Another Quickie with my first KB Shimmer!

Hey guys! I thought I'd pop in again with a quick post! I just got an order from Harlow & Co with some gorgeous indie polished! Today I'm wearing my first KB Shimmer polish: Witch Way?

It's a gorgeous deep plum jelly filled with small holograph hex glitters as well as other holo bits. It's not a classic glitter so I wanted it! Plus.... PURPLE! So it must be awesome, right? Well... absolutely it is! My photo is with 3 coats, and the formula was dreamy to apply. ^_^

I'll probably pick up more. I'm hoping to get a real post in here soon. Until then, here's the picture for you! (Hopefully it's in the right place.)

Nicole by OPI: Denim to Earth

Afternoon! Happy Thanksgiving to those of you [and me] located in the United States! Hope you are having a good day! I got off of work early so I decided to do a post for you all. This is sort of a part two to the last post. As I mentioned, I think, the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Me + Blue was part of a two pack of polish I picked up from TJ Maxx. Unfortunately, while the other polish looked pretty in the bottle it was the complete opposite to Me + Blue... extremely disappointing.

In the bottle this looks like a deep plum-purple with pretty little purple/pink shimmer in it. The shimmer is nearly invisible on the nail. I'm not fond of polishes that LOOK black unless you  know they are a different color. This is one of those. My pictures are usually taken indoors under different types of lighting, but most always artificial light of some sort. This is what I when I looked at my fingers:

Look at the "e" in Nicole. See the shimmer there? I wanted that!

Well. That was disappointing. So I thought Hmmm, maybe if I go outside the sparkle will come out!! I went outside on my porch. I started in the shade, but had some sun so I hoped for some sparkle like what what in the bottle buuuuuut....... blah. Just blah dark-purpley blackness. 

Finally, I got some direct sunlight. Oh look! Look!!! It only  shimmers where the sunlight hits. That's it. It doesn't even move around the nail while you rotate your hand. :( I wasn't really impressed. You can make the image larger if you want.

This was really the only way to *sort of* see the shimmer: outside, up-close camera crop.

Can't see it? Enlarge and see the speckles. That's all they look like.

At least the other half of this duo had enough WOW in it to make up for this sadness. I'm actually still wearing a full mani of Me + Blue. I didn't take it off for Thanksgiving. Although, with all the food, at least the drooling didn't look so weird...... shhhh. Haha!

Thanks for checking in!

-Amy


*****Disclaimer: the polish in this post was purchased by me*****

Sensationail Wear Test Results!

Good afternoon! I'm back with the end of my wear test for the Sensationail brand of gel nail polish! Here is the original post for reference. I realized after about a day that keeping the same color on my nails, whether I had time to do them or not, was difficult! (Addict, anyone??? Haha!) But I really wanted to see how long this polish would last so I stuck it out until my first chip.

I painted my nails 11/6 and didn't have a single chip until today 11/11. While 5 days may seem to fall short of the advertised two weeks on the box, for someone as hard on their nails as I am, that is INCREDIBLE! The polish lasted through showers, play sessions with the kitten, room cleaning, work... I'm impressed. Before taking them off, all I had was that small chip on my left-hand middle finger and a medium sized chip on my right-hand ring finger.

This was originally just the bit on the right... but it got caught on my hair right before the picture and that ripped off the part on the left. Oops!

As you can see, there is almost not tip wear either! Awesome! I'll probably do this again when I have to go a few days without doing my nails!

There is also a special removal kit you can purchase and a removal tool, but I passed on both of those. The kit is just a glorified version of the foil method! And I used an orange stick to gently scrape off the polish after it soaked. It took me a little longer than normal because I didn't have any foil handy so I just held an acetone-saturated cotton ball over my fingers. I had to do them one by one, so yeah.... took awhile. But if I had to estimate, this could probably be done in 10-20 minutes with foil. (If you aren't familiar with the foil method for removing glitter, here is a quick tutorial: the foil method.) Just soak, then scrape the polish right off. If any is stubborn just soak a bit more.

I would recommend this product. It's on the expensive side, but once you get the lamp, really it's just the polish and there isn't a huge selection... that's if you even want to use the gel polish. You could always use normal polish with the base and top coat to extend its wear! ^_^

That's all for now! I'm trying to get a picture inventory going so I can post more regularly! Hope you all enjoy your weekend! As a bonus, my baby is growing so fast! She's a little rascal. Likes looking out the window though!

Juneau - 5 months

-Amy



****Disclaimer: all products in this post were purchased by me****

Sensationail Gel Nails: Purple Orchid

Good morning! (At least for me, anyway!) I hope everyone had a great Halloween! I did, even though I didn't really dress up. ^_^

Between my new kitten, work, and a few other things I've had going on, I feel like I haven't had enough time to spend on my nails. I'm trying to organize and catalog my polish collection... and organization is NOT something I was gifted with! Anyway, my nails are too stained to leave naked and I really just can't spend the time painting them every day. (It probably doesn't help that I'm insanely hard on my nails and they aren't naturally strong... so polish always chips very quickly for me.) Based on that, and the fact that I wanted a UV lamp to see if a Gel topcoat would help lengthen my polish wear, I ended up purchasing the Sensationail (cute pun, right? haha!) Starter Kit from my local Walgreens.

Sensationail is a gel nail system that DOES need to be cured under a UV lamp. The starter kit came with the UV Lamp, Gel Primer, Gel Base & Top Coat, a polish color (I didn't use the one it came with because I bought a different color), and gel cleanser. It also includes some lint-free wipes, an orange stick to push back cuticles, and a nail file. When I originally tried this brand I used the old lamp I purchased because it was on sale with Seche's UV Topcoat. So I just got one of the nail colors (Purple Orchid) and tried that lamp. MAJOR fail. The light didn't seem to get around my entire nail so the sides didn't cure right, things smeared, it was a disaster! So I went for the lamp that came with the kit. It does need an outlet, so if you want to try this, just be aware of that.

The process to apply is pretty simple. The instructions say to start by lightly buffing the natural shine of your nail with their provided file. I didn't use their file for that, mostly because my nail are just too fragile, so I used a buffing block. I couldn't tell a difference. Then you can use the provided wipes and gel cleanser to clean off any other natural oils and left over dust from filing. After that you apply the Gel Primer. I watched the video from the web site and there are two different ways you can apply the primer, to your entire nail or for easier removal, just around the edges. The primer is a liquid, sticky substance that you put on with a super short, stiff brush. You don't cure that step at all.

After the primer has had a few seconds to dry--it's still tacky. I learned hair and lint WILL stick to it if you aren't careful--you apply the gel base and topcoat. Cure for 30 seconds. Then the color comes next. The color gel polish you cure for 60 seconds. Application on this was pretty difficult. The polish flows differently than normal nail polish and if you get it on your skins/cuticles, acetone does not remove it so clean up is nearly impossible. (Although, if anyone has tips there, I'd love to hear them!) One benefit seemed to be that since the polish doesn't dry like normal polish either, you could take more time patching up missed spots or going over the same area to make sure it's covered well. The directions say to do 2 coats, but I did 3 to make sure everything was evened out. Each coat is cured for another 60 seconds. After that you apply another coat of the base and topcoat, cure for a final 30 seconds and viola!! You should have a manicure that will last up to 2 weeks.

Oh boy, long winded post! Pictures now! Purple Orchid is a deep, cool-toned purple with blue glass fleck (I think?) shimmers. The shimmer give the polish dimension in low light sparkles in the sun. The pictures are surprisingly color accurate!

Click to enlarge any of them! I'm indoors but tried to capture the shimmers by the window!

On a side note, using this as a base/topcoat to sandwich regular polish seemed to lengthen the wear time. I used a holograph polish (Layla Ultra Violet) since they are notorious for not wearing very long unless you use the special base coats for them. (I don't have any soooooo, yeah. Chip city.) I went 3 days without a chip which was impressive. So I do have high hopes for this brand's wear time!

Thanks for checking in! I'll include overall opinions and a general review of this experiment in my follow-up post. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Amy

****Disclaimer: All products in this post were purchased by me****

Butter London: Knackered

I hope everyone had a good weekend! I’m not sure I’m ready to start the week yet. I was pretty excited to learn the other day that we just opened an Ulta in my town. I have to get a lot of my polish off the internet unless I find time to make a specific trip. The closest Sephora that carries polish is an hour away… in fact, pretty much everything is an hour away. It’s a bit of a bummer since I rarely want to pay shipping when SOME DAY I’ll make it out to get the polish in person!

Anyway, I hurried down to Ulta ASAP to check it out! (And tried not to look crazy because I was soooo excited!) I picked up Orly Space Cadet, a few of the new Sally Hansen  polishes that have been floating around, and Butter London: Knackered.

I was SOOOOO thrilled to get my hands on a bottle of Knackered. I’d seen pictures floating around, and every time I would think meh. It’s not THAT great. (And thus put off buying it…) After getting a bottle, let me just tell you, it IS that great. It really is. Knackered is this gorgeous duo-chrome polish that is sprinkled with holographic glitter bits. It’s really sheer on its own, although I think you could build it up if you wanted to. I don’t have the patience for that so I layered it over Julep Viola—a deep, black-purple.

My pictures are a little off, and I don't have the editing skills to fix them, but this polish has an unmistakable purple-pink shine. My camera wants to make it grey. 

This is going to be really picture heavy because none of these images could do the polish justice. 

My first Glitter Gal polish!

Hello all! I hope you all had a good weekend! Today I have for you my first Glitter Gal polish! It's one of their shade shifter polishes. These come in two options: brilliant and soft. I picked Wild Violets Brilliant. It's got a great shift from a classic violet purple to a deeper blue-toned purple depending on how the light hits. Maybe not the strongest shift in the world f polish but it's absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to pick up a few more color options from Glitter Gal!

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

I don't remember how many coats this was. Three, I think? Anyway, you can pick up Glitter Gal polish from their direct site HERE or Ninja Polish HERE. They retail at $17.50 a bottle, which may seem steep to some, but these are definitely worth it... and  you get a full-size bottle! 

That's all I've got for today. I hope you all have a great day/night (wherever you are) and hello to the new followers! ^_^

****Disclaimer: the products in this post were purchased by me

NOTD: Illamasqua Prosperity and Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Super, SUPER quick post! I got a new camera! Whoopie!!!! I need to play with it to figure out how to use it so I can get some better pictures up here! I did a quick one with my mani for today. I added Max Factor Fantasy Fire to Illamasqua's Prosperity from my last post, and of course it is GORGEOUS!

Could be a better picture but I haven't had a new camera in YEARS so this is like alien technology to me. Give me a cell phone and I can have it figured out in minutes....but a camara? Nope. Haha I think I'll do some swatching this weekend as practice!

Illamasqua Prosperity

Hello all! Sorry its been so long! I made s HUGE mistake a few weeks back and decided I didn't have time to do my nails, so I had acrylics put on. Bad BAD idea. First: I know I hate acrylics. Getting junk between my fake and real nails is just nasty. Second: I didn't choose a good place. My nails got destroyed. I wasn't even worth it because I soaked them off a week layer. Lesson learned.

Anyway, I had to rehab my nails for awhile. They're still weak, and there is a ridge where my new nail is growing. I've finally gotten it to the point where it isn't so noticeable! (Except when I wear chromes, which sucks since I picked up the China Glaze Bohemian Collection and STILL haven't gotten a chance to wear them!)

Now, my polish today! We don't have an actual Sephora in my town. The one we have is in a JC Penney and they have almost nothing for nail Polish. Boo! I can never get myself to order from their site though because the city an hour away from me has a Sephora, and they DO carry polish... I just never have time to go up. Finally made it this weekend and picked up my first Illanasqua, which I've been lemming for for awhile! I only grabbed Prosperity from the rubber mattes because I was on a budget and wanted some Nails Inc. too!

Prosperity is of the limited edition Rubber Mattes Illamasqua put out. There are 5 or 6 other bright colors that I didn't grab since I at least just wanted the purple! This was my first dealings with this brand and if this was their not-so-good formula (based on some other blogs opinions) then I'm amazed because I thought it was great!! It went on in two easy coats and didn't bubble at all! I'm not 100% certain I'm sold on the finish, but it's interesting. Not matte but not shiny. Rubber is very accurate!

The only thing that might be a negative for some is the polish dried a lit darker than the bottle color. I was expecting a brighter purple but as you can see, its still very dark. I'm on with that but it might bother others.

Finally, forgive my picture and future pics as well. My camera is missing so these are all from my phone! And sorry if this post is covered in typos. I'm writing it from my phone as well because I don't want to dig my laptop out to transfer the images. Haha lazy, I know!

***and sorry if the pic is in a random spot? Phone app = pretty terrible stand in.

Finger Paints: Asylum

Hello everyone! Today I have for your one of the the flakie polishes from Finger Paints! This is my first time trying this one out, which is actually sort of sad since it took me so long to get a hold of it! I walked into Sally's one day and say these on display. I think I was trying to curb my spending on polish at the time so I only grabbed one and told myself I would come back for the others on pay day. I purchased Motley, which is a gorgeous blue-colored flakie. A week or so later I go back into Sally's intending to purchase the rest of the collection, only to find they are all gone. And they weren't just gone from the Sally's closest to me, they were gone from ALL of the Sally's in town. (I'm in a small-ish city in the middle of the United States.)

I figured I would just check back periodically and sooner or later they would get these back in. Fast forward two months and there was still no word on if they would be coming back. I was really bummed because they weren't online anywhere either (that I could find) and it was starting to look like I had completely missed out. All the while I'm reading blog after blog about them and just DROOLING because they were so pretty! Anyway, it was maybe two weeks ago when I walked into my Sally's to see if they had any of the Magnetic China Glaze polishes and I think my eyes about bugged out of my head when I saw a half-full display of these Finger Paints flakies! I managed to grab this one and then did the awkward happy dance because I finally had it! Yay! So...without further ado... pictures!

All of these are two coats of Finger Paints Asylum layered over Julep Viola. Viola is a deep, blacked purple. Not usually my favorite, but it worked great here. I'm not a fan of black or almost black polishes, but I wanted to flakies to stand out, and I don't like straight black much. (Maybe because I was one of the gothy high-school kids and wore black polish regularly then? I don't like the rewind maybe?)

Asylum is a mix of orange and dark blue flakies. This was my favorite of all the flakies offered because it shifts nearly every color of the rainbow depending on the light and your hand position.

I tried to get as much color shift as a could but my camera is really old and terrible. You can see the orange, dark blue, green, and some yellow on my pinkie though!

And a closeup

That's what I had one yesterday. Then, because it really makes the flakies pop, I went ahead and mattified it! Usually I don't like matte, but flakies are one of the exceptions. I used a matte topcoat from Warpaint Beauty, which can be purchased from Hot Topic. (For like $4, which works for me since I don't use matte topcoat often.)

What do you think? Matte or glossy? The other colors of the collection are Flecked, a green flakie; Motley, a blue flakie; Flashy, the orange/red/yellow flakie like Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasures, Essie's Shine of the Times, or Nubar 2010; and Twisted, which is pretty much all the flakie colors. I already have Motley, and I hope to get Flecked and Twisted as well. Flashy is one that you can pass on if you have any of the similar versions I mentioned.

Polka Dots - Matte!

Right, so I think I said yesterday that I don't usually like the matte look? Polka dots are definitely an exception! They are cute glossy or matte! Behold!

Although, I did learn that you should scrub your hands very well after making bread.... I got flour under my topcoat. Oops! (From the cleanup, no less. I was DONE making the bread and had washed my hands once already.)

(See the line of white? Flour.) 

Polka Dots!

One of the things I am not very good at yet is polka dots. I run a little OCD and tend to over-dot to the point of silliness. I also have a hand tremor which makes it HARD to get those cute little round dots. So I practice. This didn't turn out too bad! (That's Amy-code for "I think it looks awesome!") Haha

I have been playing with OPI Planks a Lot. I picked it up because purple is my favorite color so I can never have too many purple polishes, but I hadn't really used it. The teal is OPI Fly from the Nicki Minaj collection.I own a couple different teals, but this one is by far my favorite! The formula is fantastic, and it covers in two easy coats. I used a large dotting tool for the dots.

Sorry for the nasty dryness around the edges of my nail. We just got snow and the cold killed my hands a bit. Ick!

Icing: Mood Swing Stormy/Serene

I have finally gotten a decent camera! Maybe I can start getting more pictures on here now.

The other day I stopped by Icing to pick up some of their magnetix polishes. I don't live close to a retailer that carries any of the other brands and these seem to be the most cost effective, plus they had a decent magnet. Anyway, while I was there I grabbed a bottle of their color-changing polish! It looked like it might be a duo-chromeish purple/blue color (which I LOVE) plus I don't yet have a color-changing polish. On the nail it isn't really a duochrome, but that's okay because it is GORGEOUS. I can't get it to change colors yet, so it's sitting at almost a teal shimmery blue with maybe a HINT of purple to it. I'm thinking it turns more of a pure blue when it's warm? I guess I'll find out. (Hopefully!) Anyway, here are the pictures!

I don't know if I should be sorry for my cuticles or not. Haha. I didn't do much cleanup though. I can't find my usual brush for that. :/

And a closeup for the shimmers!

These actually dried with a matte finish. It is pretty, but I don't really like the matte look a whole lot unless I am in a mood so I didn't take any pictures of it. I'm using Orly Sec'n Dry for the top coat here.