China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

Hey guys!

We've been having some amazing weather here in Wisconsin, so I figure now's the time to get out the neon polishes.  Today I have Flip Flop Fantasy from the China Glaze Poolside Collection for Summer 2010.  Let me warn you, I could not get a good, color-accurate picture of this polish.  Believe it or not, both of the pictures below are of the same polish! The first picture really shows how the color pops. The second picture is a little more color accurate, but downplays the brightness.



China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy



Flip Flop Fantasy is a bright coral pink creme.  If you work in retail or have been shopping lately, you'll see that Coral is THE color of Spring 2012.  From tops to shoes, (and of course your nails!) you must rock some Coral!  Here's a little tip I've picked up:  Because neons are difficult to apply (i.e. they're thick and streaky), apply a thin coat of white polish first.  Then apply your neon polish.  For this mani I used 2 coats.  Neons also tend to dry with a matte finish, so I opted to use a top coat.

Thanks for stopping by!

K

OPI Designer Series Temptation

Hey guys!

Happy Valentine's Day! I was really excited to do a fun Vday mani, but time got away from me so I just did a simple pink mani. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, but I used Pink Voltage from China Glaze. It was really just an excuse to wear a neon pink in the middle of Winter!  After I removed my Valentine's mani, I decided to try OPI DS Temptation, the one and only OPI Designer Series polish that I own.  I was so excited for this polish and couldn't wait to put it on.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this one.  In the past the DS polishes were holographic, which explained the price difference.  A regular bottle of OPI is about $8.50, the DS polishes are $12.50.  As pretty as this DS Temptation is, I don't think it's worth the price increase.  Anyway....onto the mani!



OPI DS Temptation
no flash with artificial light



w/flash

Temptation is a beautiful purple glitter, with teal and royal blue glitter mixed in.  Application on this was pretty bad.  It was very sheer and watery, then when I applied the second and third coats, it turned thick and goopy.  After 3 coats, I added a coat of Gelous and Seche Vite to smooth out the gritty finish.  In the end I love the color.  It's very rich and vibrant, and they definitely didn't skimp on the glitter.  Is it worth the extra money?  Probably not as far as quality goes.  But if you're a polish collector and lover, and you don't have a similar color, I'd say go for it since they are a limited edition. 


Thanks for stopping by!


K

OPI Super Bass Shatter and Save Me

Hey guys!

Today I have the top coat/effect polishes from the Nicki Minaj collection for OPI.  Below I have both polishes layered over the other polishes from this collection.

Layered with OPI Save Me

Here is one coat of OPI Save Me over (from left to right) Pink Friday, Did It On Em', Fly and Metallic 4 Life.  Below is 3 coats of Save Me on it's own.  Save Me is a clear base with silver micro glitter and blue/holographic bar glitter.  I have a ton of glitter polish in my collection, but nothing like this one!  Application was pretty good for a chunky glitter.  I will probably only use Save Me as a layering polish, since it's pretty hard to get full coverage with this one.

Save Me on its own

Next up is Super Bass Shatter over (from left to right) Pink Friday, Did It On Em', Fly and Metallic 4 Life.  Below is Super Bass over 3 coats of Save Me.  Super Bass is a shimmery purple shatter.  I love how it can take on so many different colors depending on what it's layered over.   Super Bass applied beautifully.  Alot of the other shatters seem to apply pretty thick, and the bottles seem to really thicken up.  After owning this for a month, and using it quite a bit, it's still perfect.  Like most shatters this does dry matte, so the pictures below show Super Bass without a top coat, and with a coat of Seche Vite.

Layered with Super Bass Shatter
no top coat

Layered with Super Bass Shatter
w/top coat

Save Me with a coat of Super Bass Shatter
w/top coat

I can definitely see how this was inspired by Nicki Minaj.  It's fun and funky, but not too crazy.  Overall I really enjoyed these polishes, and I think the colors are perfect for a Spring/Summer collection. 

Thanks for stopping by!

K

Retro Pink Wednesday......with OPI Pink Friday!

Hey guys!


Today I have the mani that I'll be wearing for Pink Wednesday.  This is OPI Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj collection.  I also decided to a black outline on my accent nail.  I first saw this technique on Tornado Calli's blog and thought it was really cute and had kind of a retro feel to it.

OPI Pink Friday w/flash

OPI Pink Friday
artificial light without flash

Pink Friday is a bubble gum pink creme.  I used 3 coats to cover up some streaks and bald spots.  Unfortunatly this didn't apply as well as the other cremes from this collection.  For the black outline, I used a nail art polish by Kiss and started by drawing a line down each side, then along the base of the nail as well as the tip of the nail to connect each side making a square.  Then I repeated the steps to thicken the lines and round out the edges.  Overall the outline was pretty easy, but next time I do it, I'll be sure to pick up a nail art pen to have a little more control over the lines. 


Teen Vogue has an awesome tutorial for this technique and includes a "Retro-Glam" mani.  I found this link after I did this mani, but I wish I had seen this first!  Check it out for a more indepth how-to.

Thanks for stopping by!

K

Hello Kitty!

Hey guys!

Today I have a Hello Kitty mani I did tonight.  I got the idea from my sister, who had seen someone with a similar design.  This is the first time I've ever tried painting something so detailed, even though it's not really that detailed.  I used the following for this mani:

• 2 coats of OPI Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj collection
• Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Lavender Cloud for the face
• Sinful Black on Black for the outline, eyes, whiskers and polka dots
• Revlon Top Speed Fast Dry Nail Enamel in Electric for the nose
• China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic from the Electropop collection for the bow

(L-R) Revlon Electric, SH Lavender Cloud, Sinful Black on Black, OPI Pink Friday, CG Fuchsia Fanatic 

I wanted to take photos for a step by step tutorial, but I ended up remembering half way through. I plan on doing a tutorial after some more practice.  Here is what I came up with.

I was going to take some more pictures of her face, but I messed her up when I tried fixing the eyes.  I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to my nails.....but I ended up making it worse!  Overall I think it's a cute mani, but it's not really for me.

Thanks for stopping by!

K

First Pink Wednesday Post and Gradient Tutorial

Hey guys!

This is my first Pink Wednesday post, and I'm so excited!  If you haven't seen Mean Girls, I highly recommend it.  I wanted to do something fun in honor of Pink Wednesday, so I decided on a pink gradient mani.  I figured while I was at it, I would put together a little tutorial.  After looking at other tutorials, I noticed that I do gradients a little differently than others.  I start my gradients at the nail bed, while other people start at the tip.  My way is what works for me, but know that there are other methods out there that might work better for you. 

Let's get started!  I used the following for this manicure:

Left to right: Essie Billionails (nail treatment and base coat), OPI Bubble Bath, China Glaze Go Go Pink; OPI Teenage Dream; China Glaze Material Girl, Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat and upfront is Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Hand Cream.

Gradient Mani Tutorial

Supplies you will need:
 -nail polish remover and polish thinner if needed
 -base coat
 -top coat,
 -2 cream/shimmer polishes, 2 glitter polishes (this is what I used....but don't be afraid to play with different finishes and colors!)
 -moisturizing cream, or cuticle oil
 -cotton balls or tissue for polish remover
 (-optional: make-up sponge for blending.  You can use a sponge to blend the colors together, for this manicure I chose not to do this because the glitter will help blend the colors and hide the seams.)

1.  Use nail polish remover to remove your old mani and any oils on the nail.  Wash hands or soak nails in warm water; dry nails thoroughly.

2.  Apply a base coat, followed by the lightest cream/shimmer polish over the entire nail.  I chose OPI Bubble Bath.

3.  Apply the darker cream/shimmer polish to the nail, covering the top 2/3 of the nail. I chose China Glaze Go Go Pink.  (Don't worry about making a clean line when you start your next color, the more jagged the line is, the better it will blend.)

Step #3

4.  Apply the darker glitter polish to the tip of the nail.  I chose China Glaze Material Girl.

Step #4

5.  Apply the lighter glitter polish to the entire nail, I chose OPI Teenage Dream, followed by the top coat.  And don't forget to moisturize!

Step #5

Final results after cuticle oil and moisturizer
w/flash

no flash with artificial light

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!  It was fun to do, and I definitely plan on doing more tutorials.  If there's anything you'd like me to make a tutorial for, comment below or e-mail me and I will do my best to put one together.

Thanks for stopping by!

K

China Glaze Material Girl

Hello all!


Today I have Material Girl, another polish from the China Glaze Eye Candy Collection.  Pink AND glitter?  What more could a girl want?!

China Glaze Material Girl

2 coats of Material Girl w/topcoat
No flash with artificial light



with flash

Material Girl has a clear pink base jammed with all sorts of glitter.  It has micro glitter along with larger hex glitter and even a little bit of holographic hex glitter that you can see in the second picture.  The formula was surprisingly thin for a glitter,  so it made for easy application.  I used 2 coats for full opacity.  This is probably my second favorite color from this collection.  I love that it's really girly, but it's not too crazy for the everyday wear.


Thanks for stopping by!


K