Boxer Shorts by Essie

Sorry guys!  Quick post tonight.  I'm packing to go out of town for a few days.  I still plan on posting though while out of town. 

Tonight I have Boxer Shorts from Essie's new Yoga collection.  (I'm not exactly sure what the collection is called, but I don't have time to look it up right now.)  I would definitely call this a periwinkle.  The formula is great and my nails were covered in just two coats.  The color is not extremely accurate in my pictures, and you may see it different on your computer screen, too.  So just trust me when I say it is a periwinkle.  Haha.  It may look either more purple, or more blue, but it's pretty much a great mix of both. 

Natural light

Natural light

Flash

What do y'all think?  Do you own any of the polishes from the Yoga collection?  Would you rock this polish?  Do you think you have a similar color in your collection?  As always--let me know!

XOXO

Victoria

First Attempt: Tie Dye Nails

Hey y'all!  I was really interested in trying to 'tie-dye' my nails.  I know how to do water marbling, but I saw many of you doing a 'drag' method.  This is when you put the different colors of polish in a row on your nail and then start at the base color and drag the polish into one another using a toothpick, needle, etc.  This LOOKED easier, but for me it wasn't all that easy.  However, I didn't use a toothpick or needle.  I used the end of some kind of nail tool-which was probably too thick and the main reason why the design didn't come out exactly how I wanted it.  I WILL be trying this again though! 

I grabbed four different color polishes from my rack.  I didn't want the typical rainbow tie-dye, so I went with more of a pastel-y type.  I used (from L to R) Zoya's Shelby, Wednesday, and Arizona and Essie's Boxer Shorts. 

So what I did was paint (really quickly) vertical stripes of these four colors right next to each other.  Also, you have to leave the coats kind of thick or else the polish won't drag nicely into each other.  I then started from one of the colors on the end and with my tool, drug lines going different directions.  Sorry if I'm confusing anyone-it's really difficult to explain!  My problem is that I don't have a very light hand so I was actually digging the polish off of my nail instead of blending the colors together.  Haha.  I also learned that I probably should have done a base coat of white or another color. 

It came out looking like this:

Natural light

You can see where in major spots on my ring finger, the polish has been completely lifted from my nail.  Whoops!

With flash-again you can see big bald spots on my ring and pointer fingers.

Close up of my pinky.  My first nail to do, and best looking one in my opinion.  Haha.

So what do y'all think?  Do you have any advice for me for future tie-dye nails?  Do you like this color combination?  Have you ever tried a design like this before?  If you have any specific questions about instruction, leave it in a comment and I'll try to re-explain as best I can!

XOXO

Victoria



HAUL POST-Sally's

Hey guys!  Sorry for such a late post.  I ran errands all day with my mom and aunt and then watched the Olympics until they ended at 11.  But I really wanted to show y'all what I got at Sally's a couple days ago.  Actually, I only ended up getting ONE polish that I wanted when I went in.  I had several others I was looking for but had no luck finding.  It's really my fault because I shouldn't have waited so long after the Summer Neons and On Safari collections came out.  However, I'm still going to check at a couple other Sally's.  I ended up with four polishes, some sponges, and a set of nail art brushes. 

Flash

No flash

I picked up this set of brushes because I really want to start practicing and getting better at designs and things.  And I can't really do that without a starter set of brushes.

Next, I picked up a two pack of sponges because I know that 'sponging' is all the rage lately!  I've BEEN wanting to try it out but didn't know what kind of sponge to use.  Well...unfortunately these aren't the ones!  They were way too hard and I found they had too much texture on them.  They were just picking up my first layer of polish and not leaving any of the new color. 

The first polish I picked up was I'm With the Lifeguard from the 2012 Summer Neons Collection.  It was the last one there so I snagged it as soon as I spotted it!  It's a gorgeous pearlescent neon green!  I've never seen anything like it!

Name shot

Next my mom spotted a color called Fairy Dust.  I don't know HOW I haven't seen this before, but it made me realize I need to search harder when I'm hoovering over the China Glaze display next time!  It is simply a holographic glitter polish.  There is no base color to it, so it's more like a top coat.  LOVE it!

Name shot

Look at all that gorgeous holo!

After that I picked up Flying Dragon (Neon) which is a color I've posted about on here before.  I got it on my toes one time at the nail salon and really liked it.  It's a neon magenta color with tiny blue and pink glitter.

Name shot

And lastly I picked up a standout pink-red neon called A Rose Among Thorns.  I'm really excited to try this one over white!

Name shot

Thanks for sticking around guys!  I'll be posting again tomorrow.  Well, technically it would be later today.  Ahhh...I need to get to bed! 

Any sponge suggestions?  Which ones work best for sponging.  Have you tried any of these China Glaze colors?  Let me know!

XOXO

Victoria



OPI Malaysian Mist

Hey my people!  Today I have a nude polish to show y'all by OPI.  I was actually really happy to score this polish on clearance at The Cosmetic Market.  It is from the OPI Classics Collection.  I think out of all the other 'nudes' I've tried, this one goes best with my skin tone.  I did this right before bed and I wanted it to dry properly before I ruined it, so I only painted two coats before going to bed and when I woke up the next morning I did a third coat. 

This is when I only had two coats on.  Name shot.

Two (rather thick coats) of polish. 

No flash-which makes it look a little yellow-ee.  Haha. Two coats.

With flash- two coats.  You can see the streaks better with the flash.

Three coats! Natural light.

Sorry that I only got one picture with three coats.  I'll have to do better next time!  What do you guys think about this 'nude' color with my skin tone?  I'm calling it a nude because I am SO light.  But someone with darker skin may not call this a nude, but rather a light pink or something.  What is

your favorite nude color? Are you a fan of nude colors in general..or would you rather something bright and bold?

Let me know!

XOXO

Victoria

Hunger Games-themed Nails

Hey guys. I'm posting something quick because I feel guilty that I didn't post yesterday. And although I have my next few posts planned, time has just slipped away from me! On Tuesday I finished reading the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I decided to paint my nails using some of the China Glaze Hunger Games polishes. They were nice and orange! I started with a base of OPI's A Roll In The Hague. On my accent fingers I painted China Glaze's Riveting. And on top of ARITH I painted a cost of China Glaze's Luxe and Lush.

Let me know what you think! What's your favorite China Glaze color from the Hunger Games collection? Did you like the actual Hunger Games trilogy?

XOXO
Victoria

HELP!

Hey y'all!  I really need your help.  I'm having my nail tech pick me up some Color Club polishes at the supply store and am having trouble deciding which colors I want her to pick up.  So...you guys would be the BEST if you could leave your favorite Color Club color(s) in a comment!  I'm guessing it would just have to be a color that is in their overall collection.  Not really a seasonal color. 

Either way, let me know!  Help a blogger out!  Haha.

XOXO
Victoria

P.S.-When I got my pedicure yesterday I picked out Color Club's Modern Pink.  I love it!

Collection, PRO-FX Products, and Dramatic Hair Cut!

Hey y'all!  Now that I have accquired many more polishes than what I started with, I wanted to show y'all my updated collection.  But before I do that, I'll show you guys a picture of the collection I started with.  Which, was contained to ONE polish rack-I know, it's hard to believe!  I guess you have to start somewhere!

Holy smokes! Only one row of OPI!

Now, here is a picture of what that same rack looks like now:

ALL OPI! And I even have about another whole row on one of my other racks.  Which I'll also show you below.  This makes me so happy :)

After about, oh I don't know, six months max, I was ready for another polish rack:

Now, I have re-arranged these racks time and time again.  Trying to get all of one brand on a single row, etc.  Haha. It just depends on when I get new polish.  So I've chosen to leave room for more Zoya's. (Which is something I've recently started buying a lot of) And then you can see my over flow of OPI onto the bottom row of this rack. Also, my two new Essie's aren't in this picture.

And when this one was filled up, I had to get a third!  Which my mom likes to call my "last"-hah, that's what she thinks! ;)

On the top row of my third rack is where I keep my base coats, top coats, cuticle oil, drying drops, etc. And the rest of the rack is mostly polish I can get at drug stores, or retail shops like F21, Aldo, American Apparel, etc.  And my Kleancolor polishes are on the bottom row.  As you can tell, this one fills fast!

So that's about it for my polish collection!  As I slowly get more polish, I have to get rid of some too.  So just recently I have dumped a batch off for my little cousins-who thoroughly enjoy it!  And then I've also gotten rid of some really ancient ones that were too goopy and too far gone to do anything with.  I'm not sure what the actual count is but I think it's around 300.  When I found out for sure I'll post it on my collection page.

Sorry for the blurry pic-my mom took it.  But this is the day I dropped off some of my older polishes.  I did their nails and toes for them!  They're too precious. 

Also, I wanted to show y'all my top coat that I am just in love with!  I was in WalMart with my mom one day and when we were in the beauty section I stopped to look at some Nicole by OPI colors.  When I glanced down I saw that they had a whole section of this 'PRO-FX' stuff.  No actual colors, but if I can remember correctly, like top coats, base coats, ridge fillers, maybe some cuticle oil?  It all looked really legit!  Haha.  And the bottles were GIANT.  I picked up a clear/purple bottle that was called 'Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat'.  I new I wanted a new top coat because my other one by OPI just never dryed fast enough, but I wasn't completely sold just by what was stated on the bottle.  So while me and my mom finished our shopping in WalMart I read a few reviews on the internet-most everyone was comparing it to Seche Vite.  (Which I never could bring myself to buy, I guess because of the price and small amount.)  This giant bottle of Top Coat was only about $4.  So I new it had to be great if people were comparing it to Seche Vite.  I couldn't wait to get home and try it!  It is a nice thick top coat that doesn't drag your polish when you apply it.  It dries ridiculously fast, too-just like the bottle says!  The only thing that I have to mention is the bubbles.  And to be honest, I didn't even notice them in the beginning.  But since I have about less than half a bottle left, the formula has become a little bit thicker.  So that may be what is contributing to the bubbles.  And probably if I'd take a little more time to apply it I wouldn't have as many, but I never take my time! 

And since buying that big bottle, I've convinced my Aunt and cousin to buy it too.  I've also picked up a PRO-FX Ridge Filler but sadly have only used it once or twice, so I don't really know how well it works.  But I really love the brush-I would compare it to an OPI brush. 

By the way, while I was waiting on my picture to upload I did a little research about the other PRO-FX products and here is what I found (all at WalMart):

-Apricot Cuticle Oil

-Complete 3 (Top, Base, Strengthener)

-Epoxy Bond Base Coat

-Long Wearing UV Top Coat

-Mineral Botanicle Strengthener

-Protein Enriched Base & Revitalizer

-All Over Body Polish (Lotion)

-Reflexology Foot Massage Oil

Seriously, if you haven't tried these products, you should give them a chance! You really do get bang for your buck.  And I didn't even see that UV Top Coat when I went!  I've been looking for one of those, so now I think I'll have to make a trip to WalMart. 

That's it for tonight folks!  This girl is tired, it's been a long day! Let me know if you've tried any of the PRO-FX products!  Which ones are your favorite?  

XOXO

P.S.-I'm getting a pedi tomorrow...wooohhoo! What color to get...

 

I just realized that I don't think I ever told you guys that I cut off all my hair! So here is a bonus picture...I got about 15 inches cut off! So sad, but I love how light and healthy it is now!

 

 

 

Mini Haul!

Hey y'all!  Today, I have a little tiny baby haul to show you guys.  It's three polishes total: two Essie's and one OPI.  I actually didn't buy the OPI but was 'granted' it by my nail tech :) haha.  Every time I would go to get my nails done I always said how I just loved Merry Midnight by OPI and couldn't wait to buy a bottle for myself.  I even convinced my mom to get it on her toes one time when we went together.  And this has been like, a year, a YEAR of my pining over this beautiful OPI!  I just never got around to looking for it on Amazon-because I sure as heck couldn't find it in stores!  So, yesterday, while I was looking at all of the racks on the wall, I mentioned Merry Midnight and how I was going to buy it on Amazon and my nail tech just told me to take it.  She said to take it because she'd only used it once or twice.  I told her absolutely not, that I was going to buy it myself.  But she insisted.  So I finally get to add Merry Midnight to my collection!  Hurray!!!

Now, just be aware, these pictures do NOT capture the awesomeness that is in the actual bottle.

Do you see all of that colorful, flakie goodness at the bottom of the bottle!?

So after that nail salon ordeal my mom and I went to Walgreens.  While she was picking up a pack of pictures I did what any nail polish obsessed blogger would do...I walked over to the beauty section to check out any new polishes, collections, displays, etc.  And to my surprise, sitting on the bottom shelf next to a Sinful Colors display and another Essie display was an Essie collection that I had not seen advertised!  It was some sort of Yoga collection.  It was only a four color display, which I later realized was the smaller of two displays for this particular collection.  The actual collection has six different colors.  Anyways, only one caught my eye, and that was Boxer Shorts which is sort of a periwinkle color.  It's a nice blue-purple. 

The next thing I saw also took me by surprise!  Before finding the Yoga collection I had just glanced over the other displays and saw that the Essie Luxeffects display was still out-and looked pretty full.  But I had already bought two colors from it a while back.. but when I took a better look at it, I saw the display said "New Shade" (or "New Color", I can't remember which).  And sure enough, sitting next to the other original Luxeffects colors was a gorgeous chunky purple glitter named Stroke of Brilliance.  Of course I couldn't pass it up!  So I'm guessing Essie put out a new display with all the colors again to display the newest one.  I don't know exactly how long Stroke of Brilliance has been out, but I could very well be the last to know.  Haha.  I'm usually late on these things. 

Isn't it soo pretty?

So there you have it!  My mini haul.

Have y'all been holding out on me this whole time about that new Luxeffects color?? Haha. Do y'all own Merry Midnight? Give me your thoughts!  Hope y'all enjoyed!  Tomorrow I'm going to have a post about my updated polish collection and my favorite top coat!

XOXO







Stormy Day :(

All day today there has been depressing weather! We've had flash flood warnings on and off and I think I'm even more depressed that I have to get out of my comfy pajamas to go into work. Anyways, this is my manicure from last night. It started out completely different with a different polish and colors but it was just not working out at all, and then I messed my thumb nail up and got completely frustrated and removed everything! I'm pretty sure that was a run on sentence but that's pretty much how I felt! So I started over with a polish I've worn before- Steady As She Rose by OPI. And for the first time ever I used dried flowers that I bought at Sally's. I started off with two coats of SASR, then I used my favorite top coat (which I will have to make a post about some day), then placed a flower that I cut in half on the wet top coat. I pressed the flower into the top coat using an orange stick, and then finished it off with another thick coat of top coat. And it was THICK, which, is why there were so many bubbles! But I wasn't too bothered because you can't tell unless you put your face right up against the nail or zoom in with your camera (like I did). I placed half a flower on my accent fingers and thumbs. I really liked how it came out. The flowers really stood out against the light lavender-gray. My mom told me they would be cute for Earth Day-and I think she's right :)

Have you ever worked with dried flowers before? What's your favorite top coat? Let me know what y'all think!

XOXO

Blue Slushy

I'm fixing to leave for work so just a quick post. When I was uptown the other day I went into Francesca's and their polish was 2 for $8. I'm not sure if that's normally the price but I thought it was a good deal. I bought a bright, almost neon blue called Blue Shlushy and a metallic silver called Manic Metallic. I don't own any other polishes from Francesca's so I didn't know what to expect...but they're awesome! I've had Blue Slushy on since Monday and it is still just as pretty as when I put it on. I used two coats. The formula was awesome. The first coat dried semi-flat. And the second coat was a little more shiny. But it wasn't a big deal to me because I finished it with a top coat. I have a picture of the two coats without a top coat and I'll post pictures from inside, with and without a flash as well as outside.

I'm also including a picture of a design I made using the two Francesca's polishes.

I just love it! And it's truly the only one I have like it in my collection.

Let me know what you think!

XOXO
Victoria