Orly Rage and Nails Inc. Hammersmith!

Hello again! I am back with an actual post! I recently got a pair of rose gold and nude oxfords and I was inspired to do some rose gold nails :) I liked the rose gold on its own, but I just had to add some glitter!

Below I did 2 coats of Orly Rage and Nails Inc. Hammersmith on the base for a reverse gradient

Orly Rage
Nails Inc Hammersmith

Orly Rage
Nails Inc Hammersmith

Orly Rage
Nails Inc Hammersmith

I surprisingly love this combination together! Orly Rage has a great application; the only downside to this polish is that it shows every imperfection, so next time I am going to use a ridge filler prior. Hammersmith is a gorgeous glitter filled with tons of silver and bright blue glitters. I think the blue and the rose gold complement one another well! Also, Hammersmith was easy to apply, no issues with coverage for the gradient. 

PS: sorry for the out of focus last photo!

Are you guys loving rose gold too still?

-Shelby

Few of my most recent Manis!

Hello again, ladies! Yes, I am back with a post after who knows how long! Like I said before, life gets in the way. I am a first-year college student and timing is never perfect for photos, but now that spring and summer are approaching, I plan on doing a lot more nail posts, especially once I move home for the summer :) I still have a lot of untried polishes in my stash and I want to purchase a couple of polishes from the spring 2013 collections as well! Side note with that...I am in love with EVERY color from the new Butter London collection...my wallet is already crying.

So I thought to make up for my ultimate lameness, I could show you guys a few of the manicures I've done lately. I don't remember all of the polish names and the photo settings are not ideal, but I'm going to give it a whirl anyway!

China Glaze It's a Trap-eze

 This first mani is a combo of 3 different colors: a lavender (possibly Essie St. Lucia Lilac or China Glaze Light as Air), a Sally Hansen nail art pen in white and China Glaze It's a Trap-eze to top off the white. I loved the effect of this design, but I wish I had made the white area in the center thinner. That way the lavender would've shined through more!

SOPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue
Nails Inc. Warwick Way & The Thames

SOPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue
Nails Inc. Warwick Way & The Thames

I love dot manis! I wish I used lighter colors for the dots or a lighter base for the polish, but whatevs. I just used alternating dotting tool sizes to create a little pattern. Warwick Way is a little on the thin side. Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue is perfection! 

Revlon Coastal Surf

I love Revlon Coastal Surf! It is such a gorgeous shade of blue- this makeshift photo does not do the color justice! Also, the formulation was great! Barely needed two coats :)

Unfortunately, I can only remember 1 polish from this mani- Zoya Ziv. Ziv has been my recent go-to gold polish and it just looks great with every type of mani! I used a nude base and sponged on Ziv as well as an Indie glitter on the tips. I love the effect this created! I will definitely recreate this for an actual post!

Revlon Provence
Confetti Lonesome Dove

Yet another poor photo, but I love this design! It's the "puzzle piece" design. I painted half my nail Revlon Provence and the other half Confetti Lonesome Dove. Then I took large dotting tools and did purple on the gray half and gray on the purple half, spacing the dots out to create this look! I love Revlon Provence, its formulation is great. I also really like Lonesome Dove, it is a great neutral gray and wallet-friendly!

I hope you guys enjoyed this!

-Shelby

Nails Inc. Piccadilly Circus, Julep Oscar and Orly Too Fab

Hello ladies! It's been a few days, I know- I've been meaning to make a post, so now I am!

I honestly haven't had the time to complete the challenge. I joined before I moved to college and didn't know how hard it would be to do major designs at school. I figured I'd do them at home, but when I'm back on the weekends, I like to visit with my parents and my boyfriend. And then there's the never-ending pile of homework....

On another note, I've thoroughly been enjoying the Autumn season, especially the nail polishes that tag along with it. My favorite colors are definitely dark berry/wine/red colors. I feel like they are classic and go with every fall-inspired outfit! Today I am using a gorgeous polish in that color family- Nails Inc. Piccadilly Circus!

Below I used 2 coats of Piccadilly Circus

Nails Inc. Piccadilly Circus
Julep Oscar
Orly Too Fab

Nails Inc. Piccadilly Circus
Julep Oscar
Orly Too Fab

Nails Inc. Piccadilly Circus
Julep Oscar
Orly Too Fab

Piccadilly Circus is a dark berry red creme with a touch of purple. This may be my new favorite red polish! The application was literally perfect. I could've gotten away with 1 coat- I was surprised how opaque it was! On my ring finger, I added 1 coat of Julep Oscar, a finely milled gold glitter in a clear base, and 1 coat of Orly Too Fab, a larger gold glitter suspended in a clear base. These two glitters look great together! Too Fab just made Oscar pop a little more! I also must say that Piccadilly Circus is a different color in every light! I was going to photograph it under my daylight bulb, but it was a bright cherry red. Under normal lighting, it was a true berry red! Also, the name is cute- anything circus-related gets a smile out of me :)

What do you think of this manicure?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 24: Inspired by a Book

Good afternoon! Today's challenge stumped me a little. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading quite often, but the novels that I read wouldn't be easy to recreate on my nails. I like Nicholas Sparks' novels; I guess you could say I'm a sappy romantic. Instead of using one of his novels for inspiration, I used a very popular book (unread by me, though) for inspiration: 50 Shades of Grey

What I used:
Ulta Concrete Evidence (base)
Sephora by OPI Frankly, I Don't Give A-dam
China Glaze Recycle
Nails Inc The Thames
Essie Stylenomics
Orly Atomic Splash

Gray Gradient

Gray Gradient

I kinda took the easy way out with a gradient, but I like the outcome, especially with the dark gray glitter! All the polishes were fairly good for sponging, except Stylenomics was giving me a hard time on the tips. This is a very obvious mani: 50 Shades of Grey...different shades of gray on my nails, but hey, at least you get my inspiration :P!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

Check out the other lovely ladies:

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista 
-Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles 

Nails Inc. Colour Collection Neutral Swatches

Hello again! Today I wanted to swatch some Nails Inc. polishes I got in a set from Sephora. These are my first Nails Inc. polishes and I was very excited to try them out!

The set includes 4 colors for $25 (great deal compared to the sticker price of $10 per bottle normally). They are:
-Porchester Square
-The Thames
-Jermyn Street
-Elizabeth Street

Below I did 2 coats for each color except Elizabeth Street, which I did 3.

Nails Inc. Porchester Square

Nails Inc. Porchester Square

Porchester Square is a gorgeous, greige creme! This is my favorite of the collection! I originally sought after this color and ended up with the collection instead. This applied really well, without streaks. It was fully opaque in 2 coats and dried fairly quickly. I think this is a great fall shade and a variation to the traditional nude. I like this more than Essie Yogaga, which is another shade similar to this. The second photo is in direct light.

Nails Inc. The Thames

Nails Inc. The Thames

The Thames is a blue-toned dark gray creme. I also really like this color! It applied just like Porchester Square, so I was pleased with it overall :). I also think this will be great for fall!

Nails Inc. Jermyn Street

Nails Inc. Jermyn Street

Jermyn Street is a brown creme with a touch of purple/pink. In the bottle, Jermyn Street looks more mauve than brown, but on the nails it translates brown. I don't think I will use this as much as the first two, but I still like it. It has the same formula as the first two, so that'll persuade me to use it more!

Nails Inc. Elizabeth Street

Nails Inc. Elizabeth Street 

Elizabeth Street is a sheer baby pink creme. I've seen a lot of pinks like this, but it's still nice. I did 3 coats in an attempt to make it opaque. As you can see, my nail is still a little visible after 3! I think this would be good for work or the springtime!

Overall, I think Sephora came out with a good pack of Nails Inc. polishes. It allowed me to get more than one or two without dolling out the cash for four at full price. My favorites are Porchester Square and The Thames! I think I'll use them a lot this fall :). I'm very impressed with the quality of Nails Inc. and I'll consider buying from them again!

What do you think? Do you have any Nails Inc. polishes?

-Shelby