Sally Hanson's Gray Area: Y U Bubble?

Sally Hanson's Gray area is a gray cream with brown and purple undertones.  For these photos I used 2 coats.  And the formula was pretty good!

My problem with it was when I woke up the next morning it had bubbled.  You can actually kind of see it starting on the ring finger in the photos.  Now maybe it was my fault.  Maybe I layered the coats on too thick.  I'll give this polish another shot though.  It's such a pretty and chic fall colour!

I should also mention I can't stand the bottle.  You wipe off the brush, start doing your nails, and boom, an avalanche of polish that had been on the length of the brush. Longer doesn't mean better...if you know what I mean. (Get your face out of the gutter).

Rodarte Inspired Nails

So despite the fact that I have a folder, on my desktop labeled 'Fashion'(which is full of mostly runway photos that I intended to use for nail inspiration), that has been collecting photos for almost 7 months now.  I have yet to actually sit down and do fashion inspired nails since February when I did my Diane von Fürstenberg nails, and Richard Chai nails. Until now. (Okay that's a bit of a lie.  I've done about 3 since then.  But they all turned out looking like poop so I never posted them).

I really just wanted something really simple to do.  So when I was rummaging through the folder and saw this Rodarte piece I knew I had to do it.  All I used was OPI's Onyx, and acrylic paint.  I was going to use Illamasqua Scorn to give it that leather look.  But I realized the paint would look like well, dry paint when it was dry.  And that would mean I would probably have to add topcoat to it making everything shiny.  My other thought was put a matte topcoat on top.  But then I realized that not only would the paint still look like dry paint but, since Scorn had no shimmer in it, it would also look like dry paint.  So it was plain black polish for me!

Ps.  Badass post tomorrow! Well I think it's badass.

Essie Moonstruck - What's this? A white polish that dosen't make me want to cry?

My original title said "A white polish that doesn't make me want to pull my finger nails out with pliers"  But I thought that was too much.  At least for a nail blog.  So I put it here instead :D

So white polish eh? You know what I mean.  I find most white creams I use are giant bitches. They get goopy too fast. Or they're streaky.  Or they bubble.  Or they're some sick combination of all three.  But not this.  Oh no.  Not this.

I used 4 coats of Essie's Moonstruck. Granted as usual I could have gotten away with 3.  Moonstruck is a white with gray undertones.  So it's not white enough that it looks like correction fluid.  It has a softness to it.  Application was smooth and it evened itself out like something that easily evens itself out nicely.

So if you're looking for a white polish,  I think this is discontinued.  So you are out of luck...forever. I'm kidding.  Try Essie Marshmallow.  I heard that's good!

Orly Lucky Duck: Bubble, bubble toil and trouble...

Maybe it's just me and my bottle but I was unlucky enough to get this bubble fest. *sadness face*

Lucky Duck is a jade cream that is apparently a dupe for OPI's Jade Is the New Black, but I don't own it so I can't say for sure.  I used 3 coats for this. I love the colour but I found the formula to be tricky from the get go.  It was on the goopy side.  And it kept bubbling.  I added thinner but it still bubbled. Boo. Maybe I'll give it another shot and next time I'll add a bit more thinner because its such a pretty colour.

You can't really see the bubbles in the photos because I took them right after the final coat.  The bubbles appeared a few minutes later.

Ps. Ignore my fluctuating nail length. These photos were taken at the beginning of March. Speaking of nail length I think I want my nails a TAD longer.  I know I wanted them short but a couple I cut too short by mistake and they're tricky to file.

OPI Over The Taupe

 Let's talk nudes for a second guys guys.

1) Always, always, ALWAYS lock your phone.  You don't want people rummaging.
2) I wish there were more nude polish collections that also had darker skin in mind.  The few nudes I have are random browns, from random collections. And most nude collections look far better on lighter skin.

Anywhoo just a simple swatch today! Over The Taupe is green... It's not, it's taupe. OPI made this easy for me. It's a taupe cream.  It reminds me of coffee!  I used 3 coats in the photos.  The sad thing is I love this colour but have only worn it out once, yet I've done I think 5 manicures with it.  Most of the time I either ended up not going out or taking it off because I changed my mind.

I added black tips(OPI Black Onyx) in an attempt to look classy with a side of badass. I'm pretty sure that was a success.

ALSO before I forget (because I keep forgetting and just remembered when I saw the first comment to this post!) Thank you Stephanie over at A Little Polish for the The Liebster Award! Everyone needs to go and check out her blog!

Ebony and Ivory Swatch China Glazes Hunger Games Collection - Part 1

So first off you should know that we're going to try and do combined posts too.  This is something we've been wanting to do for a while.  We thought it would be nice to be able to come to one place and see how something might look on darker and lighter skin or on different nail shapes. And not only that but taste wise we're pretty opposite. George leans towards brighter colours and glitter where I (Kas) lean towards warmer, and vampy colours, and prefer shimmer. But that doesn't mean we don't deviate.  Also we don't read each others reviews before posting them so it's fun to see when we have two wildly different opinions on things (See Smoke & Ashes :P). Anyways let's get this wheel of cheese rolling!

Quick intro! George is a big Hunger Games fan and I read the first book and I thought it was ok. She was excited for this collection.  I was neutral.  George is tall. I am average height. George bought 6 bottles from the collection.  I bought none.

Riveting (District 3 - Technology)

George

Kas

Kas: In the sun

Riveting is and Orange jelly with golden flecks.  We used 3 coats.

George: I love this colour. It's just so bright and shimmery and I love that it doesn't clash with my skin. It has a lot of depth and just seems to glow. This is definitely one of my must-have picks for this collection!

Kas: I really liked this colour in the bottle but I already knew I wouldn't like it on me.  I find most oranges look horrific on my skin tone. But the colour is by no means ugly.  It's beautiful and if you can work it.... work it :P Also it reminds me of a magical tangerine (because I see them all the time).

Dress Me Up (District 8 - Textiles)

Kas

George

Kas

George

Dress Me Up is a dusty pink cream.  We  both used 2 coats. But you may need 3 depending on how thick you do each coat.

Kas: I was unsure of this colour (as I always am at first of most pinks) but I was hopeful because it was a dusty pink and those are generally the types of pinks I like. I'm happy to say that I really liked it.  And the formula was flawless in my opinion.  This is also a great work safe polish.

George: Well, you already saw this on me in my Pirouette My Whistle post, but here it is again. Let me just say: I LOVE THIS. You all know my feelings about neutrals, but for some reason this one just won me over. I think it's because it's dusty and sophisticated while also being just plain pretty. I mean, look at it! Talk about the perfect neutral.

Smoke & Ashes (District 12 - Mining)

George

George: Sunlight

Kas: Sunlight

Kas: Sunlight

Smoke & Ashes is a black based polish with blue-green micro flecks.  We used 2 coats in the pictures.

George:  A lot of bloggers were disappointed with this colour, which is shocking to me, because I think it's amazing. The blue and green shimmer just come alive in almost any light, and the blackened base gives it versatility. I wore this with a flakie topcoat and the result was absolutely incredible. I just don't understand how anyone couldn't love this.

Kas: Now to be honest I wasn't too crazy over this collection.  But from the initial photos I thought this would be the one I bought. But after swatching it this was quite the disappointment. The flecks don't pop enough. The black om noms too much of it.  Now I love polishes with hidden secrets but the key is the secret can't be hidden forever. In theory this polish was a good idea. But it was executed poorly.

Well that's all for now.  Tomorrow we shall have the final 3 that we own up. 

Ciao!

OPI - Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?

So this week had been quite busy so I haven't really felt like updating until right now. Life eh?

Anyways today I have a swatch!  I was actually wearing this a couple of days ago and one of my best friends Robyn noticed it and asked if that was the polish from OPI's Holland collection.  I was so happy she was able to identify it.  She used to make fun of my polish obsession and to see the disgusting polish monster she's become makes me warm right down to the cockles of my heart.

So Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI? was the only polish from the collection that I bought.  I think I've mentioned this before but I'm rather picky when it comes to polish.  Generally I only find a couple per collection that I really, really like and want.  And in the Holland collection this was the one.

Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI? Is a plum cream that is full of coppery shimmer.  It almost looks like embers from a fire.  Application was a dream.  Two coats, no problem.  This colour really comes to life in the sun, but even indoors when the shimmer isn't as noticeable there's still something special about it!

Well that's all for today!  I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I shall spend mine indoors writing like crazy and trying not to get distracted :P

Ps. Drei!

H&M Plum + Fierce nails

I have a swatch today of H&M's nail polish Plum. I really wasn't expecting much out of it. I had bought something before Christmas at H&M and they had given me a $5 discount. Luckly for me there was no minimum purtchas limit. So I ended up buying this an another tiny of bottle of nail polish with the card and payed nothing.

H&M Plum is exactly the colour it sounds like. It's a deep plum cream(although aubergine would have been an equally acceptable name). To my surprise this had a great formula. I had full coverage in 2 coats and even before I put top coat on it was super shiney. My only complaint was the brush.  I knew that it wouldn't be the best just because the bottle was small (0.23 fl.oz) but the brush itself didn't fan out that easily.  And I've had small bottles that were decent for what they were.

Then I decided since I was going to be wearing this as an actual mani I wanted to spice it up. So I got out some tape, my bottle of Milani One Coat Glitter in Silver Dazzle and La vola! I've seen them before but I'm not sure what they're called. But I do know this.  They are pretty damn fierce (and I never say fierce). They ooze with sexy prowess. I need to do my nails like this one day for the boy. Valkyrie approved.  They may simple but I love the way they look.  Why didn't I do this sooner?! I will definitely be doing this again!

OPI Black Onyx

So I love OPI.  Great formula, stellar brushes, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I hate this polish.

Back Onyx is a black, cream.  In the photos I used 2 coats.  It went on smoothly and everything.  It's probably because since I have had it I've used up most of my polish thinner in it.  90% of the time this is a goopy mess.  I make sure to close it properly, it's always standing upright.  And I've seen reviews saying this is amazing.  And you know what? Maybe it is and I just got a jacked up bottle.  *Sigh* I may give it another go because I do like OPI a lot.

There was far to much negativity in this post. Let's negate that with a picture of Take That's Howard Donald!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Sephora by OPI - Break a Leg Warmer

This is the only polish I was interested in from Sephora by OPI's Urban Ballerina collection. And boy oh boy was I glad I bought it!

First off when it comes to polishes in general I find that (at least in my case) if there's any formula that's gonna give you application problems it's gonna be glitter or cream based polishes.  I find if any polish is ether going to be goopy or get goopy over time its going to be one of the two.  Let me just say that the formula for this is FLAWLESS.  It applies like butter (if you put butter on your nails, and it was a really good polish, and not butter). It goes on opaque in 2 easy coats and evens out beautifully.

Break a Leg Warmer is a true medium to dark gray.  And I love it because it's just gray.  Not grayish blue, or grayish green.  Just Gray. <---- Imagine that said by Jack Mcfarland from Will & Grace.  If you watch/watched the show you'll get why.

This last picture is actually quite old.  And I had been wearing it for a few days which is why it's scuffed up and such.  But I really like wearing Break a Leg Warmer wit Milani's one coat glitter, Silver Dazzle.

Essie - Pretty Edgy

Let's keep the ball rolling with the bright colours!!!!

So today I have Essie's Pretty Edgy to show you.  George actually gave me this due to the fact that it made her look sick.  Now I personally really like this colour.  Normally I'm not a huge green fan but recently I've been liking it more and more.

Pretty Edgy is a true green cream.  I used 3 coats.  But you could get away with 2 thicker coats.  It evened out ok.  For some reason I find Essie polish's a bit difficult to apply.  I think it's partially a brush thing.  They are super narrow and they don't fan out the way I like a brush to.  I find the wider brushes work better for me.

But even so this is a beauty of a colour.  I may wear it for St. Patty's day.  I might not. I have something else in mind.  I'm not wearing it.  Naw I kid... I really have no clue if I'm gonna wear it.  I have some ideas but you'll have to wait to see em!

BTW it's just past 4:30 am where I am and I JUST realized my nails are naked and I have to go out later. I'm pretty sure everyone knows what this means... 4:30 am nail art time. Logic.  So expect some nail art in the next day or two!

Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue

So I used this polish in my previous Diane von Fürstenberg inspired nails. Can I just say I love this colour. It's probably my favorite out of all my blues. It's a gorgeous cornflower blue cream.  It goes on in 2-3 coats depending on how thick of coats you like.

The only thing negative I have to say about this is sometime it's a tad hard to control.  As you probably know the Sally Hansen Xtream Wear polishes have longer brushes.  So sometimes even when you wipe the brushes down there still plenty sliding down from the top part of the brush.  So you have to be carful with that.

I don't think this polish is out anymore but either way if you do find it I suggest you get it!

Essie's Innocent

Well Valentines day is almost here.  So here's a pink by Essie.

I'm super festive.

Well that sounded bitter.  Not to worry I'm not, I'm just not huge on Valentines day.  I mean we all know that Pride is the big holiday next to Christmas (It's srs business guys... not even joking).

Anyhoo this is a dusty pale pink cream by Essie called Innocent.  At first when I saw it I was unimpressed.  Pinks just really aren't me.  But when I put it on *swoon*.  It's packed full of pink micro shimmer that flashes blue.  It's the perfect SFW polish.  It's delicate with a little something extra.  I used 3 coats in the swatches.  And even though this bottle was kinda old the polish itself went without any problems.

Ps.  Sorry for my dry hands and my inablilty to clean up my nails after filing them.

See the pretty shimmer in the bottle?

Now it's on the nails!