Dior Shadow Swatch + Review

So, I've had these pictures sitting in my arsenal for ages and noticed them when I was browsing through my folders.  Since it's been a while, I don't remember the exact number of coats used but I do believe it was an easy two coats.  I recall the formula being WONDERFUL.  I used Essie Grow Stronger as a base coat and sealed with Out the Door.  I was so absolutely smitten with this polish!

I'm a pretty simple girl, polish wise. I love a bright creme above all, so this polish is a bit outside of my norm.  It also appears a lot darker on the nail than in the bottle (see below), but oh my is it stunning! Shadow is a deep plum, almost jelly base - super pigmented by the way - with some flecks of.. gold? Rose gold? It's a bit of a metallic shimmer fleck-fest. Love!

NOW AVAILABLE! Oopsie Daisies Nail Polish Sanderson Sisters Halloween Trio

This collection was actually released a couple days prior but this is the first mention of it here.  For more consistent updates check out the Oopsie Daisies Nail Polish Facebook Page.

This is one of my favorite collections to date! I am obsessed with the movie Hocus Pocus and watch it regardless of what time of the year it is, so it was an obvious decision for the Halloween collection to be based on the wicked witches themselves!

I'll Take Thee Away - Witchcraft - For Thy Sisters

The trio consists of three jelly based polishes inspired by the witches costumes.  First up is I'll Take Thee Away -I'll Take Thee Away is inspired by the delightfully dense Sarah Sanderson. The color scheme in this polish is derived from her spectacular costume. I'll Take Thee Away consists of lilac, pink, purple, violet and pink holo dot glitter in various finishes and sizes all put together in squishy dark berry base. Shown below is three coats on its own with one coat of top coat.

Next is Witchcraft.  Witchcraft is inspired by the hauntingly evil Winifred Sanderson. The color scheme in this polish is derived from her wicked costume. Witchcraft consists of green holo, turquoise, green, silver and large turquoise holo dot glitter in various finishes and sizes all put together in squishy black jelly base. Shown is 3 coats on its own with one coat of topcoat.  This polish can also easily be worn over a black creme for a less squishy final effect.

Closing out the trio is For Thy Sisters. For Thy Sisters is inspired by the pleasantly plump Mary Sandersons. The color scheme in this polish is derived from her fabulous costume. For They Sisters consists of silver holo squares, silver and red glitter in various sizes and finishes in a squishy darkened red jelly base. Shown is 2 coats on its own with one coat of topcoat.

 The Sanderson Sisters Trio is now on sale at the Oopsie Daisies Nail Polish store for $8.50 a piece. Thanks for looking!

Born Pretty Water Decals Review + Coupon Code

Today I have an item sent for review from Born Pretty! I chose to review some water decals since I've never used them before and I am so so glad to have picked these.  I've had nothing but a wonderful experience with them!

I chose the little yellow hibiscuses for this manicure, seen above.  The package came with a bunch of different styles, photos to follow.

I used two decals on each hand for accent nails.  Shown is two coats of Brucci Sylvia's Pretty in Purple.

So, these were the instructions that came with the decals.  I really do use the term instructions loosely here, though.  I'm going to list, step by step, what I did to complete the manicure.

After painting and top coating your nails and making sure they're completely dry (I'd say 20 minutes is good, I waited longer however because I was doing stuff in between):

1. Cut out the desired designs you'd like to use. (Make sure you peel the acetate off; mine fell off without needing to be peeled.)
2.  Dip the design into water and make sure it is completely saturated (This didn't take 10-20 seconds; more like 5 worked for me)
3. Use a finger from the hand you're NOT decorating - slide the decal off on to the tip of your finger.  At this point, it should be upside down, full color design facing down.
4. Position the decal above the nail you're applying to and gently place it.  Be sure to smooth it down.
5. I personally waited for the water from the decal to air dry instead of blotting it, to avoid messing up the design.
6. Once any dripped off water is dry, apply top coat.

Some things worth noting:

• The "instructions" included did not mention that they would transfer backwards. I botched my test run because of this, so that's why I listed revised instructions above.
• These don't work like those kiddie tattoos, although its a similar concept. You have to flip the decal         around and apply the lighter colored side down, full color side up.
• Once the decal is on your nail, if your fingernail is still wet, you can slide the decal around! Awesome! You can slide and gently nudge it to reposition it to exactly where you want. I love that quality about these; stickers and stamping have a much more of a one-shot type of quality.
• The decals are so detailed!  I love how fine the details are.
• Water temperature doesn't seem to matter. Mine was cool from the tap.
• The decal lay very flat against your nail since they're so thing, I like that.

Despite those minor complications these things were a breeze to work with.  No lining anything up, no lumps or bumps. I love them and I'm going to buy more when I can.

Above are some more shots of the manicure, that I've quickly fallen in love with, by the way!  Below are more designs that the package came with.

If you'd like to purchase these decals for yourself they're available here:

Born Pretty Store Water Decals Shop Link

They sell from $1.99 and up and have FREE SHIPPING! As well as my 10% off personal discount code!

Coupon Code for 10% Off: CA10L91

If I get 10 orders with that code, I can host a BornPretty giveaway! 

Verity Deep Violet Jelly Sandwich with Mash Silver

I so love Verity Deep Violet, so so much. It has so many possibilities!

For this manicure I started with two coats of Deep Violet, one thin coat of Mash in silver nail art glitter with one more coat of Deep Violet.  This was over Orly Bonder and sealed with Out the Door.   The silver glitter is SUUUUUPER dense, this was as thin as I could get it to apply!  It is not gloppy or anything, really a nice, unique polish.  The pictures appear a bit bumpy.. but it felt so smooth and it didn't appear bumpy to the eye; something the camera only seemed to pick up.

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Dior Ultra Violet and Striping

I wanted to play with my stripers again after my last manicure except this time I added some fun dots to mix it up a bit.

I used Dior Ultra Violet for the base coat, over Orly Bonder and the manicure is sealed with OTD.  Dior bottles are really hard for me to hold right. I'm so used to round bottles!  Two coats of Ultra Violet was all it took to reach opacity; nice formula and application, too!

For the stripes I used Art Deco Baby Pink, b.s.n Golden Closter (??? WTF is a closter?), b.s.n. White and Art Club Lite Pink.  I also used them for the dots with my dotting tools, all except Golden Closter. I can't get over the name. The b.s.n. polishes are some horrific smelling polishes from my local dollar store and they're always misspelled and mislabeled but this one has to be my new favorite.

I drew the lines with the stripers and then staggered dots at the end points, making sure the lines didn't go too far down to the base of my nail.  I'm not sure what I was trying to accomplish but it's difficult to come up with something new, haha.

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Just a quick reminder, the Valentine's Day Duo Giveaway is still active, click HERE to enter.  There is also a giveaway on the Oopsie Daisies Facebook page HERE. Good luck to the entrants!  Both of these giveaways end this coming weekend!

Orly Velvet Rope Swatches

I feel like every polish I've tried lately has been a winner.  Either I've refined my tastes and choices to the point where I don't pick out stuff that I end up not liking anymore or my horizons have broadened and I just love everything.  Either way, not complaining.

"Natural" Light

Shown is two coats of Velvet Rope, they went on so smoothly too.  I realized this is only my 9th Orly.. where have I been?!  I did something a little differently this time with my treatments.  I got to try some new ones, so far so good!  This is two coats over NailTek II and sealed with Barielle Manicure Extender.  No chips yet, just some tipwear that's painfully visible, sorry.

"Natural" Light

Velvet Rope is a shiny, somewhat metallic, but not entirely rich purple with itty bitty silver glitters mixed in.

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NEW Funky Fingers Duochrome Swatches

I picked these three duochromes up at my local Five Below.  There was a fourth, called Primrose, that just wasn't my style and just.. fugly. So it didn't come home with me. These are three I did get: Venom, Pink Pixel and Mood Ring.

Venom is a violet based duo with a green shimmer, the most stunning of the three I feel. Shown on all swatches is 2-3 coats (it varied per nail, per color) over Orly Bonder and Sealed with Out the Door.

"Natural" Light

"Natural" Light

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Mood Ring, a teal/turquoise base with gold shimmer. I'm pretty terrible at describing duochromes, so I apologize for that.

"Natural" Light

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Pink Pixel, a pink base with gold shimmer.  The least complex of the three, not really a duochrome so much either as the shimmer didn't really show two different colors.

"Natural" Light

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Funky Finger polishes are 3 for $5, or $2 a piece available at Five Below.  I've got a ton of them, personally.  These however weren't my bag, so I gave them away.  The formula on these was a little bit runny but totally workable.