Fun WIth Layering Wednesday: Gray by Gray and Star

Happy Wednesday? I've got one more final left to take tomorrow and some end of semester work to finish this week and then I can breathe for like one minute haha. Next week I start more classes and the 2 baseball radio and webshows I co-host start up. Phew! But I do have a cool thing planned for this weekend - it looks like Mimi from Makeup Withdrawal and I may be meeting up for a nail polish playdate!


I've got another Fun With Layering Wednesday post for you today, using Sally Hansen - Gray by Gray from the Complete Salon Manicure line. In case you want to check it out on it's own and missed my post about it the other day, here is the link.



sunlight


shade


inside


I used two coats of Revlon - Star overtop of Gray by Gray. I think the glitter in Star really works well with Gray by Gray, the colors work really nicely together. I'm not super into the random hex glitter in the polish, I need to figure out a way to make it a little more symmetrical or something next time I use it. The polish Star has special meaning for me though, a few months ago when one of my cats Starlight passed away, a really really sweet MUA-er sent me this polish to cheer me up. She included a poem and a little note with it too which was so wonderful. Do you have any polishes with special meanings to you like I do with Revlon - Star?

Gray by Gray

I'm so excited that we got sunshine here TWO days in a row! No, I don't live in Alaska haha, but the east coast has been rocked with gross overcast weather and a lot of snow and rain the last few weeks and there hasn't been sun for weeks. So I haven't been swatching in a few weeks and that made me sad. (Having no sun isn't an excuse for not posting much of late, I have plenty back-logged on my computer, it's just been hectic lately). But I've got a bunch of posts set up for the next few weeks so stick with me :)

Today I'll be showing you Sally Hansen - Gray by Gray, which is from the Complete Salon Manicure line. It drives me absolutely crazy that Sally Hansen has 8947493647 different "lines" of nail polish and that every bottle is a totally different shape. Add in the fact that their distribution plan seems ridiculously random... but I digress.

sunlight

shade

indoors

Gray by Gray sat in my untrieds for a looong time. I picked it up when it first came out and then it just sat, never really calling my name. I'm glad I finally did try it though because it sure is pretty. A kind of dusty blue-gray slate color. I'd much rather see this color on my nails than in the the weather outside haha. Gray by Gray is so easy to work with too; 2 coats of creamy goodness. I hope it's sunnier where you live right now!

Also, just a heads up, under the About Me section on the right side of my blog, I've added some new pages. My Stash spreadsheet and Contact Info are both there now, as well as my Wishlist/Swapping Info. I also will have a new giveaway up soon, so keep an eye out for that!

Have You Ever Woken Up In Vegas?

Well, I haven't, but if I ever get married I already told my dad that it's happening in Vegas haha. I have an incredible polish to share with you today. I'm sure you've seen it other places, most notably on Lady Gaga. It's Deborah Lippmann - Waking Up In Vegas. I was lucky enough to win this from the lovely Kellie over at Also Known As... and honestly I didn't expect to like this color on me at all, but was I ever wrong about that! Check out these pictures first

sun

shade

inside (the light hit my nails differently in this picture making the nails photograph looking different - that doesn't happen in real life)

GUYS! The application is out of this world on this. I've heard people say "it practically applies itself" about polishes before, but this is the epitome of that phrase, seriously. 2 coats and it looks perfect and dries fast all on it's own. Now before I got Waking Up In Vegas in my hands, I really thought greige would never work on me, because I'm so pale I thought I'd look like a corpse. I think it actually ended up looking very elegant and sophisticated! I can't gush enough about this polish. I think it would be an interesting base for a little konad or nail art too. Looooove it!

Have you ever tried Deborah Lippmann colors? What are your favorites or number one on your wishlist?

Happy Halloween!

Just a quick post today with some Halloween nail art! I hope you're having a fun Halloween or October 31st, whichever you observe :) Today I've got some more great nail art compliments of Alexandra for you. There is a ton of really cool Halloween manis around the blogs and MUA that I've seen and been inspired by, but this is one I haven't seen around. Check it out!

Alexandra used Pure Ice - Kiss Me Here as the base color and if you click to enlarge the picture you can see the round little black rhinestones on the tips. T he skulls are clay fimo slices and there's a stripe of black and silver glitter to finish off the look.

I really like this mani! I'm very into how colored french tips look lately and this feels a little more managable for me to try than a lot of nail art. Slowly working my way up in the nail art world haha, luckily we have Alexandra to put together fun nail art like this. What are you doing for your nails today? Are you dressing up?

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.

sunlight
shade

inside

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.

sunlight

shade

inside

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!

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.

sunlight

shade

inside

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.

outside, sun

outside, shade

indoors

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?

Busy Days and an Interesting Polish

I feel like I have 800 things happening all at once right now. Ugh, I am not a fan of that haha. But one thing that de-stresses me when I get really busy like this is painting my nails...or just rearranging my stash! It's nice to have some pretty on your nails to look at during the day too :) One thing I did get to do though is help someone fulfill a long time lemming! (A lemming is something you really really want) She had posted about trying to find an older China Glaze color that I recently saw in a nearby nail salon, so I'm going to pick it up for her and send it to her tomorrow. I love doing this!

Today I have a really pretty OPI nail polish for you, called "Sheer" Your Toys. Oddly enough, it's not a sheer polish at all haha. It's a very wearable gray color (even on my ridiculously pale skin tone!).


sunlight! (looks longingly out the window while it rains.. when will the sun come back?)


Shade.. see how shiny it is in the shade? That's without top coat!


Indoors


Here's a different angle outside to showcase the copper pieces that are in this. (click and enlarge to see it better)

Amazing how shiny "Sheer" Your Toys is without a top coat! From some angles this looks like just a creamy gray color but then you can see the copper bits when you move your hand. It's really nice, I was actually suprised how much I liked this. When I first got it from a blog sale, I was kind of meh on the copper part, and waited to try it for a couple of weeks but then voila! Magic! In my opinion, this is a color you could wear year round and to a myriad of different events. What a versatile little polish this one is haha. So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? And how weird is it that the name Sheer is in it when it's actually a really opaque color? Pretty, but strange haha. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Nail art, a tutorial, Paradoxal swatches.. oh my!

Hello lovelies! I'm all kinds of out of wack today. Why you may ask? Well, I've been up since 4 am (on purpose!) to watch golf. The Open Championship in Scotland started today and TV coverage started at 4 am EST, so I'm rocking 2 hours of sleep and have happily been watching golf all day. Yes, I am very aware that this is insane behavior; but I love it! My sports addiction might be a wee bit out of control haha.

But since I knew all week I was planning to do this, I figured today was the perfect day to introduce you all to my friend Alexandra and show you all the wonderful things she has in store for us. First up Paradoxal swatches! I asked Alexandra if she would mind taking a couple of Paradoxal swatches inside because, 1) I can't get enough of this polish! and 2) I feel like every picture highlights the shimmer in Paradoxal, but most of the time the shimmer isn't very visable. So Alexandra indulged me and took pictures of Paradoxal to show us what it normally looks like :)




Ahhh, I can't get over how pretty this nail polish is!

Are you up for some nail art? Alexandra provided an incredible step by step tutorial to create some really really pretty flowers. Here are her instructions:

Basic Flowers
Level: beginner
Materials: Rhinestones, tooth pick and 2 small bottle caps. If you don’t have rhinestones choose another color for the center.

Steps:

1) Start by getting a table lamp or getting close to a well illuminated place. Add 1 coat of the nail polish you like to all of your nails.


2) Add a generous second coat to only one nail, it is costumary to start with an average size finger, because you can get a sense of the layout.


3) Fill a little container with water and dip the toothpick, this will help for picking up the rhinestone, although you can also get a “picker-upper” at a beauty supply store.


4) Place the rhinestone on the nail while the polish is still wet, and press slightly.


5) Make sure the rhinestones follow a curved pattern, and not a “/” or an “L” pattern, a “moon” shape looks more subtle.


6) Place a drop of a contrasting color of nail polish in a small container, I use a bottle cap. Dip only a tiny portion of the toothpick and “touch” the surface of the nail, the color will transfer much like a refrigirator magnet, there is no need to press or sink it in. Some people use dotting tools and press on to make an effect, but usually for bigger flowers. Nail art brushes also work well, some even come within a bottle of nail polish.




7) Work each nail one by one, or add the rhinestones to all your nails and then start the dotting process. Add top coat.




One last thing, don’t be afraid to try it, the previous picture was made very cautiously to show the detail, but the following ones show flowers made really fast and not so perfect. The big picture is what matters, the overall look is still very good, even if the close-up shows some flowers are missing petals and some dots are bigger than others.




Tips: - to keep a more together look, draw flowers on the outside corners only, meaning the flowers on the right hand will be on the right side and the ones on the left hand will be on the left side.

- try on one nail first, with just clear base/top coat, or on a fake nail, so you can get a sense of the separation of the rhinestones.

- the polish used for dotting dries really fast, since it is just a drop, so you must work fast and use a new drop when it does. However, when I first pour the drop it is too watery, not optimal for dotting, I wait about 20 seconds. It takes practice, but it’s a good idea to always try the first flowers on a piece of paper.

- when in doubt, make very tiny dots first and put your hand about two feet away to see the overall picture, and if the flower petals need to be thicker, just dip in the polish again and dot over it.

Colors used for this tutorial: Chanel 509 Paradoxal and OPI Alpine Snow.

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How pretty is that?! Thank you SO much for the tutorial and swatches Alexandra! What do you guys think? Are any of you going to try this? I think I am, hopefully soon. I'll be sure to post pictures when I try it. I think it looks so classy and professionally done... I hope mine turns out just as nice!

Fun With Layering Wednesday!

It's Wednesday already again... I feel like that week went by so fast! But I think I've found the only color that Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure does NOT look good layered over. Yes, there actually is one. And I'm going to show it to you.

Essie- Sag Harbor with Hidden Treasure on top





Sorry I had to squish my fingers up to get the light to hit my nails in the right way to really show Hidden Treasure. This manicure kind of looks scaley right? Not such a good look in my opinion. What's weird is that Hidden Treasure looks good over other light colors... over white it looks like Opals! And I wore it over China Glaze - Something Sweet for a wedding I was in last month. (Demure enough for a bridesmaid but interesting enough looking to keep me happy haha).

I really thought this was going to work. In theory it was an awesome idea. Sag Harbor is one of my favorite polishes of all time. Hidden Treasure is chock full of flakey goodness. Maybe it was too much of a good thing to put these two together?

But since those pictures weren't very exciting, here's some bonus Sag Harbor pictures! Yay bonus pictures!




This is inside and yikes did I catch the worst possible angle for it haha, excuse my hasty and not so hot clean up here.

Like I said, Sag Harbor is one of my favorite polishes. I like it so much I went and bought it's L'oreal counterpart, High Tide, so I'd have a back up bottle. The Essie North Fork Collection is what really started my nail polish addiction. When I googled it to find swatches I discovered the wonderful world of nail blogs and never looked back :) I have the other two polishes from that collection (Shelter Island and Greenport) which I will show you all together at some point in the future!

I hope everyone is staying cool; it's disgustingly hot still in New Jersey. Now I'm off to finish two articles for the hockey site I write for!