Category: Starbucks

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I’m feeling tropical… print nails.

I’ve been feeling floral a lot lately, so I wanted to try something different. At work, we’ve been getting in so much tropical floral print so I was inspired to try mimicking something tropical on my nails.

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

  • Sinful Colors Cinderella — blue base color. (I also layered it over a coat of Sinful Colors Be Happy because damn… it’s sheer.)
  • Sinful Colors Dream On — flower color.
  • Sinful Colors Coral Reef — flower color & polka dots.
  • ACO by Ardene Ardene’s Secret — flower color.
  • ACO by Ardene Kissed by a Rose — flower color & polka dots.
  • Sinful Colors Strapped — leaves.
  • Pure Ice Wild Thing — leaves.
  • ACO by Ardene Green Peace — leaves.
  • China Glaze Metro Pollen-tin — dots.
  • Stripe Rite Striping Polish in black — flower stem.
  • Nutra Nail Speed Dry top coat with green tea.

 

So what do you think of these tropical floral nails? I think the flower on my ring finger turned out best.

Also is anyone else as excited about iced coffee season as I am?

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From the forgotten stash — Icing’s Romantic/Relaxed.

Today I have another polish from my forgotten stash with you–and another “mood” polish! Like I stated in my other Claire’s mood polish, I was quite obsessed with these when they first came out, as I had never witnessed a thermal polish before so these left me in awe. Now that I have my Mood polishes back, I’m definitely going to have to go on a search to find more for my collection.

Today’s polish is Romantic/Relaxed from Icing’s Mood Swing polishes.

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Romantic/Relaxed is a pink metallic polish with is scattered through out (while cold) which transforms into a gold polish when it is hot. I’d call the darker version of this polish (which I believe is the “romantic” part) almost a blush. The color is very pretty, and subtle and the gold shimmer scattered through out is gorgeous. It also dries to almost a satin finish, but I added top coat to help the polish last longer (and cause–I top coat all my manicures.)

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Romantic/Relaxed while cold.

The magic happens, though, when you hands start to warm up. (And this is why I love this polish SO much) Suddenly your polish goes from a blushy pink to a full on pale gold shimmer. I know I’ve heard some people online in swatches of this polish say they weren’t too keen on the either color, but I think both are beautiful.

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Romantic/Relaxed — while hot (index and middle finger) and cold (ring and pinky).

I was so much more impressed with the change on these as opposed to my Claire’s Mood polishes which I didn’t see as much of a difference while swatching. Icing’s Romantic/Relaxed seems completely unaffected from it’s time spent in a box in the attic.

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Romantic/Relaxed mid-change.

Overall, I really, really love this polish. My only complaint is neither Icing nor Claire’s carries any of their Mood polishes anymore. I really wish they would bring them back because I can guarantee I would purchase every single color they released.  Thermal polish seems to be a popular trend that isn’t slowing down, and now that I’ve been playing with the few that I have I need MORE!

So what do you think of this “mood” polish?

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My first sucessful chevron moons!

I have a really, really exciting manicure to share with you all today.

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As I’ve mentioned before, I love a good chevron, but I’ve never been very good with creating chevrons with tape as something always seems to go wrong. However I found a foolproof way to create chevron moons, and I’m a very happy girl. I also documented the process so I could share with you my easy tutorial on how to create these chevrons if you–like myself–have trouble getting tape manicures to work the way you want. =)

Continue reading “My first sucessful chevron moons!”

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Long lost goodies.

So the other day I was over at my parents. They’re moving away the beginning of next year, so I’ve had to go through the few boxes I left in their attic when I moved out. I knew a box containing the stash I had collected while living at home, and after going through a couple I found it!

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Surprisingly–considering it’s been sitting in an attic for the last two and a half years–it survived. I was expecting a lot of causalities, but there were only a few polishes of mine that didn’t make it. (Mostly shatter and crackle polishes). But what excited me most of all was that all my Claire’s Mood Polishes have survived.

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Claire’s Mood color changing nail polish in peaceful/confident.

When these polishes first came out (I believe it was in either 2010, or 2011), I was obsessed with them. I loved the thermal effect, and promptly bought 4 of them–3 are Claire’s brand, the other Icing brand. Unfortunately, I don’t think the years have been kind to the polish. Maybe it’s my base coat or top coat, but the color change isn’t as vivid as I remember it being.

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Index & Middle finger: after running under hot water. Ring & pinky finger: unchanged.

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You can kind of see the change on my index and middle finger (after dipping in hot water).

I’m slightly disappointed that they seem not to work as well as they once did, but never the less the color is gorgeous so I’m happy to have found this and all my other polishes I’ve been without for so long. I’m especially excited for all the nail art combinations and swatches to be had.

It’s like Christmas in May. =)

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Bright and Colorful nails!

I have a fun manicure to share with you today.

With the Summer quickly approaching, I’ve been feeling the bright colorful polishes lately, and I really wanted to do a color blocking manicure. I came up with this random pattern while I was painting my nails–I started with the triangles, and then went from there. I’m not sure what to actually call this pattern, but they’re bright and colorful which was what I wanted.

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For this manicure the polishes I used were:

  • Essence I’ve Got a Crush on Blue! (from their love letters collection) — blue grey base color.
  • Revlon Siren — orange triangles.
  • ACO by Ardene Lollipop Queen — Pink stripes.
  • ACO by Ardene Lagoon — blue polka dots.
  • Stripe Rite Striping Polish in back
  • Stripe Rite Striping Polish in white

Even though I had no plan going in with this manicure, I love how they turned out. Sometimes it’s nice to just start something, without knowing what you’re doing, and have them turn into something neat. Also I managed to create those triangles with just my regular polish brush (before I added the black stripe outline). Sure, they’re not exactly perfect but they ARE triangles, so I couldn’t be happier! =)