Essie-Shine of the Times

I'm sure all of you have seen Shine of the Times around multiple times, but I just had to get my two cents in :)  It's a gorgeous gold/green/orange/multi flakie that is really saturated with flakes.  Compared to my Finger Paints flakie of the same color variety, this one seems to have twice the amount of bling.  I didn't want to layer it over boring black, so I decided to go with China Glaze Ingrid (not sure why Ingrid doesn't have her own post yet, I'll get working on that ;))

Let me tell you, it is super hard to get the green flash of this polish on camera without the photo being really blurry.  You can get a glimpse of it on my pointer finger and ring finger, but otherwise the orangey-red and gold are prominent.  Like I said, the glitter is really dense, and this was only one coat of SotT over two coats of Ingrid.  I topped off everything with Seche Vite.

Thanks for reading!
<3

Sally Hansen-Wedding Crasher

Wedding Crasher is a beautiful pink glitter in a fuscia jelly base.  Believe me, you guys, this is definitely one that you'll want to pick up :)  It's definitely one that needs to be layered unless you like the look of a jelly glitter.  I took so many pictures of this one, but just COULDN'T get one to come out right.  My camera would not focus on this one no matter what I did!  Anyway, here she is with no topcoat:

I layered her over ELF Cranberry to up the base color.  So overall, this is two coats of Cranberry and three coats of Wedding Crasher.  While it's a lot of coats, I think it's totally worth it.  So, so pretty :)

I should try layering this beauty over black, that would be sassy!

Thanks for reading!
<3

Sally Hansen-Glass Slipper

Glass Slipper is a polish that I grabbed up the fist time I layed eyes on it.  It's a beautiful white/silver flakie polish that looks super pretty.  I put it over black to really show the flakies.  This is two coats over W'n'W Black Creme.

For some reason, I had the hardest time getting an in-focus shot of this polish.  The flakies confused my camera, I think.  Anyway, I'm super happy that SH released a couple of flakies for us to work with.  I know how all you ladies out there love them :)

Thanks for stopping by!
<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

Christmas Tinsel!

I felt like doing another Christmas inspired mani, and I wanted it to be inspired by tinsel on a Christmas tree! I used two coats of Zoya Edyta and topped it with one coat of W'n'W 24 Carats.  I used a coat of Gelous to smooth everything out and then topped it all off with a coat of SV:

I actually really like how this came out.  And I got a TON of compliments on it when I wore it to work the next day.  I think the bar glitter in 24K really adds to the tinsel effect that I was going for.  What do you ladies think?  Is it a hit or a miss?

Thanks for reading!

<3

Wet n' Wild-24 Karats

This one is another from the Ice Baby collection from W'n'W.  This one is unusual becuase it contains mostly bar glitter.  In fact, this is the one and only bar glitter that I have in my collection.  It has yellow gold and orange glitter in it, which gives the polish a very warm feel, which is perfect for the fall and winter months.  I layered it over Orly Rage to get a more opaque look.

The shade pictures really do it more justice that the sun ones.  I'm definitely gonna experiment with this one for some christmas manis!

Have you entered my giveaway yet??  There's a link in the top right of my blog :)

Thanks for reading!
<3

Orly-Rock the World

Rock the World is a polish that was on my wishlist, so naturally I'm in love with it :)  I have a soft spot for colors like these (but who doesn't love the Mineral FX collection???).  Application and formula are awesome, but removal is a pain in my booty.  Two coats, topped with SV:

Looooove.  Definitely my favorite from the collection :)

Thanks for reading!
<3

Comparison: Orly Rock Solid vs. W'n'W Diamond in the Rough

So...when I first saw these polishes in the bottle, I thought they would be dupes.  They are close, but not exact.  The W'n'W has much grittier glitter and a stronger rainbow sparkle effect.  The Orly is much smoother on the nail and has a tinted base while the W'n'W base is clear (you can't tell the base is clear after three coats).  Pictures!

Orly, WnW, Orly, WnW

WnW, Orly, WnW, Orly

WnW, Orly, WnW, Orly

As you can see, the rainbow/holo glitter is much stronger in the W'n'W and the base color is darker in the Orly.  Definitely not dupes, but similar that if you have one, I don't think you necessarily need the other.  I used three coats of the W'n'W and two coats of the Orly.

Wet'n'Wild-Rockin Rubies

Rockin Rubies is another polish from the Ice Baby winter collection from W'n'W.  It looks like ruby red slippers!!    My camera had a really hard time focusing on this one for some reason...I think it's all the shineys :)  This was three coats with no topcoat.  You can really see how gritty it is, but it's still beautiful!!

This would look killer over a red base.  Maybe I'll do something like that around Christmas time?  It looks very festive to me :)

Thanks for reading, loves!

<3

Wet'n'Wild-Believe Me, it's Real

So this is one of the new Ice Baby collection polishes.  This collection consists entirely of beautiful glitters is all sorts of different colors.  This is the blue one!  It also has some really pretty purple medium sized glitters in it.  Application is pretty good for a glitter.  It goes on pretty evenly and took three coats to become completely opaque (I consider this decent for a glitter).  The finish is really gritty and a good coat of gelous and/or a couple layers of topcoat are a must for a glassy finish.  These photos are without topcoat:

I like it :)
Have any of you found this collection yet?  What do you think?

Thanks for reading!
<3

Birthday Nails!

Hi everyone!  My birthday was on the 27th, and I wanted to do something festive and sparkly!  I did a base of W'n'W Black Creme and two coats of Party of Five Glitters and a topcoat of Hard Candy's Mattely in Love.  I really liked how it came out :)

What do you guys think?  Festive enough??

Thanks for reading!
<3

Zoya-Faye

Faye has been one of the polishes I have wanted for a really long time.  I finally got my hands on it :)  I love colors like these that have a ton of gold shimmer to them and this one really shines!  This was two coats and no topcoat:

Lovely, yes?  I want to do a comparison post soon with Faye vs. Orly's Rock the World.  They look super similar to me in the bottle :)  Let me know if you ladies want the comparison!

Thanks for reading!
<3

Nina Ultra Pro-Glamrock

Ladies, if you love glitter, than I have the polish for you.  It's Glamrock by Nina Ultra Pro.  When I first saw this polish in the bottle, I was skeptical because glitters typically are not very opaque.  This polish is the opposite!  Two coats was all I needed for complete opacity.  The rich black base helps with this without eating up all the pretty chunky silver glitter.  I can see this polish being a go-to for me when I'm in the mood for glitter :)

This polish dried with quite a gritty texture, so I topped it with a coat of Gelous before adding SV.  This made for a super shiny finish that I loved :)  Removal was a pain in my butt, but I was expecting that.  I used the foil method, and still had quite a bit of work to do...oh well!  I'll put up with the annoying removal if it means wearing pure bling on my nails.  Speaking of wear, it wore amazingly!!  These pics were taken after three days of wear.  During those three days I worked three full shifts using my hands a lot, and I only had one tiny chip on my right hand.  I was really impressed!

Thanks for stopping by!
<3

Zoya-Edyta

Edyta is an amazing shimmery/glittery olive green with gold glitters.  It is beyond beautiful for fall and it reminds me of the leaves changing from green to gold.  Application is gorgeous and opaque with two coats.  I found this unusual with this type of finish because these types of polish usually take at least three coats.  Pictures!

Isn't she a beaut?  Love it.
Stay tuned for the announcement of who won my contest later on today!!

Thanks for stopping by!
<3

China Glaze-CG in the City

I have been looking for this one regularly at my Sally's since it got released with the Metro collection.  Yesterday I got my hands on the last one!!  Now, I've heard pretty meh reviews on this one, but I just couldn't help myself.  And I'm glad I didn't!  I love it!  It's a clear base with dusty purple and silver glitter in it.  Love.  It took three coats to get it opaque enough for me to wear it on it's own.  Keep in mind that I have super shorties right now, and not much VNL to show, so it might look more sheer on others with longer nails.  I topped the three coats with my new love: Gelous.  I love Gelous so, so much.  It smoothed everything out and made the difference for me in how much I love this mani.  Topped all that off with SV:

So much love.  I can't stop looking at my pretty nails :)  If you love dusty colors and glitter, then this one is definitely for you!!  I warn that you need patience, though, as you need three coats and preferably a coat of something like Gelous to smooth the glitter out.

Thanks for stopping by, loves!
<3

Sally Hansen-Disco Ball

Disco Ball is a clear based polish with multi-colored small glitter in it.  Formula is a bit gloopy, but it is a glitter, so there's not too much you can do about that.  Overall, I really like this one.  I wanted to show it to you guys on bare nails to show the clear base color and the density of the glitter (this is two coats, no topcoat):

While I think this one is best as a layering polish, I still think it looks OK on it's own, which is a plus.  If I were going to wear this one as a full mani, I would definitely layer it over another color.  I think it would look especially good over darker colors because it would stand out a bit more and the glitter would really take center stage :)

Love you guys!
<3

Hard Candy-Beetle

Beetle is one of those polishes that is a must have!!  I have been meaning to swatch/post this one for a while, but for some reason never got around to it.  This one is a beautiful purple/green duochrome with a glittery/almost foil finish.  Lovely.  The strange thing about this polish is that it is purple/green duochrome glitter suspended in a tealish/green sheer base.  Weird, but it works.  Pictures!:

Love this one.  Wear is good, I wore it for three days with some tipwear, but no chipping/peeling/flaking, etc. Definitely pick this one up next time you're at Walmart!

Thanks for peeping!
<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!

my first franken creation!

I decided to try my hand at frankening :)  As I said in my last post, I brought home a bunch of old polishes from my brief out of town visit to my parent's house.  I decided to use some of the small bottles that I knew would never make awesome manis on their own and mix them into my own creation!  I used a really old bottle of Crickets polish that was a pink jelly with glitter.  I mixed an opaque dark purple/burgundy shimmer by Sally Hansen (no name) in along with an old Wet'n'Wild blue glitter with a clear base.  This was the result! Three coats topped with INM holographic topcoat for a little more bling :)

Pretty color, right?!  and lots of bling.  Unfortunately, the brush in the bottle I mixed in is short, stubby and just awful, so application was extra terrible.  This was three coats and it was still streaky.  I also smeared my middle finger, which thoroughly irritated me.  If I could get this one a bit more opaque and into a different bottle, that would be great because the color is uh-mazing (imo!).

I think I've gotten myself addicted to frankening now...oops!  So stay tuned for more frankens to come!!

Thanks for reading! Love you all! <3

MANicure!!!

So I've been seeing these "MANicures" floating around the internet nail world for about a week now and I wanted to share my own :)  Mr. NailsbyCourteney was pretty excited to get to do my nails however he wanted.  This was the result!  He picked out everything himself with (almost) no guidance from me.
Base color: WnW Black Creme
Glitter: Ulta Afterparty (on pinky, middle, and thumb) and SC Queen of Beauty (ring and pointer)
Topcoat: Out the Door

I got a huge kick out of watching him try really hard to make it neat and look nice.  He was super into it :)
As you can see, I didn't clean up my nails at all, this is all Mr.NbC's work and he was pretty proud of it!

I think this "tag" should be done by everyone!  I want to see how your brothers, husbands, boyfriends, dads, uncles, etc. do your nails!!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out by blog <3