Orly Rage and Essie A Cut Above

Hello, ladies! I hope all of you are having a good start to your week. I don't know about you guys, but it's been SO hot here! California needs to cool down, fast. I have for you today a combo a did over the weekend- rose gold inspired!

Below I used 2 coats of Orly Rage, topped with 1 coat of Essie A Cut Above

Orly Rage Essie A Cut Above

Orly Rage Essie A Cut Above

Rage is a rose gold foil; it's application is good and it only required 2 coats of complete opacity. I really like this polish on its own, but I wanted to add even more pink-y bling to it. I added A Cut Above, which is a two-sized rosy pink glitter in a clear base. With one coat, enough glitter was dispersed onto each nail, without having to do the "dabbing" method. The combination was sparkly in the sunlight, which was perfect during this weather!

What do you think of this combo?

-Shelby

Essie In the Cab-ana (Resort 2013 collection)!

Happy late Monday (or early Tuesday to some of you)! I have another Essie post in store for you guys today- swatches of In the Cab-ana from their 2013 Resort collection. The line had a lot of lovely shades, but I only picked up 2, one being ItC!

Below is 2 coats of In the Cab-ana without topcoat:

Essie In the Cab-ana 

Essie In the Cab-ana

Essie In the Cab-ana 

In the Cab-ana is such a gorgeous bright aqua creme! This is the epitome of summer; in fact, when I held my nails up next to my pool, they practically were the same color! The formula on this was rather thick, so I may thin the polish out. Due to the thickness, the application was tricky, but wasn't unmanageable. Two coats created perfect opacity.

What do you think of Essie's 2013 Resort collection?

-Shelby

Essie Summer 2013 Picks!

Hello again, surprised I'm back so soon? Well, I just couldn't stay away because I've been eager to try out a different camera for my nail photos and I am loving how great the photos are with the switch! Let me know what you guys think of the photo quality :)

Last time I was at CVS, I came across Essie's summer collection- full of shimmers and brights with nautical names. I couldn't resist and picked up 3. There's either 4 or 5 in the collection, but I passed on a couple of the shades.

Lots of photos in this post! All swatches are without topcoat.

Essie Rock the Boat 

Essie Rock the Boat

Essie Rock the Boat

First up is Rock the Boat, a light cornflower blue with silver shimmer. The shimmer is only noticeable in the sunlight, but I love the shade nonetheless! Its formula was decent; at first it was uneven and streaky, but 3 coats seemed to do the trick to create full, smooth opacity. 

Essie Sunday Funday

Essie Sunday Funday

Essie Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday is a bright coral/pink with the same silver shimmer that the whole collection has. The application was better on this one; it only required 2 coats for opacity. This color was really hard to capture on camera! In person, it's a little more pink-leaning. 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Naughty Nautical is a sea green/muted teal with the same silver shimmer. This may be my favorite from the collection because it's so unique! The application was similar to Sunday Funday and only required 2 coats. I must say the name drew me to it as well; I can't resist polishes with cute names!

What do you think of Essie's new summer collection?

-Shelby

OPI My Very First Knockwurst and Essie Beyond Cozy

Happy weekend, ladies! :) I am so relieved to be home for the weekend! I'll have some down time to just relax, which also means time to catch up on blog posts! I think I may make a few scheduled posts for the next week or two since I am finishing up my current University year.

Today I have for you a simple mani I did a week or so ago: OPI My Very First Knockwurst with a slight glitter gradient of Essie Beyond Cozy.

OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Essie Beyond Cozy

OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Essie Beyond Cozy

My Very First Knockwurst is probably my favorite pink-nude creme in my collection! Its formula and application is a dream and I love how it looks against my skintone. I added a slight gradient effect to my ring finger with a recent purchase of mine, Beyond Cozy, which is a silver and gold fine glitter. I love this combo together!

What do you think of this pairing?

-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

Brush Stroke Mani!

Hello ladies! I hope you all had a lovely weekend :) My family had a holiday party yesterday, so I've been quite the busy bee. It was well worth it though :)

A couple days ago, I did a mani that I saw on a couple tutorials- a brush stroke type mani. Hope you like it! :)

What I used:
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Zoya Kristen
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Sinful Colors Lavender
OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui
OPI Ski Teal We Drop
China Glaze Fairy Dust

I loooove how this turned out! I used a medium-length striper brush to achieve this look. I was a little skeptical after the first couple colors, but I couldn't get enough of the final look :) I may have forgot to list a color, but I honestly can't remember.

Merry Christmas in case I don't post before then!

-Shelby

Essie Recessionista and OPI Glow Up Already!

Good evening ladies! Today I have for you a reverse glitter gradient I did yesterday :) This was my first time trying the non-sponge method- not sure how I like it yet!

Below I used 2 coats of Essie Recessionista & OPI Glow Up Already! for the gradient

Essie Recessionista
OPI Glow Up Already!

Essie Recessionista
OPI Glow Up Already!

Essie Recessionista
OPI Glow Up Already!

Recessionista, from Essie's fall Stylenomics collection, is a deep berry creme. This is a gorgeous shade and went on in 2 easy coats. I added a reverse gradient with OPI Glow Up Already!, a finely milled gold, orange, green, pink, and silver glitter in a clear base. I believe it's from the OPI Burlesque collection. This wasn't too hard to work with- I really like it!

I hope you guys enjoyed!

-Shelby

Essie Borrowed & Blue and Stroke of Brilliance

Happy Friday ladies! Have any fun plans for the weekend? The weather has been cold and rainy lately, so I'll probably just relax and enjoy the rain from behind the windows :P.

I really wanted to wear a spring-ish pastel shade, but add a winter twist so I used 2 very complementary Essie shades together :)

What I used:
1 coat Sally Hansen Hardener
2 coats Essie Borrowed & Blue
1 coat Essie Stroke of Brilliance
1 coat Sephora by OPI Matte Topcoat 

Essie Borrowed & Blue
 Essie Stroke of Brilliance

Essie Borrowed & Blue
Essie Stroke of Brilliance

Borrowed & Blue is possibly my favorite blue Essie polish- it's the perfect baby blue creme. It is fully opaque in 2 coats and smooths out substantially after the 2nd coat. It's from the 2011 wedding collection if I'm not mistaken. Stroke of Brilliance, a recent addition to the Luxe Effects line, is a gorgeous small and large periwinkle glitter in a clear base. I love the look of the baby blue and periwinkle together :). To make the glitter pop, I added $OPI Matte Topcoat. It's pretty good, though I may like my Essie matte topcoat better!

Thanks for stopping by :)

-Shelby

Sephora by OPI All is Glam, All is Bright and Essie A Cut Above

Happy Saturday everyone :) It's been so relaxing having an extra long weekend so far; it feels like Sunday to me! I really enjoyed my glittery Thanksgiving mani, so I thought I'd share it with you guys!

I picked up a new Nicole by OPI holiday polish: All is Glam, All is Bright- I had to use it asap!

Nicole by OPI All is Glam, All is Bright
Essie A Cut Above

Nicole by OPI All is Glam, All is Bright
Essie A Cut Above

Nicole by OPI All is Glam, All is Bright
Essie A Cut Above

All is Glam, All is Bright is a finely milled pink, blue, silver glitter in a clear base with slightly larger bright red flecks. This polish is so festive! I The formula was pretty good and 2 semi-thick coats made it opaque. I added A Cut Above to make it stand out even more. Lately I've really been enjoying layering different sized glitters :)

What do you think of this holiday manicure?

-Shelby

Essie Go Overboard & Jordana Cosmic

Hello ladies! Yesterday I tried out a combo I've been curious about for a while: Essie Go Overboard and Jordana Cosmic!

I hope all of my American readers have a lovely holiday tomorrow; eat lots of turkey! :)

Essie Go Overboard
Jordana Cosmic

Essie Go Overboard
Jordana Cosmic

Essie Go Overboard
Jordana Cosmic

Go Overboard is an extremely opaque teal creme. This color only needed 1 coat to be super opaque! Cosmic contains teal, green, and silver hexes along with micro teal glitter in a clear base! I heard that if Cosmic is paired over a teal, it is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe. I would say it's a close enough dupe for the price difference! I like this a lot :)

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

Essie Leading Lady Collection Picks!

Good evening! A week or two ago, I saw the new Essie winter collection display: Leading Lady. I liked a lot of the shades, but felt I had colors similar to them. I decided to get Leading Lady and Where's My Chauffeur?, though I wish I had gotten Beyond Cozy too!

Essie Leading Lady

Essie Leading Lady

 Leading Lady contains red glitters in a red jelly-like base. I like the idea of this polish, but the formula ruined it for me. It was hard to work with and a little goopy. Luckily I like the color enough to pull it out again for the holidays!

Essie Where's My Chauffeur?

Essie Where's My Chauffeur?

Where's My Chauffeur? is a bright aqua/turquoise creme. I adore colors like this! Though it isn't the most original, I always cave into getting these colors. The formula was great and the purchase was well worth it!

What do you think of these 2 colors from Essie's winter collection?

-Shelby

Sephora by OPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue and Orly Fowl Play

Good morning ladies! Today I have for you an exciting mani to show you- a matte glitter gradient! :D

What I used:
2 coats SOPI Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue
Orly Fowl Play (sponged)
Essie Matte About You

Sephora by OPI Seriously It's a Naan-Issue
Orly Fowl Play

Sephora by OPI Seriously It's a Naan-Issue
 Orly Fowl Play

Sephora by OPI Seriously It's a Naan-Issue
Orly Fowl Play

Seriously, It's a Naan-Issue is a gorgeous eggplant creme. The formula was amazing and it was perfectly opaque in 2 coats. Fowl Play was the perfect match for a glitter gradient. Once I added the matte topcoat, the different glitters were even more visible :)

What do you think of this?

-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 

31 Day Challenge, Day 22: Inspired by a Song

Good afternoon ladies! I put a lot of thought into today's challenge- I had plenty of ideas, but not the correct stamping plates to do most of them. I decided on the song I'm Like a Bird by Nelly Furtado; this song is special to me because I sang it for karaoke one of the first few times I went over to my boyfriend's house :)

What I used:
2 coats Revlon Vixen
Essie Penny Talk (stamping)
OPI Live and Let Die (dotting)
Cheeky jumbo plate B

Revlon Vixen
Essie Penny Talk
OPI Live and Let Die

Revlon Vixen
 Essie Penny Talk
OPI Live and Let Die

Revlon Vixen
 Essie Penny Talk
OPI Live and Let Die

I am head over heels for this manicure! This was my first time using Revlon Vixen- a gorgeous, easy to work with wine creme. I was very impressed and plan on using it a lot this season! I thought that Live and Let Die was the perfect accent dot color- a shimmery forrest green. I also had never stamped with Penny Talk before- it worked great! No complaints about this mani :D

What do you think?

-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 

Essie Who is the Boss & Candeo Colors Joker

Good morning! Today's post in an exciting one for me; I finally got my hands on a specific indie glitter I've been lemming over for months: Candeo Colors Joker! I've been waiting for the perfect time to wear it, but I just decided to pull it out yesterday!

I paired Joker with Essie Who is the Boss, from the Essie Wedding collection (from this year?).

Below I did 2 coats of Who is the Boss and 1 coat of Joker on my ring finger and thumb!

Essie Who is the Boss
Candeo Colors Joker

Essie Who is the Boss
Candeo Colors Joker

Who is the Boss is a light blue/green creme with a hint of grey to it. I adore this color! Sometimes it looks blue, sometimes it looks green. Usually pastel cremes don't have this effect, but I really like it! Joker is a glitter bomb: various shades of blue, purple and silver small, medium and large hex and circular glitters! Both polishes had perfect applications. Who is the Boss required 2 coats for full opacity and I believe Joker would become opaque in another generous coat. I'm diggin' this mani!

My boyfriend really likes it too :) He always enjoys seeing my various manis!

What do you think of this combo?

-Shelby

Urban Outfitters Afterhours & Essie Penny Talk!

Good afternoon! I hope everyone's monday is going well. Today I had an early 7:30 class and then a socio quiz at 10, but I finished first out of ~350 students so that made me feel good! It was an early and busy start to my birthday; it'll most likely be much relaxing later!

I know I recently showed you Penny Talk, but I just couldn't resist to use it for another mani! Also, the photos in this post are much better than my indoor, poorly lit photos from last time haha

Below I did 2 coats of Essie Penny Talk and 1 coat of Urban Outfitters Afterhours!

Essie Penny Talk
Urban Outfitters Afterhours

Essie Penny Talk
Urban Outfitters Afterhours

Essie Penny Talk
Urban Outfitters Afterhours

Essie Penny Talk
Urban Outfitters Afterhours

Isn't this just beautiful!? This is one of my favorite fall combos at the moment!

Penny Talk is a gorgeous copper metallic; it's great as a base since on its own it shows a lot of nail imperfections. Afterhours is a pink, silver and gold glitters with lots of holo glitters running throughout! I'm surprised by Urban Outfitters' polishes; I like them a lot! This is by far my favorite polish that I own by them. 

What do you think of this combo?

-Shelby