R.I.P

A somewhat oldie, but a goodie and perfect for October!

Today I have Orly R.I.P., a black jelly base with shiny orange copper mini and hex glitter. It has a wonderful formula and applies like butter! The glitter is easy to distribute, but keep in mind that I did have the bottle stored upside-down so the glitter was held at the top of the bottle.

I only needed two coats for full opacity. I applied a coat of Seche Vite over top and it added a nice glossy finish without being sucked up by the glitter. All in all a perfect kick of to the Halloween season!

Getting Ready for Halloween!

 It has been forever since I have done any type of stamping in my nails. I was inspired by all things to come with Halloween and decided on a more subtle design that is more reminiscent of the Day of the Dead. The designes I ended up choosing has to have something to do with my recent obsession with Ink Master, I can totally see all of these elements being a part of a super cool tattoo!

Using OPI's Skull and Glossbones as by base, I knew right away that I wanted to use a deep red and stark black to the nail. I chose Sally Hansen Miricle Gel, Dig Fig, a deep opaque red and Konad Black. For stamping I used the two stamps I HAD TO HAVE on the nails ASAP; were the Victorian style skull profile (plate BM-612) and the simple yet bold coffin with a cross (plate BM-402).

I wasn't quite sure at this point what I was going to do with them, but once I started stamping with the black and red polishes and I took another look through my plates I knew I wanted some full nail patterns that matched the theme. I chose the full nail bats pattern (plate BM-H08) for my pinky and large roses (plate BM-323) for my pointer finger. I defiantly want to do something more complex with the roses and the skeleton profile in the near future!

I carefully added Essie's Matte About You top coat and voila! I'm pretty happy with the outcome and looking forward to using my plates more for some fun nails this Halloween!

OPI Skull and Glossbones

Happy October! It anyone else as pumped for the fall and Halloween season as I am!? I was totally inspired by the cooler, gloomy days to pull out this (surprisingly) untried polish from OPI, Skull and Glossbones.

Skull and Glossbones is a light to medium grey creme polish. The formula was good and it applied well. I required two easy coats for full opacity. There is a slight yellow undertone that gives the colour a little something more than a standard black and white mix. 

It wore very well with minimal wear for about 5 days before I did a little refresher.

Throw Back Tuesday - Sally Hansen Nail Prisms (Pic heavy)

 Is throwback Tuesday even a thing? Whatever, doing it anyways!

I'm starting to feel the fall vibes, despite the weather feeling more like late spring than early fall! But hey, I'm not complaining! I had a strong craving for a summer-y duochrome and ended up in my Sally Hansen drawer. I pulled out a few Nail Prisms I have yet to try and decided on Ruby Saphire.

 

This violet chameleon is a part of the long ago, and sought after, Nail Prisms collection composed of bad ass holos and vivid shifting duochromes. That being said, this polish is defiantly made of not so good chemicals, it's pretty evident from the first whiff of the open bottle! Although this polish is still usable, the formula in this one I particular is super thin and on the sheer side. It also takes FOREVER to dry!

How did I deal with it and make it look beautiful on my nails without putting a lot of time and effort into my nails? Simple, a black base coat. One coat of Ruby Saphire overtop the base of Sally Hansen Extreme Wear in Black Out and a quick dry topcoat makes everything better.

What colours flash in this polish? Indigo, purple, pink, red and orange!

The black base makes this shade look super vampy, but I am digging it! I'm usually way nervous pulling out my prisms because I know they can be finicky. But just look at that finish!

Pearl Jammin'

Happy Friday!
This polish, apart of China Glaze's Grunge collection for fall, is such a throwback! There is something unique about Pearl Jammin' that takes me back to those old school Revlon Street Wear polishes. I feel like I had one back in the 90's that was a similar shade of blue. What makes Pearl Jammin' relevant now is the contrasting copper microshimmer.

Pearl Jammin' has a soft, baby blue base with a bright copper/pink, pearlized shimmer running throughout. I have found that similar polishes China Glaze has put out like this are too subtle on the shimmer, where as this one is right-in-your-face! That being said the overall look is very subtle and chic for fall. I found it to be the perfect transition shade to the cooler months ahead. I love fall and the gorgeous polishes associated with it, but I am just not ready to give up my brights just yet! Especially since the weather around here still feel like summer.

The formula was great. I could have built up this shade to full opacity in two thick coats, but I opted for three thinner ones to avoid any strong brushstrokes from the pearl shimmer finish. The pearl finish may not be for everyone, but it really makes this polish. I find it alters the shade depending on your light source.

I am usually not a fan of frost or pearl finishes but I am really digging this one.

Trade in you unloved polish for a half off discount on Zoya!

The Zoya trade-in is back again this year! A first for Zoya to run the promo twice in one year. I for one just placed my order and cannot wait to receive the lemmings I have been wanting or a while now. Full information below: Trade in your old nail polish (any brand, used or unused) for ZOYA, the smart choice! Zoya the pioneer of the BIG3FREE and the BIG5FREE movement, is officially 10-Free and breathable since our formulas have never included ethyl tosylamide, TPHP, xylene parabens, or lead. As the trusted brand among professionals and women who want cutting edge color with the safest formula available, we want to give you the opportunity to trade in your unwanted brands for a healthier alternative. Let's make it the standard that #HealthierIsHappier! How The Exchange Works... 1. Add a minimum of 6 bottles of polish (no more than 24 bottles, treatments excluded) to your cart - Consumer accounts ONLY. In the event that you are a salon professional, please contact your market coordinator and they will help you with the exchange.  2. Apply Code: GOZOYA and a 50% credit will be deducted from your exchange order - FREE SHIPPING INCLUDED! 3. Complete checkout and you're all set! Offer valid 9/15/16 - 10/3/16 (11:59pm EST) The exchange runs on the honor system, which means you are not obligated to send in your unwanted polish - we assume you're going to do the right thing! If you choose to send back your polishes, please check with your carrier of choice for shipping guidelines and restrictions for nail polish.

Fall Haulin' - China Glaze Edition

Happy Friday! There was and awesome BOGO free sale for a week last month at CosmoProf for China Glaze polishes and I had to take advantage of the awesome prices! I picked up mostly fall shades, which was my intention. Rumours have been flying over the interweb about China Glazes fall collection, apparently, the coolest shades are not being sold at the most easily accessible vendors such as Sally's and Ulta. Upon hearing this I had a look online at Cosmoprof and was able to confirm they indeed have the full collection for sale. The BOGO promo sweetened the deal further!

Enough of my ramblings, on to the polishes. Due to the BOGO deal I picked up some shades I missed out on before, this includes:

Moonlight The Night - apart of China Glaze's spring collection, House of Color, is a great transitional glitter topper. With transparent and iridescent glitter it makes this polish super unique in my collection. 2 coats shown in the swatch below.

Glitter Me This - another glitter topper apart of the House of Color collection. This shade is a bit more spring, but also neutral. Made up of white, gold and pink hex glitter, I can't wait to try this over a nude shade. 1 coat shown in the swatch below.

The next four are my top picks for the Rebel collection.

Heroine Chic - this is an interesting shade. A grey-brown base with tonnes of orange shimmering flecks. Super cool for fall. 2 coats shows in the swatch below.

Holo At Ya Girl! - not holo, bad name choice! I typically would not have picked this up, but my husband was into it so I figured I should at least give it a try. In the bottle, it appears as though it has a strong duochrome shift, however, on the nail due to low density of glitter you can't really tell. The main colours I see are green and gold. I will have to see if it appears better over a darker base.

 

Blue-ya! - this is my second favorite from the collection. A deep inky blue base with a teal-green glass flecked shimmer. Flawless! Two thin coats are shown in the swatch below.

Pearl Jammin' - top fave and must-have of the collection, I also think it's safe to say that this is one of those all year round shades. The base is a soft powder blue with a strong amber shifting shimmer. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

I Got A Blue Attitude - this is your basic blurple creme... Or so I thought until I left the store! In direct sunlight, you can see a sprinkling of blue shimmer/flecks. Unfortunately, this is the only in direct sunlight and if you look very, very closely. That being said 99% of the time it will look like a creme. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Over The Moon!

Summer is still here, and I don't thin it's going anywhere any time soon! Since the sun has been in full force I decided to put on a blindingly gorgeous, bright blue holo.

I purchased Color Club, Over The Moon from a blog sale a while back and this is the first time I have tried it out. I must say, for a linear holo polish, application was fantastic. I forgot to use a special base (usually I use Nfu Oh's Aqua base) and thought I would have problems applying the polish but it was really no big deal. I mean, if I had applied a thicker first coat I would only need one coat. I prefer two so two thin coats it was, and it built up beautifully. 

I typically don't apply a topcoat to holo polishes, however, I tested out my pinky first and it didn't seem to dull the effect, and if it did, I couldn't tell! That being said, the wear of thish shade wth a topcoat is fanominal. Very minimal tip wear with just about a week of wear. 

We Got the Beet!

September may be here, but that doesn't mean summer is over just yet. Today I have a polish for China Glaze's summer Lite Brite collection that is the perfect transition shade from summer to fall.

We Got The Beet is a medium plum jelly saturated with gold flakie flecks. Being one of the darker shades in the collection, it didn't really fit in with the other pastel/neon brights at first glance. When I purchased it I didn't know how much I would actually like it until I swatched it. I was wowed!

Two easy coats were needed for full opacity. Although the first coat was a bit sheer, the second coat built up the polish I what you see in the bottle.

Ready to Rave?

This is probably one if the last bright shades I will be wearing this summer. Red-y to Rave, apart of China Glazes Electric Nights collection from last summer. I have been hearing rave (no pun intended) reviews about this shade since it's release in 2015, things like how it is a true neon red. Reds are not my go to polish if choice, I typically avoid them. I'm pretty sure this one ended up with me due to a sale of some sort!

In the bottle, this does look like a unique shade. It is a medium red that does look bright. When I applied to my nails I swear it looked orange! I have no idea why. The formula was good and only required two coats for full opacity. It's not a top coat hog, so it shines beautifully with a layer of topcoat. On its own it dries to a matte/satin finish.

 

The shade was pretty difficult to photograph correctly. Although I edited each photo for colour, I would have to say the photo that shows the shade as true as I could get on screen is the first photo in this post.

I find the shade of this colour is really dependant on the lighting you are in. It definitely is bright, and I found it to be a red-based coral shade. Not a true neon, but super duper bright!

Line After Lime

Happy Friday! Yet another shade from the China Glaze Lite Brite summer collection. Today a pastel boarder ing on being a neon, Lime After Lime.

Lime After Lime is a yellow based green creme polish. It is bright like a neon, yet soft like a pastel. Although the brightness factor just missed the mark for giving that neon glow, in lower light setting ing it does have that glow-in-the-dark look to it.

 

I used two coats for full opacity and found the formula good to work with, not too thick or thin. I got a few comments on this shade from strangers, that's how you know it's good! However, I purchased this with the anticipation of it being a bright neon. That being said, although there was slight dissapoint when I applied this shade to my nails, having worn it for a week, it has grown on me!

It wore well with slight tip wear towards the end of the week, and little cracks here and there, although, from a distance they cannot be seen.

Papa Don't Peach

I am living China Glaze's Lite Brite collection this summer. I have already worn two shades, Bite Me and What I Like About Blue, and today I have number three out of the five I picked up, Papa Don't Peach.

 

Papa Don't Peach is a bright neon coral jelly with golden flecks and shimmer. In the bottle it looks bright and summery and in the nail it doesn't disappoint. (The most colour accurate photo is directly below, however, in reality it actually pulls more coral)

I required two coats to build up to full opacity, which I didn't expect. I figured it would take at least three since it was a jelly. It dries to a semi-matte finish with slight texture, due to the flecks and shimmer, however, I layer of Seche Vite was enough to make the final finish glossy. For extra gloss, I'd add a second layer of too coat after 24 hours of the original application.