Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey everyone!  Today is Valentine's day, and I had to do a mani for the occasion.  I wasn't too inspired, so I decided to go a little out of my comfort zone and do a shatter manicure.  I almost never wear shatters, but I just got this lovely red one from OPI and I figured what better occasion than Valentine's to use it?  I think I have a love-hate relationship with shatters because they never work out for me formula wise.  This one is actually really good, and was really easy to use.  I used the shatter over Orly Cotton Candy.

Please forgive my lack of posts lately.  It's really hard to keep up with a blog when I'm working full time and going to school.  I always say I'll do better, but there's no way to guarantee when I'll have enough free time to swatch and post.  I really do try, though :)

I love all of you!  Hopefully you have something fun planned for today/tonight!  (A date with some bottles of polish wouldn't be half bad haha!)
<3

OPI, Glam Slam England duo (way behind the times)

So I know I'm wayyyyy behind the times on this one, but this is the Glam Slam England duo from OPI and Serena Williams.  The duo comes with Grape, Set, Match and Servin' up Sparkle.  For this mani, I used two coats of  GSM and two coats of SuS.  I was holding off on posting this because it's months after the collection was released, but it's so beautiful that I couldn't resist:

blurry to show the holo sparkle

SuS is a gorgeous glitter with large and small scattered holographic pieces.  A must have in a collection, if you ask me.  I think these colors go amazingly well together :)  The purple is pretty on it's own, but it's not entirely unique.  Put it together with the glitter, though, and bam! Gorgeous.

Thanks for reading! (Even if you've already seen this a billion times)

<3

Birthday Haul :)

Today I'm sharing my new pretties that I got for my birthday :)  Most of these were gifted to me from friends or family, but I got the W'n'W polishes and the Sally Hansen polish myself.  I guess it still counts because I got it for myself as a b-day present :)

four of the new Ice Baby collection polishes: Rockin Rubies, Diamond in the Rough,
24 Karats, Believe Me, it's Real

Ulta: Purple Haze and Femme Fatale, Sally Hansen Strobe Light
Three sided buffer and a fine grit file

OPI: DS Extravagance!!!!!! Servin' Up Sparkle, Grape, Set, Match

Do you see that DS Extravagance!?  Eeeeeee!  I have wanted that polish for soooooo long and it's everything I always thought it would be.  I looove it so much.  Oh, and the other two aren't too shabby, either ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

<3

Blingy Gradient!

This is my very first attempt at a gradient mani...I think it came out decent!!  Of course, there's room for improvement, but I think it's pretty ok for my first try :)  I used a base of OPI Passion then sponged WnW Silvivor, NYX Perfect Gray, and NYC Black Creme.  I added some silver glitter by SC afterward :)

I think I should have used a different sponge...I just used a cosmetic sponge that came in a compact.
Overall, I really love this mani!!  I think it looks mysterious and edgy, but has some class at the same time.  What do you guys think??  Are you fans of gradient manis?

<3!

Nicole by OPI-Sounds Grape to Me

Okay, so this polish is so beautiful!  It is a wine colored base with gold micro glitters packed into it.  In the bottle, you can see a bit of duochromey color shift from wine to gold, but on the nail I couldn't seem to coax it out :( Still...it's super pretty.  I think it's such a classic color, especially for the fall.  I think I'm gonna be wearing this all the time when the weather starts turning cooler :)  These photos are two coats topped with SV.

Isn't that just gorgeous?  I'll just drool over it for a while now :)  I also think this color is flattering on my new nubbins.  I feel naked without my longer nails, but I'll get used to them eventually :)

Thanks for reading!
:D

OPI, Cozu-Melted in the Sun (revisited)

I felt that I needed to re-do swatches of this color because my first post had awful quality pictures that were not completely color accurate.  As I said in my first post about it, I am totally in love with this color.  I think it is so feminine and classy!  The color is much more pink than it shows in those photos.  You also couldn't see the details of the texture or finish.  Well, here it is in better quality :)

At some angles, this polish looks more beige-y (top picture), but in others it's much more pink (like the bottom picture).  In some lights, it even looks peachy!  
The downside to this polish is that clean up is a pain in the butt.  It has very fine silver glitter all through it and no matter what you do clean up wise, it will not come off!  Removal is not as bad as a full on glitter, but is still a bit of a hassle.  I don't care much, though, because for me this polish = love!

Anyone else have this color?  If not, I highly recommend it :)

Nabi-Rose

Today's nail of the day is Rose by Nabi with OPI's I Juggle...Men on top.  Nabi is a brand of nail polish that I had never heard of before.  I found it at a local boutique here in Flagstaff, AZ, and I have no idea where else you can get it besides online.  Anyway, this color is a slightly cool toned medium pink.  Originally, the formula on this was EXTREMELY thick.  Like Konad "special" polish thick.  I had to add 15 drops of thinner to get it down to a good consistency.  Also, the smell of this polish is beyond strange.  Like no other polish I have ever smelled. After I thinned it, application was smooth and opaque in two coats.  Pics!

shade.  here you can really see the blue tones. and apparently
i cant paint the inside edge of my ring finger :)

sun.  nice medium pink.

I added the OPI on top to give it a little oomph.  The shimmers in it reflect blue which plays nicely off of the blue tones in the Nabi.  Indoors, this polish bends a bit fuscia.  Still very pretty.  Overall, I don't think I would reccommend this polish brand.  The brush on it is really nice, but unless you want to spend a ton of time thinning to a good consistency, I would pass.  I think I paid about $2.50 for it.

picture from Amazon.com

Another strange thing about this brand of polish is that when I searched it online all the bottles looked like this:

But my bottle looks like this:

It says "new and thick formula".  No kidding.  I probably would have liked the old formula better!
Anyway, tell me what you think!!! Have you ever tried a Nabi polish?

May Favorites :)

Since it's the beginning of June, I thought I'd let you all know what my favorite polishes for the month of May were!  These four polishes were basically all I wore in May, with the exception of swatching.

Sorry about the poor lighting...anyway!  

From left to right:

China Glaze-For Audrey

Orly-Rage

OPI-Cozu-Melted in the Sun

Essie-Smooth Sailing

These colors are so springy and amazing!  For Audrey is an amazing creamy light teal.  Perfect for spring days :) Orly Rage is a metallic rose gold.  The OPI is one of my all time favorites.  It is a shimmery pinky beige.  Smooth Sailing is a super unique medium blue with silver reflects that really lights up in the sun.

I have a feeling I'll be reaching for these all through June as well :D

nail art of the day

Today's nail of the day is a fun one!  Essie's Smooth Sailing with OPI Black Shatter on top.  I think the result is pretty and daring :)

sun.

 The sun really brings Smooth Sailing to life.  In person, this color looks just a tad more purple than in photos, but it's close enough.  It also has the most gorgeous silver reflect to it.  Definitely a summer must-have!

shade.

Overall, I really like these two polishes paired together.  I feel that they compliment each other in some strange way.  Plus, who can resist trying out the black shatter over every color?!  I had to do it :)

OPI-Bubble Bath

Today's nail of the day is the famous OPI Bubble Bath.  This color has been a favorite of OPI lovers everywhere and now I know why!  It is a beautiful sheer pinky-nude.  The application is pretty amazing.  These photos are all with three coats to cover up very slight imperfections.

shade (shiny!)

 In the shade this polish looks...yummy.  Very shiny and jelly-like :)

sun

This color is perfect for making your nails polished looking, but understated at the same time.  Perfect for the workplace, in my opinion.  Love it!

nail of the day-konad

Today's nail of the day is a twist on the classic french manicure.  I used OPI's In the Spot Light Pink as my base color, the added a white french tip using a guide sticker.  Without removing the sticker, I stamped m60 over the white tip using Sketch-y by Finger Paints.  After removing the sticker I finished it off with Seche Vite.

I really, really loved how this turned out.  It's so cute!  I love the idea of stamping a design over a french tip.  It gives a classic nail a bit of a twist.  It makes it unusual enough to not be too boring :)

On a side note, I experimented with water marbling today.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures up tomorrow :)

nail art of the day and new favorite polish!!

I have recently been IN LOVE with OPI's Cozu-Melted in the Sun from the OPI Mexico Collection.  I saw it in my local ULTA recently, and couldn't stop coming back to it.  This is the most amazing, warm, shimmery, coppery-rose color.  It has tons of micro glitter in it and I think it would work well for most skin tones.  I have worn it both plain and with nail art over it.  

In these photos, I used Cozu-Melted in the Sun as a base color (2 coats) with konad m60 stamped over it in black.

I seriously feel like I'll never find a color that I love more than this beauty.  It's neutral, but still has some kick to it.  It's a nude, but oh so much more.  I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a shimmery, nude color that's understated, but wildly unique.

Konad Love

I've just recently gotten into a lot of nail art and let me tell you, Konad is the way to go.  I just received my little starter kit today, and I am very, very impressed.  My kit came with plate m2, a stamper, a scraper, and a little bottle of the "special" nail polish in white.  Of course, I couldn't wait to try it out, and this is the result:

I used OPI's In The Spot-Light Pink from the new Femme de Cirque collection as my base color.  I added a black french tip and then used Konad plate m2 to stamp the white floral design over the edge of the french tip.  It's not perfect, but I like the way it came out.  It's simple, but also elegant enough to catch the eye.

I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot of use out of my Konad set! :)