Happy November! Fall Worthy China Glaze skittlette

I hope everyone had a great Halloween with lots of chocolate involved! I cannot believe it's NOVEMBER.  The weather is still  in the 80s on my side of the country....but it's supposed to get cooler this week (finally)!

In honor of it fall, I wanted to do a simple skittlette and finally try my OPI Glitter Off that I had been pining away for.  It has been completely M.I.A. in stores, but I finally found it on Amazon. Also, China Glaze Boundary of Memory had been sitting in my melmer untried for too long, so I had to change that!

This is China Glaze Release (thumb, index and middle), Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Ion (a Target exclusive from 2012), and China Glaze Boundary of Memory glitter (pinky).  Nothing super intricate, but I loved the color combination.  The China Glaze formulas were great...2 coats and easy to work with.  Ion was challenging, so you're not missing much if you don't have it!  The color is pretty (light warm grey) but was streaky, tough to apply evenly, and dry time was long even before I could topcoat for fear of pulling.  I don't know how it compares to China Glaze Five Rules or OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (let me know if you do!) but they might be close!

Indoors - Release has more grey undertones

I didn't know what to expect with Glitter Off...I figured after 2 days I would see wear.  I did use topcoat since Boundary of Memory doesn't dry super shiny on its own.  Maybe the topcoat helped, because around day 5 I worried that there was some super glue mixed into my bottle since it was still going strong.  I removed it on day 6, and it was very much like peeling an eggshell; little pieces came off.  I was still happy that no remover was needed, so I call it a win!  It is very dry right now in Arizona so maybe that aided in it adhering better to my nail?  Any ideas?

Indoors low light - love Boundary of Memory!

Lastly, (but not least) THANK YOU to all our new friends who entered our first little giveaway!  We hope you stick around. :)  Congratulations to the winner, Heather, and stay tuned for more in the future!

A Beautiful Glitter Bomb

Today I want to share a beautiful glitter topper with you that was graciously offered as a prize in a small polish group I belong to. It is made by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer and it is called Heart of Texas. This polish was specially made and therefore only a few bottle exist, but I just had to share it.

 

All photos are taken in direct sunlight.

 

 For undies I used 2 coats of Above the Curve's Ultra Holo Pink (pointer, middle and pinky) and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Untrodden Snow (thumb and ring finger). 

This is also 2 coats of Heart of Texas with a bit of dabbing. I topped everything with my latest go-to fast dry top cot from Above the Curve.

*DISCLAIMER: All polishes in this post were purchased by me with the exception of Heart of Texas as mentioned above which was I won. There are no affiliate links in this post. Links are provided for your convenience.

Taupe Skittle: China Glaze Release and Essie Chinchilly

I was looking through my collection to come up with some inspiration.  I lined up my taupe polishes and couldn't decide on one to use, so why not try them all?!  This was the result:

This skittle was such a chameleon (and that's putting it lightly!) These pictures are the most color accurate of the individual shades but in most lighting situations they were very close...only a shade or two off and fluctuated between looking grey or purplish.  I'm sure I don't have to explain the personality of taupe polishes for that to make sense!  But I will tell you the polishes I used (from thumb to pinky):  L'Oreal Liya's Nude, Essie Chinchilly, China Glaze Release, L'Oreal Sparklicious, and L'Oreal Eiffel For You. 

These polishes are all available currently, with the exception of Sparklicious (which is amazing...think Beyond Cozy but with different size glitters).
- All polishes were 2 coats and a topcoat and the formula was fantastic on every one! These are pretty much the only Loreals I own and the first time I used any of their creams. I was totally impressed!  Release (the most purple of the bunch) is from the new China Glaze limited edition collection, The Giver. After I purchased Release, I suspected it would be a dupe for something in my collection but I haven't found that to be the case by bottle comparison.

Outdoors - shade

Indoors

Natural light - shade

I'm going to have a really tough time picking just one of these to wear...but Eiffel For You (on my pinky) is one of my favorites.  I am in love with these neutrals and the promise that fall might show up in Arizona!  If you have a taupe or fall color that you can't live without...please let me know in the comments!:)

~ Hayley

*These pretty polishes were purchased by me 

Pretty In Beach Peach: Sally Hansen Floaties

This is a little gem from the limited edition summer Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear collection, Electric Summer.  In Canada the collection is called Sea Bloom and based on the pastel-like shades and adorable beachy names, I think Sea Bloom is a better name.  There are 8 colors total in the collection; I scooped up 3 and am seriously considering tracking down a few more before they're gone!

Today I have Floaties to show you; a light peach cream polish: 

The formula on Floaties was nice, thicker than some of the polishes I've used lately.  This was 2 coats of Floaties and a topcoat.  For the accent I used Essie's Beyond Cozy, which I love, love, love!  Beyond Cozy is a pale, antiqued looking gold micro-glitter.  It is awesome because it's not quite silver and it's not quite gold...and it goes with everything!  Additionally, Beyond Cozy is almost a one coater, but I used two to be sure I had full coverage.  Definitely one of my favorite polishes to date. It has an 'oxidized' quality that will be perfect for fall.

I know I talked up Beyond Cozy a little more than Floaties.  So, if I haven't convinced you enough that you should find this Sally Hansen Electric Summer collection...I'll be posting the other shades I picked up in the near future! 
Also, Kelp Yourself (I bought it for the name!) from the same collection is a near, if not perfect, match for Sally Hansen's Green Tea.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you liked!

~ Hayley

Lynnderella Candy Blossom

I apologize in advance for this post being a bit pic heavy. I just couldn't help it! I had the perfect day for pictures and my flowering cherry and lilacs were blooming. Too perfect not to keep snapping!

Let me introduce you to Candy Blossom.

 Candy Blossom contains neon pink, satin pink, white and even yellow (see macro shot below) glitters suspended in a clear pink-shimmered base.

 I love this polish. I never thought I'd wear neon pink anything, but now I am smitten with its cheery disposition.

 

Macro shot of the glittery goodness

All pictures show 2 coats of Lynnderella Candy Blossom over 2 coats of China Glaze Dandy-lyin' Around (the flower names just screamed that they needed to go together!) I did do some digging for the larger glitters for my second coat of Candy Blossom, though it was personal preference to get some of those larger glitters on each nail. I think the shimmer would show up better over a cream base, but I loved this look! I can't wait to wear Candy Blossom over some pinks and maybe even a black, just to see how it changes the color.

Candy Blossom is from Lynnderella's Everything's Coming Up Neon Collection and can be purchased here or if you are international here at Norway Nails.

 

Spring Fling Challenge Day 5: Watermarble or Gradient

We made it to the last day of the challenge!  I chose to do a subtle glitter gradient for today's theme.  I used a few long time nail polish favorites that are still readily available at Ulta or Walgreens.

I chose Essie Turquoise and Caicos as the base for this manicure.  It's a slightly squishy, jelly finish and this was 3 coats on my nails.  Next I layered a coat of OPI Pirouette My Whistle, which I am still loving as a glitter top coat.  To finish the gradient, I dabbed Essie Set in Stones around the base of my nails in a curved fashion.  What do you think?

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this sort of is reminiscent of a Tiffany look.  My bottle of Turquoise and Caicos ends up looking almost exactly the same as a Tiffany & Co. bag when it's on my nails. 

Outdoors - sun

Right hand! What?!?

I'm sorry this is a slightly picture heavy and not very descriptive post, but I'm writing this later than normal! So, I'll just let you decide what (if any) pictures you like! 

I've had fun with this challenge and a big thanks to Elena and Kelly for coordinating this!  It has been wonderful getting to know the other ladies that participated in this and I looked forward to checking their posts everyday!

Have a great weekend and I hope Spring weather is finally here for you!  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Hayley ~

Spring Fling Challenge Day 3: Patterns of Fashion

I'm back again for day 3 of the Spring Fling challenge presented by Elena and Kelly!  The theme this time is Patterns of Fashion...and I get to show off a fun indie today.  For today's theme, the pattern I chose is polka dots.

Check out this pretty polish named Marmolada from Elevation Polish.  This is a dusty blue jelly with light blue, silver and purple circle glitter.  This was two coats over two coats of Essie's Who Is the Boss, a pale dusty blue cream that was from the 2012 Wedding Collection.  I decided that Marmolada may have had more depth if I had just used 2 or 3 coats on its own...so that is my plan for the next time I wear it.

Shade

I definitely have to give a shout out to my Polished At Heart other half, Jackie, for pouncing on this color for me so I could add it to my collection.  You can only buy Elevation Polish on their website, and they sell out fast so pay attention to the restock dates!

Shade

So that was my representation for day 3 of the challenge.  I have no idea what's in store for tomorrow but I'm excited to see it!  I'm off to check out the other Spring Fling posts and you should too! :)

Indie Spotlight: Pastoral by Cagedbird Nail Lacquer

I have a lovely Spring glitter to show off to you all today.  Let me introduce you to, Pastoral, by Cagedbird Nail Lacquer.  This is a perfect combination of matte mint, white, lavender, and pastel green and silver metallic glitters in a clear base.  I mentioned in a previous post that Sarah, the creator of Cagedbird Nail Lacquer, could have just named this polish 'Hayley'.  I seriously don't think I could have come up with a more perfect combination if I would have customized it myself.

My love affair with Cagedbird started a few months ago when I stumbled on her Facebook page and was in awe at the pastel glitters.  She was extremely close to 500 followers at the time and I was honored to be her number 500.  To my surprise, she sent me a mini bottle of polish to celebrate the milestone.  It was my first (and still only) polish prize!  I was beyond excited.  I mentioned how in love I was with Faerie Carnival and Pastoral and a week later a mini Faerie Carnival showed up as my prize.  How thoughtful was she?!
I immediately bought Pastoral from her Etsy store and I recommend you check out all of her creations!

Pastoral: Outdoors - shade

Indoors

To showcase this glitter, I used two coats of Sinful Colors Mauve with one coat of Pastoral.  I know...I've already used Sinful Colors Mauve before.  I didn't mean for it to happen this way, but it did.  The formula in my bottle is just flawless.  I had a few colors picked out to try with Pastoral and it was a tough decision.  My other contenders were: Sally Hansen CSM Ion, Zoya Neely and Sinful Colors Cool Gray.  I will definitely be using them all with Pastoral at some point, because I think they would all look great.  The only downside to using Mauve was that it made some of the lavender glitter not as noticeable on the nail.  I think Sally Hansen's Ion would be a good choice to show off the seafoamy mints, lavenders and greens.
Just for fun I took this macro shot of the glitter and thought it turned out pretty!

 
Disclaimer: This pretty polish was purchased by me and I will be getting it again and again and again!

Valentine's Day Nails (Part 1)

I went out of my color comfort zone for this one!  I wanted to do something different for Valentine's Day, so I picked a few colors I have not tried yet.  I like that polish is such a subtle accessory that you can do something a little different and not feel too uncomfortable. :)

I decided to use Stunning by Pure Ice, which is a pink and slightly silver velour finish polish from their Runway Collection.  I used 2 coats and the dry time was fast!  I've never used a polish with this type of finish before, but it was pretty amateur friendly!  
For my accent nails I used The Bigger The Better from L'Oreal.  It's a mix of fine black and silver glitter in a clear base.  The glitter is pretty dense so this was just 1 coat and I wiped the brush a few times before applying.  I did have to dab glitter on a few spots, but it was to avoid getting too much on my nails so the base color would still be visible.  

Claws in effect :)

I don't know that I'll be wearing Stunning very often, only because I lean more toward lighter colors.  The layering options with The Bigger The Better are endless, so I'll likely be using this one quite a bit!

Outside - natural light

Both of the Pure Ice and L'Oreal polishes came out late last year (around October/ November).  I still see a few bottles of The Bigger The Better here and there at Ulta and Walgreens.  In fact, I just purchased mine about a month ago, so chances are decent that you can still find one!  Stunning was part of a limited edition collection, but there could still be some bottles lingering around.  Pure Ice really keeps up on their social media presence and you can visit their Facebook page here.

What do you think?  Do you go out of your polish comfort zone when there's a holiday?  

Disclaimer: Since we are just getting started we are learning about lighting and such. Please bear with us as we get better at the photography. Thanks! 

An Inspired Manicure

This manicure was truly made up of inspiration from a few sources.  I recreated this awhile back when the idea of a blog was more whimsy than anything and it was the first one that I was really proud of.  I was perusing a few nail blogs and came across this post from Polished Cousins.  It took me all of 10 seconds to decide I HAD to try and recreate it!  I had a few grey cream polishes already thanks to iHeartPrettyPolish (including Essie Chinchilly that was originally used, but wanted to try a different grey).  I did not have the glitter, so I promptly ran to Walgreens to purchase Essie Luxeffects Set In Stones.
See? Inspiration was abound!

 For my recreation of this grey sparkle manicure I chose Wet n Wild  Megalast polish in Wet Cement; also in the greige cream family of polishes.  This was two coats of Wet Cement with no top coat because it dried pretty shiny on its own. Then I dabbed Set in Stones around the base of my nails just using the Essie bottle brush since it's already pretty small.  I think the Polished Cousins version is way more gorgeous than mine, but for a first try I was pretty happy with the result!  Please excuse the skin around my cuticles, I had no idea I'd ever be posting pictures of this on a blog! :)

 

Both Wet n Wild Megalast Wet Cement and Essie Set in Stones are widely available at Walgreens, Rite Aid and Ulta.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Disclaimer: Since we are just getting started we are learning about lighting and such. Please bear with us as we get better at the photography. Thanks! 
These pretty polishes were purchased by me and I am in no way affiliated with either company.