Author: Shannon Rae

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Glitter Gradient with Gwen’s Crush.

Still in my nail art rut, so simple manicures it is. Today’s manicure was a spur of the moment decision. I painted my nails with Gwen’s Crush by Revlon, but I wanted to make them a little more fancy so I decided a glitter gradient was the perfect solution. I pulled out a blue jelly Mariposa polish that my roommate gave me for Christmas, mostly because it complimented the blue shimmer in Gwen’s Crush.

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The polishes I used for the manicure were:

  • Revlon Gwen’s Crush (from the Spiderman collection.)
  • Mariposa unnamed blue gelly glitter.
  • Color Institute silver glitter.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

 

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I quite like how these turned out. Plus, the blue jelly in the Mariposa glitter darkens the tips of Gwen’s Crush. Plus the Glitter has great holographic glitters which looks great. Also this Revlon polish is going to be very well used this fall, I’m guessing. I love the dark purple-pink color, with the subtle hint of blue.

And a blurry shot of my nails below, that captures the holographic glitters  in both glitter polishes. So pretty!

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Swatch Post: Layla Thermo Effect Polish N. 4

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Today’s post is a polish I am so excited about. As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely LOVE thermal effect polishes, ever since my days working at Claire’s when they released their Mood Changing Polishes. So when I saw a post about the new Layla Thermo Effect Nail polishes by Sparkled Beauty (who is a local Halifax beauty blogger) I knew I had to track down these polishes at Lawtons. Two stores later, I found the display of these beauties. Sadly, there were only a couple colors left. =( I went with No. 4 which is described as a Dark to Light pink.

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When cold, the polish is a dark pink (almost light plum) color. It’s not a creme polish,  but rather scattered with an almost frosty shimmer. I was nervous at first when I saw this, as I know sometimes frosty polishes can leave brush strokes like crazy, but this one was pretty good at leveling out. I’m really digging the color of this polish while cool.

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The polish mid-change (pointer and middle finger) and cold (ring and pinky finger). A lot of the time my nails would resemble my pointer and middle fingers here. Lighter pink down towards the cuticle, to darker purple towards the end of the nail. It’s like having a gradient on your nails, without any of the work!

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And finally, the polish while hot (pointer and middle fingers). The change between the warm and cold is awesome! You can really see a difference between the two, which I like. The day I wore this polish it was raining, so every time I went outside and my nails were warm, I would have these cool drops of purple on my nails from where the cold rain had hit them. I like how easily this polish can change from temperature. (I wish I had gotten pictures!)

The application of this polish wasn’t too bad. The polish is sheer, but thick at the same time–it was actually kind of strange. It took three coats to reach full opacity, and took a bit of time to dry (even with Seche Vite as my top coat.) When dry though, it lasted well. I wore these through a full, busy, day of work and ended up with very minimal tip wear.

I’m quite impressed with Layla’s Thermal Effect Polish, and I’m thinking I will have to go back to Lawton’s and pick up some more colors (depending on what is left).

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Jewel-toned fingers.

I am definitely in a bit of a nail art rut recently. I’m just hopeless with ideas right now… The other night I did my nails 5 times before giving up on doing anything pretty, and just going with a simple, but pretty, accent mani.

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The polishes  I used for this (simple) manicure were:

  • Color Club Disco Dress.
  • China Glaze Skyscraper.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

I was surprised at how well Skyscraper and Disco Dress ended up going together. Both polishes were picked up on my mini haul this week of Fall toned colors. The scattered glitter in Skyscraper is absolutely fantastic. And I don’t think I own another purple in my stash anywhere close to Disco Dress. Truthfully, I bought it because of the name (I do that sometimes) but the color is just so rich. It’s amazing. I definitely will have to try a glitter gradient using these two polishes. They just go so well together.

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Yep–I’m in a full fall mode now. And even better? Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is  being released early this year!

So what colors are you feeling the most for Fall? I haven’t made up my mind on what Fall polish collections I’ll need to splurge on, but I’m definitely feeling all the jewel tones (as you’ve probably noticed already).

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Swatch Post: Quo by Orly Sailor’s Blue.

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It’s been a while since I shared a swatch of a polish with you, so I thought today would be a good day. Back at Christmas, the boyfriend bought me the QUO by ORLY 18 pack holiday collection of nail polish. It was actually a big surprised, because I think I had only mentioned to him once how much I wanted it, in passing, while we were at Shoppers. This polish–called Sailor’s Blue–comes from that holiday pack.

Sailor’s Blue is a thin sheer blue polish with a duocrome shimmer that flashes pink. The polish is thin–thin enough that I had to apply it over some dark undies (Maybelline Color Show in Sapphire Siren). Thankfully though, the pink shine scattered through out is not hidden–if anything it pops more! I wish that the weather had been more agreeable yesterday so I could have shown off the duocrome effect–it came through a little bit, but the sunshine wasn’t agreeing with me. Never the less, I managed to capture the pink a little bit (second photo down.)

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Now I haven’t seen Sailor’s Blue in the regular collection of Quo polishes at Shoppers, so I’m not sure if it’s still available. But if you have the chance to find this beauty,  I recommend it. It’s definitely the perfect color for fall. Deep, rich, and jewel toned.

 

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Also, I picked up some new polishes the other day (thank you, payday) so expect to see these new polishes in upcoming posts. Chatter’s had their China Glaze on sale Buy 2 get 1 free… how could I say no? Oh yeah… I couldn’t. Haha. =) So keep your eyes out for these beauties coming up. =)

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Zig Zag accent nails.

Today I’m sharing a NOTD with you I created on a whim. I was in the mood to do something a little bit different–and keep away from doing another dotticure. Since I have some fun new stripers, I decided to give them another go. I’m also trying to work on creating straighter, cleaner freehand lines so I need all the practice I can get!

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essence Bloom Me Up! in Blow my Mint.
  • OPI in Miss You-Niverse.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in White.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in Mint.
  • Art Club Striping Polish in Paisley Paradise.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

 

 

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So what do you think of these zig zags? I went with colors that were a little darker, as like I’ve said I’m just craving fall colors. Also, I absolutely love Blow my Mint by Essence. I scored it for a DOLLAR earlier this year at Shoppers, and couldn’t say no. Also… my nails are getting long again! Yes! Yes! Yes!