Does this Underwear Clash with my Melons?

Today I have a gorgeous polish that is F4 Summer Melon, a beautiful glitter top coat that has pink, green, black hex and small microglitter.

I made the mistake of putting it over the wrong underwear.  On the nail wheel, it seemed a perfect match, on my nails?  Not so much.  The green is too close to the green in the glitter and it didn't give it the punch I was looking for.

I love Summer Melon, I'll be on the lookout for the right panties to pair with this!

I started off with 2 coats of Sinful Exotic Green, a sheer green jelly polish that has a fantastic shine.  Then I put one coat of F4 Summer Melon.  I topped it with one coat of Seche and one coat of Nails, Inc Kensington Caviar top coats to give it a smooth finish.

I found that Summer Melon, much like EVERY F4 polish, glides on like a dream.  I love the little punch the black hex glitter gives it much like a watermelon seed.  This polish is a stunner.  These polish makers are FABULOUS!  I own a ton of their polish and not a single one has disappointed me!  I highly encourage you to check them out!

Shade (look at the shine on this baby!):

Sun (see how the green gets lost with the underwear.  Fail on my part!)

Up Close Shot (here you can see the beautiful green glitter!)

F4 polish can be purchased at their Etsy Store.  Sinful polishes can be found at Target and Walgreens.


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Blogger Spotlight - Manicurator!

Today's blogger I chose to feature is Manicurator

I love her blog, her photos are outstanding and she posts great tutorials on how she does her nail art.  She has a great mix of indies and "everyday" polishes.

This is one of those blogs I click on and then spend hours reading old posts and writing down polishes I NEEEEEEED.  Her tutorials are bookmarked in my browser!  


I've had the benefit of getting to interact with her a bit in a polish group and she seems like a genuinely nice person.

A sampling of some of my favorite manicures from her:


This tutorial was the reason I featured her this week, it is AMAZING!


I loved her abstract art laser nail design.

Her spray bottle splatter was ingenious (and totally on my to-try list!).

Her 4th of July Manicure was absolutely outstanding.  I mean I sat there open mouthed looking at it thinking how talented she is!

Anyway, if you don't follow her already, I encourage you to do so.

All links go to Manicurator's blog, all photos are her property.  I have not received anything in exchange for spotlighting this blog, only sharing my love of another blog with people who may not know about it.

Let's Go Crazy!

When the blogs and nail polish groups erupted with the news that Deborah Lippmann was making an exclusive glitter called Let's Go Crazy for the Nordstrom anniversary sale, I knew it would be mine.

But, I was in a quandary, do I wait until the sale goes live and hope to get it in Nordstrom in fear it would sell out?  That is too many maybes and hoping and stresses.  So I went with the sure thing, calling my mom and asking her to order me one (she is a cardholder and as such had early access)!  Even at 39 years, 10 months, and 2 weeks old, a baby girl can always depend on her mommy.  And, yes, I'm old.  You can close your mouth now! 

My lovely came to me via UPS yesterday and naturally I had to get it on my nails pronto.

I decided because most DL glitters are very sheer, to layer it over China Glaze Grape Juice.  This is a purple shimmer and I thought it would be cool because the shimmer would shine underneath the purple jelly base. It does in person, but it was harder to capture in photos.

This is 2 coats of Grape Juice with 1 coat of Let's Go Crazy on top.  As with all Lippmanns, the formula is fantastic and it has that wow factor.  It was top coat hungry, this has one coat of Seche and one coat of Nails, Inc Kensington Caviar on top.

Grape Juice was a little thin for me and I had issues with pooling.  CG is either perfect or runny, there seems to be no in between.  This was a runny.  Thus my application was soiled, but I really don't care!  


I just love it. 


Shade (look at the shine this baby gives off, you can see my reflection!):

Sunlight (for whatever reason, I always tend to be heavy handed on the glitter on my middle finger, coincidence or subconscious?  Hmmmmm):

See how nice and smooth (and on the right nail you can see the shimmer peeking through)!

Up close view of the pretty!

Deborah Lippmann polishes can be purchased at Nordstrom (and this was is a Nordstrom exclusive), but you can usually find GREAT deals for DLs at HSN.com.  China Glaze can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply or Ulta.





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Guest Post @ DIY Polish & More

Heidi from DIY Polish & More asked for some guest posters while she moves and I volunteered.  I am honored that she allowed me to share on her blog!

Here is a link to the post:

Guest Post @ DIY Polish & More 

Photo teaser (click on post to see more shots! & the polishes I used!):

Battle of the Princesses

In this corner, we have Sinful Cinderella, a light blue polish with an orangey-pink shimmer.  Cinderella is VERY sheer.  After 2 thick coats there were still bare spots.  Since I knew I was topping it, I stopped there.  I was sort of meh on this color.  I think I would like it more over a light blue base.   I don't want to lay on 4 coats to get it to be opaque. The application was good for the most part, a tad bit thin, but generally on par with other Sinful polishes.


In the next corner we have Sea Lore Ariel.  A glitter topcoat loaded with red squares, purple hexes, and green glitter.   This color combo is very evocative of Ariel's color scheme.   What really sets Ariel apart for me is the gorgeous green/blue shimmer throughout.  I thought the application was easy, more of a dabber type of polish, but still easy to put on and disperse.  Very easy to get a blend of glitters out of the bottle.  The one nail that has a glittergasm on it was because my kids came in my room and distracted me and I looked down to find I put on too much.   This is a top coat lover, but two coats of Seche and it was perfectly smooth on the nail!  This line from Sea Lore is really fun because each is named after one of Triton's daughters from The Little Mermaid.  


Combined, I think these two turned into something breathtaking. 


However, as you can see from the photos Ariel comes out on top!   :-) Duh, Ariel is the far better princess in the Disney world!.


Sunlight:

Shade (this is where the magic happens):

Up close and personal (gah, look at that shimmer!!!):

Sinful colors can be purchased at Walgreens (and they are having a sale for .99 each this week!).  Sea Lore can be purchased through their online storefront.

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Nevermore is Phenominal

Originally, my go to one coat black polish is a England Camelot.  However I've found I've been shying away from using black bases because I don't want to use it up.  It can be sold out often on web sites and so I was afraid to use up all of my precious.

So when I heard Cult Nails Nevermore was an equally awesome black, I picked it up during one of their $5.00 sales (which are awesome, seriously, follow them on Facebook to be sure you know when they are coming!).

This polish most definitely delivered.  A one coat black, with ease of application AND fantastic shine.  One top I put one coat of HITS Phenomena Moonbow, a gorgeous color shifting glitter top coat.  There are so many different colors that flash in this manicure, I can't even tell you!  

Fantastic pairing and with 2 simple, easy to apply coats I was base coat to top coat done in 20 min!  (For me?  This is good, usually I spend more time cleaning up my nails than painting them!).

Sun:

Shade trying to show off some of the colors more:

Close Up!

 The amazing Nevermore on its own

You can purchase HITS through Ninja Polish.  Cult Nails can be purchased on their website. 

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Blogger Spotlight: Sometimes I Spill My Polish

Today's blogger I chose to feature is Sometimes I Spill My Polish

I found her blog really early on when I was consuming blogs at such a rapid pace.  There was something about it that resonated with me and I kept coming back for more.  At the time there less than 100 followers and now she is almost to 500! 

I think one of my favorite things about her blog is how often she highlights indie polishes.  As a fellow indie hoarder myself, I love seeing her swatches of things to help me make up my mind.  Even when I already own the polish, I love seeing her different combos of layering.

She also posts reviews on products from time to time! 

A sampling of some of my favorite manicures from her:

This makes me NEED Pretty and Polished Punk'd Up Betty.

I ran out and bought F4 Piper after seeing this post.

This combination of Salt N Peppa over a neon is stunning!

And here is another one that sent me running for Etsy, Aqua Daisy Succulent!  


Anyway, if you don't follow her already, I encourage you to do so.

All links go to Sometimes I Spill My Polish's blog, all photos are her property.  I have not received anything in exchange for spotlighting this blog, only sharing my love of another blog with people who may not know about it.

Power Thief Gets A Little Kindness

I enjoyed Cult Nails Power Thief so much from my last manicure, I didn't want to take it off!

Then I got a delivery of the Equestria Collection from Rainbow Honey in the mail and I decided to put A Little Kindness on top.

I have always been a fan of the combination of pink and brown and I think these two polishes layered perfectly together.  The pink shimmer on top of the brown really made it interesting.  The mix of glitters was fantastic.

I thought the polish was wonderful, the formula was great and the glitter was easy to get from bottle to nail.  I just used one coat to top it and I didn't have to "work" the polish at all.  I wasn't a huge fan of the brush on the mini polish, but I was able to work with it.  I can't wait to try more of my Rainbow Honey polishes!

I loved this combo so much I didn't take it off for my next meeting!  This combo also wore like iron on my nails, at the time I posted this?  4 days.  No chips.  Holla!  (I am so ridiculously hard on my nails, this is a miracle!)

Photo time!

This shows off the pink shimmer:

Here you can see the blend of glitters

Up close and personal:

Cult Nails can be purchased at their online store.  Rainbow Honey can be purchased at their website.


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Power Thief

I have a heavy meeting week this week, which means that my nails will be less blingy than usual.

For today's meeting, I decided to put on Cult Nails Power Thief.  A beautiful brown with silver shimmer.   It is subtle, but still full of intrigue, so I loved it.


Below you see two coats of Power Thief.


As always, Cult Nails gives a fantastic formula and application.  I'm in love with her polishes!  I've yet to be disappointed.


Shade:

Sun!

Close up!

You can purchase Cult Nails at her online store.

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iheartprettypolish Giveaway!

Essie Rae from iheartprettypolish is having an awesome giveaway - you choose your own Whimsical by Pam!  


Run on over to her blog to enter!


http://www.iheartprettypolish.com/2012/07/100-follower-giveaway-whimsical-polish.html

Blog Sale!

I'm having my first blog sale, please see this page if you are interested!


http://sytycp.blogspot.com/p/blog-sale.html

Minnie gets Clueless

Today I have a Pinkalicious combo (as my son would call it), I started off with 2 coats of OPI If You Moust You Moust from the Minnie collection.  This is a fantastic pink, maybe one of my absolute favorites.  It was a little streaky after 2 coats (seen below), but I knew I was going over it, so I figured it was good enough.

On top is one coat of Nostalgic Lacquer As If from the Clueless Collection.  I was disappointed to see the pinks are so close that they don't pop as much as I thought they would.  Next time I'll try a darker reddish pink.  

Regardless, I loved this.  I got SO MANY compliments when I was out.  I was so heartbroken after a day at the pool when it all was chipping off.  

As with all of my Nostalgic Lacquers, I loved this polish.  It is easy to get from bottle to nail and all of the glitter lays down perfectly.

Such a great fun combo.  Even my husband commented that since we were going to a party that day, that I needed to be careful while cleaning up so my nails didn't chip since he wanted me to show them off at a party we were going to.  (And he NEVER comments on my nails).  

Shade:

Sun:

 Up Close and Personal:

 If You Moust You Moust by itself:

You can purchase OPI through Ulta or various etailers.  Nostalgic Lacquer can be purchased through invoicing.  For more details click here.

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I Herd Kalahari's Kiss in the Desert Sun!

Apparently I had premature publication, because I created the title as a placeholder and then published instead of save.  BLOGGER FAIL.

Sorry about that!

Today we have what passes for me as nail art using 3 of the China Glaze Safari Collection polishes. 

I started off with 2 coats of Kalahari's Kiss, a beautiful light taupe polish that looks far better than I expected on the nail.  Then after it dried, I taped the corner and put on Desert Sun.  This was the absolute "must have" polish for me because I have nothing else like it in my collection.  It is the color of warm butterscotch.  


Then I did some dotting with Kalahari's Kiss and a smaller dot of Desert Sun, covered by one final dot of I Herd That.


I Herd That perfectly compliments Desert Sun and Kalahari's Kiss.  These colors came together beautifully and I was really excited about the way this came out and I got TONS of compliments (even though this as far as nail art goes is pretty poor!).  

The formula on Kalahari and Desert Sun was a bit on the thin side, but it cleaned up easily, so that made it less frustrating.  I'm hoping with time it will thicken up a bit.


Onto the photos!

These were all taken in sun, I posted all of them so you could see the sparkle of I Herd That.

Close Up!

China Glaze can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply or Ulta.



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Dupe it Out - Choose Me!/Charla/Haley's Comet

On my Zoya Charla post the other day I had several comments about how this is a dupe for Orly Haley's Comet and Essence Choose Me!

Since I have all three (don't judge me, I have a problem), I decided to do a comparison post.

As some of you may know, I'm a former mathlete and as such all things numerical appeal to me, so I'll be rating them in different categories!

Here is the photo of all three (with labels), each has two coats with no top coat or base coat.   As you can see, all of them are pretty close to each other.

Category 1 - Cost:

First place - Essence Choose Me!  For $0.99 it blows the competition away, tied for second is Zoya and Orly, both of which can be purchased for 8.00 at Ulta.

Category 2 - Application:

First place - Zoya Charla - great application and formula.  Second place - Choose Me!  This actually applied with less goofs, but the first coat was very streaky, with Charla you could almost get away with one coat.  Last place - Haley's Comet - holy cuticle pool Batman!  This application and clean up was a nightmare!

Category 3 - Staining:

First place - Zoya Charla - no staining when I took it off 1 hour later.  Second place - Orly Haley's Comet - minimal staining (yes, after only 1 hour!) it did come off with a little elbow grease though.  Last place - Essence Choose Me!  Holy crow, totally stained my nail after only 1 hour.  ONE HOUR!  It is still stained 2 days later.

Category 4 - Overall Look:

They have subtle differences, Choose Me is a little lighter, Haley's Comet is a bit darker and Charla is in the middle.  All of them look stunning in the sun.  For my personal preference I chose as follows:  First place - Choose Me! - I liked the lighter bits of green.  Second - Charla and Last - Haley's Comet.  I didn't like the darkness as much.

Rating:  3 points for first, 2 points for second, 1 point for last.

Totals:
Choose Me - 9 points
Charla - 10 points
Haley's Comet - 6 points

So the winner is..... Zoya Charla!  But not by much.  For $0.99 if you want this polish, Essence is a good substitute.  Sometimes, money trumps all else!  (Just be sure to pile on the base coat to avoid staining!!!).


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C is for Cookie, That's Good Enough for Me!

Today I have the amazing Nails, Inc Sugar House Lane.  This is part of their new cupcake sprinkles line.  One look and I knew that I HAD to have them.  


This totally reminds me of a chocolate chip cookie.  I loved it from the first brush stroke!  I don't own anything like it in my collection.


This is a neutral taupe base filled with black, white, and brown glitters.  It applies like a dream, like all Nails, Inc polishes.  I love that you don't need to worry about finding the right underwear, because the base of the polish is plenty opaque.


I used 2 coats, but I could have easily done 1 thinker coat.  Like all glitter bombs, this is a top coat eater, but nothing a coat of Gelous followed up by Seche Vite couldn't handle!  It may look rough, but it is perfectly smooth.


I need the rest of these, pronto!  


Shade:

Sun, with an angle so you can see it is perfectly smooth:

Sun

Extreme Close Up

Nails, Inc can be purchased at Sephora.  I went to the store yesterday and these were not yet in store, but you can order them online!  RUN!!!  


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Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes...

Over the past few days (it feels more like decades), I've gone through and cleaned up all of my old photos.  Amazing what a good crop function and light adjustment can do!

I didn't have any good photo editing software, so I decided to download Picasa to add a mark to the photos and started playing around with the light/crop and voila!  Better pictures.  I think I've done all of them now.  I had no idea how many pictures I've taken of my nails until I had to edit every.single.one.

OOOOFFFAAA.

On the bright side, it was really worth it because I was able to crop/zoom in better on the nails, show off some of the amazing polishes better and lighten up a few I took inside (my house has the light equivalent of Lurray Caverns).

If you noticed any of the old photos changing, this is why.  Thanks to all of you who followed me even though my pictures were le suck!

I always am looking for ways to improve this blog, so while this may be the first, it wont be the last!

Have a great weekend!


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Blogger Spotlight Friday - The Polished Zombie

Today's blogger I chose to feature is the Polished Zombie.

I enjoy reading her blog because she injects humor into every post, so in addition to pretty polish, she makes me laugh.  She has fantastic gifs that she posts on every one of her posts.

Having gotten to know the Polished Zombie a bit, I have come to realize that her blog is a prefect reflection of her, funny and honest.  She isn't afraid to say what she thinks and if she recommends something?  She definitely stands behind it.  She doesn't shy away from speaking her mind and I really respect her for that.

She is who I refer to as my F4 enabler - she has caused me spend a LOT of money at that store, and have a lemming list a mile long!

A sampling of some of my favorite manicures from her:

Jelly Sandwich of OPI and F4 lovlies.

Here is the post that makes me want to find her house, break in and steal her Nerd Lacquer to add to my black and red collection.

This is why I own F4 Mirrorball and this is why I own F4 Pink Penguin. (Told you she was an enabler!)

Anyway, if you don't follow her already, I encourage you to do so.

All links go to The Polished Zombie's blog, all photos are her property.  I have not received anything in exchange for spotlighting this blog, only sharing my love of another blog with people who may not know about it.

Lesbihonest under the Mirrorball

Today I have a bucket full of awesome for you.

I started off with 2 coats of ManGlaze Lesbihonest.  A matte fuschia that is crazy perfection.  Goes on like a dream and has that perfect matte finish that ManGlaze is known for.  The best thing about the two ManGlaze polishes I have is that they look fabulous either matte or with a top coat.  Their formula is fantastic.  Plus their names and bottle art are just so full of win they deserve to be owned!

To give it a bit of bling, I decided to put F4 Polish Mirrorball on the tips (and one full nail accent finger).  I dabbed it onto the tips to get such dense coverage.  This polish goes on like a dream and it truly is like you have mirrors on your fingers.   The glitters lay down perfectly on the nail. I topped just the Mirrorball with SV because otherwise it was too scratchy, but two coats of SV made it nice and smooth.   I loved the contrast between the matte and the shiny, which is why I only coated the tips.  You can see the SV line in the photos (and it looks choppy of course), but in real life, you can't see it.

I've also found this helps immensely with tip wear!    

I love this mani.  I need more ManGlaze in my life.   A gal can't go wrong with too much ManGlaze. I have Santorum, but I think I need Fuck Off & Dye, Mink Mitten and Nawsome Sauce as well.   Don't even get me started on how many I need from F4, their polishes are phenomenal!  I really have to say I highly recommend both sellers in regards to quick shipping times and great customer service. 

Photos!  (I really feel these don't even do it justice and I took like 2342343 photos trying to capture it, but this was the best I could do).  That ridge in my ring finger is not a polish goof, I gouged my nail in Disney and the matte brings out the imperfection in the nail.  I'm just impatiently waiting for it to grow out!

Shade:

Sun (I tried to blur some of the fingers so you could see the perfection that is mirror ball)

Up close and personal:

ManGlaze can be purchased on their Facebook Page under the "shop now" link.  F4 can be purchased on their Etsy site!  

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Coldplay is Iconic

I went to see Coldplay in concert this week and it was very difficult decide on my concert manicure.  Naturally, a yellow manicure came to mind, but during the rainbow challenge I used my two favorite yellows.  I was revisiting the Cult Nails Feel Me Up, when another Cult beauty caught my eye - Iconic.

This was the one, what a perfect fit in name to go with Coldplay.  This is the fourth time I've seen them in concert and what strikes me so much with them is how much they seem to LOVE performing.  Chris Martin is so passionate when he performs.  You know he is enjoying performing as much as you are watching it.  For this reason they are one of my iconic bands.

The polish matches the band too, on the exterior it just seems like another red, but once you look deeper into it, you see so much more beauty and creativity.  

Cult Nails Iconic is a deep red creme with red flakies and a golden shimmer throughout.  It is truly stunning.  As with all of my Cult polishes, it goes on perfectly.  I've been so impressed with the formula and the color selections of this company.  Each collection they release there are more "must haves" that show up on my wish list.  I wish them well for their continued success!

Shade:

Sun

I zoomed in to show off the gorgeous close up!

 

Cult Nails can be found at their online store.  Be sure to check in on July 11th for when her daughter's collection debuts.  I love supporting a young entrepreneur!  (The colors are to die for as well, she clearly has a great eye for polish like her mom does.)

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A Midsummer's Night

Today I have the stunning KB Shimmer Midsummer's Night.

This is a gorgeous purple neon jelly base packed with glitters of all colors - white, blue, holos and in lots of different shapes - shreds, hexes, stars, squares.  

I never had to "fish" for any glitters, the stars come out sparingly, but I got one on my left hand (in photos) and three on my right, which I think was the perfect amount.  

The polish is on the hungry side, the next day I needed to add on an additional layer of top coat to shine it up again, but I went thin on the top coat the day of application.

Another note about KB Shimmer - they have fabulous customer service.  I had made an order recently that contained a shea butter and she contacted me to ask if it would be okay to delay shipping for a few days until the record heat waves in my area stopped.  I was so impressed by her forethought AND that she contacted me to tell me about it ahead of time instead of just holding the shipping.  

This is a manicure that makes me look down and smile at my nails, which is of course why we paint our nails in the first place - it makes us happy!

Shade:

Sun (this really shows off the neony goodness!)

KB Shimmer polishes can be purchased at her online store.   I will review the soaps/shea butter when I get those as well, I've only heard rave reviews about her other products as well!

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