Today Was A Fairy Tale - Swatch, Review, Layering and Gradient

For The Holidays this year one of the glittery shades that Deborah Lippmann has created for us is Today Was A Fairy Tale. It says it's infused with Virgin Diamond Powder and I do not know what that does, but it is a shimmery, shiny, sparkly glitter bomb.

Deborah Lippmann - Today Was A Fairy Tale - This is a mix of large, extremely reflective silver hexagon sequins and smaller silver glitter in a clear, but slightly blue tinted, base. The glitter in this is amazing. I don't know if it is certain, but it appears that the hex glitter is cut to reflect more light, just like facets in a diamond. It is extremely shiny. I would normally be upset that the base doesn't have enough pigment to build a opaque enough base, but with this I am fine because I wouldn't want to take away the shine of the glitter. This is three coats.

This is some layering experiments I tried with TWAFT. (hehe) This is two coats over, blue, black, silver and white. I think over white is kind of cool because then it brings out the blue base.

This is the mani I did with it. I started with NARS - Midnight Express as a base, then I did a gradient with TWAFT. I started with one coat way down by the cuticle, then the second coat further up and the third even further up and the 4th was pretty much just the tip. This was very flashy and fun! Everyone loved this. I got lots of compliments.

And I thought this was too hot to not share! It's Kim Kardashian wearing nothing but Today Was A Fairy Tale for a shoot for W Magazine to match the silver body paint. WOW.

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.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I have some Halloween manis for you!

Sally Hansen - Plum Burst with Kiss Halloween decals

Sephora by OPI - If You've Got It, Haunt It - I really love this! This is black and silver glitter in a sheer black base with little iridescent blue/green/red glitter pieces. Super cool!

Zoya - Paz + Nicole by OPI - Pitch Black Glimmer with decals. I really wished I took a pic of the left hand before I started removing the polish. Because then I had to take the right hand and I unfortunately suffered a break a couple hours before!

Still Love Mattes

I had a crazy idea for some fun with my matte top coat and made an over the top layering mani. I started with super bright red creme. Then I added Wet n Wild - Ice Blue Pearl that I used for this matte mani. Then I threw on a coat of Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure because matte flakies are one of my most favorite things ever. I don't like the end result that much because the blue is over powering. There is less blue on the right hand nails, but the cuticles on that hand were not camera ready soo.....

This close up is actually from my right hand. I like the more subtle blue flash and more emphasis on the flakies.

What do you think?

:c)
Elaine

Powder Puff Dupe

Have you all seen the new matte Revlon polishes? Well I haven't! But I have seen some pics, and I really loved the look of Powder Puff, a soft, squishy white matte with blue flash. But I didn't know where to find it, or if I would find it and instead of trying to hunt it down, as fun as a NP hunt can be, I decided to dupe the look. This is what I came up with.

I started with two coats of Essie - Marshmallow, a squishy, white jelly. Then I layered over it, a
coat of Wet n Wild - Ice Blue Pearl. I set that with Seche Vite and then the next day I added a coat of Essie - Matte About You. I really like the end result and from what I have seen of Power Puff swatches, it looks pretty darn close!

What do you think?
Elaine
:c)

"New" Sinful Colors

I say "new" with quotes because at the time I got them they weren't really very new in terms of when they were released. But they were new to me. But now about 5 weeks have gone by since I bought them, so they are really not new!

Hot Spot - I showed you guys this one before but it had glitter on it. Now we can look at it alone. This is is a deep indigo shimmer with small, sparse, cobalt blue shimmer that isn't very shimmery, but it is in there.

Neon Melon - This is one hell of a neon yellow. You know how with most neon pics I have to give a disclaimer about how it is much more neon in real life? Well, this one is more neon in real life, but the pic does do a decent job of capturing it. This shade is very, very neon. I have lots of favorite neon yellows, but this one flew way up on the list. The only problem with it is it is extremely thin. There is no point in even attempting to wear it alone. It will never be opaque enough. BUT the great thing about neons is that you can layer them over white, which is what I did here. This is two coats of Neon Melon over white creme. SUPER BRIGHT!

All Mighty - This is a very pretty aqua/teal shimmer. It isn't terrible unique; as I put it on it reminded me a lot of OPI - Yodel Me On My Cell. I do love the formula of this. 2 coat dream.

Thimbleberry - I was hot and horny for this one a while back when I heard it was a dupe for MAC - Scorcher. I really love this bright coral, but I also found it was a close dupe to China Glaze - High Hopes so I guess not that necessary to my collection. But still pretty.

Gorgeous - WHEW. This one takes my breath away. This is a intense, metallic turquoise that is almost chrome in finish. That alone I love, but at the edges or at an angle it has a bright blue, aqua duochrome. This shade is very mermaid-y. I think it may be a close dupe to Sephora by OPI - Mermaid to Order, but I don't have it to compare. I will just stick to my $2 Sinful. *LOVE*

Besides for the neon which we all know are not typically two coats, these are all two coats. I have said it before, but I will say it again: Sinful Colors has stepped their game up. They usually get a bad rap for being sheer, but these are well pigmented beauties. Not only were they two coats, but the formula was perfect to work with. Sinful is one of my absolute favorite brands ever!!

Celebratory Mani for my Readers!

Hi Guys! I am super excited right now because I just learned that I am on Spa Beauty School's Top 50 Nail Blog List! How awesome is that?! I must say thank you so much to my lovely readers because you are what make it possible!!

Here is a mani I did a couple days ago:

This is Sinful Colors - Hot Spot with Revlon - Slipper, a glitter topcoat made up of red glitter, red glitter, and large holo hexagon pieces. It looks so American, doesn't it?! :c)

Icing Swatches

I love to look at all the polishes displayed at Icing stores. They have so many brights and shades in every color. They just look so fun! So of course while I was there I had to grab some of the pretties. I was mostly attracted to loads of holo glitter!

Hot Pants - This is a light to medium blue that falls somewhere in periwinkle to cornflower. It is very delicate and calming. This formula was on the thinner side. i believe I did 3 or 4 coats but now I can't remember which.

Paparazzi - (sun/blurred) Now it's time for holo! This is a orangey, cinnamon base with what appears to be a hint of pink or peach. The holo glitter in this is very packed and sparkly. It reminds me of China Glaze - Ginger but on steroids.

Blackout - (sun/blurred) I had to grab this because it appears as though they reformulated it. This has been available for some time. It is a black with small, sparse, holo glitter. It was very apparent in store that there was a remake because they had bottles of both versions. The older one looks cool, but the glitter is very sparse. The new one had so much prismatic glitter in it that it looked like a smooth-type holo, a la OPI - My Private Jet, or Nubar - Reclaim. Once I got in on I realized it was not like those beauties, but it is still cool. Very outer space looking. If you are concerned about getting the correct bottle of Blackout, it will be the one that looks like this:

It's obvious.

Glamorous - (Sun/blurred) - Oh my stars. This was so amazingly, blindingly, blingy and prismatic in the store I had to have it. (It should also be mentioned that this has been added to my "Top 20" on the right hand side of the page.) I was hoping that it would be full coverage but I should have known better. The swatch above is 4 coats and it's obviously not full coverage but it is EXTREMELY sparkly.

I had to have Glamorous on as a full coverage so I did a manicure with it over China Glaze - Millennium, a silver chrome. The best, most blinged out, disco ball-esque mani ever!

What do you think?!

Hidden Blossom

Hey! I know I have been hiding but I started a new job and have been crazy busy with training. *whew*

So I thought I would do a quickie post because:

A) I want to let you know I am alive
B) I am tired (why I must be brief)
C) I still love to post for you!

This is a mani I did for myself earlier this week:

Barielle - Blossom + Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure

To spice it up I added Essie - Matte About You

Miss you all! I'll be back on track soon.
:c)

A Perfect "10"

Hello all! I was perusing nail polish at Wal-Mart yet again and I took a peek at a brand that I am pretty sure has been around for a while, but that I don't own. It is called A Perfect "10", and although most of the colors were pretty boring to me, I did find two that caught my enough to snag.

Here they are: Bittersweet and Crush

Bittersweet - This is a sheer, but super shimmery, light, spearmint green. The formula is outrageously thin. I had to do 4 coats, but I suspected that it would look awesome layered over a black or dark green so I had to see if I was correct>>>

I was!

Crush - This is a super shimmery, burnt orange color. It reminds me of the new Venetian Glass collection from Nubar (Which I have swatched for you!) This one is much more pigmented than Bittersweet and I was able to do 2 coats.

I believe these retailed for about $1.99. But it was a little while ago and now I am second guessing that. But whatever they cost it was cheap.

What do you think? Have any A Perfect "10" polishes?
-Elaine
:c)

Chanel - Paradoxal....ish

Have you all been nervously pacing wondering if it is a good idea to drop $23 for the new Fall shade from Chanel: Paradoxal? A lot of us are. It is beautiful, but.... $23? It's a hard pill to swallow. I can't help thinking there has to be a way to get the gray-taupe-purple shade with the violet shimmer look for less either by frankening (mixing different polishes together) or layering.

Then I had a polish revalation. A "lacqualation", if you will. I picked up a polish from CVS last week from a new line called "Confetti". The shade is called "Moonstruck" and it is that hard to peg taupey, grayish, purple, just like Paradoxal. Next I had to get some purple shimmer in there. I recently acquired a cool, gleaming violet shimmer in a clear base. It's Orly - Love Each Other. Then I threw that on top.

Looking at my creation I am sure it is probably a lot lighter than Paradoxal, but that is okay. I love this!

What do you think? Are you getting Paradoxal? Or are you looking for a cheaper option to get the look?
:cD
-Elaine

POTD: Neon Pink Layering Experiment

Hello! Sorry if my posts have been on the thin side. I have had a lot going on that includes painting walls so not only have I not had a chance to do swatches, but even my nail of the day manis have been quickly ruined so I don't have much to post. So instead I have a pedi!

I love brights on my toes for summer, especially neons and especially pinks. I started my pedi out with Essie - Flirty Fuchsia and the got an idea to layer over it thanks to my sister. We were playing around with a super shimmery pink: Piggy Polish - Pink-ing of You. It reminds me of the new Sally Hansen HDs that have super shimmer in semi-sheer bases. I was digging Flirty Fuchsia on its own but this just made exponentially better.

This pic isn't the best representation because it is more neon and more cool in real life.

This pic was taken right around sunset, but the neon is more apparent in low light so I had to snap a pic! It shows the brightness a bit better.

And of course... my fave: the closeup!

Have a great night!
-Elaine

PS - GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

Don't Like Your Mani? You Can Fix It

I was high on life the other day. I had a nice meeting, I went on a shopping spree, and it was a gorgeous day so I layed out (in the new blurple bikini I got on the shopping spree!) and I thought some neon nails were in order. I decided to go with Color Club - Ultra Violet, a neon purple. I thought it would be amazing but it just didn't wow me. I think that it just wasn't working with my red skin. I didn't want to change it. I wanted to like it. I wanted to give it a chance. So I decided to start digging through my stash to find a way to spruce it up. This is what I came up with.

I added some flowers with white NP and Konad plate M65. Then I took it up yet another notch with a coat of Cover Girl - City Lights, a holographic glitter top coat. I really like that! I actually have had it on for 4 days and still plan on wearing it for at least another.

I appreciate the shade more like this. I love the delicate, full coverage flower pattern and the glints of rainbows from the sparkles. Plus when the blue shimmer in Ultra Violet flashes at me I get completely entranced .

So if you have a nail polish you want to love but it just isn't working for you, there may be a way to help it be more desirable!

-Elaine
:c)