Rudolph Nails!

I am so excited to share these festive nails with you! I saw a bunch of similar designs online and on Instagram and I just had to try them! I don't do a lot of nail art but I am really happy with how these came out! 

I used the following colors: China Glaze Ruby Deer, a White Striper, China Glaze Snow, Zoya Chantel, Nuber Toasted Marshmallow, China Glaze Dance Baby, Color Secrets Little Black Book, and Essie Little Brown Dress. 

  

So what do you think? I am really excited about them! Please let me know if you've done any cool holiday nails.

Disclosure: Some of the products were  provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

Pin It Now!

Read More

Zoya: Louise

Hi all! Today I have a really nice fall color to share with you. I received this for review from Zoya. This is Louise. My grandmother's name was Louise so  that makes me smile!

This is a really shiny brown creme color. Like semi sweet chocolate. I love it! It's a really nice fall color and can look really chic! The formula was lovely. I used two coats for opacity and this glided on perfectly with no issues. 

Pretty right? I know browns aren't everyone's cup of tea (hahaha get it, tea is brown) but I really do like this one! What do you think of Louise? 

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

Pin It Now!

Read More

OPI: What Wizardry is This? (Liquid Sand)

Hello beautiful readers. Happy Saturday! I hope you're all having a nice relaxing weekend. I am going to an Arbonne party tonight. I have never tried any Arbonne products so if any of you enjoy the brand let me know what your must haves are.

Today I want to show you a polish that was sent to me for consideration. This is What Wizardry is This? from the OZ Great and Powerful Collection that came out a couple months ago. This is a Liquid Sand finish, and it's super pretty! 

What Wizardry is This? is a deep bronze-y brown color with gold shimmer.  The gold shimmer in this is absolutely stunning. I just love the way this one looks on.  I am pretty positive that this would look amazing on every skin tone.

Application was easy as pie. I used two coats for full opacity. Being that it is a liquid sand finish it's a textured matte. I do not use a topcoat with these Liquid Sand polishes because I want to keep that textured matte finish. If you do use a top coat on these they will lose that matte and appear like any other shimmer. So you can wear these two ways! 

Love it or leave it?

Let me know your Arbonne suggestions in the comments. Have a nice weekend!

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

Pin It Now!

Read More

GG Couture Nail Lacquer

Good morning polish lovers. I hope you're all having a wonderful week! Today I have some indie polish to show you made by the lovely Gabrielle of GG Couture Nail Lacquer. Here's a little information about the company:

GGCouture Nail Lacquer, is a hand made, 5 free polish. There is no formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, toluene, or DBP. The base is high quality and long lasting. They are colored with mineral colorants, and all glitter used are solvent resistant and not glass. GGCouture Nail Lacquer has the option to be scented with 1 of 2 essential oils: plumeria and crisp apple rose. After the formula is finished, the bottles are dressed up, complete with a bow and rhinestone. Made in California.

I ship worldwide, and package accordingly, to withstand normal abuse that shipping brings. (This entails nail polishes being wrapped in tissue paper, followed by bubble wrap, backed in a bubble mailer, and folded for added padding).

No sample or small bottles offered, as I feel it takes away from the charm of my polish. (Can't do rhinestones and bows on a mini bottle!)

Full size (15ml) is $8.

Store: ggcouturenaillacquer.etsy.comEmail: ggcouture@me.com.

IG, Vine, Tumblr: ggouture

Facebook: GG Couture Nail Lacquer. 

My polishes arrived packaged as described. I received two colors, I am Yours and Body Electric. Let's take a look at  I am Yours first:

I am Yours is an emerald/teal jelly.  Mine appears to have some flecks of black in it, and while I am not sure this is an intentional addition, I quite like the look of it that way. The formula  as mentioned above, is a jelly so it's very sheer but can be built up for a more opaque look. I used two coats for the photos.  Application was lovely on this. It was so smooth and just simply glided on the nail.  I am sure that has a lot to do with the mineral colorants. Removal was a piece of cake, no staining at all.

Next up is Body Electric which is a bronze-y brown with a silver micro-shimmer. This one is quite frosty and while I can see brush strokes I can't help but say I am in love with it. There's something about it, when you see it in person the micro-shimmer will win you over. It's stunning. This is a great fall/winter color. 

As I mentioned, I do see some minor brushstrokes but nothing atrocious and they don't bother me at all. In fact, this went on just as smoothly as I am Yours and I really enjoyed the application. These really do just glide right on. This was fully opaque with just two coats.

Both of these polishes were scented in the Apple Rose scent. I found the scent to be pleasant but not perfume-y  Just slightly more bearable than traditional nail polish. Don't go sniffing these, it's just designed to make application more pleasant, and it did. 

Overall these are great indie offerings available on Etsy for $8 each.  Go check them out! Have you tried anything from GG Couture? I would love to hear your thoughts? If you haven't tried the brand yet, which colors attract you the most?

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy. 

Pin It Now!

Read More

Happy Halloween with Camo Nails

Hi everyone! Happy Halloween. It's been an interesting few days here in Connecticut due to Hurricane Sandy but my area was not hit too hard and everyone is okay! I can't say the same for friends in New Jersey and New York but at least they are all ok, even if their homes are damaged and they are without power. We got lucky, we only lost power for 2-3 hours on Monday night and nothing was damaged.  Please know all of you who were in the way of Sandy are in my thoughts as you rebuild and recover. 

Happy Halloween nonetheless. Steve and I went to a Halloween party on Saturday night and I was an army chick (lame, I know) so I did some camouflage nail art to match my costume.  I can't take credit for the color ideas, I used the colors DandyNails used in this Youtube Tutorial. Thanks Dandynails! It was super simple.

Here's a list of colors: 

1. Base: OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window

2. Sephora by OPI: Caught with my Khakis Down

3. OPI: Get in The Espresso Lane

4. Rimmel 10 + Minerals:  Black Satin

5. China Glaze: Matte Magic

All I did was paint all nails with OPI's Uh Oh Roll Down the Window then, using a dotting tool I drew in the lines all over with the different colored polishes until I got my desired look. Then I topped it all with China Glaze's Matte Magic because I feel like matte just made way more sense than shiny would. Couldn't be simpler. 

So what do you think of my Halloween costume inspired manicure? I am not good at nail art so this is about as creative as I get. I am trying to get better to keep the blog interesting but I am just not an artist. ;-)

On a semi-related note: I cannot stand how matte nails feel! I don't know what it is but they freak me out! I am such a weirdo!

What are your plans for Halloween? I want to know your Halloween traditions! Halloween in New England is usually amazing but these last two years have been a huge bummer due to weather. I know lots of areas around me have cancelled Halloween for safety reasons in light of Hurricane Sandy. I feel so bad! It's the second year around me that Trick-or-Treating has been cancelled. Last year we had a huge snowstorm  These kids can't catch a break!!!   Whatever you all decide to do have fun and be safe! 

Pin It Now!

Read More

China Glaze: Fast Track

Hi everyone! Today's post is a bit late but better late than never.  Today was a beautiful day here in Connecticut, I am so happy it's finally starting to feel like spring. I hope it stays this nice!

Today I want to show you a color from China Glaze's  Capitol Colors collection which was inspired by the upcoming Hunger Games movie.  I am so excited to see the Hunger Games because I adored the books, so when I saw the polish collection I was really excited.

I went  to several Sally Beauty supply stores in search of this particular color because when I saw swatches on other blogs I love I knew I had to have it in my life. I am so happy I finally found it, and what do you know, it was in the Sally Beauty right in my city. Here I was going all over the place and it was right there, close to home. Go figure!

So this is Fast Track. I love this color. China Glaze calls it a "soft sandy brown with gold metallic shimmer" and that's accurate to me. It's like shimmering sands. The gold shimmer in this is absolutely incredible looking. I love this because it's sort of a nude/neutral color but the gold makes it so interesting and unique.

The formula in this is a bit on the thin side and I needed three coats to achieve full opacity. On two coats I had some bald areas, three seemed to work just right for me.

Gorgeous right? I just love it!

Have you noticed that we're seeing quite a lot of these sorts of shimmers lately? I am loving this season's take on shimmer with the metallic microshimmer finishes. What do you think of this trend? 

Pin It Now!

Read More

OPI: Wooden Shoe Like to Know? (Holland Collection)

Good morning everyone! It's a gorgeous day here in Connecticut. It seems spring is trying hard to make an appearance.  I love a good crisp sunny day. I hope it's lovely where you are. Thanks for checking in with me! 

Today I have a fun color from OPI's Holland Collection to share with you. This is Wooden Shoe Like to Know? and it is one of the most interesting colors I have seen released in a long time.  To my eye it's a purple toned milk chocolate with a golden/bronze microshimmer throughout.  I am digging this one for sure. It's so chic and unexpected.  The name is actually really cute as well.

This is a great color because it's interesting but still conservative enough to wear to work and not have any real issues. Though I tend to wear whatever I please to work I do know that some offices and professions require more muted shades. I think you can get away with this one for sure and still feel like you're doing something fun with your manicure. I tend to wear more conservative colors whenever I have to make a court appearance and I find that this one is fine for that occasion.

I used two coats for full opacity and had no issues with application. The formula was buttery and smooth. There's something about this one that just screams luxury to me. I love it!

So what do you think? Let me know in the comments :-)

Thank you kindly for stopping by and taking the time to read and comment. I am so happy to have so many awesome readers. 

Disclosure: This product was provided by PR for review purposes. All reviews are 100% honest and done at my discretion. For more information please see my Disclosure Policy.

Pin It Now!

Read More

Orly: Androgynie

Ugh, there's tons of snow here in Connecticut and I do not like it at all. Steve and I are supposed to watch our nephew, P.J., tonight, but if they don't  make any attempts to plow (they haven't yet) IDK what we're going to do!  I hate snow, it makes me angry. It looks pretty at first but then it's a damn mess of slush and MUD. Ugh.

Anyway, today I have a polish from Orly to share with you. I picked Androgynie up a few weeks back at Sally Beauty Supply when I spied it on the discount table for $3.99. I was so excited for this color because in the bottle it's stunning. It's a deep chocolate brown with tons of silver microshimmer and holographic larger hex glitter. I wanted to love this. In the bottle it's perfect, I could stare at it all day... on the nail... well....

The large hex glitter is very difficult to get onto the nail, it just doesn't come out of the bottle. When it does it doesn't really show up anyway. I feel like it drowns in the base color so even when it is there it is covered in the brown and doesn't show up.

Now the photos are deceiving because you can see the hex glitter. I think that's because I used a flash. When the light hit the nail the larger glitter did show up... in normal lighting though it looked more like a speckled brown with some random hex sparkles (like 2 per nail). Have a look at the final photo of the bunch for the most accurate photo of what this looks like most of the time.

I used three coats in the photos. It was pretty opaque but I did experience some balding upon application.

  

So I do like this color still but I just want it to work! Please give me some tips for how to make this as amazing as it is in the bottle on my nail!

Pin It Now!

Read More