Formula X Nude For You

Let's take a break from all the OPI Hello Kitty swatches to try something new, shall we? Today I thought I'd share my very first time trying a Formula X polish! This one is from their new collab with Aimee Song. I'll be real with y'all: I have zero idea who Aimee Song is. A fashion blogger, I think? That's the impression I got from the in-store display for this collection. But whoever she is, I am indebted to her for creating what is possibly my most perfect nude polish...ever!

Nude For You is a gorgeous, almond-y nude creme with the most amazing formula. All my fellow pale princesses out there, this one is going to look bangin' on you!

  Sorry for the green in the background; that's my coat!

 

And then a shot in the direct sunlight. You can really see how almond-toned this polish is here.

As I mentioned above, the formula on this is to die for. All it needs is one coat! I'm super impressed with how buttery and opaque it is. Expect to see some more Formula X on here Going forward because I was seriously feeling this polish!

Barielle Mirror, Mirror Collection: Review & Swatches

Hey guys! Today I've got some swatches from Barielle's fall/winter collection, which is called Mirror, Mirror. This is a set of five cremes with some nice shades to bridge the fall-to-winter transitional months. (That may seem far off now, but trust me, it's coming!!) Anywho, let's take a look at 'em!

Feathered Slippers is a dark grey creme. It almost looks like it has a bit of green in it...? Not sure if that's just my imagination, but I dig it. Do you see the green or am I nuts?

Pretty Woman is far and away my favorite shade from this set! My bottle actually says "Pretty Women," but Barielle's website and the little promotional booklet for the collection both say "Woman," so I'm guessing that's just a typo. But whatever it's actually called, it's a very rich shade of Prussian blue. I love how elegant it looks on the nail.

Blushing Beauty is a bright red jelly. It's a very pretty representation of this type of color, even if it's not too unique. Look how squishy and shiny it is--and this is without top coat even!

Ribbon & Lace is a dusty teal creme. This is a perfect example of an autumn-tinged teal. It's got just the right amount of duskiness to it, if that makes sense to anyone other than me!

Silk Stockings was a surprise favorite. It's a nude--and one that I didn't think would go very well with my undertones, at that--but once I put it on, I really liked the taupe-y color it was on my nails. It doesn't go on as dark as it looks in the bottle and it isn't too cool-toned, so I think lots of different skin tones could rock this one.

All of these are two-coaters with nice formulas. No issues to report here--just nice, creamy application!

If you get one shade from this collection, make it Pretty Woman. There is something so chic about that color to me and it netted me quite a few compliments. :) I've got a lot of blue polish and this one is definitely shooting up my list of favorites!

You can purchase Barielle from their website. What's your favorite shade from Mirror, Mirror?


Disclosure: These polishes were sent for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Born Pretty Cuticle Tattoos: Review & Swatches

 

You might have noticed that temporary tattoos are making a bit of a fashion comeback lately. I see a lot of pictures on Instagram of people sporting fancy temporary tattoos at the beach, festivals, etc. So why not let your nails join in on the fun with cuticle tattoos?

These little temporary tattoos are a fun way to frame your cuticles or decorate your hands. You can use them to complement--or in place of--nail art. When I saw these on Born Pretty, I thought they'd be really fun to play around with for summer!

BP has a couple different tattoo designs available. The one I chose is NCT-001.

Applying these works just like any other temporary tattoo: press it against your skin using a wet washcloth or paper towel, then peel off the backing after about 30 seconds. I found (after some initial failed attempts) that the easiest way to place these is to cut out the design with as little excess paper around it as possible. Cut so that you can see where the point and the curve of the design fall, rather than just cutting a square. This will help you make sure the design is applied straight and close to your cuticle.

It took a couple practice nails for me to fully get the feel of how to apply these right along my cuticle line, but once I got the hang of it, it was super easy and fast. I thought I'd dress up my Orly Cake Pop mani with these. I think it looks pretty cool!

Like any other temporary tattoo, longevity is not the best. These are pretty much a one night only affair, so you'll want to save them for a special occasion. I was hanging out with a couple friends, so I thought that'd be a good time to bust these out. I got a lot of questions and comments about them!

I do wish they wore longer, but I suppose that's just the nature of the beast. Otherwise, I had a lot of fun with these and they were perfect for a day out!

If you would like to purchase anything from Born Pretty, they offer 10% off for Nailed readers:

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

Orly Cake Pop

I was able to pick up this pretty porcelain creme on clearance for just 75 cents! It reminds me of a creamier version of one of my all-time favorite palette cleanser shades, Essie Ballet Slippers. It's got that same slightly pink lean to it. Plus the name is super cute!

 

The formula had a very nice consistency but went on fairly patchy. Most of my nails needed four coats to look completely even.

Although the formula wasn't a home run with me, I do love the color. It looks so crisp and clean on the nails.

Born Pretty Marilyn Monroe Water Decals: Review & Swatches

I'm a huge Marilyn Monroe fan, so I was super excited to create some Marilyn nails with these Born Pretty Store water decals! They've actually got several different Marilyn-themed decal sets, all of which you can see HERE. The set I chose looks like this:

The decals are opaque enough that you can wear them over just about any base color. I tend to favor more neutral colors with water decals, so that they are the star of the show. My base here is Butter Trallop.

Water decals are crazy easy to use and they work just like a temporary tattoo: cut, soak, peel and set. If you've failed at traditional nail art before, then give some water decals a try. I seriously believe anyone can use them!

I've used many Born Pretty water decals in my day and I have to say that this set is one of my absolute favorites. I love the fact that you can layer them over any color you choose and the decals themselves are lovely. If you're a Marilyn/old Hollywood fan, definitely give these a look!

And as always, if you would like to purchase anything from Born Pretty, they offer 10% off for Nailed readers:

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

Butter London Trallop

First off, I want to thank everyone for their well wishes for my big day at work yesterday. My boss' boss' boss was supposed to visit, but then they wound up having to re-schedule at the last minute. I was all ready to go but I can't say I don't welcome the extra prep time!

Anywho, enough real life! Let's do what we all came here for: talk polish! I was pretty sure Butter London Trallop was going to be a disaster on me, but I'm trying to open myself up more to nude polish--and a camel-colored nude like Trallop is not something I'd normally try. I will rock a crazy bright without batting an eyelash but I'm way less confident with nudes for some reason. But once I got over all that and tried Trallop on? Well, I kinda love it! I was shocked how well it matches my skintone!

It's been a while since I wore a creme from Butter London (I tend to be drawn more to their shimmers and glitters) and I'd forgotton how nicely they apply. The formula was very smooth and...well, buttery. This is two coats. 

I am beyond surprised how much I fell in love with Trallop. I wore it alone for a bit, but then I did some really fun nail art on it that I'm super excited to show you guys later this week! :)

Essie Wrap Me Up

Let's continue our journey through Essie's Cashmere Matte Collection today with Wrap Me Up, a porcelain nude satin. This was one of the shades I was most looking forward to. I love me some off-whites and the satin finish of Wrap Me Up makes for absolutely perfect china doll nails!

The formula on Wrap Me Up was okay. It doesn't have the drag that Comfy In Cashmere does, but it is the streakiest of the Cashmere Mattes. It took me four coats to get full, even opacity. I also found it interesting that while the rest of the Cashmere Mattes have worn quite well on me (especially when you consider that I wear them without topcoat), Wrap Me Up chipped quickly. After less than a day of wear, I had a large chip on my right index finger and even when I wore it with topcoat, it still continued to chip consistently.

With topcoat, this one doesn't have the shimmer to it that the other Cashmere Mattes do; it looks more like a creme than anything else. If you're curious, you can see a pic of it with topcoat in yesterday's Twinsie Tuesday post. It's a great blank canvas shade to either wear alone or use as a base for glitter and other goodies!

Twinsie Tuesday: Soft And Feminine

Sorry I'm late, guys! I haven't been feeling too well since last night, so my blogging plans fell by the wayside. But I did still try to whip up a lil' something that fit our theme of "soft and feminine." When all else fails, you can always slap some glitter on top and call it good--words to live by! Here's what I was able to muster:

I stuck with a nice, clean neutral base (Essie Wrap Me Up), then threw in a dash of white and pastel pink glitter (OPI Let's Do Anything We Want!) to try and girly things up. Again, nothing extraordinary but I do think it makes for a cute combo and it's pretty dainty-looking, which I think fits the bill well enough for this theme. :)

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Kristine at Pink and Polished Nails

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Sally Hansen Stocking Nude

My boyfriend and I went to a comic con over the weekend, where I cosplayed as Daenerys Targaryen from A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones. (Sooo much fun!! This was our first con together and even though it was super crowded, we still had an awesome time. I could have just stood around and people-watched all day there.) So of course, my nails had to be part of the costume as well. Since the Khaleesi probably doesn't have access to nail polish while she's roaming deserts and conquering cities, I kept it really simple with a clean, crisp nude: Sally Hansen Stocking Nude.

This beauty was a part of last year's collaboration with Rodarte for the Complete Salon Manicure line. I fell in love with it after seeing swatches online, but I couldn't find it at any of my usual polish haunts. Thankfully I was able to snag it at retail pricing on Ebay!

The formula is lovely and only needs two coats for full opacity. The CSM brush has always been a little wife for my tastes, but damn if their formulas aren't some of the best in the business!

What are you up to this weekend? After our con, the bf and I got together with some friends for an early "Thanksgiving" meal and we all are waaaaayyyy too much food! So worth it though. :)

Barielle Jetsetter Collection: Review & Swatches

I hate that the holiday season seems to start earlier and earlier every year. It doesn't give us enough time to enjoy fall! Fall used to be my least favorite season when I was younger (thanks, allergies) but now that I'm older, I love sweater weather, warm drinks, fall-scented candles...and of course, fall nail colors! Today I've got an extra special fall collection to show you: Barielle's Jetsetter Collection! Without any further ado, let's take a look.

First up is Kiss Me Kate, a putty creme. I love me a good putty polish and this is such a perfect one. It's nice and clean but with just a hint of grunge to it. This is two coats.

Autumn in Seoul is a rich brown with intense copper shimmer; in fact, it almost looks like a foil. I'm super picky about browns but this was a standout from the collection for me. I love the deep base color and the sparkle is phenomenal. You do have to be a bit mindful of brushstrokes with this one, but otherwise the formula is wonderful. I used two coats here.

A deep midnight blue shimmer, Midnight In Paris is appropriately named. This is a stunning jewel tone that brings to mind all-time classics like OPI Russian Navy. It's dark and rich without looking near-black and the shimmer adds a lot of life to this shade. Midnight In Paris definitely has a potential for staining, so don't skip the basecoat and be careful with your cuticles. This is two coats.

Irish Eyes is a mossy green creme. Love, love, LOVE this polish! It is perfection from top to bottom: utterly gorgeous color and a one-coater, to boot. Irish Eyes is easily my favorite Jetsetter shade.

The other green in the collection is Gondola Ride, a dusty sage creme. It's a dusty green, so y'all know I'm gonna be all about this color! Unfortunately it's got the most problematic formula in the collection. It's not even bad, just "eh," whereas the others are all pretty stinkin' fantastic. It's kinda runny and took three coats to build up to opacity.

Then to close things out, we have Rain In Spain, a periwinkle creme. This is a bit of an unexpected color for a fall collection, but I dig it. The formula is ultra-buttery and almost a one-coater. I used two just to level everything out.

This is one of my favorite collections Barielle has done! There's not a single bad shade in the bunch, but my favorites are Irish Eyes, Autumn In Seoul and Gondola Ride. You can purchase the Jetsetter Collection from Barielle's website.


Disclosure: These polishes were sent to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Twinsie Tuesday: Deborah Lippmann I'm Not Innocent

We're keeping it simple for this week's Twinsie Tuesday with a minimalistic theme. To me, minimalistic means a palette-cleansing, blank canvas kind of shade, so I chose Deborah Lippmann I'm Not Innocent, a peachy nude creme.

This is apparently a more obscure Lippmann. I don't see it talked about a lot online. But it's a beautiful, clean nude that would look especially nice on tan skin. Even if you're not tan, the contrast helps create the appearance that you are!

While the color is lovely, the formula was not the greatest. It's thin and pretty streaky, leaving noticeable bald patches that you have to work to even out. It also doesn't self-level well, so by trying to cover the bald spots, you can inadvertently create lumps. Couple all those issues with the fact that my bottle of top coat is on its last legs and you get a total nail nightmare. So I'm really sorry if the application here doesn't look the best. I love the color, but hate the formula...

Who knew a minimalistic mani could be so difficult?! Hopefully my Twinsies had better luck!

​

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace
Anna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

Zoya Rue

We're busting out some neutral nails for this week's Twinsie Tuesday! I decided to delve into my untrieds for my pick: Zoya Rue, a pink-toned nude. (Zoya calls this color "boudoir blush," which I think is a really cute description.)  Rue first came onto my radar because of the name. As a Hunger Games fan, I wanted it! Ultimately, I was lucky enough to receive this polish from Amanda, so a big thanks goes to her for hooking me up with this pretty nude!

The formula on Rue is awesome. It's got a near-perfect consistency to it that provides full coverage in two coats.

I was kinda worried the pink undertone on this one would clash with my skin, but I actually like how Rue looks on me! One of the things I appreciated about Zoya's Naturel collections is that they showcased a wide variety of "nudes" that will work on lots of skintones. Plus, even if the shade you pick isn't a mannequin hands match, it's still bound to be a clean, versatile palette cleanser. Win-win!

Thanks for checking in with me today and I hope you'll give a look-see to what my Twinsies did for their neutral manis too! :)

​

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace
Anna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

Butter London Tart With A Heart

Butter London Tart With A Heart is a charming iridescent glitter topper that I've featured on here before. After seeing it peeling out at me from my nail polish rack day after day, I started to get the itch to wear it again. So I popped it over OPI You're So Vain-illa and I gotta say, I forgot just how pretty this one is!

Tart With A Heart spreads very evenly and easily across the nail, delivering plenty of glittery goodness in just one coat.With one coat, removal was surprisingly easy too. I suppose you could build this up to wear alone but I think it truly comes to life with a base underneath. A neutral really lets you see all the different colors of glitter that are in this polish!

I've really been rekindling my love affair with BL lately. I used to buy Butter constantly but then I kinda fell off the wagon for a while. What brand have you recently fallen back in love with?

OPI You're So Vain-illa

I am not a big nude polish wearer, but I will make an exception for a good taupe or eggshell-type shade. So OPI You're So Vain-illa from the Coca-Cola Collection, a vanilla creme (how appropriate), sounded like it was right up my alley.

The formula is great, covering in three coats. At first I had wondered if this would be too close to OPI My Vampire Is Buff (which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, since that's one of my all-time favorite OPI's) but I can say now that they aren't dupes. They play in the same sandbox, for sure, but Vain-illa has more of a putty undertone to it. It's kinda like if My Vampire Is Buff and Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? from the Holland Collection had a lovechild. Either way you slice it, this is a fabulous neutral!  

What are some of your favorite neutral polishes?

Twinsie Tuesday: Accent Nail

This week we're busting out an old favorite for Twinsie Tuesday: the accent nail! One of the many cool things about accent nails is you can go as simple as popping a contrasting color on or as intricate as doing a crazy pattern. If you know me and nail art, then you know which route I took. ;)

So for my accent mani, I paired two Butter London polishes: All Hail The Queen, a scattered nude holo, as my main polish and Lady Muck, an icy blue with silver shimmer, for my accent nail. This is a combo I've had in the back of my mind for a while now, so I jumped on the chance to finally give it a go for this theme.

I love the idea of pairing a neutral with a little pop of color. I think these two shades compliment each other beautifully. Lady Muck livens things up a bit, but it's still elegant and understated in its own right, so it doesn't overshadow All Hail The Queen (which is one of my all-time favorite neutrals, by the way).

I hope you liked my accent nail mani. :) I can't wait to see what my Twinsies came up with this week!

​

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace
Anna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

Twinsie Tuesday: Bubbles

So I'm late to the party with my Twinsie Tuesday mani this week, but here goes! As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this week's theme is bubbles. Honestly I was a bit stumped as to how to interpret this theme, but I gave it my best shot.

I started with a base of OPI Don't Burst My Bubble (because of course) and then did an accent nail with some beads from a Born Pretty kit, with the idea that they would look like little bubbles. Originally I tried using clear beads, since I figured they would look the most bubble-like, but they looked weirdly creepy over a nude polish. Instead of bubbles, they looked like some sort of lumpy growth on my nail bed and nobody wants that! (Sorry, I didn't think to snap a picture before I went to Plan B.) So off they came and I used some lavender beads instead!

So yeah, not the greatest mani ever and I don't know if it necessarily says "bubbles" but hey, I tried! I'm curious to see what everyone else did with this theme!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra