Feeling Glittery

I'm back with another mani today. *pats self on back*


In my polish collection I own many glitter polishes, yet I rarely make use of them. Today I was in the mood to try one of my favourite (un-used) glitters out. Let's take a peek!


Borghese in Berry Confezione - A berry fucshia creme, that looks very juicy on the nail. Shown here, two coats without topcoat. Application was smooth, although slightly thin. VNL is minimal, but present. Berry Confezione leans a little more purple than what you see here.

 

For some sparkle and glam I added two coats of Orly "Bubbly Bombshell". I wanted to up the jazz factor so I added two fimo flower pieces in pink and tangerine and then finished it all off with a healthy coat of Seche Vite.

Voila!

What do you think of this sparkly, floral mani?

Orly Glitter Swatch Spam!

Hello lovelies! Slowly, but surely I am getting through my polish stash, one polish at a time. My post today kind of cheats because I've done a skittle mani to show you some pretty great Orly glitter polishes. Let's take a peek!

Each Orly glitter polish is swatched over 1 coat of Wet'n'Wild "Black Crème".

 

 

 

 

I added a few extra pictures than I usually would to show the holographic glitter as best as I could capture it.

Index: Orly "Monster Mash", 1 coat

Middle: Orly "Shining Star", 2 coats

Ring: Orly "Right Amount Of Evil", 1 coat

Pinky: Orly "Be Brave", 1 coat

Monster Mash has a green tint base colour with holographic green hex, micro round and micro bar holographic glitter. It is a great layering polish! You might be able to build opacity but you're looking at 5+ coats. I would layer it over a similar base colour and do a few coats if you want a completely blinged out mani.

Shining Star is a polish I picked up on clearout at Sally's months ago and never had a chance to try out. It is a yellow/golden glitter polish with random light green glitter. Nothing crazy special about this one, but pretty none-the-less. I did two coats to match the opacity level of the other Orly glitter polishes.

Right Amount Of Evil is fantastic. It boasts an orange tinted base filled with the prettiest pink shimmer. I find that rather ironic considering the name. It also has silver holographic hex glitter and micro holographic silver bar glitter.

Be Brave is one of two string glitter polishes that I own. I just picked up the one that is released in this years Sinful Colors winter collection and that pretty much sums up my string glitter polish collection. (Swatch coming... sometime.) It consists of pink holographic string glitter in a clear base. Simple. Pretty. I like it. I really like that the pink flashes purple at every angle.

All in all, I'm happy to have these polishes in my collection. Glitter has been something that I have struggled with for the same reasons as pretty much every one else: removal. I know the tin-foil removal method, folks. I really do. I am just lazy. Yes, I am usually too lazy to sit around and do nothing for 10 minutes. Haha. How ridiculous do I sound? ;)

Do you have any of these Orly glitter polishes? What do you think?

Rhinestone Polka Dot Nails

Fact: eBay and I have become very good friends over the past few years and over that time I have amassed quite a large collection of great nail art supplies. Rhinestones (1mm, 2mm, 3mm - round, square, heart, star - glitters in hex, round, micro and bead, etc etc...) are one of my favourite ways to jazz up a manicure yet I seldom use them. Today, I remeded that.

I'm really happy to share with you my actual NOTD. That practically never happens, so without further ado, please take a peek!

Base Colour: Sally Hansen (Extreme Wear) - Grey Area, 2 coats
Dots: Acrylic paint in blue and purple (brand is Decora from Dollarama)
Gems: 1mm round blue, 2mm hot pink square
Topcoat: Seche Vite

What do you think of my bedazzled manicure? I definitely dig it.

Pink Wednesday: Claire's "Medium Pink"

Happy Pink Wednesday!

I have to start this post by saying that I bought all 8 of the Layla Hologram Effect polishes
and you seriously, SERIOUSLY need to go buy Mercury Twilight (the silver one) if you
can. It is the winner out of the collection, BY FAR. I have spent the past 30 minutes
running from room to room to get to the sunlight that is streaming through the
windows just so I can stare at my pinky nail. (I quickly swatched 7/8 as a
skittle mani and the silver just happens to be residing on my pinky nail
(left hand) at this very moment. The linear effect is the strongest

out of all the holographics I have in my collection. I am
head over heels.

Please excuse the ramblings but I am filled with adrenaline.

How crazy is it that a perfect, linear holographic polish

can have this effect on me?!

Okay, I'll stop.

Let's go see the mani.

*

Claire's "Medium Pink"

 

Medium Pink is a cool-toned creme pink that had some slight application problems. This was due to user error and not the polish. (I was not using my usual lighting, yadda yadda, (Seinfeld reference, anyone?) and there you have it.

I don't use my nail art supplies often enough so I decided to bling-a-fy my mani and add some pink square stones. I angled them on their side so they look to be a diamond shape. I really liked the result. Sparkly, but not overdone.

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday. The sun is shining today so I know what I'll be doing all day: repolishing my nails with Mercury Twilight and staring at them until the sun sets. (Ha, I wish ...)

MariJo also does Pink Wednesday's. Go check out her blog!

- A Polished Touch

Blue Monday: Boy Meets Girl

It's that time of the week. Blue Monday is here again.

I'm trying to get through some of my older mani's and this was one that I really liked. It is very simple, but I think that's what drew me in.

Let's go see.

*
 
 

 

Blue: Essence - Walk On Air (2 coats)
Pink: Essence - Ultimate Pink (2 coats)

The pictures above are without topcoat.

Walk On Air is a very saturated medium blue which leans the slightest but purple. Application was simple and effortless. Opacity was perfect at two coats and it dries very shiny.

Ultimate Pink is a pigmented medium pink that is slightly cool toned. I think cool toned colours work well with my skin tone. Again, application was easy and this polish dried very shiny as well.

I have to say, I'm very impressed with my Essence polishes. They regularly retail at $1.49 at Shoppers Drug Mart (in Canada) and this week they were on sale for $1.34 (5ml each). They are mini's but the bottle shape makes it look like they hold more. The brush is full sized and flat which makes application very easy. The handle isn't too small, you really get a good hold of it. As they release new shades, I will be only too happy to pick them up!

Do you participate in Blue Monday? Let me know in the comments, I'll link to your blog in future posts.

- A Polished Touch

Icing Flakie Polish *drool*

While shopping around for polish a couple weeks ago I went into Icing and found some beauties. 

FLAKIE BEAUTIES! 

Let's go see.

Ouuuu, aaaaah.

Necessary boring picture to show "underwear" sans flakie magic.

Purple base: Icing "Text Me Later" 2 coats

Pink base: Icing "Cherry Blossom" 2 coats

Purple flakie: Icing "Pampered & Primped" 1 coat

Pink flakie: Icing "Rave Royalty" 1 coat

Text Me Later was the difficult one out of the bunch. The brush is messed up in ways I've never seen before. It is curved. The bristles on the sides are fine it's the middle bristles ... they have a curvature. Don't even ask, I have no idea what happened. Believe me, I was frustrated. It made application time consuming and generally tedious. The colour though, perfect. It is somewhat reminisent of an eggplant to me. I like it.

Cherry Blossom is a pretty medium toned shimmering pink. Application was good. Two coats needs for opacity.

Pampered & Primped consists of a lilac jelly base which is very sheer and the flakies remind me of Finger Paints Twisted. All different colours of flakies which is very pretty. Application was okay, I did feel the need to "place" some flakie pieces but it wasn't enough that I would consider it a drawback.

Rave Royalty has a sheer pink jelly base and had a gold, coral, orange (at some angles you see a slight bit of green) flakie thing going on, similar to Finger Paints Flashy. Application was the same as Pampered & Primped.

I'm a huge flakie lover so for me, having my Finger Paints flakie collection plus my two new Icing ones ... I can definitely justify it. Life is better with flakies.

Have a great Saturday!

My Twitter account.

My Pintrest account.

- A Polished Touch

Pink Wednesday: Claire's "Light Pink"

Happy Pink Wednesday!

I've been working, slowly but surely, at getting though all the untrieds in my collection, although I buy them much faster than I can wear them, so I honestly don't see an end in sight for my untrieds. Mr.Polish suggested organizing my collection based on that method but I can't stomach the thought of seeing how many I still have to swatch/wear. I'm at 899 polishes and I've only worn about 180 of them. Aaaaaah. 

Anyways, let's get on with the mani, shall we?

 *

 Claire's "Light Pink"

3 thin coats, with topcoat

 Natural light (cloudy day, no sun)

Cuticle Oil: Beauty Secrets - Nail Matrix: Cuticle Oil

Topcoat: Beauty Secrets - Hardener: High Gloss Top Coat

I had some difficulty with the formula only because I applied cuticle oil just before application and forgot to clean my nail off with acetone. I should have removed the polish at that point and started again however ... I have no valid reason for not doing so. Lesson learned. (You'll see some slight bald-spots and a bubble or two, I apologize.)

Light Pink is quite a pretty polish. I usually don't reach for this colour very often, preferring instead my teal/mint/powder blue/purple selection. However, I must say that my preference for polish colour has been veering in different directions lately. Change is a good thing in Pretty Polish Land, isn't it? ;)

One note about colour accuracy: please see the outdoor photo for the most accurate view. Ignore the dry fingers. Remember I said I applied cuticle oil? Well, apparently my fingers drank that up and needed more and I didn't listen/pay attention.

*

If you're a follower of my blog and regularly follow Pink Wednesday please let me know in the comments. (A simple "I do Pink Wednesday's" will do!) I will add a list at the end of each P.W post letting readers who are interested, to check out your fabulous pink mani's! 

I'm looking forward to seeing your pink mani's! 

Do you sort your "untrieds" and if so, how?

- A Polished Touch

NYC "Pink Promenade Crème" Gets Floral

Good morning! I did a bunch of swatching last night (6 swatches and then the mani I finally settled on to wear today and tomorrow) and I'm so excited to post my new nails. They're growing on me. My Blue Monday post will be the first to showcase my nubbin's. *nerdy smile*

Let's take a peek at a manicure that I did a couple months ago when I was trying to coax warmer weather in March. 

PS: It worked.

NYC "Pink Promenade Crème"

 2 coats

I love this design. I wanted something floral, but not too over the top and it came out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. And I do. ;)

The dots were done with white and yellow acrylic paint and my trusty dotting tool. I waited about 2 minutes after finishing my dots to apply my topcoat; if you do it too soon the paint won't be dry and it will drag, which is, in fact, a drag.

*

Here are a couple photo's of Pink Promenade Crème on it's own.
Please excuse the dent on my pinky.
I crossed it out because it bothered me so much.

      

    

Application on this polish was a dream. 
Only 2 coats for this mani no topcoat in the swatch photo's. 
Best part?
This polish cost me $1.27!

When was the last time you played with your dotting tool?

- A Polished Touch

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! ;)

Pink Wednesday: Dotticure Mani

Pink Wednesday, dotticure style.

Let me know if you want the names of any of the polishes used!

Brands used: Borghese, California Colors & Wet'n'Wild (base French White Crème)

Pink Wednesday: WetnWild How I Met Your Magenta

Happy Pink Wednesday!

Do you remember when I mentioned that I was having issues with my Seche Vite shrinking away from the cuticle end of my nail? The following pictures show you exactly what I was referring to. (They were taken at the end of January and since then I haven't had this happen more than once since, thank heavens.)

Wet'n'Wild How I Met Your Magenta

4 coats with a coat of Seche Vite

So glossy!!!

How I Met Your Magenta is a beautiful jelly polish with pretty shimmer. It's rare that I do 4 coats of polish, but I love how squishy this looks so I would definitely learn a bit of patience and do this again. The VNL that you see in the pictures above wasn't that visible IRL. 

One thing I will say: the brush is a bit wonky on this one. I've noticed it on almost all of my "fastdry" Wet'n'Wild's. Have you seen it on yours? Next time I use this brand and type of polish I will take a picture of the brush to show you.

Hope your Wednesday is lovely!

Black, White & Pink Dotticure

Let's see if I can do this in under 50 words ...

Wet'n'Wild Black Crème

2 coats, Seche Vite 1 coat

Polka dots done with acrylic paint: white & pink

I love my dotting tool. ♥

Pink Wednesday: Pink Ombre Mani

Happy Pink Wednesday! I've accomplished a lot of "firsts" this month and I'm happy to share one of them with you today. Ombre mani's were all over the blogosphere last year; I haven't attempted one until now. I found it harder than it looks. I'm a little OCD when it comes to certain things. For this mani, I had to make sure all the finishes of the polish were consistent: I chose a crème finish.

I will mention that IRL, the ring finger and middle finger were more different than what they appear in my photo's. D'oh.

The polishes used for this mani are:

Index: Color Club Poptastic

Middle: Color Club Yum Gum

Ring: Sally Hansen Pink Blink

Pinky: China Glaze Snow

No topcoat

My thumb is also China Glaze Snow

China Glaze Snowglobe (1 coat) layered over Pink Blink

Application for all these polishes was fairly decent: the only one I had issues with was Color Club Yum Gum, I found it a bit thick. A drop or two of polish thinner would help. Snowglobe is GORGEOUS. *stares*

I was pretty happy with how this turned out. Finding a darker creme finish pink proved impossible for me so I  just used Snow and made two nails white. I only swatched this but I will definitely try this out as a full mani sometime soon, with different colours of course, gotta change things up! ;)

Have you tried an ombre mani? What colour scheme did you choose?

2012 Challenge: Valentines NOTD

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I hope you have had a lovely day doing whatever it is you love the most with those you love the most. 

Mr.Polish bought me some polishes that I have been wanting for Valentine's Day. I knew he was getting them ahead of time because otherwise I probably would have picked them up myself. He figured that because they weren't a surprise I was going to have to work for them, so he created a scavenger hunt for me, haha. Lots of fun! Did your loved one(s) get you any polish today?

Here is my Valentines Day Nail of the Day! (Can you believe it, I am actually posting a current mani?!?)

Sally Hansen Bubblegum Pink

2 thick coats, no topcoat

Bubblegum Pink is a light pink polish with white shimmer. I found this polish to be quite thick and rather difficult to apply. I will add a few drops of polish thinner to Bubblegum Pink the next time I use it.

Dots:

Dark Purple - OPI Funky Dunkey

Light Purple - OPI Do You Lilac It?

White - Wet'n'Wild French White Creme

Silver - Wet'n'Wild Silvivor

I added some polka dots to create a fun, different mani. I'm a huge fan of dotticure's and I have proof ... the last 3 mani's I've done have been done in this style, and all with hints of pink to celebrate Valentine's day. (You will see them this week!)

What was your mani today?