O is for One Kiwi A Day...

abc challenge


For today's ABC Challenge I have a gorgeous Essence polish to show you! It's called One Kiwi A Day and it's from the Fruity collection.  It's basically a shimmery pastel green polish with little greenish blue glitters in it.  I like that when it builds up the glitters get sort of muted and the shimmer starts to flash more.  This is three coats and it builds to a nice opacity even though it starts out pretty sheer. I used the Essence Fruity top coat over this cause it smells like fruit!! :)  It does dry pretty shiny though even without top coat!
Do you have this polish?

Don't forget to check out what Emma and Kerrie had for the letter "O"!!!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

change

This is a mani I did awhile ago that I sort of forgot about!  I just found it in my cache the other day and thought it was a perfect time to show it off!  It features one of my favorite color combinations: green and gold!  It's a simple combination but I loved it anyway! The base on this is a Duri color and I have to say, I'm still really loving Duri.  Not only are they affordable but this is ONE coat of polish.  ONE. COAT. Plus they dry super shiny.  I can't wait to get some more of them!!


Colors used:
Duri: Summer In the City
Lynderella: Change

A Vintage Twist

chevron


These nails were actually what I wore for my birthday.  It's been a really long time since I did anything super fancy on my nails and I have LOADS of fun beads and tapes and other such novelties so I decided to break them out for my birthday.  I used my favorite color combination for this one and one of my favorite patterns!! I started with a plan to use tape to make the chevrons but I gave up on that pretty early on.  It just seemed like too much work, so I free handed it instead.  The original design had just the green minty nails and the gold, pearls, and roses were sort of an after thought but I love the way it turned out! It's so vintage and Marie Antoinette. LOVE. The green base on these nails is Zoya Neely. Such a lovely soft green.  It's a hair less blue than butter LONDON Fiver so I feel great about getting both. Plus, let's face it I'm addicted to mint green!!  



Colors used:
Zoya Neely and Purity
Models Own Pastel Pink
Seche Vite

Models Own Trio

beth's blue

Today I have a trio of Models Own polishes to show you!  These polishes are now available on a website called, Littlewoods.  One great thing about the site is that allows you to purchase things out right, or to pay for them over a period of time so if you need to make a large purchase, you can do it without going broke all in one go!  Anyway on to the polishes.  The one you see above is called Champagne.  It's a gold metallic with a bit of a warm pink tone to it.  I really loved this one. It reminds me a lot of OPI Designer DeBetter but without the painful removal!  This is two coats of Champange.



Then we have Beth's Blue. Beth's Blue is a blue creme polish with a bit of a purple lean.  It's almost a periwinkle color but it's more blue than purple.  This is also two coats of polish and it dries to a shiny, gorgeous finish. These photo's have no top coat!  This color will be amazing come spring when pastels become big news!  Finally...



we have Coral Reef.  Honestly I expected to hate this one. It's so bright and in the bottle it seemed very orange.  It turned out to be my favorite of the bunch!  It's just an amazing bright coral and again, look at the shine!!  These applied really easily and were all  opaque in two coats.  The only complaint I have about this brand is the smell.  I'm pretty good about using three free brands and 99% of my polishes have a really subtle odor but these are pretty strong.  That's standard of the brand though.  I have quite a few Model's Own and I can vouch that they're a really great quality for the price!! Which one of the three is your favorite?

You can pick up these and more Models Own polishes (plus loads more!!) at Littlewoods.com.




These polishes were sent to me for my honest review. I have not been compensated for my opinion.

N is for Nyx

abc challenge

It's time for another ABC Challenge!! Today I have Nyx for you from the new Zoya Pixie line.  I've already showed you Vespa and London so I won't go into a ton of detail about the formula since it's the same as the other two.  This one was a bit less thin but still very sheer and needed four coats for this opacity. 


It's also gorgeous with top coat!  It has a really pretty sparkle to it!!



 You can see in this close up that four coats is pretty opaque but not entirely.  It's not super noticeable in person though.  I love this one because it's sort of a periwinkle blue and it's really soft and feminine.  I still think these are all more subtle texturally than the OPI but I like that they're very wearable and soft.


Don't forget to check out what Emma and Kerrie had for the letter "N"!!!

Barry Patriotic

4th of july

This is a swatch I've had in my cache since July!! Crazy that it never ended up seeing the light of day!  This is the glorious Barry M Jewel Britannia and it was absolutely perfect for such a patriotic holiday.  Well, besides the fact that it's a British brand and July 4th celebrates independence from the Brits! Oops!  Anyway I used it here over butter LONDON's Diamond Geezer.  I think it looks a lot like confetti fluttering down.  :)

Do you have this polish? Do you love it?


Colors Used:
butter LONDON Diamond Geezer
Barry M Jewel Britannia
Seche Vite

Zoya Godiva

Glitter

It's time for another Zoya Pixie swatch!! This is my favorite of the bunch, silly as it sounds! It really matched my skin tone and it just made my nails look like they had millions of diamonds on them.  It's like Britney Spears ala Toxic on your fingers!  It's really sheer just like the others but because it's a nude I stopped at two coats on this one. There is visable nail line but I think it kind of added to the effect. I'm SO super tempted to do a French mani with this one!  Maybe I still will!



Here's a close up of the gorgeous sparkle!!

Be Mine

bic mark it

Here's another quick Valentine's Day manicure I did.  I know it's a little late but...I still love it!! This idea was actually my husbands and I have all these pastels so it seemed like a good time to use them! The execution is stupidly easy.  I skittled my nails with different shades of pastel and then used various shades of marker to write cute little Valentine sayings on them. Did you know that the conversation hearts now say things like "text me", "LOL" and ";)"? I guess everything has to evolve!! I didn't top coat these after I added the marker. I've heard some people don't have issues with top coat and Sharpies but I didn't want to risk it so I top coated, then let them dry, then added the marker!  I hope you enjoy them!!




Colors used:
butter LONDON Kerfuffle, Fiver and Teddy Girl
Zoya Blu
Seche Vite
Bic Mark It! Markers

Zoya Vespa

Glitter

Today I have another Zoya Pixie to show you! This one is one of my favorites of the collection.  It's called Vespa and it's a lovely soft green color with silver shimmer.  It's hard to show the sparkle of these but they're very glittery in person.  Here's how Vespa looks with topcoat.


Super pretty, right?  I like that these can be worn both ways.  It's a little sheer like the other Zoya Pixie colors.  This is three thick coats of Vespa and it's especially noticeable in this picture that it's a little sheer. 


Isn't she pretty? *Swoon*

I Heart Leopard

DDlove


It's the final day of the Digit-al Dozen's Love and Heartbreak week!  Today I have a simple and fun mani for you! Leopard hearts! This was ridiculously easy to do and all you need is a dotting tool and three colors of nail polish. I wanted to use purple tones because I think Valentines Day and love are too often associated with pink, white and red and I wanted to break out of the box! :)  I hope you enjoyed this week's art work!  Don't forget to check what the other ladies came up with for the final day!



Colors Used: 
China Glaze Sweet Hook and Creative Fantasy
 Models Own Black Nail Art Pen 
Seche Vite

Love outside the lines...

almost famous


This is a quick mani I did for Valentines Day.  It's been nice out here lately which is out of character for this time of year! So I was feeling very Spring-like and wanted to use brighter colors.  These are my Color Club Poptastic colors again.  I'm in love with that collection.  A good friend got the set for my birthday last year and I literally use them all the time.  I also love that I've found this technique for making them more pastel so that now I can use them as neons and pastels! Anyway the idea of this manicure is scribbled hearts that are sort of scribbled in with color too!  I love the way it came out!!  What's on your nails for the holiday?



Colors Used:
Color Club Chelsea Girl, Twiggie, Poptastic, Pucci-licious and Almost Famous
Zoya Raven and Purity
Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black

M is for Mink Mitten...(and Man Glaze!)

abc challenge


It's time for the letter "M" in the A,B,C Challenge!  I'm really excited about today's post because I haven't worn this brand in awhile and I had forgotten how much I love them!  This is ManGlaze Mink Mitten.  Mink Mitten is a metallic purple suede. All ManGlaze polishes are suedes or mattes.  A matte is meant to describe a flat finish on a creme polish. A suede is to describe a matte polish with a shimmer finish.  To me, all the ManGlazes are in actuality, suede polishes. BUT...who cares really they're absolutely stunning!  Something else I love about ManGlaze is that they wear for a long time and they dry quickly.  This is two coats of Mink Mitten and it's just flawless.  Even after two days at work there was only minimal tip wear and that's fantastic for a matte with no top coat. Here's a close up of the shimmery goodness of Mink Mitten!!


Gorgeous. 

Don't forget to check Kerrie and Emma's blogs to see what they have for the letter "M"!!

That Warm, Fuzzy Feeling...

Barry M

For today's Love and Heartbreak mani I decided to go a little outside my box!! I got a canister of flocking powder from a wonderful friend in the UK and I literally couldn't wait to try it out! I've used flocking powder before from the craft store but I had heard that nail flocking is finer.  I can say with a fair amount of confidence that this is the truth.  The nail flocking made a much softer finish on my nail and it seemed to last longer.  It was just a happy coincidence (or the result of having over a thousand polishes!) that I had a polish color which very nearly exactly matched the powder she sent me!  I polished on two coats on all nails and then dipped my accent in the powder and pressed it around.  This lasted on my nail for about three days before I took it off to try something new.  One warning: if you have pets, this nail will be FULL of pet fur!! My kitty left so much fuzz on my fuzzy nail when I petted her!  Anyway I jazzed up my other nails with a simple patchwork stamp. I tried t make it kind of random but it didn't really turn out.  Oh well. You can't win them all!!

 

Don't you just want to touch it? :P

Hearts a-glitter

butter london

This is another really simple manicure for Love and Heartbreak week with the Digital Dozen.  Lately I've been really getting into the nude with a flash of color look.  One thing that's really cool about them is that whatever you pair them with really pops and yet it's still soft enough that you can wear it to work or professional events.  Last month I reviewed the butter LONDON GOOP collection and I know I said that the only must have is Hampstead  Heath but I retract that statement! The one I've used the most is this one, Bread and Butter Pudding.  I'm dying over how shiny and healthy it makes my nails look.  It reminds me of a subtle gel mani I had ages ago.  Anyway for this one I went simple and just added a burst of color at the base with some glitter and two little hearts on the accent nail. :) Simple and sweet. Just like me. :P


Colors Used:
butter LONDON Bread and Butter Pudding
Deborah Lippmann Flash Dance
Essence Gabriella
Prolana Quick & Slick Top Coat

Rose colored lenses

butter london

Well..this mani was  both a fail and kind of a win at the same time.  I wanted to try out the splatter technique that everyone is doing but I tried a lot of different ways and it just wasn't giving me the effect that I wanted so I decided to go about it a little differently.  First I polished my nails white and top coated.  Then I thinned some polish until it was very liquid and dipped a large paint brush into it.  After it was nice and loaded I held it over my nails and just lightly tapped the base of the paint brush to cause little splatter drops to fall onto my nails.  I layered them and then added a little more white (using the same technique) to create these rosy marbles on my nails.  Honestly, I kind of love it even though it wasn't the intended outcome.  From a distance some of them look like hearts and roses and the whole thing has a very marbled, luxe feel to it.  I considered adding glitter or some kind of sparkly enhancement but decided ultimately to leave it as is.  



It's so soft and pretty! :)  Don't forget to check out what the other girls of the Digit-al Dozen came up with for today's Love and Heartbreak challenge!

Colors Used: 
OPI Sparrow Me the Drama
butterLONDON Knees Up
Zoya Purity
Seche Vite

I'm only gonna break your heart...

broken heart

This week the Digit-al Dozen is doing Love and Heartbreak.  This is my day one mani which sort of encompasses both!  The hearts are for love and the cracks are for the break! :P  This actually came out really well even though I was kind of worried about it because it's been awhile since I used my crackle polishes and some of them are tricky to work with!  I also had to do some maneuvering to get the heart shapes and I was concerned that it would crack funny or have weird cracks since the way you move the brush contributes to the way the cracks occur.  All in all I think it came out nicely though! Here's a close-up of my favorite nail. :)

 

Do you have any crackle polishes? What kinds of things do you use them for?

Don't forget to check out what the other ladies came up with for today's challenge.


Win my favorite OPI Liquid Sand!!

Blog giveaway


So you've seen all the OPI Liquid Sand polishes now and you all know that my favorite is the purple one! Well if you loved Can't Let Go too, then today could be your lucky day.  I'm going to give you all a chance to win a bottle for yourself!  I'd love to have given away the set but rising shipping costs have limited me and I want to keep this available for my international followers too!  Find details about entering below! This is a BRAND NEW full size bottle.  The winner we be drawn on the 24th of February and I will contact them via email.  You will have 48 hours to claim the prize or I will draw again. International entries are welcome. Thanks for following and good luck!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

OPI Can't Let Go

can't let go
This is the final polish in the Mariah Carey for OPI collection which is a liquid sand.  I think this one was my favorite, or maybe a close tie with Get Your Number.  This one is less complex than the others.  It's just a purple jelly base with purple glitter, but I think the lack of complexity actually works with this because of the texture.  This one is also sort of the 'safest' of the bunch if you want to try out the textures but not draw a ton of attention to your nails! It's a bit more subtle than it's cousins!  I used two coats again, it's a little sheer still in the picture but in person it was very opaque. Here's a close up of Can't Let Go:



Pretty, no?  Did you get any of the liquid sand polishes? Which is your favorite?

L is for London...

abc

 It's time for another A,B,C polish! I'm super excited to bring you this one for today because it's also part of the brand new Zoya Pixie collection!! These are Zoya's textured glitter polishes.  I've already showed you a few of the OPI Mariah Carey textured polishes and I have one more to show you tomorrow so this is the perfect time to give you a little comparison of the two!  London is sort of a foggy grey polish and all of the Pixie's have tiny glitter in them, this one has silver.  My first impression of these was that they were super sparkly and pretty in the bottle.  They spread easily, like the OPI and are just as easy to control while polishing as any other Zoya polish.  One thing that's great about the textured polishes is that after the initial coat is dried you can easily apply other layers since the texture gives you a really great grip!  Second impression? These are super duper thin.  The OPI's I got away with two coats on...three at most.  These I was doing four of and they were THICK coats.  Thick coats equals ridiculous dry time since you can't just throw some quick dry top coat on there and call it a day.With thin coats the dry time is fairly quick but then you end up using five or six coats on some.  The first coat of this one barely made my nails a grey tint so it's really necessary to build them up.  I did like the finish better on these than the OPI but mostly because I thought the uniform glitter gave them a nicer overall look.  I also didn't think these were as obvious as the OPI textured polishes were. Mostly they just look like a matte glitter and its not super apparent that your nails are sandy.  They had a similar feel to them though, like a fine grit file. Not enough to catch on anything but enough that it's apparent when you touch your nails. Here's a close-up of London...





This is three thick coats of London and you can see that it's still a bit transparent in the close-up.  I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the Pixie's yet...but I have a few more to show you soon!!

Don't forget to check out Emma and Kerrie's polishes for the letter "L"!!

OPI Stay The Night

Glitter
It's time for another OPI Mariah Carey swatch!  This one is called Stay The Night.  It's another liquid sand polish.  This one sort of reminds me of lava.  It has a black jelly base and then red glitter throughout.  This is two coats and no top coat or base coat.  I know they suggest using a base but I didn't use one for any of the liquid sands and had no issues with them.  Here's a close up shot of Stay The Night:

 

I could have probably used one more coat on this one, you can see it's still a little transparent on this close shot.  In reality though, it wasn't noticeable at all.  

Did you pick up Stay The Night?

OPI Get Your Number

blue polish

I have another of the Mariah Carey for OPI shades for you today.  This is another of the liquid sand colors and it's called Get Your Number.  This one actually reminds me a lot of the Justin Beiber collection that was released by Nicole by OPI some years ago.  This color is quite similar to Me+Blue except that it's a bit lighter and of course, it's textured.  This is two coats and again it dried quite quickly to this gritty finish.  What I like about these is that even though they have a slight rough feel to them, they really don't LOOK super rough.  They just have an interesting sort of quality about them that makes you look twice!  Here's a close up of this one:


It's really difficult to capture, but this one was super sparkly and had holographic glitter particles throughout it as well. You can see them glinting in the background on the bottles.  

Did you purchase Get Your Number?

OPI The Impossible

Glitter

Today I have one of the new OPI Mariah Carey polishes for you.  This is one of the liquid sand polishes, which is a new textured polish.  I know I'm a little late on swatching these, you can find them all over the internet.  I had promised myself I'd get these OR the Zoya Pixies and since the Pixie's were a little cheaper for me I went with those.  Then my husband found these for a steal and since I've always loved Mariah....well...here they are anyway!  This one is a red jelly with larger glitter pieces and then some stars.  A word of advice, the stars sink to the bottom of the bottle so if you want them on your nails, you'll want to sit the bottle upside down for a few minutes before polishing.  Shaking seemed to be less effective for  me but I went ahead and swatched without the stars.  These actually go on very easily and dry pretty quickly.  They say to use base coat but no top coat but I skipped both.  You can tell when it's dry because it has a really matte textured appearance, even though it's still sparkly.  I waited a little longer between coats than I'd normally do with polish because I wanted to make sure it would dry all the way fairly quickly but it still dried much faster than I expected.  It wasn't difficult to remove either, like some glitters can be.  I had no staining with these, no damage to my nail from removal, and they're not exceptionally rough.  It's sort of the same way a fine grit file feels.  Here's a close-up of this one for you:



What do you think? Love it or hate it?

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