Limey!

I have been all about neons this month, I just cannot get enough of them! Orly's Thrill Seeker is no exception. At fist I was skeptical about picking it up, since side by side it looked similar to China Glaze Celtic Sun, which I also picked up in this trip to Sally's. Thrill Seeker looked slightly green, but it is more apparent in the nail.

I would describe it as a lemon lime green creme that is just below neon. It dries to a matte/satin finish like a neon but it lacks that eye searing pigment. In the sunlight it is awesome!

I could have gotten away with two easy coats but decided to add one last thin coat to even everything out. After applying the first coat I noticed some bubbles starting to form, but after that layer there was none to be seen. It may have been because I had my fan on? I heard that can happen sometimes. I turned it off after the first coat and the rest turned out great.

I don't think I have anything close to this in my collection which I am happy about. I'm hoping that since it is not a true neon that it will wear well, fingers crossed!

Bright Colour Block

I have a fun and bright mani refresh of China Glaze Japanese Koi. It was starting to wear a bit at the tips after about three or four days as I still light the bright shade on my nails, so I covered it up with another China Glaze, Papaya Punch.

Papaya Punch is a yellow based orange creme. It is not a neon, however it is still bright! It is a nice contrast to Japanese Koi. I used some striping tape to mark off about a third of my nail and applied one generous coat of Papaya Punch to the top of the nail. Shortly after application, about a few seconds, I used tweezers to help me quickly remove the thin strip of tape from the nail to get a clean, sharp line.

I added a generous coat of Seche Vite over top with a soft hand to avoid and smudging. I am quite pleased with it and do not want to take it off!

Flashback Friday

What a blast from the past this shade is! I was searching through my collection to find a bright neon to wear and found this, China Glaze Japanese Koi. I remember the first time I ever spotted this polish, I was in a salon for my first ever pedicure and picked out this shade. "China Glaze" I read to myself, never seen this polish at the drug store before...

Japanese Koi, I love the name by the way, is a bright neon orange that lean on being a jelly. The formula is thin an manageable and applied very well. It is on the sheer side, especially on the first coat and it almost appears to have more pink in it than orange, but it definitely builds up to orange in the end. I used a total of three coats over Deborah Lippmann, All About That Base, hoping it would help to eliminate viable nail line, but it is still slightly there, nothing to noticeable though. Especially in direct sunlight when the orange is pretty much blinding!

It has been wearing quite well for a neon, especially a China Glaze neon. just some minor tip wear after 4 days. I have never tried this one over a white base, but may try it out next time for full coverage and any even brighter pop... if that is even humanly possible!

My Vampire is Hot—Pink!

I decided I wanted to a non-traditional French tip. Something not so classic and more modern. What I decided on was a light, fully opaque base and a slip neon tip.

For my base I used OPI My Vampire is Buff, which as I mentioned in my last post  is an awesome neutral shade. It has more yellow undertones than pink, which work really great with my skintone. Two easy coats were applied to my nails.

Shortly after the base had some time to dry, I applied my hot pink tips. For this I used Color Club Raspberry Rush. Raspberry Rush is apart of the Wicked Sweet collection released in the summer of 2011. All of the polishes in the collection have a fruity scent. I would have assumed the scent of this polish I be raspberries, however to be it smelled exactly like my favorite flavour of bubblegum as a child, Bubblicious, Paradise Punch. Childhood memory below!!

The scent wasn't too overbearing, I really had to sniff my nails after they dried, and almost or got it was scented! I sure if it was applied to the while nail the scent would be stronger.

Using the brush from the polish, I carefully applied the neon shade to the very tips of my nails. With a steady hand and and quick swipe, I matched the other slim crescents on the rest of my nails. I wouldn't say it was 100% perfect, however I am really happy with the end result. I also do think my photos show off every imperfection but in person it looks a bit more flawless.

The one think I learned about using a neon on the tips of my nails is that they wear fairly quickly. Other than the slight tip wear to most the nails. This wore very well. I am also considering applying the same thing to my toes!

My Vampire is Buff

Today I have a perfect palate cleanser, OPI, My Vampire is Buff. I find nice neutral colours like this are perfect in summer with a good tan. My tan is getting there with beautiful weather lately :)

My Vampire is Buff is one of my favorite full coverage neutrals. The formula is great, only needing two coats for full opacity and evens it's self out well.

 

The actual shade it's self is a pale nude, definitely not a mannequin hands match for my own, but I do think it works well with my skin tone. It must be the pale yellow undertones. It also works great as a base for nail art and such, more in that in my next post!

Overall, wear was great and worked perfectly for a light, neutral nail without using a stark white.

Color Club Not So Mellow Yellow

Happy Friday! Bright and sunny shades are getting me in the mood for summer! Today I have Color Club Not So Mellow Yellow a bright neon yellow with an interesting shimmer.

The shimmer, based off my photos, look to be yellow or green, however up close it is actually an orangey red! This is odd since you would never guess based on what you see at first glance.

The formula was pretty great for a yellow, I applied three coat total with the last being thin to help smooth everything else out. I really love this bright shades for summer. Am I the only one who thinks that these types of colours feel hot or sour? Like a sour ball!

The photo below shows you just how bright this shade is in direct sunlight! A quick shot I snapped on my phone while waiting for the bus.

I totally should have layered this glitter over top while I was still wearing it, such a great combo.

This polish wore fantastically for a full week with very minimal tip wear. For a neon and a light shade such as a yellow, this is usually not the case.

4th Cross-Boarder Shopping

So sad that all the festivities from last week as the weekend are now over and it's back to work :( If only July to September were declared permanent vacation time so we can enjoy the summer. But hey, at least the weather is finally summer-like!

Of Friday I did some cross-border shopping and picked up some awesome glitter polishes. It was totally unexpected too! First stop Ulta where I picked up some from China Glazes summer collection. I am not kicking myself because I regret not picking up a few of the neons. They had a buy two for $12 promo PLUS 20% off, so I got Point Me To The Party and Can I Get an Untz Untz.

Point Me To The Party is a multicolour neon glitter topper. It should be in a clear base, however it has a pink hue to it. I am thinking this is due to bleeding if the pink pigment in the glitter? Had I of known this I probably would have left it. I am thinking maybe I can get away with sponging for less of a pink hue, I really wanted to wear this over while, not washed out pink.

Can I Get An Untz Untz is similar to Point Me To The Party, however with green, blue and purple glitters (and no weird bleeding or hue in the base). I am really happy with this one, nice as bright glitters :)

I almost didn't check out Five Below, but I am glad I did, so many impulse buys! Luckily I didn't purchase ALL the Funky Fingers, and I am glad now that I did show some restraint. First I have some glow-in-the dark shades that I got mostly for the names alone...

From Left to right, Dia de Muertos and Oogie Boogie

Oggie Boogie is a slime green glow-in-the dark shade with a green tinted base and yellow glitter of various shapes and sizes. This was fairly sheer at two coats, however, I had no problem layering this because Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorites!

Dia de Muertos is anther glowy shade in a cornflower blue base with hot pink glitter. I almost didn't get this one ( but needed anther to take advantage of the two for $5 with Oggie Boogie). I am so glad I did though, it's so cool looking! At two coats this one was also sheer, but I have no problem layering.

 

I must have been feeling the American patriotism that days because two out of the three shades I picked up are very American.

The first is Crushed Seashells, honestly Funky Fingers puts so much creativity in to their naming if glitters. Any other name as I probably would not have purchased this. But I can just see how I will wear it, over a sheer jelly base. It is made of of white glitter of various sizes and lighter yellow, pink and blue glitters that are larger. One coat is shown below.

Bottle Rockets is the second, it reminds me very much of fireworks. It is anther glitter topper with a clear base and various sizes of holo navy blue, red and silver glitter. One coat is shown below.

'MERICA, I just had to! This is a glitter topper made up of white, red and light blue glitters with a sprinkling of holo star glitter hiding in there as well. Super fun and I love the name! I have a close up of this one below to show the silver holo star slitter. One coat is shown in the swatch below.

That is all for now!

Incoco Pride Nails - Update: Removal

Happy Friday!

A short post before the weekend to follow up on my Incoco real nail polish strips. I applied these on on Monday June 22nd in the evening and the photos below show what they look like on the evening of Monday June 29th before removal.

These wore fantastically! I was really truly impressed with the wear, especially considering that these are white and are likely to show every little imperfection. I started to get more wear on the strips over the weekend, but overall I have no complaints. Not only did they apply and wore well but they look look great!

Here again is a before picture, fresh after application:

And here are a few after shots, a full eight days later:

If I really wanted to I could have gotten away with another full week of wear, but I wanted a change for my birthday nails.

Removal was pretty straightforward. I assumed since they really push the whole "real polish strips" thing that it would remove the same as a regular polish. I'd say yes and no to this. Although the polish was easy to remove with my standard non acetone remover, once I the colour was removed from my nails there was this sticky, gluey layer that was slightly more difficult to remove. I ultimately just shoved each finger in to my Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover for Glitter bottle and removal was a breeze. Maybe I needed acetone to more easily remove the sticky layer, but it was just unexpected.

On a side note before the weekend if you haven't already heard, Zoya has an awesome promo this week for Independence Day in the States, buy three polishes, get three free. This also includes FREE shipping! Just use code 3FREE at checkout.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is not only my birthday, but Canada's as well :) Always nice to have a nationwide holiday and celebrations on your birthday. I usually pull out a flashy or expensive polish with fun nail art, but this year I am keeping it simple with a new polish I picked up recently from Zoya.

Harper is fun and girly. It has a pink jelly base and is doused with golden shimmer and iridescent glitter like the others I own from the Tickled and Bubbly collection. I found this had a more opaque base when compared to the others (Alma, Stasi and Muse), kind of crelly.

Application was nice and smooth and I couldn't have gotten away with two thicker coats, but I opted for three thinner ones. Since it is jelly-like it is not 100% opaque, however with this type of polish it doesn't bother me.

I think its the girliness of the pink and the iridescent glitter that just scream celebration to me! I may jazz this up with some studs or something, just don't want to overdo it.

As a bonus today for all you other July babies I am sharing Sally Beauty's Birthday coupon for July! I love when people post the other coupons during the rest of the year, so I hope you can make use of it! Just be sure you use it before the end of of the month and be warmed, I find when I try to use these coupons in the States they ask for ID to confirm your birthday is in the month of the coupon, it may just depend on the employee as well. Otherwise, enjoy!