Sweet Heart Polish: Mermaid's Magic

Hi everyone, happy Hump Day!  My posts for the next few days will probably be short and sweet as I have to be out of town for work.  I will be driving all over the state for site visits but I do have some really great polishes coming up.  Today.....I have a really great polish :)  I received this polish because I won a naming contest when I named it Mermaid's Magic.  It reminded me so much of mermaids because of its blue/green iridescent quality.  

This polish is made by Cassandra at Sweet Heart Polish.  Cassandra describes the polish as a green/blue slightly holographic shifting polish with large turquoise holographic dots, sapphire squares, teal circles, and blue square glitter.  This baby is pretty, let me tell you.

I used this polish as a topper over the deep purple, OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? with no topcoat.  It completely changes the color of the polish underneath it and the polish has so much depth.  The circle glitters look like they are not lying flat, but they really are.  This polish was a perfect consistency.  I had to place a few of the circle glitters, although I didn't have to dig for them.  In the sun this polish just shines, sparkles, and is gorgeous.

Overall I have nothing negative to say about this polish.  It was easy to work with, is stunning, and I had no problems whatsoever.  You can find Sweet Heart Polish on Etsy here.

Incoco Nail Wraps: On The Edge

 *Press Sample

Hi everyone!  I hope the week is treating you well.  Today I have a really cool product to show you.  I was recently contacted by Incoco to try out their nail polish appliques.  I have only ever tried one brand of nail polish strips before and had a really good experience so I decided to give it a try.  

Incoco strips are base coat, polish, and top coat in one strip and are made of 100% polish.  You apply the strips to your nails and there is no drying time.  They remove with nail polish remover, just like you would a normal polish. Their website says that the appliques last for 14 days although I won't be testing that because my nails would look like talons if I let them grow for 14 days!

I chose a bright yellow and black houndstooth which is the design "On The Edge".  My strips came nicely packaged and also came with a cuticle stick, nail buffer with three different surfaces, and a polish removal cloth.  These strips were really easy to apply.  I think my total time including pushing back my cuticles and buffing my nails was less than ten minutes.  The instructions were very clear and the strips were easy to apply.  They fit my nail beds perfectly, I have long and semi-thin nail beds.  The only strips that didn't fit perfectly were my thumb nails.  The instructions were simple to follow and I didn't have any problems figuring out what to do.

Here is my final result!  I am still wearing these today and they look exactly the same as when I applied them on Sunday.  There's been no bubbling, peeling, chipping, or wear at all.  I am very happy with this product.

And yes....I did both hands :) 

Overall, I was really impressed with this product.  I can't really say that I prefer these over polish because I change my nail polish every day and that just wouldn't be practical.  That being said, I really like nail appliques for traveling and vacations.  I don't want to bring a ton of bottles of polish on a vacation or worry about chipping nails or touch-ups so I reach for nail appliques which last me the entire time I am away.  

These strips retail for $8.99 and you can find them here.  If you've made it all the way to the bottom of this post I will let you in on a little secret!  :)  Next week I will be showing a second design and will be having a giveaway for a design of your choice, sponsored by Incoco.   Yay!

*This product was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Very Skullicious Mani

*Press Sample

Hi everyone and welcome to Monday.  It never ceases to amaze me how fast the weekend goes by.  I spent all day yesterday catching up on reviews and blog things and have posts done all the way through next Sunday.  Today I have a really fun mani that I really enjoyed doing.  I picked out some nail art decals from Born Pretty Store.  These decals apply with water and were really easy to use and apply, once I figured them out!

To start off, these decals are item #4904 and can be found here.  I received a sheet of decals with all different kinds of skull designs.  These aren't something I would normally pick out, but I really liked the floral skulls and thought they were really funky. 

I started out with a base of OPI I'm Indi-A Mood for Love.  I was going for a really girly mani, but with the edginess of the skulls.  I will say that I couldn't really understand the instructions that came with the decals.  I ended up applying the one on my pointer finger backwards, which just looked white with no design. 

In the end, this is how I applied them:  I cut the design out that I wanted to use from the big sheet of designs.  I removed the plastic sheet on top of the decal and then plunged the decal into a little bowl of water for about 5-10 seconds.  I then used my finger to slide the decal off of the paper backing and onto my nail.  I dried it off with a paper towel and then added topcoat.  Once I figured it out, it probably took my a minute or so to do the rest of my nails.  Super easy!

I am quite happy with my finished mani and look forward to using some of the "darker" skulls around Halloween time.  What do you think of my girly yet edgy mani? 

These decals were $1.99 and can be found here.  Shipping is free and you can receive and additional 10% off with my coupon code below.

*Products were received in exchange for my honest opinion.

Bornprettystore.com

 

Pinspiration: Dot Manicure

Hi everyone.  Today I have a simple pinspiration mani to share.  This look was very easy to do, but I really liked the final result.  Here is a cropped version of the original picture.  I really liked the contrast of the background color and the dots.  I also really liked how the dots weren't perfectly round, I think it added character.

Source

Now....here is my version.  I think I never really realize how small nails are until I try and put a design on them :)  My dots ended up being closer together, but I wanted to include a bunch of colors from the picture.

I started with a base of Essie Playa del Platinum, which is a mix between tan and grey.  For the dots, I used various sizes of dotting tools with L'oreal Not a Cloud in Sight, OPI My Vampire is Buff, Wet N Wild Sunny Side Up, OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where?, and Julep Millie.

So there you have it.  I quite like it, it reminds me of a nice beachy setting with its mix of nautical and summery colors.

Massive Swatch Spam Saturday!

Hi everyone, welcome to the weekend!  Today I decided to do something a little crazy and get rid of all of the random swatches I've been holding on to.  I plan on upgrading my lightbox soon to hopefully improve my pictures, and these swatches will look out of place if all goes well with the new upgrade.  There are quite a few swatches, so let's jump right in, shall we?

China Glaze

Dandy Lyin' Around: Subtle white with shimmer-three coats, no topcoat

Essie

Bikini So Teeny: light blue with subtle shimmer which doesn't really translate to the nail-two coats, but needed a third, no topcoat

Fiji: pale pastel pink-three coats with topcoat

Hard Candy

Crush on Copper:  copper shimmer-two coats, no topcoat

Pixie Pink: pale pink base with aqua, medium pink, and silver glitter-three coats, no topcoat

Julie G

Frosted Gumdrops Blueberry Fizz: medium silvery blue-two coats, no topcoat

OPI

Blue My Mind: medium metallic blue with no shimmer-two coats, with topcoat.  This polish is stunning!

There you have it...all of the swatches I've been hoarding.  You might still see the normal swatches for a few more days, but if all goes well, better swatches will be up during next week.

OPI Russian Navy and Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Hi everyone!  Let me just start off by saying....Yay, it's Friday :)  Now that that's out of the way, today I have a really vampy combination that I was sporting yesterday.  I wasn't feeling well this week so my hubby surprised me with this little beauty, OPI Russian Navy.  I will first start out by saying that pictures cannot do it justice but I did my best.

OPI Russian Navy is a deep navy blue with red and teal shimmer.  The shimmer is hard to capture, but in the sunlight it just glows.  I was a little skeptical when I applied it inside and it just looked like a flat navy creme, but when it's in the sunlight, the shimmers twinkle and the polish just glows.  It's really fantastic.  If you look at the picture below, you can see how the light catches the shimmer near the top of the bottle.

I found the formula to be really good on this polish.  It was the perfect consistency and it just took two easy coats to be fully opaque.  I used topcoat for my swatches.

Here's an outdoor shot, still not showing its true beauty, but you can see the polish's glowy quality.  I am a sucker for blues, and this blue is at the top of my list.  I'm so excited for vampy fall shades and I think this is a twist on the traditional vampy red or dark maroon color.

In this macro sunlight shot, you can really see the shimmer stand out.  In the bottle, the polish actually looks purple instead of blue but I think its from the shimmer.

A while back, I won a giveaway from a Serbian blog, and Max Factor Fantasy Fire was one of the prizes.  I don't know why I hadn't tried it, but yesterday was the day.  This polish created a really beautiful effect over my blue polish and it was just glowing.  I used one coat of Fantasy Fire and added one coat of Seche Vite.  I think next time I will try two coats and see what happens.

I hope you enjoyed these polishes, these are my kind of shades!  Do you own either?  What do you think?

My Take on Sugar Spun

Hi everyone, happy Thursday.  I am back at work today and feeling better.  Today I have a mani that I wasn't sure about posting.  I liked it and my husband liked it but I wasn't sure if it was too abstract...I guess I will leave that up to you guys.  

I will start off by saying that I had a different plan for this mani, which is why it started with a ruffian.  For the ruffian I used Essie Mochachino topped with Essie Little Brown Dress.  I've never attempted a sugar spun mani and I don't think it looks terribly difficult, but I wonder if they are practical to wear.  I always wonder if those 3D lines of polish ever dry.....do they?  So, to create a kind of sugar spun effect, I took my smallest nail art brush with some bright colors and simply drew lines across my nails.   The colors I used were Essie Splash of Grenadine, China Glaze Highlight of My Summer, China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, and China Glaze Bottoms Up.  I started with one color on each nail, and then decided to create a layered effect with some of the colors. 

I finished off with one coat of Seche Vite and had it dry like normal.  I would love to know what people think of this one.  Have you tried a sugar spun mani?  Were you able to get it to dry?

Shimmer Polish Gerry

Hi everyone!  Today I am home sick so I'm just going to let the pictures of this beauty speak for themselves.  Today I have a polish that I purchased, Shimmer Polish Gerry.  Ever since my first Shimmer Polish purchase, I've been smitten with these glitterbombs.  Shimmer Polish Gerry is a combination of violet purple, navy blue, gold, and red glitter.  I used Shimmer Gerry in several different applications to show its versatility.

First I have a simple taped design over Essie Butler Please with two coats of Shimmer Gerry.

Next up is an opaque look with three coats of Shimmer Gerry.

Third is a mixed layer look over OPI Can't Find My Czechbook.  I used one coat over all my nails except my ring finger which is three coats.

My last look is one of my favorites.  I used two coats on the tips over Orly Fancy Fuchsia.