Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Bollywood Nails!

Hi everyone!
I hope ya'll are having a great week and 
enjoying the last weeks of Summer!

Today I've got a new design,
inspired by India, I've wanted to do a look like this for
ages, but never seemed to get around to it until now.



PRODUCTS USED:

Pro Nails Systems Base Coat
Catrice in - Blue Cara Ciao
NYX Girls in - Prismatic Gold
Sinful Colors in - All About You
Large Gold Rhinestones
Hexagon Glitter in Gold and Magenta
Gold Bullion (Micro) Beads
small round clear and hot pink rhinestones
Sally's Beauty Secrets Top Coat


Friday, August 26, 2011

Big Fall Haul









Here is a closer look at the polishes & swatches















Here is NYX Emerald Forest & Zoya's Ivanka side by side






Another dupe that I had on hand to compare

China Glaze Blk-Bila-Bong & NYX Girl's Robotic














Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Halloween Polish Comparison

With Fall quickly approaching,
I literally become a giddy 4 year old 
when I start to see Halloween costumes and decorations 
in the stores. 
I LOVE Halloween, obsessed with it really.
So naturally when I see a new Halloween 
polish, I MUST grab it.
Here is a little comparison to my most prized Halloween polishes.
Probably the most recognized polish, 
and certainly one of the most coveted is
China Glaze's Fortune Teller.
This little gem came out with CG's 
Halloween collection from 2009

A Black jelly base with burnt Orange hexagon glitter,
ranging from small, to medium, to large. 
The great thing about this particular polish is that you can paint 1-2 coats, and you've got a really solid looking nail. 
Layer on top of Black, and it gives you an even richer, more intense look.

This polish is a must-have for any collector, 
and certainly if you are a Halloween lover like myself. 


Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Pumpkin Spice

This is from Sally's latest collection for this Fall.
It could be a limited edition, but don't quote me on that.

This is a grey jelly with burnt Orange Glitter, all one
 size tiny hexagon glitter to be exact. Because of that, 
it doesn't have quite as much dimension as Fortune Teller does.

Unless you want to be a layer monster, you are
definitely going to need a Black base first as this is the thinnest
of all the other polishes.



L.A. Girls Glitter Addict in Flamboyant

Unlike the other polishes, this is a clear jelly base, 
and the Orange is more vibrant than the others.
But boy, oh boy, does it pack a punch.
I bought several of these polishes recently, and all of them will be in an upcoming haul, but I wanted to include this one, since
Halloween is primarily why I bought this shade.
Glitter Addict couldn't be a more perfect name for this, 
it is  completely LOADED with small and large 
Orange hexagon glitter. 
This can be worn alone, it's that intense.
Or layer it over Black, and you have one serious
Halloween mani.



Wet n Wild Limited Edition Color-icon in Sleep Walker


Not many people were fortunate to pick up this polish,
as it was a limited edition shade 
 from last year's Halloween collection.
I randomly stumbled upon it, so I snatched while I could.
This is extremely similar to Sally Hansen's Pumpkin Spice
It's a grey jelly base with tiny hexagon glitter, these
are just a fraction smaller than the glitter in the Sally Hansen one.
The end is result is a more blended effect, where as the Sally Hansen
Pumpkin Spice glitter tends to stand out more.




Lastly we have China Glaze's Ick-A-Body 
which is from last years Halloween collection.

Again, this is in the same grey jelly base, but the
burnt Orange glitter is so densely packed in this polish, 
it is practically opaque in a single coat.

If you are looking for a little peek a boo of black, you best go
pretty light handed with this one, otherwise I'd recommend on of the others to achieve that perfect Halloween mani.


While all of these give the basic same "Halloweenie" effect, 
each one brings something different & special to the table.


I love them all, 
and I'm looking forward to see what other new ones come out this year.



Here are some swatches
All were swatched over a single coat of Black



(Starting from left to right)





China Glaze in Ick - A - Body


Wet n Wild Color-icon in Sleep Walker

L.A.Girls Glitter Addict in - Flamboyant

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in - Pumpkin Spice


China Glaze in - Fortune Teller






A closer look


(Left to right)


L.A.Girls Glitter Addict - Flamboyant


Sally Hansen - Pumpkin Spice


China Glaze - Fortune Teller



China Glaze - Ick-a-body


Wet n Wild Color-icon - Sleep Walker

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Elegant Black Beauty

This design was a request from
Meagan from Facebook, 
who has a wedding to go to
and was looking for an elegant 
floral design to match her outfit.

Inspired by the beautiful 
Helleborus Orientals aka The Black Beauty Flower


I came up with this one-stroke floral design
that I absolutely love!



PRODUCTS USED:
Apple Barrel Acrylic paints in Black & White
Princeton Select Art Brush - Chisel Blender 3750 CB - 4
Beauty UK polish in - Frozen Kingdom
Wet n Wild in - French White Creme
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in - Lightening
Jordana Pop Art Nail Striper in - Define In Green
Nail Touch Nail Art Striper in - Hunter Green
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Cool Zebra

Hi Everyone! 
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer so far!
Things have been a little slow on my blog, and I do apologize for that!
As my kids get older, every Summer, every holiday, it seems to 
be increasingly more difficult to find time and reign them in...
and I haven't even reached the teens yet!
YIKES!

But I do have a new design today, and I've also got some
hauls and swap posts coming up as well.

So today, I've got a blue turquoise gradient zebra print. 
I don't know why, but I always associate animal prints 
with Summer, I guess it is just the boldness and the fun of them.
I always like using unusual color combinations with my prints too
to keep it even more interesting.
I've had several people comment that this feels more aquatic, 
and reminds them of drifting seaweed....that works too!
This design was inspired by so many others I've seen, I just had to 
try it out and make it my own. 
I hope you like it!


The products I used were:

NYX Girls Polish in -Maven
Kleancolor in - Pastel Teal
Ruby Kisses in - Teal Envy
Kleancolor in - Neon Aqua
L.A. Colors Art Deco in - Black
Cosmetic Sponge
Aqua Doughnut Sequins
Black Rhinestones 2mm
Pearls 1mm
Hexagon Black Holo Glitter
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat


To see the full tutorial on this look,
please visit my YouTube channel




Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Peace Out Dude!

Phew!
Well, I've caught a bug last week,
that seriously knocked me on my ass
but I'm finally starting to bounce back,
so onto a new design!!

This is a funky twist on a 1960's tie dye/peace sign look
using the entire Electro Candy collection from Color Club 
that I adore so much
PRODUCTS USED:

PRO Nail Systems Base Coat
Wet n Wild - Wild Shine in French White Creme
Color Club's Electro Candy Collection
Volt of Light
What A Shock
Electro Candy
Tangerine Scream
Ultra Violet
Pure Energy
L.A. Colors Art Deco in Black
So Easy Stripe Rite in - Silver Holo
Sally Hansen Insta-dri Top Coat

To see how I achieved this look, 
please check out my Youtube channel