OPI You Don't Know Jacques

First of all, Happy Leap Day 2012!

Second of all, I freaking love this polish.  I just think the color is so pretty and the formula is cake.

This is 2 coats, but nevermind what happened to my pinky.  I'm not quite sure.  So pretty!  I still really want to get the suede version.  I like the shimmer/sparkle that the suede effect brings.


Thanks for reading!
D

OPI Sweet Memories

I have been searching for months for the perfect pink.  I have hot pinks, bubblegum pinks, rose pinks, glitter pinks, but they just weren't cutting it.  I wanted a baby pink.  Like powder pink.  I finally found it, and I freaking LOVE it!

 ♥.  That's all.  Love at first sight.  This is 3 coats of Sweet Memories.  The VNL shows just a little, but it doesn't bother me.  I kinda like it.  It's like cleavage for nails.  The color is so clean, and I was definitely ready for a palette cleanser.  The application was very smooth and it finishes a little squishy but not full on jelly.


From what I can tell, this looks like Nicole by OPI Kim-pletely In Love without the shimmer.  It may be a bit lighter which is even better.  If someone out there can compare the two that would be cool.


Thanks for reading!
D

China Glaze Lighthouse

I used this as a base for my Tokyo nails, and figured you guys would want to see it by itself, if you haven't already.

This is 3 coats, and yes, I know there is VNL, but it's not this visible in person.  Lighthouse is a bright yellow shimmer polish with glass flecks and it's gorgeous.  My sister says yellow on our skin tone is gross, but I don't even care.  If I like it, I'm wearin' it.

Thanks for stopping in!

D

Tokyo Mani Inspired by JulieG

I was going to post this tomorrow or the next day, but I couldn't wait to show you.  Ok I know these are obnoxious and gaudy, BUT I LOVE THEM!  This is my "blog response" to YouTube's JulieG and her Girly Tokyo Party Nails.  Check these bad boys out!

 Yes, I know they are crazy, but girls in Tokyo wear their nails like this everyday.  So I started off with CG Lighthouse and used tape and butterLONDON Slapper in different directions.  I added some black dots using a Kiss Nail Artist pen.  Then came the fun part.

I found these Kiss Nail Artist 3D Charms which comes with bows, flowers, and even ice cream shapes.  They have a little tube of super glue on the back of each one which works way better than using clear polish to apply them.  So I just picked some bows and rhinestones and started applying them randomly on each nail and this is what became of that.

I never thought I would enjoy a crazy 3D mani like this, but I don't think I ever want to take it off.  It's so off-the-wall and each design is original.  The best part is that the charms are reuseable!


I really hope you all enjoy this mani as much as I do, and I would love, love, LOVE to see someone else attempt a Tokyo inspired mani.
D

Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe

Amazing color.  Amazing glitter.  Terrible shrinkage.  I don't quite understand what happened.

Some of them got it worse than others.  I don't know, but I'm gonna try to fix it or hide it.  If you have any suggestions on how to NOT get shrinkage, I would appreciate and love to hear it.


D

Comparison - Essie Sexy Divide/Ulta I Love My Blackberry

So when I first bought these it was around the same time and I was in a really purple mood.  I didn't even realize how similar they were until I saw them next to each other.  I figured since they were the same, I would go ahead and do a comparison post and then keep the one with the best formula or finish.  Little did I know, they are nothing alike.

 This is the image that had me completely fooled.  I know they don't look exact but I didn't expect this to happen.

My pinky and middle finger are Essie Sexy Divide, and my ring and pointer finger are Ulta I Love My Blackberry.  They are absolutely different is shade but not too much in formula.

As you can see, Essie Sexy Divide is lighter and has more red whereas Ulta ILMB is way darker and more blue and black, hence the reference to the blackberry.  Essie also required 3 coats and Ulta only needed 2.  The applications of these two pretties were very easy to apply as well.

This photo is inside with flash, but you can still tell the difference in shade.  I wish you could see it in person because the contrast is so wide.  Since they are so different, lucky for me, I get to keep them both! (:


And one last note, they photographed so well and very true to color, unlike other purples.  Just a heads up.
D

Essie Sexy Divide Revisited

I swatched this awhile ago when my blog was a baby and all my photos sucked.  I know it may have been difficult to see, but look at it now...

Stay tuned!

OPI DS Glow

First of all, pay no mind to the tip wear.  I didn't use a top coat.  Second of all, what a pretty lady right?  Again, this is one of those unique golds that I own.  It's very warm and bronze-y and in some lights copper.  That's all!


Thanks for reading!
D

Water Marble Wednesday

I hope you all LOVE today's edition of Water Marble Wednesday as much as I do.  I'm just gonna jump right to it.

The color combination is so subtle but I love it.  I like that I used a mustard instead of a bright yellow.


WHAT I USED:
CG Four Leaf Clover
CG Trendsetter
Sinful Colors Love Nails


Thanks for checking me out guys!
D

Zoya Julieanne

This is one of my favorite polishes IN THE WORLD.  The color, the formula, the flecks.  It's just amazing.

 

OMFG!  It's incredible.  The actual polish has more red in it eventhough the photos show more blue, but you know how purples are.  They don't like to cooperate.

Well enjoy the photos and thanks for reading!

D

Revlon Steel Her Heart

Just a quick one for now.

Steel Her Heart is a steel grey with a tiny tiny bit of shimmer.  Not enough to claim that title.  This photo is actually darker than the real thing, but not by much.  The application was great (2 coats), however you can see the brush strokes.  So if that bothers you, then don't buy this, but me?  I don't care.  I actually like it on this polish.  It makes it look like stainless steel.


D

Ulta High Roller with BM Stamp

This is a polish that I've been using a lot in the last weeks so it's finally time that I swatch it for you guys.

I really love this polish and I think the formula is great.  I've never had an issue with application on any of the Ulta polishes.  This was for sure a 1 coater, but I did two for photos.  I love the fact that it's a white gold and not so yellow like the other one I have.  So just for fun I added flower stamps from BM plate 16 using Jessie's Girl Cupcake Frosting and a couple of light green rhinestones.

D

Zoya Manhattan Mixer

Hello Friends!


This polish is one I got from the Zoya "Two Free Polish" sale.  I think I just like the fact that it isn't named after a girl.  Weird?  Anyway, I think it's a gorgeous polish.

Since the polish is great for layering, I wanted to show the different levels.
pinky - 1 coat
ring - 2 coats
middle - 3 coats
pointer - 2 coats over white  (I did white so the color would show correctly.)
MM is a sheer green with mini flakies from the Zoya Summer 2011 Glamsicles Collection.  The whole collection is fantastic in my eyes and I NEED them all.

I have a few polishes in mind that I'm going to layer with this.  I'll definitely post photos of them for you all.


Have a great day!
D

Essence Choose Me and a Product Review

Today's polish is Essence Choose Me.  Love this color!  I couldn't wait to swatch and post this eventhough I've had it forever and worn it a hundred times.

I definitely couldn't get it to photograph correctly or maybe it just pulls more blue on my skin.  The actual color is more green/teal with some micro glitter.  It's pretty amazing.  There are many dupes out there in the world including Orly Haley's Comet and OPI Catch Me In Your Net, but for the price (99¢ at Ulta), I say this one is the best.


Now for my review on Kiss Nail Polish Strips that I used in THIS post just like I promised.  


I was extremely pleased with them; especially for the price.  I found them at Dollar General for $3 and they had 10 to 12 different prints from leopard and butterflies to swirls and flowers.  The application was a breeze.  There was no tearing, no wrinkles, nothing.  Just a smooth, easy application.  I noticed they are a lot thicker than the Sally Hansen strips which I think helped.  The only issue I found was, of course, longevity.  I only had a tiny bit of tip wear but nothing really noticeable.  They claim, just like every other brand, to last up to 10 days.  Well mine only lasted 5 days which I wasn't so upset about since I was itching to take them off and paint my nails again.  When it came time for removal, it was also a breeze.  I didn't even need nail polish remover.  I just picked up a side that had started to loosen and peeled it right off.  It did leave a little sticky gunk on my nails, but a little water got that off as well.


Review Wrap-Up
Price: $...a great value
Variety: I thought there was a wide variety of designs and I noticed on the Kiss website, there are even more that I did not see in the store.
Application:  super easy; no issues at all
Quality: great!  I love how thick they are.  The SH strips feel like tissue paper to me.
Wear:  They were awesome.  I didn't have any lifting or tearing and minimal tip wear after 5 days  of showers, baths, dishes, lotions, etc.
Removal:  extremely simple. I just peeled them off.  No polish remover needed.
Would I Purchase Again:  ABSOLUTELY!


I hope you guys enjoyed this lengthy post and thanks for reading!
D

Julep Meryl

Yesterday I showed you Oscar and now we have Meryl, the second polish from my Julep Maven Box.  View the post here.  Now view the polish here ↓↓↓.

I love the formula on this one.  It's like a creme jelly.  It's weird but fantastic.  This is 3 coats.  I found that it also dries very quick.  I didn't even add a top coat.


Enjoy!
D

Julep Oscar

I finally got a chance to swatch the two Julep polishes from my Maven Box.  The one I have for you today is Oscar, which was created for [you guessed it] The Oscar's, which will be airing on February 26, 2012.  The box also came with CHOCOLATE!  It was good!  If you want to see my post on the Maven Box, here you go!

Oscar is a clear base with gold glitter.  I applied 3 coats and as you can see it's not opaque and that's just because of the clear base.  It's gonna be great for layering.  I have a gold glitter that's very similar to this so I'll do a comparison in the near future.


Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow for Meryl!
D

Water Marble Wednesday

Hey Guys!


I'm back with another water marble for you.

So what do you think?
WHAT I USED:
CG Fireside Glow
CG Paper Chasing
OPI Dating a Royal - featured bottle
SH Sequin Scandal


I did get some bald spots with the Fireside Glow so if you do this combo, then use a base polish.


Thanks for checking in!
D

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone is having a great day and eating lots of chocolate.  If you don't have someone special to celebrate with, then I hope you have some wonderful friends and family to celebrate with instead.  Today's mani didn't come out as well as I had hoped, but it's still fun and quirky.

Yeah, sorry about the nasty bottle.  I broke a bottle of polish awhile ago and this little lady caught it all.

Anyway, Soul Mate is a creme rose tinged pink. It covered well in 1 coat but had some streaking so I added another.  Now it's flawless with no top coat.  After my base color, I used a nail art brush to paint a vine and then I added some hearts.  

WHAT I USED:
Sinful Colors Soul Mate - 2 coats
Sinful Colors San Francisco - vine
Sinful Colors Innocent - green heart
Orly Snowcone - blue heart
Love&Beauty Lavender - purple heart
Hard Candy Mattely In Love


Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
D

Half Moon Mani

Only one more day! I don't even know why I'm excited about Valentine's Day.  I don't even celebrate it lol.  Anyway let's get on with it.  I have two thoughts about the following photos.

At first, when I finished I said, "Ooh babe look!  They're so pretty!".  Then took the photo and said, "Aww!  They look like Pokemon. ):".  lol.  So I think if I didn't put the heart rhinestones where I did, they would look different.  I thought I was being creative.


WHAT I USED:
Ulta High Roller for the half moons - 2 coats
OPI Animal-istic - 1 coat
white heart shaped rhinestones


Thanks for reading!
D

V is for Valentine's Mani

This is my first successful tape mani and I love it.

First, I did two coats of each base color.  Then I just made a V shape with the tape and placed it on each nail in a different direction.  Then I applied the tip color and V is for Voila!


I think these are so cool.  They look so retro.


WHAT I USED:
No Name Franken - thumb
Love&Beauty Lavender - pointer
Jesse's Girl Fashion Friday - middle
Jesse's Girl Cupcake Frosting - ring
L.A. Girl Flare Hyper - pinky
Ulta High Roller - gold V
Jesse's Girl Party Dress - red V


D

Gal-entine's Party!

Real quick post everyone!  I have my bestie over for movie night and an early Gal-entine's Day.  I put together a little basket with chocolates and a candle and some fun nail stickers.  Here's what we accomplished.

Tina's nails

My nails with Essence Glamorous Life accent nail.

The only reason I had to do an accent nail was because the stickers didn't fit correctly.  Oh well!  I'll let you all know in 10 days if these still exist on my fingers.  Enjoy!


D

It's Friday, I'm In Love...

...but not with this mani.  It was my first attempt at a freehand and it was hard, but not too bad, I guess.  Check it out.

WHAT I USED:
P.I.X.E.L Ammazzin - 3 coats
Essence Glamorous Life - hearts
WnW French White Creme
WnW Black Creme


D

NAIL MAIL!

Ooh!  I couldn't wait for this to get here, so now that it is, I'm ripping it open.

My February Julep Maven box is here!!  I'm a "Classic with a Twist" girl.

As you can see, each Maven box comes with a beauty card that tells me what is inside.  Is that chocolate?

This box comes with Julep Topcoat for Hair which is a conditioning heat protectant.  It also has Meryl, a grey creme polish, and Oscar, a gold micro glitter and yes, that is CHOCOLATE!  I don't really like chocolate unless it's dark chocolate like this one.

I will be swatching these soon and maybe using them in some of my Valentine's series manis.  I can't wait to show you.


D

Romantic Valentine's Mani

Good Day Friends!


I really love this mani.  It's romantic and girly and super easy.

WHAT I USED:
Zoya Minka - 1 coat for base color
Ulta High Roller - sponged from cuticle to tip
Milani Jewel FX Gold - layered over High Roller
BM plate 09 w/ 
Jesse's Girl Cupcake Frosting - pinky
Love&Beauty Lavender - ring
Sinful Colors Soul Mate - middle
Jesse's Girl Fashion Friday - pointer


Without the stamps, it reminds me of champagne.  Maybe next time I can do a strawberry instead.
D

Water Marble Wednesday - Valentine's Edition

Hey Readers,


I haven't done one of these in awhile so I'm real excited to show you how well it came out.  So in keeping with the Valentine's theme, I used all pinks.

WHAT I USED:
WnW French White Creme for base - 2 coats
DL Whatever Lola Wants
Sinful Colors Pink (neon)
Jessie's Girl Cupcake Frosting


Enjoy!
D

Hard Candy Beetle...SPLAT!

[CAUTION:  LOTS OF PHOTOS AHEAD FULL OF AMAZINGNESS]


LOL!  I feel like I'm being really clever with these titles.  IDK.  Anyway, how is everyone today?


So this is Day 3 in my Valentine's mani series and it just gets better and better.  This one is more of an abstract interpretation of Valentine's Day.  Let's begin.

After dying over this little Beetle, I splattered it!

WHAT I USED:
Hard Candy Beetle - 2 coats
Sinful Colors Soul Mate - pink splatter
WnW Black Creme - black splatter


Simple!


D

Essie Forever Yummy Sealed With a Kiss

Hello All!


Like I said yesterday, I'm going to try and post a Valentine's inspired mani everyday until February 14th.  For this one I started off with Essie Forever Yummy.

Forever Yummy is a rich red creme that applies like a dream in 2 coats.  It's almost a 1 coater.


I applied Hard Candy Mattely In Love to the whole nail and China Glaze Ruby Pumps to the tips.  Then I sealed it with a kiss.

WHAT I USED:
Essie Forever Yummy - 2 coats
Hard Candy Mattely In Love - 1 coat
China Glaze Ruby Pumps - 2 swipes across the tips
Sinful Colors Soul Mate for the kiss
BM plate 02

I thought about adding glitter to the lips like lip gloss, but I thought that might be overkill.  I hope you enjoyed this fun little mani.  Come back tomorrow to see what other Valentine's junk I come up with.


D

Deborah Lippmann Whatever Lola Wants and Polka Dots

Evening Bloggers!


I hope you all had a fantastic weekend like I did.  I didn't do anything special; just hung out with my honey and did some swatching.  Ya know, fun!  I tried to think of some Valentine's inspired manis and this is what I came up with.

This is Whatever Lola Wants over Sinful Colors Soul Mate.  WLW is just too sheer to wear alone.  You would need, like, 10 coats.

 Then I used my dotting tool and created some overlapped polka dots in respective Valentine's colors.


WHAT I USED: (for polka dots)
Essie Forever Yummy
CG White on White
Jesse's Girl Cupcake Frosting
Sinful Colors Soul Mate


I just did a couple dots of each and Voila!


This should be the first of many Valentine's inspired manis if I can keep up.


D