Light Blue Gradient

I have a special mani to show everyone today. This is a gradient mani using only Wet n Wild- Blue Wants to be a Millionaire. I got many compliments on this, and was asked frequently where I got my nails done; but I did these myself and it was fairly easy! Blue Wants to be a Millionaire is a sheer blue jelly with micro prismatic glitter particles. It builds up very nicely and is opaque in three coats. Although it looks like the finish of this would be rough due to the glitter, it was so smooth that it felt like I was wearing a creme. I topped it off with one coat of Gelous followed by one coat of Seche Vite.

I did not use a sponge of any sort with this gradient, just the polish brush. First I painted my entire nail with one coat of Blue Wants to be a Millionaire. I then painted about 2/3 up my nail with a second coat. Lastly, I painted a third coat on the top third (the tips) of my nails. This turned out amazing and this polish works so well for gradients!

The formula on Blue Wants to be a Millionaire is INCREDIBLE! I had this mani on for over three days with no chips whatsoever! I didn't want to remove it, but I have plenty of untrieds to get through. This polish can be found fairly inexpensive at Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreen's. It usually retails for $1.99, but Wet n Wild usually has good deals and I've seen it for $1. The pink sister polish to this (in the same collection) is Hannah Pinktana. I did a gradient using it last Valentine's Day.

I have been slacking on regularly updating my hauls, so here are some goodies for your viewing pleasure!

Wicked Polish! The names of these sold me. Plus they're very unique! 

F4 Polish- Drunken Zombie and Candy Lacquer- O Christmas Tree

Loreal- Amazon's Flash, Julep- O Canada!, ULTA- Hide and Go Sequins mini (Deborah Lippmann- Across the Universe dupe), Blue Cross Halloween pumpkin, Disney Villains unamed bronze shimmer

All that Glitters- Horror Business and Night Fright and Illamasqua- holiday duo with Glitterati and Viridian (my first Illamasquas!)

HURRY UP AND ENTER THE THANKSGIVING MULTI-BLOGGER GIVEAWAY! LESS THAN TWO DAYS LEFT :)

Julep Taylor

I have a quick post tonight. This is Julep- Taylor. It is a super bright, extremely shiny cobalt blue creme.  I wore it with my green jacket and I thought the two colors worked really well together.

It's so shiny it's almost reflective! It looks like it could be a jelly. I am wearing one coat of Seche Vite with it. 

I took this picture as sun was coming in my window, and the blue looks more subdued in these images. I assure that it is very bright!

The formula on this was wonderful and it applied in two smooth coats. I really like the brushes in the Julep bottles. The brush conformed to the shape of my nails very well. This formula was also long-lasting.

My First Fish Egg Friday!

I finally got some craft beads so I can participate in Fish Egg Friday!! I'm wearing two coats of  Julep- Meryl. It is a medium grey creme. It falls in between Zoya- Kelly and OPI- French Quarter for Your Thoughts. The formula was amazing and applied in two flawless coats. I got a mixed package of beads from Michael's. It was $7 and contained six colors. Application of the beads was fairly easy- I thought it would be more difficult. I had my nails painted beforehand, so I just added OPI Topcoat to my accent nail and poured the beads on. I pressed them into the nail so that they would adhere. This picture shows no topcoat on top of the beads, and also there's no flash in this picture.

This is with the flash. I love this technique!

I put a coat of Seche Vite on top of the beads just to seal them in. I like the look without topcoat much better. I only added topcoat to the very tip of my nail on my other hand. It seems pretty secure so far. Only a couple beads have fallen off. Now I know not to put topcoat over the entire nail with beads. EDIT: Although the "fish egg" look looks nicer without topcoat covering the entire nail, it makes it much more durable. The beads fell off of my nail without topcoat over the entire nail after I did the dishes. The nail with the topcoat is much more intact.

What are your thoughts on the "fish egg" mani?

Effie Trinket Inspired Mani

In honor of the Hunger Games, I decided to do a mani inspired from the mani that Effie Trinket wears during the reaping in the movie. I'm going to see it tomorrow and I can't wait! I used two coats of Sally Hansen- Red Ruby followed by a gradient of Julep-Oscar. This picture is with the flash.

Here it is blurred without the flash. I was really surprised how smoothly Oscar applied. Normally glitter this concentrated feels really gritty but it has a very smooth finish to it. 

Here's a more in-focus picture without the flash, but of course the lighting made it look yellowed.

Here is Sally Hansen- Red Ruby all by itself pre clean-up. My cuticles look HORRIBLE here!  This is an old one. I'm guessing it's almost ten years old! The bottle says "Chrome Nail Makeup". The polish isn't nearly as chrome as the bottle depicts it to be, but I thought it would be a perfect shade for this mani. Also the color doesn't remind me of it's name "Red Ruby". It looks more like a fuchsia. I have many polishes that have survived throughout the years and I'm planning on featuring them in my blog. I have purchased nail polish thinner and revived most of them. I am going to start a new tag and call it "the vintage gem". I'm going to try to incorporate these on a consistent basis.

Some Layering with Glitter and the Spoils from My Lucky Giveaway Winnings!!

Today I layered one coats of Finger Paints- Drummer Boy over two coats of Essie- Berry Hard. Drummer Boy is from the Finger Paints holiday collection. I lucked out and got it at Sally's for less than $2 on clearance.  I could probably wear this alone and get it to be opaque with 3-4 coats but I just decided to layer it because I wasn't in the mood to use the aluminum foil removal method. Berry Hard is a Burgundy creme. It shows up so much brighter in this picture with the flash.

This is without the flash. Berry Hard looks very accurate. I was very impressed with the formula. Other dark red Essie cremes that I own (Wicked) are more jelly-like and take at least 3 coats to build up opacity. Berry Hard was smooth and opaque in two coats. Drummer Boy had a lot of glitter in it for just being one coat. All of the glitter is the same size and it's a sky blue color. Just by looking at the bottle, it looks as if all of the glitter is the same color. Looking at it close up, it almost looks as if there are two shades of blue glitter. One is slightly lighter than the other.

I recently won Traci's from The TraceFace Philes 2600 follower giveaway. My prize was to select five Julep shades. I chose Leah, Anne, Megan, Taylor, and Oscar. I'm so excited to try these out! Thank you again Traci!!!

 

So, this week, I found out that I won ANOTHER giveaway from Rebekah at Let's Win Blog! My prize was a February Julep Maven box. I feel so spoiled winning these giveaways! I've been entering in them for a long time, and right when I was about to give up, I started winning! So if you haven't won yet, keep trying and it will pay off :) I just love how Julep packaged this box! It was very festive for Valentine's Day!

It contained Oscar and Meryl! I just love Oscar. Julep bottles are kind of small, so now I have a backup of Oscar. There was also top coat for hair and chocolate shaped like an Oscar. Nail polish and chocolate!!! Best combo ever :) I almost don't want to eat the chocolate. It's too pretty. Thanks again Rebekah! 

I also received a small package from Cathleen from Lilacquer. She makes her own duochrome topcoats. This one is called Selkie. It shifts from green to blue. You can see some swatches on her page. I cannot wait to wear this over black. She is currently selling 5ml bottles of Selkie for $6 plus shipping. For me it was about $1.50 for shipping, so it's not too bad. Her contact information is on her page. I'm sure she will start selling some different shades of duochrome topcoats in the future. 

Here it is with the label.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already! Hurry! It ends in a little over an hour! 

Click here to enter!