Snappy Sorbet

Good morning! I have another bright and fun manicure to share! So here we go!

Here's what I did:
1 coat Nail Magic
1 coat Gelous
2 coats Sally Hansen Snappy Sorbet
Then I took Spoiled Club Rat, Wet n Wild Candy-licious, and Orly Prelude To A Kiss and BM-301 and did a subtle gradient.
Using the same plate, I used Konad Special White and added the stamping
1 coat Seche Vite

I really enjoyed this manicure while it was on my fingers. The orange made me look much more tan than I actually am, and that is ALWAYS a win in my book. Snappy Sorbet went on wonderfully. It was a bit patchy with the first coat, but the second coat cleared it up beautifully. I really do love how subtle the gradient is. It is almost like it isn't there, but when you look closely you can see it. Sometimes subtle is the way to go.

I got this stamping plate from the Bundle Monster 2012 collection, which I bought with my birthday money! (Thanks Mom and Dad!!) I have never had any problems with Bundle Monster plates...so you all should go check them out! You can find their plates and other items on Amazon.com. :D

What do you all think? I love me some feedback! <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.*

Number One Nemesis

Good afternoon! I don't think I told you all, but for Mother's Day, my little ones got me the mini bottles of OPI's Spiderman collection. It came with four bottles of polish. And I plan on swatching each and every single one on here. I love love love them! It included: Number One Nemesis, Your Web or Mine?, Into the Night, and Just Spotted the Lizard.

Today I am showing you Number One Nemesis. This is the polish I've been wanting for a little while. Ever since these came out. Every time I see it on someone's blog, I drool every single time. And now I know first hand why.

Please excuse my broken middle finger, and my boo boo on my ring finger. I've had a rough week. And my hands were the victims. :(

Here I used:
1 coat Sally Hansen's Double Duty base coat
1 coat Pure Ice Black Rage
2 coats OPI Number One Nemesis
Stamped the image with Konad Special Polish in black with plate BM-208
1 coat Seche Vite

I love love love the pattern. It makes it look almost like a crackle...but it obviously isn't. My daughter, Seyhan, said it looked like spider webs. How perfect!!! :)

The application was beautiful with Number One Nemesis! (As with a huge majority of OPI polish!) I actually love OPI brushes. They're thicker than Essie's brushes, and I enjoy that. I feel like I use less polish with them...but it could be all in my head. I couldn't get any sun shots with this manicure, mainly because I've been crazy busy. So these photos were taken inside, at night, with my flash. But in the sun, this polish sparkles like crazy! It is truly gorgeous.

I seriously recommend that this polish be in everyone's stash. I think this will be a go to polish for me. I like how dark it is, but reflective, glittery, but subtle. It is yumalicious! (My girls and I have been reading Pinkalicious a lot lately...so I have been catching myself adding alicious to pretty much everything...lol)

Have any of you tried this polish? If you haven't, do you want to? What do you think of the stamping??

Until next time....

Christina


PS:
I really am going to be doing a giveaway soon. But I would love suggestions on what polish to give away. I can't do a huge giveaway...but a tiny one is better than nothin! :D




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.*

Under Your Spell

Good evening! Sorry for the few days absence. We started my youngest daughter on seizure medication, and I've had to keep a close eye on her. Which meant, no nail polish for me. At least not while they were awake. But things seem to be doing great. I feel like my Zoey is different. Which is a good thing!! :)

So I have some fun colors to share with you! First:

Here is my swatch of Wet n Wild's Haze of Love.

And here is a swatch of Wet n Wild's Under Your Spell.

So here is my manicure:

I used:
1 coat Sally Hansen's Double Duty base coat
2 coats Wet n Wild Haze of Love
1 coat Wet n Wild Under Your Spell
1 coat Seche Vite
Then I stamped on the pattern with Konad m57 using my awesome Color Club Gingerbread Man.
I topped it all off with another coat of Seche Vite.

Under Your Spell by itself is actually really really sheer, and appears to have a black base. But I thought it would look really nice with the brownish red of Haze of Love. And I was right. I really like the combo. As usual, I do not like the ManiCurve brush of Under Your Spell. But I can get around these brushes, now that I'm getting used to them. I really enjoyed the application of Haze of Love. It is such a creme-alicious color, and formula.

After painting on my two Wet n Wild polishes, I left it like that for a day. Then I decided I needed to add SOMETHING to it. So I added the stamping. I think it was a good choice. I had a hard time deciding if I should do gold, black, bronze. Deciding on gold was a good move. As always, I love Gingerbread Man. It is by far the best clearance find I have found to date.

I am excited to get back to blogging again, now that I don't have to watch Zoey's every move. I am SO happy to be able to paint my nails, and have time to photograph them and post post post!!! I am hoping to get better at tape manicures. I've been using scotch tape, and I've also tried masking tape. But neither work well for me.

Any advice? Tips? Tricks? I really want to do a nicely done stripped manicure...but mine always seem to look so sloppy!!!

What do you all think of the color combo?? Love it or hate it?

Again, I'm so happy to be back! And I can't wait to hear from my readers! I need some nail-support! <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.*

Hologram Effect

Good afternoon nail polish lovers!

Do you love hologram polishes? Who doesn't? I know I am in loooove with hologram effects!! I have a hologram manicure to share with you!

I picked up Layla's Hologram Effect polish in Mercury Twilight, as I'm sure you all know from a previous post. I decided to layer it upon itself, and build up a pure hologram manicure.

Here is Mercury Twilight by itself, in my house with the flash on.

My process:
1 coat Sally Henson's Double Duty base coat
4 coats Layla Mercury Twilight
and no top coat for the naked hologram manicure.

I love AND hate this polish.
Here's why:
I love the effect it does. I love the rainbow. LOOOVE the rainbow. But the polish is extremely streaky. And building it up was a pain in my booty. I had to basically glob on this polish. If I applied it like normal polish, it would create bald spots. Anyone else have this problem with this polish? Any tips/tricks? Luckily this polish isn't uber thick, so 4 coats feels like one.

Here is the gorgeousness in sunlight. I really do like how this polish looks once it is on. But fighting with it, just made me wonder if it was REALLY worth the $15.50 I spent on it.

Seriously...if you guys have any insight on this polish...I need to know how to manage it better!!!

Seeing how beautiful it is, really makes me sad that I spent over 30 minutes just building it up.

After I let that dry, which was literally no time flat...I added a design.

This polish dries insanely fast. Like...crazy fast. There was no wait time. Even when I globbed it on into a thick coat.

I then used my bundle monster plate BM-209 and added a design with my Konad Special Polish in black.

After adding the design, I used a pretty thick coat of Seche Vite to protect the stamping. The Seche Vite did react weird with the hologram polish. I think it just dulled it down a tad. Not a whole lot, in my opinion. I like my nails to be pretty glossy, unless I am shooting for matte. So, adding the Seche Vite was a good move in my book.

This design makes me think of fishnet stockings. LOVE IT.

All in all, even after fighting with Mercury Twilight, I really like this manicure. I like how fast it dried. I love the stamping. I love love love the rainbow. I love everything about it. Now I will be putting this polish to the test...I haven't worn it long enough to know how long it'll take to chip. So I will be reporting that info on my next post.

I would really like some feedback about this Mercury Twilight polish. Do you own it? Do you own the other colors from this line? Do you love it or hate it?

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.*

Gingerbread Man

The other day I went to Sally's Beauty Supply and I found a gem in the clearance boxes!!! Color Club's Gingerbread Man! Oh holy cow, do I loooove this polish.

As I was applying it, I thought I smelled gingerbread cookies. But I thought I was just psyching myself out, because of the name. But the more I smelled it, I had to google it. And sure enough! This is a scented polish from their 2011 Christmas line. I am SO glad I picked this one up for less than $3!

Now, I wanted to take photos of just the gingerbread man, but my hubby distracted me as I was doing my nails and I started stamping before I took pictures. But I think the stamping is subtle enough for you guys to see the beauty of Gingerbread Man. Sorry for not paying more attention. Boo on me.

I used Fingerpaint's Tiffany Imposter for the stamping. I'm really impressed with how opaque the polish was for stamping! Sometimes it is hard to find a stamping polish that isn't Konad's Special Polish.

Here's what I did:
1 coat Sally Hansen's Double Duty base coat
1 coat Orly's base coat
2 coats Color Club Gingerbread Man
1 coat Seche Vite
Stamping with Tiffany Imposter and Bundle Monster plate BM-223
1 coat Seche Vite

I have never used a Color Club polish before. I've heard wonderful things about their polish, but I have never been lucky enough to run into this brand until the other day. I have yet to find a local store that carries this brand.

Gingerbread Man is amazing. The formula is beautiful. It is completely opaque in 2 thin coats. Loooove that! It seems to be a foil type polish...which I love. My other gold is so thin, it takes like 3 or 4 coats to become opaque...and it doesn't have this foil goodness.

I will say, Gingerbread Man did take a while for it to dry. I messed up a few nails...but they aren't THAT noticeable. I don't know if it is because this polish is older or if it is just how it is made. But to me, it doesn't matter. I will take a few screwed up nails for this gorgeous color!

Loooooove Tiffany Imposter. One of my favorite polishes! <3

What do you all think about this manicure? Would you try it? If any of you know where I can find the rest of this Christmas line, let me know. I love having my fingers smell like cookies! <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.*

Beetle Juice

After the crazy thick Whimsical, I decided to swatch another polish that I have been DYING to share.

I recently discovered the Wal-mart near my house carries Hard Candy beauty products. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed the VERY small polish selection. I have seen SO many beautiful Hard Candy polishes, I was delighted to be able to see them in person!

The one I decided to purchase is called Beetle. It was $4.00 and 100% worth every single penny.

Wanna know why??

BAM!

Here's what I did:
1 coat Sally Henson's Double Duty base coat
1 coat Orly's base coat
2 coats Hard Candy Beetle
1 coat Seche Vite top coat

On my ring fingers, or accent fingers, as they are fancily called, I did add a stamping pattern using my Konad Special black polish, with Bundle Monster plate BM-208.

I am SO in love. Inside my house, the polish looks more purple/vintaj brassy. But outside it looks more reddish/greenish. I love how the colors change with each angle. I've never had a polish like this before, and I am SO happy Beetle was my first!

I use Solar Oil as my cuticle oil. Like I have said in previous posts, I swear by this stuff. I love it! I even love its weird smell. :)

All of my photos were taken inside, by a window, with my Nikon D5000.

This polish did come with a metallic plastic heart ring. As cheesy as it looks, I will TOTALLY wear that ring!!! <3

Look at that green! YUM!!

I hope you all enjoyed this manicure. It was super easy and I can't stop staring at my nails!!! The application was sooo smooth. I seriously could have just done one coat of this stuff, but I wanted to make sure it was pretty opaque. I am happy it goes on so beautifully in two coats...I think I will be a bit selfish with this polish! ;)

Is this something you would try? Don't forget to check out Wal-mart for Hard Candy polishes! <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.*

Something I like.

Ok, after the last post, I HAD to do a manicure that I would like, and immediately post it!!

So here we go:

About a billion years ago, I bought this China Glaze Shocking Pink. It is still one of my favorites in my collection. It is literally shocking. It is the brightest color I own. It is a neon pink. I love love love love it. Like a lot.

This shot was done with the flash. It is so bright, it hurts your eyes.

Here is my application process:
One coat of Sally Hansen strengthening base coat.
One coat of Orly's base coat.
Two coats of China Glaze Shocking Pink.
I used Konad's special black polish. With Bundle Monster Plate BM-203(I caved and bought it. I'm glad I did, this black polish shows up SO much better than any other polish I've used for stamping.)
A coat of Seche Vite.

Have I already mentioned how much I love this color?

I LOVE  this pattern too! So mod! ;)

The only problem I had with this manicure is: The Konad Special Polish smeared a little when I applied my top coat. Nothing too crazy, but just a little warning to you Konad stampers out there. I think using a thick coat of polish helps the special polish not smear so much. And a delicate hand.

You can kind of see the smear on my middle finger. No biggie though. I will say the clean up with this Konad Polish is a pain. It was tough to get the black off my cuticles and skin. I still have a little bit of black residue on my right hand. But I'm sure that'll come off with washing my hands and such.

Also, I cannot express my love for my Bundle Monster plates enough. I still have yet to find a stamp that didn't work. I'm sure there is one out there...but I haven't found it. I think they are such a great deal!!

Another flash shot.

What did you guys think of this manicure? Would you ever try it?

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.*

I fail.

Ok, so I totally fail at not polishing my nails. :( Boo.

Yesterday, my daughter Seyhan and I went to Walgreens, and she helped me pick out some new polish! We got four polishes, but I'm saving two of the names for future posts. ;)

The two I just COULD not wait to try were: Sinful Colors: Big Daddy and Savage.

Oh my golly goodness. I freaking LOVE these colors!

Doesn't that look like some summer yummy goodness??? MMMM. After purchasing these two, I knew I HAD to try something. I loooove love love looooved my manicure I posted yesterday...but can you blame me? Really? Who could resist these beauties?

This photo is with the flash. The pattern and colors kinda make my eyes go bonkers...but I think that is why I love it so much!

No flash.

Here's what I did:
A coat of Sally Hansen's Strengthening base coat.
A coat of Orly's base coat.
Two coats of Sinful Colors Big Daddy.
I used my Bundle Monster plate BM-201 for the pattern. (Isn't it amazing?)
For the pattern: Sinful Colors Savage.
 Then I did a coat of Seche Vite.

 Again, with the flash. Isn't Savage goooorgeous????

No flash.
I am so happy I did this manicure. And I cannot express how much I love these polishes. The application was amazing. The brush is just perfect. And Big Daddy could have gone on in one coat, I just did two to even out any bald patches. I love how opaque both polishes are. It is hard to find solid colors that aren't too sheer these days.

Would you guys try this manicure? What do you think of the color combo?? I want to hear from ya!

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.*

Konad

Saturday I received my Konad stamper and two plates (m57 & m60) that I ordered!! I cannot explain how happy I am to finally have this awesomeness!! It is uber easy to use, fast, and it looks awesome. I will say that you do need to practice practice practice to get the stamps to look okay.

I got the double stamper, mainly because of my children and their tiny fingers. I did some dots on my daughter, Seyhan's nails last night, and it looked so awesome. The best part, it dried crazy fast. So I didn't have to worry about her little fingers getting polish all over my house.

Last night I tried out different polishes, and different designs on my nails. I will admit that I was getting very frustrated. It is hard for me to get the pattern straight onto my nail. The stamps aren't big enough for my fat thumbs, so I need to figure out what to do there. (Any suggestions?)

ALSO, I did not buy the Konad special polish. I'm thinking that I might HAVE to at least buy the white and the black. My white polish isn't goopy enough, and doesn't show up as well as I'm sure the special polish would. I was trying to avoid buying the special polish, because it is kind of expensive. $6.00 for polish that is goopy like old polish? Sheesh. So maybe I will have to goop up my black and white and see how that works.

After receiving my Julep polishes, I could not wait to use them! So here is Alicia. I think it looks great with my skins. I used a basecoat (Orly), two coats of Julep Alicia, the pattern, and a coat of Seche Vite.

Now, with my cuticles, I have been having one heck of a time getting them used to all the pampering that I have been giving them. They've been peeling and cracking. And I have been using oils, lotions, and scrubs. I think they're just like "whoa, we had no attention for years, and now all of a sudden you want to love us again???" I think they're rebelling. Typical.

For this look I used the dot pattern on my m60 plate. I think these nails turned out adorable. I will for sure be doing it again.

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.*