Fancy Taffy Pants!

Hi all!

Today's post is for the ABC Challenge but I just had to go with that cute title instead of my usual "ABC Challenge 'L': blablabla".

This mani was actually completely coincidental. I painted my nails Friday with a new polish and kept it on until Tuesday (which is forever) but I had absolutely no idea or inspiration to do some nail art for today's post. It was then I realized that the mani I had worn all weekend had a polish starting with L so I used these pictures instead. I really didn't want to share this just yet for several reasons, which I'll go into later, but I didn't want to keep missing posts.

I started with two coats of China Glaze Fancy Pants and added accent nails of Lacquerlicious Tart Taffy, which had been a long time lemming ever since I saw Mimi's pics on her blog, so when a 25% off sale appeared, I pounced.

This looked so pretty but Fancy Pants chipped HORRIBLY. Within 24 hours I already had small chips at my nail tips and eventually it started peeling off in sheets. My mom had this same mani at the same time and hers didn't even last a full 10 hours, but she also has her hands submerged in water far more than I do.

Also, I ran into some issues with my Lacquerlicious polish. First of all, it's sinking :(. I can tell she's using suspension base and I know from several people that none of her polishes ever did this so it's probably a case of a bad batch. Either way, turning it upside down for a minute takes care of the problem right quick. The other issue is that it seems like some of the glitters stained my nails. It was very very faint and barely noticeable but I saw it and thought I had a rash on my nails. I am not very logical when it comes to nails. A very wonderful person indeed had the same two polishes and is trying out this combo as well to see if it stains the nails so I will update this post later with her findings and tell you if it was just me or not.

UPDATE: My very nice tester informed me she did not have any staining with the Lacquerlicious polish and she wasn't even wearing base coat! So it might have been an adverse reaction with my base coat (Nailtiques).

Small personal announcement: I'm starting a new job on Monday! That's pretty much the reason my nails have been so sad lately, I've been running around getting everything done before I start. I don't anticipate it will disrupt the blog too much but I will let you know if anything changes.

Whew! That was a much longer post than I anticipated and I didn't even go into the whole China Glaze/Vampy Varnish situation. Let's just say that as a blogger, I'm not happy with China Glaze.

Have a great day loves!

Messy Fishtail Chevrons

Hi all!

Sorry for the later-than-usual post, I've been really distracted doing other things on the computer and kept forgetting to finish editing the pics. I'm sure I kept forgetting because I just don't like these pictures that much but I like the color combo enough to justify posting them.

I started with two coats of China Glaze Tart-y For the Party, then used OPI My Vampire is Buff and L'Oreal Not a Cloud In Sight, all from their respective spring collections, for the chevrons.

Overall, not that bad for a first try from someone deathly afraid of doing freehand, just not as clean as I would like. Both colors I chose for the chevrons required two coats to be opaque and streak free so the layers just kept building up and it looked too lumpy by the end. I do LOVE my pinky though, that's how all the nails should have looked.

Have you tried this technique before? There's a great video tutorial for it on Chalkboard Nails!

Have a great day lovelies! (As great as a Monday could be, anyway).

Mmm, minty.

Hi all!

Time to get some nail art up in this bit....place. It's been pretty long since I did anything other than polish + glitter so I sat down completely decided on doing some nail art again. Admittedly, my first idea was a fail so I went with a favorite, a gradient and stamping.

Started with a base of Essie Mint Candy Apple and gradiented (totally a word) with Essie Where's my Chauffeur? and Bettina Gabrielle. It's one of the smoothest gradients I've done so far but it was a pain in the ass to get it looking decent, I had to sponge it like 3 different times.

Then I stamped with China Glaze Deviantly Daring and MASH-43.

As you can see, I shortened my nails because I have a break on my middle nail. In these pics I actually have a repair with Orly Rescue (that I'm still wearing until I can file off the damage). IRL, they're a great length for me and I'm not stabbing myself but it takes some getting used to in pictures.

Any comments or suggestions on future nail art or tutorials you'd like to see? Let me know!

Have a great weekend lovelies!

C is for a Creative Fantasy and Clown Puke Sandwich!

Hi all! I'm currently typing from the floor of my university. I really hate my schedule this semester.

We're on day C of the ABC Challenge hosted by Kimber and, because I'm such an overachiever, I used two C polishes. First I applied two coats of China Glaze Creative Fantasy, then one coat of KBShimmer Clown Puke and one more coat of Creative Fantasy for a yummy looking sandwich.

Look at that!! I had NO idea Clown Puke had different shaped glitter in there! After getting these I thoroughly inspected the bottle and it seems half moons and flowers are it, no hearts or stars but I don't mind at all. I thought of adding NPB Boop-Oop-a-Dupe on top but it hid the glitter a little too much so I kept it as is. Also, I don't ever want to run out of Boop-Oop-a-Dupe.

It's also very fitting that I'm showing a KBShimmer today because I'm expecting delivery of my latest order, two polishes and their new topcoat (of which you can expect a thorough review later).

What do you think? Someone asked me what my favorite polishes were and my answers were mostly jellies. I heart jellies. Have anything else to say? Chat with me, I'm bored waiting for class lol. Remember you can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now KiK!

Swatch Watch: China Glaze Bizarre Blurple

Hey all!

This post is officially dedicated to Alaina at The Little Canvas. Days ago I asked for mani suggestions on twitter and she promptly replied with BLURPLE. Blue is awesome, purple is awesome so blurple is awesome² . First I had an idea to do a mani with a blurpley/duochromey shimmer but it was a fail and I remembered I had stored these 'emergency swatches' a while ago! Perfect, it's got blurple in the title.

Application was smooth and I'm showing two coats but you want to use a light hand with this one, I had some pulling at the cuticle line leaving a little bald spot on my middle finger (that I tried to correct with acetone because eff logic).

What do you guys think of this one? When I wore it, I liked it so much that I never added nail art but now I want to wear it again and spruce it up. Sorry for the shortish post, I've got a migraine right now and I can barely think.

Let me know how your weekend was in the comments!

What about you Alaina?! Is begging cat pleased?! 

Glitzology Cotton Candy & As You Wish - Swatches and Review

Hi all!

Today I have a couple more Glitzology polishes to share. I bought these during her last $5.00 sale after seeing swatches on Globe & Nail. Both polishes were pretty thick and loaded with glitter but it helped to apply easily since you don't have to fish to find glitter on the brush.

First up is Glitzology Cotton Candy. It's a mix of pastel glitters in a sheer tinted base. I've shown one coat over Wet 'N Wild On a Trip and the accent nail is China Glaze It's a Trap-eze. I did this mani in a rush for a friend's birthday party and the whole look was very candy like. The tinted base in Cotton Candy has a delicious shimmer with a slight blue flash to complete the candy frosting look. I think she really nailed the inspiration from cotton candy!

Next is As You Wish, inspired by the movie The Princess Bride! I love that movie so hard, I had to have this based on the name alone but, thankfully, it's one of my favorites from Glitzology so far! I've shown one coat over SOPI Cartwheels on the Catwalk. As You Wish features matte white and holo-y teal big hexes with an assortment of smaller lavender and purple glitter. This would look great over a light purple too!

I really have to take a second to mention how sweet Stacy is. I initially messaged her because of shipping prices through etsy and she replied quickly and helped me out, no questions asked. Every single interaction with her has been great and she really is invested in creating her brand so she'll offer some things that other sellers just can't/won't. For example, she can create a custom order if you wanted to a discontinued color or want one of her polishes without bar glitter.

For news and sales, like Glitzology on Facebook and check out her stocked Etsy shop! I know she's releasing new colors (starting today, I believe) and she's currently holding a 25% off sale with the code NEWYEARSKISS25 and, if you purchase four (4) full size bottles, she'll include one more for free!

What do you think about these? Tired of glitter yet? ;)

My Christmas Mani - KBShimmer Clown Puke!

Merry Christmas!! I hope you're all having a great day with your families and enjoying some yummy food! Last night we made spinach lasagna rolls with ground meat and tomato sauce on top, rice with pigeon peas, salad and pumpkin double layer cheesecake for dessert. Hopefully today will be equally delicious :D.

Ever since I saw THIS manicure at The Polished Perfectionist, I knew I would have to recreate it so I ordered KBShimmer Clown Puke (and one more, I have incredible self-control). Clown Puke is a 'everything but the kitchen sink' polish. Basically, an amazing glitter bomb with everything thrown in there. It's no secret that I love rainbow glitters but I think this beats them all. Just amazing with flawless application. Such professionalism from the brand itself, I can't wait to try more polishes from them!

The only thing I was missing from Amy Grace's mani was China Glaze Holly-Day but it was released last year and I didn't think I would find it. Then, because christmas miracles happen, I found a mini while shopping at an outlet mall with a quiet little beauty supply! I'm showing two coats of Holly-Day and one of Clown Puke.

HHHNNNNGG such a perfect Christmassy combo! I'm so in love with this, I didn't even use a peel off base coat because I want it to last a little longer than forever. My favorite was my thumb so you get a macro of thumby.  

Guys, I have to confess that I didn't 'get' the whole glitter fascination before. It was pretty but many left me 'meh'. While I'm still super picky about which glitters I purchase, I'm definitely an official glitter addict. I like me pretty shinies O_O. Although, I will admit I feel like a fraud for not doing more nail art recently. I just wasn't feeling the holiday vibe but I hope to get back in my groove soon!

Have you discovered the magic of glitter or was I the only one that was late to the party?

Happy Holidays! 

Greendient Spirals

Hi all!

As you read this I will be finishing my last essay and I AM PSYCHED. I really gave it my all this semester since it was my last one for my bachelor's degree! And then...stuff happened. Lol, technically I already completed my course requirements BUT since I'm receiving a federal grant that covers the cost of my studies and leaves some monies left over, I decided to study another semester to do some research which I haven't and would need for grad school -.-

Aanyway, nails. I recently purchased my picks from the China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil collection and I'm using two of them today. I started with two coats of Def Defying, the bright green. Then I gradiented with Hanging in the Balance which is the bright blue in the collection. However, since I sponged the blue on top of the green the blue turned...less blue.Whatever, then I stamped with DRK-A and the spiral image I love so much.

I really liked the result even if it does look a little too similar to this previous post. I even instagrammed/tweeted this mani in process. It was actually pretty fun! My twitter name is @PolishedKat and my instagram is @hookedonpolish, just in case you want to follow too :) I post pictures of nails and dogs and the occasional cat.

What do you think? In which direction are your thumbs pointing?

Have a great day ladies and enjoy the weekend, I know I will!! (By that I mean I'll sleep, paint my nails and watch netflix. Perfection)

31 Day Challenge Day 31 - Recreate!

Hey all!

I may be late but its well before midnight so I'm still on time! I have to be honest, I'm a little tired of the challenge, as you can see by how late I've been posting lately. However, while I may be a little burnt out, I have enjoyed SO much posting with all these awesome girls. I am definitely down for another challenge or group posts every now and then so if any of you feel the same way, leave a comment either here or on Kimber's blog! Just please, not a LONG challenge :D

I had a hard time deciding on which mani to recreate today since there were so many awesome posts from all the girls. In the end though, I chose something that wouldn't be too time consuming since I knew I was going to be busy today. I know it's kind of cheating but I have every intention on recreating a couple of really awesome manis I've seen from all the girls later.

Today I recreated Kate's yellow nails from Day 3 of the challenge! I didn't have the extra awesome neon polish she used so I substituted with China Glaze Sun-Kissed over Revlon Graceful. Kate runs The Painted Pony blog and she has some really amazing nail art, you definitely need to check out her blog if you haven't seen it yet.

I had a couple of smudgey tape disasters but, overall, it's not a bad look! I've had these craft scissors for a while now but couldn't get them to work. The strips were too thick or it would mangle the design. A good tip if you want to try this is to get blue painter's tape instead of clear scotch tape and actually stick the tape onto the blade and cut down. I don't know if that made any sense...

Anyway, if you have any questions let me know in the comments! Now go see the other ladies and their recreations to conclude this epic challenge!

-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 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

Hello!

Quick post just so I don't fall behind on the challenge again! This is technically a recycled mani. I did this with the Bundle Monster contest in mind but I changed my mind and submitted the other one you saw. I liked certain elements of this enough to repeat them in the other mani but, as a whole, it looked a little too haphazard? I dunno. It did feature one of my all time favorite glitter polishes!

For this mani I started with a base of China Glaze It's Alive, a weird green glitter polish that was released for last year's Halloween collection. Then I did the scratch technique and various BM stamps. There was also glow in the dark polish in between the scratch layers so the scratches glowed in the dark.

Like I said, meh. I'm sorry I only have one picture but this didn't last very long on my nails. Posting this was the only way to keep up since I have two tests tomorrow O_O.

Have a great day and check out the other ladies and their spooky 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

Comparison Mini-Spam!

Hello there!

Today I have some simple comparisons for you. This is mostly newer polishes I've acquired that bear a big resemblance to others in my stash. Maybe this could help you save some moolah. Yeah, I just said moolah.

First up, some comparisons to the new Essie Winter Collection. On my pointer I have Where's My Chauffeur, middle Turquoise and Caicos. Ring finger is Butler, Please and pinky is Nails Inc. Baker St.

Where's My Chauffeur definitely stands alone in my stash since it's bluer than its other mintier turquoise counterparts. Although, if you have China Glaze Aquadelic you might not need this one. Butler, Please is very close to Baker St. but, maybe this was just my experience, BP had a hoorrible formula! Streaky, pulling up polish and it dries to this weird lumpy semi matte finish. Baker St. is still just a touch brighter and the formula is absolutely wonderful so, while I don't regret having Butler, Please, Baker St. is the clear winner for me.

Next up, a reader request! It's some blue jellies. You know I love me some blue jellies. Pointer finger is Sation It's All Navy Baby, middle is China Glaze Ride the Waves, ring is Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt and pinky is Revlon Royal.

As you can see, no real dupes here. Sation is definitely the darkest and every polish was 2 coats except Ride the Waves, which needed 3. I'm wearing the Nina polish as I type and it's absolutely beautiful, a welcome addition to this blue jelly hoarder's stash.

And finally, some Illamasqua comps! Pointer finger is Revlon Jaded Night from a LE collection a while back, middle is Illamasqua Kink, ring finger is Sation Little Miss Emo and pinky is Illamasqua Prosperity, from the newer Rubber Brights.

Kink and Jaded Night are extremely close, I could barely tell these apart IRL. In macro mode, the rubber finish sets them apart and it looks a little lighter. Little Miss Emo is not quite as blue as it photographs, so its really just a touch darker than Prosperity. These would make for a very subtle gradient.

All in all, I'm happy with the polishes I have. The little differences are enough justification to keep them all. I may have a problem.

Hope this helps and please be smart tomorrow when voting. I know people here get involved in the fanaticism and euphoria and vote 'for the color' (the political parties here are very associated and identified by their colors), not the leader so I can sincerely hope it's not the same in the US.

Have a good day!

31 Day Challenge Day 26 - Inspired by a Pattern

Hey all!

For today's prompt, we were supposed to be inspired by a pattern. I had a really awesome idea in my tiny noggin but time constraints and my own inability to execute anything properly left me blank. In the end, I looked through my stamping plates and felt inspired by the zebra pattern on my Bundle Monster plates. Can't go wrong with animal print right?

I started with three coats of Essie Absolutely Shore, then gradiented with OPI Thanks a Wind-Million and China Glaze Exotic Encounters. For the stamping, I used China Glaze Con-Fused? from the new magnetic collection. I read at Oooh Shinies that magnetics were good for stamping and she wasn't wrong! Now I want ALL the magnetic polishes :D

I wanted badly to like this but the gradient was such a pain in the ass, not blending and pulling up polish. Bah, in the end though, it isn't too bad so I decided to post it.

Now go visit the other awesome ladies in this challenge!

-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 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