Cult Nails Scandalous

Happy Friday! A nice sunny weekend calls for a bright and shiny shade. Summer seems to be in full force, however I feel like this whole season is just flying by since the weather picked up so late.

Today I am wearing Cult Nails Scandalous. This juicy shade is super duper shiny. The colour does not photograph very well, I would describe it as a pink based coral jelly. On screen it looks way more saturated. It is a very creamy jelly.

It was fairly thin on the first coat, but built up nicely in three coats, not bad for a jelly. I had no application issues, as always with my Cult Nails polishes, flawless formula :)

In Hind sight I regret not trying a jelly sandwich with Scandalous. It would go perfectly with captivated or Blaze! Whenever I pull out a Cultie to wear, it always makes me crave more. Can't wait to see what Maria has in store for us in her newer collections!

Flushed Sparks Fly

Today I have a quick mani refresh, I originally wanted to do some stamping over Cult Nails Flushed, but ultimately decided on glitter tips due to timing and sleepiness lol. I used Sally Hansen Triple Shine Sparks Fly on my wee tips. I chopped them down AGAIN this weekend due to a very large break in my index finger, I wanted them to look as close to uniform as possible. My nails have really taken a beating this winter :(

Sparks Fly is a silver hex and small glitter suspended in a very light cornflower jelly base. The base is very sheer and probably will never build up to full opacity, but is very dense with glitter. Over another polish colour, you see a slight contrast between the colour of y our base polish and the glitter. Since Flushed is a purple, the jelly in Sparks Fly gives a slightly more blue tint at the top of the nail. Subtly but i'll take it!

The glitter was easy to apply, I didn't need to go around fishing for glitter, and I experienced no bubbling considering I was using a blotting method of application. I would recommend at least a thin layer of top coat over the glitter to ensure none of the glitter pieces are poking out to the point where they are sharp or flake of your nail. If you apply the polish is a traditional way, long strokes, you shouldn't have a problem, but the blotting method does leave some glitters poking out.

Flushed

Ah Monday, the weekend has come and gone way too fast. So has March for that matter! Only about a week left until April, and them comes Easter hopefully with some warmer spring like weather. Until April does come I am continuing on with my March theme of green and purple nails, today I have a lovely purple shade, Clt Nails Flushed

Flushed is a great medium purple creme with a slightly duochrome shimmer. in the bottle the shimmer appears to shift between pink gold and green, however on the nail, pink is the most prominent. I wish the duochrome was apparent on the nail, but it is still a pretty combo of pink and purple.

The formula was excellent as always with Cult Nails, I only needed two coats for full opacity. The formula was very smooth and easy to manage.

Only a few more shades of green and purple before I bust out my new spring shades, cannot wait to try some of the new collections out!

Coveted

I seem to be falling more and more in love with Cult Nails polishes lately. The interesting polish finishes and shades, not to mention the impeccable formula. Not only is the polish awesome, but Maria, creator and owner is awesome too! Having sales, contests and giveaways, makes her brand more accessible to those who may not have purchased otherwise due to the pricing or availability. Today I have a beautiful green polish in celebration of St. Patrick's day which is coming up soon!

Lots of photos for this post to show the lovely Coveted by Cult Nails off.

Both above photos in lamp light

Coveted is a deep evergreen jelly sprinkled with lighter green shimmer and irregularity shaped shards of glitter, I'm isually not a huge fan of the irregularity shaped pieces of glitter, however in this polish it works. The jelly base makes them appear as though they are green flakies. The glitter and shimmer combined add nice depth to the polish.

Camera flash

LED lighting

The formula was flawless and applied well. The first coat was a bit streaky but the second coat evened everything out. The green base is super pigmented so you don't need a million layers. The only downside to this polish was that depending on the size and shape of the glitter piece on the nail, it may not have smooth finish. I also experienced some snagging, peeling off of the glitter. This was mostly directly after application, it didn't seem to bug be much the more I wore it.

Indirect natural lighting

Both above photos taken in natural sunlight

As you may have already noticed, I chopped my nails right down to help them heal from the damage caused by the winter weather this year. I usually do a nice spring trim of my nails in hopes of a fresh new start and growing my breaks out. I love darker, bolder shades on short nails, and I think the nail size, shape as polish worked perfectly together.

I'm Royal

Another weather inspired polish choice for today. The temerature went up a bit the last few days which makes for sogy, foggy and wet cold days. It can get kinda gloomy. Not to say Cult Nails Princess is gloomy, but it has a murky, dusty look to it that is both representative of the weather and kind of brightens you day!

Princess is a soft putty grey blue with a sprinkling of pink and gold shimmer. The shimmer is not as noticable on the nail as it is in the bottle, but I wouldn't change that. I like the subtleness of it, It adds a bit of depth. I only required two thin coats for full opacity and it dried realy quick, I am so impressed with this polish! I have a bunch of Culties that I haven't worn yet, I think I need to pull them out ASAP because I couldn't ask for more in terms of formula for a polish.

The wear is also awesome. I decided to go with my second favorite top coat to layer over Princess, NYC In A New York Minute quick dry top coat. It is way thinner than Seche Vite but adds an amazing gloss and aids in quickly drying the polish. I have to start using it more often.

Princess and the NYC top coat worked in perfect harmony together, it kept the polish well protected with a glossy finish.

Cult Nails Black Friday Preview Sale!!

Happy Friday :)

I received an email at 12:00am this morning for a pretty awesome promo from Cult Nails!

BLACK FRIDAY PREVIEW SALE - 40% OFF!

Today, for our email subscribers only, SAVE 40% on all items in the lacquers, imited edition colours and treatments categories with a minimum purchase of $24.00 or more.

Simply enter coupon code THANKYOU13 during the checkout process and save 40% on all qualifying products. Nail Files, Package offers, and Last Chance Deals are not eligible for this savings.

This sale will not be announced on our blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feeds. Coupon valid from now (Midnight Nov 22nd) until 11:59 PM eastern time! One day only, don't miss it!

I love Cult Nails for their quality, unique collection of polishes and sales, so if you have been putting off purchasing some Culties or would like to start your Christmas shopping early for the polish hoarder on your list, now is your chance to get 40% off!

Doppelgängers - Cult Nails vs China Glaze

Wow, been forever since I have done a Doppelgängers post, which is a good thing. I'm trying to avoid polishes that are too similar to the ones I already own. I actually noticed a resemblance of Cult Nails Blazed to another polish in my stash right after I purchased it, I hate when that happens!

Which is which?

First up here is Blazed, this polish consists of copper and gold glitter in a clear base. two coats:

The polish Blazed is going up against? China Glaze I Herd That from 2012's fall On Safari collection. This polish consists of coper, gold and holo glitter in a clear base. 2 coats.

At first glance in typical lighting these polishes look pretty darn close, but lets take a closer look. Blazed actually appears slightly warner than I Heard That, while I Herd That has the holo sparkle. although I find these to be very similar, and you probably wouldn't need both in your stash they are not 100% identical. The slight shade variation of the gold/silver glitter and holo sparkle in I heard that sets them apart.

Nail Mail + A Dollarama Find

NAIL MAIL!!

Cult Nails has been having some really good promos lately, I took part in the buy 3 polishes, get one free deal last month, my pics included;

Be Loco - a bright, orange leaning coral creme

Blazed - a orange coper glitter in a clear base

Riot - a bright teal creme

Flushed - a medium purple with a duochrome shimmer which flashes from magenta to green

Be Loco and Riot were only one coat in my swatches! Blazed and Flushed required two coats for full opacity. Super awesome new additions to my collection :) As always the formula is flawless.

Another random polish I purchased recently is from Dollarama is Nicole by OPI, Brilliant Idea.

2 coats for swatch above

This glitterbomb is packed with bright swampy green minro and hex glitter. It reminds me of a lighter version of China Glaze It's Alive from their 2011 Haunting Halloween collection. I immediately needed this polish to make a glitter gradient :) hopefully I will get to it before October is over!

Super Captivated

Happy Friday!! Today is not just any Friday, in Canada it is the start to the long weekend and celebration of Canada Day! I will also be personally celebrating my birthday, also on Canada day :)

I haven't decided on a birthday mani yet, but today I have a beautiful polish I have put off wearing for too long. I lusted after Captivated when it was first released from Cult Nails and am so happy to have it apart of my collection. The base is a coral, orange/pink jelly and it is jam paced with medium and small iridescent hex glitter. The glitter flashes mostly orange and yellow but if you look real close you can definitely see some blue and green in there. It is absolutely stunning!

With all that glitter you would think it would leave a bumpy texture but it was pretty smooth with only one layer of top coat. Application was great, I applied three thin coats and as you can see it is perfectly opaque. I did find the formula a little on the thick side so I added some thinner which helped with even application.

I applied this polish the same day I spent preparing a large dinner for a barbecue, my hands were immersed in water and working away all evening, no chips! Five days later I have only minor tip wear, see for yourself in the photo below.

 I absolutely love this polish! I have received many compliments on it so far.

Cult Nails Swatches

I just realized when I posted my Cult Nails nail mail that I totally forgot to take swatch photos!! I have included them below.

Left to right: Walk of Shame: 2 Coats, Coveted: 2 Coats, Princess: 1 Coat, Scandalous, 2-3 coats

Walk of shame was that extra polish I added to my cart to get the discount, but am just so in love with it. All of these polishes applied great, perfect formula not too thin. not too thick. Scandalous, which is a jelly, applied fantastically and leveled it's self out without leaving any weird brush strokes or bald spots.

Nail Mail Time...

How adorable is this label? I love Cult Nails for stuff like this!

Their packaging is so great, Maria and her crew really take the time to make each package look special. Unfortunately I was full of excitement and didn't take any photos of the inside of the box before I tore in to it lol. I did manage to take the photo below of the red tissue paper held together by a cult nails sticker which wrapped up my polishes all nice and pretty.

A little back story on my purchase, I live in Canada which makes it expensive for me to order from Cult Nails. I have been a supporter of the brand and follower of the R3 Daily way before Cult Nails. As much as I wanted to support Maria and her polish venture, the polish was just to expensive with everything was added together with shipping and I had issues in the past shipping to an American address through checkout. Luckily a promo was offered and the sites checkout has been updated, plus shipping is now free in the U.S, so it was the perfect time for me to pick up some long time lemmings ;)

Walk of Shame and Scandalous

Walk of Shame is a gold and holo glitter which is made up of hex, micro and regular glitter. Super glittery, I love it way more than I thought I would!

Scandalous, a coral jelly which I am in love with!

Princess and Coveted

Princess is a dusty periwinkle leaning blue with a pink/gold shimmer. it was very hard to capture this one properly unfortunately.

Coveted is a deep green with medium green shimmer and flake glitter.

And finally, Wax That, a wax finish top coat exclusive to Cult Nails.

Did you pick up anything during the promo?