OPI Femme de Cirque

This spring, step right up and enjoy Femme de Cirque by OPI, four new breathtakingly dreamy additions to the SoftShades collection, designed to unleash a woman’s inner ring mistress. The collection includes three pink hues and one sheer glitter coat that can be worn on its own or painted over any of the other lacquers for an entirely new look.

These all look rather similar so what I am going to do is show them to you from least pink to most pink:

So Many Clowns, So Little Time - This is a sheer, squishy white with hints of pink and peach. This swatch is 4 coats. If you want to wear it with decent opacity, this is probably about how many coats you will have to do. I used this for a french manicure and it was awesome. I only used one coat for that. I would show pics but it really didn't photograph well.

Step Right Up! - This is a very white pink in a squishy, jelly form. This is the most opaque of the pinks. This swatch is three coats and as you can see, the opacity is decent. I like the cleanness of this shade.

In The Spot-Light Pink - This is a glossy, sheer, pink. This is the most sheer of the bunch. This swatch is 4 coats and as you can see this is never going to get to a reasonable opaque mani, but the smoothness, and shade could pass for a finished polished look if you like this. I would suggest it for a french manicure though.

I Juggle... Men (shown over black) - This is a clear with purple shimmer. I inspected this closely trying to figure out if it is blue, purple and red shimmer all mixed together, or if it was one shimmer that flashed all the colors. Regardless, that is the colors you get and I like!

So my final thoughts are that these are lovely shades. I think you can get away with wearing a couple of these alone but what I found great about these is that that they are fantastic for french manicures because they are perfectly smooth and apply evenly and not streaky at all. This allows you to do one coat, two coats, etc. However many you desire for your french.

And of course, I Juggle...Men is awesome.

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Nailene Skinny French Tip Pen

My review of the french tip pen from Nailene has been waiting For. Ever. I am a total slacker. Sorry! I have some swatches and a review now. I played around with this about two months ago so there are some pics from then, and then I used it last week for a mani so I have some pics of that for you too. Here we go!

This is the pen. It's supposed to make a self done french quick and easy. It comes with a mini bottle of top coat, which honestly, I didn't try! Oh no!

This is the tip before use. It look like it would be spongy, but it is actually very stiff. On the one had that is good because it allows for lots of control, but can cause issues. I think maybe it may have been better if it had a little more give.

So two months ago, this is the first swatch I did with it, with my dominant hand, free-hand, with no tip guides. Not bad huh? This is completely bare, no base, no top, no sheer pink.

Here is what it looked like after I threw on a coat of sheer pink.

And another.

Last week I needed a conservative mani so I decided to try this again. This is what it looked like with two coats of Essie - Jackie On My over it.

Not too shabby, right?!

So how easy is this to use? I think it is much easier than trying to free hand with a regular white nail polish, for sure. The issues I encountered were these:

1) This isn't entirely the pen's fault. It is mostly the user's, but I tried to use tip guides the second time around to seen if I could get a cleaner line, and I did just the opposite. I put all ten guides on and then did two coats of white, and then tried to take off the guides, and since the "polish" had dried, it pulled up when I took off the guides and I had to take it all off and start all over. I should have took off each guide after each nail was done so that the polish wasn't dried to the guide.

2) Some times the hard tip will prevent getting an even coverage because it "scratches" off what you have already painted. I found that I had good results if I got a good amount on the pen tip, and then when I painted, I essentially touched only the polish to my nail, and not the tip of the pen to the nail.

I would choose this product to do a french mani for these reasons:

1) The pen's style allows for much more control than painting with a regular nail polish brush.

2) It is much faster to use than painting with a brush.

3) The formula is very pigmented allowing for one coat, providing you are careful not to do the "scratch off" as mentioned above.

4) If you do have to do more than one coat, it doesn't result in a gloppy, thick tip like you would get if you tried to use regular NP. It is very thin, but it isn't water soluble like some other similar pen products I have tried before. It is still like a polish.

5) It is fast drying.

So overall, I would give this product a "B". I would definitely use this for a french manicure, but there are special requirements to get it to look flawless. If you don't have a steady hand, this may not give you the results you want, but you can use tip guides as long as you remove them immediately after painting each nail. It must be a good product if there are more pros than cons!

What do you think?
-Elaine
:c)


Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Nailene Artifical Nails Review

Hello all! I received some Nailene nails to review for you all and I really can't get them on without looking really dumb or without filing down my nails (which I am not willing to do) because my natural nails are longer than the press-ons. There is an exception to the rule, however, with my left index finger. This poor thing keeps having ridiculous breaks so it is shorter than everyone else. He just can't get on the same page. And I'm not left handed! I would think the right hand would have issues, but no. It's too bad too because I think my left index is my favorite when grown and shaped properly. (Yes, I have favorite individual nails! *Is weirdo*)

Anyway, these looked so cool I thought I would try on one on the lame nail to model for you. The style is "Starry Sky" and I really like these. They have a semi-transparent, milky, soft, french pink for the base and the tip is dark blue with bright blue glitter that looks a little iridescent. Really pretty.

Check out that close up! Awesomeness.

There are two more french manicure sets that I have to show you, but I couldn't bear going through more rounds of gluing and soaking so I just have shots off the hands:

These don't have a name just a number: 71000. They are your classic french manicure. I really like the way the white fades away with little dots rather than having a definitive line.

These are style number 77935. Again a classic french, but the base has a sparkly, crystal shimmer which I think is super pretty.

The glue that comes with these is mega strong. You won't have to worry about these nails not hanging on! Once they are on they aren't going to go anywhere!

The one thing I have to stress, and I know I will sound like a broken record: Use 100% acetone to get them off. Please. The glue is like super glue. If you rip them off, you will take your natural nails with it. These will not damage your natural nails if you use them right. Glue them on, wear them for about a week to 10 days tops, and soak, soak, soak in 100% acetone. Regular "acetone nail polish remover" is not strong enough. Get a little bowl, pour some 100% acetone in and soak for several minutes. Try 5 minutes at first, which should be good enough, and then scrape off the nails with an orange stick. They will be like a soft, gooey blob of plastic. If there is any glue still on the nail, soak a cotton ball with the acetone and remove the glue. Please remember this. The box says "soak in acetone remover" to get the nails off, as it seems all fake nail kits do, and that is misleading. Regular remover will not cut it. *end rant*

These can be found at retailers and drugstores where Nailene products are sold.

-What do you think?
Elaine
:c)

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Amour - Rainbow Hologram

Have you ever seen the Amour polishes on Transdesign.com that claim to have some sort of awesome reflection?Photo courtesy of Trans Design

This is what the site says about these polishes:
The special formula contains Titanium dioxide platelets of precisely controlled thickness reflects gold, red, green or blue by interference . . .and transmit the respective complementary colors. Deposited on mica for reinforcement . . . combined with colors pigment to introduce intensity, contrast and extraordinary color play.
Instructions:
Step 1: Apply black polish to the free edge.
Step 2: Allow polish to dry, apply color effect polish to the entire surface of the nail.
Step 3: Apply top coat

I didn't really think these would be anything out of this world but I had to get one to be totally sure. I was right. A bought Rainbow Hologram and swatched it over a black tip just like it said.

It's really just a shimmery sheer with iridescence. It is not special in any way. This black tip thing looks weird too. I am not a fan.

What do you think?

Have a great day!
-Elaine

Incoco Dry Nail Polish French Manicure Review

Hello all and HAPPY FRIDAY! :c) I have a different kind of post for you all today. I recently tried out some of those "stick-on" nail polishes so I can share with you what they are like. I got 3 colors and one french manicure. I was most intrigued with the french since it is not the easiest thing to do a french yourself, and I love a good french. French manicures were my first nail obsession. I have loved them since age 10! For realz.

The nail appliqués came from Incoco and as soon as they came I put on the french. The color is called "First Love" and the kit comes with 16 white, french tips (8 different sizes) and 16 double ended sheer pink strips (8 sizes). The double sided advantage is that there is 16 different sizes/shapes so you should have an easy time finding a fit.

The whole idea with these is they are sort of like a sticker of nail polish. You select the size for the nail and you place it on your nail and break away any excess. With the french manicure kits there are two parts: the white tip, and the sheer pink. It says to start at the pinky and do the thumb last. So I did left pinky, right pinky, left ring, right ring, etc.

Process: I started with fresh, clean nails. No basecoat or anything. These claim to be an all inclusive process of base, color and top coat. So I picked the size for my pinky, peeled away the protective plastic and the paper backing, and stuck it on bare. They have a sticky side to place on the nail so they don't move. These appliqués are thankfully forgiving and if you are a bit off you can move it.

Next, you need to remove the excess. If you have very, very long nails these may not have enough length for you. I had plenty left over, so I folded it over and using a nail file (one comes in the package) I file off the excess going perpendicular to the nail and down. Like this:


If there is hangover on the sides like on mine, you can file that off too. Once all the tips are on you need to start placing the sheer pink over that. This is similar to applying the colored appliqués (that will be in another post). This is how it looks as soon as you put it on, before it is smoothed down:


The nice thing about these, and very important for me since my nails are very curved, is they have some stretch to them. This gives you the ability to stretch them out and up to smooth out those wrinkles that are created on the sides. Once you got on the 10th sheer pink, you are all done! Complete french manicure!!!


Time involved: The whole process took me 45 minutes. I don't think that is too bad considering this is the first time I have ever tried to do this. Also, that is a pretty good time for doing a french that is dry. By the time I would freehand a french with basecoat, tips, pink, top coat and dry time it would take me 45 minutes. And with this I don't have to worry about getting a wonky smile line. They are perfect!

Finished look: Now the overall look is not perfect. But I think it's pretty good. If you look at the above photo taken after I was done, up-close, taken with the macro setting, you can see the little flaws. But for practical purposes, you don't look at your nails (and neither does anyone else) in macro, enlarged, up-close. Here is a shot I took with the normal setting the next day:


See how perfect that looks? And I had this on for days and never thought "damn this looks like crap I. Want to take it off". I actually really, really liked it!

They stay flexible while you are putting them on, but will dry out. That is how they set. They come packaged in a little air-tight envelope and you shouldn't open them until you are ready to use them. They are flexible and soft to put them on, but then dry out and set so they stay on and don't move.

Lasting power: Now Incoco claims that these last for 14 days. I don't know, because there is no way I would make it 14 days. I started to hyperventilate thinking about it. But I did have it on for 4 full days (96 hours) and it lasted! Through showers, washing dishes, washing the dog, everything. This is the mani after 4 days:


See?! They actually may look a little better with time since they have time to relax and adjust to the nail and the wrinkles and such smooth out more. I really think it might make it 14 days.

Removal: Now if these things can hold on for 14 days, I am sure you are wondering how the heck you get them off: With regular ol' remover. Incoco also has remover cloths soaked in an acetone remover you can use (they come in the kit):


I was surprised when I opened it and there was felt! How weird! But it worked. Just to see about regular remover, I tried an acetone and non-acetone remover with cotton balls and that worked too.

Overall verdict: Good. Definitely good. I think this might be the best way to get a DIY french manicure. Konad french tip plates are very hard to align properly. Free-handing takes a lot of patience and practice and is not for the shaky, and guides work, but sometimes pull up on the polish at the smile line and you get a little nick and that is irritating. >:c(

Bonus tip: The one thing that keeps standing out in my mind is that these (french or colored manicure) would be good for travel. There are no bottles to break, no liquids so you can take them in your carry on, and since the removal cloth is in there you don't need to pack remover. Lots of pros for traveling, I think.

They do last and look nice. They are forgiving and are stretchy so you can smooth out the wrinkles.

There is definitely a learning curve to these. You get better as you go along. But I think my work speaks for itself. I had never used anything like this before and my mani really doesn't look half bad.

I scanned the brochure that came with them so you can see Incoco's full color chart. They have colored tipped french manicures too if regular french is too plain-Jane for you!

(Make sure to click the pic for the enlarged view)

The polish does not stretch as much as the ad picture, by the way, but they do have a little give. Don't over do it. I ripped some by pulling too hard.

If you are interested to know what else I have in store for you, I have Sunset from the cremes, Oscar Night from the shimmers and get this: Black Diamond from the glitters! That's right. BLACK GLITTER!! WOO!

And here is a bonus pic of what I did with my Konad french tip plate before I took it all off:


You can purchase these at incoco.com. The french manicure kits come in three shades (the one in this post is First Love) and retail for $8.99. You can also purchase only the white tips for $5.99. If you are interested in the colored tip kits, those also retail for $8.99. They also sells Incoco at Walgreen's and on Incoco.com there is a printable $1 off coupon for Walgreen's.

What do you think?!
:c)

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Naught-y-cal Funky French

Good evening! It's late but I was in a posting mood! I just have a quick funky french to show you. I like it, but I think it was better in my head than on the nail. I actually think the best thing about this is the title for this post! :c)

For this mani I started with a base of Naughty Nails - The Big "O". Then I free-handed the tips with Rescue Beauty Lounge - Dead Calm. That worked well since it is a very opaque, one-coater polish, so doing tips with it was nice and easy. No streaking, and I didn't have to go back and do a second coat. Then I used LA Colors Art Deco striper in red glitter to go over the "smile line" of my french to sort of hide any wavering in my line.

Have a good night and I will have something new for you in the morning!

-Elaine

Migi Nail Art Pens Swatches and Review

Freehanding nail art is something that I have always enjoyed doing, but have usually had a hard time with without proper tools (special pens, Konad stamping set, stencils, etc.) I always just did hearts and flowers and dots by dotting with the polish brush of the color I was using! And mayber sometimes with a toothpick. I now know it can be much simpler. One way to accomplish this is with Migi Nail Art Pens.

Here are the 4 colors I have for review. An olivey green with gold shimmer, a gold glitter, a pink creme and a white creme.

These pens have a two way cap. So one end opens just like a polish bottle and has a brush to paint with:

But if you pull the upper part of the cap you find a fine point to draw nail art with while you squeeze the pen:

Very fine point. It's like a needle

Here are all the colors painted with the brush end. Very smooth and even and have good coverage.

Here are some simple designs I did with them: A daisy which I did by painting dots far from the center and then pulling them in, flowers made up of dots, a snowflake, and little hearts made by making the top with two dots and then pulling them down to a point. These pens are wonderful for doing all these and more but I really love them for doing polka dots.

They also work well to do a french manicure since you can freehand the line with the fine end and then paint the rest of the tip with the brush. I also like it because you can draw the ends of the tip real close to the edges very finely. Also, although I don't have a pic ,they work well for halfmoon manicures as well.

Pros: Versatile. Fine point allows for intricate designs, small dots and lines, french manicures, letters and numbers. (I used these for my 30ROCK manicure) Migi gives free refills (2 per order) when you pay for shipping.

Cons: Glitter gets stuck in the fine tip. (Only the glitter pen) I played with the gold glitter and got it to work before I did my swatches for the review, but by the time it came time to do swatches and pics I couldn't get it to come out anymore. Also they can become pressurized and polish will continuously flow out of the tip on its own without squeezing the pen. This however, is easily fixable by unscrewing the brush and screwing it back on while slightly squeezing the pen.

Here is a little sunburst I did on a paper plate with the gold glitter before it stopped working for me:

The colors for these pens are sold in sets. There are 5 different collections of colors. Each retails for $24.99. That means you end up paying about $3.12 per color. Each color has 0.16 fluid ounce of product, so that breaks down to $19.50/ounce. It sounds pricey that way, but really it would be like paying $9.75 for a regular 0.5 oz. bottle of polish which isn't that far off from what a lot of us spend! Plus the flexibility for doing designs more than makes up for it.

Here are the sets:

Gold Collection - 8 shimmers - This has the green I have swatched

Silver Collection - 8 bold cremes - I believe this is the set with the white I have swatched

Bronze Collection - Described as the "french" set - This set has mostly shimmers, but also the gold glitter I have swatched

Black Collection - Pastel cremes and shimmers

White Collection - Neon cremes and shimmers

Thanks for checking out my review! You can purchase these nail art pens at MigiNailArt.com
Each set retails for $24.99, or you can get all 5 for $99.99.

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.