Twinsie Tuesday: Tip Nail Art

Hi guys, welcome to Tuesday.  Hopefully the week is treating you well.  Same old same old here.  I was super sick yesterday, and then magically today I feel better.  Maybe it's allergies, the swings in weather, not sure?  I also do plan on filming tonight so I'm excited for that.  I have had fun with my first two videos so far :)  

Today's twinsie Tuesday theme is tip nail art.  Originally I was set on doing flowers, but I spotted my striping brush and decided on some stripes.  For my base I started with Essie Romper Room, which is the new pale pink from the Spring collection.  For the stripes I used OPI Toucan Do It If You Try, OPI Where Did Suzi's Man-go?, and OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian, all from the new Spring/Summer OPI Brazil collection.  I thought the final result looked like flower petals :)

Let me know what you think in comments!  You can check out the other Twinsie's below.

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics: The 90's

Hi everyone, welcome to Monday.  Hopefully you had a good weekend.  OMG, for all The Walking Dead fans out there, last night's episode was pretty epic.  I was one step below sobbing, seriously though, my eyes are puffy this morning from crying so much haha!  

I wasn't really feeling the whole St. Patrick's Day vibe for my nails, which is odd because my name is Erin and I am Irish :)  I did however need to post a green themed polish today.  This polish was won in a giveaway and I think it's such a fun glitter topper.

The 90's is a really fun glitter topper with large lime green, large neon blue, and large neon pink hexes, white hexes, and lime green and neon blue micro glitter.  I used one coat over OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian.  The formula was really good and I had no issues with having to dig out the glitters.

I really enjoyed this color.  I think it's a really fun and funky glitter mix and I think it will look really good over a bunch of different colors.  What do you think of this polish?

OPI Spotlight on Glitter Collection: Swatches and Review

Hi everyone, happy Sunday!  Today I have a brand new collection from OPI, the Spotlight on Glitter Collection.  This collection consists of six polishes, some of which are dupes for previous OPI polishes.  I'll have some comparisons of those at the end.  Let's get started.  I also included matching polka dot accent nails, pretty much because I thought it was fun :)  If you prefer a review in video form, you can check out my video review at the end!

Rose of Light-

First up, Rose of Light, which is one of the original glitter combinations in this collection.  Rose of Light is a combination of pale rose gold glitter and holographic silver square glitter in a clear base.  I really like this one!  It's a very dense glitter and it covers extremely well in one coat, which is what I did below.  Below is a base of OPI Done Out in Deco, one coat of Rose of Light, with an accent nail of OPI Next Stop...the Bikini Zone and dots in OPI Rising Star.

Chasing Rainbows-

Second is Chasing Rainbows, which appears to be a dupe to OPI Rainbow Connection.  This polish is a mix of rainbow glitters in different sizes in a clear base.  Below I used OPI Where Did Suzi's Man-go?, one coat of Chasing Rainbows, and polka dots in OPI William Tell Me About OPI.

Blush Hour-

Next up, OPI Blush Hour, which is the other original polish of the group.  This one is very unique and it's a mix of pink and purple glitters in a pink jelly base.  I think this one would be good layered over a pink or purple polish but it also does build up to be fully opaque.  I used two coats for my swatches but it would definitely be opaque with three coats.  It does dry very textured so I think it would be a big topcoat eater.

You Pink Too Much-

Next up, OPI You Pink Too Much, which is a dupe for OPI Pink Yet Lavender.  I don't have that polish so I won't be doing a comparison of that one.  This polish is a mix of pale pink hexes and tiny holographic glitters in a clear base.  Below I used OPI Shorts Story, one coat of You Pink Too Much, and polka dots in OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons.

Desperately Seeking Sequins-

Second to last is OPI Desperately Seeking Sequins, which is a dupe for OPI Which is Witch?  This polish is a mix of holographic silver bar glitter and hex glitter in a clear base.  Below I used a base of OPI Scores A Goal!, one coat of Desperately Seeking Sequins, and polka dots in OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around.

I Reached My Gold!-

Last up, the only disappointment of the collection, OPI I Reached My Gold!  This polish is a dupe for OPI When Monkey's Fly, which got a lot of press for having curling glitters.  When I originally got When Monkey's Fly, the glitters were slightly curled but not terribly, and eventually they did flatten out.  This one on the other hand, had such curled glitters that it's just unusable.  This polish is made up of chunky gold hex glitters and small silver holographic glitters in a clear base.  You can really see the curling on my pinky.  For the look below, I used OPI La Paz-itively Hot, one coat of I Reached My Gold!, and polka dots in Julep Catrina.

Last up is a comparison of three of the four dupes of this collection.

Overall I have really mixed feelings on this collection.  I was so excited when I heard about an all-glitter collection but it's really disappointing that there are so many dupes to previous OPI polishes, some only from a year ago.  I wish that that had been more clear and I wish they had kept the original names so people would know what the polishes were.  I do really like the two original glitters though.  So there you have it.  If you would like a video overview of the polishes, instead of all that text, check out my video on these six polishes below!

My First YouTube Video:A Nail Polish Haul!

Hi guys!  As promised, here is my very first YouTube video.  I filmed a giant nail polish haul, it is several months worth of polish.  I was super nervous filming, I seem kind of boring in the video, but I gave it my best shot :)  You can check it out below or here!  Sorry it was so long, I guess I'm a talker ;)

Smokey Mountain Lacquers: Island Dreams, Placid Blue, and Hawaiian Ice

*Press Samples

Hi everyone, TGIF!  Man am I glad it's Friday :)  I'm in an exceptionally good mood for a few reasons.  First, I feel like my health has really turned around in the past few days.  I realized that I had a severe magnesium deficiency (due to my big dietary restrictions from my food allergies) and once I started taking the supplements I feel so different.  I'm really happy about it.  I also decided that this weekend I'm going to start my youtube channel.  I have so many ideas floating around in my head and I think tomorrow will be the first day I give filming a try.  Third, I have three awesome polishes to show you today :)

Today is my very first experience with Smokey Mountain Lacquers (love the name), and it is a very good one.   I have three brand new polishes including a cream, a holo, and a glitter topper.  Let's get right into the swatches.

First up, Island Dreams.  Love the name!  This polish is a dusty medium seafoam green cream.  I absolutely love the color of this polish.  I like how it leans dusty, but is still really fresh looking.  It reminds me of tidal pools, algae, and sea life...and now that I typed that I did mean it in a good way ;)  It feels earthy and I really liked that.  I found this polish to be slightly on the sheer side, but it did build up nicely in three thin coats.  It dries a little bit dull so I did add topcoat to make it really shiny below.

Second up, Placid Blue.  This polish is the holo and I will say that the holo effect is subtle.  However, when I went in my light box and saw the subtle gorgeous holo to this polish I thought....whoa, that is pretty.  This polish is a medium bright blue holo.  It's a very classic blue, bright but not neon, and I think the color is perfect.  It's just a gorgeous color.  Like the first polish, it was on the sheer side and it built up in three coats.  I did use topcoat below as well.

Last up, Hawaiian Ice.  I am very happy to say that I did design this polish and I love how it turned out.  I started out with wanting a fun glitter topper that could be worn over a ton of different base colors and look just as good with each one.  I think this could go with blues, coral, orange, yellow, white, pale pink...the options are very open for this one.  I was born in Hawaii so that was my starting point, and one of my favorite things there is authentic Hawaiian shave ice (not a snow cone).  This polish contains a mix of bright snow cone colors including coral, pale pink, white, aqua, and yellow in a mix of different glitter shapes.  I really love how this one came out and I think it's so punchy for Spring and Summer.  I used one dabbed coat over Placid Blue.  I had no problems with fishing out glitters.

Overall I am completely happy and impressed with my first Smokey Mountain Lacquers.  I love all three of the polishes and would highly recommend all three because they are so darn pretty.  The prices of each polish are down below:

Island Dreams-$8.50 
Placid Blue-$9.50
Hawaiian Ice-$9

You can find Smokey Mountain Lacquers on her website here as well as on Etsy here.  Which one of these pretties is your favorite?  Happy Friday everyone!

*Polishes were sent for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

1st Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

Woo hoo!  Hi everyone :) Happy Hump Day, no...the commercial with the camel will not get old.  I like camels, what can I say?  Yesterday was awesome because on my drive home I wasn't wearing a coat and I had the windows down.  It felt amazing.  This morning it is blizzarding.  I remember last year it snowed at the beginning of March and people were astonished because it was snowing so late.  After the craziness of this winter, people have just accepted it.  Like, of course it's snowing during the middle of March, why not?  I'm really hoping this is our last snow!

Today is an exciting day, well technically tomorrow, because it's my first year blogiversary.  Technically I did start in December, but I gave up after three posts until my husband convinced me that I would enjoy it.  So I count the middle of March as one year.  I'll try not to be mushy or anything but I have to say that I have enjoyed every bit of blogging over the last year and right now there's no end in sight.  I truly love it, love the people, and have gained so much over the last year.  So, to show my appreciation, I wanted to hold a little giveaway.  Let's get right to it.

There will be one winner and they will win the above OPI polishes.  The three polishes are OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby, OPI It's All San Andreas's Fault, and OPI Get Your Number.  I bought these polishes, the giveaway is sponsored by me.  

US only please or the winner must be able to provide a US mailing address.  Winner will receive three OPI polishes.  The mandatory entries include a valid email address and following my blog on Facebook.  No cheating or unfollowing please, that's just rude and it won't be tolerated.  Entries will be validated.  I am not responsible once the package leaves my hands.  Enter in the Rafflecopter widget below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Twinsie Tuesday: My Go-To Polish

Hi there everyone!  I'm finally back in town and back at work, it feels like it's been forever since I've been here even though it's really only been five days.  Is anyone else getting their butt kicked by the time change?  I was fine yesterday, but then last night I fell asleep on the couch at 9pm and then this morning I had to drag myself out of bed haha.  I would also like to note the crazy weather we have been having.  Yesterday was in the 50's which was amazing and then today is supposed to be in the 60's.  Then tonight....3 inches of snow.  What?  Are you having weird weather where you are?  

So today for Twinsie Tuesday, the theme is "go-to polish".  I get really excited for themes like this because I like to see what people choose.  For my go-to polish, I chose OPI My Vampire is Buff.  The color reminds me of a light vanilla which isn't really anything to write home about, however, I always reach for this polish.  It works well with my pale skin, it's got a decent formula for a nude, and it's opaque on the nail without being too stark.  This was the first polish that I thought I needed a backup for (I just recently got my backup) and even then I'm still thinking a backup to the backup bottle wouldn't be so bad :)  It's also my most used polish and I'm already over halfway done with my original bottle.  For the look below, I created a wintery mani that I wore awhile ago on a weekday.  I paired My Vampire is Buff with Wet N Wild Mega Rocks in Slick It to the Man.

There you have it.  What's your go-to polish?  You can also check out these other ladies below!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra