Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

Today's mani is Valentines Day inspired. For the base I used Sally Hansen Crinoline a very pale nude. Then topped it off with I Love Nail Polish Animal Cookie. For stamping I used Messy Mansion and Fauxnad image plates with Sally Hansen Presto Pink (middle) and Magenta Motion (pinky).

A slightly closer view to show the details in the glitter. 

I hope you like this mani as much as I do. Thanks for stopping by :)

OPI Mariah Carey Spring 2013 Collection - Swatches and Review

Today I have the Mariah Carey Collection to share with you.  Being a long time fan, I was very excited to hear that OPI would launch this collection. I had read about her love neutral polishes so I never expected her line to include glitter or more unique polishes. The set includes 8 polishes, 4 of which are Liquid Sand or textured polishes as I like to call them.

First I'll show you the non-sand polishes. 

A Butterfly Moment

A Butterfly Moment is a mauve pink with a slight shimmer and the only neutral in the line. From the look of the bottle I thought the formula would be more sheer but it's actually more opaque. It went on smoothly in 2 coats. 

Sprung

A golden rose-bronzy shimmer with a very thin formula. I had to use 4 coats to achieve this look. It's very pretty and reminds me of Warm and Fozzie but with more red and less depth. 

Pink Yet Lavender

I topped off Sprung with the only glitter from the line, Pink Yet Lavender. I used one thick coat.  PYL is a gorgeous holographic glitter with small and medium hex glitter throughout. It almost reminds me of Teenage Dream but it's turned up about 4 octaves. Very glamorous!

Anti-Bleak

I haven't heard much buzz about Anti-Bleak but it's really beautiful. A vibrant plum that applied smoothly in 2 coats. A surprise favorite. 

Now let's take a look at the Liquid Sands. I love an interesting textured polish.

The Impossible

A bright cherry red that leans more pink. Is that even possible?  The base is more pink with red micro and medium hex glitters. It even has star glitter! I applied 2 thin coats which dried in about 5 minutes to a matte finish. 

The Impossible with Topcoat

Even more beautiful when wet. I applied 2 coats of Gelous Nail Gel Coat to achieve a smooth look. 

Stay the Night

This was love at first sight. In original pictures I thought the glitter was red, but it's actually more of a pink-fuchsia. I used 2 thin coats.

Stay the Night with Topcoat

I followed up with 2 coats of Gelous to achieve a jellied effect.  I love the glossy look!

Can't Let Go

Very stunning purple sand effect. It's much deeper and vibrant than my camera could capture. A surprise favorite. I used 2 thin coats.

Can't Let Go with Topcoat

I used 2 coats of Gelous to achieve the high gloss effect. This was the only sand that didn't look like a jelly with a topcoat but it's still gorgeous. 

Get Your Number

Another gorgeous sand, this time in a beautiful blue. I love how textured it is, like blue concrete. My camera made it about a shade lighter for some reason. I used 3 coats here because I tried to make it darker, but only 2 are necessary. It took about 15 minutes to dry because I used so many coats. 

Get Your Number with Topcoat

Looks amazing with a topcoat added. I used 2 coats of Gelous again to achieve this look. 

If you haven't noticed, all of the Liquid Sands get lighter when they dry and are closer to the color in the bottle when wet. Drying time varied from 5-15 minutes. The thicker the coat the longer it takes to dry. Most of them only require 2 very thin coats. When I noticed how dark the blue got with additional coats, I kept applying it, but it wasn't necessary. Instructions say no topcoat is required, but they are so pretty with a topcoat on, and most of them look like jellies layered over a glitter polish.

Overall I really love the collection, especially the Liquid Sands. Some people may not like this look, but I find them very interesting on the nail, and a good change from cremes. At least they came out with a mini collection so that you can sample each color before committing to large bottle. My favorites from the collection are Stay the Night, Can't Let Go, Anti-Bleak and Get Your Number.

The OPI Liquid Sands are now available at fine retailers that carry OPI.

*Sent for Review*

Color Club Halo Hues 2013 Collection

Hey lovelies! Today I have exciting news. I was browsing AIS page and discovered Color Club is releasing new holos for Spring 2013.  Not much information on them right now except they are currently for sale on Amazon and Ebay!!!

*Edit* Color Club posted on their facebook page that they have not released their new polishes yet, so use caution when purchasing online. Yikes! Hopefully the set I get is the real deal. I'll keep you guys posted.  

*Update* Per their facebook page, they were able to pre-sell the collection to some of their distributors in preparation for the Western Buying Conference. So you can feel safe in making outside purchases. I feel better about my purchase now :)

I love that they went deeper and darker with the new collection. I'm really interested in Beyond and Eternal Beauty, especially since I missed out on China Glaze LOL.

Beyond, Kismet, Miss Bliss, Over the Moon, Cosmic Fate, Eternal Beauty

I just ordered the full set so hopefully I'll be extremely happy with them and this will cure my disappointment with my first set which arrived in broken bottles.  I still haven't replaced them and I'm not sure that I will.  

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Friday!

Adele Hits the Red Carpet in Sally Hansen

At the 70th annual Golden Globes, glamorous nails were the ultimate accessory. Three of the night's biggest stars --Naomi Watts, Jennifer Lawrence and singer Adele -- manicurists turned to Sally Hansen to create their signature nail looks for the red carpet.

                                                                                                                    photo credit: ABC/Jeff Wespa/Wire Image

Celebrity Manicurist, Kimmie Kyees used a sheer coat of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in So Much Fawn with two coats of Complete Salon Manicure in Copper Penny layered on top of Adele's lovely nails.  Kyees finished off the look with an exclusive topcoat created for tonight that had gold in it to help enhance the color in Copper Penny for the best Original Song, Film nominee. 

Other artists also used Sally Hansen. Jennifer Lawrence wore Sheer Esctasy and Naomi Watts wore Arm Candy. 

 Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure is an all-in-one formula that combines all the 7 benefits of a professional salon manicure—a base coat, a strengthener, a growth treatment, rich color, top coat, gel-like shine and chip resistance —in a single multi-tasking polish.  Complete Salon Manicure polishes retail for $7.99 and are available at local retailers.

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Zoya Lovely Spring 2013 Collection - Swatches and Review

Hello everyone! Hope your New Year is getting off to a great start. I have so many things I want to accomplish this year with my life and my blog. I had so many changes last year. I hope I can get settled in so that I can start blogging more frequently.  I'm off work today because I worked over the weekend and right up to the Holiday. Today I'm playing with my nails and thought I would share the Zoya Lovely Collection with you.

First up is Julie. I'm a bit surprised this is the first Julie in Zoya's collection because the name is so popular. Anyways, Julie is a bright lilac with white shimmer peaking throughout. I used 3 thin coats to make it opaque.

Gie Gie is a pearly medium pink with white shimmer throughout.  The shimmer gives it a pearlized glow. Gie Gie felt very familiar when I applied it. I kept staring at it, trying to remember where I had seen it last, or figure out the dupe. Then I realized it reminds me of lip gloss! Yes, lip gloss.  The shimmers in the collection remind of the translucent shimmering feel of lip gloss, and they're very girly. Gie Gie is one of my favorites out of the shimmers.

Next up is Piaf. I thought this color was a bit unusual. I expected pastels for the Spring, but this one reminds me more of a Fall color for some reason. It's not quite green nor quite yellow, it's more of a chartreuse. Maybe it just looks more green against my skin tone. I see it as yellow in some pictures. Whatever the case, it is unique and I'm always looking for something different. I used 3 thin coats.

Jacqueline is a mix between eggshell and beige creme. It has a slight pearlized look that gives it a slight glow on the nail. I really like the formula on this one. It had a medium thickness and applied smoothly in 2 coats.

Blu. The name says it all. A sky blue creme that went on easy in 2 coats. 

Neely is a light mint with a little grey to provide a calming look. It's a pretty neutral that will take you through several seasons. The formula was thinner than the others but it applied smoothly with 3 thin coats.

Overall the shimmers go on  thin, almost sheer, but they build up quite nicely. Like I said earlier, they remind me lip glosses due to their translucent feel. You could wear them as a gloss by applying only 1 coat or make them opaque in 3 coats. Sometimes I don't like to do 3 coats, but they dried very quickly, so they were not problematic. The cremes also applied great and were able to go on with only 2 coats, except Neely which required 3 thin coats. Overall it's a cute set and the shimmers are hands down my favorites.

The Lovely Collection is available now at Zoya.com

~Sent for Review~

Happy New Year!!!

I hope this year brings all your dreams come true. Nail polish and otherwise!!!

Today's mani was done using Messy Mansion image plates. Aren't these the cutest images? I saw the group party shot and I just knew I had to sport this stamp.  

For the base coat I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism.  I usually go with Wet N' Wild black but I may have to add this into rotation. It went on in one smooth, semi-thick coat and hasn't chipped so far.  I used China Glaze 2030 for stamping. Then topped it off with a silver micro glitter by Klean Colors. 

 

I hope you like this mani as much as I do. Thanks for stopping by!!!