Week 9: Vintage Mani FAIL

Hey guys, it's Week 9 of this yearlong mani challenge I'm on. I'm putting this Vintage mani in the FAIL column.

Yuck! I really really really don't like this. But in the name of the challenge I did it and posted it.I started with one coat of China Glaze Heaven, a sheer shimmery light peach color, because I was trying to camouflage my yellow tips a little bit--not that it actually worked.

 
I used reinforcement stickers and tape to divide my nail area. 

Then I painted the center with China Glaze Winter Berry--a really nice deep jelly red, and took off the tape and reinforcements as soon as I finished painting each nail. I tried to clean up my lines with my cleanup brush  and acetone. 

So yea FAIL. Once I saw how this was turning out I decided to only do these four fingers you see and as soon as I snapped these photos this came off with the quickness. I don't even have the desire to ever try this again and see if it turns out better. It's just that bad.

Anyway, hopefully next week's polka dot challenge leaves me with a mani I can actually wear for more than five minutes.

Milani Color Play Swatches

I was in CVS the other day and I saw the new Milani Color Play collection. It had been a while since I had seen a new Milani collection that I was actually interested in so I was excited. I picked up four of the six colors. There was also a silver called Silver Stiletto and pink called Tip Toe Pink included in the collection, but they didn't excite me much so I left them.

L-R: Sail Away, Orchidia, Mint Candy, Beach Front

Sail Away denim blue with very strong silver shimmer running through it. I did two coats here, but I could have easily gotten away with one had I not been trying to camouflage the patch on my middle finger nail. As you can see it dries a bit darker than bottle color, but that's alright with me.

 Mint Candy. My absolute favorite of the collection. It's a pretty turquoise with this awesome light turquoise shimmer running through it. Two coats shown here. It's a bit greener than my swatch shows here though. I love tone on tone shimmer. It excites me! LOL.

 Orchidia, runner up for my favorite in the collection. I tried to color correct this photo a bit as my camera absolutely refuses to show the true color of any purple. It's a purple that leans towards the pink end of the spectrum and it has this great silver shimmer running through it to keep it interesting. As with the others I did two coats here.

 And the last of the four I picked up, Beach Front, a pretty sky blue color with silver shimmer. Again two easy coats for this swatch. It looks like it could be a cousin of OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam and OPI I Have a Herring Problem from the Holland Collection.

I really like all of these. The formula is really smooth and easy to work with. Two coats and you're set. Have you guys seen these yet? Are you planning on getting any of these? If you haven't spotted them at CVS, they're available on MilaniCosmetics.com for $4.49.

Mardi Gras Mani

Hey guys! It's Fat Tuesday! Yay! To celebrate, I went with a traditional purple, green and gold theme for my Mardi Gras mani.

I started with two coats of L'Oreal's Amazon Flash, a super sparkly yellow toned gold. I still had visible nail line after two coats, but I knew I was layering another glitter over it so I didn't let that bother me.

Then I topped that with two coats of China Glaze Marry a Millionaire, which is seriously Mardi Gras in a bottle. It has purple, green and gold bar glitter in a clear base. So perfect for the occasion! It does dry with a gritty finish so be prepared to use your favorite glitter taming combo. I used one coat of Gelous and then one coat of Pro-FX Quick Dry.

It's like Mardi Gras confetti in polish form! I love this! My family is Guyanese and we celebrate this day as Shrove Tuesday. I'm waiting for my mom to call me with her Shrove Tuesday pancake recipe and then I'll be all set!

I originally wanted to stamp a mask design over this, but the image was huge and didn't fit on my ring finger, so I just left it as is. Simple, but still very blingy and festive. I hope you guys enjoy your day. Did you do a festive mani? Tweet me some pics!

Week 8: Corset Mani

Happy Monday guys! I'm so happy to be off work today! I can't believe eight weeks of this challenge has already gone by. I was excited about trying out this corset look until I sat down to do it. Oh what a pain in the butt this mani was. I tried out several variations with rhinestones and stamping but those were uber fails, so I settled on freehand. I always forget how bad I am at freehand nail art until I sit down to do it.

Here's a pictures strip to show the progression of the manicure.

I started the mani with two coats of Sinful Colors Tutu from their Valentine's Heartbreaker collection. Not bad for a sheer light pink.

Then I did some stamping with Sally Hansen Pink Satin and Red Angel image plate 106. I did a poor job on my ring finger, but I didn't figure it would matter much since I was going to be adding large amounts of black.

I used American Apparel Hassid to create the two black panels on the side Sally Hansen Silver Chrome for the lace hooks and a black acrylic paint for the laces. I topped all that with Orly Fifty-Four for some shimmer. You guys know how I am about shimmer. Loves it!

Definitely  not my best work, but it'll do. Next week's challenge is for a Vintage mani--what does that even mean? I'm glad I have all week to think about it. Thanks for stopping by and if you have any ideas about vintage mani look feel free to leave me a comment.

Versatile Blogger Award

Hey guys! I know you guys don't usually hear from me on Sundays, but Tia from Pretty Polished Pointers nominated me for this Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks so much Tia!

Here are the rules that come with accepting the award:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.

2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination.

3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.

4. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

5. Add the Versatile Blogger award picture to your blog post.

I'm breaking the first rule and I'm just going to nominate all my fellow bloggers reading this! Consider yourself notified and accept it if you will.

Now on to the random facts.  

1. I love cheese. 

2. I've never had a pet.

3. My birthstone is Sapphire.

4. I freaking love cop dramas. I watched all five seasons of The Wire in about a week during the Christmas holidays. I'm now hooked on The Shield.

5. I wear socks to bed year-round.

6. Nail polish broke me out of my aversion to online shopping.

7. I love crossword puzzles.

Thanks again Tia for nominating me for this award. I hope my blogging readers do this as well!

 

Week 7: Valentine's Mani

Hey guys! I'm so excited that I'm actually posting my Week 7 Challenge Mani on time! Whoo hoo!

I wanted to try out the Watercolor manicure trend I've seen floating around various blogs and YouTube channels. Once you have your base color applied the basic idea is to apply various dots of color and spread them out with a brush dipped in acetone. Simple!

 Here's what I used to create this look. 

L-R: Revlon Calla Lily, Revlon Frankly Scarlet, Revlon Temptress, Revlon Ruby Ribbons

I started this mani with one coat of Revlon Calla Lily over two coats of Nail Life Ridge Filler. Then I used Revlon Frankly Scarlet, Revlon Ruby Ribbons and Revlon Temptress for the watercolor design. Then I topped all of that with another coat of Revlon Calla Lily for some extra sparkle.

I love the way this turned out. It's so girly and it sorta looks like abstract roses. Appropriate for Valentine's Day right?

Have you guys tried out this type of mani? I'm loving it and really want to experiment with some other colors. I'm thinking a purple, green and yellow could look really hot for Spring--which I am impatiently waiting on! It's too cold in my neck of the woods.

Peach Wednesday Challenge Mani

 I'm soooo late posting my Week 6 challenge half-moon mani. But here it is!

I used two coats of Essie A Crewed Affair which is a peachy-pink. Does this count for Pink Wednesday? Well I'm calling it Peach Wednesday. I really need to get back to posting my pinks, but I haven't used one in a while.

I topped the Essie with one coat of the sparkle coat from the Nailene Artist Expressions Warm set. I don't really like this style of manicure on me, so to jazz it up I added some dots down the side using Essie Go Overboard.

Here's a bit of a blurry shot so you can see some more of the sparkle from the Nailene. I like it. I can't wait to use it over some different colors.

Next week's challenge is a Valentine's mani. I really need to settle down on an idea. Hope you guys are having a fantastic week so far!

Icing Magnetix Swatches

Last week I picked up Icing's four-color collection of magnetic polishes. They are super glittery and the magnets on these work great.

Unfortunately they are nameless. There are two different types of magnets--one produces straight lines and the other wavy ones. I like that the cap is removable, like the ones by Nails Inc.

All these swatches are of one coat ( Love that!) no top coat or base coat. 

First up, the green/golden color. This one came with the straight magnet. It also had a wonky brush, so you might want to check for that. It wasn't unusable though, but it's something to look out for.

As you can see by the time I got to my index finger (I start my manis and swatches with my pinky) I flipped the magnet and got the lines going in the opposite direction. I totally did not do this on purpose. I wasn't paying attention and then when I looked down at the result I was all "one of these things is not like the others." LOL. So yea if you want all your lines going in the same direction pay close attention to how you hold your magnet.

I got the hang of it by the time I started using the black/gray/silver one. This one also came with the straight lines magnet. I feel like if I were to name these I'd call this one tire tracks.

I didn't really expect to like the pink/magenta one as much as I did, but it turned out to be my favorite of the four. Mine came with the wavy magnet, so that's what I used for this swatch.

Then I rotated the wavy magnet, using the blue shade. I really like the look of the wavy lines going vertically. It gives it a ocean wave feel. I love the lighter blue against the darker one. Be careful with this though, it has the potential to be a stainer.

How are you guys feeling about the magnetic nail trend? I'm loving it. I'm all for quick and easy nail art. I'd love to see a neon one. That could be so awesome!

The Icing Magnetix retail for $9.50, but you can get them buy one get one 50 percent off. Good deal I'd say. 

Revlon Whimsical

I found my bottle of Revlon Whimsical last night. Don't you know it was exactly where it was supposed to be--in the Revlon drawer in my helmer. Yes I have an entire helmer drawer devoted to Revlon. What can I say, between CVS putting many of them on clearance during their beauty clearance and various other drug store sales I've managed to amass around 75 of them.

I don't know how I managed to overlook it the other night. But all is good, she was not lost at all! Anyway here's one coat of Whimsical over yesterday's mani, Sinful Colors Cinderella.

Cinderella is a perfect base for Whimsical which is very very sheer. I'd probably never wear Whimsical alone.

As a reminder here's a shot of Cinderella alone. Two coats. Could have gone for a third, but I was tired.

I managed to get the pink hex glitters on all my nails save the index. I feel like my nails are screaming, let's go to a baby shower!

 Looks just like the bottle.

These two were made for each other. I'm glad I was able to bring them together.

So what do you guys think? Have you found either of these? Still on the hunt? If you have them, try them together. It's pretty.