Spartan Nails

 This is my favorite time of year: Fall, College Football, and Fancy Nails. I'm hoping to keep up my weekly show of Spartan pride this year and I will be collecting those looks here. EDIT: Due to a ridiculous amount of weddings on game days, I didn't get a creative design in each week, but here are the weeks I did manage to find time and inspiration.

 WEEK 11 - SPARTAN INTERLOCKING DOTS

Green: Essie - Mojito Madness
White: Sinful Colors - Snow Me White

How To: This pin should help visually, because my explanations are a bit rough sometimes. I painted my nails all white and then added a diagonal green tip. I started with the green dots (made with a medium tip dotting tool) on the white side of the line, spaced a dot's width apart. Then on the green side I added white dots sort of in between the green dots (check out steps 5 and 6 in the pin above). Then I filled in all the green and white dots, keeping in line with the first set I had made. Yeah, that made no sense.


WEEK 7 - SPARTAN CLOUDS

Green: Essie - Mojito Madness
White: Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather

How To: This is where I got the idea for the design, her tutorial is probably better, but it didn't quite work as well as I wanted. This is what I actually ended up doing. I started with all regularly painted green nails. I had a hard time getting the tops of my clouds to be the perfect OCD round I was looking for. I tried using a dotting tool, but that was too small, so I ended up using the end of a pen (totally normal). Using my very official "dotting tool" I made 3-4 white dots and using the brush I painted a white stripe from just the lowest dot. I repeated the process with the black, and filled in the rest of the tip using the regular brush.



 WEEK 5 - SPARTAN FRENCH

White: Sally Hansen - White On
Green: A ridiculous combo of green polish and glitter (just buy a green glitter striper, I found one after this at Sally's Beauty)
Pink: Essie - Vanity Fairest

How To: Pretty standard french tip process. I painted all my nails the base pink color and free handed the white tip. The best part of adding glitter is that you can cover up any imperfections in the white. Now, I do not recommend using a paintbrush and a sketchy glitter concoction, like I did. Go get a green glitter striper and make it easy on yourself.



WEEK 4 - SPARTAN ARGYLE

Green: Sally Hansen - Going Green
White - Sally Hansen - White On
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather
Silver striper

How To: Start off by painting half your nail green and half white, I alternated each nail as to which color was on the tip/base. I tried to be somewhat neat, but I didn't go crazy making sure my lines were perfect, because I essentially covered up the area they meet. (Sidenote: this green polish will make this white polish turn yellow if they overlap, I don't which one is more to blame, so I've tried to start using other polishes if I know the white is going on top of the green.) Now I waited forever for that to dry, I may have actually done this the night before and finished in the am. Next, I cut a piece of tape in half so I had square corners and placed the tape corner to corner meeting where my two polish colors met. Then I just painted the non-tape covered areas with the black polish and removed the tape immediately. And to finish I took a silver striper and added the criss-crossing lines. I always started with the "V" at the base of my nail and made sure that all the lines crossed each other. Just watch her video it makes more sense then my rambling. I get a lot of my ideas from her and then I just make it Spartanified.



WEEK 2 - SPARTAN CHEVRONS



Green: Essie - Mojito Madness
White: Sally Hansen - White On
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather

How To: This is actually a lot easier than it looks, but be warned it's somewhat time consuming. First, get some regular Scotch tape and paint a large section 2 coats of white and another large section 2 coats of black. Then while those are drying, apply to your nails 2 coats of green and seche vite top coat. I would suggest a very long dry time (as in go get a coffee and pick up your dry cleaning) before moving on to part two. Now that everything is super dry you can get on to the fun part. Using a pair of craft scissors cut varying widths of white and black zig-zags. I cut and placed the strips individually so I could work on one pattern at a time. I placed each strip with a tweezer for better control and then with a cuticle clipper I trimmed off any excess pieces. And finally, apply a thick top coat to meld the whole thing together.



WEEK 1 - NEON POLKA DOTS

Green: China Glaze - Kiwi Cool-ada
White: Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather

How To: This one is pretty simple. As with all neons, I started with a coat of an opaque white and 2 coats of Kiwi Cool-ada. Using a medium size dotting tool, I started with one color of dots then filled in between with the opposite color.

Procession of Purples

Here are the purple polishes that I picked over the last few months.

Purple Tips

Purple  Tips

Purple: Essie - Sexy Divide
Glitter: Color Club - Lilac Hologram
Pink: Essie - Vanity Fairest

A little twist on the basic french manicure. I started with two coats of the pink and free handed the purple tips. And just to cover up any imperfections I traced the purple glitter along the edge of the tips. 

Zoya - Yasmeen

Yasmeen - The picture above isn't quite accurate, as with most of my purples this photo is coming off just a bit too blue. Yasmeen has a red toned shimmer that unfortunately isn't showing up. This reminds me a lot of Sexy Divide (my #1 purple), but SD is definitely a darker, more blue toned purple. Yasmeen is definitely moving up the list of favorite purples. 

Essie - Lilacism

Lilacism - I think I'm still on the fence about this polish. Like above, this picture is making the polish come off too blue. Lilacism is a dusty cream light purple. I'm not in love with this because it doesn't seem very special. I'm definitely a convert and love cream finish polishes, but because this one is kind of dirty looking the fact that there is no shimmer or sheen makes it forgettable.

Parade of Pinks

I want to preface the next few posts with a few FYI items. When I was only working in the office I felt like I could do some crazy things because I wasn't going to see any clients and no one else really cares, but now I'm back out on jobs so I have to tone it down a bit. As a result, I unintentionally picked only pink and purple polishes for the last two months (and one green that is going to show up randomly in a future post). Also, you may notice that as my work stress level increases there is an inverse effect on the length of my nails, so sorry about the that. 

Orly - Fancy Fuchsia

Fancy Fuchsia - This color makes me super happy!!!! It may be the best Barbie pink I think I may ever find. FF is very bright and it borders on neon. The best part of this polish is that is has way better coverage than any of the CG neons that I own. As a reference, this has a cream finish and the shade is right in between CG Shocking Pink and CG Purple Panic.

Layla - Coral Glam

Coral Glam - oooooooooo soooo pretttyyyy. This is another one of the Layla holo polishes I picked up at Ulta a while ago. Ulta was out of Retro Pink by the time I went to get more, so I had to settle for Coral Glam. While it's more peach than I would prefer, all of these holos have a gorgeous rainbow effect, so I imagine I'm going to love all of them. I did end up using Gelous as a top coat, which did make the mani last a bit longer, but not much.

Essie - Plumberry, Fergie by W&W - Hollywood Walk of Fame

Plumberry w/ Hollywood Walk of Fame - I wore this polish just recently and it is a great color to transition into Fall. At first this reminded me of Essie Watermelon, until I swatched them next to each other. Plumberry, while also leaning more red than pink, has a lot more bluish/berry tones. Fergie partnered with Wet n Wild on this small collection, but I just picked up this one polish. This has Star confetti (gold, silver, teal, coral, and lilac) with small silver bar and round glitters. The glitter did not go on evenly, I suggest just placing the color stars that you would like around your nail.

OPI - You Callin' Me a Lyre?

You Callin' Me a Lyre? - This is the pink from the OPI NYC Ballet collection. Like the white that I had previously worn, it is very sheer, but has that nice one color french mani effect. I'm glad that I went with the pink in a full size over the white, because the pink is a much more flattering than the slightly dirty looking white.

Sinful Colors - Glass Pink

Glass Pink - So I didn't even take a picture of this polish because I just kind of threw it on when I couldn't decide on anything else. It was very sheer, pale, had a bit of silver shimmer, and wasn't anything special. It gave sort of the same effect as the OPI, but not quite as good.

Birchbox July - Glamour Edition

July's box was a partnership with Glamour Magazine and focused on the five senses of summer. I'm going to be honest, this month's box didn't really excite so I didn't get into all the products all that much, but here's a brief run down of my thoughts and impressions.

The Box

The Run Down

 

The Box:

Alterna BAMBOO UV+ Color Protection Fade Proof Fluide - For someone with a lot of red in my hair color, I really should be more concerned with preventing fading, so in theory I should have jumped on using this product. Surprise, I didn't. I think the reason was because I don't really go in the sun that much so the UV protection didn't seem like a big benefit to me. I think even if I did try this out, it would have been difficult to gauge it's effectiveness, just because my color can fade quickly and I have been actively trying to prevent that. Just as an FYI, the product it self has a citrus melon scent and the texture is a nice lightweight oil, not too greasy or sticky.
Full Size 2.5 fl oz, $24.00; Sample Size .25 fl oz, $2.40

Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint (Golden) - I like the idea of this and it reminds me a little of the Dr. Jart BB cream I had in a previous box, but without all the added "benefits."  Let's start with what I did like: fairly good coverage for a tint, layers nicely, SPF 20, and it's oil free. What I didn't like: my sample was too dark for me (I think the lightest color would have been better), the luminizing part of the product was just too shimmery, it bordered on glittery and for something that is oil free you end looking like a super shiny glitterball oil slick. 
Full Size 1.7 fl oz, $38.00; Sample Size .17 fl oz, $3.80

Oscar De la Renta (live in love) - This fragrance shares a lot of the same notes as my go to perfumes, but this one just didn't do it for me. I think it lost me because it is floral on floral on citrus and together it was just too sweet for me. (The links above are to Fragrantica, a website that I stumbled on that has really helped me identify the notes that I love, like, and hate about different perfumes)
Full Size 50 ml, $78.00; Sample Size 1 ml, $1.56

Stila Lip Glaze (Action) - Not a fan. The only thing I like about this was the packaging, I like the brush applicator and twist bottom that pushes more product into the tip. The color I received was a dusty rose/beige with a LOT of gold glitter. The "glaze" was really sticky, smelly, and unappealing all around. Do yourself a favor, if you want a golden pink gloss that is a flattering, shimmery (not glittery), smooth, nice smelling, and that is waaaaaaay cheaper, go get a NXY Megashine Gloss in Gold Pink.
Full Size .08 fl oz, $22.00; Sample Size .05, $13.75

LARABAR uber (Roasted Nut Roll) - I'm really glad I got this "flavor" and not any of the fruit ones, I'm more of a sweet/salty versus sweet/fruity person. It was pretty good, very heavy on the nuts, sweetened just a bit with dates and honey. I mean it wasn't life changing or anything, but it was obviously healthier than most granola/meal bars. They are pretty expensive for only 5 bars and I really don't know if they are widely available.
Full Size 5 bars, $12.69; Sample Size 1 bar, $2.54

Earbuds (pink and blue) - I thought this was a really cool extra. Who doesn't need an extra pair of earbuds? And they are super cute too, all blue with hot pink accents. This kinda made the box for me, otherwise I would have been a bit disappointed.
Full Size 1 pair, $10.00; Sample Size 1 pair, $10.00

Wrap Up:

Value of the Box - $34.05

The Good -Earbuds

On The Fence - Alterna Fluide, live in love, Larabar

The Bad -Stila Lip Glaze, Jouer Luminizing Tint (maybe setting it with a powder would reduce the glitter effect and make me like it more)

The Verdict - Kids, I have to be honest, I'm starting to lose interest. Here are my general feelings about the box. This is a really fun idea and I think that the samples are a decent size and it is nice to be able to try all these different products. On the other hand, I don't want a new perfume sample every month, because even if I loved them all, I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a huge perfume collection. And for the same reason as the perfume, I do like to try these higher end products, but I just can't and shouldn't go out and buy every one that I happen to like.



If you're interested in your own Birchbox click here. If you have any questions about cost or how you can earn/use points, let me know. 

OLYMPIC NAILS!!!

 Here's how I decided to show my Olympic spirit throughout the Games.

Olympic Medals

The Polish:   

• Gold: Studio M - Gold Glitter
• Silver: Sinful Colors - Queen of Beauty
• Bronze: OPI - Warm & Fozzie
• Red: Art Club Striper -  Red on Red
• White: Sally Hansen - White On
• Blue: Art Club Striper - Electric Universe

The Process:
Medals - Paint a nail gold, silver, and bronze, duh. Although to make it a little easier and to avoid a really thick layer of glitter polish, I would suggest using a similar color of an opaque metallic first then layer the glitter over it. 

U.S. Flag - First, I painted the whole nail white. Next, I used the blue striper to create a square in the corner of my nail. I then followed up with a red striper on the rest of the nail. To finish, I used a very small dotting tool to create the white "stars."

Union Jack - First, I painted the whole nail white. Using the red striper I created the cross in the center of the nail. Then, I added the diagonal red stripes. Finally, using a blue striper I added little blue triangles next to each red stripe. To be honest if I ever do this again I would go about the process completely differently. I would paint the whole nail blue, paint a large white cross and white diagonal stripes, and then add the red stripes in the center of all the white. I think that would make the design a bit cleaner overall. 

Olympic Rings

The Polish:   

• White: Sally Hansen - White On
• Yellow: China Glaze - Sunshine Pop
• Blue: Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue
• Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather
• Red: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby
• Green: Essie - Mojito Madness  

The Process:  Let me just start by saying I don't think I will do anything like this again. I know it seems fairly similar to a half moon mani, but somehow it was a complete mess and I mostly blame it on that crappy yellow that I don't like that much aslfjl;asjdfiofoajsdohfoej. Rant over. I started by painting each nail the color of an Olympic ring and let it dry. Then, like the half moon mani, I placed those hole reinforcement stickers around my nail where I wanted the color to show through. Next, I painted over the whole nail with a white polish. This is where it got really messy. I'm not sure if it was because my white polish was getting old so it was goopy or if I was trying to go too fast and the layers weren't dry enough, but regardless white got everywhere. The other big problem was that the yellow reacted with the white so that it wasn't white anymore. I ended up adding a layer of top coat and then layered more white; if you're keeping track there are about 10 layers of polish on my thumb at this point (strengthener, base, 2 color, 2 white, top coat, 2 white, top coat). 

Butter London - The Black Knight

The Black Knight - Ok it's not exactly Olympics-y but I thought the fact that it was a Butter London polish made it fit with the theme. And besides aren't those red, white, and blue glitters..... well no, they're actually pink, blue, and gold, but still pretty. I honestly couldn't get a picture to really show how much the glitter shimmers. The glitter looks kind of grainy in the pic, but in really life it's all sparkle. From my previous experience with Butter London, I thought I would be proactive and just start with an opaque black and then add the glitter over top. I did two coats of CG - Liquid Leather and one coat of The Black Knight and it worked great.

Birchbox June - Jet Set

Photo  from Birchbox's website, my actual box had one slight difference*

The loot

The Box:

Comodynes Self Tanning Intensive - I really wanted to love these and I had such high hopes, but they just didn't get the job done. These literally look like a larger version of a moist towelette you would get after eating ribs and you basically just rub it all over yourself to apply the "tan". My biggest issue was that they were very moist initially, so I felt like I was getting product where I wanted to be tan, but then very quickly the towelette felt practically dry (there is no color so you have no idea where you're getting the tan). Can you guess the results? Exactly! I was tan wherever I started and patchy where I ended. I have to say that the color was really natural so I was pleased with that, but who wants to look tan on one leg and not the other (yeah it dried up before I got to my other leg).
Full Size 8 pack, $14.99; Sample Size 2 Towelettes, $3.75


Eyeko Fat Eye Stick (Black) - I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this. I believe you can simply swipe it on and go or apply it and blend/sheer it out for a smokier look. I think this would be a good product to help streamline the "smokey-eye" process, but I am notoriously bad at black/grey smokey eyes (I end up looking like a raccoon/Taylor Momsen). The product glides on easily, but it stays wet?sticky?, so I feel like you have to apply shadow for it to set and not smear all over the place during the day. I may end up playing with the black a little more, but I wish I had received this in Old Gold or Satin Taupe, because I probably would have used those every day until it was nothing but a nub.
Full Size .14 oz, $15.00; Sample Size .14 oz, $15.00


Likewise Facial Moisturizer SPF 50- I'm going to try to keep this one short and sweet. This was better than some of the moisturizers I have because it absorbed quickly and it didn't feel greasy at all under my makeup. It did have a slight sunscreen smell, but it disappeared quickly. All my makeup has SPF in it so this doesn't immediately attract me for that benefit and it's way too freaking expensive, so NO.
Full Size 50 ml, $44.00; Sample Size 5 ml, $4.40


The Balm Stainiac (Beauty Queen) - This is a gel-like product, that comes in a tube with a doe foot applicator, that can be used as a cheek or lip stain. I love my natural lip color, but I have always wanted a pink/red stain that would just brighten up my lips and last for the entire day. Yeah, this wasn't it. I hated this on my lips, it was too drying and just felt weird. I actually do like it as a cheek stain though. I tapped on a few drops and blended them in for a pretty, long lasting cheek color. The only downside to using this as a cheek stain is that when you blend it in, you're left with bright pink fingers (I'm not sure how else you're supposed to blend the product in).
Full Size .3 fl oz, $17.00; Sample Size .04 fl oz, $2.27


*Tili Bags (my bag was actually the orange/lime animal print) - It's a plastic bag! I mean I guess they come in cute colors and designs, but for as much money as I spend on ridiculous things, I just don't think I should add plastic baggies to the list. At first I really didn't know what I was going to do with this (maybe hold some snacks or lady products), but then I actually came up with a good idea. I have a travel makeup bag that I always keep a ziplock bag in for my brushes/eyeliner/mascara and now I will use this cute, more durable bag for those type of products.
Full Size 12 bags, $8.49; Sample Size 1 bag, $.71


John Varvatos Star USA - (this was included to help promote the Birchbox Man box) I really like this, although it's not exactly what I would expect I would like for the Boy's cologne. To be honest it smells exactly like one of his bodywashes, which I like but it's not usually something that lingers, unless I smash my face into his body. It's very fresh and clean and kind of amazing. I wasn't sure at first, but literally writing this I can't put it down.
Full Size 1.7 oz, $55.00; Sample Size .04 oz, $1.29

Wrap Up:

Value of the Box - $27.42

The Good -

On The Fence -

The Bad -

The Verdict -  To be honest I can't do Good, Fence, Bad because nothing is jumping out at me as amazing or awful this month. I didn't repurchase anything and the only thing, at this point, I would consider purchasing is the cologne. I may consider purchasing other colors of the Eyeko eye stick (although I don't think the colors I want are available anywhere in States anymore) or possibly Stainiac.




If you're interested in your own Birchbox click here. If you have any questions about cost or how you can earn/use points, let me know. 

NOTW - Audrey Gets Inspired by the Internet

These are a few nail art designs that I found all over the internets (blogs, YouTube, Pinterest) and decided to try for myself. Here are the results:

Effie Trinket Reaping Nails

The Polish: 

     Purple: Zoya - Reagan

     Gold: Color Club - Disco Nap

 

The Process: I started with my few day old Reagan mani and decided to extend it with gold tips. I painted the gold polish onto the end of a cosmetic sponge and began dabbing it on the tip of my nail. I focused on the tip first to get the gold opaque and then moved gradually up the nail. When there was just a little gold left on the sponge I dabbed it all over the nail to get very subtle gold gradient.

The Inspiration: To be fair there are a bunch of YouTube tutorials out there and plenty of versions on Pinterest, but here are the first two that I saw: julieg713, cutepolish

White On Black Half Moon Mani

The Polish: 

      Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather

      White: Sally Hansen - White On

      Glitter: Kiss Nail Art Paint - Silver Glitter

The Process: This is actually one of the simplest nail art designs to work with and it's so easy to change it up and play with different colors/combos. First, I painted all my nails black (I suggest using an opaque-in-one-coat polish so there is less drying time). After the base polish is dry, I placed one of those hole reinforcement stickers, cut in half, on each nail covering as much of the black that I want to be exposed at the end of the mani. I then painted the tips of each nail white and let that color dry almost completely before removing the stickers. The nice thing about adding the glitter is that if there are any imperfections after pulling up the stickers, the glitter will cover it.

The Inspiration: I got this idea from a pin I found during one of my first browsing sessions through Pinterest, and here is the link to the actual blog post from Let them have Polish!

AMERICA!!!!!!!

The Polish:

     Red: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby

     White: Sally Hansen - White On

     Blue: Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue

     Glitter: Essie - Set in Stones 

     Stars: Michaels Confetti Stars (I actually only found white stars in the "It's a Girl" confetti pack so I got 

        those, but I also bought a pack of multi-color stars)

The Process: My version of this began by painting by thumb and index finger blue and then painting the rest white. I waited for my nails to be fairly dry before I started the actual nail art process. I had some blank sticker labels laying around, so I cut those into strips and placed a couple on my pinkie and middle finger. I painted the entire nail red, after it dried I pulled off the strips to uncover the white underneath. Just to add a little sparkle, I topped my ring finger with some glitter (basically one coat, with a couple glitters strategically placed). On to the stars, I put a dab of clear polish where I wanted the stars and placed them around the nail. To be honest I would do this differently if was ever going to put stars on my nails again. I needed to push the stars into the blue polish more and they needed to be shaped a little so they actually fit the curve of my nail and didn't stick out and scratch the bejezzus out of everything.

The Inspiration: This design comes from MissJenFABULOUS, you can find her info on this design on YouTube, her Blog, or Pinterest.

NOTW - Reagan, Don't Touch My Tutu!, Blue-Ming

Zoya - Reagan

Reagan - Zoya you are definitely out of the dog house***. Initially I wasn't super interested in the Beach/Surf collection, but then Zoya had a really good deal and I decided to take advantage. I ended up getting two polishes (Zuza, Kimber) from the Surf group (shimmers) and one polish (Reagan) from the Beach group (creams). Zoya shimmers have given me some trouble in the past, but I didn't seem to have any problems with these, and as expected the cream applied like a dream. I love this color, I mean I know I like purples, but this has a lot of pinkish/red. I couldn't stop looking at this color, it's just so different from anything else I have.

OPI - Don't Touch My Tutu!

OPI - NYC Ballet Mini Collection

Don't Touch My Tutu! - I almost don't know why I bought this mini collection. OPI minis are reeeeeaaaalllly small and after I swatched them I thought I would never use them because they are extremely sheer. Why I think I may like them now: it's like a subtle, easy french mani using only one polish. The above pic is at least 3 coats (it might be 4 I can't remember now), and you can clearly see my nail lines, but that's obviously the pointe (har, har). I hate sheer colors that show my nail lines, but because these aren't bright colors I actually like the effect. The mini collection comes with a grey, white (pictured), purple, and a glitter top coat. I practically used half the mini to get the look I wanted so I may buy a full size or I might try the sheer pink. I feel like the grey might look too dirty and I will probably love the purple, because I'm me. Sadly, the glitter dried out, which I have never experienced with a polish, so I guess I won't be using that again (although it wasn't that special so I'm sure I can make do with any of the other glitters in my collection).

Color Club - Blue-Ming

Blue-Ming - Love love LoVe lOvE LOVE! The pic is with the flash so I think it shows up a touch more blue than real life, without the flash it was a bit on the green side. This is just a really gorgeous minty, Tiffany-esque, blue/green. The reason it's topping the favorites list is that is bright, not neon bright but also not dirty, dusty looking like CG For Audrey or CG Aquadelic. I got a lot of compliments on this color, I think because it's just such a beautiful color, it's flattering, and it's right on the current mint trend.



*** First, Zoya posts a lot of deals and coupons on their Facebook page, basically the reason I decided to get any of the Beach/Surf collection polishes. Second, they have a share the love program that gives you points for sharing links or posting things on Facebook and those posts can be redeemed for additional deals. Third, whenever you order from Zoya you get free stuff, for small purchases it's usually just color spoons of the collection you purchased from, but when you start spending more you get better freebies (mini Remove, Qtica sugar scrubs).

NOTW - Celtic Sun, Henley Regatta, Disco Biscuit

 

China Glaze - Celtic Sun

Celtic Sun -I'm shocked but I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know what took me so long to fall in love with neons, but I did and it is a love like no other. I started with neons that I thought were more "normal" (pink, coral, aqua). Then I finally jumped in the deep end with highlighter yellow....fun. As I have mentioned before, the other CG bright yellow I own is awful in comparison to this awesomeness. As with all other neons, I started with a coat of an opaque white. Not so typically with neons, I decided to use Seche Vote as a top coat and, like I expected, it did darken the color making the highlighter yellow have a neat greenish cast that I really ended up liking.


I have been lusting after a couple of Butter London polishes for quite some time. Every time I passed them in Ulta I would always pick them up and debate whether they were worth the $14 and each time I would put them back, not quite being able to justify adding at least $28 to my already ridiculously high Ulta bill (I think I could single-handedly keep an Ulta open in Southwest Michigan). But thankfully the Boy pays attention and got me my two most wanted for my bday: Henley Regatta and Disco Biscuit. While I do like the colors, I don't feel like the quality is as high as I would have expected for a polish that is more expensive for less product than other "salon" quality polishes ($14 for 11ml vs $8 for 15ml).

Butter London  - Henley Regatta

Ooooooo Glitter!!!!!!!!!!!

Henley Regatta - I wanted to show a couple different facets of this polish. The first picture makes the polish look grainy, which it isn't, although it is very glittery. That's what the second photo is for, I wanted to show the multi-colored glitters. What I loved about this polish was the main aqua glitter with all the turquoise/teal/royal blue/silver glitter dispersed throughout. What I didn't love was the application, the problem was that this polish is really just multi-glitter in a clear base so each layer is fairly sheer. When I wear this again I will definitely start with a layer of an aqua polish (prob one mentioned in a previous post) and then layer this glitter over top. The pictures above are 3 layers with a top coat, and then I wasn't satisfied so I did another layer, again with a top coat. I really did love looking at this shimmer in the sun, I'll just have to work with the polish differently next time.

Butter London - Disco Biscuit

Disco Biscuit - For so long I only wore pink and red nail polishes, then I would only wear anything but.  Now, with all the great summer neon and polishes like this, I'm slowly starting to get back into pinks. I love the subtle blue glitters/shimmer. I have to say this is a really pretty color, but I hate that it was so sheer. I think the above pic is 3 coats and you can still see my nail lines. And another strike against DB is that it chipped super fast. Sad :(

Based on my Butter London experience I don't know that I will be purchasing many more, unless there happens to be another color that I just can't stop picking up.

NOTW - Weekend Nails 2

Continuing to be ridiculous on the weekend.

Kitty, Kitty 

 

As you might have guessed based on some previous nail art attempts, I did not paint these nails myself. This wasn't the first set of Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips that I had purchased, but these were the first that I have actually used. I wanted something fancy, but I didn't have a lot of time to experiment and wait for my nails to dry, so these really fit the bill. They weren't too difficult to put on and there was no drying time (although I did put on a top coat, just to extend the mani). The only thing I didn't like was that the directions told you to stretch the strip over your nail, but I felt like it ended up shrinking and then my nail was showing around the polish. OK so there was one more thing I didn't like. You can remove these strips just using regular remover but it was a bit more difficult than that. The gold background removed easily, but the brown spots flecked all over the place and my fingers looked crazy. *Note - Kitty, Kitty really is the name of this pattern*

Sunset Over the Ocean

My attempt at a ocean/beach/sunset/palm tree/summer design. As I was doing this I think I was a little focused on the details and didn't see the big picture until the end; next time I would actually blend between the colors a bit more so there is actually a more obvious gradient, not just stripes.

The Process:
1. Started by painting by nails white (Sally Hansen - White On).

2. I used triangle cosmetic sponges to apply the rest of the polishes. I cut each one in half (the long way, if that makes sense), so that each large end is about the size of one nail. For my thumb I used an uncut sponge.

3. I started the actual sponging by painting a yellow stripe (Sally Hansen HD - Lite) at one end of the sponge and dabbed it at the base of the nail.

4. Followed the yellow with a pink stripe (Zoya - Kimber) on the sponge, even allowing them to overlap a bit. As I was dabbing the sponge on my nail, I lined the pink up just below the yellow. Like I mentioned before I would actually blend them into each other more by over lapping the pink over yellow and yellow over pink, to make a nice sunset orange.

5. Finally I repeated the previous step with the aqua color (Zoya - Zuza). The only difference was that after I lined up the sponge and layered the pink and aqua, I painted aqua on the edge of the sponge and dabbed some more polish on just the tip so I could get the color as opaque as I wanted.

6. Using a black striper I painted a palm tree on each of my thumbs. There wasn't a whole lot of technique here. I started with a little black mound, painted a curved line for the trunk, at the top of the tree I made an uneven circle for the palm fronds to come out of, finally each side of the tree got about four fronds of varying lengths.

NOTW - Watermelon, Good Karma, Wooden Shoe Like to Know?

I wasn't feeling all that inspired the past couple weeks so I picked fairly boring polishes. In dramatic contrast I went crazy the past few weekends so check those posts out for something wayyyyy more interesting.

Essie - Watermelon

Watermelon - When I bought this polish I thought I wanted a pink/peach/coral color, but I somehow chose something much more red. I think I got sucked in by how pretty this looked in the bottle and the name made me assume it was going to be pinkier. To be honest I don't think you could tell this isn't just plain red unless you were right next to something red. And an additional reason this is going to be far from a favorite is that Alex told me it looked too "mature," basically calling it an old lady color.

Spoiled - Good Karma

Good Karma - I guess the theme of this post is that I'm a sucker for what polishes look like in the bottle. I love all those blue/greeen/aqua duochrome polishes, there is just something about this color that I'm drawn to. It doesn't seem to matter what brand of polish it is, my eye just goes right to this type of color and I have to tell myself that I already have roughly 4 versions of this same polish (Good Karma, Gorgeous, Trophy Wife, Yodel Me On My Cell, and don't think I'm not going to get this too).

OPI - Wooden Shoe Like to Know?

Wooden Shoe Like To Know? - To me this will be a great Fall color, but I got it when the Holland Collection came out in Spring and I just couldn't let it sit around until Fall. I loved the milk chocolatey color with all the golden shimmer. I really did like this color and I'm a little sad that it wont get pulled out for a few months, but alas all my favorite things are Fall related so I'm used to struggling through the summer to get to the glory that is Fall.

NOTW - Awesome Weekend Nails

I LOVE THE WEEKEND BECAUSE I DO CRAZY THINGS WITH MY NAILS THAT SOME PEOPLE THINK ARE TACKY BUT I GET THE MOST COMPLIMENTS ON FROM STRANGERS!!!!!

Neon Explosion

Awesome Town

The Supplies

This totally reminds me of a graphic print tee or a pair of bicycle shorts I would have worn as a little kid. LOVE!

1 - Sally Hansen White On: My go to opaque white to create a base that helps the neons glow.

2 - Studio M Grape Escape: Definitely stood out more in real life and this is the first purple neon that I have found that isn't just a dark pink (much less blue than the pictures).

3 - CG Kiwi Cool-ada: Supah amazing bright green, I will probably use this for one of my Spartan manicures at the start of the football season.

4 - CG Sunshine Pop: As you might remember from a previous post, I only planned on using this color in a neon/rainbow/orgy of color mani, so I did! Recently I broke down and bought a true neon, highlighter yellow polish (it's a lot more awesome than I expected), but it really highlighted (pun intended) how dirty Sunshine Pop looks, it's more noticeable in "The Supplies" pic.

5 - CG Pool Party: Just makes me happy! Be careful using Seche Vite with this color, because it can make it look more coral than bright pink.

6 - CG Orange Knockout: You sure are.

7 - Konad Special Polish Black: Whenever I use my stamping plates, the Konad Special Polishes really do work the best. You can use a regular polish, but try to use polishes with a really thick formula.

8-  Bundle Monster Plate BM 208/ Konad Double-ended Stamper: Yay I finally used a different stamping plate. The nice thing about this plate is that it has the option I used (geometric boxes) and basically the inverse (jagged outlines). The stamper is what transfers the image from the plate to your nail.

Splatter Attack

Ok I'm not even close to a nail artist and this didn't come out quite how I envisioned, but it's the best I could do....get off my back, GEEZ! The way that I chose the colors was these were my favorite crayons to use as a kid (I guess my weekend themes were all childhood related). The only favorite crayon color that is missing is Cerulean, unfortunately I don't think I have a polish this color and also my nails aren't big enough for a 4th splatter color.

My basic technique was to paint my nails white, plop a blob of color on to a corner of my nail, use a small dotting tool to drag out the little splatter arms, and finally put a little dot at the end of each arm.

White - Sally Hansen White On:  Duh.

Pink - CG Purple Panic (corresponding crayon - Magenta)

Green - CG Turned Up Turquoise (corresponding crayon - Jungle Green)

Purple - Essie Sexy Divide: In real life this shows up as a gorgeous purple, you can barely tell what color it is from the pic. (corresponding crayon - Royal Purple)

Birchbox May - Gossip Girl Edition

Thanks Birchbox for making a lovely professional photo of my box available.

The Run Down

 

The Box:

Algenist Eye Renewal Cream - This was a fairly large sample size; I started with only a tiny amount and now I'm using a good size amount and it has still lasted for weeks. I have been using it nightly, but I haven't noticed that it's done anything for me. I don't have any wrinkles, so I wouldn't be able to tell if there was any improvement. I do have dark circles, but there didn't seem to be any improvement on that front. Perhaps in my case this would work as a preventative cream, but I'm not going to spend this much on a product to feel like it may or may not be doing anything.
Full Size 15ml, $65; Sample Size 7ml, $30.33

Color Club Foil Collection (Disco Nap) - So right after I was talking about a Rage, I received another gold nail polish. I just swatched it on my nail wheel, but I didn't notice any application problems. What I liked is that the finish wasn't particularly grainy or streaky. I know I see Color Club around places, but I can't think of a store off the top of my head. While it's a nice polish and $8 is a fairly standard price, it's not anything super special and I think you might be able find something just as nice for a bit cheaper.
Full Size .5 fl oz, $8; Sample Size .25 fl oz, $4

Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm - I believe this is one of the first BB (beauty balm) creams to come to the States; they are supposed to be like a tinted moisturizer on steroids. This particular one is a moisturizer, SPF 25, and a treatment serum. I've heard good things about BB Creams and was interested to try one out. The coverage was ok, I'm a full coverage foundation kinda girl, so I definitely had to build it a little. Personally I would use it when I don't have much time to get ready or on the weekends when I don't feel like putting on a full face of makeup. I can't really say much for the "treatment" benefit of this product, since I basically used the whole sample for just one application. SIDE STORY: I thought my sample was empty when I got it because the product didn't come out of the tube easily. So I emailed Birchbox and they sent me two replacement tubes. At some point I plan on using the two samples for as long as I can to see if there is something to the "treatment" claim.
Full Size 1.7 fl oz, $32; Sample Size .06 fl oz, $1.13

Ojon Volume Shampoo - I have been on the hunt for a good shampoo since my hair colorist keeps yelling at me about the shampoo/conditioner I'm currently using. I'm a little lost because I need a color protector and I want to get a little volume for my sad, thin, limp hair. The sample was enough for about three uses, unfortunately I only fully did my hair one of those days. What I noticed was that my hair did seem a little fuller and I definitely felt like it maintained volume the next day when I didn't wash my hair (although that might have something to do with the dry shampoo that I'm currently loving). I wonder if I would have noticed more of an effect if I had used the volume conditioner too. I think I'll try a combo of the color protect shampoo and the volume conditioner, or both volume products. 

Full Size 8.5 fl oz, $22; Sample Size 1 fl oz, $2.59 

Birchbox Notecards - Honestly this has been the first item I've received that I looked at and thought, "ummmm yeahhhh, no." There isn't much else to say, it was one notecard/envelope with the Gossip Girl XOXO on one side and blank on the other. Maybe I'll write to Birchbox on the notecard and tell them they can have it back, then send it by pony express (jaded by the internet much, geez Audrey).

Full Size 12 pack, $10; Sample Size 1 card, $.83 

 

Wrap Up:

Box Value: $38.88

The Good: Disco Nap (for anyone with a normal size polish collection), Ojon Volume Shampoo, Dr. Jart BB Cream

The Bad: Algenist Eye Cream (based on price to benefit ratio), Birchbox Notecard

The Verdict: I guess when I saw that this was going to be Gossip Girl themed I expected a glitzy, glamorous, fabulous box (I've never watched the show, apparently I think it's Toddlers & Tiaras). Well it turns out that the boxes came in a couple different versions, mine was the "Sunday Brunch" version; not so glamorous. This was the first time that I wasn't wowed when I opened the box, partly because there were fewer items this month, the extra wasn't exactly "useful," and the products didn't live up to my expectations of the theme. Upon reflection the products were decent once I tried them, but it was those darn expectations that got me slightly disappointed.



If you're interested in your own Birchbox click here. If you have any questions about cost or how you can earn/use points, let me know.

NOTW - Sunshine Pop, Avery, Hazard

China Glaze - Sunshine Pop

Sunshine Pop - More like sunshine fizzle. I've never tried a yellow polish, so I thought I would give it a whirl...yeah pretty much never again. I think I'll reserve the yellow for something involving rainbows or Lisa Frank. Although it looks like it, this is not a "happy-face" yellow. The polish has some shimmer which is what makes it look less than pure, bright yellow. I felt like there was a slight (teeny, tiny slight) orange cast, which made the color look dingy on my nails. Overall, just not a fan of this on me.

Zoya - Avery

Avery - It may not seem very exciting, but I reeeeaaaallllllllllly liked this polish. I just couldn't think of anything "fun" that I wanted to do, so I decided to try out one of the other neutrals that I bought from Zoya a while ago. I have to say that I actually liked this a lot more than Kennedy (cuz they're sooooo different [this is a joke, I know that having polishes barely a shade different is silly, but I do, so that happened]). Zoya's website does a good job of describing the color, opacity, finish, and tone. I should really start paying more attention to that, becuase I need to stop buying cool toned polishes; they make my skin look terrible. Avery was more complementary to my skin tone and just made my fingers look long and elegant.

Sinful Colors - Hazard

Hazard - I thought this looked a lot like Coral Reef (although not based on the photo in a previous post, I feel like that pic made it look a bit more pink than real life), and CR also had that odd dingy look. I would definitely call Hazard an orange, but it's a soft orange. This is a very wearable, happy summer polish.

NOTW - Rage, Pink Forever, Blue Me Away!

Orly - Rage

Rage - (with Suzi and the Lifeguard, Jewelry Heist) Unimpressed. Rose gold is huge right now and even though I don't wear a ton of jewelry I am soooo close to giving into this trend. Well I guess technically with this polish I did give in. Basically every aspect of Rage fell short of my expectations. The rose part of rose gold was too subtle, application got more frustrating as it became progressively more goopy, the finish was streaky, and the glitter/sparkle/metallic effect was grainy. Clearly it sounds like I hate it, but now that I'm looking at it I guess I'm only moderately disappointed. Here's the thing, I could look past the application issues if this was more rosey and was distinctly different than any other gold metallic polish I own, but it's not. Honestly, if you want a rose gold polish, you could probably do better with something else, and if you're looking for any gold polish option, you can definitely do better.

Sinful Colors - Pink Fovever

Pink Forever - I was contemplating doing another ombre manicure with pinks this time, but I realized I only have really pale pinks or dark pinks, and nothing seems to go together. Let me give you some background on me, when I decide to do an ombre my OCD comes out in full force; the polishes I use have to be the same tone and finish (only creams, only shimmer, etc.). ANYWAY! I realized I don't have any medium pink cream polishes, well this had to be remedied immediately. I found this polish at Target and it certainly fit the bill and as an added bonus, didn't break the budget (ahahhaha budget, nail polish, me, ahahahah). There is nothing ground breaking about this polish, but for $2 it's a great bubble gum pink cream. No complaints about application, easily opaque in two coats. It is possibly a bit runny, as it dripped off the wand part of the brush, but that may have been due to operator error.

Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away!

Blue Me Away! - Cute name, but false. The main reason I wasn't blown away is because the color was a lot darker on my nails than it looked in the bottle (the pic is actually a lot lighter than real life). The polish was very opaque so I'm wondering if you were really careful and only applied one coat, if that would keep the polish lighter like the bottle. On my accent nails are Blue Me Away! and Pacific Blue, yeah that lighter color is the same polish as the rest of the mani. I used Konad plate M57 (I think I need to expand my Konad collection, I have a whole mess of Bundle Monster plates, but the quality just does not compare) and stamped the flowers individually, alternating colors. I liked the mani because it worked with my outfit that day, but I'm not sure this color will make it into the favorites, or even likes, rotation.

Nails Of The Weeks

I would love to be motivated to post nails of the day (NOTD), but there is no way that's gonna happen. I think I can manage to post my nails on a weekly basis.....maybe. So I started this little photo project on facebook, but by posting here everyone can share in my ridiculous nail polish obsession. So I'm catching up/picking up where I left off on FB. ENJOY!!!!!!

Sally Hansen - Coral Reef

Coral Reef - I saw a couple of people wearing this online and I was in love. It's bordering on a neon, but not quite. I want to say the color is somewhere between CG-Shocking Pink (see below) and CG-Flip Flop Fantasy. The name says it all, definitely a coral. A great spring/summer polish that is really pretty and flattering. 

Spoiled by Wet n Wild - Deeper Dive

Deeper Dive - I wasn't sure if I was going to like this as a full mani, but I did! The reason I liked it is the same reason I like CG-Ruby Pumps. Its glittery, but not chunky, as if the glitter is trapped in jelly. I think in real life this polish is a bit more green than the picture.

Essie - Play Date

Play Date - A slight variation on my purple obsession, this purple is much more pink toned than other ones I own. The color actually photographed fairly true to life, as opposed to showing up super blue (FINALLY!), but the pinkyness is less subtle in the pic. I have to admit I was in a fight with Essie for a while, but the last few polishes I've tried have begun to change my mind.

China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise with Techno

Turned Up Turquoise - LOVE! Supposedly this is a neon, but I'm not so sure, it certainly is bright though.  I don't think I would call it a neon because it has a shimmer and isn't a matte cream like all the other neons I have. I think this is what I wanted CG-Aquadelic to be, but was pale and very muted. In some lights this looks green, but it's really pretty regardless of trending green or turquoise. On my accent nail is CG-Techno, which has really awesome giant holo glitters.

Essie - Fiji with OPI - Extravagance

Fiji - Super gorgeous pale pink. It's a better version of CG-Go Go Pink, mostly because Fiji is much more opaque. You know how in the summer wearing white makes your skin look amazing and tan, well that's how I felt my skin looked with this color, like my nails and skin were glowing. My accent nail was stamped with OPI DS-Extravagence using Konad plate M-57. This was the first time I used a non-special polish to stamp, it didn't work out great. I think it's partly because I couldn't be patient enough to wait til Fiji was dry so I could press as firmly as I needed.

OPI - Opulence

Opulence - This was another Designer Series polish I found, but I wasn't as blown away with this one. You can see there is a little bit of a scattered holo, but not tons. Maybe I just didn't see it because it's never sunny. Yay Michigan! I'm still on the fence about this color. Sometimes it's a dusty rose or nice bronze, but most of the time it's this in between meh color. 

Layla - Ultra Violet

Ultra Violet - I remember a time when I thought OPI DS and CG-Fairly Dust would be the closest I would ever get to owning a holographic polish.......AND THEN I FOUND LAYLA HOLOGRAM EFFECT POLISHES!!!!!! I am so excited to finally have some true holos of my own. I got them at Ulta, but they are kind of expensive and smaller than a usual polish so I only bought 3 (silver, black, purple).  Although if anyone wanted to get me Ocean Rush or Retro Pink for my birthday I wouldn't hate it. These polishes are really special when the light hits them, as you can see there is this awesome rainbow effect. I would suggest reading Scrangie's post about application, I followed her tips and I didn't have any problems.  This polish chips like crazy and super quickly because you're not supposed to use a base coat or top coat. Next time I use this polish I will use the Gelous top coat suggested by Scrangie, as it doesn't seem to disturb the holo effect (wish I had gone to Sally's and gotten Gelous before I tried this out for the first time).

China Glaze - Shocking Pink and Orange Knockout with Studio M - Grape Escape

Shocking Pink -  So I've gone neon crazy and I just can't help it. This is a bright 80's hot pink cream and I can't stop looking at my hands, there is just too much awesome happening. This color really seems to glow. My accent nail is CG-Orange Knockout (also a neon, think traffic cone orange) with Studio M-Grape Escape stamped using Konad plate M-57. Not sure if you can tell but I dotted some of the leopard spots with a mix of CG-Purple Panic with Shocking Pink.