Birthday Dots

Hello all!!! Yesterday (Aug 6th) was my 26th birthday! Naturally I had to have some pretty spiffy nails when I went to enroll my eldest into Pre-K. (That is literally all I did for my birthday...getting old stinks.)

Summer is almost over, and I really wanted to take advantage of my bright colors before they look weird in the colder months.

Here's what I did:
1 coat Nail Magic
1 coat Growth Spurt
1 coat Gelous
2 coats Julep Alicia
And I used a small dotter to make my polka dots with Hard Candy Frenzy, Wet N Wild I Need a Refresh-mint, and Konad Special White.
 1 coat Seche Vite

I love love love this manicure. I formed a circular pattern off to the side of my nail, rather than in the middle of my nail. I think it made it look a bit more abstract. I love the color combination, and  Julep Alicia will always be one of my favorite polishes. I adore it.

Application was beautiful, and drying time wasn't that bad. It did take me like an hour to do each and every nail...but let me just say: I was 100% worth it!

As you can see, my nails are crazy short. I had them growing so nicely, then they all broke. It really stinks to have short nails, but I have faith that they will be coming back stronger and hopefully will stay longer. One of my Instagram friends suggested Nail Magic...so we shall see how well it works. This is week one for me. It says it takes up to 8 weeks for stronger nails to come in...so I am testing them!

I have been trying to get good use out of my dotting tools lately. I forget how much I really love polka dots. I must remember this!!

What do you all think of this manicure? Is it too busy? What color scheme would you do?

Also, I would love to hear from you guys about Nail Magic. Have any of you used it before? Did it work for you? I would really like some input on this base coat!!

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.*

Jacket Buttons

Good evening fellow nail bloggers! I have a fantastic manicure for you!

I asked my daughter, Seyhan, what she thought my nails looked like, and she said jacket buttons. :) I think she's right.

I really really really like this manicure! Here's what I did:
1 coat Sally Henson's Double Duty base coat
1 thick coat Pure Ice Black Rage
I used Color Club Gingerbread Man for the dots with my dotting tool
1 coat Essie Matte About You

I love love love my Pure Ice Black Rage. If you use enough the first time, you don't need to do a second coat! The application is always a breeze, the brush is perfect, and the formula is amazing. I use Black Rage more often than any other polish in my stash of 70.

I only have flash photos to share with you all. I didn't get a chance to take photos this afternoon. My daughter, Zoey, has a therapist who comes to our house to work with her. And that took up a lot of our time today.

I am really happy to report how well the Gingerbread Man polish did with Matte About You. I was afraid it wouldn't look good, since it is more of a foil type polish. It took on the matte, but stayed glittery...which is the only way I can explain it. I think I will have a hard time taking this polish off.

I really wanted something more edgy, but to stay with the dots, since my dotting tools are being severely neglected.

I am a huge fan of black and gold combos. Something about the two together makes me wanna dance. Lol.

I also have yet to run into any problems I've read about online about Matte About You. I read the reviews on Amazon.com before purchasing it, and some people say that the matte doesn't last long, and ends up shiny in a few days...I haven't had that problem. Others said it chipped within hours...Again, no problems here. I also have two kids, and I'm currently the only parent...and mine holds up pretty well. I never expect a manicure to stay perfect more than two days. I expect tip wear and chips. I'm really rough on my hands. Another reviewer said that it started peeling from the middle?? Whaaat? Maybe they got a bad batch, cause I've never ever ever seen it do that!!! Maybe I'm not that picky about my nails...so if it does end up shinier...I don't notice it at all.

I hope I have given you a good reason to go out and buy a matte top coat! I know I don't regret my purchase! <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.*

Folly

Good morning!! Sorry that I have been MIA. My husband left for deployment on Friday. So it has been a little rough around my house. My eldest has been acting out negatively from this deployment...so it has been pretty hard on momma!

I do have a pretty cute manicure for you all today. This manicure is a few days old, so I do have tip wear and a chip and broken corner on my index finger, all thanks to peeling potatoes.

Here's what I did:
2 coats of Sinful Colors Folly
Then I took every orange/coral/salmon/light pink/yellow I owned and used my dotter tools to add the dots.
Then I did a thick coat of Seche Vite.

I wanted the dots to be flat..and not look like paint over paint. I think I achieved that with the thick coat of Seche Vite.

I really like Folly. It could have gone on in one coat...which is a win in my book!!

I have never done polka dots before. I wanted them to be different sizes...and I think I did a pretty good job for my first polka dot job. :)

What do you all think? Do you like the color combo? The dots? Folly??

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.*