Layering with Juliana

I have a new love and it's called layering!! This Juliana from NYX has won me over big time. I never used to be into sheers, but now I see how great they are. Not for wearing alone, but for wearing with so many other colors, the manis you can create are endless! And this post explores just that. So this mani I did a few days ago as a NOTD:It was so rainy and gloomy that day, I decided on a bright mani to pep me up. I chose Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Lightening, and layered NYX-Juliana. It definately made me feel good! It makes my think of happy things! And as on lovely lady wrote on Makeupalley: "Lemon sugar gumdrops".

Then I tried Juliana over a coral color just on a paper plate and realized it looked amazing! I tried over others, and realized it looked great over orange and green based colors because the glitter in it flashes orange and green.In the pic above, from the thumb: Sally Girl-Amped (layered over white), Rimmel-Camouflage, Milani-Tropical Fiesta, L'oreal-Shocking Green and L'oreal-Sizzling Tangerine
Sun
Shade
Sally Girl-Amped + NYX-Juliana

Milani-Tropical Fiesta + NYX-Juliana, L'oreal-Shocking Green + NYX-Juliana

Rimmel-Camouflage + NYX-Juliana, L'oreal-Sizzling Tangerine + NYX-Juliana

Sally Hansen Winner Selected

The winner of my first giveaway was selected! And its Te Te Shawty! I have sent the winner an email and will get on sending it as soon as I have address confirmation. Congratulations!!

Thank you to all who entered! There were 101 entries for this contest!! I found that to be very impressive. I thought it would be like, 5!

Thanks again!!

NYX - Yellows

Hello! Today I thought I'd do a little theme and bring you yellows from NYX!
Aurora - This is a pretty light, mellow yellow. It has a metallic-y finish and is very pretty. I do not remember how many coats I did... either 2 or 3.


Roasted - This looks like egg yolk on your nail. I don't know if that is good or bad. It does not come out opaque, but maybe that is okay? For someone? Not really me. It is intriguing because it is different. I don't know how I feel. If you want the look of egg yolk on your nail, this is for you.

Juliana - Sheer yellow with a yellowish-green glitter. This one would be good for layering in my opinion. Not the best alone.

Juliana over Roasted - This look I can get down with. It comes out pretty opaque, glitter and summery and happy! I could do this

NOTD: Del Sol Konadicure

(click for large size!)

Three posts in one day! Woo! This is my NOTD. I did it last night and it came out just as I hoped! It's so delicate I have it on for work today and it looks great.

I did 2 coats of my new Del Sol - Pretty In Pink, did the stamp with M57 and Konad SP- White, and added a coat of NYX-Sapphire for a little sparkle. The Del Sol is too fun! I was worried because the day started out cloudy and blah, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to enjoy the color change. But the sun came out for me, AND I moved to a new office today with a mega huge window so I get to enjoy the color change right at my desk! Yeah!

Orange!

Last week I found the new L'oreal Blooming Brights at Walgreen's and picked up Sizzling Tangerine and Shocking Green. Both awesome. I had been thinking about orange polish all day which is weird because I don't usually go for orange polish. Not sure why. I like orange, but maybe on my nails its weird? I don't know. But you know how what you like changes, and what is aesthetically pleasing one day is not the next. So I guess that day I just dug orange. And Sizzling Tangerine is a good one:

On Friday the orange itch continued, and I ended up with two neon oranges: Sally Girl-Amped, and a Hot Topic one. Unfortunately Hot Topic doesn't name their polishes so I have been calling this one Tangello.

Sizzling Tangerine looked like it would make a good Konad color (side thought: should add to Sasse's list) and it stamps very well! Good consistency and well pigmented. So I threw all my oranges together to get this:

I started with a base of white, did 2/3-1/3 the neon oranges and then stamped with M57 and sizzling Tangerine. Its way too much for the office, but awesome weekend mani!

(Before the Konad)

POTD: Neon Polka Dots

I guess this isn't exactly "of the day" because I am not in the habit of redoing my toes everyday... yet. Never say never, right?! I did this creation over the weekend. It made my man giggle everytime he looked at my feet! He thought it was cute and that I am a big dork! All accurate!

I painted my tooties black first, then did white dots, and applied 6 different neons over the white dots as randomly as I could so they wouldn't look really patterned. Here's the result:

Not bad, huh? I freehanded the dots. I didn't use any sort of tool. Maybe it would have come out neater if I did. But I still like it!

Check out how awesome neon colors look under a UV light: Neons are creeping up as new fave for me!

Del Sol - Changes in the sun!

Hi! I have a fun post! Solar changing polish!! I hopped on when I saw Scrangie's post about Del Sol doing a 50% off sale. Mine came yesterday and I didn't want to post them because it was the last day of the sale and then I'd be a big jerk. BUUUTT!!! They have extended the sale to June 11th! Yay! So I bring my swatches!

Boy Magnet - Gray with this awesome copper shimmer inside, and outside a dusty red

Electrik - Baby blue metallic inside and lime green metallic outside!

Heartbreaker - Red jelly with red and silver glitter inside, and deep purple jelly with glitter outside!

Pretty in Pink - White with a pink duochrome inside and bright bright pink outiside!

Surfer Girl - Very Light baby pink metallic inside and creamsicle orange outside!

These are way too fun. I ordered the ones I thought would have the most change between indoor and outdoor and I am pleased with what I picked! I could probably pull off wearing most of these to work and enjoying the outdoor color on breaks! Awesome!!

Giveaway!

Hi! I am running a contest for 2 of the new Sally Hansen Hi-Definition Nail Polishes! They are BLU and Hi-Res! I'm sure you can't miss it, but at the top of the page is an entry form! Enter once please, from now until midnight June 9th and I will announce a winner on Wednesday, June 10th!

Good Luck!

Snail Slicks Glitters

I have been on a major glitter high lately! I don't know what has gotten into me but I am really into them. I discovered this brand, Snail Slicks, and the only place I could find to buy them was The Supply Source. From their online swatches they looked like they would be super glittery so I ordered a few to see. And they are!

These don't have names unfortunately. They are numbered. I have #40, #30, #48, #61, and #37. All swatches are 3 coats.

#40 - Gold and emerald green glitter in a clear base.

#30 - Emerald green glitter in a clear base.

#48 - Purple and silver glitter in a purple jelly base.

#61-Multi colored, glowy glitter in a light, yellow-green base. Pretty, but not too great alone. Wait until you see how it looks layered.

#37- Magenta and silver glitter in a magenta base. Very pretty. I chose this as my NOTD.

I really like glitter polish when it's a full coverage with no spaces inbetween particles. The illusion of this can at least be achieved if the polish has a colored base, or if it is layered. So I tested out these glitters layered over corresponding colors:Thumb to pinkie: Zoya-Goldie, Rimmel-Camouflage, China Glaze-Harmony, Tropez-Black Satin, NYX-Vel Farre

#40, #30, #48. #61 and #37. The purple and pink didn't really need any boost. I was mostly concered about #40 and #30 because of their clear bases. And check out how awesome #61 looks over black!

Snail Slicks go for $4.00 on The Supply Source, and orders must be a minimum of $25.00. They have all sorts of products including empty bottles if you need some for frankening. One great thing they have is empty mini bottles which I have been looking for. They are 1/8 oz. size and come in a pack of 12 for $4.99. Pretty great.

OC Nail Art Contest Submissions

Hello! Did you all enter in the OC Nail Art Contest!? I did. I didn't submit as many designs as I wanted to, but I did get in five. They were fun to do even if they don't come close to winning. I wanted to share the ones I sent in:Base: Zoya - Malia, Stamp: Konad SP - White, Plate: M2

Base: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri-Lightening, Diagonal: Essie - Sag Harbor, Stamp: Konad SP - Red and Green, Plate: M2, Stripes: Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen - Black

Base: Color Club - Oooooo La La & Tropez - Black Satin, Stamp: Konad SP - White & Tropez - Black Satin, Plate: M2

My Second Favorite

Base: KO - Karen, Stamp: Konad SP- Red, Plate: M2

And my favorite!

Base: Essie - Funky Limelight, Stamp: Konad SP - Green, Plate: M4

So, I think I am kind of screwed because the B Kit is supposed to be plates M4, M8, M15 and M21. I bought a B Kit with plates M2, M4, M8, M15. I don't even have M21. So I think that all but one of my entries aren't even going to count. :c(

I'm scared.

Glitter Frankens

Racy Tracee


Equinox

Hello! I have had a major lemming for Lippmann Collection-Superstar. I discovered it way after the holidays when it was too late to get it. So I was planning a franken. I found some brown glitter at Michael's, and it was in a sample pack of 16 different color glitters! So I thought I'd mix and match and have fun.

The first one, which I dubbed Racy Tracee, Was actually black and a pinkish red mixed into a black jelly base. But the colors sort of melted and mixed into a dark cherry color. Now that makes me a bit hesitant to mix together all sorts of colors cuz it might just melt and look like poo. And my Superstar dupe is alright. It doesn't seem to have the melt problem. I rather like it! I added a brown creme to clear polish to get a brown jelly base and added all the brown glitter!! It works, but this glitter all settles at the bottom. You just have to shake well before you use it. The particle size is nice though. It looks just the same size as the glitter in RBL's Frugalista and Locavore.

NOTD: NYX - Elaine

Hello! Today I chose a work appropriate color since we are having a meeting today with people from outside our office and I try to look professional for such sintuations!

I am sporting NYX-Elaine, and I am not going to lie, I only bought this polish because it was my name!!! It's a nude metallic. I think it's okay for what it is. I wouldn't have bought it though if it was named anything else!

I wish I had found an "Elaine" polish that was really wild. I don't think a nude polish reflects myself at all. I am COLORFUL!! I wish it was like a hot pink holo!! I found a "what nail polish are you?" quiz at http://mysimplelittlepleasures.blogspot.com/ and It turns out I'm magenta! That sounds better!


If you could choose a polish to represent you and be named after you, what would it be?

Your Nail Polish Color is Magenta

How you're unique: You're confident - and you show everyone the true you Why your style rocks: You have the attitude to carry the most outrageous outfits off What this color says about you: "Look at me. I know you want to!"

What Color Nail Polish Best Fits You?

NYX "The Ave" Polishes

I recently went to town on NYX and scooped a ton of new polishes! The ones I was most excited for were the ones above: Blue Ave, Pink Ave, Purple Ave, and Peach Ave. The swatches on the NYX website looked like they would be some sort of flake or something interesting and different. These are definately different! I'm not going to say they are the best flakie polishes on the planet or something, but I do like them.
Blue Ave- Shown alone and over black. Blue jelly base with firey green, shiny, random shaped flakes. This is 2 coats.
Pink Ave- Shown alone and over black. Light, light pink base (pretty much clear) with rainbow shiny flakes. This is 3 coats.
Purple Ave- Shown alone and over black. Purple jelly base with purplish-blue shiny flakes. I think these flakes are the most "glowy" of all of these. This is 1 coat.

Peach Ave- Shown alone and over black. Orange jelly base with orange shiny flakes that flash green. These flakes reminded me most of an opal stone. This is the only one that I can see any real color build in the base. This is 2 coats.

So overall these are cool. They are a bit difficult to work with. Not impossible though. If you noticed that all of the swatches have a different number of coats, but that does not mean everytime you use Purple Ave it will be one coat, and everytime you use Pink Ave it's 3 coats. What it means is that it is random. The application is different for every nail, everytime. It just depends on how much flakie you get on the brush before you start. I had passes with nothing, and passes like that lovely ring finger on Purple Ave that had mega-flake in one stroke.

The base color is what they are named after, however, I don't think the base is what is important. It's the flake. So Blue Ave=green flakes, Pink Ave=Rainbow flakes, Purple Ave=Blue flakes, Peach Ave=Orange/green flakes.

The finish look has a bit of roughness, but a coat or two of Seche Vite smoothes that out. Here is my creation of all the Aves layered over my Blue Sky Chameleon from last week:

It was a multi-colored awesome-fest. I had it on for days. I loved it.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, that black polish in the swatches is Tropez-Black Satin, and it was very easy to apply and perfect in one coat. Best thing? It retails for $1.00!! I got it at Kmart if you're interested!