Sinful Colors Star Fish & a NOPI

I'm not crazy about the polish I am about to show you.  Which is hard to understand considering its a pink creme and those are my favorite.  Sinful Colors Star Fish is a mauve-y kind of pink.  It is really pretty in the bottle, it just looked crappy next to my skin.

3 coats of Star Fish

 I had on CND Stickey and topped it with SH Insta Dri (Red Bottle).

Sorry for the wonky index finger.  I messed it up earlier and then "fixed"  it before taking photos. Looks like a dent -_-

I tried to save this manicure by adding NOPI Step to the Beat of My <3.

I WANT TO SWIM IN IT.

 These have one coat of the NOPI. They made it look cuter but the base color was still blargh on my skin )= Another one to add to the swap out pile I guess!

essence "Where is the Party?"

Where is the party, you ask? On my nails evidently.  Duochromes remind me of disco balls but not for the obvious reasons, lol.  I think they're both fun to watch.  It's OK, I'm 65% crazy, so either judge or move on xD

3 coats of Essence "Where is the Party?"

I did 3 coats, but 2 was enough.  I started the 3rd coat and realized it didn't need it but finished because, well, just because.  I also smudged my ring finger on my car keys, oops.

It's purple!

And then it's not!

Greeeeeeeeen!

Sunlight shows its rainbow (=

WOW.

Then I ruined it with "silver shatter" and took it off.

With my experiences with Essence, I've never encountered any problems.  Fantastic formula, great cover and application and decent wear. I got this for 99 cents at Ulta and absolutely recommend it for anyone who finds it purty.

green jelly, naked nails and a disapproving kitty

This post is pic heavy, but hopefully you'll enjoy it.  Naked nails, a fail, a kitty and a fabulous green jelly!

B.S.N Lacquer in "Ivy" - 2 coats.

This is a dollar store brand.  My local shopping center opened a huge dollar store with a TON of nail polish!  BSN stands for "Beauty Sense of New York".  I am not sure if these are 3FREE as they have a unique smell to them.

Squishy!

 "Ivy" is a medium green jelly that applied WONDERFULLY! I don't care for most greens but this is really fun.  This is two thin coats.  Could have used a third but too late for that.

So then I was all, "Hey, what should I add to it?!" - I wore it for a full day before ruining it, though.

OPI "Black Shatter" & "Silver Shatter"

And then, I went, "Hey, lets layer shatters!" and that's where it got ugly. I didn't put a topcoat between the layers of shatter, so that is where the ugly is coming from.

Enlarge to witness epic fail man's disapproval.

 Ew. It's chunky and nasty. Don't do what I did. Even if i put the topcoat in between it still would've been fug.

Even Ralphie is judging me.

 And then the fail continues..

DINGY GREEN STAINS.

 That's my first photograph of naked nails too, by the way. But I fixed it really quick, I just used a fine grit buffer block.

All better (=

 And now I get to do it all over again..

lets do it, LETS FALL IN LOVE!

Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love!

Valentine's Day is just a few weeks away so perfect timing to get some v-day manis in order!  I have on here I did and hated at first, but as I added each element I started to embrace it.

Started with a base color of Essie's "Knockout pout".  Ok, not joking on this one, FIVE COATS and still some bald spots!  I will not be using this polish again, most likely.  What are we paying 8$ for?  If I wanted full coverage it would've required SIX coats! LUDICROUS!

So yea, five coats.  Bright baby pink creme.  Super cute though.

 This was the final product after about an hour of decisions lol.

left to right;

-nailtekII as basecoat
-art club in white and shimmery purple (tips)
-essie's "knockout pout" (base color)
-opi by nicole "step to the beat of my <3" (heart glitter on middle nail)
-pure ice "dont you wish?" (glitter over the tips and middle finger)
-sally hansen insta-dri topcoat as topcoat
-used BM02 plate for the lips
-used BM11 for the tips
-used art club for the stamping

 What do you think?! Even lazy jellyfish do it!

polish additions!

First off, before I start, I just wanted to say I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy new year (=

Now, on to my new polishes!  This month was bountiful in polishes from gifts to polishes I bought myself, I am so happy to have these new additions to my collection and can hardly wait to use them all!  I am going to start with the polishes that were given to me.

My best friend, Coryn, bought me 3 polishes from Five Below.  They are holiday themed glitters, which you can just never have enough of!  I am super excited for these in particular because I already own quite a few Funky Finger glitters and they go on so nicely!  They’re packed with glitter and cover completely in just a few coats.  Their formula is surprisingly easy to work with.  I also love Funky Finger’s crèmes.  Their shimmers are nice too, but I am not crazy about shimmers so I tend avoid buying them. Aside from Five Below, I don’t know where you can buy these but I’m sure a little digging online will be fruitful for anyone interested.  They’re very inexpensive too, I get 3 bottles for only 5$!

I was pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of Nicole by OPI in my stocking.  Since my dad does all the Christmas shopping I was even more surprised.  He cracked a joke saying something about the price of it, 7$ at Wal-Mart.  I could only laugh because he didn’t realize how much it was until he looked at the receipt.  I explained to him that’s exactly why I don’t own any of them, lol!  He unintentionally bought me one from the Justin Beiber line which is fine, he said he picked out “Step to the beat of my <3” because it looked very different from the others and hadn’t seen me use anything like it before.  Thanks daddy (=  I have this one on how over a base of Lemon Fizz by China Glaze and its so cute.  The hearts are a little tricky to pick out of the bottle but it really isn't an issue.  I love the little pieces of glitter in it too.  Just adds a nice, unique touch!

I found four colors I had never seen before at the beloved Dollar Tree and I am super excited to use these!  I go crazy when I see new polishes available since I already own most of the ones that are on the shelves.  There are like, maybe 5 dollar trees that are all about 15-20 minutes away and the one in South Plainfield is the only one with a decent selection and new additions.

e.l.f in fair pink (on left) and fluorescent pink (on right). I don't think I've seen these before but the bottles are thin and rectangular and I could not resist! (and at a dollar a piece, there's no reason to!!)

 L.A. Colors, Color Craze in Static Electricity (blue) and Live (Silver). The silver looks particularly unique as the particles are notably fine and minuscule.  Can't wait to see what I can do with this!

Next is what I am super ultra excited for!  As a present to myself for finishing community college and graduating with my Associates degree, I bought a handful of polishes online at head2toe.  A total of 8 polishes (including the ridge filling base coat, not pictured) came out to 34$ and change, shipping included.  They arrived about 5 days later.  Super exciting for me since a bunch of these were colors I’ve wanted to ages!!  My mom picked out Cheek to Cheek since sheer, shimmery pinks are her favorite and the only type of polish she will wear.  My roommate picked out Emerald Fitzgerald because she loves darker polishes and wears them very well.  

The rest were my doing.  Blue Hawaiian was a last second addition to my purchase since I realized I don't have many if any blues.  Bad Kitty was absolutely beautiful in the swatches I have seen and I couldn’t resist! I have already worn it and love it!! It chipped after a shower though, sadly.  But I really do love it.  I am wearing yellow fizz right now and adore it, so excited I bought it.  I have wanted For Audrey for ages and have been meaning to buy it.  Ruby Pumps was bought because I realized I had NO reds.  I have one that has been used up completely and it was a glitter too. 

I also wandered into a Sally’s that’s right near the Dollar Tree and ended up getting one of the gift sets for a discounted 7$.  The set came with Naughty and Nice, which is a really pretty and unique maroon, burgundy jelly and Mrs. Claus, another red glitter addition!  It came with a free gift, the Peppermint Cuticle Oil.  Smells great and works nicely, but I feel like the bottle is always leaking because it gets everywhere!

I also wanted to try out some new base coats and top coats so I am starting with Beauty Secrets.  They were 3$ a bottle but have large sizes available for 6$.  I actually used them three times already and I love them!  Both dry so fast.  I can't tell you about durability though because I change my polish far too often.

Basically I am super excited for my new additions and will have lots of updates available when I start swatching or making NOTD’s out of them!  What did YOU get for the holidays?  I can’t wait to see!  - Images are clickable to enlarge!

-Cathryn