Neon Pop! Oh, and Varnished Valkyrie turns 2 today!! Huzzah!!

Sorry I haven't been updating often, but I have been having bouts of insomnia and it leaves me feeling drained.  I'm hoping that passes soon.  I have nothing really interesting to share apart from I made the best slow cooker ribs ever.  The end.

Today I have this simple manicure inspired by Silvia Lace Nails: Textured nail art with a subtle splash of neon.  I loved how the colour looked just popping through the black textured polish.  For mine I used Milani's Dude Blue and Zoya's Dahlia.  I kind of changed up the french as you can see.  It's still simple, but a but a bit funky.  And even though the textured polish was layered over polish it still wore like iron.

In celebration of turning 2 don't forget to check out our 2 year anniversary wishlist giveaway!!

I don't know how I feel about you... I think I just fell out of like.

So just a quick post because I've been a bad blogger this year :P

1)  I don't think I have mentioned it here(or I may have just mentioned it in passing), but we have an Instagram now.  So everyone should go and follow us over there because that's the cool thing to do.  Everyone's doing it.

2)  This man.  All I did was use some white and then I used the saran wrap technique and blotted on Essence Ultimate Pink and Milani Dude blue.  I finally ended with a square neon pink stud from The Born Pretty Store.  I don't know if I like it.  I liked it when I originally finished it, but I kinda just fell out of like.  There's nothing wrong with it, I just had a really short like affair.

What do you think about this mani?  Are you in like with it?

*The colour of the pink stud was REALLY hard to capture in some of these.  In real life it is probably closer to the second picture.

Also if you would like to buy these studs you can get them here. And you can also use our 10% Born Pretty Discount code EAL91.

*Some products were sent for review.

Born Pretty Nail Strips - Checkered Watermelon Nails!

These nail strips from Born Pretty actually feature checkers AND leopard print. "Checkered watermelon" is the reaction I got from a friend who noticed them after downing a mug of rum.

I really wasn't sure about this design at first - Kas picked them out and surprised me! Once they were on, though, yes. This pattern is amazing. Check it out:

I did have some issues with application, however. The package doesn't indicate if they're real nail polish strips or stickers - we think they're stickers, but very thin ones. They can stretch a LITTLE bit, but be careful as they can tear! Because they're not very forgiving, I found it difficult to apply them completely flat and most nails had a few bumps in them. I suggest placing them along the centre of the nail first and then smoothing them out along the sides.

This is what happens if you try to "clean up" the edge with acetone. It's not pretty. Be sure to cut them to size and place carefully!

Kas wiggled the thumb sticker around a bit for me, but it ended up tearing. Watch out for that! Fortunately, it wasn't really visible from a standard hand-to-face distance.

These lasted me well through an evening, but they started to look pretty ratty after 8 hours. If you're planning to wear these for more than a night out, be sure to wrap your tips well and use the hardest-wearing topcoat you've got.

Final Verdict: These are not the best. But for $2.99 and free shipping, they're worth the price for a fabulous one-night manicure! Now that I know what to avoid when applying them, I would happily try them again in many of the very exciting designs available.

Go check out Born Pretty Store for these and more fabulous nail art supplies! Always remember our coupon code for 10% off!

 

*Product sent for honest review 

Loudest ColoUr indeed...

So a while ago I showed you one of my first polishes by Sation, over this one.  Loudest Color(oh how I wish people would learn to spell properly.. COLOUR :P) is a fabulous neon with a texture that's almost jelly-like.  It's somewhere between neon green and neon yellow, definitely leaning green.

Now, I know neons aren't everyone's thing.  For the life of me I cannot understand why, but that's another conversation for another day.  They just give me a case of the cheerfuls!  How can you not feel happy looking at bright and peppy neon colours???

But anyway, onto the actual polish:  Application was good, a little thick, but in general nothing that a little extra care couldn't fix.  I used two coats for these swatches, and it looked more opaque IRL.  It's also a little greener in person and a WHOLE LOT more retina-searingly bright.  As you can see from the last photo, this polish is kind of a chameleon.  I love it <3

Natural light, no flash.

Our 100th post! Have some cake and body painting!

HAPPY 100 POSTS!

So I knew this post was coming when I had it done about 10 days ago, but when I noticed we were close to 100 posts yesterday, I thought that maybe I'd do it then to make it kind of special.  So yeah, happy 100 post-iversary, Valkyries!  We're so glad to have you all with us and we thank you for following!

So this started when my good friend from school, Matti, asked me to be a part of an art project he's doing, where he blends music and painting to create human canvasses of people he meets/knows/loves.  I thought it sounded cool and I was really excited to be a part of it.  I was an art model in college(and occasionally still am) and it was always a TON of fun and a great challenge for both mind and body.  Until you can say you've fainted, naked, in front of a roomful of strangers, you haven't really had a rough day at work :P

So for Matti's project he has you pick out 10 songs or pieces of music and 5 colours that you feel represent you and then he hits play and starts painting.  I chose bright pink, leaf green, sunshine yellow, bright turquoise, and a royal blue.  He posts a blog about each experience afterward, so here's mine!. (If you look closely in the "before" picture, you can see my spectraflair holo nails!)

As he painted, the colours started to blend together and we had purple, orange, and all sorts of other bright, happy things.  Matti thought I looked like a tropical fish, and I have to say I kind of agree.  And no, he didn't watch the Gotye(is that how you spell it?) video first,

So enough talk, let's get to the pictures!

The inspiration:

The polishes I used:

L-R:  Essie Good To Go top coat, China Glaze Surfin' For Boys, Finger Paints Outta Sight Orange, Kleancolor Neon Yellow, OPI Did It On Em, China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard, OPI Green-Wich Village, OPI Fly, Orly Royal Navy, Urban Outfitters Bandeau, and OPI Pompeii Purple.

Instagram pic - Left Hand.  Any of you on instagram?  

Feel free to leave your name or follow me @likeyoursilence.

Left Hand: Indoor lighting.

Left hand: Outdoor, natural light. 

Right Hand: Both pictures show outdoor lighting.  

For some reason my middle finger photographed horribly.  I promise it looks good IRL!

Happy 100 posts :)  To celebrate(or, you know, because I've had tickets for months...) I'm going to a Parlotones concert!  Can't wait :D

Fun with striping tape and the new China Glaze Summer Neons...

So not too long ago I received some striping tape, and I made my first attempt at a mani with it, and I think it went decidedly.... Okay.  It's not great, but not bad.  I'd give it a solid B!

I used the three China Glaze Summer Neons that I picked up(Sun-kissed, I'm With The Lifeguard, and Surfin' For Boys) and my favourite Orly Liquid Vinyl.  Sure, the idea's not exactly original, but it's really fun and I certainly enjoyed wearing it.

Once I figure out how to take the tape off more effectively, I think I'll be a lot better(see: the spot on my index finger..).  So there'll be lots of these in my future until I get it perfect.

Do you guys like doing tape manis like this?  Any tips you can give me on getting better?

If not, any fun colour combos you'd like to see?

Orly Dayglow and Melt Your Popsicle

So for those who, like me, are looking forward to adorning their nails with some crazazy neons this summer, this is another post for you!

I have for you today two more of Orly's Feel The Vibe polishes, Dayglow and Melt Your Popsicle.  Dayglow is a white shade with a very, very, very slight blue flash.  It's an EXCELLENT base for neons, so if you're in the market for a good white, make it this one!  For this swatch I used two very thin coats.  As you can see it's not entirely opaque, but I think two normal coats or three thin ones would do the trick nicely if you were looking to wear it alone.

 2 thin coats, artificial light.

Next up is Melt Your Popsicle(Katy Perry, anyone?), which is an electric orange shade.  Now, I also have Essie Bright Tights, but this is in a whole other world.  I took over 80 photos of this baby, and only about 10 looked anything close to normal.  The flash does something to this one, it makes it look like orange juice!  Here are a few of the best shots I could get.   Orly clearly meant business with these neons!

This is the closest to colour accuracy I could get, and this is still a VERY muted version of the real shade. 

It matches my hula hoop!

I tried to get some fun motion shots with my hoop, but this is my favourite one.  I love it!

Orly Glowstick

This, my friends, is one that needs to be seen to be believed.  Now, I am a fan of neons.  I have many, I am always looking for new ones.  They're perfect for summer and I love how they just make everything a little more fun.  My mother calls them "Georgia's trailer trash nails", but whatevs, we all know how crazy moms can be!  I will always be excited when a brand comes out with more neons!  And since Orly is one of my favourite brands, I was super excited to see some neons in their latest collection.  I have Glowstick for you today, and I will have Melt Your Popsicle another day this week.

Glowstick is BRIGHT.  Photo taking was a NIGHTMARE because the colour just doesn't want to look as bright as it really is.  Also, some of you who follow us on Facebook might have seen how weird the swatch I uploaded looks, well, that's the SAME PICTURE as the last picture here.  Clearly Facebok hates this colour too.  But Orly have outdone themselves with these, because they are the brightest neons I've found.  They are insane, retina-searing neons, and this is the closest to an actual highlighter yellow polish I've seen.  The other thing that you can see here that I LOVE about neons is how damn TAN they make me look.  This is two coats over white.

Do any of you share my affinity for neons? What's your all-time favourite neon shade?