Milani Midnight Satin

     Recently I was at CVS and some Milani nail polish was on clearance down to $1.25! Midnight Satin was one of those colors and I will show it to you today.
     Midnight Satin is a dark navy blue with subtle shimmer. It is one of those colors that looks almost black until you look closely. This color was very sheer at first, so I needed 3-4 coats for full opacity. I did have some streaking issues, and that was another reason why I needed so many coats. The biggest problem I have with this polish, and it may just be the top coat I use, but I the morning after I painted my nails, the color already started to 'shrink' and show tip wear. You can see tip wear in the pictures below, and this is an almost brand-new manicure.

     Other than that, the color is a staple - a nearly black, navy blue, that I think one could wear in any season. What do you think?

China Glaze Flying Dragon (Neon)

     China Glaze Flying Dragon (Neon) is a red-based, grape purple that was a part of the China Glaze Ink collection in 2008. Sally Beauty Supply still carries this color, and I got it because it is such a pretty purple with fuchsia and blue micro-shimmer. I have never seen a color like this before; what makes it unique is the subtle blue shimmer. It is supposed to be a neon, but it really wasn't neon on my nails. If I had used only one coat, it probably would have been a little bit neon, but I used 3-4 coats because I wanted to get the color completely level with no bald spots. I think it shows up a tad darker on my nails than the bottle because I used that many coats.
     It dries matte like most neons, so you will definitely need a top coat if you want it to shine. Using a top coat also really helped bring out the shimmer. I absolutely loved this color, and I don't wear a lot of purples. It's dark enough indoors to be chic, but the polish really comes alive in the sun. It's one of my favorite purples!

Valentine's Day Manicure #1

     I've been trying to come up with some Valentine's Day themed manicures this month to show you guys. This will be our first Valentine's Day being married for my hubby and I. Yay! I hope we have some fun plans.
     Today's post is a "Valentine's Day Colors" themed manicure involving pinks and purples. The pink base is actually a bunch of colors I mixed in the Sinful Colors bottle; I can't remember what all went in the franken-polish. I also put some glitter in the franken, too. I was actually somewhat pleased with the franken, but I wish there was more glitter in it. For the tips, I just used the purple and hot pink Cosmetic Arts polishes I found at Ross. I just painted two lines on every nail to make the V-shaped tip.

 Please excuse the leftover red glitter still on my middle finger from a previous manicure. lol

What do you think? Will you be doing any special Valentine's Day manicures this year?

Tuxedo Toes

     After seeing Zooey Deschanel's tuxedo nails on this website, I decided to do a version of this on my toes. I used two coats of Wet N Wild French White Creme, followed by one coat of Petites by Scherer Venus. For the tuxedo design I used black acrylic paint.

     What do you think of tuxedo nails? Have you tried them before?

Cosmetic Arts Hot Pink Zebra Nails!

     Ross Dress for Less stores recently had a display of Cosmetic Arts neon nail polish, and since I have Spring Fever and a love for neon colors, I just had to look twice. Neon is going to be huge this year; I've seen it on tons of fashion blogs and a lot of nail polish companies are coming out with their own neon collections. I just saw promotion pictures for China Glaze's 2012 neon collection here.       
     This neon hot pink is one of the polishes I picked up from the Cosmetic Arts display. The great thing about Cosmetic Arts polish is that they are only $1.99, but the bad thing is that the polishes have no names!! Grr.
     Anyhoo, onto the pictures. (By the way, thanks to my nail model Maria for wearing this color!)

 With flash

 No flash

     Maria wanted some zebra stripes over the pink, so I used black acrylic paint from Wal-mart and tiny paint brushes to paint wavy lines over the polish.

     So, what do you think? Are you in the mood for neons this Spring/Summer? Thanks for reading!

China Glaze Gothic Lolita

     This is going to be a quick post today. Here is my first swatch from the China Glaze Electropop collection - Gothic Lolita!
     Gothic Lolita is a gorgeous purple with red undertones, and I absolutely love it! Also, if you look close, there is pink and dark purple shimmer. I think this color is perfect for Spring; it's bright, but definitely not neon. I used two flawless coats, and I couldn't quit staring at my nails. I also swatched one coat of Techno on my ring finger. Just look at those huge holographic glitters! Wow! Techno is jam-packed with those huge glitters, and it is perfect for layering over so many colors.
     If you love purples and glitter, you need to go pick these up!

I can't wait to see the other collections from China Glaze this year. ☺

Thanks for reading!

Cosmetic Arts Burning Embers

     I hate it when a nail polish does not come with a name! Well, since nameless nail polish deserves love, too, I decided to show you this pretty today. First of all, I want to say a thank you to my mom, who is the beautiful hand model for this polish. ☺
     Now, onto the nameless polish. During the holidays I was perusing the nail polish section at Ross, when, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a Cosmetic Arts display, so I dashed to the cashier. lol
     Since this polish doesn't have a name, I am going to call it Burning Embers for now. It is a black jelly with fine red glitter dispersed throughout. From certain angles the red glitter looks like glowing embers in the midst of hot coal. I. love. this. color.
     When I first wore this polish, I literally didn't get a chip for almost a week. I only had some tip wear, which is phenomenal. However, my mom is currently wearing this polish, and she got a chip the next day. It may wear differently depending on the person wearing it. Also, Cosmetic Arts at Ross is really cheap at $1.99 per bottle.
     The polish in the bottle looks almost exactly like China Glaze Lubu Heels, and I do have that polish, so I will have to compare them soon.
     Wow, I didn't expect this post to be this long, so enjoy the pictures below! ☺