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.

Black Shatter Manis

I've been having a whole lot of fun with my new OPI - Black Shatter! I may need a back up! Wait, we have more shatter coming out from China Glaze too... yes!

This is Tropez - Black Satin with Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue + OPI - Black Shatter as accent on ring fingers. I loved this so much I had it on for about 4 days. Big fan of this.

This is neon breaking through black! I used the China Glaze Poolside neons, Kiwi Cool-Ada, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Sun Worshiper, and Flip Flop Fantasy all under Black Shatter.

This may be my favorite. It's Nubar - Barricade + Black Shatter.

You can probably expect more of these from me. I love them!

"New" Sinful Colors

I say "new" with quotes because at the time I got them they weren't really very new in terms of when they were released. But they were new to me. But now about 5 weeks have gone by since I bought them, so they are really not new!

Hot Spot - I showed you guys this one before but it had glitter on it. Now we can look at it alone. This is is a deep indigo shimmer with small, sparse, cobalt blue shimmer that isn't very shimmery, but it is in there.

Neon Melon - This is one hell of a neon yellow. You know how with most neon pics I have to give a disclaimer about how it is much more neon in real life? Well, this one is more neon in real life, but the pic does do a decent job of capturing it. This shade is very, very neon. I have lots of favorite neon yellows, but this one flew way up on the list. The only problem with it is it is extremely thin. There is no point in even attempting to wear it alone. It will never be opaque enough. BUT the great thing about neons is that you can layer them over white, which is what I did here. This is two coats of Neon Melon over white creme. SUPER BRIGHT!

All Mighty - This is a very pretty aqua/teal shimmer. It isn't terrible unique; as I put it on it reminded me a lot of OPI - Yodel Me On My Cell. I do love the formula of this. 2 coat dream.

Thimbleberry - I was hot and horny for this one a while back when I heard it was a dupe for MAC - Scorcher. I really love this bright coral, but I also found it was a close dupe to China Glaze - High Hopes so I guess not that necessary to my collection. But still pretty.

Gorgeous - WHEW. This one takes my breath away. This is a intense, metallic turquoise that is almost chrome in finish. That alone I love, but at the edges or at an angle it has a bright blue, aqua duochrome. This shade is very mermaid-y. I think it may be a close dupe to Sephora by OPI - Mermaid to Order, but I don't have it to compare. I will just stick to my $2 Sinful. *LOVE*

Besides for the neon which we all know are not typically two coats, these are all two coats. I have said it before, but I will say it again: Sinful Colors has stepped their game up. They usually get a bad rap for being sheer, but these are well pigmented beauties. Not only were they two coats, but the formula was perfect to work with. Sinful is one of my absolute favorite brands ever!!

POTD: Neon Pink Layering Experiment

Hello! Sorry if my posts have been on the thin side. I have had a lot going on that includes painting walls so not only have I not had a chance to do swatches, but even my nail of the day manis have been quickly ruined so I don't have much to post. So instead I have a pedi!

I love brights on my toes for summer, especially neons and especially pinks. I started my pedi out with Essie - Flirty Fuchsia and the got an idea to layer over it thanks to my sister. We were playing around with a super shimmery pink: Piggy Polish - Pink-ing of You. It reminds me of the new Sally Hansen HDs that have super shimmer in semi-sheer bases. I was digging Flirty Fuchsia on its own but this just made exponentially better.

This pic isn't the best representation because it is more neon and more cool in real life.

This pic was taken right around sunset, but the neon is more apparent in low light so I had to snap a pic! It shows the brightness a bit better.

And of course... my fave: the closeup!

Have a great night!
-Elaine

PS - GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

Don't Like Your Mani? You Can Fix It

I was high on life the other day. I had a nice meeting, I went on a shopping spree, and it was a gorgeous day so I layed out (in the new blurple bikini I got on the shopping spree!) and I thought some neon nails were in order. I decided to go with Color Club - Ultra Violet, a neon purple. I thought it would be amazing but it just didn't wow me. I think that it just wasn't working with my red skin. I didn't want to change it. I wanted to like it. I wanted to give it a chance. So I decided to start digging through my stash to find a way to spruce it up. This is what I came up with.

I added some flowers with white NP and Konad plate M65. Then I took it up yet another notch with a coat of Cover Girl - City Lights, a holographic glitter top coat. I really like that! I actually have had it on for 4 days and still plan on wearing it for at least another.

I appreciate the shade more like this. I love the delicate, full coverage flower pattern and the glints of rainbows from the sparkles. Plus when the blue shimmer in Ultra Violet flashes at me I get completely entranced .

So if you have a nail polish you want to love but it just isn't working for you, there may be a way to help it be more desirable!

-Elaine
:c)

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

I am super in love with my mani, but super upset that pics do not capture its awesomeness. The problem lies in the fact that I used neons (China Glaze - Poolside specifically) for this mani and we all know how hard it is to photograph them. The neon glow and brightness doesn't translate to digital pics, but I will try to explain as we go.
:c)

I started with a base of pure white creme. This allowed me to do less coats of the neon and really made the color pop. Next I painted two coats of China Glaze - Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Holy cow is that bright! Super neon, hi-liter yellow. I wore this out to see friends the other day and in dim lighting my girlfriend asked if it glowed in the dark! Nope, just super neon!

For the dots, I knew I would be using three different colors and wanted them to look random which actually takes some calculating. To make sure I got the pattern right, I used my polka dot image from Konad plate M79 with white polish first on all the nails. Then I went over the dots with a dotting tool and China Glaze Sun Worshiper, Pool Party and Flip Flop Fantasy.

Besides the fact that my pics don't show off the neonness, they show some white around the dots where I didn't necessarily cover my white base dots fully, but in real life I swear you don't see it. I am staring deep into the dots on my hands and I don't see the white spots. It's like this:

See what I mean? But it actually looks really cute and bright in real life. I hope you can picture it in all its glory!

Have a great Sunday!
-Elaine

Cool Hidden Kiwi Treasure

Hi! This is a quickie NOTD post. This is China Glaze - Kiwi Cool-Ada with a new release from Sally Hansen layered on top: Hidden Treasure, a rainbow flakie polish in a clear base:

Have a good one! Be back soon with more!
-Elaine
:c)

Melons and Mangoes

Woo hoo! Sunshine! How about a bright summery mani? :c)

I did a little something with a couple of my brightest, nearly neon, orange shades. I used Kleancolor - Mango and Santee - Neon Orange.

I put on Mango, the lighter of the two, first. Then I painted half the nail diagonally with Neon Orange. If you want to try this and can't get it on neatly, don't worry. I just slapped in on all over to get it where I wanted and cleaned it up later.

Once I had my base colors on I used a dotting tool to get the contrasting dots on either side of the diagonal.

I didn't really consider these neons at first, but now that I have them on they sure look rather neon. They photographed like neons too. They gave me a hard time. The pictures make them look all radioactive and more yellow than it looks in real life. The Kleancolor looks more peach in real life and the Santee looks more red/pink/coral in real life. They look more like the bottle shot above than the on-the-nail pics. I like them in real life more than the pictures. But this was the best I could do. Here is a swatch I did of Santee - Neon Orange a while back:

What do you think?
-Elaine
:c)

Aw!

Two random pics for you since I don't have time for a real review. I am trying to get together my life! I need to give my two weeks, apply to new jobs, wrap up stuff at work, and then pack up everything I have to move 800 miles! WHOA! But let's see something, right?!

This is my tooties over the weekend in a fantabulous new pair of wedges I got from TJ Maxx. They are super high (at least 4") but so comfy! I am going to wear them all summer and destroy them, I just know it. And what is on my toes?!! China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy AKA Best Pedi Color EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this is a amazing shot my girl friend took of my baby, Cash over the weekend. Ready....... AAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

Urban Decay - Summer of Love Nail Polish Swatches

Happy Monday all! Are you all lagging from the sugar and overindulgence of Easter feasts and Cadbury Eggs? I know I am!

But regardless, I have a new post for you today and I think it is a pretty great one. I have swatches of the newest nail polish release from Urban Decay: The Summer of Love Nail Kit, part of the Summer of Love collection of make-up and beauty products influenced by the rebellious 1960s.

The collection is 7 shades in mini, 5ml (0.17 fl oz) bottles in a little zip pouch, just like the Apocalyptic Nail Kit that released in the fall.

The pouch has "Summer of Love" on the front and "Psychedelic Sister" forward and backward on the back with that cool, trippy font. I wish I had that font to write this post with.

Shine On - This is a metallic, shimmery taupe. I know taupe doesn't normally sound exciting but Urban Decay knows how to make it exciting. Plus I think it is so fitting for this collection. This is 2 coats.

Woodstock - This is a neon pink creme and as always, please remember that neons are not the best photo subjects. Although this swatch does look pretty bright. Please excuse that bit of debris on my ring finger. That was my fault, not the polish's! This does dry on the matte side as most neons do, but in atypical neon fashion, this is not thin and watery. It has a very pigmented formula and is perfect in two coats. Hmm! That is interesting! This is 2 coats.

Love Light - This is a shimmery, sheer peach. I know most LL readers are not fans of shades like this, but that doesn't mean people don't like them. There are folks who would say this is right up their alley. I know my sister would love this. I actually felt great about it once I got in on for this swatch. I would normally never want to rock something that would show my tips underneath, but I really like this look! *feels forehead* Maybe because it is soooo shimmery it hides my yellow nails well and looks really interesting? I don't know, but I like it. And if you don't like it alone, you can rock it layered over some of the other shades in this kit. Observe:

Shine On + Love Light

Woodstock + Love Light

Hashbury - Very cleverly named after "Haight and Ashbury" but made into one word. This is a very vibrant, red-purple with flashy shimmer. At first when I got this kit I thought that this shade would be dupable but it definitely is not. At least not with anything in my stash. This is unique to my collection for sure. It is firery and beautiful and who doesn't love purple? This is 2 coats.

Magic Bus - I love this shade! I know I am biased as an orange lover, but it is so great to see an orange release. We don't get many of them. It is similar to L'Oreal - Sizzling Tangerine so it's not unique, but I think it is awesome and so fitting to the premise of this collection. This swatch is two coats.

Aquarius - I am sure this is going to be the fave of this collection. And everytime I think about it I start singing in my head: "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius, age of Aquariu-us!" It never fails. This is a glowing Caribbean blue/shimmering teal/aqua just gorgeous shade of blue-green that is scene stealing! I don't find it terribly unique. I don't have exact dupes but it is reminiscent of Rimmel - Green with Envy and Wet n Wild - Caribbean Frost. This swatch is three coats.

Psychedelic Sister - Urban decay describes this shade as "bright coral" which is a fine description but I actually find it to be more red than coral. And I don't find it bright, actually. I think that is what I like about it. It is a faded red. It reminds me of an old, faded bandanna. So although "red creme" sounds boring, this one is unique. It almost got worn today but the BF picked out a blue for me instead! Oh, and this swatch is 2 coats.

Formula-wise this collection was pretty consistent at being awesome. Most were 2 coats and the all glide on effortlessly. The only one that broke that mold was Aquarius. I found it to be on the thin side and had to give it 3 coats, but I am sure people will love the shade enough to look past that flaw.

I feel people may be thinking these shades are not drool-worthy enough but I have fallen for it for a couple reasons: 1) The "Summer of Love" premise gets me and I find that the shades really capture a retro, hippie feel. Was I around in the 60s to confirm this? No, but I still feel it! 2) I like the collection all together rather than looking at each shade individually. Maybe it is a bit of a collector vibe I am feeling because it is Urban Decay? After I got myself their Book of Shadows II in the fall I swore I would get any and all books they released like that and so when the Alice in Wonderland palette came out I jumped on that too. And since I got the Apocalyptic Nail Kit (the day it came out, mind you) I like that I have this one to go with it and will probably treat any future nail polish releases from Urban Decay the same. It's just that Urban Decay love that I know is felt by many make-up junkies. What is it about these guys?! They really know how to make their fans fall in love with them.

So overall this set gets the thumbs up from me and I especially love Psychedelic Sister, Aquarius, Hashbury and Love Light. I really want to wear Psychedelic Sister with Love Light over it!

The Summer of Love Nail Kit is available now and retails for $28. It is only available as the set, not individual shades. Shop here. And while you are at it, don't forget the Apocalyptic Nail Kit has been reduced to $18.

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.