Valentine's Day Nail Art 2!

Oh yes, I'm back with another nail art post, this time for those who don't want to be quite as obvious with their nails. We're doing leopard print today!! Leopard print is one of my favorites, and I finally got a decent looking leopard print now that I decided to use a dotting tool! So you can use any colors you'd like, but seriously, what nail polish is sexier than a holographic polish? I started off with a base of Nfu Oh 459, intending to do hearts or something girly, but I decided not to waste my time since the formula was a pain in the butt. It would have been easier to apply glue. The color is a gorgeous, almost neon coral though, so I had to photograph it with flash and the lights off. I then topped it with Seche Vite, since I was at work and needed it to dry fast. I only kept it on because I really needed to sleep after work. Later, I added Sea Lore Arista, a gorgeous peach jelly base with golden flakies. Of course, I needed to add more, so using Color Club Beyond, a black holographic polish, and Color Club Cosmic Fate, a peachy copper holographic polish, I created leopard print! Hope you like this, and if hearts aren't your style, maybe this will be!

Hopefully that last picture shows you how annoyingly thick the Nfu Oh was. And how gorgeous the holo is! See you soon with part 3!

Janelle

Nail Art Say What?

I apologize in advance for the quality of these pictures! My camera was on the wrong setting (for some strange reason) and these pictures came out grainy and I didn't realize until after the design was removed from my nails. I plan to have more nail art on the blog in the future, so I will make sure the settings on my camera are right before photographing next time. =)

So, Valentine's Day is coming up and I figured it was a good excuse to do some nail art! I started out with a base of Zoya Pippa on my nails and my accent nail was one coat of Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light over 2 coats of Color Club In The Limelight (a supposed dupe for DL I Know What Boys Like). The hearts were drawn with acrylic paint and then topped with topcoat. Pippa had a decent formula, a little streaky, but if you let it dry a little between coats, it evens itself out. It was very strange. I used 3 coats here but it was fine with 2 to the naked eye.

I really wish I had better quality pics to show you. Well, that's all for today, have a wonderful weekend and since it's a three-day weekend for me, I'll see you all on Tuesday! 

Happy Polishing (and MLK day!),

Janelle

Nail Art?

So technically, this isn't really nail art, but I'm calling it that for now. I started off with 2 coats of Color Club Nomadic In Nude, then layered 1 coat of Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air. My rhinestones were just laying there, so I put a column of the blue ones on my thumb and ring nails, since they matched the blue glitter. I only managed to get one good picture of this manicure when I wore it back in late January/early February, so sorry for the lack of pics...and the outgrowth. This pic was taken after at least 4 days of wear.

Happy Polishing,

J

Quick Update

Sorry for my absence, but it's been a hectic summer! Anyway just wanted to show you guys one of my latest acquisitions, OPI Bubble Bath!! And I managed to get the original formula!!

Indoors, no flash, artificial light.

I'm such a sucker for these kinds of colors. It's really sheer and milky, so it took 4 coats to get it to look like this. And there was still VNL.

Stamped with Color Club Revvvolution. Indoors, no flash.

I used M.A.S.H. plate m57, which I believe is the same as Konad m57. I felt pretty good about this stamping since I hadn't done full nail designs before.

You can't see it in the picture, but in the sunlight, the holo particles in Revvvolution were so sparkly and awesome!! That's it for now!!

Happy Polishing,

J

Color Club Back to Boho Swatches & Comparisons

Yes, it is interesting that after being gone for over a week, I would have swatches of Color Club's Fall Collection for you. No, Color Club did not send me these polishes in advance. So, you want to know how I got them, ey? Well, I decided to buy some polishes from a seller on Scalpers United AKA eBay, and I saw a set of 8 Color Club minis for a pretty decent price, so I bought them back in May. I got them and decided to look up the colors, but I couldn't find any info on any of the colors except Where's the Soiree?. So I decided that maybe these were super old colors that Color Club had never released. Not really, I thought they were fakes, but the bottles and labels were so legit. Then recently, I started seeing all these press releases for Color Club's fall collection. I check them out, and I own 5 of the 12 lacquers due to be released in September. Ok, enough talking, on to the swatches/comparisons.

l-r: Sally Hansen Silver Sweep, Color  Club Boho Mojo, China Glaze Devotion

As you can see, I have no close dupe for Boho Mojo. It's supposed to be a silvery, beige pearl, but to me it looks like the smallest amount of green or brown is in there. I haven't decided which one yet. I think this is 2 coats, but it might be 3. Boho Mojo and Voodoo You Do are the sheerest ones that I own. It's a bit harder to apply from a mini, so you probably only need 2 coats for opacity if you own a full size.

l-r: Voodoo You Do, Revlon Matte Suede Emerald City

Again, no dupes for me! Honestly, Emerald City was the closest in my stash. Color Club describes this as the perfect charcoal grey for the season with blue undertones, but I see green undertones, not blue. This was definitely 3 coats. It's a nice color, but not really up my alley. Any fans out there?

l-r: Color Club New Bohemian, China Glaze For Audrey

Close, but not dupes. Color Club describes it as a new 70’s take on Tiffany Blue, which it kind of is, seeing that is is super close to For Audrey, but I think it's closer to OPI Mermaid Tears (which I don't own). New Bohemian is a touch more green and muted than For Audrey. Nice shade, but I took forever to wear For Audrey, so we'll see how often I reach for New Bohemian.

l-r: Color Club Rad Nomad, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area

Another close comparison, but still not dupes. Color Club says Rad Nomad is a purple brown crème. It is a touch more brown/red than Grey Area, but if you're not into these types of shades and you already own Grey Area, I say skip it. I totally love these kinds of shades, so I will probably buy a full bottle of Rad Nomad.

l-r: Color Club Nomadic in Nude, Essie Sand Tropez

Ok, I won't lie. Nomadic in Nude is probably my favorite out of what I've seen of this collection so far. I'm a total sucker for nudes. While they aren't dupes, if you're not into nudes, you probably won't end up getting Nomadic in Nude. That sounds like something sexual. Nomadic in Nude is a touch more brown, while I see a bit of pink in Sand Tropez. If you needed a nude with more brown, get Nomadic. In Nude. I realized I really like saying that. I'm such a goofball.

Overall, I haven't seen anything spectacular from this collection yet, but I hope the 7 other shades are more enticing than these 5. Hope you liked this post!!

Happy Polishing,

J

Recent Hauling

Sorry about not posting yesterday but I was feeling a bit under the weather. I do, however, have some pictures of my lovely goodies! Hope you enjoy looking at them!

First up, my stamping plates. I got 4 Konad brand plates (my first official Konad brand plates!) and the MASH set of 25 that is sold on Amazon for 17.99. Cheap! If you look on top, you'll see that the MASH plate is the same as the Konad plate.

Konad plate, MASH plate.

I did this on purpose because I read a review that said that the MASH houndstooth image had an error in the engraving. I didn't see any errors but I did notice that the image on the upper right differs slightly in the pattern. I have a review coming up comparing the stamping on these plates, but I'll let you know right now - the MASH plate stamps better.

I got my order from Altered Ego cosmetics! Yay!! I ordered 5 for $10 and then the color of the week and I got one for free because of another blog! They enclosed 3 samples with my order. Swatches coming soon, but trust me, my swatches have nothing on how awesome they look.

Nail supplies I bought on evilBay. :) These were cheap though. I got 10 nail wheels, assorted striping tape, and some nail strips/decals. I guess I should do a review of those decals, huh?

My pretties!!! I love all of these, just not equally. But they are awesome. From Left to Right: Color Club Fashion Addict, China Glaze Entourage, Custom Kicks, B-Girlz, Cheers to You, Bad Kitty, Frosty (major lemming killed!), and Blue Paradise (my least fave out of these). I also scored these on evilBay for a good price with decent shipping (6.95) all from the same seller.

Last but not least, my first Kleancolors!! They are not lying when they say that these stink to high hell!! I got these at my local 99 cents and Up store for a little over a dollar a piece. My total was around 4.20 for these. Cheaper than Beauty Joint for me!! From left to right: Kiss Goodbye, Midnight Seduction, Holo Green, Sparkle Emerald (talk about a misnomer).

Hope you enjoyed my haul. Let me know if there's anything you want to see on my nails ASAP. I have swatches on a nail wheel, I just have to take better pics.

Happy Polishing,

J

What Shall I do for July 4th?

New Bohemian, Shade.

I'm busy trying to figure out my American Independence Day mani (I get to do 2 in 2 different color schemes since Jamaica's is in August and is black, green & gold) this weekend and I've seen a whole bunch of manis but I'm not inspired...yet. So I decided to show you an old swatch from the set of color club minis I purchased on ebay. I can't find any info about these colors, so if they end up being fakes, they were the best fakes ever purchased. This one is called New Bohemian.

If you zoom in on the last two pics, you can see the shimmer from Golden Rose Multi Dimensions 04 on my middle finger, which has also been mattified. This reminds me a little of Mermaid's Tears from the OPI Pirates collection, but I don't have it, so I can't do a comparison. Any questions, ask away!

Happy Polishing,

J

Tiresome Patchwork Mani

I would love to say that I came up with the idea for this mani, but I didn't. Erika from Chloe's Nails did. You can see her tutorial here. I decided to try it with 4 colors my first time even trying it, which was not the best idea. DUH!! So here are some quick pics from my iPod (I didn't have my camera with me and I didn't want my mani to get messed up before I got to take pics) so please excuse the terrible quality.

Color Club Worth the Risque, China Glaze Strawberry Fields & White on White, Color Club Revvvolution, & China Glaze Techno Teal

 I'll try to get some better pics later and update this post.

Happy Polishing & Father's Day,

J

 Edit: NEW PICS!!!

Don't believe the camera's lies!!

This picture is exactly how almost everyone's swatches of Orly Royal Navy looked. I knew I had to get this color!! It was the most amazing royal blue polish. Not! Don't get me wrong, the polish is actually really gorgeous, but it is not the color shown above.

This is more like the actual color. You can hardly see the teal shimmer unless you look up close, and it is a true navy jelly. In bright lighting, there is definite VNL (visible nail line). I decided to jazz up my manicure with a Color Club mini I scored on eBay that I cannot find any info about. If you know anything about this color, please let me know!! I can't even find swatches of any of the minis I bought except Where's The Soiree?, so someone please inform me!! No further procrastination, here's the nail art done freehand with the polish brush and a dotting tool in Color Club Peace & Gold:

I knew this polish would look great with gold and it does!! Plus, I'm a little smug about my nail art...It looks great to me!!

Happy Polishing,

J