Layering, Paradoxal style.

Today I have a layering combination to show you that is my version of Chanel's Paradoxal. The actual Paradoxal isn't my style because the shimmer is too "secret" for my liking. But I like the idea, so I've been hunting for the perfect combo of layering to give me my own version of it. This is the first try, which I think turned out pretty well :) First check out the base color, which is perfect, Nina - Never Glum Plum.

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Look how shiny it is - no topcoat! It's very pigmented too, only need 1-2 coats for perfect coverage which made me happy. You can see my reflection in some nails even haha. I like this on it's own way more than I thought I would. It feels so fall to me! I want to have this on my nails while I'm wearing a sweater and going to football games or sitting by a fire or apple picking or something. Yes I'm crazy, but the happy good kind of crazy ;-)

Want to see it with shimmer now? It's prettyyyyy! I layered Pure Ice - Busted over top of Never Glum Plum.

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I really like these two polishes together. I think I will get a lot of wear out of the combo (hopefully while wearing a sweater and doing stereotypically fall things hahah). I think there are one or two other things I want to try layering over Never Glum Plum to see which will be my favorite, so we'll see what wins. What do you think of these two polishes?

So my latest giveaway has ended; tomorrow I will go through all the entries and announce our winner!

I'm Not Much Of A Rule Breaker, But I Love To Wear It!

Hello lovelies! I've gotten a bunch of new polish lately, so I will be showing you a lot of cool stuff in the next few weeks. I tend to buy polish as a pick me up when I'm frustrated and I've been going to a new back doctor that I haaaate, so a lot of new polish has made it's way into my stash haha. But today I want to show you a polish I've had for a while and really like. It's Color Club - Rule Breaker. A pretty dark-er green, that has a leeeeetle bit more blue in it than these pictures show.

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I bought this when I was first getting out of my color comfort zone, if you will. I like wearing this year round, especially on my toes. This has a hint of frost to it; I hesitate to say the word frost because most people run screaming as soon as they read it. But I think this is pretty! AllYouDesire did a great comparison between this, China Glaze- Emerald FItzgerald, and OPI - Cuckoo For This Color, so you can see that this is different from those two. What do you think of Rule Breaker? Enjoy the pictures and check back for a layering post tomorrow! I'm off to edit two more articles, work never ends!

My First Ever Zoya!

I really like swatches I've seen of Zoya polishes on blogs, MUA, etc and I have a bunch on my wishlist but I never actually had any of my own - until recently! I was able to swap for a brand new bottle of Zoya- Robyn. (I've since gotten Freja and Harley but haven't gotten to try them yet.) I apologize for the slightly messy cuticles, clearly my cleanup wasn't so hot the day I swatched this - sorry. But check out how gorgeous this polish is!

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Soo pretty! This color is just a bit darker in real life, but these pictures are close. And it's unbelievably shiny - this is without topcoat. I love when polish is shiny on it's own. The application was good. I haven't worn this for a full mani yet so I'm not sure how the wear will be. Some people have terrible luck with Zoya's wear but it's perfect for others - hopefully I'm one of the ones it will work for! I really like how this shade of blue looks with my skin tone; it reminds me a little of a slightly darker, creamier version of Color Club - Pure Energy. Obviously this isn't a neon like Pure Energy, but similar blue don't you think? Robyn ended up being everything I hoped it was going to be, which is awesome. I hope I'll get more Zoya polishes someday soon :)

Layering with... Wild Orchid

The other day I showed you Color Club- Wild Orchid. Since it was such a dream to apply I wanted to see how some other polishes I have would look layered over it. Wild Orchid has silver shimmer in it which I thought would bring an added dimension to any layering combination! So I tried out four different sheer polishes over it; all from Savvy Femme Couture.

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So I have a different color on each finger. From index to pink they are...

Index: Prince Ala Charm

Middle: Fairy Twinkle

Ring: Glass Slipper

Pinky: Knightly Armour

I think the ring finger with Glass Slipper on is my favorite combo, I think you could get a similar effect with Pure Ice- Heartbreaker (which I can swatch if someone wants to see as well). I also really like Knightly Armour, which is kind of like a ramped up version of Wild Orchid.

I picked all four of these up on clearance from Sallys (yay clearance!) Do you have any? Which of the four pictured are your favorite? I can't wait to try them over some other colors!

Wild Orchids Are Gray?

If you've ever talked to me about nail polish, you know I have a pretty serious love affair with Color Club. My first ever back up bottle of polish was a Color Club (Wild At Heart, naturally). So everytime they come out with new collections I get excited. Today I'm going to show you Wild Orchid from the latest collection, Untamed Luxury. This ended up being the only color that was a 100% must have for me, but I'm sure eventually some more will make their way to my stash one day haha.

The only thing that I don't like about this color is the name. Orchid in my mind is kind of a pinky-purple color, right? Otherwise this is perfect! Check it out.

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This is a gorgeous color! Can you see the shimmer? It's a little subtle, but still awesome. Click to enlarge the pictures to see it better. I think I'll be wearing this shade a lot. I also think there are a lot of interesting ways that layering could be used, with Wild Orchid as the base color. In fact, I'm going to show you four different layering ideas tomorrow! Get excited :)

Did you get any colors from the Untamed Luxury collections? If not, which ones are on your wishlist?

Is A Giveaway Something You Might Be Interested In?

Happy Sunday to you! Since I'm a sports fanatic, Sundays in the fall are good times for me haha. Plus I co-host a football radio show each week so I can sit on my couch all day and watch football and consider it research ;) Yay for that. But even if you're not a football fan like I am, I've got something here to brighten your Sunday up a bit! A Giveaway! Just a little somethin' somethin' for you.

I'm giving away five Confetti polishes! I figured amongst all the drama with Sally Hansen suing them now would be a great time to give some away. If you haven't heard, Confetti and Pro 10 are not going to be sold anymore because the lawsuit, so grab whatever colors you've been eyeing now before they're gone.

Check out the pretties that are up for grabs!

-Masquerade Ball, a really pretty lit from within vamp

-My Favorite Martian, one of the most popular shades

-Crimson Cutie, really nice shade of red

-Happy Birthday!, a glittery purple

-Tiara, an awesome layering polish; adds sparkle to anything

How To Enter:

1) You must be a follower!
2) Leave a comment on this post with your email (so I can contact you if you win!) 1 Entry
3) Tweet about the giveaway, make sure to link to this post and have @JeweledTips in the tweet so I can see it! (Please let me know you tweeted in the comments) 1 Entry
4) Blog about the giveaway! (Please enclude a link to the entry in the comments) 1 Entry

This is open to US and Canada (The next giveaway is big and will be worldwide, I promise!)

You must have your entry in by midnight on Septemeber 28th. I'll announce the winner on September 30th. Good luck! :)

Light As Air

An unoriginal title, but descriptive haha. Today I'm going to show you China Glaze - Light As Air from the Up & Away Collection. This is one of FIVE polishes I have from the collection. I didn't really realize how many I had from Up & Away until now, I really liked it huh? haha! It's entirely possible another one or two could find their way into my stash one day soon... But for today we'll focus on Light As Air! It's a kind of stark pastel purple. Really light, which I thought I wouldn't like from the original swatches, but I definitely did in person. This is one of the best pastels in my stash, application wise. Gotta love a light color that isn't a total pain to use!

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I didn't post an indoor picture because it was pretty much identical to the sun picture. No need for overkill :) I like using this as a base for konad or to use for konading over a darker purple. I think light colored polka dots are cute over their darker counterparts. Because this is nicely pigmented it's good for nail art. A pretty polish with multiple uses, yay! Have you ever bought a whole collection or a large chunk of it? Which one(s)!

I've got some cool stuff coming up in the next few days... a new giveaway! And I was able to kill one of my big lemmings so I have that to show you, and my own version of Paradoxal via layering. I'm realllly excited about all of these and can't wait to show you!

Monarch Masquerade... Perfection in a bottle?

I have a serious love for Diamond Cosmetics' Monarch Masquerade. Like indescribable love. Whenever anyone on MakeUp Alley mentions making a Diamond Cosmetics order, I am always saying they have to add this to their cart. Have to! Why? Because in my humble opinion this is perfection in a bottle. I can never get enough purple polishes in my life, but I keep coming back to this one. I wear it a lot. This pretty was what made me decide I needed back up bottles. I'm considering building a small army of bottles of this; it's a little sick haha. Do I even need to mention that this is in my top 5 favorite polishes? Because it is.

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Looking at these pictures makes me want to wear it again. It's super opaque, 1-2 coater. That makes me happy. Less coats= less of me making a mess around my nails. But seriously, if you order from DC, do yourself a favor and include this one. If you like purple even the tiniest bit, this color won't disappoint. And I'm done gushing about this now. I saved my favorite for the end of Diamond Cosmetics week! Could you tell? ;-)

Let's Get Drunk On...Sparkling Sherry

Well helllooooo Sparkling Sherry. I'm pretty excited to show you this Diamond Cosmetics polish. I fell in love with it from a post that Scrange did (the same way many lemmings are born haha) and got it in my first Diamond Cosmetics order. I love looking at it in the bottle but when I first swatched it, I hated it on me. Thankfully I came to my senses! It's a foily red that leans a little pink. It looks a little bit different in each of the three lights I'm going to show you, but all three ways are prettttyyyy. Wanna see?



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Really nice right? 2 coats! The first picture makes it look a little brush stroke-y which is really isn't in person. Top coat makes it look smooth. These pictures kind of say it all I think. I am not really into reds at all, there are maybe 5 I truly like and this is definitely one of them. It's one of the few I'd actually wear on my fingers (most of my reds are relegated to toes haha). High praise coming from me :) Tomorrow I'm going to show you one of my absolute favorite polishes! And there's a giveaway coming later this week!

A Hidden Treasure of Diamond Cosmetics

I've had such a gnarly 2 days. My next door neighbors were having people digging in their front yard looking for the water on/off thingy. Very technical soundng right? Haha I'm not totally clear on what they were attempting to do, just on how it affected my life. Long story short, the workers cut the cord that controls my internet, tv, AND phone (silly me for bundling my services with one company!) at 11 am yesterday. After several phone calls someone came to fix it this morning around 10 (originally they said they wouldn't come til SATURDAY..because I don't need a phone or anything). By noon today, the same worker crew had cut the cord AGAIN. I couldn't make this stuff up, my goodness. So finally around 4 I had services again and the workers were gone and I could breathe a sigh of relief. But I had no way to post yesterday, so today I'm giving you twice as much!

I'm done venting now :) Let's move on to pretty picture shall we? I've got another Diamond Cosmetics nail polish to show you, Don't Teal My Heart Away; which I looooooove. But for some reason, it made my camera insane... so these pictures are way way greener than it is in real life. This is a true teal in person, much bluer than these pictures reflect. So make a little mental adjustment, kay? Great!

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inside and closer to the actual color

Now how about some Hidden Treasure on top? Yes please!

wheeeee, flakies in the sun!

shade - look at the colors!

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I also showed you Don't Teal My Heart Away in the very first Fun With Layering Wednesday, with Sinful- Nail Junkie on top (another magical layering combo). I really like working with this color because it's so opaque in just 1-2 coats so it's easy to use and it's gorgeous! Once I got my hands on this I stopped buying teals like crazy...I used to buy pretty much everyone that came my way but now I think long and hard about it. Mainly because this is my perfect teal creme, so reach for it the most, so why mess with that? :)

Do you have any go-to colors for layering for a favorite polish for one kind type of color, like me and teal? Let me know in your comment!

Twilight Violet

Day three of Diamond Cosmetics week! I know that layering is usually for Wednesday, but it's comng tomorrow, so stay tuned :) I was in the mood to show you pink/purple today! Despite the word Twilight in the name, this polish has nothing to do with vampires or anything of that nature. I'm absolutely not a fan of vampires, Twilight, or any of that stuff but I do like Twilight Violet! When I got this I thought it was going to be more...violet haha. And on some people it pulls a little more purple, but on my skin it seems to be mostly pink; with purple influences though haha. Once I got over my purple expectations I realized I like this color a lot! See the prettiness below...

sunlight!

shade, which made the camera decide the polish was a whole other color haha. Clearly the purple part of this polish is making the camera nutso in the shade, sorry!

indoors

I think my index finger in the first picture is color accurate. The best part about this color? It has secret shimmer! I know some of you are big into the secret shimmer, so this is right up your alley. And for under three dollars, how can you go wrong?