Category: Manicure

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Mother’s Day Mani.

Yesterday, as I said in my previous post, was Mother’s Day. I worked all day, but afterwards we headed to my parent’s house for a Mother’s Day barbecue, so I wanted to paint my nails for the occasion.

I haven’t been doing a lot of nail art lately–a combination of being busy with work, and tired, and also wanting to re-wear old polishes I haven’t worn in a while. But I couldn’t pass up a chance to do something fun for Mother’s Day–that’s my favorite part of holidays… all the nail art possibilities.

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For this manicure I used:

  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear in Coral Reef — my base color.
  • Stripe Rite Striping Brush in White — my lettering.
  • OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls — polka dots.
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear in Mellow Yellow — polka dots.
  • Kozmic Colors nameless blue — polka dots.
  • Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat!

I hope all the Mom’s out there had a wonderful day! I made sure to spoil my Mom as much as possible. ❤

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(This is a super old picture–taken on my 25th birthday, but it’s okay because we both look fabulous!)

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Knock-out Nails.

I went clearance shopping at my local Shoppers and Lawton’s on pay day, and found myself some fun goodies.

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Oh goodness, I love polish shopping. I especially love finding some amazing deals. I got all of these polishes for under $20. You can’t go wrong with that! Especially when you find polishes you apparently missed on the first go around (I’m looking at you Essence Metal Glam.)

For my first NOTD from the group, I went with a combination of the Del Sol polish I picked up, and the Essence Metal Glam gold topper.

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I’ve bought a Del Sol polish before, and was less than thrilled with it. While it did change color in the sun, I wasn’t a fan of the color or application–it was way too streaky. When I found this one though–named Knock Out–I was happy to see it wasn’t a metallic polish. It’s a off white, almost nude, creme base. The polish itself is very thin, and it took me 4 coats to get it almost opaque (with still slight visible nail line) but it’s very nice on the nail.

With that, I applied a layer of Essence’s Metal Glam gold topper, named Steel-ing the Scene. Apparently I missed when this collection first appeared at my local Shoppers, because I do not remember seeing it! I’ve been coveting a Gold Leaf top coat since they first appeared on the scene, but couldn’t justify spending a small fortune on it. (I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate me buying top coat over, you know, groceries.) Now this isn’t exactly like the other Gold Leaf Top coats that are floating around–it’s not real gold, so the flakes are much stiffer than its inspiration. However, for the $2 I scored it for, it gives me the look I was hoping for.

The best part of this NOTD comes, though, when you step into the sunshine.

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Pink!

Now the color isn’t as dark as what they show on the bottle, but it could be something to do with not enough sunshine, and my layers of top coat. Either way, I love the color changing effect. It makes me so happy. And the soft pink color goes so well with the gold top coat. It may come across as a simple manicure, but step into the sunshine, and *BAM!* it proves how awesome it is. Plus–Sunshine! Oh it is so nice to see the sun! It is finally starting to feel like spring here on the East coast, and my dress wearing self couldn’t be happier.

I don’t know what it is, but I LOVE color changing nail polish. When Claire’s first came out with their Mood nail polish line about 4 years ago, I owned every color and wore them constantly. Unfortunately, those polishes have been lost in the stash that disappeared from my parents house, and I haven’t been able to find any thermal polishes in a long while, even though I covet them madly. Thankfully, Del Sol’s polishes are a good replacement for now. =)

So what do you think of this NOTD?

Also, I must wish my Mom a Happy Mother’s Day, as she told me she was now following my blog. =)

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Favorite Polishes: Bizzare Blurple.

I’ve been trying to make an effort to go through my stash, and wear polishes I don’t wear as often. Sometimes I get a little too excited about new polishes, and forget about my old favorites.

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This is Bizarre Blurple, but China Glaze. It’s a darker purple base color, filled with itty bitty blue micro glitters. I’ll be honest, I bought this polish just because of the awesomeness of the name. I got it on a 3/15 clearance sale at the Chatters by my work in the beginning of the year, the same time I picked up my bottle of OPI’s My Boyfriend Scales Walls. I needed to grab two more polishes for the deal, and when I saw the name I was like “Yep! Mine!” However, the second I put it on my nails I realized just how beautiful this polish was. I’m a sucker for purple and blue polishes, and this is the best of both worlds!

It also makes a great base for nail art.

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The above manicure is from back in January, when I first picked up this polish. You can see the blue micro-glitters a little bit better in the flash. Just looking at this old picture makes me remember why I love it so much. Different lighting just changes it so much.

Have you ever bought a polish based strictly on its name? I have to admit–not the first time I’ve had to have a polish because the name was just too perfect. God, if I could get a job naming polishes, I would be set!

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Killing it in Killing Red by Layla.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I used to be completely obsessed with red nail polish. I went a good year and a half almost exclusively painting my nails some shade of red. (This was circa 2004-2005 when all the celebrities of young Hollywood–Mary-Kate Olsen, Nicole Richie, ect–were rocking bright red nails.) Now a days, I don’t wear red quite as often (except as a pedicure), but I do love to throw back to a classic every once in a while.

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For this manicure, the polishes I grabbed were:

  • Mariposa Mini polish in red.
  • Layla Ceramic Effect in shade 53 (which, I saw somewhere was called Killing Red.)

I applied a base color of the Mariposa, because I knew from experience that the Layla takes quite a few coats to cover. This Mariposa polish is a red jelly. I’ve never used it before–I grabbed it on a whim–but I must say it has beautiful application, even if there is still visible nail nail with it on it’s own. Next, I applied two coats of Layla 53–Killing Red, to get a full application of the flakies over my nail. Oh my god I love this polish. It’s such a step above your basic red. I finished it all off with a coat of Essence Gel-Look Top Coat, followed by Essence Nail Art Express Dry Drops. When that was dry, I finished with a coat of Icing’s “It’s a Matte World” Matte top coat.

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Such a gorgeous combination. Makes me remember exactly why I use to love wearing red nail polish so much. But it isn’t until you capture it with no flash that you can really see it’s true beauty.

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Can you see those beautiful golden flakies swimming in this red polish? I didn’t have the best natural light inside for taking pictures, but they still come through.

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I legit cant stop staring at my nails, especially in the sunshine. It’s making me realize I’m going to have to go out and get more Layla polishes. All the ones I have used already have all been winners, and they have such an awesome selection! First on my list is going to be some of their holographic polishes. I’ve seen swatches of them online, and I have to have all of them!

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Krazy for Kozmic Colors.

There is nothing I love more than a good nail polish deal. While I wish I could afford every single polish from every single collection, my paycheck just doesn’t allow for it. That’s why I’m always looking around for awesome polishes at a deal.

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My Mom actually found these Kozmic Colors polishes for me at our local Dollarama, for a mere $1.50 for the three. I’ve never bought any of their polishes before, but I’ve always noticed them when browsing there nail polish selection. I have to say, it’s kind of crazy how much Dollarama has to offer! I’ve found OPI polish strips, Revlon polishes, and NOPI polishes there in recent months, and even that As Seen on TV stamping kit for $3. I was really curious to see how the quality of these Kozmic Colors polishes would compare to others in my stash, as–according to what I’ve seen on other blogs–they are exclusive to Dollarama.

I decided to swatch the blue creme polish first, as I already have colors similar to the other two.

There are no names on any of the polishes, and each set that I saw there contains three square shaped mini polish. Of the three in this group, two of theme were metallic polishes, and the blue was a creme polish. They had many other sets to offer though–glitter, and metallics, and cremes, and jellies (oh my!).

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First off, can I just say this polish has an awesome application. It’s smooth, and streak free, and reaches almost full opacity in one coat if you apply it thick enough. (For my swatches, I used two.) I’m not even sure what to call the color. In person it’s a deeper blue, but in pictures it comes across almost as a sky blue. When it dries, it’s not quite matte, but almost a satin-like finish. I should have taken a picture of it before I applied my top coat, but sadly I didn’t think. Silly me! Adding top coat gives it a gorgeous shine though, so either way this polish is a win. It will definitely be going in my Summer polish stash.

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So what do you think of this Kozmic Color polish? Do you have any experience with off-brand polishes–were they nail wins, or nail fails?