Milani HD: Shortest review ever. I'm just going to put it in the title. 3 easy coats, silver, scattered holo.

 

Auditio-nails

So I have an audition today!  Hopefully I wont bomb it.  Anyways here are the nails I have on.  I just wanted something that had a bit of oomph to it, but wasn't wicked distracting.

I used Zoya Julieanne and  2mm gold square studs from the Born Pretty Store.

ETA: Audition was eh.  I didn't bomb it but it was improv based, and my improv is hella rusty and I could feel it.  Oh well, another time :)

Retro Stripes

HELLO! I'm back again.

Allow me to explain my infrequent posting, I feel bad - I've been crazy busy with school and have been since I started blogging here! My desire is to show you only Top Valkyrie Quality* nail art, and with 4 classes and tons of projects on the go, that can be a tough schedule to keep! That being said, I'm sure Kas and George entertain you suitably.

Ok, pity party's over. Today's manicure is a simple striped design made with Scotch tape and some shamelessly 70's colours. I used a base of Did It On 'Em, topped with Fly and A Roll In The Hague, all by OPI. These colours make me think of vintage Kitchenaid stand mixers.

I worked on these through the day while I should have been was working hard on an essay. They kind of but not really matched my swimsuit, since I went to a sexy bikini party totally classy soiree for fancy responsible adults once I finished my homework!

*Messy, free-handed french tips are punishable by death.

Sally Hanson Kwik Off: This has to be some sort of nail polish removal record right?

My mother gave this to me the other day.  Originally I wasn't too keen on using it because it said it was for removal of fake nails aka this here be full of the chemicals.  But the other night I ran out of remover that wasn't pure acetone so I used this.

I had been wearing Milani Dude Blue, which is just a bright blue cream.  I stuffed all five finger in and twisted them around (now where have I heard that before?)  Within maybe 15 second one hand was done.  And another 15 seconds for the second hand.

I decided I wanted to actually try this again and record my results.  So I used Butter London Two Fingered Salute.  I figured while it does have shimmer in it it would be slightly harder to remove than say a cream polish but not as hard as a pure glitter.  I did the same thing as I did with the DB.  In total it took 55 seconds to remove both hands...polish from both hands.  I would sue if it took my hands.

Overall I really liked this.  It was a tad harsher than normal polish remover but less harsh than acetone.  And it kind of left my hands feeling sticky after *giggles* but it got the polish off fast.  I will probably use it for polishes like Two Fingered Salute. Not hard to remove polish or polish that you can practically wash off with soap.

You should note that the remover in container is black. That's because I has used it a few times by the time I took the photo.  This does not affect the way it works.  Also the container is about 2 knuckles deep...*sigh* The jokes practically write themselves.

Have you tried this product or anything like it before?

 

 Lol 5:25am.  Don't worry it was a Friday night.

Nails right after removal.  This took about 25 seconds.  IGNORE the yellow nails.

Butter London Two Fingered Salute: Finally the PERFECT opportunity to use this gif!

So today I have the gorgeous polish for you!  I'm sad that I only wore it for just over a day :(  Don't worry, it had nothing to do with wear time.  It's just that I may be going out tonight and it wouldn't go with my outfit.  And by outfit I mean shorts and a bright pink, shimmery, snake skin patterned bandeau.   I will look smashing and be as classy as a 1947 Château Cheval Blanc that has been opened.

Two Fingered Salute is a dusty seafoam green, filled with coppery pink micro shimmer.  This polish was good for the most part in 2 coats.  Although a 3rd was need on 2 fingers.  I found it didn't self level perfectly but it wasn't so much so that the top couldn't fix it.

Fun fact:  I painted the boys nails with this.  It worked really well with his skin tone.

 

 

Milani Dude Blue: I don't like your name...

I would like to start by saying I love Milani products.  Next I would like to say I hate this name.  It's like they got some UCLA frat boy named Chad "Chadster" Daniels to name it(No offense UCLA...unless you're a frat boy...any frat boy for that matter.)

DB is a vibrant bright blue.  Although in my personal opinion I wouldn't call it a neon.  Too me it just doesn't seem bright and obnoxious enough.  Like all the other Milani polishes the formula was great and I only needed 2 coats.  My only problem is the bottle is the colour of the polish.  So you can't see how much polish you have left.

I really liked this polish.  It's polishes like these that make me wish I had some more brighter colours.

Born Pretty Store Glittah! + Happy Belated Blogiversary to Us!

Let me start with a big THANK YOU to all out followers old and new.  It was exactly a year ago(lie: It was a year and 4 days ago) that I decided to start this blog.  And since then it has grown not only in followers but in bloggers.  *starts to cry*  I would also like to say thank you to my family and friends and everyone who helped make this blog what it is.  Also I would like to thank <insert deity of choice>.  I could not have done this without you.  I'm sure a phenomenal giveaway will be happening in the near future.  That's when the real shindig starts ;)

Now back to my review!  So I was sent these glitters from the Born Pretty Store!  They are hexagonal glitter that come in 12 different colours!  Dark blue, light blue, pink, silver, iridescent white, gold, yellow, red, orange, lavender, silver-gold and green.  All the colours of Josephs coat and it doesn't come with jealous brothers.  WIN!

First off I almost didn't post these nails.  Because when it came down to it I thought I could have done better.  But then I thought no.  Even if it may not be the best it's just good to see.

So I figured I have all the colours of the coat(Joseph again) why not do some sort of rainbow pattern.  So I did rainbow tips on each finger and then did a rainbow accent.  The glitter was easy to use.  A tad messy(but it is loose glitter).  I used tape to pick up glitter that fell around me.  Now I kind of wished I had used a lighter colour base but I had to take some photos for something else and I was worried a base like white would stand out too much.  Also maybe it was a bit because of the black base but taking photos was a nightmare.  Some angles you would see some colours and the other would vanish, and vice versa.

Overall despite the fact that it wasn't my best I still did like it.  And I'm am super excited to give these another go and show you something that will knock your mismatched socks off!

If you want to buy these you can get them from the Born Pretty Store for $6.45!  And Shipping is FREE!  You can also use our code(EAL91) and get a 10% discount on whatever you buy!

 

 Use this code to get 10% of whatever you buy! Huzzah!

*Product was sent for honest review

OPI Changing of the Garnet: Well this post got very dark, very fast.

So if there is one thing you should take away from my love of polish is that I LOVE red polishes.  If there ever came a day when someone said "From tomorrow on you can only wear ONE colour of nail polish for the rest of your life.  It can be any shade or finish of that colour.  But if you wear any other colour you have to watch everyone else in the world die a horrible death and you will be the only survivor.   Well you and your deep self loathing and the distant memory of a million screaming people desperately trying to cling to what life they had left.  Not only that but death himself will laugh in your face.  Forcing you, and you alone to walk the earth till the end of time.  You body may be decrepit and shattered by the end but you will still linger on.  So.  What colour do you choose?" I would say red.

Changing of the Garnet is first off an oldie.  It's from OPI's 2002 European collection.  It's a garnet red(I see what you did there OPI), made up of red and copper shimmer.  This was 2 easy coats despite it being old.  It smelt like what I assume is Satan's morning breath after a night on the town.  Kleancolor smells better.  I only swatched this and I felt ill.

Over all this is a really nice red, and even though I LOVE reds this is probably one of my least favourites.  And just and FYI when it comes to reds I pretty much like them all in general so long as they don't lean orange.  So least favourite red does not mean I hate it.  When I find the right time to wear it I will show you my fav! I wont tell you what it is it's Chanel Malice.

So tell me guys if you had to only wear ONE colour of polish for the rest of your life.  It can be any shade or finish(glitter counts too but if most be predominantly your colour of choice).  What colour do you choose?

Ps. My next post will be more fun.  Maybe.

 

ETA: As of now.  Approximately an hour and a half after posting this, this post has received over 600 hits and it's just rising!  HOW?  WHY?   The only thing I know is most of the hits are from America.

ETA 2: Just over 12 hours later and it's almost at 4000 hits.  WHAT IS THIS SORCERY???

The verdict is in: I like this better then OPI Spotted.

Yeah I definitely like the water spotted nails better.  I'm glad I didn't spend a silly amount of money on the OPI one.  If you don't know what this technique is watch the vid a linked to.  But if you don't want to here's a quick how to. 1)Fill a container with room temp water 2)Drop droplets of polish in water of colour you would like to be on top 3)Spray with hand sanitizer 4)Stick your finger in it 5)Boom done.

Now the OPI one is unique BUT it always reminds me of dirty water drying slowly.  You know when you spill something and it starts drying in random patches.  You know!

With this technique I feel like the base colour and the colour you choose to use on top of it look better together.  They look like 1.  Does that make sense?  Anyways there are not perfect(See right hand) but I will for sure try these out again.  They are much easier then water marbling!  And you can do them in any colour!

I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls for the base and Black Onyx for the top.  I did the accent nails with Milani Dude Blue and BK Sweet Candy Fast Dry Nail Art Polish in #19* on my left hand and China Glaze Urban-Night and Essie Pretty Edgy on my right.

 

Left hand

 

Right hand

 

* I need to add something about the BK Sweet Candy Fast Dry Nail Art Polish in #19.  In my original review I said it took between 3-4 coats to reach opacity.  Well I was wrong.  I used two coats when I did my accent nail.  I think my problem last time was I never waited long enough which caused constant dragging and bald spots.  I have failed you. *hangs head in shame*.

Random Wednesday: Let's do MATH! (Don't worry it's nail polish math)

The is is regards to the post I did with 53 coats of polish.  Or as I like to call it my claim to fame.

For people who are saying that’s a waste of polish let’s do some math.

Let’s say the average bottle of polish gives you 17 full manicures.  2 coats a manicure.  So every time you do a manicure you use 20 coats total.  So this would have used just over 2 manicures worth.  Let’s just round it up to 3 for fun and to make the math easier.

The average price of the polishes I used were probably $9.  But I’ll bump it to $12 because of the Chanel.

Now if we divide $12 by 17 we get $0.71 a manicure.  Therefore 0.71 x 3 = 2.13

I wasted under $2.13 on this magic.

ETA: Apparently the math is more like $7 something.  But either way my average is actually too high and I said I used more coats then I actually did just so it wouldn't be 2.blahblahblah coats.  So I spent like $5 on this. Oh noes.

*I am not yet a certified mathematician, math wizard or math oracle.

** This is post 234

Dayum! These nails are hott!

The minute I chose BK Sweet Candy Fast Dry Nail Art Polish in #19 I knew I wanted to do badass sun nails.  Despite my general hatred for all things space related I still thought this was a great idea.

I already had on the yellow BK polish from yesterday.  So I added to that by using the saran wrap method and splotching on Orly Holla.  Then I painted in the black with acrylic paint and finished up with more Holla to give it that pretty glow-y, solar flair-y look.

So tell me.  Are you glad or what you'll be long dead by the time our sun turns into a red giant and annihilates the earth?

 

Sun nails with just the sponging

 Flash!

 Natural light.

 

This is not a photo of my nails.

My FIRST yellow polish! - BK Sweet Candy Fast Dry Nail Art Polish

Yes it is true I am, well was a yellow polish virgin.  Now I don't have gallons of polish.  I probably have just over 200.  But you would think that in just over 200 bottles of polish there would be at least one yellow.  Now I have nothing against the colour yellow I just always thought it looked yucky against my skin.

When asked to review some other stuff from the Born Pretty Store I decided why not go crazy and get a yellow polish?  I ended up going with the BK Sweet Candy Fast Dry Nail Art Polish in #19.  The best way to describe it is a SpongBob yellow cream, with uber fine shimmer.  Although as you can see in the pictures depending on the lighting it can look like a more vibrant yellow.  I used 4 coats for complete opacity on my left hand and 3 on my right.  I would have used 3 on my left but I had a bit of dragging which resulted in balk spots.  I think next time I'll use 2 coats over white.  But over all the formula was superb.  Easy to control and not too thick or too thin.

I should also add I don't know if this is 3-free.  None of the ingredients are written in English.  Minus the letters DBP in brackets.  With the help of a translator I saw found the words toluene and formaldehyde.  And the section that had these words was written in all black rather then white like the rest of the text.  So I think it might be.  But don't take my word for it.

Tomorrow I'll show you what I did with this polish on day 2 of wearing it!

Now tell me your innermost feeling on the colour yellow.  This is a safe place.

ETA:  Wait!  I do have a yellow polish!  It's an Orly mini.  But it only half counts because I bought it in a 4 pack and because I wanted the orange that the pack came with.  This is the first time I have intentionaly sought out a yellow polish.

 In natural light

Lightbox

Don't forget to check out the Born Pretty Store for awesome nail polish and fun, amazingly priced nail art goodies! And use our discount code (EAL91) to get a 10% discount on you purchase!

*Products were sent for an honest review

I'm sorry America - Nail fail!

So 90% of the time when I hate a manicure I do I don't actually consider it a fail.  Most of the time something is just off.  Maybe the colours or I'm just not feeling it.

But this (4th of July?) mani that I did eons ago is a personal fail.  Let me now take a moment to go over the fails.

1) Look at those lines.  Something about them makes me sad.  They aren't horrible but I hate them.
2) Those rhinestones are one hot overwhelming mess.  They looked even worse in person.  Really horrific.  Trust me.
3) You can't see it but the topcoat over the rhinestones has more bubbles than a carbonated drink.
4) My nails look horrible after having worn fakes for a few weeks prior.  But if anything you are lucky the horrific mani is covering most of the damage.

Maybe it's just a personal thing but I really dislike this.  What do you think?

NYX Lime and OPI Russian Navy

Because I can't think of a better title. Today's manicure was supposed to be cute and dainty...it ended up looking like absolute crap. But was this proud Valkyrie discouraged? Nay, boys and girls! I emerge victorious with this hot mess.

Yesterday at Winners I bought the ugliest, most glorious shirt I have ever seen. It makes me feel like a clown mortician. I thought the colour combo was really neat and different, so I did some matching nails.

I started with a base of NYX Lime, then used scotch tape to create the lines with OPI Russian Navy. I also stamped my thumb and ring finger with a wacky stars and arrow design. I used a matte finish to imitate the look of the fabric.

Today's post is special - you're seeing my left hand! I'm a lefty, so you'll usually see my right. But today is weird and my left hand just looks better.

China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat, NYX Lime, Seche Vite, OPI Russian Navy, Warpaint Beauty Matte Topcoat. Plate from Bundle Monster.

I'm off to drink wine and play board games. A joyous weekend to you all, dear readers!

OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow Suede

I really love having suede polishes in almost every colour.  When I have 20 minutes to get out the door, and I have naked nails, they are there for me.  And they look great if if you choose to wear top coat or not.

Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow Suede is a dark green suede(obviously).  Packed with silver micro shimmer.  I'm almost positive this was 2 coats(These photos were taken a while ago).  And the formula was fantastic.  No cleanup needed!  It didn't dry too fast and start getting all clumpy or streaky and it didn't dry to slow. 

Now this is from the fall 2010 line and is currently discontinued.  But this along with all the other OPI suede polishes I have were purchased relatively recently in stores. I found this in Ricky's in NYC.  I have no clue if Ricky's is only in NYC or is an American-wide thing.  In general I see these all the time in beauty supply stores.

Do you guys like suede polishes?

Wow Wow Nails: And now for something compleatly different.

Okay well sort of different.  It's still nail related.  And international readers don't let this post scare you off!

Have you ever thought to yourself "I wonder what Konad heaven would look like?"  Let's be honest you have.  Well I present to you Konad Heaven.  It's actually called Wow Wow Nails and is based in  T.Dot(Toronto).  They have 2 locations one in Downtown Toronto and a larger location waaaaay up north(Northern Toronto...not North Bay far).  "It's actually near Markham" said Google maps.  We have never been there but we would like to go there one day.  But it's kind of out of the way to just pop by.

Our first encounter with Wow Wow nails was just over a year and a half ago.  They had a booth and the CNE.  I manged to snag  China Glaze Medallion and Sea Spray.  Then I proceeded to forget the name so I had no clue how to find them.  A couple months later I was doing a show and I ended up walking past their downtown location.  Hallelujah! 

Wow Wow's thing is probably Konad.  You walk in and they literately have a wall of Konad plates, polishes and kits.  But that's not all!  They also sell OPI and China Glaze.  Not just that but one of the things I love about them is they have the stuff from older lines.  I know at one point they had the OMG China Glaze collection.  They also sell Nubar.  Yes physically sell it.  I have NEVER seen Nubar in a store.  Along with the polishes and Konad stuff they also have a slew of nail art equipment like brushes and nail art things like rhinestone and microbeads. And if you are looking for something specific don't be afraid to ask in person or via email.  They may have it at their other location.  You can also go on their website to shop.  They ship to Canada and internationally.  But if you are international you need to email them for more info on that.

 

 "Robyn, act casual for the photo."

And if you're there you can get your nails done(did)!  The offer the shellac service(which we plan on trying at some point soon) and nail art service.  They also have free demos.

I actually didn't even notice the poster on the wall till after I uploaded the photos.  Get your nails done AND get educated.  Is she laughing because of her results?  Either way I suggest all you ladies out there at least look into the Gardasil shot...What just happened to this post?

I should also point out something about Konad.  We were informed by Nina(lady who works there and had oodles of nail knowledge for us) that yes Konad plates are more expensive then say bundle monster($9.99CND) they do have their advantages.  The most noticeable one the details.  Some of the details on the Konad plates are so fine and intricate. We'll probably buy some in the near future and Robyn will review them and talk about them more as she is the stamper of the blog.

M71

 Those dots are like pin pricks.

So anyways you should totally check out Wow Wow Nails especially if you are in Canada.  And no matter where you are you can still check out their website which I linked to up top, and you can also follow their blogger.

So question for every one.  Do you have place like Wow Wow Nails in your city/country?  I'm asking this because I've never seen a salon/store quite like this.