This is two coats of It's Alive over Orly Nail Armor. I really love this glitter.
 |
| Just lovely! |
Showing posts with label ulta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ulta. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Swampy Halloween Mani
I have a swampy Halloween themed manicure for you today. I felt a little bit inspired, swampy greens stuck out to me today. I must say that I do really love China Glaze It's Alive. It's my only mossy green glitter, it dries quite fast. I didn't put a topcoat on it though, I don't mind the gritty.
This is two coats of It's Alive over Orly Nail Armor. I really love this glitter.
This is 3 coats of Ulta Army of 1. I used WnW Black Creme for the swirls and Konad Special White for the skull. The dots are OPI A Good Man-darin is Hard to Find. I used BM plates 211 and 224 for the skulls and swirls. PSA: Army of 1 stains.
This is two coats of It's Alive over Orly Nail Armor. I really love this glitter.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Ulta Concrete Evidence
Back to school, yea? Yea. Fortunately I only attend two days a week but I spend most of my Tuesday there. I think I may lose my mind seeing as I'm taking Shakespeare Survey and haven't a clue how to interpret his plays. I need those special books that 'translate' old English into current English.
My first day back was last Tuesday and it rained and rained. OK actually - it POURED. I did my nails the night before and coincidentally it was the perfect color. Ulta Concrete Evidence.
I think I may have a new found love for gray cremes. This may not have been the best match for my skin tone but there was something sort of chic to it. Made me feel a little fancy. This needed 3 coats as it isn't very opaque but I'm a pretty habitual 3-coater. I think you could get away with two coats.
I bought these at Ulta for $2. I believe they are still having the sale but this bottle was $2 because it was in the discontinued bottle. While the newer bottles may look nicer, there is actually more polish in the old bottles. New bottles have .33 fl oz while the old ones have .40 fl oz.
My first day back was last Tuesday and it rained and rained. OK actually - it POURED. I did my nails the night before and coincidentally it was the perfect color. Ulta Concrete Evidence.
 |
| Three coats of Concrete Evidence |
I think I may have a new found love for gray cremes. This may not have been the best match for my skin tone but there was something sort of chic to it. Made me feel a little fancy. This needed 3 coats as it isn't very opaque but I'm a pretty habitual 3-coater. I think you could get away with two coats.
I bought these at Ulta for $2. I believe they are still having the sale but this bottle was $2 because it was in the discontinued bottle. While the newer bottles may look nicer, there is actually more polish in the old bottles. New bottles have .33 fl oz while the old ones have .40 fl oz.
Monday, September 5, 2011
OPI "Swimsuit... Nailed It!" + haul!
I did some shopping on the same day my online order came. I was crazy overwhelmed by my choices but decided on "Swimsuit...Nailed It!" with some accents and stuff.
I tried doing a half moon mani but had the guides up too high. I don't hate the result though, it was a different look for sure. I only put one coat of "Down to Earth" so it's a little splotchy and there are some bare spots that you can see the blue peeking through. The finish is the same though so the contrast really popped!
Before I did that though, I had "Crown Me Already!" as an accent.
I have a truly difficult time wearing glitters. I habitually peel it off almost as soon as it sets. It is such a unique and pretty color though, it is a great addition to my collection.
"Swimsuit... Nailed It!" is a one coater which means its great for a quick mani. It is super pigmented though which also means it stains. It penetrated my NailTekII Foundation base coat and I had to buff away the stains. The strange part about it was that only a few nails were stained? I don't know what that means but it does have the potential to stain. I suggest doubling up on a basecoat or wear this around the same time you're due for a buffing.
"Crown Me Already!" is such a show stealer! It has multiple sized silver glitters but application was a tiny bit tricky; it is so densely packed with glitter that some will inevitably hang off the edge of your nail. I had to push it back with the brush to keep them from dangling. I am thinking this would make a great New Year's Eve manicure.
On to the new additions. I feel like a horrific blogger because I cannot remember where my online order came from. I think it was head2toe, but I could be wrong. I had placed it a while ago, before Irene, had sort of forgotten about it. Anyways:
The essence polish is from Ulta actually, I grouped it wrong. And speaking of Ulta, for once the clueless SA actually benefited me. I was asking about a sale in the flyer I saw and she thought I wanted to look at the discontinued bottles. She went in back and wheeled out trays of the old bottles that were still for sale. They have the same polish in them but Ulta has since changed their bottles. I got my Ulta polishes shown here for $2 AND they have more in the bottles. The new bottles have .33 fl oz while the old bottles have .4 fl oz. I love a bargain (=
I also (obviously) grabbed these two. A different SA from the confused one excitedly grabbed these from the back for me.
*exhale* That is all!
 |
| One coat of OPI "Swimsuit... Nailed It!" topped with Funky Fingers "Down to Earth" |
Before I did that though, I had "Crown Me Already!" as an accent.
 |
| Three coats of "Crown Me Already!" on ring finger |
"Swimsuit... Nailed It!" is a one coater which means its great for a quick mani. It is super pigmented though which also means it stains. It penetrated my NailTekII Foundation base coat and I had to buff away the stains. The strange part about it was that only a few nails were stained? I don't know what that means but it does have the potential to stain. I suggest doubling up on a basecoat or wear this around the same time you're due for a buffing.
"Crown Me Already!" is such a show stealer! It has multiple sized silver glitters but application was a tiny bit tricky; it is so densely packed with glitter that some will inevitably hang off the edge of your nail. I had to push it back with the brush to keep them from dangling. I am thinking this would make a great New Year's Eve manicure.
On to the new additions. I feel like a horrific blogger because I cannot remember where my online order came from. I think it was head2toe, but I could be wrong. I had placed it a while ago, before Irene, had sort of forgotten about it. Anyways:
 | |
| ChG "Strawberry Fields" ChG "Shower Together" Essie "Smooth Sailing" Essie "Turquoise and Caicos" |
 |
| Color Club "Untamed Luxury" Color Club "Space Case" essence colour & go "You Belong To Me" |
 |
| From Left To Right: Concrete Evidence - Sunset Bronze - Mint Condition - Material Girl Tutu Cute - Alter Ego - Little Black Dress - Pink-A-Boo - X-dry (topcoat) |
 |
| Material Girl, Little Black Dress and Alter Ego bottle shots. So pretty! |
I also (obviously) grabbed these two. A different SA from the confused one excitedly grabbed these from the back for me.
*exhale* That is all!
Friday, August 12, 2011
jelly sandwich mani with stamping
Hello everyone! I have a super fun mani for you to look at today. I hope it excites you as much as it does me. A popular recent trend all over the Nail Board over at MUA is the "Jelly Sandwich" manicure. This is one fad I will certainly indulge in as it produces beautiful results that last!
A "jelly sandwich" is a paint-job done by doing a few coats of a jelly, followed by a coat or two of a complimentary glitter and then that is sandwiched with another coat or two of the same jelly. It makes your nails look like they've got a thick layer of delicious sparkles all over them. My first attempt was a pleasant surprise. This style of manicure is pretty goof-proof.
An adorable little set of jellies from Ulta made choosing my colors difficult because I wanted them all, but I finally decided on "The Berry Minimum" which is a bright magenta-y berry jelly. After two coats of that, I put one coat of China Glaze "Bad Kitty", then one more coat of jelly followed by one coat of Out the Door.
It was more difficult for me to photograph this than a neon! I haven't been able to take pictures in daylight so I have to work with what I've got. This is pretty true-to-life. If you click to enlarge you can see how the glitter is buried, or "sandwiched" under the jelly. Such a pretty effect!
I wanted to add something else after wearing this for a full day so I decided to use my new Bundle Monster plates. I used plate BM-225 and WnW Black Creme for the stamping.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did - What do you think?!
 |
| This is what I did, details further down (= |
A "jelly sandwich" is a paint-job done by doing a few coats of a jelly, followed by a coat or two of a complimentary glitter and then that is sandwiched with another coat or two of the same jelly. It makes your nails look like they've got a thick layer of delicious sparkles all over them. My first attempt was a pleasant surprise. This style of manicure is pretty goof-proof.
 |
| I used the second one from the left, "The Berry Minimum" |
An adorable little set of jellies from Ulta made choosing my colors difficult because I wanted them all, but I finally decided on "The Berry Minimum" which is a bright magenta-y berry jelly. After two coats of that, I put one coat of China Glaze "Bad Kitty", then one more coat of jelly followed by one coat of Out the Door.
I wanted to add something else after wearing this for a full day so I decided to use my new Bundle Monster plates. I used plate BM-225 and WnW Black Creme for the stamping.
 |
| I didn't do a perfect stamping job, and the bare spots really showed, so I used my dotting tool to add some dots in the areas that needed a little "something". |
 |
| Please click to enlarge, the detail is amazing. The BM plates are so crisp! |
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did - What do you think?!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Two pretty pinks!
Thought I would change up the tone a bit, instead of complaining I have some raving to do! I've previously stated how pleased I am with the Essence Colour and Go polishes. I went to Ulta this weekend and they had restocked them so I picked up two. Today I am showing you "Ultimate Pink" along with my first Ulta polish (which left me pleasantly surprised!)
This was a creme-y jelly kind of polish, leaning more towards a creme. It looks kind of squishy, too. It jumps off my nails, I love it!
This polish is called "Encore Pink" and it straight up reminds me of ballerinas, lol. It's very pretty. This is 3 (maybe 4??) coats? I can't remember but I usually habitually put on an extra coat than necessary just to round things off nicely. This could be wore with 3 OR 4 and still you could achieve opacity.
So I put both of these pictures, even though they make the polish look like two different shades, because it does vary in the light setting you're in. Just by turning my back to the light when taking the photo makes it look a lot darker. But it isn't a flat color, it plays nicely with the light and sort of chameleons to the lighting.
All of this being said, in reference to my last post - that beautiful magenta cost me 1.06$ while this pastel pink was somewhere in the 2$ range (Ulta has 2 for 4$ sale going on until beginning of April I believe - knowing the quality of the polishes now, that's a nice deal! Especially since they're 5$ a piece normally!)
Price does not equate quality. Lesson learned (again and again)
 |
| A beautiful magenta creme! |
 |
| Two coats with TC |
This polish is called "Encore Pink" and it straight up reminds me of ballerinas, lol. It's very pretty. This is 3 (maybe 4??) coats? I can't remember but I usually habitually put on an extra coat than necessary just to round things off nicely. This could be wore with 3 OR 4 and still you could achieve opacity.
 |
| Flash |
 |
| Flash |
All of this being said, in reference to my last post - that beautiful magenta cost me 1.06$ while this pastel pink was somewhere in the 2$ range (Ulta has 2 for 4$ sale going on until beginning of April I believe - knowing the quality of the polishes now, that's a nice deal! Especially since they're 5$ a piece normally!)
Price does not equate quality. Lesson learned (again and again)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)