Sally Hansen Grass Slipper, Pop Beauty Turquoise, Essie Little Brown Dress and black China Glaze crackle.

Now, I went pretty literal with the song lyrics and the images on my nails. The song is from Radiohead, btw. I rediscovered this song recently and fell in love with it all over again. It was insanely popular and is still used in movies and shows to this day, so that's why I'm venturing to try this guessing game.

Ok, may the best lady with a weird music memory win!

For less complicated interpretations of songs, make sure to visit the other bloggers 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 

-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

Good morning! It seems like I am getting back on track with these challenge posts huh? Lol, watch me eff it up this week again (hope not, but you never know).

Today's prompt was 'Inspired by a Color'. Um, ok. Usually, I've seen people do something inspired by the name of the polish and I did too. Sorta. The truth is, this mani started as something just for me, because I wanted to wear something pretty because I was feeling down.

I started with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (awesome shade and formula) and layered Essie Main Squeeze on top. Main Squeeze is from the 2010 Wedding Collection and I just recently found it at TJ Maxx. It's a sheer lavender-y iridescent pearly color with a pretty blue flash. The best thing about it though, is it has some black specks! I've always loved those speckled looking polishes but never had access to one (Borghese Almondine, Misa Grey Matters) and now I can make ANY polish speckled! Woo! Enough babbling, gonna let the pics do the talking.

You can kind of see the blue flash close to the nail tip in the macro. Also, BLACK SPECKLES! 

Now, like I said, this started as just something for myself but, seeing as I was in a time crunch, I was feeling very DARING so I decided to stamp and call it a day. I used the DRK-A image plate and China Glaze Deviantly Daring (ahh see what I did there?).

Last time I used this image, it was supposed to represent ripples in the water. Now I see more like attached molecules or a pretty china pattern. Maybe a really really weird giraffe. What do you see?

Also, today is the last day of voting in the Bundle Monster Fright Night contest. I would really love to qualify as a finalist so now I'm just straight up begging for some votes. Here's the direct link to my entry. You can also check out the other entries and vote for them as well! 

As always, pay a visit to my partners in challenge awesomeness:

-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 

-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 20 - Watermarbling (It's a fail!)

Hey....

So we meet again. You, with your cup of water and polish mess. You with your infuriating and unattainable beauty who makes me feel inadequate. It's you....watermarbling!

Lol, sorry, I'm feeling a little dramatic because I've barely slept. Yesterday was watermarble day and I had a test so it was late last night that I was able to attempt some watermarbling. I warn you, it's not great. What has me extra sad is that my last marble was moderately succesful. Oh well, win some lose some.

For this look I started with a base of white and used China Glaze Peachy Keen and Gothic Lolita and Bettina Ocean. 

Meh. This sums up my feelings pretty well:

Please go see some much better watermarbles by my challenge buddies!

-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 

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

-Gini at Sassy Paints 

-Chameleon Stampede 

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish 

- Robin Sparkles

Baptiste had Twins! (Feat. Born Pretty Studs)

Hello all!! I tried to edit as much as I could but this is still slightly wordy. You've been warned!

Today is pretty exciting for me, it's my very first twin post! You all should know Kimber, who organized the 31 Day Challenge I'm participating in and you might also remember that she won my giveaway. When I asked her which Illamasqua she would like for her prize, she just told me she trusted my judgement and I could choose for her. This promptly sent me into a permanent state of worry that maybe I would pick something she didn't like.

Eventually, I manned up and browsed her blog to see which shades she favored and thought she might like a good vampy. I had always seen Illamasqua Baptiste but never gave it much thought so,  while I was at Sephora, I looked up swatches and did this face O_O. It was so pretty! It was settled, I was sending her one. But I liked it so much I grabbed one for myself too and that's pretty much how this twin post came to be!

For this mani I started with two coats of Baptiste and did a stripe down the middle in OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI. Then, I placed these square studs (Item ID: 2859) from the Born Pretty Store. Sorry I don't have swatches of Baptiste on its own, the pics came out horrendous and I didn't know until I had already added everything else :(. My twin has swatches! And they're awesome. Check 'em out here.

And this is how you receive the studs from Born Pretty

To apply them, I just used a dotting tool to add a little topcoat to where I wanted the stud and, using the same dotting tool with what was left of topcoat, picked the stud and placed it. Add a coat of topcoat and you're done! They really stay in place and you can even cut them if you had to. I cut the edge of one stud on my ring finger with a cuticle nipper for a better fit.

I loved this whole look, the studs look so edgy and eye-catching. I have another look with these coming up to show you another way you can use them. If you're planning on making a purchase from the Born Pretty Store, remember you can get 10% off with my code FHL91.

Obviously, you need to go to Kimber's blog and see how she used Baptiste today. She really is one of the sweetest girls I've met and she helped me out a lot before I even started the blog so go show her some lurve!

*Born Pretty Store item was sent to me for review. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy* 

My Bundle Monster Fright Night Entry!

Hello ladies!

I finally worked up the courage to actually enter a contest! You probably know about the Bundle Monster Fright Night contest that's going on and many of you probably entered. Very very late the night before submissions were due, I decided to go for it and came up with something I liked (for the most part).

I started with a base of Pop Beauty Mandarin on all nails. Then, I grabbed Illamasqua Prosperity (the purple from the newer Rubber Brights) and did a saran wrap mani and stamped with BM 224 and 225. On my pointer and pinky I did a 'scratch' technique I had done by accident on some nails before and I kept thinking it could be a cool effect, but eventually forgot about until Neverland Nail posted her own scratch nails with layered colors (see her post here). On my thumb I freehanded a little Jack 'O Lantern face with Prosperity as well.

I quite liked the results! Maybe not up to par with what I would have wanted to submit to such a big contest, but I'm still proud of myself for having the balls to submit it :D

You can check out all the entries on Bundle Monster's page on Facebook and, if you so wished, you can vote for my entry HERE (I will love you forever if you do!). 

31 Day Challenge Day 19 - Galaxy Nails

Hello everybodah! Happy saturday :)

Today's prompt was galaxy nails and, to be honest, I wasn't pumped about them. Before I started blogging, I had done a couple of galaxy nails and really liked them, but they're just kind of meh now. Until I saw Kayla Shevonne post this on her blog and fell in love all over again.

I accidentally covered too much of the blue streak with the other polishes so they're more blended and less galaxy-looking, but I really liked them anyway. The original post for this look (here) did the little stars by flicking acrylic paint on the nail with a toothbrush. It's slightly messy, but I liked the mess on my fingers so I left them there because I was too tired to wash my hands to complement the galaxy look on my nails.

I started with a base of Illamasqua Muse and added a Mattese Elite shimmery polish (doesn't have a label) to mimic the look of Orly Haley's Comet, which I didn't have.

I used a shitload of polishes for this, but I remember using Milani Mint Candy, Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet and Co-Bolt Blue, China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise and Spoiled Use Protection (aka Sinful Colors Nail Junkie).

Like I said,  I blended the colors a bit too much, but I still kind of liked the look. I definitely recommend you check out both Kayla's post and the original post because they're amazingly pretty. The original also has a video tutorial you can check out if you're interested. I also know I have a couple of pictures laying around of the first galaxy mani I did before my blogging days and, if you guys are interested, I'll edit this post later when I find the pic!

Also check out the other galaxy nails!

-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 

-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 18 - Half Moons

Hey guys!

Continuing with the challenge, today is half moon day! I had a really awesome idea for this and the next challenge day but, as always, it turned to crap. Then it turned cool again by sheer coincidence.

I've always wanted to try a half moonicure (lol) but I never really got around to it for some reason, so I'm glad the challenge made me do it because I loved the result AND got to use two untrieds! I started with a base of China Glaze Stone Cold (which is awesome for tape manis since it dries so quickly), applied the reinforcement stickers and added China Glaze Elephant Walk. It looked pretty nice but still needed something, so I added two black rhinestones.

I'm really happy with how this turned out! It looks edgy and chic and totally season-appropriate. Well, for those of you who have seasons. We just have "HOLY MOTHER OF GOD ITS SO HOT" and "Oh, still hot, but not that bad".

As always, pay a visit to the lovelies participating with me:

-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 

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

-Gini at Sassy Paints 

-Chameleon Stampede 

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish 

- Robin Sparkles

Touchy Feely Polish Days!

Hey all!

It's a miracle! I'm posting something that's not a challenge mani! I missed last month's Polish Days and didn't want to repeat it this time. Polish Days are basically, a day where multiple bloggers agree to post on a certain topic on the same day at the same time and they're coordinated by Hannah from Polly Polish.

The theme for today was pretty open to interpretation, it was just 'sentimental'. I decided to use the first polish that I remember buying and loving, Milani Black Cherry. It was when I was in high school, around 2005-2007 probably, when the rage was black or almost black nails. We were in a group talking about this awesome shade we saw on someone else that was a dark almost black plum (no one knew the term 'vampy' of course). Later, I spotted this pretty at Walgreens and, when I wore it to school, my friends all had to know which color it was since it was exactly what we were looking for. This wasn't the beginning of my full fledged addiction, but it certainly helped!

I had actually bought this a while ago, planning to do a post on the significance of this shade for me when I saw the theme for this month and knew it had to be it. Two coats of lovely vampy-but-never-looks-black with the slightest hint of shimmer.

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone so clicky after the jump to see what I did!

I Need Blue Tonight - Makeup Your Face Swatches & Review (Glitter!)

Hey all!

I'm combining a challenge day with a polish review! Crafty, no?

One of my biggest polish lemmings will forever be NailVenturous Flying Blue Jay. Sadly, she's no longer selling her polishes so, unless a miracle happens and someone finds one in a blog sale (which you have to tell me immediately if that happens), I will never have my Blue Jay. Cue indie polish and makeup seller Makeup Your Face who had this beauty for sale and I snapped it up to try.

I Need Blue Tonight is a royal blue jelly with small white hexes and larger holo hexes. The formula is thick but not in a bad way, and it is jam packed with glitters. I did just two coats over a DIY peel off basecoat and it was completely opaque. I topped it off with a coat of Gelous and Posh to ensure a smooth finish. I had a lot of bubbling but I'm 100% sure it's because of the top coat, not the polish itself.

ZOMGs I am head over heels in love. I mean, it's blue, it's jelly, it's got big holo glitters, what more could I ask? Application was a little tricky because you do have to 'dab' the glitters a little to make sure they don't clump up, though its still not as bad as other glitter polishes I've tried. My recommendation is to spread the base color out, then dab the glitters and do a final gentle swipe with the brush to smooth everything down.

Final Verdict: If you love blue jellies and glitter, you need it.The only con is that the polish does not have stainless steel mixing balls, although that isn't super necessary since it has so much glitter.

EDIT: I've since spoken to the seller who explained that she does indeed add stainless steel balls to her polishes and would be happy to send me some balls (teehee) to add to my polish! I should have mentioned the awesome customer service I received from her when I was ordering, I always have problems ordering through Etsy because of the shipping and she helped me super quick so I could complete my order.

Makeup Your Face can be found on her Etsy shop and her Facebook page. Full size polishes retail for $8.00 and minis for $4.25 (she also has eyeshadows!).

Still a challenge day, so make sure to stop by the other blogs for more GLITTAH madness :D

-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 

-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 16 - Tribal

Hey guys!

Tiny bit late on this post, but no big! I had a hellish day yesterday and I just crashed when I got home.

Today's challenge prompt was supposed to be tribal but seeing as I was feeling uninspired and very short on time to actually attempt a complicated tribal mani, I kept it simple but close to the heart again. I chose to do a mani inspired by the indian tribes that were the original residents of Puerto Rico- the taínos. I started with a base of OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons (a very mannequin hands polish!) and sponged a gradient with L'Oreal Now You Sea Me and a random white polish to simulate the beach. Then, on my pinkie I used a fine tip Sharpie marker and acrylic paint with a striping brush on my ring finger.

The ring finger is the classic taíno depiction of the coquí, our natural little tree frog that sings us to sleep. It's weird, visitors sometimes find the sound annoying but, when I'm traveling I really miss the sound, it's comforting. The smeared sad pinky was a spiral I saw in the image I used for inspiration. My idea was to do their depiction of the sun, but it was a little more complicated than I wanted.

I'm sorry this was short on explanations, I'm pooped as I write this.

As always, make sure to visit the other ladies to see their tribal manis!

-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 

-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 15 - Delicate Print

Hi all! Sorry, I know it's Monday. Sucks for me since this week is going to be pretty awful school-wise.

I'm finally caught up in my challenge manis and this one is actually on time so a HUZZAH! is in order. When I think of 'delicate' nails my mind automatically goes to subtle stamping, so that's what I've done. My base color is Essie Cocktail Bling, one of my favorite colors, topped with China Glaze White Cap. The stamping was plate m63 with the silver Essie from the Mirror Metallics collection.

Look at that shimmah from White Cap! I have no idea why I bought it or when, but I lurves it. I think it's going to become one of my go-to layering shades. I like this mani, I find it very icy and delicate/subtle. Oh, I do have to apologize for my cuticles though, I have no idea what's going on with them or why they're acting up. And please, don't say it's the colder weather that has my cuticles drying up, because it's still hot as hell here and if you say that, it'll make me want to hit a kitten.

Check out the other Delicate manis today!

-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 

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

-Gini at Sassy Paints 

-Chameleon Stampede 

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish 

- Robin Sparkles