Three Way Gradient

Gooooood morning! I am trying to be less MIA lately, but with a huge problem with the internet, lots of appointments, and two tornadoes I call children destroying my house, I've had a hard time coming back. But I promise to have some AWESOME manicures for ya!

I also have decided to do less typing and trying to do more photos. Let me know if you'd rather hear me blab on. LOL.

Here's what I did:
1 coat Nail Magic
1 coat Gelous
1 coat NYC French White Tip
Then I followed a tutorial by an IG gal I follow. The link to her blog and tutorial is HERE!
And the link to the actual tutorial is HERE!
Please go check her out, she is AMAZING.
I used Revlon Coastal Surf and Orly Green Apple alongside NYC French White Tip to create this gradient effect with a make up sponge.
1 coat Seche Vite

As Aubrey explains, the REAL trick to this is wetting the sponge before applying the polish.

I hope you all enjoy this, and I promise not to be so chatty next time. :D

Don't forget to check out Aubrey's blog! <3

Until next time...

Christina

Disclosure *I was not paid for this review. I was not given the polish for this review. I paid for the polish with my own money. This is purely my own opinion, thoughts, and suggestions about this polish.*

Gradient Stripes

Good morning! I have a fun manicure to share with you all!!! I entered into a contest on Instagram, which required stripes. I plan on entering as many times as possible, while improving my striping skills. So expect several striped manicures. Lol.

So here's what I did:
1 coat Sally Hansen's Double Duty base coat
1 coat Orly's Bonder base coat
I sponged on:
Wet n Wild Through the Grapevine
Wet n Wild On a Trip
L'oreal Jet Set to Paris

Then with tape, I taped off my mani and added Pure Ice Black Rage. And topped it all off with Orly's No Chip top coat

I'm still not very good at the whole taping things off, and painting over them. My tape never ends up even, and I had a huge issue with paint coming off when I removed the tape. I just then took a paint brush and fixed the problem spots.

The colors sponged on great though! It was cake! And of course, my Black Rage glided on like jelly.

My ring finger did get a little messed up, but I really don't think it was that bad. It could have been worse, that's for sure!!

What do you all think of this manicure? What would you like to see in my next stripe manicure? Ideas? Suggestions? I value all of your input, so I will try whatever you guys throw at me! :)

Until next time...

Christina




Disclosure *I was not paid for this review. I was not given the polish for this review. I paid for the polish with my own money. This is purely my own opinion, thoughts, and suggestions about this polish.*

Dupe & Gradient

GOOD MORNING!!!!

Last night I discovered that I have a dupe in my collection! I told myself that I would try so hard to NOT let that happen, but it did. Luckily this dupe was only $0.99. So kudos to me for buying polish on the cheap!!

I bet you can't tell what polish is what. They are literally identical! So here's what they are:
Finger Paints Tiffany Imposter and Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-mint. I have Wet n Wild on my thumb, middle and pinky. And Finger Paints on my pointer and ring finger.

I have:
1 coat Sally Hansen's Double Duty base coat
1 coat Orly's base coat
1 coat of each polish
No top coat.

Apparently I love this color. Lol. When I got the Wet n Wild color, it honestly looked more green in the store. But as you can see, it is definitely a dupe for all those fabulous turquoise/blues out there.

Shortly after I took these photos, my children were supposed to be asleep, but I heard Seyhan screaming bloody murder. I ran into their room, and Zoey had thrown a book at Seyhan, ripping out a good sized chunk from her cheek. So I had to clean up blood, kiss boo boos, and calm Seyhan down before she started puking from freaking out. It was a disaster, and well, my polish got destroyed in all the mayhem.

So after I did my motherly duties, I went back to the drawing table. I follow a nail girl on Instagram, and she posts the most beautiful gradient dot manicures I have ever seen. (I am going to find out if she has a blog, so I can link it here.) I was so inspired, I decided to do my own!

I used:
1 coat Sally Hansen's Double Duty base coat
1 coat Orly's base coat
2 coats Wet n Wild Sugar Coat
(In order from bottom to top)
Wet n Wild I Red a Good Book
Wet n Wild Candy-licious
Sally Hansen Heart of Stone
NYC French White Tip

Laura, the Instagram inspiration guru, has an etsy shop! Her link is HERE!

I absolutely love this manicure. I was worried I wouldn't like it. And I started out with just doing a dotted accent nail. But once I was done, I knew I had to do them to all of my digits!

This manicure did take me a while. And I think once I keep doing dotted manicures, I will get faster. As instructed by Laura, I staggered my dots. I really think it makes it look more uniform. I used my second to the smallest dotting tool.

I think the gradient colors look so cool! I've tried other gradient manicures, and they always look horrible on me...which is why I've never featured one on my blog. But this one I am proud of! My right hand is a bit wonky, but I think if I keep practicing, I can perfect my left handed dotting skills.

The only complaint I have with these polishes: The Wet n Wild salon line has the WORST brushes. I see what they were trying to do...but it isn't going to work for every nail type. The brush is big, flat, and is cut in a curved semi circle. I guess it was designed to pretty much match the shape of cuticles. Which sounds like a good idea...but it caused me to have A LOT more clean up than a simple smaller square brush.

Other than that, I love the formula of Sugar Coat. It is a bit sheer, but after two coats, it was pretty opaque with only minimal free edge lines.

What do you all think of this manicure? Would you try it? Do you like the colors?

Until next time....

Christina


Disclosure *I was not paid for this review. I was not given the polish for this review. I paid for the polish with my own money. This is purely my own opinion, thoughts, and suggestions about this polish.*