SUNDAY SPAM!!!

Hello and Happy Sunday! Let's start the week off right with some happy SPAM!

Moodstruck - unnamed pink (hot/cold/in-between) The last Sunday SPAM series included a Moodstruck shade that I said didn't change well but this was a complete 180. This was changing while I was painting it on. It was both colors most of the time. Granted it's just pink and pink, but it is obviously two different pinks and I enjoyed it more than most any other pinks I put on.

Sally Hansen - Paparazzi - This is very delicate and pretty shade but it took me 4 coats for this.

American Apparel - Neon Green - THIS IS THE BEST NEON GREEN EVER!

Essie - Absolutely Shore - This is beautiful. I resisted this for a while because I assumed it was just a gray creme and I have tons of these but this has a slightly green hint and it's beautiful.

4th of July Mani - For this I alternated blue/white nails and red/white nails. For the blue/white I did white creme base and OPI - Blue Shatter and for the red/white nails I alternated red base and White Shatter and white base and Red Shatter. I painted the shatter shades in a diagonal pattern.

Sinful Colors - Pull Over - This is a orangy yellow creme. Similar to a school bus. I got this from a new display of Sinfuls called Get Swirling! Looks like this>


Pure Ice Crackle - Crushed (over Pull Over) - This is a bright orange shimmer crackle and I loved it with this combo. I got a lot of comments on this. It was so bright and cheery and glowy like the sun. This is the display of Pure Ice Crackles. I found them at Walgreen's>>


Chanel - Peridot - Oh my. This is soooooo stunning. This is a strong olivey gold metallic with a strong blue/green duochrome. I think the pictures can speak for themselves.

SUNDAY SPAM

Sally Hansen - Antique Gold (over Wet n Wild - Nocturnal)

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Bangin'

Sally Hansen - Chartreuse Chase

Borghese - Almondine

Essie - Smooth Sailing

Color Club - High Society

China Glaze - Let's Do It In 3D

Zoya - Gaia (over white)

Still Love Mattes

I had a crazy idea for some fun with my matte top coat and made an over the top layering mani. I started with super bright red creme. Then I added Wet n Wild - Ice Blue Pearl that I used for this matte mani. Then I threw on a coat of Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure because matte flakies are one of my most favorite things ever. I don't like the end result that much because the blue is over powering. There is less blue on the right hand nails, but the cuticles on that hand were not camera ready soo.....

This close up is actually from my right hand. I like the more subtle blue flash and more emphasis on the flakies.

What do you think?

:c)
Elaine

Powder Puff Dupe

Have you all seen the new matte Revlon polishes? Well I haven't! But I have seen some pics, and I really loved the look of Powder Puff, a soft, squishy white matte with blue flash. But I didn't know where to find it, or if I would find it and instead of trying to hunt it down, as fun as a NP hunt can be, I decided to dupe the look. This is what I came up with.

I started with two coats of Essie - Marshmallow, a squishy, white jelly. Then I layered over it, a
coat of Wet n Wild - Ice Blue Pearl. I set that with Seche Vite and then the next day I added a coat of Essie - Matte About You. I really like the end result and from what I have seen of Power Puff swatches, it looks pretty darn close!

What do you think?
Elaine
:c)

Hidden Blossom

Hey! I know I have been hiding but I started a new job and have been crazy busy with training. *whew*

So I thought I would do a quickie post because:

A) I want to let you know I am alive
B) I am tired (why I must be brief)
C) I still love to post for you!

This is a mani I did for myself earlier this week:

Barielle - Blossom + Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure

To spice it up I added Essie - Matte About You

Miss you all! I'll be back on track soon.
:c)

Nailene Skinny French Tip Pen

My review of the french tip pen from Nailene has been waiting For. Ever. I am a total slacker. Sorry! I have some swatches and a review now. I played around with this about two months ago so there are some pics from then, and then I used it last week for a mani so I have some pics of that for you too. Here we go!

This is the pen. It's supposed to make a self done french quick and easy. It comes with a mini bottle of top coat, which honestly, I didn't try! Oh no!

This is the tip before use. It look like it would be spongy, but it is actually very stiff. On the one had that is good because it allows for lots of control, but can cause issues. I think maybe it may have been better if it had a little more give.

So two months ago, this is the first swatch I did with it, with my dominant hand, free-hand, with no tip guides. Not bad huh? This is completely bare, no base, no top, no sheer pink.

Here is what it looked like after I threw on a coat of sheer pink.

And another.

Last week I needed a conservative mani so I decided to try this again. This is what it looked like with two coats of Essie - Jackie On My over it.

Not too shabby, right?!

So how easy is this to use? I think it is much easier than trying to free hand with a regular white nail polish, for sure. The issues I encountered were these:

1) This isn't entirely the pen's fault. It is mostly the user's, but I tried to use tip guides the second time around to seen if I could get a cleaner line, and I did just the opposite. I put all ten guides on and then did two coats of white, and then tried to take off the guides, and since the "polish" had dried, it pulled up when I took off the guides and I had to take it all off and start all over. I should have took off each guide after each nail was done so that the polish wasn't dried to the guide.

2) Some times the hard tip will prevent getting an even coverage because it "scratches" off what you have already painted. I found that I had good results if I got a good amount on the pen tip, and then when I painted, I essentially touched only the polish to my nail, and not the tip of the pen to the nail.

I would choose this product to do a french mani for these reasons:

1) The pen's style allows for much more control than painting with a regular nail polish brush.

2) It is much faster to use than painting with a brush.

3) The formula is very pigmented allowing for one coat, providing you are careful not to do the "scratch off" as mentioned above.

4) If you do have to do more than one coat, it doesn't result in a gloppy, thick tip like you would get if you tried to use regular NP. It is very thin, but it isn't water soluble like some other similar pen products I have tried before. It is still like a polish.

5) It is fast drying.

So overall, I would give this product a "B". I would definitely use this for a french manicure, but there are special requirements to get it to look flawless. If you don't have a steady hand, this may not give you the results you want, but you can use tip guides as long as you remove them immediately after painting each nail. It must be a good product if there are more pros than cons!

What do you think?
-Elaine
:c)


Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Pretty Mint Mani

Hello! Here's a little something cute I did. This is Essie - Mint Candy Apple and I decided to "cute-ify" it. I added the bursts with Konad plate M5 and white polish, then added the bright blue rhinestone over one of them and then a little silver glitter with LA Colors Art Deco - Silver Glitter. I wanted to do it to all the nails, but decided to do it to just the ring finger first and see how it looked before doing anymore because I was afraid if I did it to all of them then it would be too much. I think this looks just right!

What do you think?
:c)
-Elaine

Spinoff: Flakies Made Matte

Hi! I can't let go of my crazy flakie manicure. So to freshen it up I added a matte topcoat to it. I just adore matte flakies. If you think flakies are cool alone, matte top coat takes it up a huge notch. It's so fascinating how even though you are taking away shine, the flakies seem to shine more. It is just wonderful. There is no glare to take away from them. Every little flake and every little detail shows and glows.

So to recap, here is what my mani looked like yesterday:


And here is what it looks like now:

It's like opalescent, crushed, stained glass. It's so cool!!

Have a great day!
-Elaine
:c)

Holy Layering!

Happy Monday! How's the start to your week? Mine isn't the best, I have to admit, but I am smiling thanks to the mani I have on!

I have a wild and awesome mani for you today. I did it over the weekend and am stunned at it's depth. It has it all: it's blurple, it's flakie and it's shining every color possible at me. Why do I need to wear anything but this? :cP

I started with a coat of Essie - Mesmerize. Then I added Nfu-Oh - #51. The sheer purple of #51 over the bold blue of Mesmerize created an electric blurple that is just perfect for this insane mani.

Then I threw on a great flakie I received from a sweet lady in Holland called "Rainbow" and it is from a line called "GOSH". I know GOSH is well known to my international readers but us fanatics in the US don't have access to it. The flakies in it are just like Nfu-Oh - #51 but the base is clear, making their "flakie-ness" shine a bit more than #51's.

Then the kicker. I added Nfu-Oh - #40 on top which I showed you over black here. #40 is one of my favorite polishes ever. Alone it isn't that exciting, but layered... oh. How it kills layered. #40 is what really makes this creation because although the flakes in #51 and Rainbow are well, rainbow, you get the different colors when you move your nails and look at them from different angles. So straight on they show mostly red and orange, but straight on #40 looks blue, green and aquamarine, so you all colors at once without twisting your hands around. It's rather intense!

Let's give a round of applause to the crew that made this possible! Woo! Mesmerize, #51, Rainbow, #40.

Also if you didn't know, fabuloustreet.com (where I get my Nfu-Oh polishes from) is having a sale this month:
All Polishes are priced at discounted prices. We are clearing our inventory on the Discontinued Paint Series (No. 133-282) They are marked 30% off. All other polishes are marked on 10-20% off. OFFER Valid from 04/01/2010 until 04/30/2010

Something to consider if you are in the market for some Nfu-Oh polishes!

What do you think? Do you rock layered looks?
:c)