Essie Turquoise & Caicos Gets Dotty

It has been unseasonably warm (as in, mid 20's) the past few days and I have been living it up while it lasts. (We are expecting snow in a few days, please explain to me how that makes any sense, hah.)

Here is a mani I did a couple weeks ago. Enjoy!

 

Lately, my dotting tool has become my best friend. <3

My First Franken

I am obsessed with linear holographic polishes, I admit it. I recently went on eBay and scored a few of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms and while waiting for them to arrive I attempted making my own.

The pictures do not show the linear effect, even though it was visible IRL. Ah well. Let's take a peek, shall we?

2 coats, no topcoat.

My pictures make it look like a dense, scattered holo but the linear effect was goin' on. Promise. That being said, it was a rather thick polish. I used a holographic pigment and I honestly cannot remember the specifics about it. I know that it wasn't the SpectraFlair pigment, but it was along those lines. Perhaps I added too much to my base, but I finally got it opaque enough. Only after added the pigment and waiting an hour did I realise that I didn't use a suspension polish and all the pigment fell to the bottom. Major ARGH. 

Anyone know of a relatively cheap clear, suspension polish that is good for frankening? Let me know in the comments!

Blue Monday: Watermarbling Edition

Last summer I attempted watermarbling and it was a huge fail. I tried it again about a week ago and, in my opinion, it was a success. I can't wait to try this out with different colours soon.

I forgot to take pictures until after the second full day of wear so please excuse the chipped polish on my pinky finger.

I started with a base coat of OPI No Room For The Blues and then did my watermarbling with that polish and OPI Sunbody Loves Me (pictured above) and then a coat of Seche Vite.

I find that, as with most things, practice makes perfect - I'm very much looking forward to trying this again when I have some spare time. (This took me just under an hour to do ... I had a lot of clean up to do, I forgot to use tape, gah.)

Have you tried watermarbling? Fail or success?

Kismet Nail Polishes

Life = busy. Me = not feeling well. All of that = a week long break. Forgive me? I hope you will. :)

I came across a new brand of polish called Kismet. If you have the retailer "Bootlegger"  at a mall near you, you will probably be familiar with that brand name. It's their "house brand" and apparently they now have their own brand of polishes. The downside of them: no names. Arrgh. Does anyone but myself find that supremely frustrating? WE NEED NAMES, PEOPLE!

Here are two of the Kismet polishes I purchased. One, a win, the other, fail.

2 coats, no topcoat.

I LOVE THIS POLISH. Seriously. This was almost a one coater but I wanted to make sure it would be "camera ready" and added a second coat for good measure. These pictures make it look more red than what it is IRL although it's still very pretty. There is also pink micro shimmer throughout, very nice. I thought I'd try jazzing it up so I grabbed my Color Club Fame & Fortune and went to town. 

Color Club Fame & Fortune

1 coat layered over Kismet polish, no topcoat.

I dinged my ring and pinky nails pretty bad so please excuse the odd two-finger photo's. Fame & Fortune is UNREAL. I love the shard glitter pieces. They are a mix between pink and holographic and the shine and glitter is gorgeous.

2 coats

I find this polish very difficult to categorize. In the bottle it leans more green however my camera picks up more of a slate grey colour. There is some micro glitter/shimmer however it doesn't lay flat, it is a bit gritty and  slightly brush-strokey. Overall, although it was a very opaque polish (I could have gotten away with one coat of this as well) the odd colour and gritty/brush-strokey finish make this a big ol' fail to me. Can't win them all, right?

Bootlegger had a BOGO sale on their polishes so I got both of these for $4.99 plus tax. Not bad, although I will never wear the grey/slate/greenish polish again. The hot, hot pink is fabulous. Complete win.

My Blue Monday post is coming later on today - stay tuned! ;)

Cosmetic Arts Equinox Fox

Hey folks. Internet was being a pain in the you-know-what yesterday, hence my lack of post. Things should be up and running again now so not to worry. ;) In January I posted the first holo mani ever on my blog (Cosmetic Arts Silver Belle) and today I have its counterpart called Equinox Fox. I'm in love and will let the pictures do the talking ... there's a lot of them.

2 coats, no topcoat

Nothing else needs to be said, right? PS: Application was a dream. *gasp, I know right?*