Living in the Limelight

Another new to me purchase... From a not so new collection. China Glaze In The Lime Light, apart of the Wow Factor collection from 2006. This polish changes it's tone due to the fine shimmer that runs through, but I would describe it as a bright green with a fine blue/green duochromatic shimmer.

The formula applied well, thin and sheer, needing three coats for full opacity. On it's own this dried to a matte finish, however, adding a topcoat adds a high gloss shine without the base sucking it up

I am normally not a fan of shades like this but I really enjoyed wearing it. I like show the shimmer makes the polish appear new in different light sources.

Daisy Know My Name?

Summer... Feels so close I can taste it! I have been in a summery mood lately and pulling out my fun brights and neons. Today I have a brand new polish, China Glaze, Daisy Know My Name. This was apart if China Glazes Electric Nights collection from last summer.

Daisy Know My Name is a bright yellow that is not quite neon on it's own. It's not quite a creme either, it has this translucence to it that is closer to a jelly. 

The formula was excellent, it have a very workable thin consistency. I attempted to get this fully opaque at 3 coats, but it's not quite there. It applied like butter, so smooth and evenly and dries to a high gloss shine. 

I can imagine layering this over a white base would really make it pop and eliminate the visible nail line. Although this polish is not a neon, I can see the white base also making it way brighter that it is on it's own.

Summer Time Haul, Y'all!

I am in full summer mode and atiently awaiting a bunch of fun things in July; my birthday, my wedding and a honeymoon trip! So many exciting things to come in my favorite month and season of the year!

Summer screams brights and neons to me, today I have some of my latest purchases (first and largest in quite a while now). It's so surprise that they are all China Glazes, they manage to put out fun and exciting polishes summer after summer that I actually want!

I'll start off with my picks from the Lite Brights, summer 2016 collection first.

Papa Don't Peach and We got the Beet

Papa Don't Peach is a jelly-like coral shade with gold shimmer and iridescent glitter running throughout. Bright and flashy, I love it!

We Got the Beet is a deep plum jelly with golden shimmer throughout. I honestly like this one more than I thought I would! so pretty!

Two coats of each are shown on the nail wheel below.

Bite Me, What I Like About Blue and Lime after Lime.

Bite Me is a bright pink neon with a golden microshimmer running throughout. Excellent formula on this one! The golden shimmer makes the pink warmer toned.

What I Like About Blue was the must have polish for me! A gorgeous bright blue with a golden and slightly iridescent shimmer running throughout. The shimmer is way more visible in this one compared to Bite Me.

Lime After Lime. I love this name, it makes me think of the choreographed dance sequence from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion! Light, bright and right on the verge of being a neon green. It has that bleached bright thing going on. Another one with great formula.

One to two coats of each are shown in the nail wheel below.

Next up I have some randoms I picked up for a beauty supply clearance section:

In the Limelight, Daisy Know My Name? and Sun Worshiper.

In the Limelight, an oldie but a goodie! From my research, I have found that this was originally from the Wow Factor collection back in the summer of 2006. This shade a bright green neon with a lightly duochome shimmer, flashing green or blue depending on the light source.

Daisy Know My Name? is from last summers Electric Night Collection. I am actually wearing it right now! Its a bright yellow, but not highlighter yellow. Outside in the sunlight it is close to neon teritory on it's own, but I feel it would really pop with a base of white.

Sun Worshiper is a polish I have admired from afar for way too long. A part of the 2010 Poolside collection, this is a bright, in your face nacho cheese neon! I can't wait to wear this with a tan!

Two to three coats of each are shown in the nail wheel below.

So many exciting new polishes to wear making it hard to decide what to wear next! What is your favorite shade for summer?

East Austin - Remixed!

I actually had time to spare on the weekend and decided to pull out my nail art plates, blow off the collecting dust (from who knows the last time I used them!) and play with my nails.

I decided to try out a new plate I got from  Born Pretty Store, likely late last year. It is plate BP-L030 and is a larger, rectangular plate.

The graphics consist of a large scale abstract lace and florals. I used more of the floral pattern from the bottom left-hand corner of the plate. I attempted to use another new product from Born pretty store, their XL squishy stamper, but it was a total fail so I gave up and used my regular one.

I really like this plate, the final look is more interesting than the standard "copy and past" of each graphic on to every nail. I purposely picked up different parts of the design to stamp on my nail so the design on each nail was unique.

There is something about a bold, black pattern over neon polishes that just SCREAMS summer to me!

East Austin

I am feeling summary and pulled out Color Club East Austin for the first neon of the season!

I love this shade because it is coral (one of my favorite polish colours), it's a neon (duh) and it's soft. It has that sun bleached look to it while still being bright.

Application was good, I can't recall if I applied two or three coats for full opacity now... But I want to say it was two. I remeber the formula being pretty opaque and not very thinned out.

Love this on it's own, but if you wanna check out some nail art (I know, it's been a while!) stay tuned for the best post!

At Vase Value

I have a beaut today from China Glaze's 2014 Spring Collection, City Flourish. I picked out At Vase Value to wear for my engagement photos! I wanted something that was a little edgy without being too flashy or tacky. It's safe to say that neons, glitter and nail art of any kind were out, I didn't want too much of a distraction in the photos, and I wanted it to match the venue, outfits, etc seamlessly.

I knew I wanted a soft blue, I think I had the "something blue" tradition in my head. Blue is edgy without being over the top when you pick a pastel or lighter shade. In the end is came down to this or Color Club's Meet Me At Your Chateau.

I chose At Vase Value in the end due to the brighter shade with a hint of green making it more turquoise.

Application was okay, a little streaky on the first coat. As long as you swipe the polish quickly on the nail, it will even it's self out. I'm pretty sure I applied three coats total, the last coat being very thin.

I love this shade and I'm glad I chose it for my photos!

I Theadora You

The countdown is on guys, just over a month until my wedding and I feel like a lot is going on... but not really. There is still a lot to do, but not in comparison to the big picture of planning a wedding and all that! I feel like I'm at the end at this point. My hardest decision lately is where to go for our honeymoon! Suggestions would be greatly appreciated by the way! I'm looking mostly south, all inclusive.

So why am I bringing this up? Today's mani is what I wore for my bridal shower; A lovely soft shade that is oh so girly. This is OPI's I Theadora You.

I applied more coats of this crelly than I usually apply since I wanted it to be mostly opaque, three coats got me there. The one thing I did not expect is the overall look was more milky than pink tint. You can see what I mean in the flash photos below (last photo below).

I ended up layering Zoya's Godiva Pixie Dust overtop and I really loved the combo. Unfortunately for you guys I forgot to snap a photo. Luckily, I Theadora You is lovey on it's own as well.