Sunday, June 30, 2013

Sinful Colors "Unicorn" Swatch and Review

Sinful Colors "Unicorn"
A light, buttery yellow


A color reminiscent of magical, mystical unicorns... Ok, well maybe not, but it does remind me of movie theater popcorn, freshly buttered waffles, sundresses, and brightly colored umbrellas, and possibly the color of the sky after a late day storm. Think clompy rain boots! :D Have you fallen in love with it yet?


Application 3/5 Okay, it applied a little streaky. To be fair, most yellows that I have tried do.
Drying Time 3/5 Moderate.
Texture 5/5 Smooth and creamy with a shiny and no bubbles!
Pigmentation Okay, It required a few coats to become opaque.
Number of Coats 3
Top Coat not added
Price $1.99 

Verdict - I like this color. It's a nice yellow in my collection. It's pale enough that it doesn't require extremely tanned skin. ( Which I literally NEVER have, I'm vampire colored most of the year. ) It's creamy and is a nice Summery pop of color. A nice change from the pinks I usually gravitate to. I would recommend it!

See the Honey Bee mani with this color here!

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Blue and White Flowers

Another stamped mani this Saturday! I went to Walgreens and stocked up on Sinful Colors this week. They were two for three dollars. I bought eight in total and I've been playing around with different combinations.


Here is one of my favorite blues. Will you just look at how blue it is? Can a color be any more blue than that? I don't believe so. Anyway, I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and painted every finger except my ring with Sinful Colors "Savage" it is actually a matte color (swatches coming soon!) but transforms into this beautiful gloss with a quick top coat of Seche Vite ^^ The ring finger is painted with Sinful Colors "Snow Me White" 


The silver stamped color is Sally Hansen Instadri "Silver Sweep" This color definitely lives up to it's reviews as far as stamping goes. It shows so well! It's the best silver I've tried. The ring finger is stamped with Sinful Colors "Savage" and actually turned out better than expected, considering these plates are not brand name. 
Ok, now for the plates, I hate to do this but I have no idea the brand name of these! I bought them at Wal-Mart over  two years ago. I am fairly certain they are a knock off of a Konad design plate and you can find these flowers on one of their plates. I'll look into it. Maybe the brand name of these is Kiss? I'm not sure...

Is anyone else loving that blue? I can't think of a color that is more... completely blue than this. I think I'm in love :)

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

A.S.P. Nail Art Brush Set Review

A.S.P. Nail Art Brush Set Review

I bought the A.S.P. Nail art brush set from Sally Beauty for... $10.99? They are incredibly useful and as a bonus, they are really adorable. :)


The set comes with four brushes and each brush has a plastic tube cover to protect the bristles and it comes with a plastic pouch to hold the brushes. 

See the swatch of my nails here!
They come with this adorable pattern printed on each :) 


The tips are fine and just stiff enough to control where the polish goes. 


Here are my gloppy swatches. I didn't pick the best polish to swatch with... but here they are! They can actually get finer than this, but as I said, the polish I chose wasn't the best. 

To wrap up, I love these. They make my nail art so much easier and I can toss my stripers. 

L'Oreal Royalty Reinvented Swatch and Review

L'Oreal "Royalty Reinvented"

-A positively perfect purple-
This creme polish is neither light nor dark but the perfect in between color and is a go to shade for Spring or Summer.



This is my favorite color purple. Look at how creamy it looks!


Application 5/5 Great! It glides on with zero issues, I've never had any bubbles or streakyness with this color.
Drying Time 3/5 Moderate. It dried at a pretty standard rate, maybe a little faster than other polishes.
Texture 5/5 Smooth and creamy with a shiny finish.
Pigmentation Great! It's almost opaque in one coat and completely opaque in two.
Number of Coats 2 -
Top Coat not added
Price $4.99? Part of the L'Oreal 2013 Spring collection.

Verdict - I adore all the colors I've bought from this collection, but this one is by far my favorite. I really love this shade and it's my favorite purple that I've ever used.

Cherry Blossoms

 Fast Cherry Blossoms! I did these in 10 minutes or less.... excluding the base coat drying time. Can you tell? Definitely not my best work, but I think they are cute! :) and I got asked TWICE in 24 hours "Ohhh, where do you get your nails done?" ^^

Right Hand (Definitely better than the left!)

I started with a base coat from Sinful Colors and the pale cream color is a really great shade from Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant "Forever Frosted"

Left Hand.... even though I painted it with my right, somehow it turned out worse.

To create the branches I used A.S.P Nail Art brushes from Sally Beauty Supply with the color Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant "Toasted Almond" and the flowers were quickly created with a dotting tool and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure "I Pink I Can"

Right Hand

I finished the look with a thick coat of Seche Vite to protect the art, to make my nails dry quickly and create that awesome shine ^^

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Sunflower Nails

Happy Solstice!....Yesterday. >< I'm late on posting my fresh Summer nails.


Here is my super fun and surprisingly easy mani. I created these using the ASP nail brushes from Sally Beauty (Review here!) and the flowers were created in less than 8 minutes, drying time included! 



The look was created with a base coat of Sinful Colors and two coats of a sky blue color from L'Oreal "Now You Sea Me" I created the two tone sunflower from Cover Girl Glosstini in "Pina Colada" and the darker center shade of Sally Hansen Instadri in "Lightning" The two tone leaves were created with the L'Oreal "New Money" and Sally Hansen Instadri "In record Lime" The brown for the center of the sunflower and the outline on the leaves is Cover Girl 220 "Toasted Almond" and I glossed it off with a top coat of Seche Vite.

I really love this simple summer look, I also loved that I had an excuse to buy a cute brown polish that will be great for Fall. ^^

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Royal Blue and Mod Squares

Whipped out my stamping plates and tried some of my new polishes the other day. I am LOVING how the plates are coming with that half moon on the bottom edge of the full nail plates. This was the first time I've used the half moons to create a faux french tips on my nails.


The blue is Sinful Colors Sinful Shine with Gel Tech "Break Away" (Exclusive to Walgreen's)
The stamped color is Sinful Colors "Tokyo Pearl" and it definitely isn't a thick polish, or extremely opaque. So using it was an experiment, but I think it turned out pretty nice. Shown here, it shows pretty nicely, but only because it is over a pretty dark color. Any lighter, and it probably wouldn't work. I added Seche Vite top coat and sealed the tips.


I do want to say, even though I'm not reviewing the polishes, this mani did chip rather quickly. I painted them at night and by the next night, I had tip fading and a few chips near the edges! I originally painted the blue to do a swatch and review, so I actually didn't have a base coat under it. I'm sure that didn't help the staying power of the polish. I'll try to figure out if it was the Sinful Shine polish or the lack of a base coat.  


The stamp is Cheeky's "B" plate. (I should do a review on the plates soon, too... some of them work.) But I'm just adoring the half moons!



Monday, June 17, 2013

Sinful Colors "You Just Wait" Swatch and Review

Sinful Colors "You Just Wait"

A lovely pinkish duo chrome that boasts highlights of green and silver.


I'm going to start by being honest... duo chrome and sheer colors don't always flatter me, but I was pleasantly surprised by this color! It was both subtle and eye catching at the same time. It practically blended in with my skin tone unless my nails caught the light. 


 


Application 4/5 Good. Went on smoothly and didn't show any brush strokes.
Drying Time 3/5 Moderate. It dried at a standard rate, but I applied each coat very quickly and didn't allow each one to dry fully :/ So there was significant smudging after an hour and a shower later. 
Texture 2/5 Two of my fingers had major bubbles. I probably could have avoided it if I had painted my nails slower and allowed more drying time in between each coat.
Pigmentation Extremely Sheer. Which isn't a disadvantage. It would look really nice over a dark colored polish. It took three coats to reach a good opacity.
Number of Coats 4! Three made it opaque, but three of the fingers had major bubbles so I added another coat to  smooth it out.
Top Coat not added
Price $2
Verdict - Recommend! I like this color a lot and it's a nice "almost nude" option and Sinful Colors are so cheap!

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Friday, June 14, 2013

Julep "Stefani" Swatch and Review

Julep "Stefani" 

Recently I purchased my first bottles of Julep nail polish. Julep has a program called "Julep Maven" and they send you 2 nail polishes a month and a full sized beauty product. This polish is part of the "American Beauty" maven package. At $14 dollars a bottle, I only bought the subscription because my first box was free! :) You can get your first box free here, with the code "freebox" it only costs shipping which is ... $4 I think. But buyers beware! It IS a subscription, so if you don't want another box or don't like the polish you have to cancel or skip. Just a warning :)


Okay, now for the swatches! Stefani is an awesome metallic gunmetal grey with gold micro glitter in it. These swatches are without a top coat, so the good news is if you don't like the "gritty look" that these pics have, a quick coat of Seche Vite smoothed the whole thing out.


I adore this shade because I think it's a more unique color. It's probably best suited for Winter or Fall, but throw caution to the wind, be cray, or whatever... I'm using it in the Summer. I'm a rebel...

This being said, I don't believe this polish was worth the (full) price. The application was less than smooth. It has a gold micro glitter and created almost a "bubble" effect, or gritty. One coat would probably have been sufficient, but I had a few bald spots and went for a second coat. It dried pretty slowly too. I had to be pretty cautious about smudges for over two hours. Yikes!


One note about the bottles. They are tall and thin and this makes it difficult to dip the brush back in the bottle while balancing it. I literally had to hold the bottle every time I needed more polish. This is just a minor annoyance. 
Application 4/5 Good. Went on decently smooth and didn't show too many brush strokes.
Pigmentation 4/5 Opaque after one coat. I used two to cover a few bald spots.
Drying Time 2/5 Slow. This polish dried much slower than I had anticipated, but probably could be reduced with three extra thin coats rather than two regular coats.
Finish 2/5 I wasn't thrilled about the "grit" from the micro glitter, but it was quickly remeidied with a top coat of Seche Vite.
Top Coat not added
Verdict 3/5 I adore the color, but I wouldn't purchase it at full price. 
If you are interested in their Maven program, I'd give it a try though. It's a good enough polish if you only have to pay shipping for the first box! :) Plus, who doesn't love to receive a package? ^^ Lastly, the links to Julep help my Maven program and I do get free boxes with two others who subscribe. When you become a Maven you can refer friends, earn points, and get free polish, too.

Hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start. Happy painting!

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Monday, June 10, 2013

Watermelon Nails

Three cheers for Summer! (And nails good enough to eat) Late nights, drinks with friends, campfires, swimming, and obviously, adorable nails! I'm really excited to share these for two reasons. 
1. Well, just look at 'em! Would you look at 'em? (I hope everyone has seen that Youtube video...Check it out if you need a good laugh.)
2. I found a top coat I've been dying to try (Seche Vite) and it does give the "glass" look that every nail blogger is talking about. Do you see? I love it! :)


 These watermelon inspired nails were completely easy to do, yet have a big effect. I have gotten more than a few compliments. ^^ The ring finger is the new fad of "sugar spinning" your nail polish. You can find a tutorial here. (Not done by me, I'm trying to work on videos, I just need a good light-box)
Tip: Be patient! As soon as you become rushed, the strings will become clumpy and it wont have the stringy effect that looks so neat.


These polished were used to create the watermelon slices.
In the order used and from left to right, 
Sinful Colors Basecoat
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure "Frutti Petutie" (Swatch and review Here)
Sally Hansen Instadri "In Record Lime"
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails "Blackout"
L.A. Colors Art Deco "White"
Seche Vite Top Coat


These polishes were used to create the watermelon rind.
In order used and from left to right,
Sinful Colors Basecoat
Sally Hansen Instadri "In Record Lime"
L.A. Colors Art Deco "White"
Sally Hansen Xtremewear "Mint Sorbet"
Seche Vite Top Coat


After allowing the fuchsia to dry, I free-handed the green French tips. I wasn't too concerned with accuracy because I would be adding the white stripe below it. Then I added the black dots with a dotting tool (I use a pen that has run out of ink, I tooth pic/bobby pin also works well), after the dots I added the white stripe with a striping brush and finished off with quick drying Seche Vite! :)


I know this photo is dark, but I'm posting it to show the true color of the fuchsia on my nails.The sun seemed to wash it out a bit. This matches the true color a little better.



This flower matched my nails... So I had to take a pic :)

In case the links were hiding in the text, here are the two that I posted
Tutorial for Sugar Spun Nails
Ed Bassmaster's Look at This Car!!!

I hope that everyone is having the best Summer!
Don't forget to like, share and comment with your own fruit inspired nails. :)

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Friday, June 7, 2013

Sally Hansen "Frutti Petutie" Swatch and Review

Okay. This is my VERY FIRST product review/swatch and I'll say this. I surely hope that attaining the correct color isn't always this hard. That being said, these photos have been slightly color corrected in Photo Shop to reflect what I feel is more true to the color of the polish. Even in direct light, it was photographing as a coral/lighter pink.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in "Frutti Petutie 540" 
This polish is the definition of fuchsia. It's a bright and deep pink shade yet, it's still not neon. It screams Summer to me and it's my favorite shade fuchsia that I've found. Without further adieu, here are some photos! 


"540 Frutti Petutie"


These swatches are two coat of polish but I must say that probably didn't need two coats. I painted them before bed, and did another coat in the morning because I had "pillow prints." 


The application of this polish is super smooth and the large brush covers my nail in two strokes. I'm a huge fan on large brushes, but I know other people don't necessarily love them. One thing I will say is the brush on this specific polish was a tiny bit uneven so I had a hard time making an even line near my cuticles. Though, that isn't too much of an issue for be because I always clean up the edges of my nails with acetone. 


Overall the line of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line is one of my favorites from Sally Hansen. 

Application 5/5 Smooth.
Pigmentation 5/5 Opaque Only one coat was needed
Drying Time 3/5 Moderate. This isn't advertised as a quick dry polish, so I was expecting a normal drying time.
Finish 5/5 Extremely shiny. All these swatches are without a top coat

It's called Complete Salon Manicure, and I think that's supposed to imply that no base or top coat is needed. I did use a base coat by Sinful colors, but I don't believe it is needed. It may cause some staining because it is such a dark color if a base coat isn't used. My final say is ... Obviously I'd recommend it! This is the perfect color for Summer. ^^

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Nautical Nails

So, I have this bad habit of not changing my nail polish until I absolutely HAVE TO. Meaning, chips, cracks, or out growth (Too much visible natural nail) etc. So needless to say, I'm thankful that I have some girls in my life with pretty nails so I can practice my designs. 

These nautical nails were done on my awesome sister-in-law April. Bless her for sitting through a couple of hours worth of painting and drying (and fixing! My niece is only one, so changing, bathing, feeding, ... all of these are not "wet nail polish friendly" activities)

Enjoy the pictures! I'm still trying out different styles to capture the nails in the best lighting.


I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat
The blue is Sinful Colors Sinful Shine with Gel Tech "Break Away" (Exclusive to Walgreens)
The red on the accent finger is Pure Ice Siren (I adore this red, it applies smoothly and it the perfect bright red)


The gold is L.A. Colors Art Deco in "24k Glitter" I applied this using a small art brush to make the anchor and the "buttons" but I used the actual striping brush that comes with the nail polish to create the faux french tip on the red nail. The art brush is not a nail specific one, just one that can be picked up at a local craft store.
The white is L.A. Colors Art Deco in "White". To make the strips on the pointer finger I used the actual brush that comes in the nail polish because it is a striping brush.
Tip: Instead of trying to draw straight lines to make stripes, try placing the finger being painted on a flat surface and steadying the hand holding the brush next to it. Instead of moving the brush along the fingernail, place the tip of the brush at one end of the nail and rotate or "roll" your finger under the brush. So the nail being painted it moving, and the brush stays still. 


To make the heart, I used the art brush and added a small bit of the white polish to create a glossy effect and the black polish is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in "Black Out."

These nails are topped off with a coat of Sally Hansen "Clear'd for Takeoff."

Hope you enjoyed these, maybe I'll try to coordinate with a patriotic holiday next time I do a Red, White and Blue theme. :)

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