Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Formula X Athena

Remember the mouth-wateringly gorgeous Formula X Hera? Well today we're going to take a look at one of her lovely sisters, Athena! Both Hera and Athena are from Formula X's Divine Stardust line which is kinda like a mash-up between glitter and holo and is 1000% awesome.

Whereas Hera was rose gold goodness, Athena is a beautiful shade of sparkling aquamarine. Just look at her, you guys. Are further words required?



*swoon* It's so holo that it freaked my camera out! I could stare at this all day. The formula is a dream as well. This is three coats, sans top coat to keep that holo game strong.

My all-time favorite holos are from a-england and Color Club and now it's safe to say that the Divine Stardust polishes are right up there with them. If you are even remotely interested in holographic polish, you need to check these out!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: Monochrome Nails








When I picture a monochromatic manicure, the first thing that comes to mind is all-white nails. So that's what I did! :) Somewhat ironically, I used two polishes to create this monochrome look. I started with Barielle Enduring, a white creme from their new keratin-infused Prosina line. Then to make my nails extra squishy-looking, I layered Essie Marshmallow, a white jelly, over top.


It's a simple look, but I thought the mix of jelly and creme finishes gave a little extra visual interest.
Please excuse the bits of bubbling. I need a new bottle of topcoat!

Not too much more I can say about this one--like I said, it's pretty simple, but I think it fits the theme.

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog


Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer


Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails


Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les



Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes


Tiffany at Polished To Precision


Disclosure: The Barielle polish in this post was provided for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Deborah Lippmann Summer 2016 Preview

My first job was at an ice cream place that opened in the 1950s and still maintains that classic soda jerk-style aesthetic to this day. To keep the type of ambience they were going for, we could only play 1950s and 60s music (I spent many hours with Sirius XM 50s on 5 and 60s on 6) so I have something of an encyclopedic knowledge of early pop music, especially for someone in their 20s.

This is basically a long-winded intro to segue into telling you that DL has a new summer collection out called Happy Days and it is 1950s-themed. And...go!

BEAUTY SCHOOL DROPOUT
Beauty School Dropout 
HAPPY DAYS 
Happy Days
SPLISH SPLASH 
Splish Splash
MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK 
My Boyfriend's Back 

I gotta say, it's really pretty, but it's not DL's most unique-looking collection. Normally I want, like, all of DL's new polishes but this time I'm not getting an immediate case of the MUST BUY. Now that the prices for DL have been upped even more to go along with the line's full "Gel Lab Pro" rebranding (which started with their spring collection this year), I want some super unique colors before I drop $20 a piece on them. These are beautiful and I love DL to pieces, but I'd have a hard time paying this much for cremes when there are so many other, cheaper alternatives out there. 

That said, I don't blame you if you want 'em. They are pretty, after all. You can pick them up on the Deborah Lipmann website, if you're so inclined.

I'm super curious to hear your thoughts on this apparent new direction for DL. Are you in the "gel-substitute ALL THE THINGS" camp or are you sick of it?

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: Tulips

This week we have a Twinsie Tuesday take as old as time: I tired to do nail art. It sucked. I cheated. The end. "I tried, it sucked, I cheated" is the Nailed version of "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Okay, so there's a little more to it than that. I found this really cool abstract tulip design that looked easy enough to do. I was actually pretty excited about it. I always have this eternal sense of optimism with nail art that this will finally be the time I can add something to my limited repitoire. It went well for about two nails and then it all fell apart--and not in a "so bad it's entertaining" kind of way (which I fully embrace). It just looked totally lopsided and ugly.

So I scrapped that idea and went with my emergency plan: find something mildly tulip-related and run with it. Enter OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips! It has "tulips" in the name. It's from the Holland Collection. It is the color of (some) tulips.




So here she is!



This polish is still fairly easy to find online (you can consult my handy dandy authenticity guide for shopping OPI online) if you like the look of it. Or it's quite dupeable, so that's an option as well. I'm sure I have a few shades just like this one in my collection, but they aren't named after tulips so we don't care about them--for today, at least. ;)

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog


Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer


Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails


Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les



Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes


Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: Gradient With Stamping

Hey guys. As I'm sure you've guessed by the decreased amount of posts lately, I've been crazy busy these past few weeks. Between work and some personal stuff going on (all is well--just hectic) I haven't had time to paint my nails often, let alone blog about them. But I've still been taking photos so I should have a nice little backlog to share with you all once the dust settles!

I'm hoping to get back to a regular post schedule shortly, but I didn't get my shit together in time to participate in Twinsie Tuesday this week. In the meantime, check out any of my Twinsies' awesome blogs below to get your daily nail fix!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog


Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer


Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails


Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les



Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes


Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: Glitter Placement

Hey guys! So today we are doing manis featuring glitter placement. I've got a couple baggies of loose glitter shapes, mostly from Lumina Lacquer. She includes them with a lot of her glitterbomb polishes so you won't have to fish in the bottle for specific pieces you want. Cool customer service touches like that are one of the many reasons I love indie polish!

For this mani, I used some skull and crossbones glitters that came with Seven Year Witch.



Pink: Zoya Shelby
Black: OPI Never Have Too Mani Friends!

I really need to do glitter placement nails more often. They're super quick and fun. Just grab some tweezers and you're good to go!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog


Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer


Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails


Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les



Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes


Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday (On A Wednesday): Birds

Hey guys! Sorry for the late post. There was a little mishap involving my dishwasher and a buncha water, but that's all sorted out now so we can get back to the very important business of nails!

We are doing bird nails this week, so I pulled out some Born Pretty nail stickers from my stash (you can see more about them HERE) and got to work! This particular set has a bunch of different shapes, but I made the owl stickers the main focus here, because...hello, birds?



My base shade is cult favorite OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. It's a deceptively complex shade that looks white, but has this wonderful hint of blue-grey to it. I thought it'd be a good "clean" shade to let the neon stickers pop, but not so plain that it fades completely into the background.

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog


Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer


Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails


Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les



Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes


Friday, March 25, 2016

OPI Soft Shades 2016 Preview

Now this I like! The theme for OPI's Soft Shades Collection this year is pastels. I'm a sucker for pastels and when they're OPI pastels? Fuhgeddaboutit!

opi-soft-shades-pastels-2016-collection-1
L to R: It's In The Cloud, This Cost Me A Mint, One Chic Chick

opi-soft-shades-pastels-2016-collection-2 
L to R: Stop It I'm Blushing!, It's A Boy!, I Am What I Amethyst

opi-soft-shades-pastels-2016-collection-3

I could see myself picking up the mini set from this collection, since I like several of the shades. On a side note, has it seriously taken this long for OPI to do a polish called It's A Boy? Because that seems like a homerun for ladies looking for baby shower favors. 

Look for these lovelies in April. Which ones will you be getting?

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Lady Queen My Neighbor Totoro Nail Wraps: Review & Swatches






I've got quite possibly the most adorable nail wraps ever to show you guys today! These are from the website Lady Queen and feature designs from the classic anime movie "My Neighbor Totoro."


As you can see, these are non-sticker style wraps, which is what I prefer. I find them much easier to smooth out on the nail and just easier to work with in general. Here's how they look on the nail:



My experience with these was much better than the other Lady Queen wraps I reviewed. I absolutely love these! The wraps are sturdy yet still flexible enough to make application quick and easy. Plus the designs are so ridiculously adorable!

I had some shipping issue with Lady Queen, which you can read about it in my previous review. As for the product itself, absolutely no complaints from me! I'm obsessed with my Totoro nails! :)

If you'd like to purchase anything from Lady Queen, they offer 15% off for Nailed readers using the code DSLC15. These particular wraps are available HERE.


Disclosure: This product was provided for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: Formula X Hera

We're doing jewelry-inspired manis this week! I've kinda sorta obsessed with rose gold, so of course I love me some rose gold jewelry. It's my favorite metallic and I love the fun pop it adds to any piece. I figured I'd channel that love into this week's mani, featuring Formula X Hera.

Hera is an absolutely stunning rose gold from Formula X's Divine Stardust line. These polishes have large holo bits so that they almost look like glitters, but they feel silky smooth (no grit!) and have all the sparkle and shine of a traditional holo. I did a crappy job of explaining it, so lemme just show you this beauty!




Seriously, I want to bathe in this polish. I was constantly staring at my nails when I had this on. It's sooooooo gorgeous, you guys!

The formula is equally lovely. Opacity is reached in just two coats. I skipped top coat to maximize the holo.

I definitely need to check out more of the Divine Stardust line after falling for Hera! Hopefully you enjoyed this polish as much as I did!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog


Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer


Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails


Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les



Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes


Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: China Glaze Blue Sparrow

This week we're doing favorite color. I could go in two directions with this one. My favorite "real life" color is pink, but my favorite polish color is blue. But seeing as this blog is dedicated to all things polish, I went with the latter. I have a ton of blue polishes in my stash, as you would expect, and I decided to kick it old school this week with China Glaze Blue Sparrow, an electric blue jelly with silver microglitter.



Unfortunately an old school neon also means old school neon formula, so this one is definitely chalky and patchy. I used three coats but I could've done with a fourth due to the uneven application. It also dries ultra matte, so top coat is a necessity.

CG has come a long way with their neons since this one, but it's still a fun polish to revisit because the color itself is still outstanding. It's so vibrant and the shimmer is the cherry on top.

Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane and be sure to take a look at my Twinsies' blogs too!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog


Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer


Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails


Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les



Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes


Thursday, March 10, 2016

Lady Queen Ice Cream Nail Wraps: Review & Swatches






Can someone please explain this product to me? How can something so adorable go so awry?

So I was recently contacted by the website Lady Queen and asked to review some of their products. One of the ones I selected was these ice cream nail wraps:


Cute, right?

But every time I try sticker-style wraps (ones like these that you peel off of a sheet versus ones that come with their own individual backings like Sally Hansen, Incoco, etc.) I am reminded of why I don't like them all that much. They are much stiffer, making them harder to apply and prone to creasing on the nail, so getting the wrap to adhere smoothly with no creases or bumps is very difficult. These had all of those trademark problems.


But that's not my biggest gripe here. It's the design. The proportion on those half-moon shapes is waaayyy off. The half-moon is much larger than I was expecting. In fact, they take up so much room on the nail that you wind up cutting off almost all of the design. My nails aren't super long right now, but they're not nubs either. I think the half-moons would be a really cute addition if they were smaller, but as it stands, you almost get more of the half-moon than the actual design on the nail. Boo! Why would you design them this way?! Why?!
 
On the customer service end, shipping took a looonnnggg time, y'all. I am used to waiting longer when dealing with overseas shipping, but this package took almost three months to arrive. I honestly thought it had gotten lost in the mail. I am not sure if the package was just caught up in the jumble of the international mailing system or what, but I wanted to give a forewarning that shipping may not be the most expedient and that you should plan on extra time for shipping if you're ordering something for a specific occasion. My service rep at Lady Queen kept in touch to make sure I received my package and for what it's worth, I couldn't find any other online reviews that mention shipping issues. So this could just be a fluke, but I wanted to be sure I mentioned this either way, for the sake of 100% transparency with you guys.

If you haven't guessed it, these were kind of a flop for me. Quality-wise they are typical of most sticker-style nail wraps I've tried, but the real letdown is with the design layout. If you don't mind the half-moon or if you've got longer nails than I do, then these might be worth a look for you, but I found them disappointing. I've got one more product from Lady Queen to review and I'm really excited about it, so hopefully that one won't let me down!

If you'd like to purchase anything from Lady Queen, they offer 15% off for Nailed readers using the code DSLC15.


Disclosure: This product was provided for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Deborah Lippmann Sweets For My Sweet Preview

Deborah Lippmann has THE cutest new set out for spring!! The Sweets For My Sweet set has six all-new pastel minis.
 
Top row, L to R: Sugar Sugar, Lemon Drop, Sweet Pea
Bottom row, L to R: My Boy Lollipop, All Day Sucker, Candy Girl

I know I have similar shades to these in my collection already but man, do I want this! It's so stinkin' cute and the colors just scream springtime to me!

This set retails for $34 and is already available online.