Sunday, January 29, 2012

NOTD Zoya Anja and Nimue funky french!!

Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a great weekend! So I actually did this NOTD on Friday. I wanted to try something different using some Zoya polishes. I love their Smoke & Mirrors collection from Fall 2011 so I used Anja and Nimue. Both are gorgeous colors with great formulas. Anja is opaque and creamy, and Nimue is pretty smooth and opaque for a frost. Here is Anja on my left hand which is a pretty dark red/maroon, 2 coats:



And here is Nimue on my right hand which is a smokey purple frost, 2 coats:



So I applied two coats of each and let it dry. Then I took some scotch tape and placed the sticky side on my palm to take alot of the stickiness out. Then I applied the tape onto my nail, applied polish and removed the tape right away. You don't want the polish to dry while the tape is on the nail. And here are the results:









It's not perfect but this was my first successful mani using tape for the design! I will make a video tutorial next time. I'm very happy with the results! I just have to keep practicing to get cleaner lines. Thanks for reading!!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

NNF Files Happy/Earthy Claire's Mood polish

Hey everyone! Today I have another older pic from 2011. This is Claire's Mood polish in Happy/Earthy. I remember seeing pics and videos of mood polish on the internet and running out and buying a bunch of them at Claire's. Turns out that they are cool to watch them change color on your nails but they chip right away, they are really thin and sheer,  and they are not 3 free so they leave the nail bed extremely dry and stripped of moisture. I tried out 4 of the 10 colors I have and they all chipped really fast. Such a disappointment. Eventually I will get to trying out the remainding colors I have. Happy/Earthy changes from green to yellow and vice versa. Here is three coats:



These tend to go on with a matte finish too. I like the whole french effect this gives when my nails are long, I just wish the polish would last longer than a day without chipping! I haven't put on a mood polish in a long time so I will go back and rediscover them in my stash. What do you all think of mood polishes? Have you tried them? What brands have you tried?

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

NOTD Nails Inc. Trafalgar Square Magnetic polish

Hi everyone! So last night I was going through all of my untried polishes... I have alot... and I decided on Nails Inc. Trafalgar Square magnetic polish. I haven't worn a magnetic polish in a while and I love them, and I wanted to wear a silver polish too. Trafalgar Square is a platinum silver polish and it's actually the most sheer of all the magnetic polishes that I have. I picked this up from Sephora last year when I had first heard Sephora was carrying magnetic polishes. Now many places are carrying their own brand of magnetic polishes, and China Glaze is releasing their own line too. I had to put on two coats before putting on the last coat to do the design with. Here is three coats in total:








I looooooooooooove magnetic nail polishes! The only thing that gets on my nerves is that every time I apply top coat, it smudges the design. I even waited a long time for the polish to dry before I put on top coat and it still smudged. I try to get alot of top coat on the brush, and I use different topcoats but they all smudge on these. What am I doing wrong? How come all the other swatches I see, the designs are perfect and not smudged? I will gladly accept any tips and pointers! Here are the other magnetic polishes that I've worn. I've posted these pics on previous posts:
Layla Magneffect polish in Black Metal

Layla Magneffect polish in Velvet Groove

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Another January nail haul!!

Hi everyone! I knew I would have another nail haul before the end of January! I stopped by Sally's and picked up these beauties with an awesome coupon.


From L to R: Orly Le Chateau, Shining Star, Androgynie

From L to R: Finger Paints Comet's Collar, Frosty Night, Laugh my Art Off

From L to R: China Glaze Icicle, Blonde Bombshell

I also made a video of my haul which includes swatches.

Thanks for watching and checking out my blog!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Valentine's Day water marble and tutorial!

Hi eveyone! So I was playing around and experimenting with water marbling when I had an idea do use some pink colors. Pinks are great for all year around but Valentine's Day is coming and I thought this mani would be a great for V-day! On my left hand I did two fingers at a time, and on my right hand I did one finger at a time. Here are the results after I cleaned up:





I love the results! The colors I used were China Glaze Heli-yum, China Glaze Go Go Pink and Wet n Wild French White. Here's a short tutorial. Enjoy and thanks for watching and reading my blog!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Nails Never Fails Files OPI Ogre the Top Blue with water marble accent

Hey everyone! I was going through all of my old nail photos and I came across pics of one of my favorite blue polishes of all time, OPI Ogre the Top Blue from the 2010 Shrek collection. I really loved this entire collection, it was full of such pretty bright colors that were perfect for Spring! So here I used Ogre the Top Blue and then I chose to do an accent water marble. This was actually my second try ever at water marbling back in 2010! I used all OPI Shrek colors, Ogre the Top Blue, Who the Shrek are You, What's with the Cattitude and Funkey Dunkey. The base color of the marble was What's with the Cattitude. I plan on revisiting these colors very soon, even do another water marble with these colors!



To this day, this is in my top 3 favorite manicures of all time! Thanks for reading!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

NOTD Zoya Holly with Finger Paints Flecked = Emerald goodness!!

Hey everyone! I changed my nails the day before yesterday and let me just tell you I can't stop staring at them! I wanted to wear green so I chose Zoya Holly from the Gems and Jewels collection. And let me tell you, Holly is gorgeous! It goes on smoothly and was opaque in two coats. Holly is definitely in my top 3 favorite green nail polishes of all time including Zoya Ivanka and China Glaze Glittering Garland. Here is two coats:










If you like green polishes then you have to own Holly! So even though Holly is gorgeous on it's own, I added two coats of Finger Paints Flecked and OMG...










These pics do not even do this mani an ounce of justice! The flakies on top of Holly make my nails look like sparkling emeralds!! And in certain light, the flakies make my nails look like they are shifting from blue to green!! It's just amazing! I love this combo soooooo much! I added a quick little unedited video of my mani just to show it in movement. Enjoy!! I can't wait to discover more amazing combos with these flakies!! Thanks for watching!!

Monday, January 16, 2012

January hauls!!!!

So here are my hauls so far for January. I also received a couple of after Christmas gifts!!

From L to R: Asylum, Flecked, Motley, Twisted
From L to R: Asylum, Flecked, Twisted, Motley, All four shades together

From L to R: Rapid Red, Brisk Blue, Celebrate

From L to R: Jo, Kristen, Barbie Tallulah



Konad stamping kit with image plates, an after Christmas gift!



Nightmare before Christmas nail set

I made a video of my hauls and gifts:


Thanks so much for reading, watching and checking out my blog!!