Twinsie Tuesday: Studio M Purple Medallion

Today's TT theme is kind of a shameful one for me: oldest untried. After I recently went through my stash to sort out my untrieds, I came to the realization that I have a lot of them, so I'm on a no-buy while I try to show my existing stash some love. I'm not sure which polish is my oldest untried, but Studio M Purple Medallion is definitely up there. I think I got this polish either sophomore or junior year of college...? Something like that. To put that in perspective, I graduated a little over a year ago. Yeah, I know, I'm really bad! :-/

If you're not familiar with Studio M, the brand is only sold at Meijer stores (a grocery chain in the midwest) and it's owned by the same company as brands like Color Club and Ruby Wing. While several Studio M polishes are Color Club re-bottles, Purple Medallion is unique to the Studio M line and, along with Slammin' Red, is one of two polishes the brand is probably most known for. Purple Medallion has a purple (duh) jelly base packed to the gills with silver holographic glitter. It's got a really intense sparkle to it, making it easy to see why this has become one of Studio M's signature polishes.

I used three coats here. The formula isn't awful but it isn't great either. It's on the runny side and drytime between coats is a bit longer than usual. If you live near a Meijer store or have a swap buddy who does, I recommend checking out Studio M. Purple Medallion is a core polish and the Studio M seasonal collections usually have some fun gems too.

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Traci at DrinkCitra

Elevation Polish Azure Caverns

Happy Monday...I guess haha. The most hated day of the week is always a tough one for me too. Do you have any fun plans for the week? My boyfriend and I are going to try to squeeze in a screening of Iron Man 3 sometime this week. We're both big into comics, Marvel especially, so we've been dying to see it!

I've got a beautiful blue with iridescent shimmer to start off the week. This is Elevation Polish Azure Caverns, a polish I received in a swap from my lovely friend Tara. I know she is a huge fan of this line, which has made me want to try it out myself!

I used two coats here. I definitely suggest clicking to enlarge on this pic so you can see the shimmer close up. It really catches the light beautifully, like sunlight refracting on the ocean's surface. But this polish is actually inspired by a location in Chile called Marble Caves. I've included a quick look at the caves below, because I think seeing the inspiration really makes you appreciate this polish that much more. The blue jelly base captures the color of the caves and its waters perfectly!

Source

I've got my eye on a few Elevation polishes (There's one in particular called Huangshan that I am dying for) now that I had such a great first experience with the brand! You can purchase Elevation Polish from the brand's website.

Lush Lacquer Neon Lights

Lush Lacquer Neon Lights is a white base packed with all kinds of neon hex glitter goodness. There's an awesome rainbow of colors here: pink, orange, yellow and green. Perhaps this description won't make sense to anyone other than me, but the neon color scheme kind of reminds me of some of the splatter "graffiti" art (usually done in paint that glows under a black light) you'd see inside a roller rink in the 90s--and as a child of the 90s, I mean that in the most loving, flattering way possible. What I'm trying to say, basically, is that it's bright, it's cool and I love it!

The white base can be a touch streaky but otherwise the formula is solid. I used three coats here. This polish is just tons of fun. I'm really digging the matte neon glitter trend happening in the indie market right now. Lush Lacquer's whole Neon Collection is chock-full of all kinds of neon goodness, so definitely check it out if you're a fan too!

You can purchase Lush Lacquer on Etsy.

Jamberry Nails Autism Awareness Nail Wraps: Review & Giveaway

TGIF! How about a little giveaway fun to start off your weekend? I've got some awesome nail wraps from Jamberry Nails to share with you today AND a chance for you to win a set of wraps of your choice too!

Let me start with the wraps themselves! I received these wraps for review from Amy, an independent consultant with Jamberry Nails. Amy was an absolute pleasure to work with and always willing to offer help and advice. There are a lot of fun Jamberry designs to choose from (you can see them all on Amy's website, if you like) and the design I received was the Autism Awareness wraps. They retail for $15 and one of the cool things about this particular design is that Jamberry Nails donates $2 to the Autism Society for every purchase of these wraps. The puzzle piece is a commonly used symbol for autism awareness campaigns, so the design serves as a beautifully colorful reminder of the cause it supports.

The nail wraps themselves are easy to apply. Each sheet of wraps comes with lots of different sizes (some wraps are big enough to use on toes too, if you like) so you just peel off the size that is closest to your nail. You can trim the wraps too if you need to. I find it works best to choose a wrap that is slightly bigger, since the shrink a bit in the application process, but not so big that the wrap is touching your cuticle or your skin. Then, heat the wrap under a blow dryer for a few seconds and place it on your nail. A rubber cuticle pusher or something similar helps to seal the wrap completely in place around your cuticle. Cut off the unused half of the wrap and save it for another nail. File down the excess using a downward swiping motion, then give your nail another blast of heat. Press down to completely seal the edges and you're done! You can watch this video if you'd like to see the application process in action.

I think the hardest part for me is getting the placement right, but that's more a user error issue than anything wrong with the product. You don't need to put any topcoat over the wraps and they wear like iron when applied correctly. I once wore a set of these when I moved out of my apartment and they stayed completely intact through the whole ordeal! These wraps are especially great if you need a mani that will stand up to whatever you're going to throw at it or if you're going on a trip and don't want to worry about regular polish. Plus, they're just plain fun!

To remove the wraps, you just soak them in acetone for 20-30 seconds, then rub them off. Or you can blast them with heat from your dryer again and use an orange stick to help break the adhesive seal on the wraps.

Want to try some for yourself? Well, Amy has also been kind enough to host a giveaway for Nailed readers! Thank you, Amy! The winner will receive a set of Jamberry Nails wraps in their choice of design. Just go to Amy's website and pick out your favorite Jamberry Nails design, then leave me a note in the comments about which one you like best!

For the rest of the giveaway rules and more ways to earn entries, just use the Rafflecopter widget below! Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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

NARS Boys Don't Cry High Voltage Blush: Review & Swatches

I have an enduring love affair with bright blushes. Blush is the one thing (other than nail polish, of course) that I feel virtually naked without. Or, more accurately, I'm so pale that I look like a corpse without it, but I digress. It's no secret that NARS makes some of the best, most beloved blushes on the market today and one of their new, limited-edition blushes, Boys Don't Cry, has been screaming my name. It's bright, it's bold and the fact that it shares a name with a song by one of my favorite bands, The Cure, sure doesn't hurt.

NARS describes Boys Don't Cry, part of their recent collaboration with designer Pierre Hardy, as a "pink grapefruit" shade, which I'd say is pretty spot-on. It's an intense coral with reddish undertones and it is all kinds of gorgeous!

Unblended (left) and blended (right).

 



This is an incredibly rich and densely pigmented blush. It looks even more vibrant on the skin than it does in the pan. The gold pattern is an overspray, so the blush itself is actually matte. The texture is very finely milled and blendable, which is essential when you have a blush as bright as this one. You'll definitely need to employ a light hand but so long as you only get a tap or two of powder on you're brush, the formula allows for smooth sailing from there.

At $41, this is pricier than NARS' standard blushes but it's also much larger. You're getting 0.45 oz. of product here--nearly three times as much compared to the usual 0.16 oz--so I think the price difference is well worth it for the amount of product you're getting. The large size, coupled with how little product you need to acheive excellent pigmentation with this blush, makes this virtually a lifetime supply of this shade. I can't imagine I'll ever hit pan on this--at least, not for many years to come! Here's one of my standard NARS blushes, Exhibit A (another must-have if you like super pigmented blushes), on top of Boys Don't Cry for reference.

 

Other than the obvious size difference and the addition of Pierre Hardy's name on the front, the packaging here is the same we've come to know from NARS: a sturdy, black, rubberized compact with a handy mirror inside. I like the look and feel of NARS' packaging, but as you can see from the older Exhibit A blush I used for the size comparison above, the rubberized finish attracts scratches and fingerprints like no other. That's about the only complaint I can muster up here though!

If you like bold blushes, you'll find a lot to love in Boys Don't Cry. It can be easily blended out into a subtler cheek color too if you prefer. It's a stunning shade and the formula is a prime representation of why NARS blushes are held in such high regard.

New Ways To Follow Nailed! Also, Corgis.

Just a quick update today to let you know that Nailed now has its very own Facebook page! I figured now that Google Reader is going bye-bye, the time is right for me to try and give you more ways to follow Nailed. Click HERE to check out Nailed on Facebook! There's not much going on with the page at the moment, seeing as it's only a few hours old, but I'm hoping to keep it updated with photos and links to all my latest blog posts!

You can also follow Nailed on Bloglovin'. Bloglovin' is a great resource for all us soon-to-be-former Google Reader users, because it lets you import your blog list right into Bloglovin'. 

Or, if e-mail's more your style, you always have the option of subscribing to Nailed via e-mail by scrolling to the "Follow By Email" box (right above the "Popular Posts" tab) in the righthand column on your screen. That way, you'll get all your daily swatching goodness right in your inbox!

Okay, okay, enough with all the shameless plugging. As promised, here is a picture of my Corgis for your trouble. :) Taxi, the brains of the operation, is up top, and Natalie, diva extraordinaire, is in front!

Twinsie Tuesday: Fishtail Mani

I have been dreading this week's TT theme: a fishtail mani. But one of the goals of TT is to push ourselves out of our comfort zones and try things we normally would never attempt, so I checked out some tutorials and gave it a go. I always thought fishtail manis looked difficult and well, they are--at least for me! It took me a couple attempts to create something I would even dare to photograph! Here is the relative "best" of my fishtail manis.

For my base, I used Color Club Evolution (sent for review, with a full review coming soon) then I used Sally Hansen Celeb City and Pixi Very Violet for my braided stripes. I opted for brands that have thinner brushes, thinking that would make it easier for me to do my striping, but honestly I still had a hard time with this mani.

So there you have it. It's not the greatest, but I tried. I just don't think my hands are steady enough to freehand straight lines and--maybe this is me having a blonde moment--knowing where to alternate which color stripe was kind of confusing as I went along. Oh well, better luck next week!

In other news, if you check out the list of TT girls, you'll see there have been a lot of changes! We have three new members--Kelly, Lakeisha and Traci--so be sure to stop by their blogs and see what our newest ladies are up to his week!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Brandi at The Beaulieu Review

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Jamie at Polish, Please!

Katherine at Haul of Fame

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Traci at DrinkCitra