Nars Zulu and Wet 'N Wild Kaleidoscope

    Here are a few pictures of a combination with three coats of Nars Zulu and two coats of Wet 'N Wild Kaleidoscope on top.  Zulu is such a dark, beautiful green jelly. I ended up really loving it, even though it took a few coats to even out. It wore so long on me, I just finally had to remove it because I was ready for another polish! Kaleidoscope has small, silver glitter in a clear base with holographic glitter scattered throughout. This polish is so beautiful layered over other colors! When layered over Zulu, the combination looks so Christmas-y! It reminds me of a lit Christmas tree! I love both colors, and I will be wearing them more in the future.

Still here!

I'm sorry I haven't written a post in a few months. Things have been crazy; I got married and moved at the same time, so there has been little time for blogs! Anyway, it's a short post today, I just wanted to thank everyone who has been reading this blog! I should be able to post more frequently once I get internet set up at my new place. Thanks for tuning in!

Buffalo Check and Plaid

Short post today, I will update with more information on the colors soon.

I am SO in the mood for Fall, so here is a Buffalo Check design I did with red and black.

After a day, I decided to add grey and yellow for a Plaid design.

Thanks for looking!

Essie Sew Psyched

     Sew Psyched was a part of Essie's Fall 2010 collection, and even though it came out last year, it is still available in stores such as CVS and Ulta. Essie's website states that Sew Psyched is a "cashmere-soft sage pewter." To me, it looks like a greyed-out green, or a vintage army green. It looks like someone melted a little toy soldier and poured it into a nail polish bottle.
     In the bottle, there is subtle white shimmer, but on the nails I can barely see it. If I hadn't seen the polish in the bottle, I would think it was a creme on my nails.
     The crazy thing about Essie is that I never know what to expect. With Turquoise and Caicos I had to apply 3-4 coats, but with Sew Psyched, I could have almost gotten away with just one thick coat.
     This color is unique to me, as I don't have many army greens in my stash. I definitely recommend checking it out based on its opacity and the fact that this would be a great Fall staple color. But I'm just biased to green anyway. ☺
     Essie's nail polish retails for $7-8, and is available at CVS, Ulta, Wal-mart, and Target.

Sinful Colors Secret Admirer

    Secret Admirer is probably one of my favorite Sinful Colors polishes because it is such a unique color. It is black with silver shimmer running through it so much so that it looks like dark gunmetal. It was completely opaque for me in two coats. There's really not much else to say about this awesome color except that it's dark, and if you don't feel comfortable wearing black nail polish, this may be the color for you, as it is nice alternative to straight black. I have two bottles of this color, and I got them at Walgreens for $1.99. You can't beat that price ladies and gents! ☺

Revlon Vixen

     According to the All Lacquered Up nail polish blog, Revlon Vixen is a known dupe for the original Chanel Vamp, which appeared on Uma Thurman's nails in Pulp Fiction. So, I went to the nearest CVS to see what all the fuss was about.
     I read that Vixen is supposed to look like dried blood, so I knew that even if I didn't like it, my mom would love it. (She loves blood-red shades. Don't ask me why, but that's just what I've heard all of my life. ☺) I also had read that this polish had a bad bubble problem, which I actually did not experience.
     This polish did cover completely with no bubbles, but for some reason I remember it taking about three coats to be an even dark color. Vixen is certainly opaque and very shiny with a top coat, but I was expecting it to pull more red than it appears to. To me, it looks more brown than red. I don't mean to be gross, but I guess a scab is dried blood, and a scab is brown? Ewwww, gross, I know! =P
     For those of you who love dark, vampy colors, however, this is the color for you. It's a cheap option at around $5-6 instead of paying big bucks for a Chanel polish. This is a perfect color for Fall. I really do love a good, glossy creme, but for some reason I wasn't feeling the brownish-hue, so I added an Nfu-Oh flakie polish the next day, and then it became instant LOVE! I will post pictures of that lovely combo later.
    What do you think? Do you wear dark colors only in Fall/Winter, or would you rock this color all year long?

  

Essie Coat Azure

    I had seen Essie Coat Azure on online blogs, and had seen it in CVS many times, but I never purchased it because of the $8 price tag for such a small bottle. However, I found it for 50 percent off, so I bought it and immediately took it home to try it out.
     Coat Azure is a dusty medium blue with very subtle shimmer. It is not a loud, bright blue because of the slight greyish tone. It does resemble the color of denim. Unlike the other Essie polish I have tried, this color was not streaky and did cover completely in two coats. I suggest you head to your local CVS and check out this polish!

Crackle Time! with Sally Hansen and Sinful Colors

     Ok, so just like James Durbin wanted to "give metal a chance," I wanted to give crackle nail polish another chance. In the past, I've done black crackle over red, black crackle over pink, silver crackle over green, and while I think the concept is interesting, I usually get tired of the "crackle look" after a day. Yet, I still get sucked into trying out new crackle colors. I don't know, I think it's the novelty of it; I just love watching the polish "crack" on my nails. ☺
     So, I stopped at Walgreens to see what new nail polish goodies were on display (I've heard that Sinful Colors is coming out with a collection similar to the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection, and I can't wait to get my hands on them!). I picked up Sinful Colors Dream On, which is a darker, neon (contradictory, eh?) fuchsia and a Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat Vintage Violet. I wanted to try a crackle combination that wasn't so in-your-face; I wanted two colors without so much contrast. So, I paired these two beauties together, and Voila!

My mom said I have Monster Nails, and that they look like cracked wounds! Yuck! However....

     I actually really like this combination together. It's more subtle, and inside you have to look really close to see that there is crackle polish on top. Outside, however, is a different and beautiful story. ☺ Outside in the sunlight, Dream On underneath turns into a juicy red grape/wine color that is just begging to peak out from the darker violet duo-chrome crackle on top. Love!!!
     Dream On took either two thick coats or three thin coats to be opaque, and it dried matte, which wasn't a problem after a top coat. I really, really love this color; it would look great even by itself.
    Vintage Violet was an interesting crackle polish, and on some nails it didn't crack as much as I would have liked, but that may be because I didn't wait long enough for Dream On to dry completely. I did have Vintage Violet chip on my thumb nail today, so that's a total of one whole day without a chip, which isn't very pleasant.

Overall, I love this crackle combo. What are some crackle combos you have tried and loved?

Haulage

Here is a haul I did a couple of months ago. The top row are all Sinful Colors, and they were all on sale for $0.99 each. A lot of dark, vampy colors that I can swatch closer to fall. (Or just whenever I'm craving a dark mani.) ☺ The bottom row is a pack of Color Club colors that actually did not have names on them individually, which was kind of frustrating. I think the whole pack of colors was around $6-7 at Ross Dress for Less. What hauls have you done lately?

I Only Wanted to See You Laughing in the Purple Rain

Here are a couple of bright purple and fuchsia nail colors that I thought looked really similar, so I thought I would share a picture of them side by side.

Left to Right:

Nina Ultra Pro Passion Pink - This was at Sally Beauty Supply for around $2.99
Sinful Colors Dream On - I don't care what anybody says, this brand is one of the best deals around. They are only $1.99 and they come in a ton of colors, and you can find them at Walgreens.
China Glaze Purple Panic - You can find China Glaze at different locations, such as Sally Beauty Supply and Ulta. They are around $5-6 each, and many times you can find them Buy 2, Get 1 Free.

Nina Ultra Pro Purple-Xing

     The other day, my nails were naked, and I just had to have some color on them before work, so I stopped at Sally Beauty Supply to pick up a couple of colors. When I saw Nina Ultra Pro Purple-Xing, I snatched it up before anyone else could get their grubby hands on it. Well, maybe it wasn't that dramatic. :) Purple-Xing is a medium purple with tons of very small, silver glitter. What makes this baby pop, though, is the larger, multi-colored holographic glitter. The holographic glitter is just too cool to look at because it looks like a bunch of little LED lights flickering on your nails. LOVE! This is the first polish I've tried from this brand, and honestly, I want to try more. I got this polish for around $4 and I've had it on my nails since Friday with only a chip on my other thumb. I just don't want to take it off! What do you think, is this your kindy of glam purple? By the way, I believe the neon Nina Ultra Pro nail lacquers are on sale for $2.99 at Sally Beauty Supply right now.

                                 

                                     

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston

I'm sorry I haven't been able to update my blog as much as I would like, but I've been crazy-busy with wedding planning. Here is a quick picture of Guy Meets Gal-veston from the OPI Texas collection, and it is a strawberry-coral "sorbet." I didn't think I would like these sorbet polishes as much, but I ended up loving them! They are sheer, but still have tons of pigment, so they end up looking like rock candy. ☺

I absolutely LOVED this color; it's perfect for summer, and application was a breeze! You can find these for $8.50 at Ulta and JCPenney Salons, and sometimes JCP has them 'buy one, get one half off.' Love this color!

Sally Hansen Fractured Foil Crackle Polish

     I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped in Walgreens and found a whole display of freshly placed Sally Hansen Crackle Polish. I have a love/hate relationship with crackle polish, because when I see it and think of it on my nails, I think it looks so cool, and then after a day of wearing it, I get tired of it, yet for some reason I'm always interested in the different combinations and how it will look.
     One of the colors I bought was Fractured Foil, and I layered it over China Glaze Emerald Sparkle (one of my favorite nail polish colors EVER). One benefit of crackle polish is that it can extend the life of your manicure for one or two days. I found that if I got a whole brushful of polish, I was able to completely cover the nails and the cracks were wider and more noticeable. The color reminds me of melted silver. Fractured Foil was at Walgreens for $6.99. Others colors include Snow Blast, Vintage Violet, Fuchsia Shock, Distressed Denim, Antiqued Gold, Cherry Smash, and Ink Splatter. Will you be picking any of these up?

Winter Wonderland in Spring with Orly Royal Navy

     When I saw this polish on another blog, I instantly loved it. When I saw it in person, I loved it even more. Orly Royal Navy is a dark blue, but it is bright at the same time. It looks like a cream from afar, but it really has these tiny turquoise sparkles that light up from within. I used three coats in the pictures below.

     After I had my mani on for a few days, I decided to extend it by trying a technique seen here, in which you paint a layer of glitter on your tips and then drag the glitter down to make it look like icicles. I used China Glaze Silver Lining, and I think the combination looks like a Winter Wonderland. ;)
What do you think? Do you have any cool nail art techniques?

Eyeshadow Preview!

     Here is a look I did with some Wet N Wild blue eyeshadow that I will be reviewing soon! Tell me what you think! Is this mermaid makeup, or what?? ☺

Victoria's Secret Brilliant Lip Shine in Torrid

     Victoria's Secret Brilliant Lip Shines are described as "patent-finished gloss that drenches lips with gleaming, shimmering color."  These lip shines are, obviously, available at Victoria's Secret for $12.  They are housed in a click-pen type applicator, in which you click the end of the lip shines until gloss comes out of the lip brush on the other side. The thing I don't like about applicators like this is that it is hard to measure how many clicks it takes to get the perfect amount of product out.
     Torrid is a berry-pink gloss with purple and blue glitter that is sheer, but you can build it up to acheive more color. Lip Shines are better than your average lip gloss because they have such an array of colors and the sparkle and shine are gorgeous. There is definitely no stickiness with this gloss, which is a huge plus! I wouldn't say they are the best lip glosses on the market, but they are definitely steps above many drugstore options. Wear time is probably between one to two hours, depending on how much you drink and lick your lips.
      What do you think about this color? Have you ever tried VS Brilliant Lip Shines?