Geo-matte-ric


It seems like everyone in the polish world is always raving about Zoya polish.  For some reason, I just can't seem to get into it.  For one thing, no one around me really sells it (although Ulta is starting to pick up some) and for another, everytime I see it on the displayers it just looks so blah.  The colors are nice it just seems like they look like every other color out there.  I've also been told that Zoya polish does not agree with Seche Vite. This mani didn't prove or disprove that theory since it uses a matte top coat but I picked up some free Zoya's so time will tell if that's true!  Anyway I picked up the entire Mod Matte collection from Zoya the other day because I'm trying to give them a chance and I love these colors.  They're much brighter in person but due to massive storms and tornados it's been hard for me to get any sunny pics. :( Maybe next time. 

All colors are Zoya. Base color is: Mitzi and over that I stamped Lolly with Fauxnad m65. Top coated with Essie Matte About You.

Side note: removing this matte Zoya was a NIGHTMARE.  Not only did it take forever to get off but it also left wicked yellow stains on my nails. I'll have to experiment with different removers and base coats to see if this is a fluke but I never get staining with any other colors using my current base coat. :( Bummer.

Castles in the Sand


First I want to say...26 followers!! Thank you all so much!  I'm pretty new to the nail art game and am learning as I go but I'm having a lot of fun learning and sharing with you (and also getting tips from you guys!) so thank you so much for following along with me! And onto the nails...

I finally got my hands on butterLONDON's All Hail The Queen and I think this might honestly be my favorite nail polish of all time. Ever.  It's a wonderful nude tone and it has tiny holographic glitter flecks in it which are AMAZING.  It kind of reminds me of a sandy beach on a sunny day.  It glitters subtly in the light and looks just as gorgeous in the shade.  It was a really smooth formula as well, though I've come to expect that from butterLONDON.  This is two coats and it didn't even need a top coat because it was shiny and smooth without it.  I did a simple stamp over the top because I really didn't want to cover up the color!!   This mani lasted me three days which is by far a record for me!

All colors are butterLONDON. Base is All Hail The Queen.  Stamped
The Old Bill over the top with Fauxnad plate m65.

Baby Polish Haul



This will probably be my last polish haul for awhile (I keep saying that...lol).  In the grand scheme of things, it didn't cost me very much and that's why I ended up with most of these polishes.  My other half is getting a good eye for polish finds and when I was talking the other day about the re-release of the Katy Perry color, Not Like the Movies, and how all the duo-chromey goodness was gone he surprised me by finding me an old school greeny-pinky-greyish wonderfully still duochromey one at a local store!  While I was there I went ahead and picked up her other color (might as well complete the collection!) The One that Got Away. Later he also managed to find me most of the China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection.  Apparently the ULTA about 45 minutes from my house (and yes there is one closer but it never hurts to scope out the others!) had completely forgotten to mark them down!  I picked up a back-up bottle of Swing Baby and a bottle of Foxxy awhile back for 4.99 on clearance and they're now 2.99 on clearance! You can't beat that.   Turns out my local ULTA was just as forgetful because I ended up finding a bunch there later too, but they're the ones I already have so didn't really help me out!  I also recently joined the Sally Beauty Club and I have to say, I'm wicked peeved that these ladies never offered it to me before. If for no other reason than I go through Seche Vite like water and you get $1.50 off EVERY bottle everytime.  It does cost $5 to join but you instantly get a coupon for $5 off a $5 purchase so it pays for itself immediately.  And you also get discounts (usually .50 to 1.00 off) throughout the store for the whole year.  I could probably have saved at least $30 or $40 already. But I digress.  I'm using my $5 to get a bottle of free Seche since it's on sale for $5 a bottle this week, must be fate :) Also used the online beauty club coupon to get a free bottle of China Glaze so that added to my haul!  And I'm trying to give Zoya a chance since so many people online love it (I just can't get into it for some reason!)  Anyway..here goes:

Top row is: Zoya Mod Matte Collection in Lolly, Phoebe, and Mitzi, Zoya Caitlin and Zoya Jules. Middle row is: 4oz Polish Thinner, China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection in Goin' My Way, Ingrid, Hey Doll, and Riveter Rouge and a bottle of Gelous basecoat. Bottom row is China Glaze Lemon Fizz, and Bogie, OPI Katy Perry in Last Friday Night, Essence FairyTale Collection in Humpty Dumpty, OPI Katy Perry Collection in Not Like the Movies, and Butter London No More Waity, Katie and All Hail the Queen. 

Realized after I took this that I forgot to include the OPI Katy Perry in The One That Got Away but you get the idea!!

Sparrow me the Shatter


So I finally used the Silver Shatter I got with my Pirates of the Carribean collection.  I have to say, while I love the shatter (and this one is a MUST HAVE) I really wasn't a fan of it over the Pirates colors.  I think the reason for that is that: A) the colors are muted and the silver isn't that much of a stand-out effect over the top and B) I love these colors so much it feels like a shame to cover them up.  I really don't say that often about colors (well...ok...butterLONDON colors maybe!) but there's something really awesome about this particular collection.  I really love how all the colors are just a bit grungy looking, even the pinks!  If you don't have this shatter you should get it for sure because unlike all the other shatters, this one has micro-glitter in it and with a top coat (and definitely use a topcoat) the shatter shimmers in the sunlight like nothing else.  It's a really nice effect.  I'm hoping the China Glaze metallic collection of crackles will be similar!

Base is: OPI POTC Sparrow Me the Drama.  One coat of OPI Silver Shatter on top and two coats of Seche Vite!

Starry Night


I got some new Deborah Lippman polishes this week.  These are my first DL's and since they were so expensive, I expected them to be of excellent quality.  I was a tad dissapointed because of the 4 I got, three of them require at least three coats to be opaque.  I also had a lot of problems with chipping and tip pull, but I'm told that this might be a side effect of my top coat so I'll reserve judgment on that one until I've tried it with a different one. This was one of the three coaters, but I'll give them this, these glitters are not like any other glitter I have.  There's something quite magical about the way the glitter looks suspended between layers of polish.  The deep blue color and the silvery glint of glitter reminded me of the sky at night so I added some simple stars and a holo-glitter top coat. :)

Base is Deborah Lippman Lady Sings the Blues.  Topped that with a single coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and then stamped stars with Nicole by OPI Give Me the 1st Dance and Konad plate m3
. 

On Stranger Trees


So I got the new OPI Pirates of The Carribean collection and I am in LOVE.  I'm not normally the biggest OPI fan and the brushes on these did nothing to change that but the colors are SO pretty.  Even though they seem kind of "eh" in the bottle, they look so pretty and very unique on the nail.  I definitely don't have any greens like this one in my collection!  They do have a pretty good formula as well, this is three coats of Stranger Tides. My only complaint is the brush...it seems to leave streaks all over my nail. I could definitely have left it at two coats had it not been for that.  Anyway since I loved the green so much and I got a new plate in the mail the other day I decided to just do a simple accent nail.   The plate was from the Born Pretty store, I'm sure they've been reviewed all over the web so I'm not going to go into a ton of detail about how they are, but I'm definitely sticking to konads.  The edge of the plate is practically a razor and I had to fully clean the plate in between EVERY stamp just to get a full design to stamp.  Oh well...still can't beat $1.55 a plate!

Base coat is: OPI POTC On Stranger Tides.  Painted tree trunks with Orly Prince Charming and stamped on flowers with OPI POTC Sparrow Me the Drama from Fauxnad plate m66
.

Victorian Flowers


I decided to make some good use of all my new butterLONDON colors this week and also to somewhat subtly compare my new color, Lady Muck, with my current favorite butterLONDON shade, Victoriana.  They looked a bit similar to me in the bottle but they're completely different on the nail.  Lady Muck is much more of a grey than Victoriana.  But they're both pretty shades and both look great matte (bonus!)  I also wanted to do some freehand nail art since I've been doing less of it lately!  So here are some cute flowers :)


Side note: I noticed after I photographed these that I had forgotten to put leaves on one of the flowers on my pinky!  Hate it when that happens :/


All colors are butterLONDON.  Base is Lady Muck, flowers are Victoriana with The Old Bill centers and the leaves are British Racing Green.  I used Essie Matte About You topcoat on the Lady Muck only!

POTC Haul!! (and free stuff!!)



Yay polish haul!! I'm actually quite proud of this haul because for one thing, it's the first COMPLETE collection of a polish release I own, and for another thing, due to some serious coupon love from my ladies over at Polish-Aholics, it didn't cost me much either! Score!  Actually I got two of these polishes for completely free and I added up the others and realized that with my couponing, I actually got about 4 total free polishes.  You can't beat that.  This is my last polish haul for awhile, still have a few butterLONDON polishes in the mail and a Nubar 2010 on the way.  Also hoping my Nordstroms gets more Across The Universe and Bad Romance back in...but until then, I'm on untrieds for awhile, and believe me, I have plenty!!


Top row is: OPI Serena Williams in Red Shatter and Rally Pretty Pink, Orly It's Up to Blue, Oh Cabana Boy and Cosmic FX Galaxy Girl.  Bottom row from left to right is: Orly mini in Winter Wonderland and Glitz and Glamour.  OPI Pirates of the Carribean (complete collection) in Stranger Tides, Skull & Glossbones,  Planks A lot, Silver Shatter, Steady As She Rose, Mermaid Tears, and Sparrow Me the Drama, China Glaze Fairy Dust, and Orly mini in Meet Me Under the Mistletoe and Rockin' Rocket.




PS: Get free polish here!


and


$5 off a $10 order here!

Shatter-licious


It took me forever to decide what to put on top of the gorgeous Burlesque Sparkle-icious. I had all sorts of great plans for designs but in the end I decided to shatter it and call it a day.  I've never actually shattered over a glitter before and I have to say, I'm loving it.  This picture does it no justice whatsoever. The Sparkle-icious is by far one of the most glittery polishes I own and even in low and artificial light these nails shimmered wonderfully. :)  You'll have to excuse the green splotch on my index nail, I was doing some nail art on another person and dripped some onto my nails without noticing!

Base is: butterLONDON The Old Bill.  Two coats of OPI Sparkle-icious on top of that and one coat of OPI Black Shatter on top.  Finished with two coats of Seche Vite!

Sparkle-icious


You'll have to excuse my ridiculously messy cuticles on this one.  I didnt intend to leave the mani at just this so I didn't do any clean-up.  This is Sparkle-icious from the OPI Burlesque collection.  I've been told that this is a dupe for OPI Mad As A Hatter (a ridiculously HTF polish!) but I honestly don't see it. Granted, I don't personally own MAAH but just from looking at swatches it seems that they're pretty different.  The Sparkle-icious has gold, purple and blue glitter in a clear jelly base.  MAAH has red and silver glitter as well.  Also, the Sparkle-icious glitter is round while the MAAH glitter is hexagonal.  That said, they're still both very sparkly and pretty on the nail.  I put two coats of butterLONDON The Old Bill under two coats of Sparkle-icious for this mani but after some examination it turns out you can't see base color at all.  Might make it easier to remove though!  Enjoy! :)

Two Quarters and a Broken Heart Down


Got my China Glaze BrokenHearted a few days ago. It's so SUPER awesome! Honestly, the last few I got I was a bit dissapointed with.  I mean, don't get me wrong, they're super cool looking but they also seemed  quite finicky.  The Broken Hearted goes on like a dream and crackles beautifully. I do wonder if they changed the formula though as the bottle has a different design on it than my other crackle polishes.  I'll have to look into it.  I'm almost sad I only did half the nail but it always feels like such a cop-out to me to just crackle a nail and call it a day!  The base coat on this is China Glaze For Audrey.  Every nail blogger under the sun seems to have this color and it's always out when I go to Sally's to get it.   I love that it's a minty greenish color because I'm totally addicted to mint green, but I was concerned when I brought it home because it looks EXACTLY like the Justin Bieber My Lifesaver I already have.  I swatched them later to see if there was a difference in color on the nail and I'm pleased to say there definitely is (swatch comparision to come!).  There's also a big difference in the quality...but I'll blog about that all later! Hope you enjoy! :)

Base coat is: China Glaze For Audrey.  Swiped China Glaze Crackle in Brokenhearted over half the nail and then put a stripe of LA Colors Nail Art in Gold Glitter down the center.  Two coats of Seche Vite and done!

Chantilly Lace


I did these nails after the Royal Wedding.  I was inspired by the simplicity of Catherine's dress.  It was classy, beautiful, and understated.  I liked the idea of lace being a focal point so I used some flowers to sort of mimic the idea of a lace pattern.  The gold added a nice flair to them!

Base is: Essie Like Linen.  Stamped flowers using Orly Luxe and konad plate m51 Two coats of Seche Vite on top.

Side note: My Seche Vite is down to the last dregs and is causing pullage from the bottom of the nail so I apologize for the sloppy cuticles!  I bought a new bottle!

MAY-JAH Polish Haul!!



I set out today to pick up some Milani Holo's becuase I saw them on another person's blogger and they look SO pretty in the sunlight.  Granted, they're no GOSH Holo (which is my personal Holy Grail of holo-polish!) but certainly sparkly and pretty and no where near as costly!  I did finally find them at CVS so I picked up two of them.  Well...after that things just sort of got out of hand! I stopped by ULTA to replace by butterLONDON polish remover (since SOMEone spilled half of it and casually blamed it on the cat!) and while I was there I ended up picking up four butterLONDON's (got my remover for free!!) and an Orly Pin-Up collection polish.  To round out my day I stopped by DrugMart --just to SEE if maybe they had anything exciting -- AND...HOLY GOOD TIMING! They had the ENTIRE Burlesque collection. I mean, are you kidding?! There's no way I was passing that up. Already two of the colors I bought are going for 11.50 and 29.99 on Amazon! Hello good find!  Also stopped by the Drug Mart nearer my home and picked up some of the more costly ones to distribute to my polish friends (extras are now on amazon!  So today I ended up with a pretty serious polish haul! And...probably won't be getting anymore for awhile (at least not after Tuesday when the POC is in stores!)

From left to right the top row is: Milani Holo in Hi Tech, OPI Burlesque in Extra-va-vaganza!, Sparkle-icious, Glow Up Already, Simmer & Shimmer, Show it and Glow it!, and Bring on the Bling and Milini Hi Res. Bottom row is: Orly Pin Up Collection in Here Comes Trouble, butterLONDON in Lady Muck, Tea With the Queen, Britsh Racing Green, and The Old Bill. The pumpkin was a 99 cent glow in the dark polish I snagged just for fun! lol...it really does glow in the dark too! :)

It's good to be plaid



I really love plaid.  I don't know why I just think it's the most awesome pattern.  It seemed like a really easy nail art idea, and it was, but I wanted to tone it down a bit so I used just a few stripes so the idea of plaid is there without the intricacy of a full on plaid nail.  Enjoy :)


Base color on all nails but ring is Revlon Silver.  Base on ring finger is Orly Sapphire Silk.  Stripes are Orly Sapphire Silk, Orly Lollipop and Revlon Silver (on ring).  Two coats of Seche Vite on top :)

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