Flower Mani

HI! This is a quickie post. I wanted to show you a mani I did a couple weeks ago.

This is a white creme base (I think I used OPI - Alpine Snow) then I stamped the flowers with a Bundle Monster plate and Nicole - My Lifesaver. And to finish it off I dotted black polish to the middle of the flowers.

Have a great weekend!

Nicole by OPI - One Less Lonely Girl Collection

The One Less Lonely Girl was conceived to raise awareness for Pencils of Promise, and organization that builds sustainable schools for underserved children in the developing world. In addition to educating consumers about this non-profit, Nicole by OPI has committed to building two such schools.

Not A Gold Bigger - This is a gold foil. Is it pretty? Yes. Is it unique? No.

I've Got Bieber Fever - This is a dark plummy purple with a subtle shimmer. This is very beautiful and I want to believe I have other shades like this, but I still have a spot for this one in my heart.

Make U Smile - This is a chunky silver/blue glitter in a clear base. It is shown over My Lifesaver. At first glance I thought maybe this was a dupe to Deborah Lippmann - Today Was A Fairytale, but it's not. TWAF has a blue base and although this looks blue in the bottle, it's clear on the nail. Also the glitter in TWAF is more dense.

Red-y To Runaway Love? - This is awesome. How could a plain red creme be so awesome you say? First thing is the formula. It's thin but pigmented. It glides on effortlessly in two coats. Next the color is so bright and amazing. I know, I know. This is a red creme. That is what I thought too until I put it on. I was actually going to wear this to work because I thought it would be boring, and I quickly realized I had to take it off because it is just SO DAMN BRIGHT!

I'm A Belieber - Hott damn. This a bright purple creme. It has the slightest bit of jelly finish. It is so bright a purple it makes me real happy. It makes me think of grapes. I feel like it should smell like grapes. I don't have anything like this.

My Lifesaver - This is a bright mint creme. Another winner. At first I wasn't excited because I assumed I had a dupe but its honestly not like any other mint cremes I have. It is more blue than most mints. The bluest mint I have is Essie - Mint Candy Apple but My Lifesaver isn't at all like it because it is more saturated and not pastel like MCA. It is awesome.

One Time Lime - This is another winner from this collection. This is a bold, saturated lime creme. I don't have anything like this in my collection.

"Baby" Blue - Cute name. And yet another winner. This is a bright sky blue creme. Another saturated, rich creme in a beautiful shade.

Overall this is a very fun collection. I feel a bit luke-warm about the non-creme polishes in this set but the creme shades: Oh my. I love every one of them. They are all incredible on and have great formulas, especially Red-y To Runaway.

These are all available now at Wal-Marts, select Targets, Sears and Ulta.

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

HEY EVERYONE!

I just feel like posting something for you guys but have nothing prepared! SOOOOO I am going to hit you with what I have available to me: SPAM!

I have on Nubar-Reclaim today, and I can't show you the current mani, but I have an older swatch I did of it and then I decided that I will just give you all the green I have on me and make today "Green SPAM Friday for March"!!! Sound good? GREAT!

Nubar - Reclaim

Orly - Enchanted Forest

China Glaze - Emerald Sparkle

Misa - Toxic Seduction

Maybelline - Glad To Be Green

Misa - Dirty Sexy Money

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

Barry M - Mint Green

BB Couture - Poison Ivy

Illamasqua - Rampage

Illamasqua - Hectic

Illamasqua - Elope

Claire's - Dreamcatcher

BB Couture - Studio 54

Diamond Cosmetics - Never So Evergreen

Sinful Colors - Happy Ending

Sinful Colors - Innocent

Rescue Beauty Lounge - No More War

Rimmel - Camouflage

Have a wonderful weekend!
Elaine
:c)

China Glaze Up & Away Swatches

Check out these bad boys! The Up & Away collection is truly stunning and a must have. There, I said it. Sorry to say it if you have been holding out. You need them.

I had purchased what I thought were the only colors I truly needed as soon as they were available on Transdesign.com. That was only 6 colors (out of 12). Well last week I saw them all in person and my mind changed big time on four more. Yup, I bought them. I feel a bit mad! Mad, as in crazy! I'm over it. I am thrilled I have these. I already gave you peeps of some of the shades in comparison swatches but today I am finally bringing out the full spectrum. Let's get on with it!>>>

Lemon Fizz - Holy bananas. This is a must have for sure because it is a 2 coat yellow and as we saw from the banana yellow comparison swatch, it is the gold medal for brightness, whiteness and application. It think it needs a better name than "fizz". "Fizz" makes me think of "fizzle" like "sizzle or fizzle" (fo shizzle) and that doesn't make it sound as hott as it is. This swatch is 2 coats.

Light As Air - Lavender pastel creme. This is very pretty and maybe not a must have for some if you have lavender shades but I really didn't own anything like it. I love it too! This is not crazy stark pastel. Just a nice sweet, light shade to rock in the spring or even still in the winter. This swatch is 2 coats.

Re-Fresh Mint - What a gorgeous little gem. This was also compared recently and you may have a different opinion, but of all the shades we looked at this looks like a perfect mint to me. I found that trying to get this on in 2 coats was a bad idea. I had to try and make the coats a bit thicker, but being that this is a pretty thick consistency it was then too thick and looked like crap. It looks much better done in 3 thin coats, which is what is in this swatch.

Happy Go Lucky - Great name! This is a very clean, bright, sunshine yellow and the application was great. I did feel I needed a third coat to totally eliminate any streak, but perhaps you could get it on in two. Sometimes yellow looks a bit "eh" to me. I want to love but don't always end up loving it. I love this one.

Grape Pop - Absolutely the most perfect medium purple creme. Not blue sided or red sided. Straight up, middle of the spectrum, royal purple. So pretty! This swatch is 2 coats.

Four Leaf Clover - Are you serious? Buy this.

Sugar High - This is one of the babies that came home from the store after it pleaded it's case. "Oh no, I am not your average pink creme. Mm mm. I am different. I have a bright pop, but not bubble-gummy. No ma'am. I know how you feel about bubblegum pinks and that is not me. I am saturated with color and am salmon-y, making me look sophisticated and appropriate for a grown woman, not a little school girl." So I fell for it. And I should have trusted the swatches I saw because they were right! This is a wildly bright, very, very close to neon pink. That bit of salmon I thought I saw ended up disappearing and this crazy glow came instead. It is far brighter than the picture depicts. It is bright. It is loud. It is bouncing off the walls. It is on a sugar high. This swatch is 2 coats.

Peachy Keen - Yet another second chance pretty. This one never really looked peach to me at all in swatches and it still didn't in store, but that may just be the reason I took it. I think it is more of a light orange (tangerine, perhaps?) and I am obsessed with orange. So naturally, I had to buy it. Creamcicle. That is it. It is creamcicle and maybe has a pinch of peach. This swatch is 2 coats.

High Hopes - What a fantastic name! It's so optimistic. This is a bright punchy coral. I feel like I have plenty corals but for some reason, this one was necessary. I think the thing that turned me on most was that it was very bright and very orange sided. Corals are just attractive anyway. I can't imagine coral looking bad on anyone. But I warn you. This is also wildly, bright. Nearly neon. Be prepared to turn heads with this one. This swatch is 2 coats.

Flyin' High - I wouldn't recommend it. What? Oh, the polish! Right. The reason I didn't order this at first was I guess I wasn't paying attention. It seemed to me that it was just a bright blue creme. Like we don't have a million of them? Next! But then I saw her in store and I realized: Flyin' High, I was wrong about you. You aren't like the others. You are different. There is something about you. You are mysterious. You are bold. You are unique. You go places other blues won't. You are the love of my life. What? Oh. Ahem. Excuse me. The point is this is unique and not like other bright, sky blue cremes. It is darker and has a smidgen of green. I wore this one day and actually had a hard time coming up with the color. Blue? Greenish? Tealish? Robin's egg teal? Depending on the lighting it can look very blue to blue-with-a-smidge-of-green to pretty f-ing green. It is very pretty, but very annoying. Final verdict: I say blue. But I have my eye on it.

So out of a 12 polish collection I felt that 10 were must haves. That has to be the best ratio I have for polishes I have picked up from collections. Other 12 polish collections I have gotten maybe 1-3 and some I pass all together. The only other large nab I can recall is the Romantiques (Also from China Glaze. Pattern?) from which I picked up 7 out of 12. What I am trying to say to you is if you are still on the fence for Up & Away, jump off! The colors are are truly unique. Great work China Glaze! The formula is incredible; Smooth and pigmented and easy to apply. Even the lighter ones, which ended up being thick, work just fine with a little control. And like I said about Re-Fresh Mint; if you have issues with the thickness, just do more coats, but thin coats. The end result will be worth it.

These are available now on all of our favorite e-tailers and I spotted them at Ulta as well. I think it will still be a few weeks until we see them at Sally's.

New Sinful Colors - Spring 2010

I think I have a Sinful Colors addiction . As soon as I knew Sinful Colors had released new shades I was on a hunt. I planned my routes every chance I got to get to a Walgreen's and snag the newbies. Well my hunting paid off and over the weekend I struck gold. I have a bunch of swatches of new colors and oh boy I am excited about them. First off, most of them...are... GREEN! YES! :cD Second, they are super pigmented and go on in two coats, definitely. No sheer babies here. Check out these hotties>>

Happy Ending - This name is just adorable. I can't help but feel all fuzzy from it! But the color is fierce! It is so not what I would expect from the name. This is a mega-bright, nearly-neon, lime green shimmer. It stopped my heart when I got it on. This swatch is two coats.

Easy Going - Awesome, bold, stark, baby pink, creme. This looks nearly white, but with a hint of pink. Not the same as Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud's hint of purple though I think this looks obviously pink. The formula is thick, but manageable. Not thin and streaky, needing several coats. I got it on in two coats and it was smooth without a topcoat.

Innocent - Another awesome, ironic name. This does not look innocent. This is a bright, bizarre, very yellow, light green. The formula is again thick, but manageable and very pigmented. It was very close to being a one coater. This swatch is two coats.

Mint Apple - What is it with mint apples? I know I did actually find them on the internet, but it is still strange to me. Anyway, Mint Apple is a pale minty, jade shade that is very blue-sided and shimmery. This swatch is two coats. Before I saw this in person I thought this would be close to being a Chanel - Jade dupe, but it is far from it. I do not actually own Jade, but apparently Dream Catcher from Claire's is pretty close so I did a comparison of Mint Apple against Dream Catcher:

Mint Apple is on the left and Dream Catcher is on the right. Mint Apple is clearly darker and bluer. With all the mints we have available I am really close to being minted-out, but this is not comparable to any of the mints I have. Awesome.

Rise and Shine - What a cheery name! There should be an exclamation point at the end. "Rise and Shine!" Much better. This is a bold, bright, shamrock green shimmer. This swatch is two coats. It reminded me of China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover as I put it on, but FLC is a creme (no shimmer) and it is more green, where Rise and Shine(!) is more blue.

Soul Mate - This is a rose pink creme with peachy undertones. This shade is very pretty and conservative, but not boring. I really like this shade. And guess what? This smooth, pigmented formula allowed me to do only one coat for this swatch.

Tapping Nails - Holy Moly! This is H-O-T-T! I know it just looks like an orange shimmer but it's not. At first when I got this home I thought it was Sinful Colors - Courtney Orange repackaged. I was thankfully wrong. This is a super bright, bold, red-orange with coral undertones and it has an "oil-slick", duochrome, yellow-green, shimmer. I have a feeling this is a Zoya - Gwin dupe form the new Reverie collection. This is a stunner. This shimmer is more pronounced in real life than in the photo. The camera doesn't pick up the shimmer very well in the darker areas of the swatch , but it is still there in real life. This is way too good to be a $2 polish. This is a must have.

There are all winners in my book. I actually love all these new shades and I am yet again blown away by the way Sinful Colors is stepping up their formula. These are super, super pigmented. Sinfuls get a bad rap for being sheer, but not these. Not a sheer in site. All are very pigmented and smooth too. No disappointments. I promise. :c)

There should be rolling out to a drugstore near you and retail for $1.99.

What do you think? :c)
-Elaine