Saturday, August 11, 2012

Jade Holographics

Hi everyone!  I've been hanging around in the California sun lately, trying not to melt, but one thing I definitely appreciate is how great my polish looks lately!  And do you know what the perfect finish to wear in the sun is?  Well, holographic, of course!

Today, I have some swatches of most of the Jade Holographic line to dazzle you with rainbows.  I don't have all of the colors, eight out of ten, but as a whole line, they're amazing polishes.  The holographic finish in each one is very strong and visible and it isn't dulled by top coat.  Application is consistently flawless with every color too, something that can't be said about a lot of holos.  Overall, I adore everything about these polishes, so I won't talk much about each one individually to keep from being too repetitive.

Ready for pictures?  Let's take a look.



Energy is a bright turquoise holo.  These pictures show two coats.



Magia Negra is a dark charcoal/black holo.  These pictures show two coats.



Hypnose is a true blue holo.  These pictures show two coats.  I've compared this to Energy side by side on my nails and the difference is really hard to photograph!  In person, however, you can see that Energy is greener and actually has a stronger holo than Hypnose.



Deja Vu is a hot pink holo.  This one can be a one coater if you apply it a little thicker, but I used two thin coats for these pictures because I've had a lot of bubbling problems lately.



Mystic Gold is my favorite from this line.  I have a huge problem with gold holos--I love them so much, I buy nearly every one I find!  This one is so rich, I just adore it.  One of my favorite polishes all around actually!  These pictures show two coats.



Seducao Rosa is a lighter pink holo.  Compared to Deja Vu, it is just that, lighter.  They both seem to have a pretty similar holo strength to them.  These pictures show two coats, but it any of them may need a third coat, it is this one.  I did one thin and one thicker to make sure all visible nail line was hidden.



Vermelho Surreal is a bright red holo.  Red is something kind of tricky in the holo world, so this polish is a great one to add to your collection for that reason.  These pictures show two coats.



 Fascinio Violetta is a beautiful purple holo.  These pictures show two coats.

These polishes are from Brazil and can be purchased from both Llarowe and Ninja Polish.  They come in 8mL bottles.

Thanks for reading!

Friday, August 10, 2012

My BFF's Skirt--On My Nails!

Hi everyone!  Today I want to show you a mani I did a couple weeks ago for The Polish Well's fashion inspired nail art contest.  I, unfortunately, kept dragging my feet when it came to getting this done.  My BFF and I had planned to do several different manicures together to choose from, all inspired by her fabulous closet full of all kinds of vintage treasures.  Well, we tend to get sidetracked and I mucked up a few different ones...  I finally sat down, got to work and settled on this one.


I was kind of in a pickle when I picked this particular article of clothing.  I packed up only about a third of my collection to take with me to California this summer and I...well, I didn't bring any red nail polish.  I know, I know, definitely a foolish move on my part!  The only red I had was Nubar's Unfaithful Red.  I figured I would give it a shot before I went to borrow something from my BFF and it actually turned out beautifully!


Here's the shot of her skirt that I took for reference on my phone while we were planning!  Gorgeous, right? I actually have this picture set as the background on my phone now, that's how obsessed I am with her skirt.


I think the manicure would have looked good with the same bright red as the skirt itself, but the added spark from Unfaithful Red really turned out better than I had hoped.


The stripes were done freehand with a striping brush and then the dots were added with a dotting tool.  I used China Glaze Liquid Leather as for the black.  It was really quite simple to do!


Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Essie Armed and Ready and Orly Solid Gold

Hi everyone!  Today I have a simple and fun mani to show you.  I've been pretty rough on my nails lately unfortunately.  I filed them down pretty short and still managed to have more chips and breaks in the last three weeks than the last six months!

Let's not dwell on that though!  On to the manicure!


Essie's Armed and Ready is another one of those shades that I resisted buying for a long time.  Though I definitely liked it every time I saw it in the store, I didn't buy it!  I ended up caving in and picking it up when I went to a discount beauty supply store with my BFFs last week.  It's a great olive green with a slight golden shimmer to it, which was being shy in these photographs.  In any case, I thought it would be a fun pairing with my new bottle of Orly's Solid Gold.


Both polishes are super easy to work with and apply.  I put down two coats of Armed and Ready.  It was a nice consistency and covered well, leveling nicely.  I did the stripe with the regular polish brush from Solid Gold.  It's such a great matte!  Not only is it gorgeous, but the formula is pretty darn amazing.  It dries quickly as mattes normally do, but it is really easy to get even coverage without streaking or getting too thick.  I had to do two coats of each stripe.  I then threw on a coat of top coat and called it good.


Thanks for reading!