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

ELF-Cranberry

I love this color, you guys.  It's so sexy and deep and winter-y.  It's really rich, and I can't stop staring at it!  Pretty good for only a couple of bucks.  This was two coats, but I could have gotten away with one.  So far, all of the polishes that I've tried from ELF have been awesome!

Again, I'm still adjusting my new lighting, so bear with my photos :)

Thanks for reading!
<3

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

Orly-Paris Promedade

YOU GUYSSSS.  I am so sorry I've been completely MIA for the last week.  Ugh, I feel gross about myself.  But I was up to my eyeballs with stuff to do.  Thursday was my birthday/I had an exam/I had to work, and it just went from there.  I had family visiting and couldn't do my nails or blog :(  But I'm back!!  And today I have Orly's Paris Promenade on guest fingers!!  My mom, Betty, was kind enough to loan me her nails :)  She wanted a bloody color for her halloween costume, and this is what she picked off of my wheels:

Paris Promendade is a medium to dark red creme that is slightly on the sheer side.  Application was pretty good, as with all of my old Orly's, but you can see some slight pulling on her middle finger in the second photo.  Overall, I liked how it turned out on her against her skin tone (more olive than my own).

Thanks for sticking with me, ladies!

<3

Sinful Colors-Dancing Nails

Dancing Nails is a really neat pinky red metallic color.  It makes me feel so fierce!!  Haha :)  Application, as always with SC, was pretty good.  Care is needed with brushstrokes because of the nature of the foil finish.

Isn't she pretty!?  This color always makes me think of Christmas when I see it :)

Don't forget to keep voting on my contest entries.  You'll be able to find a link in the top right of my sidebar :)

Thanks for reading :)
<3

Orly-Crawford's Wine

Here's another one of my oldie but goodie Orly's, Crawford's Wine.  Beautiful true red with gorgeous shimmer.  So dimensional.  It almost seems like a jelly after applied, but is completely opaque in JUST ONE COAT.  Love it.  I think the photos speak for themselves:

Love, love, love, love, love.  Oh, and love.  Amazing formula too, before the 3-free reformulation.  What do you think?

Thanks for reading <3

Orly-Moonlit Madness

Moonlit Madness is an amazingly gorgeous deep red shimmer.  While it is one of Orly's older polishes, it is beyond gorgeous.  I have a bottle that is really, really old (at least 8-10 years old) and the consistency is still amazing and application was about as good as it gets.  I realize that a polish this old has a non 3-free formula, and that is why the formula is superior.  I also really like Orly's older brushes, they fit my nails really well.  These photos were taken with two coats, but I could have easily gotten away with one:

Now, I love red polishes to begin with, but this one is extra dreamy.  it's so dimensional and I get lost staring into it.  Isn't it a stunner!?  If any of you have the newer formula of this one, let me know how it compares!  Is it just as amazing?  I hope it is!

Love you guys! <3

Finger Paints-Primary Color

Primary Color is a gorgeous red jelly-creme finish polish.  It's extremely well pigmented!  I was blown away by how smooth the polish went on and how gorgeous it looked even after just one coat!  I was extra surprised because I picked this one up at Sally Beauty for only 99 cents.  It's on sale at their website for $1.99, but they were having a half price sale at the store near my house and they happened to have two in stock.  I figured they were so discounted because no one bought them/they were low quality, but damn, is this polish awesome!  These photos are two coats, no topcoat:

My camera tends to freak out when I photograph reds, but these photos are fairly color accurate, especially the first one.  It's a very true red, not too orange toned, but not too blue toned either.  Perfectly in the middle :)  I also apologize for the state of my cuticles.  I've been trying to baby them!

Also, same question as yesterday:  how do I mend my jacked up nail beds???!!  They're flaking and peeling up in the middle of the nail!  Eeek!

Thanks for reading :D

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

Sinful Colors-Gogo Girl

Gogo Girl is a delicious red jelly...mmm.  Application on this one is good IF you apply it patiently...story time!  I had applied this as a full mani while distracted and watching TV, so I left much more time between coats than I usually do.  Anyway, I messed up a couple of nails during cleanup and had to re-do them.  On those nails, I polished like I usually do, not waiting very long between coats/topcoat.  Those nails ended up drying really wrinkly!  I have never experienced anything like it with any other polish.  It looked like it had pulled up on itself really badly.  I remedied it by waiting for it to dry completely, then adding another thick layer of topcoat to smooth everything out.  So...moral of the story = wait for each coat to dry completely before painting the next one.  Pictures!

Mmmm.  Just take a look at how shiny and squishy that color is!  These pictures are two coats, topped with SV.  Two coats allows this polish to be almost opaque.  In extremely bright light, I have a bit of VNL, but I kind of like it, especially with this color.
Overall verdict:  Definitely a must have!  What's hotter than a red jelly? Nothing!  This is my first full-on jelly, and I am really happy with it :)

Sally Hansen-Diamonds and Rubies

Today's NOTD is Diamonds and Rubies by Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength line.  This is my ultimate favorite red nail polish.  Of all time.  I have had this polish for a while, but never truly appreciated it until a few months ago.  Pictures can't even do this polish justice.  It pulls VERY orange in pictures, but in person this polish is a very true blood red.
I color corrected these pictures to try to get it as close as possible to the original color.  I got pretty close, but not quite all the way there.

When imagining this color, just picture the most pure, not orage, but not too blue red that you can.  It's seriously perfect.
The formula on this one is a dream, too.  Perfectly smooth jellyish-cream in 2 coats.  The downside to this polish is that it seems to be hard to find.  I haven't seen it in any drugstores in the last couple of months.  They have another red that is a bit more orange than this one, but I like this one so much better :)

What's your favorite red??

Sally Hansen-Sonic Bloom

Today's notd is Sonic Bloom by Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.  I have been somewhat apprehensive to wear this polish for a while because it is so bright!  I would consider this a very bright coral red.  Bordering a neon red, but it's definitely not a neon finish.  After wearing this polish for a couple of days, I have really grown to like it!  It's a red that is better suited for summer as it is definitely fun and bright!

I felt that this color was asking for a konad! Now I don't want to take this polish off!!!
What do you think??