Last of Summer

Happy Friday! and Long Weekend! WOOO!

This will probably be my last summer pedi this season :( Where has the summer gone!! I can't believe September is a few short days away. This is a shade I have worn on my fingernails before, China Glaze At Vase Value.

I am happy to report that it wore surprisingly well on my toes when compared to my fingers. Such a lovely shade of baby blue with a hint of green. Three coats were applied by an awesome nail teck.

I am so happy with this look, I was originally going to choose a pink pastel but wanted to match something closer to what I was wearing on my fingernails (Orly, Dive Deeper). So happy I chose this! It held up well on my toes so far, about a week. I am on my feet a lot and work out vigorously 5-6 times a day and no chips!

Monthly Favourites!

I decided to start a monthly favourites series. I have been a bit behind the past month so this first post in the series will be for July. This short list includes new products and some of my all time favourite products.

 Fresh Paint Polish
Although I only own two polishes from this brand they have both blown me away with formula and wear. Oh yeah, and the colours I purchased kick ass! Neon/pastel coral and mint creme polishes scream summer and I cant wait to try out other shades when I see them next!

Gelous Advanced Nail Gel Coat
This has been an all time favourite of mine, mostly because it can be so versitile. I have used it throughout the month of July specifically for one nail that I badly damaged. It was my own fault, peeling of nail polish... and a thick layer of my nail in the process. It's such a bad habit :( Enter Gelous I have been using this as a base for the damaged nail and it has not been damaged further considering it is was very week at the beginning of July. It provides a thick layer of protection to the nail on its own, or can be used over top another polish for an outrageous shine. This is a great topper for topcoat thirsty glitters. The only con is that it is not quick drying.

Amazing Pure and Natural Crystal Deodorant Stone
I have been going the all natural route as much as I can lately and cannot remember the last time I actually wore a traditional deodorant/antiperspirant. In the winter I was fine going with coconut oil and baking soda in place of standard deodorant, but with the warmer months I feel I need more "protection". This crystal deodorant stone is as natural as it gets, you just wet the stone (which is naturally occurring salt) and rub your underarms. It works great for a natural and chemical free option, however on hotter days I do need to reapply. I don't mind :) Plus this lasts you a looooong time.

Botanique by Himalaya Herbal Health Care - Neem and Pomegranate Toothpaste
On the topic of natural health and body care I also have a new toothpaste of choice. I found this on iHerb and decided to try it out at the promo pice of only one dollar... Best dollar ever spent! Since then I have purchased another tube on sale (regular retail price is around $5-$6). Some highlights of what I like about this toothpaste is that it is gluten free and does not contain fluoride or sugar. You heard me correctly, for those who are not familiar with the ingredients in toothpaste, it generally does contain sugar. I also like that the ingredients are explained and some are organic!

So what do you think of my first "favourites" post? Would you like to see more monthly favourites in the future?

Splish, Splash!

I have been on a blue polish kick lately which is unlike me! I usually like to change up my colours, especially during summer. The next blue I decided to wear was apart of China Glaze's Summer Neons collection from summer 2012.

Splish Splash is a mid-blue shimmer "neon", however, I use that term loosely. Neon in colour, not so much, the formulation is truer to a neon. The formula is thin but workable, I found it easiest to swipe the polish on the nail quickly since it dries fast. The opacity was decent, a little streaky on the first coat, evened out pretty much on the second coat but I decided to add a final third coat.

It dries quickly to a matte/satin finish so a top coat is a must with this polish. I was pretty happy with the final look of it, a medium blue with slightly lighter micro shimmer, it realy glows in certain lighting.

Unfortunately it started chipping after about a day. It came off so easily too! Realy disappointing. It first started chipping most when I was preparing a meal, washing veggies and cleaning up after really ruined my mani :(

The Deepest Depths!

Happy, Happy Friday!

I am obsessed with this polish! Orly released a bunch of glitters in 2012 apart of their Glam FX collection and I knew I just HAD to get my hands on a few of them. Go Deeper was one of them. I actually grabbed Mermaid Tail, apart of the same collection, first to paint my nails, but after one coat decided Go Deeper would be the best option for full overage.

This glittery polish is made up of blue/green teal regular and hex glitter, some of which reflect beautifully holo! The jelly is a sheer teal and allows the beautiful glitter to shine through. It really is true to the name, the glitter and jelly base add so much depth.

I used three coats and did some touch ups to the tips of a few nails before  adding a topcoat. The formula was good to work with, thin base with dense glitter. It wore fantastic too, about five days before I started to remove it. I would have left it on longer but I got a chip on my thumbnail and I started picking it... And picking it...lol. I know,  I have a problem!

Collective Haul for the Month of July

Lots of polish purchases during the month of July for me. I haven't been purchasing many polishes lately but I think this makes up for it. I blame the sales!

I'll start off  with my first few purchases of the month from Zoya. They had two awesome promos this month, the first were their sets of all-American trios which were $15 each including shipping. There were four options available and I chose the most interested (and best deal) Patriotic Pixie Dust.

Tomoko is a shimmering white gold pixie dust. When compared to Zoya Godiva, it is much more shiny and gold toned. Godiva is more of a tan, sand coloured neutral shade. I also find it is the least "textured" out of the trio.

Chyna is a glittery red pixie dust and has a sand like texture finish once dried.

Liberty is a blinggy blue pixie dust and has a sand like texture finish once dried.

Two coats were used for each polish in the swatches below.

The next few Zoya's I purchased were apart of the "Threedom" promo. Any three polishes for $12 including shipping! Back to back deals are awesome, thanks Zoya!  I chose some fun bright shades for what is left of summer, from left to right, Dillon, Muse and Alma.

Dillon is a bright pastel teal with golden shimmer. This dainty shade is apart of the Spring Awakening collection.

Muse is insane! It is this gorgeous deep blue teal jelly packed with gold shimmer and iridescent he glitter pieces. It shines beautifully in the sun, but in indirect lighting it is mesmerizing.

Alma is a oranges based cousin in Muse. It has a sheer jelly orange base and is packed with gold shimmer.

Two coats are shown for each of the polishes in the swatches below.

Nicole by OPI A Lit-Teal Bit of Love is a gorgeous shimmery blue foil. I don't usually go out and purchase a NOPI polish on my own unless it is something really special. My boyfriend went to go grab some last minute groceries while I was making dinner and picked this up for me. To be honest I probably wouldn't have picked out this shade on my own, but it is such a stunner! I love the blackened edges and hint of a purple duochrome. It is similar to Orly's Sweet Peacock, but more blue and a shade darker.

Next up is Sally's, I went there a few times this month to make the most of my birthday coupon, here is what I picked up;

China Glaze All Aboard collection, fall 2014. I was so happy to find this in store late July across the boarder! I got my pick of the whole collection.

Choo-Choo Choose You is one of those grey, purple taupey shades, but what sets it apart is he strong mulitchrome shimmer. I'm talking Clarin's type shifting. The formula was quite thin, but surprisingly built up quite well. The first swiped appeared to be frosty, but it dried to a smooth and glossy finish.

Loco-Motive is a glitter topper made up of charcoal glitter and larger orange-red hex glitter sprinkled throughout. You probably could get this one to reach opacity but it seemed quite thin, I stopped at two coats for my swatch.

Next up, Boundary of a Memory.

This is apart of The Giver collection. Yes, The Giver the book! Does anyone else remember reading this in grade 5? I do vaguely, however back then I was not a big fan of reading. Apparently they are making a movie about it and China Glaze has partnered with the release of a polish collection. The only polish that caught my eye was Boundary of a Memory, a shimmery glitter. Both Sally's I went to did not have swatches available, so I based my decision on the bottle alone, and let me just say that the bottle does this glitter no justice! So much better on the nail. It appears to be a mix of silver grey and brown micro glitters and builds up to opacity nicely, two thick coats are shown in my swatch below.

Finger Paints:

In the Monet is a saturated blue jelly jam packed with blue microglitter and slightly larger silver prismatic glitter that shines green. Two coats are shown  in the swatch below.

Colourful Collage is a holo glitter bomb! I have been wanting this for a while but not really needed it. I added it finally to my cart when I needed a few extra dollars to use my birthday coupon, yippee! It is a mix of multiple shapes and sizes of silver holo glitter in a clear base.

I picked up Crystal Springs on clearance for $2.10! It is a topper made up of matte lime green and baby blue glitter and sprinkled with holo gold micro glitter and irregularly shaped silver holo glitter. Two coats are shown in my swatch below

Aloha Lei is an orange shimmer that has a deep orange jelly-ish base and golden yellow/orange shimmer. Two coats are shown in my swatch below.

China Glaze Off Shore collection, summer 2014:

Stoked To Be Soaked is a basic creme orange. I am rethinking purchasing this polish as it is nothing really special. Two coats are shown in my swatch below

Shore Enough is bright green creme polish. Along with Stoked to Be Soaked, this was an impulse purchase, but I prefer this over the orange. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Nuclear Sunrise

I need to find me some more Fresh Paint polishes! I just recently discovered them in late June and I am so impressed. Not only do they have some awesome colours, but the wear is fantastic. I can only comment on the two neon cremes I have purchased, Guava and Honeydew, but if you know neons, you know they chip FAST, and Guava and Honeydew lasted

I wore Honeydew for almost a full week with no chips and only slight tip wear, that is fantastic for a neon. Honeydew is a pastel mint neon creme. Although the first coat was a bit streaky, the second coat evened everything out nicely so I didn't require a third. It dried to a slight shine but as always I added a coat of Seche Vite.

Unfortunately.... I have misplaced my photos for this mani, so sad! I  do have photos of it with a refresh I did. To update this mani I used China Glaze Shore Enough, Bundle Monster Plate 402 and a cosmetic sponge.

I started by stamping Shore Enough on the tips of my nails and blending downward in to Honeydew. On the second coat I added Honeydew to the sponge with Shore enough to blend the colours further.

Once that had dried, I stamped with the centre top full image pattern on Bundle Monster plate BM-204. On the plate the design looks abstract and asymetrical. I'm not sure what drew me to it initially but once stamped in black over the gradient it looked like an abstract sunset. The bold lines representing the rays from the sun, the circle. The green base makes the whole idea even more abstract!

Plate BM 402 is apart of the Create Your Own collection and it stamped perfectly with no issues. One tip I would give should you use this design or any similar (with bold lines), try to scrape in the general direction of the lines to avoid any weird bald spots in the design once on the stamper.

My only regret is not lining up the "rays" perfectly with each nail, other than than I am happy with the final look.

Starry Jelly Sandwich

Happy Friday (And long weekend!) I just loved wearing Essie's Bouncer it's me, a deep yet bright blue jelly and didn't want to remove it after I developed some chips. I decided to carefully fill them in and do a sandwich with OPI's Pirouette My Whistle. Bouncer, It's Me evened out very well with the previously applied polish. 

Pirouette My Whistle is a glitter topper composed of silver glitter and lager white opalescent glitter pieces.

One coat was all I needed for good distribution of the glitter on each nail. The hex glitter was inconsistent with each nail, however, I liked the look. Since the silver and white glitter pieces are overlaid with the blue jelly, it gives the appearance of a starry light. The positioning of the hex glitter unintentionally looks like constellations in a star filled sky.

I'm happy with how this turned out, but it didn't last too long due to the previous chips  I had before applying the glitter and additional layer of blue jelly.