Category: Matte Nails

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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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31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 3: Yellow Nails.

For my third day of the 31 day nail art challenge, I went with simple nails. I love nail art, but sometimes I do have to go with something quick, if only because I don’t have the time to get super complex (or I run out of time). For this manicure, I used Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in “Mellow Yellow”.

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I kind of love this yellow. I’m usually more of a fan of softer yellows, but I like the brightness of “Mellow Yellow“. I’ve read online about the formula being touchy, and the application for me was a little streaky. This is three coats, and I found I had to wait for the previous ones to dry before adding another. Thankfully, adding my top coat seemed to balance everything out and I didn’t have any bald spots.

Everything was topped with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat, and two layers of Quo by Orly Matte sparkle finish top coat in pink.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge — Day 1: Red Nails.

I’ve been thinking about doing the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge for a while now, and towards the end of last month I decided there was no time like the present to do so. If anything, I figured it would help break my nail art block–those nights when I couldn’t figure out anything to do with my nails! And I was right!

The first prompt for the challenge was red nails. I didn’t want to do just basic red nails (even though there was a period in time with I was 17-18 that I wore nothing but red nails), so I went a little fancy with a leopard print. When I was first starting my nail art adventure, right after I bought my first dotting tool–leopard print was always my go-to design. It was nice to go revisit a classic.

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The polishes I used were:

  • Nicole by OPI Scarlett (from the Selena Gomez collection) — my base.
  • Nicole by OPI Basking in Gloria (from the Modern Family collection) — the inner part of my leopard print.
  • Stripe Rite striping brush in black — the outer part of my leopard print.

I finished everything with my trusty Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat, and Icing’s It’s a Matte World matte top coat.