Nail of the week...red and glitter

This weekend I went to a Christmas pub crawl. I wanted nails that would be bright and festive so I chose a combo of red and glitter. I used 5 polishes in total to get this look but it took very little time to create. I finished it off with a gel topcoat to make my colours shine and seal in the mani for a few days.

Used in this look were... Wet and Wild Fergie collection in New Years Kiss, Sinful Colors in Queen of Beauty, Quo by Orly in Clean Sweep, China Glaze in Long Kiss and finally China Glaze in Ruby Pumps. I layered the cream and covered with the glitter polishes; as well I used Long Kiss first and layered Ruby Pumps over that for extra sparkle.

I am really enjoying creating these holiday looks!! This coming Friday I have a black tie Christmas party... What do you suggest I do with my manicure for the party???

Nail of the week... Holiday nail art :)

This week doesn't feature a particular polish but I did try a couple of nail art projects this week. I am a huge beginner and it shows but it was fun to play! 

The first look had red nails as a base with gold glitter accents and snowflake designs. I loved the red and gold together but my snowflake technique needs a little work.

The second was a simple dark grey nail with snowflakes on my thumbs. This time I used a nail art brush instead of my dotting tool to create the flakes and I think this one works out better for me. I will keep working on it to prefect my technique!

What nail art designs do you think I should try to tackle next??

Quick tip... Nail polish organization

I have a great tip for those of you that store your polishes in a drawer. Use the circle stickers you buy at office supply stores to swatch your polishes. My drawer is organized so that my polishes are organized by brand and lighted to darkest in colour from each company. This way I can select polishes without having to take out and look at each polish! 

Easy peazy lemon squeezie!!!!

Nail of the week... Make a Spectacle

Since starting my nail growth journey I have been reaching into my polish Stacy more and more. So I thought it was a great time to start a nail of the week. We're I can share techniques I have learned in nail art or just share my fave polish of the moment.

This weeks polish came from a recent visit to Sally's. I saw this polish but thought 'no I don't need it'. After a week of thinking about this gorgeous glitter polish I went back and bought China Glaze's Make a Spectacle! This polish was part of the 2012 Halloween collection but I totally missed it at that time.

It is a gorgeous pastel glitter polish that reflects an amazing green. This polish is jammed packed full of glitter so achieving a good effect took little effort. I wanted a subtle look so I simply did a swipe over the upper half of my naked nail and covered in a gel top coat! It glistens in the light and I am so excited to try it in different nail looks in the future!!

Have you tried this polish?? Give me some suggestions of polishes I need to try!!

Illamasqua Polishes... Naughty, Naughty!!!

Illamasqua launched some new polishes just in time for Valentines day. What fascinates me isn't the polishes themselves but the names they have been given! There is a blood red called Throb, a matte black called Scorn and a milky cream colour called Load!

I must say the names of these polishes made me giggle! Do you think that the names of these polishes may create more buzz then the products themselves? Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

Chimera Nail Polish a Review

Recently I was sent some nail polishes to test. As you know I am fairly new to polishes as my nails in the past were something I tended to ignore! This polish came at a great time as my passion is evolving and I had 5 polish colours to play with from the Chimera line!

Chimera was established in 2008 and was launched to to compete with labels in the Australian market as well as the international stage. This company boasts over 100 colours offers pearls, neons and glitters.

While the polishes are listed online by colour name the bottles I received only have numbers so I am not sure how you keep track of the colours you purchase. My polishes did come with a chart that included the numbers so I would assume that once you do your first order you are able to order from the chart you are sent!

Moving from pinky to thumb here is a break down of the colours. On my pinky is a creme bubble gum pink that was completely opaque in 2 coats. On my ring finger is a very light lavender colour with silver sparkle. After 3 coats this polish was still transparent. My middle finger has a bright red with an orange gold glitter. This polish was opaque in 2 coats and was one of my favourites. On my pointer finger was a creme blue that is in the same tone as Tiffany blue only a little darker in hue. This polish was opaque in 3 coats. Last on my thumb was a rich brownish red with a metallic glisten.

Overall these polishes wore very well. I didn't find chipping or peeling any earlier then my other polishes and found for wear on my toes it lasted a very long time! I thought the colours were nice although not completely unique. There were however many very interesting colours listed on their site that I would like to try in the future. I did find the brush a little long making it somewhat difficult at first for me to control application, however I did become used to the brush and now find it no problem to use.

NOTD with Sally Hansen and China Glaze

As I posted this week I really like my Sally Hansen polish in Gray by Gray... so much that I wanted to do another manicure with it! I have told you all that recently I have been playing with more interesting polish combinations doing fades etc on my nails! I'm no expert yet, but I really do enjoy playing with the combinations.

This week was my Gray by Gray faded with China Glazes Spontaneous! I love this purple colour and it looks amazing mixed with my SH. Now I must say that cremes aren't as easy to fade into each other as polishes with a sparkle... no idea why really, if you know leave a comment telling me why!!

I think next time I will finish my CG a little closer to the tip of the nail as I used it to the middle this time and I don't see my SH as much as I would like. All in all though I really like loved this combo!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gray by Gray

I am not sure why but I am so attracted to colours that many find a little blah... grays, deep blues etc always seem to be my weakness. I hadn't noticed this colour in store but once I saw a post on Gray by Gray from fellow blogger Rock that Look I knew I had to have it! It took me a while to find it in store but once I did I snatched it up! This is my first Complete Salon Manicure colour so I was excited to make the purchase.

This colour it seems can be compared to MAC's Blue India as well as Barielle's Slate of affairs. I don't have either of those little gems but if you have them you know my affection for this lovely blue gray shade! I can't describe the colour any better then a blue gray or slate. It has a medium depth that really matches so much in my wardrobe I was surprised!! haha

Picture courtesy of Nouveau Cheap

This brush style is something new to me, my camera wouldn't take a good shot of the brush so I don't have one to include but I found a great one that compares this brush to the standard type brush from Nouveau Cheap's blog! This brush is much wider and flatter then the standard which I actually really liked and I thought it gave great control to the application!

The formula of the Complete Salon Manicure I thought was great as well... at least in this colour. One coat gave great coverage and it is thick without being gloppy... is that even a word? haha Sally Hansen claims that this polis is a five in one, Base Coat, Strengthener, Growth Treatment, Color, Top Coat. Now I can't live without my basecoat and my Seche top coat so I can't validate those claims but this polish is chipping a little less then I am used to! Sally Hansen also claims that 'Patented Vita-Care Technology for advanced wear, more shine, and nourishing care.' The wear I can agree with as well I did like how much shine there was even before my top coat... as for nourishing care I will have to get back to you on that one!

Overall I think these polishes are great and Gray by Gray is definitely a winning shade for me!

NOTD China Glaze Gradient Manicure

I have only really started wanting to play with non-traditional manicures. This one was achieved using various China Glaze colours to create a fire-ish type look. The polishes were applied using a cosmetic sponge and I really like it for a first attempt ever! I think I will keep playing with these type of manicures to see what I can come up with in the future!

JOE Fresh Nail Polish Review

Earlier this week I told you that I purchased 3 of the JOE Fresh nail polishes. The colours I bought were, Powder Blue, Butter and Nude. I couldn't wait to try these little beauties out which were 3 for $10 at my local Great Canadian Superstore.

So what did I think of these polishes?? For the price I really liked these little bottles of polish. The colour selection is really great offering everything from pastel to the darkest richest colours. I found the brush a little awkward because of how short it was but I did like how big the brush itself, allowing me to cover my thumb in three strokes.

I did not find this polish the smoothest ever, it was streaky on the first application but in the pic shown I have only used 2 coats so you can see how quickly the colour smoothed itself out. I am on day 3 with this manicure and I am just starting to see the signs of wear. I think I may start to see peeling today but that is completely normal for me so this wear of this polish on my nails as the same as that of China Glaze, Orly etc.

I really think for the price these are great little polishes.. at the least the colours I bought were great. Let me know your experiences with Joe Fresh polishes... did you like them??

JOE Fresh Cosmetics Nail Polish NOTD

Today was my first time purchasing products from the JOE cosmetics line available at the Great Canadian Superstore. I saw that the polishes were 3 for $10 so I thought I would give them a try! Here are 2 of the colours in my NOTD.

I will be doing a review of my thoughts on these polishes this week. In the mean time tell me what you think? Do you like these colours? Have you tried JOE cosmetics??

NOTD China Glaze Fortune Teller

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So I jumped on the bandwagon and went out and bought China Glaze's Holloween colour Fortune Teller today. This colour is a black base with lots of different sized chucks of orange glitter inside.

I personally love this colour, which I didn't really expect! I thought it would be ok but once I was done I thought the effect was stunning! I took a couple of pics but my camera didn't do it justice with my lighting last night. 

The finish is a little dull due to the glitters creating an uneven effect, but a coat of seche vite cured that leaving an ultra shiny result! I've seen many people use CG's matte top coat over this colour, for me though I think it makes Fortune Teller loose it's charm.

If you love polish and Halloween as I do, run out and try to get this polish. In my opinion it's well worth it!!

Don't forget to give my your opinion!!!!... And an update

Hello Everyone, just wanted to write a quick note to tell all of you to take the poll on my blog regarding my next series. I want to have your opinions and Halloween is an option so if that's what you all want to see I'll have to get my rear in gear!! LOL

As well just an update on my blog post earlier this week about Orly's nail polish. After 4 days of wear I only have tip wear on my nails which is wonderful for me! Usually I have to change my polish after 3 days and at that time I'm usually chipped to pieces! I took a pic but then my camera battery died so I will try to post a pic by twitter as soon as the battery is charged! I really am impressed by Orly's staying power!

NOTD-Orly's Enchanted Forest

Yesterday I decided to buy two of Orly's polishes from the Once Upon a Time collection . Today I wanted to give my feedback on Enchanted Forest. 

I rarely find a green polish that I like but I must say that this deep forest green is a great one. This is a creamy looking polish with now sparkle but lots of shine. Two coats gave a great deep colour with lots of depth and no streaking. This is day one so I will have to get back to you on the wearability of this one but I was so exited about the shade that I just had to post right away!

For fun I added Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Lime Lights over the Orly on my middle nail just to see now it looks. I really liked the effect and will probably do a full manicure this way sometime in the future.

NOTD-Rimmel's Green with Envy

I've been wanting this shade for a while now but for some reason just kept putting back on the shelf every-time I was in the store. Well I finally picked it up as they were on sale for $2.50 at the big W the other day when I stopped in. 

This shade is great the name says green but certain lights it is more of a turquoise colour. I apologize for the picture but for some reason my camera just didn't want to take this one. I also did a gold glitter polish over the top today and love the way it looks, I would have taken a pic but I don't have the camera with me today. Rimmel does some great shades and for the price you real can't go wrong. The staying power isn't that of some other brands but I find 3 days is usually the max I go with any given polish anyway so I really didn't see a lot of signs of wear.

 I'm going to try to do more polish reviews as I get a lot of emails about what I like so stay tuned for these from time to time.

Orly Nail Treatments!!

So until this year the only time I put on nail polish was special occasions. I think it's because my nails and cuticles have always been something I hated. My nails peel and crack and my cuticles are dry and split etc. Now for some reason my nails have become an obsession. I have done posts in the past about my favorite top coat and polish and now I am going to to tell you a little about my favorite base coat. As well I am going to tell you what is on my nails when I want a break from polish.

My favorite base coat is Orly's nail armor is a treatment but I use it a base coat. I really don't find it makes my nails more healthy but it does make them stronger while I am wearing it and as well fills in all imperfections in the nail and gives something for my polish to really adhere to. It has silk fibers in it which over lay to create a harder nail surface. This is the best base coat I have ever tried and I have used a lot in the past year!!

When I remove my polish and don't want to reapply right away I always put on a layer of Orly's Touch Cookie treatment. It is something to keep my nails protected takes no time to dry and leaves my nails looking manicured without any effort. If I forget this step I always find that my nails start to chip and peel right away and I end up having to file them down and start again!! Not what I want to be doing!!

So I hope these reviews are a help. Today I am starting a new experiment which I will tell you about soon. I want to work with some cuticle oils as this is part of my hands that I am still not happy with! So stay tuned for that!!

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