Sprinkle Jelly Doughnut

...At least that's what my boyfriend called them! I kind of agree, I mean if they were super radioactive sprinkles or something.

I wanted to use my neon glitter toppers from China Glaze's Electric Nights collection before summer was over. I am hoping the bright glitter pigments do not bleed in to the base like the previous one I purchased, Point Me To The Party. To recreate the look of this polish, I layered Can I Get An Untz, Untz, with Let The Beat Drop. For the creamy "icing" base polish I used Essie Marshmallow.

So here is what happened, I applied two coats of Marshmallow to my nails, let them dry for a few minutes and blobbed on some glitter from each polish. The result looks great from afar.... however when a closer look is taken you can see a pink haze from Let The Beat Drop (Doh!) and BUBBLES, BUBBLES, everywhere!

The next day it drove me to the point of removal and reapplication! I know, crazy right? Not like me at all, but bubbles seriously annoy me! Can you see a difference below?

So, what did I do differently?

I applied slightly thinner layers of Marshmallow and allowed some extra dry time between coats. When applying the glitter to the nail I used a cosmetic sponge wedge to soak up excess base and get good coverage of glitter on the nail without adding extra polish. The result was much better!

The one thing that always bothers me about using cosmetic sponges in nail art is that for some reason it likes to attract dust. Does this happen to you too? Other than that I am pretty happy with the outcome of this look (finally). A little disappointed that Let The Beat Drop has started to bleed a bit in to the base, but I am happy I was able to remedy that with sponging on the glitter instead.

I really love these glitters and would suggest getting these two over Point Me To The Party. Not only do you get the same look of this polish when they are layered, but you can use them on their own as well! I think I want to try this over black next, I can see it making the neon glitter really pop.

A Few Months in Hauls

Happy Friday the 13th!

This post is LONG overdue. It includes some polishes I received around Christmas and others I picked up in store since then. I'll start with the oldest first, lots of holiday polishes. All sets below were gifts.

OPI, Rollin' In Cashmere Set

Rollin' In Cashmere -  soft gold frost
Snow Globe Trotter - glitter topper comprised of white and pastel iridescent glitter. Very snow globe!
Comet In The Sky - another glitter topper, practically the same as Snow Globe Trotter with black glitter.

Next is an Essie gift set that came with a creme polish, a glitter topper and a mini glass file. The polishes I received included:

A-List - classic red creme
Sparkle On Top - iridescent flakie topper

Bundle Monster CYO # 2 (600 series) plates

OPI Lights of Emerald City - a glitter topper made up of white and iridescent glitter pieces suspended in a clear base

Next up is a big Nails Inc gift set called Be Gelous. I have already worn some of these shades and mentioned them on the blog. Not my favorite for wear time, but formula if good.The set included:

The Boltons - red shimmer
Grosvenor Crescent - deep eggplant creme
Old Bond Street - royal blue creme

 

 

New Oxford Street - muted purple based taupe
Piccadilly Place - densely packed glitter topper consisting of multicoloured hex glitter, holo, silver and white mini glitter.
Uptown - a light dusty rose

 

Lastly I have some cross boarder shopping purchases from Five Below and Wegmans.

The Funky Fingers I picked up at Five Below include:

 

Elsa - a mix of matte white and baby blue glitter pieces sprinkled with snowflake shaped glitter in a clear base.
Fra-Gee-Lay - a mix of red green and white glitter of various sizes in a clear base.
Jarbreaker - multicoloured glitter pieces of various sizes in a milky white base.

The last lonely polish, which I have already wore here, is Sinful Colors, Love Sprinkles. It is a delicate glitter topper made up of pink and white glitter pieces of various shapes and sizes and even a few little heart glitters as well!

So that is it! Until the next haul ;)

Bahama Mama

I am totally in love with this polish! It is not something I would normally pick up for myself, however I received it as a gift and I couldn't be happier. This is Essie Bahama Mama.

 

Bahama Mama is a rich burgundy leaning purple cream with jelly tenancies (crelly maybe?). The formula was excellent, needing two thin to medium coats for full opacity, however It I wanted to I could have gotten away with one thicker coat.

It's very vampy and had great wear, I didn't want to take it off! I got a small chip hear and there during the week I wore it and was able to touch it up easily for seamless blending.

I kind of what to wear this shade again very soon, such a great shade, good formula and overall awesome polish!

I Was Frozen Today!

Hardly... All the snow we received last week is partially melting. I am still hopeful for a white Christmas, can you believe it's less than a week away?

Happy Friday by the way! Today I have a mani refresh with Essie, Blue Rhapsody, a frosty baby blue chrome polish. I decided to make it extra blingy with a coat of Essie, Stroke of Brilliance, a medium blue glitter topper with various sized hex glitter. In person my nails look positively frozen! 

The glitter also helped to cover up any tiny imperfections in the chrome base. I know now to use a good, thick base coat the next time I wear this, or any other chrome polish for a smooth and even application. I really liked this chrome and glitter paring and the look overall.

Christmas count down, only 5 days left!

Blue Rhrapsody

Today I have an icy blue chrome to share with you, Essie's Blue Rhapsody. I'm usually not a fan of chromes on their own but decided to give it a try, I mean the shade of blue is freakin' gorgeous. I was inspired by the falling temperature and snow for this one!

Blue Rhapsody is a light blue chrome polish that looks smooth and metallic in the bottle. On the nail it requires some effort in order to get it to smooth out to a perfect finish. I found that if I went over the same spot on the nail more than once i got some pulling. The application reminded me much of an true holo shade. I used a regular basecoat, but I know now for next time to use my Nfu Oh Aqua Base instead. I am wearing a fake nail on my right middle finger due to a painful break (not pictured) and it applied flawlessly to that nail only!

The second coat went on a lot smoother but it was difficult to get perfect application (on every nail but the falsey!). The polish was fully opaque in two coats and what you see is the polish on it's own with no base. I have plans to add a glitter topper to reduce the teeny tiny imperfections, although in my photos they appear a lot less.

Luxy

What a glamorous polish I have been wearing this week and NOT getting bored of! Lots of Lux was released least year in Essie's Encrusted Treasures collection, a very interesting collection. I own half of it which was comprised of sparkling glitters and 3D textures, Lots of Lux falls in to the textured category.

This deep indigo polish is super saturated with colour. It applied fantastically and was a one coater! Since I was trying my best to apply thin coats, I went back to a few nails and filled in any spots that needed it. I find that textured polishes are most beautiful when less coats are used. The formula for these types of polishes can be a little thicker than regular ones, however,  I didn't want to mess around with thinner and the finish so I left it be and applied coats as thin as I could while still being opaque.

At first glance the polish appeared gritty and not too sparkly but as it dries, super quick BTW, it had this matte, sparkly almost velvet look to it. The texture is like sparkling blue sand and I see a slight reflection of green in there too.

My main concern with not adding topcoat to a mani is wear, due to the fact that I love to eat and thereby have to use my hands to cook a lot! I got some slight chips hear and there after the first few days, but the best part about this polish is that you can fill it in with a stippling motion of the brush and it looks brand new again! The texture blends in seamlessly!

I have already filled in some tiny chips here and there  but am hoping to wear this for at least a few extra days before changing it. Such a great polish for the holidays!

Marshmallow

If you recall from earlier in August, which has been is now a WHILE away, I had a pedi done of Funny Bunny on my toes. At that time I applied a similar shade to my fingers to match. In my opinion these are pretty much dupes of one another. 

Essie Marshmallow is a sheer and creamy white jelly shade. I love that this shade of white is a jelly, it softens it up a bit and doesn't appear as if I have white out on my nails... not that that is a bad thing, but sometime I just want something a bit softer. 

Marshmallow applied well. Since I applied it a while back I can't recall for certain whether I used two or three coats for full opacity. I do remember the formula was nice, I didn't run in to any issues there.

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. 

Bouncer, it's Me!

I haven't worn an Essie polish in a while and figured I should try a summer untried of mine. Bouncer, it's Me, is a deep blue jelly polish. I had forgotten it a a jelly polish until I sampled the shade in my nails. The formula is thin but deeply pigmented. Depending on the pressure you apply and the about of polish on the brush you can really change the whole look of the polish. This is great for a jelly sandwich, but also can be built up to full opacity in as little as two coats!

I love that the formula is so versatile. I decided to build up to full opacity, so I only needed two coats, the first was on the thinner side and the second was a bit thicker. The formula evened it's self out perfectly, I was dreading runny, sloppy application.

Since the formula is thin, I find that the more you apply to the nail in one coat the longer it will take to dry. I severely dented my nail on the fist thin coat! It was easily evened out without any issues, but I will me more careful next time for sure.

It dries to a satiny matte finish, so a topcoat is a must. I would recommend using a quick dry topcoat to best avoid any denting after application. My go to top coat is always Seche Vite. I also added some Sally Hansen quick dry drops, which is an oil that also helps with drying the polish.

I love the look of this shiny shade. Although it appeared slightly lighter in the bottle, it does dry a deeper shade.

Fun fact: I applied this polish to myself while getting a pedicure! Not bad, right!? The pedicure post to follow.

Naughty Nautical

I can decide if it feels like summer yet over the weekend totally but the weather is up and down, super hot some days and cool on others with a mix of rain and thunderstorms. I just want full out summer weather now that it's July!

An awesome summer shade I picked up in late winter was an Essie polish I had been wanting for a while, Naughty Nautical. This teal cream has a slight sprinkling of white/silver flecks that reflect beautifully in the bottle. Once the on the nail it is not really visible unless you look really, really close.

The formula was great, thinner than I expected for a creme, but very pigmented. I only required two coats for full opacity. I absolutely adore the colour. This is the time of the year where pretty much anything goes polish wise. cant wait for the sum to really shine, then I will bring out some neons!

The Girls Are Out!

Today have another Essie I picked up recently, I must have been inspired by the warming of temperatures a few weeks back. Unfortunately the weather has been inconsistent lately. I do, however really do enjoy the odd sunny, breezy day. Essie, The Girls are Out is a great seasonal transition colour from the longer than expected winter and sporadic coming of spring.

The Girls are Out appears to be a bright red leaning purple creme in the bottle with a generous sprinkling of silver shimmer. On the nail and with my skintone I feel that is comes off as more of a magenta pink, luckily the shimmer is still visible, not too obvious and not to subtle.

I applied two coats for full opacity and don't recall having any issues with the formula or application. It is a nice bright shade that is perfect for spring or summer. Now if only it would get a wee bit warmer and less rainy, I'd be happy!

Shorts Weather

Good Morning! I hope the weather was as good where you live as it was for me over the weekend. Sure, it was a bit rainy and overcast, but for the most part it was pleasant and spring-like :) I was certainly in the mood for another spring bright on my nails, today I choose a bottle I picked up recently, Essie Boxer Shorts.

Boxer Shorts is a muted yet bright periwinkle creme, in different lighting it can appear more, blue or purple. sometimes even a bit grey! In the bottle it looks a bit lighter but on the nail it is quite a saturated shade. I only needed two coats for opacity, the first coat applied pretty well, but the second coat evened everything out. I did notice the longer I had the bottle open the more it thickened up, I'm not sureif it was because I had my window open and fan on or just due to the natural formulation of the polish. This wasn't a big deal, thinner is my best friend when I get any thickening issue :)

I think I may use this as a base for some Easter inspired nail art later in the week!