Nails Niche Peeks: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri High Speed Glitter Gradient Nail Art

A SFW neutral color with a glitter twist.

Base color: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri High Speed, a purple-toned neutral cool gray (2 coats)

Glitter Gradient:

Fine glitter: Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope, a fine holo multi-sized glitter

Chunky glitter: Formula X Hubba Hubble

XOXO

Is

An Abundance of Ugly Greens

Of all the pretty colors in the nail polish world, ugly greens are some of my favorites.

Huh?!

I don't know. I've always loved lime green and for whatever reason "ugly" greens are strongly reminiscent of that certain shade of punchy neon lime that got me hooked.

This ugly green, Spoiled I Only Eat Salads is unfortunately OOP (Out of Production), so good luck finding it. You may stumble across a threadbare Spoiled by Wet n' Wild display at your nearest underfed, if you will, CVS. This brand was exclusive to CVS and they have now replaced it with Pop-arazzi, a deathly-smelling concoction disguised in cute polka dot packaging. Sigh. 

Spoiled made some pretty good polishes. I have features several on this blog and I have a lot. I Only Eat Salads has a great formula, creamy and opaque in two coats, no streaks. 

I accented this color with a coordinating glitter "party nail." Sinful Colors Call You Later is an ugly-toned (lol) spring green microglitter with some yellowish glitters sprinkled in. It could probably become opaque with four or five coats, but it's perfect as a topper with one or two.

Where do you stand on ugly greens? I'd love to know!

XOXO

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Nails Niche Peeks: Glitter Gradient

Glitter gradients are some of my favorite looks. They are so versatile and you can change up the colors and glitter until you're happy... There are endless combinations!

For this mani I used Essie Go Overboard, a dark green-toned teal (OCW!) and the glitter is Essie Set in Stones, a silver hex glitter (it looks a bit gold in this picture... Sorry about that!). 

What's your go-to simple nail art look? 

XOXO

Is

Quilted Nail Art

Hi guys! Happy Monday! Did you guys tune into the Super Bowl last night? I didn't except for Katy Perry, because I'm not much of a football person! Haha!

Today I have a quilted manicure to show you. I first saw this type of manicure on The Polishaholic, and was inspired by two of Jen's quilted mani's, this blue one and this matte and shiny black one. 

For my quilted manicure, I chose to do black matte and shiny but add some flair with gold microbeads!

I had to include this picture... so shiny!

I first applied a base coat and then my OCW black polish, Sinful Colors Black on Black. I then applied NYC Grand Central Station to speed up the dry time.

Once the black was fully dry, I used striping tape to create the quilted pattern. I then painted over the whole nail with a fairly thick coat of  matte topcoat. I used Wet N' Wild Wild Shine (irony) Matte Top Coat. Seriously, this topcoat rivals Essie Matte About You, my former go-to matte topcoat. However, once I ran out (actually, I still had about 1/4 left, but it was too thick and flecked with white specks to be usable) I decided to try out Wet N' Wild's. In terms of mattifying abilities, it's fantastic! Probably just the tiniest smidge less matte than Essie's, but I find that this gives it more depth and a "plush" look.

After applying the matte topcoat, I immediately peeled off the striping tape and was left with a cool, luxurious looking mani!

From there, I decided to enhance the feeling of luxury by adding gold microbeads at the areas of intersection of the shiny lines. 

Done! (No topcoat to preserve the texture.)

For my "Cinderella" hand I did plain matte black with an accent nail of OPI All Sparkly and Gold, a fine cool gold glitter topper. These kept the mani cohesive, but allowed me only spend two hours on this mani instead of four, lol. Because really, ain't nobody got time fo dat. ;)

What do you think of this mixed texture mani? Thanks so much for reading!

XOXO

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Deborah Lippmann Good Girl Gone Bad Swatch

Hi guys! Today I have a GORGEOUS polish to show you. Deborah Lippmann makes some pretty glorious sparkly, over-the-top polishes that are complex and still classy. Good Girl Gone Bad is no exception!

Good Girl Gone Bad is a berry-wine-maroon dark reddish-purple microglitter. It is full coverage and dries down to a gritty matte finish, so you'll want to gloss it up with some topcoat. The formula is a bit thick, but manageable.

Here I've done three coats of GGGB with two coats of Essie Good to Go topcoat, as it is a bit topcoat-thirsty.

Natural light

Flash

Flash

The photo with natural light is the most color-accurate, but the flash photos really show off the depth and sparkle!

Deborah Lippmann's are high-end and retail for around $20 each.

Thanks so much for reading and have a lovely polished day!

XOXO

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I Like Sandwiches...

I'm on Team Turkey. Panera is rather delicious. How bout you? Peanut butter? Jelly?

I'm expanding my horizons and trying a jelly sandwich today...

...well, not exactly.

A jelly sandwich is technique where you apply a layer of a translucent jelly polish, then a chunky glitter polish, and top that with another layer of jelly polish. I have a tutorial on this technique (you can find it in the Tutorials tab--it's the very first one in that category!) if you want a more in-depth description.

I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Greenlight (which, by the way, doesn't seem to exist. Literally, I can't find any swatches of it online.) Greenlight is a squishy green-toned teal jelly, and when I bought it I actually thought it was a creme. To my surprise, it was a jelly! Hurray!

The glitter I used is Maybelline Clearly Spotted, a really versatile topper of black and white matte hex glitters. 

What would a peanut butter and jelly sandwich mani be? I'm thinking a jelly, a glitter, a shimmer topper, and another layer of a jelly. Huh! I might have to try that out...

XOXO

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OPI Fall 2014 Nordic Collection: My Picks

Today I'm going to share my picks from OPI's Fall 2014 Nordic collection with you, and how I wore them.

First up is Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? This is a dark purple with strong blue undertones. I've seen a lot of swatches where this leans very blue, but it is definitively purple, but very cool-toned. It still manages to be bright and vivid while being dark! It applies perfectly, super-easy formula (not too thick or thin) with two easy coats. Can I just say that I love OPI's brush? It makes application SO easy and it's the perfect size and flexibility.

I paired this with an accent nail of Funky Fingers Sand and Stilettos, a really dense  silver holo glitter topper. One coat is better coverage than you'd think! 

Next up is My Dogsled is a Hybrid, a beautiful jade/seafoam green. It manages to be bright but muted at the same time! It's really a great pop of color for fall without being too loud. And the formula? This polish, I declare, has the best formula I have ever worked with. It just glides on quickly and easily with the help of OPI's ProWide brush, and the polish isn't too thick or thin, again. Two coats.

I wore this polish twice this week--that's how much I like it! I paired it the first time with an accent nail of Essie Beyond Cozy from their winter 2012 collection. (This was a lemming of mine for a while and I recently came upon it in a dusty nail supply store!) It's a gorgeous, sparkly, unique glitter that's opaque on its own on two coats. It's an interesting hue: a very cool-toned gold or a very warm-toned silver. Or platinum... Depending on your skin tone and the light, it can lean gold or silver. 

I'm also wearing this polish for the second time this week as I type this! I saw a beautiful look on Instagram by the super talented Mllr Design and I recreated it with slight modifications to suit my preference as my nail length. Here's the link to her original nail art on her blog: http://www.mllrdesign.com/?p=204

I used Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art studs in gold and microbeads in copper and Capri. 

It's so pretty in the sun!

I've heard that the formula on all the polishes in this collections is fantastic, so I might go back for Suzi has a Swede Tooth and With a Nice Finn-ish. 

Do you like these polishes? Have you purchased any from this collection? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

XOXO

Is

Be There or Be Square!

In this case it's "be there or be round..."

Say hello!

The great debut of my Roundies. (Wearing OPI Bubble Bath with Wet n Wild's matte topcoat and two Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art studs.) I enjoy this; yes I do. Subtly chic and trendy.

I broke a corner the other day, and Marta of Chit Chat Nails rounded off her nails too, so it seemed like a good time.

A comparison:

OPI Yodel Me on my Cell on my viciously angular square nails. 

And now for some round spam!

Essie Style Cartel topped with OPI Comet in the Sky. Like a galaxy! Ooh... Ahh...

Sinful Colors Cream Pink. Most certainly not a cream... It's a hot pink with warm undertones and subtle gold shimmer in direct light. Girly!

OPI Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm with an accent of Funky Fingers Sand and Stilettos. I loved this mani!

So there you go! Be there or be square, guys... Except my Roundies are no longer here, lol. I kinda didn't like them after a few days and switched to squoval by squaring off the tips. Ah, there's nothing like the indecisiveness of a nail junkie...

Until next time! What is your favorite nail shape?

XOXO

Is

Glittery Funky French feat. Orly Bubbly Bombshell

This mani was inspired by Erika from Chloe's Nails. Unfortunately, she doesn't post anymore, but her blog is treasure chest of nail art ideas, especially for those of you whose skills lie in tape and stamping rather than freehand. Erika's nails are perfectly squared off, which allows her to use regular Scotch tape to create her signature style, the funky French, usually with black tips. However, my nails aren't perfectly square, so having a perfectly straight tip looks kind of strange on my nails. However, my nails are a bit too square to use the reinforcement method (I showed you that technique in this post; however, it looks best on rounder nails, in my opinion). Finally I figured out how to get the perfect French tip for my nails: freehand it with a tiny brush! Lately I've been doing a lot of freehand work, so I had the idea to use a small brush, because that would be the easiest method for me. 

I started with two coats of Orly Bubbly Bombshell, a super dense, ultra sparkly fuchsia glitter (with the best name. So effervescent!). I actually saw this polish first on Erika's blog, and snapped it up at Sally's! I applied one coat of Essie Good to Go topcoat to smooth out he glitter and I then used Spoiled Visually Slimming and a thin paint brush for the black tips, which is actually Erika's go-to look, as you can gather from her blog. I finished off with one more coat of topcoat. Voila! My first funky French! I adore this look, and I'll definitely be attempting more of them in the future. I've already tried another combo out, Maybelline Impeccable Greys (medium gray) topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust (fine holo glitter topper) with Essie Fiji (light pink) tips. Swoon!

And now for some spam. ;)

Whats your method for creating French tips? Got any suggestions for me? What's your signature look? Comment down below! Thanks so much for reading.

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XOXO

Is

Essie Sparkle On Top Swatch and Review

Hola, chicas. Today I have a swatch of an Essie Luxeffects polish for you. It's fairly new; from the most recent sub-(?)collection of Luxeffects released in winter 2013. It's called Sparkle On Top.

This polish is a bit of a shard glitter/flakies hybrid, a little softer and denser than shard glitter, but sharper than flakies. This creates a sort of iced look, almost as if your nails were frosted with ice. Try layering it over brighter shades for a summer mani to keep your nails looking cool like an iced beverage; or layer it over darker shades for a look that puts winter frost on grass to shame. 

Formula wise, this polish is easily spreadable across the nail using a medium-thick coat, but the polish is indeed a bit thick. It covers perfectly in one coat. The base look of it is kind of like sharper flakies, but some larger shards may end up on the nail too. They have a cool-toned sheen, so this polish would probably look better over cooler-toned polishes.

Here it is over Essie Mod Square, an example of an awesome summer look. Mod Square has an even balance of warm and cool undertones, so it worked nicely.

And here it is over OPI Ogre the Top for a wintry mani. You can see that the blue-green reflections in Sparkle On Top go nicely with the cyan base.

That's all for today, chicas. Hope you enjoyed!

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XOXO

Is

Mermaid Scales Nail Art (Christabell Nails Recreation)

Hi guys! So today I was browsing around YouTube while sporting bare nails, a dangerous combination, and I happened to stumble upon a glorious video by Christabell Nails. She is a fantastic nail artist with a flair for freehand, and she's talented too. So when I found her video on Mermaid/Fish Scale nails, of course I had to try it out! She used a Rica polish that I would love to have, but unfortunately do not have, so I subbed another polish from my stash: Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, a gorgeous dark blue jelly with emerald green and sky blue glitters (though I wish it had the bubbly effervescent circle glitters in Rica's polish). I simply followed Christabell's tutorial and it turned out great! This is three coats of Across the Universe with one coat of topcoat, followed by the design painted with my Hot Designs Nail Art Pen in white, sealed in with one more coat of topcoat.

My pinkie did get a little wonky... Oh well :P

These nails were pretty easy, and they look absolutely beautiful! 

Here's a link to Christabell's video, if you'd like to recreate it http://youtu.be/ALKPzA3BuBQ

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XOXO

Is

 

Glitter Gradient Nail Art Tutorial

Hello, nail art lovers! Today's a post dedicated to you guys... Here's your daily fill of GLITTER NAIL ART! Specifically, a glitter gradient! And now-- a quickie tutorial. To avoid saying "I used" a brazillion times, I'll just tell you now that the names in parentheses are the names of the polishes I used.

 

First, start off with a base coat (Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener) and paint your nails with your base color (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Coral Reef). Let that dry. Next, you will need two glitter polishes, one needs to be a fine glitter polish and the other needs to be a large glitter polish. Make sure these are both in the same color family. Paint the top 1/3 to 1/2 of your nail, starting near the cuticle, with your fine glitter polish (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball). Let a few glitter particles drift down past your set fraction of the nail.vLet that dry. Next, taking your large glitter polish (Formula X by Sephora Hubba Hubble), paint the top 1/4 to 1/3 of your nail, starting at the cuticle. Leave a teensy bit of the fine glitter polish uncovered. Remember, a portion of your nail towards the tip should have no glitter on it. Finish with a top coat.

Voila! I hope your glitter gradients work out! I got a lot of compliments on this manicure. It's very pretty, especially when your base color and glitter colors contrast a bit. Have fun with this simply nail art!

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XOXO

Is

Maybelline Color Show Clearly Spotted Swatch

Hi! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I'm here now, back and better than ever with a swatch from Maybelline Color Show, their nail polish line. This polish is from the Polka Dots collection, which consists of several polishes containing black and white pieces of hex glitter in different sizes in colored jelly bases. However, there is one polish in this collection that has a clear base, which is what I have to show you today, and it's called Clearly Spotted.

Cute! This polish is easy to work with. It's not too heavy on the base and the glitters aren't sparse, problems that often arise with cool glitter polishes. The glitters spread out on the nail easily. This polish is intended to be layered, so I applied it over a pink polish from Clinique's A Different Nail Enamel line. It was one of my products that I received for making a certain amount of purchases, so I don't know the name, sorry!

Clearly Spotted looks great over solid creme polishes, preferably lighter shades. I like it over subtle shades, because it stands out. 

Well--that's it. Hope you enjoyed! 

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XOXO

Is

NOTD: Plain Old White (With Added Pizazz!) Sally Hansen Disco Ball

Hi guys! I have today's mani to share with you. It's not much, but I was in the springy mood yesterday (temperatures are rising!) and wanted to do something clean and light.

That turned out to be plain old white (Spoiled Correction Tape) with some fine glitter on top (Sally Hansen Disco Ball from the Xtreme Wear collection).

Generally, I reserve white for summer, but it was so warm yesterday I couldn't help it!

I rather like it! The glitter doesn't show up that well in the photo (my apologies) but it adds a nice bit of sparkle and fun to the plain white polish. Disco Ball is very versatile that way... it adds pizazz to any color. I tried it with black as well...

You can see how the glitter really pops against the black.

So there ya go! A quickie little NOTD post. I'm so excited for the warmer weather! I really love Disco Ball as it can be used with any creme, and is fun without being to over-the-top.

What polishes do you use to jazz up plain colors?

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XOXO

Is

Jelly Sandwich Manicure Tutorial

HELLO EVERYBODY!! I'm feeling pretty peppy right now! Anyone else? Today was just a good day. And it's Friday! It's a bonus!

So! Onto the manicure!

You're probably scratching your heads and wondering what a jelly sandwich is. First, let's start out with the basics: What is a jelly nail polish? This type of polish is sheer, with a gooey, shiny finish. Here are two of the best descriptions I've seen so far: "Imagine applying a thin layer of red jello to your nail. That's what a red jelly polish sort of looks like! Some describe this as 'squishy,' meaning that it looks like you could squish a jelly polish (like jello)." -Nouveaucheap.blogspot.com. "...jellies are like lip gloss for nails while cremes are like lipstick." -blog.birchbox.com. So there you have it! Now, a jelly sandwich is a manicure technique in which you sandwich a layer of glitter polish between a jelly polish. This makes the glitter look suspended in the polish, similar to the look of fruit trapped in a gelatin mold.

So here we have a diagram of a jelly sandwich. As you can see, the bottom layer is jelly polish, the middle is glitter, and the top is jelly.

And now, onto the tutorial.

STEP ONE: GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES

The first thing you will need to do is gather your supplies. If you are giving yourself a full-on manicure, get whatever materials you need for that. (I might do a post on my mani routine at some other point in time.) For this nail design, here's what you'll need: A base coat of choice (I use Essie Grow Stronger), your jelly polish (I will be using Essie Bouncer It's Me), your glitter polish (I will be using Essie Set In Stones), and your top coat of choice (I use Milani Quick Dry Topcoat). Note: For your manicure to come out looking right, choose a glitter polish with fairly large glitters and a clear base. It's okay if there are tiny glitters mixed in as well, just make sure that there are some big ones in there. A cool alternative to the regular square or hex glitter is to choose a polish will shapes in it, like stars, hearts, or other shapes.

STEP TWO: PREPARE THE NAILS

If you are giving yourself a full-on, luxurious mani, go ahead do so. You might want to cut and/or file your nails, push back your cuticles, etc. Once you do this, apply your base coat.

STEP THREE: ADD TWO COATS OF JELLY POLISH

 Paint your nails with two coats of your jelly nail polish. This will be the first layer of your jelly sandwich.

STEP FOUR: ADD GLITTER POLISH

This glitter will be the middle layer of your jelly sandwich. Depending on the density or "glitter payoff" of your chosen glitter polish, you may want to do one or two coats. The polish I used is the right amount of glitter for me, so I just did one coat.

STEP FIVE: ADD ONE COAT OF JELLY POLISH

This will create the "sandwiched" effect. Pretty cool, huh?

STEP SIX: ADD A TOPCOAT

A glossy shine is just what this mani needs to give it even more depth.

That's it! You're done!

I absolutely LOVE this manicure, and I will definitely be trying it out again soon. Just for fun, I added a satin (semi-matte) topcoat on it later.

 Ehh. It kinda took away the depth. I wouldn't recommend it. 

One more quick tip: If you haven't heard of jelly polishes before, take a look through your collection and see if you have any sheer polishes. They may be jellies, and you never even knew! I had about three jellies in my collection already that I wasn't even aware of! 

That's it for this post. I hope this tutorial was helpful. Good luck with your jelly sandwich manicures!

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XOXO

Is