Untried Month Day 16: Glitter Gradient Skittles

The other day I decided to go through my untried box and try to use as many polishes as possible. I found that I had a few multi colored glitter and decided to do a skittle with them! I really love this mani :) It's so sparkly and magical! And the gradient was super easy! I just used a ripped up makeup sponge dipped in glitter and moved up the nail.

From thumb to pink: Prisma Colors purple with Ulta Indigogo Girl, Ulta Alter Ego with OPI Simmer & Shimmer, Barry M Emerald Green with China Glaze Optical Illusion, China Glaze Champagne Bubble with OPI Glow Up Already! and Sinful Colors Flutter with China Glaze Full Spectrum.

Be sure to check out the other ladies' untrieds!

Helen at Nail Newbie

Alyssa C at Polish Junkie Ninja

Ashley at One Nail to Another

Nicole at The Epitome of Superficiality

Zoe at Obsessive Compulsive Nail Painting Disorder

Lexi at Finger Painted

Miagi at Pretty Kitty Claws

Untried Month Day 8: Layla Hologram Effect Ocean Rush

Hello all! I haven't been posting because I haven't had a power cord, but I got a new one today! And I have to show you this beauty. Here's my first linear holo polish!

Layla Ocean Rush. Isn't it gorgeous?! I'd heard things about how hard it is to apply because of insane balding issues, but I didn't believe it. They were true. Like a silly person I brushed over my pinky multiple times and it was as if I didn't apply anything. After realizing I couldn't go over a previous stroke AT ALL (not even a little bit!) application went more smoothly. 

I used Seche Vite as a base. I accidentally nicked a spot, I dabbed a little over it and it looked better than I imagined. After swatching it on one hand, I HAD to do a full mani.

Here it is with flash. During this application, after the first coat dried over Seche Vite, I applied a second coat. A couple spots were uneven, so I decided to try to apply like a normal polish and go over it again without balding. It applied like a normal polish!!! I was amazed. It was awesome!!!

I LOVE this polish. I already ran back to Ulta and bought Black Flash and can't wait to buy more!

Be sure to check out the other ladies' untrieds!

Helen at Nail Newbie

Alyssa C at Polish Junkie Ninja

Ashley at One Nail to Another

Nicole at The Epitome of Superficiality

Zoe at Obsessive Compulsive Nail Painting Disorder

Lexi at Finger Painted

Miagi at Pretty Kitty Claws

Teal Tuesday: Animal Print

Whenever animal print was announced as the winner for today's Teal Tuesday theme, I got a really great idea that I was excited about...and then promptly forgot it haha. Luckily, I eventually remembered it :) This mani was inspired by one of my favorite pairs of earrings.

It's a peacock! While teal isn't really the main color here, the teal-ish color on the earring inspired me, so that totally counts...right? Sorry about the black specks. It was really late and I didn't get the chance to clean up.

Colors used: Zoya Apple, L.A. Colors Circuits, OPI Brisbane Bronze, OPI Fly, Ulta Dance Teal Dawn, Julep Marisa. The teal spot is Fly for the opacity+Dance Teal Dawn for some shimmer. I drew the designs with some different sized paint brushes.

I was having difficulties taking pictures of this because it was so shiny. I decided to add a coat of NYC Matte topcoat. It also kinda makes the effect similar to the earring.

I am head over heals for this mani! I love it a lot and don't want to take it off!

Check out these other Teal Tuesday blogs!

Missy at Gnarly Gnails

Rhonda at Nails Beautiqued

Kirsten at Geeky Owl

Amanda at Mandy's Polish

ColorSplash Nails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Aimee at Persistently Glittery

Nat at No Holos!

January Haul

Hello everyone! Here's all the polish I got in January. I didn't really realize I'd gotten this much...

OPI: Pink Friday, Fly, Not Like the Movies, The One That Got Away, A Rose by Dawn...Broke by Noon, Metallic 4 Life, Did It On 'Em, Yoga-ta Get This Blue, Teenage Dream, Siberian Nights, Planks a Lot, Stranger Tides, Skull & Glossbones, Pamplona Purple, Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow, Steady As She Rose, Sparrow Me the Drama, Brisbane Bronze, Manicurist of Seville, Wocka Wocka.

Nine of these I got in a Buy One Get 2 Free sale, and the Pirates ones were on Clearance, plus I used a coupon :) The Nicki Minaj colors and Teenage Dream were $8, so I didn't pay full retail for any of these!

China Glaze: Salsa, Peachy Keen, Sun Worshipper, Re-Fresh Mint, Starboard, Four Leaf Clover, Ingrid, Recycle. I found Starboard on clearance for $2 at Ulta in Dallas. Four Leaf Clover, Sun Worshipper and Recycle were from my Secret Valentine :) The rest I bought at Sally's using a $10 off of $20 coupon :)

Love & Beauty Misc. Glitter and Royal. MIA: Matte teal. All regular price @$2.80.

Zoya: Paz, Mitzi, Ivanka, Charla, Julieanne, Tao. Paz and Mitzi were on clearance at Ulta, plus I used a coupon, so I got those and Starboard for $7! The others were from the Zoya New Year promotion, so I only paid shipping!

Julep: Nail Therapy, Hayden, Leah, Megan. Ulta: The Jungle Look, Wild Night, Pinata Yada. Nicole by OPI Rainbow in the S-Kylie. The Juleps were in my January Maven Box. Ulta was buy 2 get 1 free. I bought those with Rainbow in the S-Kylie using a 20 % off coupon!

Jordana: Gemstones. Sinful Colors: Cinderella. Wet n Wild Duo. Essence: Choose Me!. Revlon: Carbonite, Whimsical. NYC: Skin Tight Denim. Sally Hansen: Lady Luck, Wedding Crasher. Pure Ice: Rio, Purple Reign. The Wet n Wild and Carbonite are from Big Lots. Lady Luck was also from my Secret Valentine. Everything else was regular price (which is pretty cheap).

a England: Tristam. Orly: Dazzle. Icing Written in the Stars, Epic Winning, Golden Age of Glitter, Party Confetti, Magnetix in gold, pink, silver and blue. Gelous base coat. MIA: Icing After Party. I got Tristam in the a England anniversary sale. I also bought the Orly and Gelous with my Sally Coupon. Icings were buy one get one half off (as always).

Total: 75 bottles added to my collection. Wow! There are a couple more polishes that I've ordered but haven't gotten to me yet. On their way to me are Essence Twins Chuck & Blair, Edward & Bella, Gabriella & Troy, Romeo & Julia, as well as Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, Happy Birthday and Today Was a Fairy Tale! :)

31 Day Challenge: Day 30-Inspired by a Tutorial

Sorry I'm a day behind :( Yesterday was way too busy for me to pick a tutorial, execute it, and then blog about it. But I did it today! I searched through my google reader trying to find a tutorial that I liked, but could also be done quickly. Then I found this one from Rebecca Likes Nails. Check out her blog y'all. It's awesome! 

Isn't this cool?! It's like a braid! The more I look at it, the more I like it. Unfortunately I had somewhere to be and couldn't clean up super well. I messed up a couple of the stripes, but it's still pretty cool. And it was so easy!

Colors used: China Glaze Traffic Jam, Ulta Wild Night and Ulta The Jungle Look. I'll have day 31 ready for tomorrow :) I've already decided what to do! Yay!

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

31 Day Challenge: Day 16-Tribal Print

For tribal print, I decided to do a tattoo-like pattern. I didn't have brushes small enough to try and free hand a design.

I'm not really a fan of tribal tattoos, or this mani, but I do like the color combination.

I used two coats of OPI Did It On' Em and then stamped with BM 222 and Ulta Dance Teal Dawn. I am LOVING the OPI Nicki Minaj collection. The colors are so pretty!

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

31 Day Challenge: Day 15-Delicate Prints

I looked through my stamping plates and chose this image from Bundle Monster plate BM204. My family's insult of choice is "delicate flower" so that's kinda what I had on the mind. I chose also chose this delicate pink as my base and thought the purple would contrast nicely while still keep the design girly and delicate.

Polishes used: Finger Paints Brushstroke Blush and Ulta Devious

 I normally hate pink and purple together, but I really really like this combination. It's just so...delicate I guess haha. It makes me feel fancy :)

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, Kirsten at Geeky Owl, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Haul and Nail Mail!!!

So, I got paid and went a little polish crazy. I ordered some stuff online, got some Ulta coupons and found the Finger Paints Flakies!!!

Top row: The colors I lacked from the Wet n Wild Ice Baby Collection (half off at Walgreens!!!) Give Me a Price Quote, It's All in the Cut 24 Karats. Also Orly Rock-It from Ulta.

Second Row: From Sally's Finger Paints Flakies, Orly Au Champagne (half off), Seche Vite (my first bottle!), China Glaze Trendsetter ($1.99) From Free Cycle: Revlon Get Reddy and OPI Glove You So Much

Third row: From CVS Confetti Black Tie, Spoiled Shuffle the Deck and Revlon Peach Smoothie. From Icing Christmas Mini Set ($2!!!!!).

Not pictured: OPI Planks A Lot. I couldn't find it for the pic, but eventually did.

I'm super excited to try out the flakies. I asked my brother to send me a pic of my recent purchases while I was at work and he arranged the flakies like that for the picture. I liked it and stole his arrangement :) I'm also really excited about Shuffle the Deck because it's my school colors! And it has BLACK GLITTER!!!!

I ordered this from Trans Design last Friday and got it tonight. It should've been here last night, but the autofill option at the computer at work had my address wrong for some reason. I contacted Trans Design right after I found out and they fixed and responded very quickly. 

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

I also stuck in Revlon Whimsical that I got today at K-Mart. The China Glazes are Paper Chasing, Atlantis (SWOOOON!), Skyscraper, Pelican Gray, Concrete Catwalk, Midtown Magic, Cowardly Lyin', Ten Man, C-C-Courage, and Good Witch? All the China Glazes were $3, except for Atlantis. It was like $3.85, but still totally worth it!

I now have all the Wizard of Ooh Ahz!!!

I still have my Julep box on the way as well as some things I'm bidding on on Ebay.

31 Day Challenge: Day 4-Green Nails

When I looked through my untried greens, I had 7 or 8 from which to choose. And they were all so pretty that it was a difficult decision. I eventually landed on Ulta Envy. It's a beautiful emerald green shimmer. This is one coat topped off with SV. I added something to the pinky before I remembered to take pics without it.

artificial light with flash.

artificial light.

sunset light.

sunset light.

I swatched all my greens before deciding on one, and I had a green Love & Beauty that was too sheer to use. I decided to layer it over Envy. I loooove it! The label on it says "Lime". It's a green jelly base with either tiny flakies or glass flecks. I can't really decide.

sunset shade.

I slanted it to try and show all the colors of the flakie-ish topcoat.

sunset light.

Here it is with what's left of the sun shining on it. I really love this combo.

Also doing this challenge is Emma of Manicurity, Bec at Laquer Dreams, Julia at Julia Loves Nails, Linda at Nail Polish Enthusiast, and Jenna at The Key to Jennasis. You should definitely check these lovely ladies and their nails out!

Haul Post!!!

I've been a busy shopper! Here's what I got for Christmas and bought the day after Christmas!!! These hauls include my first Ulta polishes, my first Zoyas, my 2nd-9th OPIs, my first Essie and my first NOPI.

 This photo is arranged by brand, which in hindsight might not have been the best arrangement. All the polishes I bought for myself were on sale or clearance :) Top row is China Glaze Marry a Millionaire, Some Like it Haute, Material Girl (gift from Mom), Ultamate Holiday, Fireside Glow (also from Mom), Glittering Garland, Winter Berry, Velvet Bow (half off of clearance price at Sally's), Westside Warrior (from Mom), a China Glaze gift set that included Ruby Pumps, Dorothy Who? and Frostbite with a wine stopper (Sally clearance), plus a mini bottle of Out the Door topcoat. Next row is Orly Rococo A-Go-Go, Rock Solid, Shining Star (Sally clearance), Ulta Jaded, Envy, Dance Teal Dawn and Devious (buy 2 get 2 free), Zoya Phoebe (Ulta Clearance). Bottom row: Orly Birds of a Feather trio with Sweet Peacock, Lucky Duck and Fowl Play with makeup bag (Sally clearance), and OPI Houston We Have a Purple, Do You Think I'm Tex-y?, So Hot It Berns, Guy Meets Gal-veston, Big Hair, Big Nails (from Mom), Skull and Glossbones and Divine Swine (Ulta Clearance). Note: My sister also bought me Some Like It Haute and Material Girl, but I exchanged it for the stuff from Ulta :)

This pic is divided by store. Much easier. The top row is Ulta. Zoya Dita, OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, Orly Bubbly Bombshell, China Glaze 108 Degrees, and Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy. Second Row: These are all from Ross and I don't know the names of any of them. Cosmetic Arts aren't labelled and I think the Essie was at Ross because it was labelled "Super Duper Topcoat). Third Row: Wal-Mart. Wet N Wild Teal of Fortune and The Gold and the Beautiful, Sally Hansen Celeb City, Pure Ice Strapless and Nicole by OPI Kendall on the Katwalk. The Wal-Mart closest to me just got the Kardashian polishes and has REALLY stepped up their nail polish selection. I went to get only acetone and was lucky to get out of there only spending $30.

China Glaze Fireside Glow (Ulta Exclusive)

artificial light with flash.

I saw Fireside Glow listed with the China Glaze Let It Snow Collection on the Ulta website and was really confused because I had never heard of it. Then I read on ManiCured! that it was an Ulta Exclusive. After seeing her swatches and then seeing the bottle at Ulta, I HAD to have it. I put it on my Christmas list and hoped so hard that I would get it. I almost bought it myself just in case. I'm so so SO glad my mom bought it for me. I went to Ulta the next day and the display was empty, so I thought they had sold out. Turns out they were just in the clearance bin for half off. Oh well, it was still worth it :)

sunlight.

It's sooo jammed packed with all sorts of shimmery sparkle! It's like liquid fire...that later becomes solid. I love it. I makes me want to sit in front of the fireplace.

artificial light with flash.

I used two coats for these pictures and then a topcoat. Fireside Glow dries very gritty and matte-like. I actually really liked the matte look and left it like that for the first day. After some tip wear (and after I got tired of the grittiness) I touched it up, added topcoat and wanted to add something. Looking at the gorgeous orangey sparkle, I thought of a tiger and decided to add tiger stripes! I used L.A. Colors black to stamp with Bundle Monster plate BM 223.

artificial light.

I'm sorry for the "rough-ness" of this mani. I had run out of acetone and nail polish remover was not working great for clean-up. Also I was had to leave for work and didn't have time for a topcoat :/ Also, these were probably meant to be zebra stripes, but are they really that different?