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?

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!