Feel Like I'm Living a Teenage Dream

I can't say I'm really a fan of Katy Perry, I actually find her more of annoying than anything lol. I'm not sure how involved she was with the polishes that were released under her name with OPI, but Teenage Dream is my favourite!

I attempted a glitter gradient starting with painting each full nail with a thin coat of polish. The second layer was from the middle point of each nail up and the last coat was just the tips to camouflage as much of the free edge as possible. It's subtle, but I like it :)

In the future I would probably use a nude, semi-transparent base like OPI Bubble Bath and/or use another glitter or jelly to make the gradient fade more intense. Just incase you were wondering I used Seche Clear as a base.

I'd describe the colour as a light translucent light pink jelly base with light pink micro-shimmer and large hex holo glitter sprinkled throughout. It really shimmers and shines in any lighting.

I love how this colour can be built up. It can easy be worn on it's own or as a glitter top coat over another colour.

Funky French Fauxnad

I felt that some of my French tips looked a little uneven since I followed the natural smile line of my nails when free-handing the tips, so I decided to camouflage the tiny imperfections with some fauxnad!

I used plate BM220 and Sally Hansen 10 Day No Chip in Blackberry to stamp. This is the very first time I have ever tried stamping with any French tip image for a full mani. It wasn't as hard as I thought to line up the images with my tips. This particular plate was also a dream to work with, clean crisp stamps every time.

The pattern I used, incase you couldn't tell, is what appears to bs a cross between a cheetah and snakeskin pattern. I think it helped to define the original lines I created and clean up the look over all too. I love how the glitter from the base peaks out through the stamp.

Funky French

Haven't done one of these in a while. Lately it has been a lot easier for me to choose a polish colour. Just a couple of months ago I would be sifting through my polished picking one after another out and just couldn't make up my mind. Lately I have just been picking and applying and I love it :)

I had an urge for a French mani since my nails ate at the perfect length, so I freehanded some tips with Orly's Rock Solid.

Rock Solid I a dark charcoal shade, maybe even a black base. It is jam packed with small silver shimmer which gives off the look and texture of asphalt. When in the right lighting or direct sunlight you can see the medium sides holo glitter sparkling :)

This polish was apart of the last Orly FX line, Mineral Effects to be exact. I snatched this one up on sale right after Christmas at Sally's from this haul.

Friday Flashback

Happy Friday! Don't you just love short weeks!?

Today I have a short post about a blog I came across recently. What caught my interest was a page dedicated to old school Revlon Streetwears. I remember having a few growing up, particularly Sky and Forest, but you have to check out Pretty Random's post here to see all of the other awesome shades!

Revlon Ad from the 90's

Super cool huh? I wish Revlon would bring these back, so many awesome shades and glitter combos. Hope you have a great weekend :)

Sea Spray

Today I have a polish I've worn and posted before, probably around this time last year. Sea Spray came out last year apart of China Glazes spring collection. It was an awesome collection by the way, I find myself wanting to buy more and more from that collection as time goes by!

When compared to my previous post from last year, I prefer this polish on my longer curved shaped nails. It also applied a lot better the second time around.

This greyed out baby blue reminds me of the weather lately, grey and cold! in certain lights is appears more blue or grey. Although is has a white shimmer running throughout in the bottle, once on the nail it is pretty much lost. It does peak out in certain lighting.

I applied 2 coats and one top coat, I love these pastel, greyed out neutrals especially this time of the year.

Nail Polish Canada - Konad Review!

Today I have a Konad plate that Nail Polish Canada sent me for review. I love Konad, so when they contacted me I was super excited! I got to pick from two of the newer plates that were released from Konad recently, I chose M85. I love my full nail designs.

Michelle from Nail Polish Canada sent me a nice little letter along with the plate. Over all shipping was quick, they are located in Vancouver and I received my plate in Toronto within 7 business days. The great thing about ordering from their site is free shipping for all Konad plates, no minimum. The only catch is they are a couple bucks more than sites like www.wowsocool.com. WowSoCool has a minimum of ourcahse of $20 for free shipping.

Along with Konad plate M85, they also now carry plate M84 with the rest of the Konad collection.

One thing I wasn't used to was not removing a plastic covering on the plate lol. I'm so used to the Bundle Monster plates I guess, shows you how long it's been since I've purchased Konad!

The images all stamped perfect on the first try. I used Konad white special polish.

An unexpected favorite was the stars. I can see myself using this image as a full nail rainbow pattern :)

I can tell when my nails are too long when the Konad plates don't full the fill height of my nail! That being said these designs were pretty easy to match up and double stamp.

Overall I had a great experience with www.nailpolishcanada.com, quick shipping, friendly service and a good variety of products :)

*This product was sent to me for an honest review, all views expressed are my own honest option.

Terracotta

Is anyone else sick of winter? Lucky winter in Toronto hasn't been that bad this year, snow wise anyways. I just love when the season starts to change over to spring, can't wait for the weather to changing.

That being said I have a bright to share with you today, Orly's Terricotta! This is one of those bright pinks that appears to look different in different lighting. When I applied it, it looked like a bright pink/magenta, but I find in lower light it looks more coral, in other lighting it looks more red. In the lighting above my desk at work it is neon orange!

I applied two perfectly pigmented coats. The formula on this was perfect :) If only I could get it to photograph correctly.

I used some Konad for the design on my ring fingers, I will have more on which plate it is and other designs it offers tomorrow :)

Doppelgängers! Featuring NYX Glided Gold

Today's installment of Dopplegangers features some gold glitters. They are not your regular glitter, more like irregular flecks of gold pieces.

I will be comparing NYX Girl's Glided Gold and American Apparel's Meteor Shower.

Here are some close ups of the bottles, first NYX

And American Apparel

As you can see in the bottle shots above, these two are not identical, NYX has smaller, softer fleck of gold while American Apparel has larger chunks.

Below is each polish at one coat, left to right, Glided Gold and Meteor Shower.

At first coat you can see that GG has a bit of a goldish base, where MS's base is clear.

Two coats below is where I stop, for the second coat I had more polish on the brush and blobbed it on a little more to get the glitter pieces to adhere better. As you can see, GG builds up nicely in two coats, although I initially thought to use these as top coats over other polishes.

So, these are obviously not dupes, so why did I post about it? GG was one of those polishes I really really wanted, but thought it was to similar to MS which I already owned. I almost didn't get it, but I did, obviously lol. I'm glad I took the chance, but other times I'm not so lucky... as my past posts have shown you! I am glad to own both, and wanted o show you my findings so you know how they compare.

Happy Valentines!

Happy Valentines Day! My Valentines mani today is actually a refresh with yesterdays polish, Moonlight. For this simple and fun manicure I created from red hearts freehand on my ring finger and thumb. To do this I dipped a dotting tool in to my red polish and drew small "v"'s. The red polish is Sally Hanson Salon (square bottle), Hearts On Fire. Such a perfect name right!? This is a deep red jelly.

To finish the mani off I applied one coat of China Glaze's White Cap to all of my nails and I was done! Doing my right hand was a bit challenging, but I think it came out pretty good! Plus I don;t think it's too overbearing, only 2 fingers per nail is not so over the top.

Here's one last photo with my camera flash to show the shimmer in White Cap.

I wore this mani for a a while, I added the hearts and White Cap on Wednesday and it still looks great!

White Jelly!

Today I have a great white jelly to share with you. I picked this polish up recently, but I think it is an oldie. China Glaze's Moonlight is a soft white jelly that can be built up quite nicely depending on how you'd like to wear it.

Shown in my photos was three coats. It applied easily, the formula was thin and manageable.After three coats my nail line is only slightly visible, but I like the effect. I also got some streaking that is more visible in te flash photo below.

I'm really glad I got this one, I was always on the look out for Essie's Marshmallow or OPI's Funny Bunny which are also white jellies. I wonder how they compare to Moonlight.

Do you like white nails?

Flakie Friday

Happy Friday! It's finally the end of the week, woohoo! Today I have a fun flakie for Friday and a bunch of photos to show you the cool colour shift.

I layered Funky Fingers Motley over Orly's Le Chateau. I applied 2 decent coats. Once coat affered a good amount of flakies but I really wanted my nails to be packed with them so I added another coat. I finished this mani off with a coat of Seche Vite for extra shine.

Lamp Light

I had originally thought that the flakies were just blue, but straight on they are blue and green. On different angles you can see light turquise, deep indigo and purple. I have included MANY photos in different lighting to show off the colour shift as much as possible.

Natural Daylight, Overcast

Super cool, huh? not too much more for me to say here, I think the photos speak for themselves! This next one was a bad pic, it was actually accidentally taken with the flash but it shows off the depth nicely, so I chose to include it even though it is super overexposed!

The rest of the photos were taken while waiting for the bus on the way home from work lol.

Hope you have a great weekend :)

A Vampy Jelly and Some Exciting News!! - I Need Your Help!

Finished with reviews for this week, on to some polish I've been wearing!

Today I have a great jelly from Orly's holiday collection, Le Chateau. This deep, dark teal almost applied fully opaque in just one coat! I went over most again again with a thinner second coat to even out any slightly bald patches. It's super shiny and glossy and dark. It looks pretty black, but not quite. You can see the true colour in the bottle. It stops just before being black. The perfect base for some layering...

The layering combo will come in tomorrows post, but before I end this one I have some exciting news! I have been approached to create my own polish that will be sold and named after me! I am super excited, but almost don't know where to start! Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I'm pretty sure anything goes. I'm trying to come up with something that has rarely been done and is fairly original. I'm thinking something with a duochrome or holo!

Let me know what you think.

ASK Cosmetics - Part 3 Base & Top Coats

Today I have the last of the three part review on ASK Cosmetics featuring their top and base coat, The base is on the left and the top coat is on the right. For some reason the base looked a little low in product when compared to the top coat. Not sure if I just got a weird bottle or what.

This is what they say about the base coat:

- Has adhesion properties to allow better bonding with polish

- Offers good base for longer-lasting wear

Some positive points on the base from my perspective are it applies smooth and thin, it can be a little runny but it's easy to control. I did find however that it did not dry as quickly as the other top coats I own, I think this may be due to the adhesion properties they reference. I didn't let it fully dry before applying the polish so not sure how long it would take to dry. It was semi dry and tacky to the touch before Oh So Aubergine was applied.


On to the top coat, this is what they say:
- Quick drying
- Offers UV protection, which keeps dark colours from fading and light colours from yellowing
- Offers external protection against environmental factors
- Provides glossy finish to enhance the polish shade
- Has an adhesion factor so it will not peel


As you can see below, it does provide a nice glossy finish!

It is nice and shiny, but I did not find it to be a quick dry. Did it take super long to dry? No, but when I consider a polish a quick dry top coat Seche Vite comes to mind. This one does not compare. It was easy to apply and self levelling.

Now both the base and top coat are supposed to have some great adhesion properties, and I didn't wear these polishes for an extended period of time but removal of the polish with the base and top coat was interesting. It was almost like removing rubber if that makes sense, but it was only when the base and top coat were applied, so it wasn't the polish. I though that was pretty cool. I'll have to do another post on the future of the over all wear of the polishes with the base and top coat to see how long it wears. Is that something you'd be interested in seeing?

So this wraps up my review of ASK Cosmetics nail products, what do you think? Anything you liked or didn't like?

*This product was sent to me for an honest review, all views expressed are my own honest option.

Ask Cosmetics - Part 2 Polish Swatches

Continuing from where I left off in yesterdays post, what happens when polish is applied directly after the polish remover was used...

I am glad to report that there was no bubbling of any kind! I personally would at least do a quick rinse with water before applying polish, but if you don't mind, it is fine.

Today I will be reviewing Oh So Aubergine (above) along with these others from ASK Cosmetics in the photo below, Left to right Oh So Aubergine, Classic Peacock, Rich Sapphire and Romantic Sunset.

ASK Cosmetics claims their polish is:

1.      Salon strength formula

2.      Long-lasting 

3.      Offers a chip-resistant protective barrier

4.      High shine

5.      Free of DBP, toluene, formaldehyde as well as camphor

6.      Pregnancy safe

7.      Vegan friendly (no animal testing done)

Lets start off the review. On my pointer finger, Romantic Sunset as a soft, delicate pink with white/silver micro shimmer which is very subtle (the shimmer doesn't photograph very well). Only 1 to 2 coats is needed for opacity depending on how thin or thick each layer is. I found the formula to be thin but opaque and self levelling. When tested with one coat, it dried pretty quickly.

Next polish is Classic Peacock on my middle finger which I found to be a great dupe for American Apparel's Peacock, both in colour and formula. The formula and pigment on this one was probably my favourite, it applied manageably thick and smooth. I would describe this colour as a greyed out blue with some green undertones. What you see in the photo is one coat! Dry time on this one was probably the quickest out of the 4 polishes.

Up next is Rich Sapphire on my ring finger. This deep shade of blue kind of has a jelly finish but not completely, it is kind of milky. It is very pigmented and self levelling, 2 coats were needed for full opacity. This is in the top two for my favourite out of the 4.

And last but not least, what you saw as a full mani at the top of the post Oh So Aubergine. I am a purple lover, they usually go well with my skin tone and this one does not disappoint shade wise. The formula however was super thick, even after giving the bottle a good shake. The good thing about thick polishes is that you can always thin them out if needed, so this wasn't a huge issue. The formula is very well pigmented and despite being super thick it did not bubble at all, shown on my pinky is only 1 coat. I did notice that it took longer to dry, this may have been due to the thickness. I'm sure if I thinned it out it would have helped.

Overall the colour and pigmentation of these polishes is great and the finishes are nice and glossy without a top coat. The formula is all over the place, but I guess no one company has the same formula for all of their polishes. These are also the first batch of polishes ASK has created with a new supplier and I prefer these colours to the previous ones they had available on their site. I was impressed over all with the the quality and wear. These polishes really stuck on (especially with the base coat to be discussed further tomorrow). I found they were easier to remove with the ASK Revival remover when compared to my regular remover. The brushes are pretty standard, I would compare them to Color Club, the handle is similar size and thickness.

If I had to find a flaw I would say that although the colours are nice they are nothing new. I'd like to see ASK try more colours and finishes in their next collection of polishes that are more outside the box.

What do you think of ASK Cosmetics polishes, anything you like?

*This product was sent to me for an honest review, all views expressed are my own honest option.

Review: New to Me Brand, ASK Cosmetics - Part 1

Today I have the first of a three part post dedicated for ASK Cosmetics. This is a new to me brand out of Burlington, Canada, so I was skeptical at first as to the quality of the products. They seem like a fairly new company that would like to get their products better known in the industry. Lisa (Who has her own blog here.) from ASK contacted me asking if I'd like to review some products. I jumped at the chance to try a new brand and this is what I received:

A Base and Top Coat,

Nail Polish Remover,

Four Nail Colours,

I will review each product in the upcoming days this week. But first I wanted to start off by giving you some background information on the company it's self. they seem to specialize in "revival" products to improve the look, feel and quality of skin, nails and hair. Their flagship product is a system called T.I.P.S, which is a nail conditioner that is absorbed by the nail and adds strength as well as flexibility. I kind of which I had received this item also for review seeing how it is fairly popular.

They usually sell their products though their site or The Shopping Channel in Canada. I do find the prices to be a bit high for me, so is the quality really worth it?

Lets start off with the Revival Nail Polish Remover.

At first I found it a bit weird to review a polish remover, I haven't had any that really stands out for me in particular, I tend to use the acetone based remover sold at Sallys (The pink bottle). However, this remover is by far the best I have ever used! It really stands out from the rest of removers I have used. It easily removes the polish from my nails quickly like acetone, but doesn't bleed the colour out staining my nails (Also like acetone). One dab on a cotton pad really goes a long way, I was able to remove polish from 3 nails before applying more remover to the pad.

Now I guess that shouldn't be a feature right, it does what it says it does, removes polish. This polish remover stands out to be because it is so super moisturizing. I felt like I was removing the polish with cuticle oil! My hands were all oiled up by the end of the removal and was left with the soft scent of lemons. This is like a remover and cuticle oil all in one! This was my favorite product out of everything that was sent to be for review. Can you see the shiny gloss on my nails? that all the polish remover!

Since it left my nails moisturized and oily, I thought I would try a full mani on top without washing my hands to see if it would effect the polish...

To see the what happens when polish is applied  right after the remover and to see swatches of the polishes provided, tune in to Part 2 of this post tomorrow :)

*This product was sent to me for an honest review, all views expressed are my own honest option.