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

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and Simmer & Shimmer

Hello ladies :) I hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday! I am so glad the week is already halfway over, I can't wait to come home and see my boyfriend this weekend. It'll be nice to relax after a long week. Last night I tweaked my back a bit and can't ride my bike around campus. So I'm hoping by this weekend I'll be feeling much better!

A couple days ago I wore a couple new polishes I got recently: OPI Can't Find My Czechbook (Euro Centrale collection) and Simmer & Shimmer (Burlesque collection)

Below I wore 2 coats of each; CFMC on all fingers but my ring finger, S&S as an accent nail:

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook
OPI Simmer & Shimmer

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook
OPI Simmer & Shimmer

I love this combo! When I first saw promo pics for the Euro Centrale collection, Can't Find My Czechbook immediately stood out to me. It's the perfect bright blue for summer and man, did it not disappoint! It applied flawlessly and I have nothing negative to say about it (other than my photos which do not do the color justice)! I finally got my hands on a couple more of the Burlesque glitters- I am in love with the glitters from that collection and was more than stoked to get more! Simmer & Shimmer is a dense uniform-sized glitter in blue, pink, gold silver, etc. I love the small-sized glitter in the same color, especially because it fully covers the nail in 2 coats! I love glitters like this!

Do you have either of these polishes? What's your go-to glitter-cream pair?

-Shelby

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party and OPI Polka.com

Hello again! I am back with a post as promised. I actually have a few lined up; hopefully this weekend I can do some swatching and get some good photographs, now that the weather is getting gorgeous again. My boyfriend will be out of town so I will have plenty of time to play catch up! Today I have for you two polishes from recent collections: China Glaze Tart-y for the Party (from the Avant Garden collection) and OPI Polka.com (from the Euro Centrale collection)!

Below I used 2 coats of Tart-y for the Party and 1 coat of Polka.com

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party
OPI Polka.com

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party
OPI Polka.com

China Glaze Tart-y for the Party
OPI Polka.com

Tart-y for the Party is a gorgeous lilac shade. I love all light purples and this is no exception! The formula was a little thick, but nothing unmanageable! It didn't streak much and I love how smooth and creamy it is! I added Polka.com (cute name huh?) on top to spice it up; Polka.com has a great formulation and I had NO issues distributing glitter onto each nail evenly! Very impressed indeed :) Polka.com contains teal, magenta, and purple large hexes as well as pink and dark blue/purple micro-glitter. I love the end result of this mani!

Do you have polishes from either of these new collections? What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? and Ciate Party Shoes

Hello ladies! I hope you all are doing well! I've been enjoying my time off of school, but unfortunately I start back up on Monday! The other day I did a nice nude mani with a twist that I thought you guys would enjoy seeing!

Below I used 2 coats of OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? and 1 coat of Ciate Party Shoes!

OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?
 Ciate Party Shoes

OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?
Ciate Party Shoes

Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? is a dark nude creme with a tinge of gray to it. This polish has a little bit of a tricky application, but the color pay-off makes it worth it. Opacity can be achieved in 2 very careful coats! I added Party Shoes to spice it up (and cover any minute patchy areas), which is a gold and holo glitter in a slightly gold-tinted base!

I hope you guys enjoyed!

-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

OPI The Spy Who Loved Me

Hello ladies! I hope you all are having a great week- excited for the holidays? I know I am!

I am finally getting around to trying all of the OPI James Bond polishes that I received for my birthday in October.

Yesterday I tried out The Spy Who Loved Me, which I used 2 coats of below

OPI The Spy Who Loved Me

OPI The Spy Who Loved Me

OPI The Spy Who Loved Me

The Spy Who Loved Me is a fiery bright red with a ton of gold and red shimmer. This polish has a great formulation and went on it 2 easy coats. It is very "glowy" and I like the look a lot!

Do you like The Spy Who Loved Me? Do you have any of the polishes or want any of the polishes from this collection?

-Shelby

Revlon Bold Sangria, OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel and China Glaze Prism

Good evening! Tonight I have for you a kind of mish-mash mani. I couldn't really decide what to do, so I kept adding to it!

Revlon Bold Sangria
OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel
China Glaze Prism

Revlon Bold Sangria
OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel
China Glaze Prism

Revlon Bold Sangria
OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel
China Glaze Prism

Bold Sangria is the perfect bright plum shade. It's high-gloss and is very opaque. It's bright nature doesn't display well in my photos though! Suzi Takes the Wheel is a green-toned gray. I thought the two looked nice together for the Fall season. To add something extra, I made a reverse gradient with Prism, a lavender micro glitter with rainbow larger round glitters!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

OPI Ski Teal We Drop and NYX Gilded Glitter

Good evening ladies :) I hope everyone is having a good week so far! I have a chemistry final tomorrow that I'm preparing for. I'm so excited to finish up on Friday and start my holiday break :)

I used a couple untrieds of mine & wanted to share them!

OPI Ski Teal We Drop

OPI Ski Teal We Drop

OPI Ski Teal We Drop

OPI Ski Teal We Drop is a gorgeous teal creme from OPI's Swiss collection. Oh my goodness, how did I not use this until now!? This polish is perfection, perfectly opaque in 2 coats and has a wonderful formula. Love love love it!

NYX Gilded Glitter

NYX Gilded Glitter

Today, I decided to add NYX Gilded Glitter, a gold leaf-like glitter, to my manicure. I think this is a great substitution to the actual gold topcoats. At around $2, it's a bargain and a way to try out the trend without shelling out the $30 for OPI's! The pieces are on the small side, but I like it a lot! The formula was great, I got an even spread of glitter, but it did have a longer dry-time.

What do you think of these polishes?

-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

OPI Miami Beet and Icing Pop a Bottle

Good evening ladies! I hope everyone had a nice weekend; I had a lot of fun just spending some time with my family and my boyfriend :)

I've been meaning to try the Icing polishes, but never got around to it, until this weekend. I picked up 2 colors, one of which is featured in this post: Pop a Bottle

OPI Miami Beet
Icing Pop a Bottle

OPI Miami Beet
Icing Pop a Bottle

OPI Miami Beet
 Icing Pop a Bottle

Miami Beet is a gorgeous pinky red creme. I love this shade! It's a perfect winter red, in my opinion. I like it against my skin tone and it had a great application; opaque in 2 coats. Pop a Bottle is a fine glitter consisting of pink, blue, and gold fine glitters in a dark pink base. I added a Sally Girl large and small gold glitter on top to make the accent nail pop more.

What do you think?

-Shelby

OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window & Glow Up Already!

Good morning ladies! I hope everyone's week has gone well so far. I'm super pumped because Thursday is my Friday and I am going home for the weekend, which happens to be a day longer than usual due to Veteran's Day :)

Yesterday I used a couple untried OPIs in my stash!

What I used:
2 coats OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window
2 coats OPI Glow Up Already! (ring accent)

OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window
OPI Glow Up Already!

Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window is the perfect army green creme! It was perfectly opaque in 2 coats and I cannot get over the name- love it! It makes me giggle every time I pick up the bottle, which is a definitely plus. Glow Up Already! contains gold, green and orange same-sized glitters in a clear base. This glitter needed 2 coats to fully cover, but it also would've looked pretty on all nails with just 1 coat!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

OPI Fly and China Glaze Atlantis

Good morning! Sorry for my lack of posts the last few days; I've been busy, but also some of my nails broke and they are definitely not picture-appropriate. Anyway, I thought I'd share a mani I did last week that I liked quite a bit!

Below I used 2 coats of OPI Fly and 1 coat of China Glaze Atlantis on my ring finger

OPI Fly
 China Glaze Atlantis

Fly is a gorgeous "San Jose Sharks" teal creme! The application is awesome and dry time is good :) I thought Atlantis was a great accent; the glitter distributed evenly and smoothly. I like China Glaze glitters! I don't know what's going on with my pinkie, my topcoat sometimes messes up my hard work!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

OPI Gargantuan Green Grape

Good afternoon! Today I was in a pastel mood so I chose an untried in my stash: a birthday gift from Jennifer at Little J's Nail Corner. Jennifer generously gave me 2 polishes; OPI Gargantuan Green Grape being one of them!

Below I did 3 coats of Gargantuan Green Grape

OPI Gargantuan Green Grape

OPI Gargantuan Green Grape

Gargantuan Green Grape is a gorgeous, vibrant mint creme. It's a little brighter than traditional mints, which I like about it. The formula was okay; a little streaky and a 3-coater, but I liked it regardless! Thank you Jennifer!

What do you think of this shade?

-Shelby

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 

31 Day Challenge, Day 21: Inspired by a Color

Hello! I'm so excited that we are onto the final third of the challenge: the "inspired by" section!

Today's theme is "inspired by a color", which was very convenient for me since yesterday I did a gradient! Made things extra convenient :)

What I used:
OPI If You Moust You Moust
OPI Dim Sum Plum
OPI Casino Royale

OPI If You Moust You Moust
OPI Dim Sum Plum
OPI Casino Royale

OPI If You Moust You Moust
OPI Dim Sum Plum
OPI Casino Royale

As you can see, I chose pink/berry as my color! Casino Royale and Dim Sum Plum are more on the berry side, but when layered over If You Moust You Moust, they look more pink! I still really like gradients, they don't take a lot of time or effort, but look awesome! No complaints about any of these formulas either :)

My 12 year old cousin recently went to a Justin Bieber concert (she's a huge fan) and she requested that I feature her manicure on my blog. As promised, here are Phoebe's creative nails!

She told me she used a picture cut-out, placed it on her ring finger and topped it off with clear coat. 

I think the purple with the hearts is very cute :)

What do you think of these manis?

-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 

Sephora by OPI Caught With My Khakis Down & OPI The Living Daylights

Good afternoon ladies! Today I was in the mood for a very fall-esque mani, so I chose an army green shade: SOPI Caught With My Khakis Down

I added OPI The Living Daylights to my thumb and ring finger. I really like how versatile this glitter from the new collection is!

Below I did 2 coats of Caught With My Khakis Down & 1 coat of The Living Daylights

Sephora by OPI Caught With My Khakis Down
OPI The Living Daylights

Sephora by OPI Caught With My Khakis Down
 OPI The Living Daylights

Sephora by OPI Caught With My Khakis Down
OPI The Living Daylights

Caught With My Khakis Down is a gorgeous muted army green creme! The formula was pretty good, but the drying time was a little too long for my liking :/. The Living Daylights is full of teal, copper, gold, silver large hexes in a clear base. This also had a long drying time, but was well worth it!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

Hello ladies! I know it's been a few days, but I've had quite the busy weekend! Tomorrow is my birthday and in celebration, I went out to dinner last night with my family. My parents so generously gave me the full set of the new OPI Skyfall collection! I was so psyched! The first polish from the collection I have to share with you is Tomorrow Never Dies!

Below I did 2 coats of Tomorrow Never Dies

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

Tomorrow Never Dies is a gorgeous "blurple" shimmer! It has both purple and blue shimmers, causing it to look both colors, depending on the light. The application was pretty good and the dry-time was quick! I think this could've used another coat; in the sun you can see some vnl. 

What do you think of this shade?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 18: Half Moons

Hello! Today's challenge is half moons, which was kinda hard for me, considering I don't have rounded tape guides! I saw someone do a "necklace" manicure and I thought it'd work great for the challenge!

What I used:
Essie Lapis of Luxury
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Essie Lapis of Luxury
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

Essie Lapis of Luxury
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Pure Ice Silver Mercedes

I like this alternative for a half moon mani! Lapis of Luxury is gorgeous- a little sheer, but 2 careful coats will make it opaque. I like My Boyfriend Scales Walls because it's not stark white, so it's perfect for detailing! It also went well with Silver Mercedes! :)

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 

Essie Boxer Shorts & OPI Crown Me Already!

Good morning ladies! I'm so sorry I missed the challenge yesterday (tribal), but I had a busy day and I realized I left my only tribal-esque stamping plate at home! Kind of a bummer, but I did a couple cute glittery manis the past few days and I wanted to show you one of them!

Below I used 2 coats of Essie Boxer Shorts and 1 coat of OPI Crown Me Already!

Essie Boxer Shorts
 OPI Crown Me Already!

Essie Boxer Shorts and OPI Crown Me Already!

Boxer Shorts has been one of my favorite polishes the last couple of months! It's the perfect dark periwinkle creme- so smitten with it! It applies like a dream in 2 coats. I was going to leave it as is, but my roommate loves glitter and thought this would look great over it! Crown Me Already! is a gorgeous silver glitter, containing small glitters and medium hexes! This is super opaque and would cover up all the color in 2 coats. I only did 1 so I could still see the beauteous Boxer Shorts!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 15: Delicate Print

Good morning! As you can probably figure from the title, today's challenge is a delicate print. I'm not quite sure what that is (lace?), but my first instinct was to go for floral, which unfortunately was day 14's theme. So I went for bows...that's delicate enough right?

What I used: 
OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Revlon Impulsive (for stamping)
Cheeky ch24

OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Revlon Impulsive

OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Revlon Impulsive

OPI My Very First Knockwurst
Revlon Impulsive

This stamp was definitely not easy to use! So my stamping job here is far from perfect haha. I like the color combo, I think My Very First Knockwurst is a delicate pinky nude, even though the name is far from delicate! Impulsive has been my go-to shade for so many things lately; it's the perfect jewel-tone purple, but maybe not the greatest for stamping. I like the look of this. I hope this fits the bill of a delicate print!

Hope you enjoyed!

-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