Swatch and Review: Zoya Fall Pixie Dust 2013 Part 1

Happy Hump Day, everybody! Sorry for the prolonged absences. My semester is winding down and law school is killing my soul slowly, so thank God for nail polish!

Today, I have the first half of the Zoya Pixie Dusts for Fall 2013 to show you!

First up is Chita!

Swatch and Review: butter LONDON Bluey

Happy weekend, folks!

Today, I'm rocking butter LONDON Bluey, which I received as part of a promo from Coterie.

Bluey is a dark teal shimmer polish that I was really excited for when the bottle arrived. But I was less than impressed by it on my nails. First off, the above was with three coats and you can see that there is still some visible nail line.

Secondly, while it's pretty, it's not all that unique. This might be something I swap in the future.

What do you think about Bluey? Own anything similar?

Princess Polish

And PS: Don't forget that I'm giving away a bottle of butter LONDON Disco Biscuit, a custom pink holo from my Princess Polish brand, and an Essence prize pack! Click here! It ends tonight!

Falling Forward Nail Art Challenge: Day 3 - Rainy Days

 

 Hi again, everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting. I was really NOT happy with the original mani I did for this, so I re-did it tonight after I finished up some case reading and am much happier with the end result. It reminds me of rain drops on leaves after a storm.

To achieve this look, I used butter LONDON in British Racing Green with a coat of butter LONDON Matte Finish that I recently received from my Coterie order. After two coats of BRG and one coat of Matte Finish, I took my dotting tool and dipped it into my Hardwear Top Coat and made dots like I would do for a normal design.

HOWEVER, I made sure there was enough top coat to create what looked like a bubble that would be raised significantly on my nail. The point was to make it thick, unlike in most nail art dotting.

I really LOVE the end result to a point that might be a tad unhealthy. I'm not normally a proponent of the matte trend because I think it's a little too muted for my liking. Yet, I think this is just the perfect amount of pop and subtlety mixed together. And it's really easy to recreate on your nails!

So would this be something you would try at home? Would you rock this mani?
Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: China Glaze On Safari Collection

The first collection of the fall is here and it's China Glaze On Safari!

Nail Art: Back to School

Sorry for the delay in a new post, but with Hurricane Irene coinciding with my move in at Rutgers and a return to LSAT prep, free time has been at an all-time low. But now that I'm settled, posts will be coming more often as of next week.

Also, since I've been reunited with my roommate Cynthia, as well as my other girlfriends at Rutgers, I'll have plenty of extra hands to use for swatching. I might actually have to build myself a lightbox!

Anyhoo… this manicure is one that I did in honor of my return to classes this week. I didn't want to do Rutgers-themed nails yet (I'm saving that for the football game), so instead, I opted for the traditional images associated with a return to school.

Below, you'll see the full set:



(From left to right) Pinky (locker) - Revlon Silver Dollar, Ring finger (chalkboard) - Zoya Suvi, Middle finger (ruler) - Revlon Blue Lagoon, Index finger (books and apple) - Zoya Suvi, Thumb (Marble Notebook) - Zoya Snow White

In the above photo, it's kind of hard to see the thumb nail, so I did a close up on the thumb below. It's actually really easy to do the marble notebook and anyone with a crackle polish can do it. I added in a pencil so it was more easily recognizeable, but it's not required.



For the notebook, I painted black crackle from left to right instead of from bottom to top to get the sideways marble effect. I left a rectangle in the middle in order to act as the label for the notebook. If you find you left too little room, like I originally did, you can use white polish to extend your rectangle.

I'm a big fan of the Art Club nail art polishes (an extension of Color Club), so I used a lot of those paints in this look. I also use Art Deco by LA Looks, Kiss Nail Paints, and a host of others I find in different dollar stores.

But the great thing about nail art like this is that you can use different colors from what I used, based on what is available to you, and still have an awesome outcome. Cause really… who didn't have a pink or purple marble notebook because they got sick of black?

I hope you're all enjoying your first week back at school, work, or just your day in general. I know these nails have been the hit of my campus and I hope they will be for you too!