133. NYX - Prismatic Gold

Hello hello!  Today I have a pretty mani to show you...from a couple months ago.  I think I did these nails around finals time last quarter, so this is pretty old.  I would totally do this again though!

This is a a gradient of NYX Prismatic Gold on top of NYX Soft Teal.  Prismatic gold is a gold glitter with small gold glitter and large hex gold glitters.  They are also a touch holographic, even if the picture doesn't show it very well.

Prismatic Gold's formula was very nice.  The glitter is pretty dense and I didn't have to do any dabbing or placing to get even distribution, which is always a plus.

I should have mattified this mani, it would have looked amazing!  And pictures are with my lovely EOS sweet mint lip balm because I love the shape of their containers.

Unintentionally Aggie

I just thought these colors looked pretty together...but then a coworker of mine pointed out that they look like UC Davis colors >.<  This mani was from a few weeks ago.  The lovely thing about chevrons is that you can (kinda sorta) freehand the design.  Obviously, if you are a total perfectionist, you're going to want to break out the tape for those crisp lines.  However, this was pretty enough for me :)

See?  Don't the colors match up pretty well?  The blue is AA's Mount Royal, the gold is China Glaze Passion, and the white is the ever-trusty WNW White Cream.

122. OPI - Goldeneye

So for the next couple weeks, there will probably be a few posts from manis I did during my blog break.  Hopefully I don't bore you guys with these old swatches!

This polish is such a gorgeous gorgeous GORGEOUS gold!  Goldeneye is a super shiny, very yellow gold.  The finish looks like it is a foil, but it is in fact really dense flakes suspended in polish.  I simply love this color, although I don't know if it really works on my skin...whatever!  This is the perfect Chinese New Year gold, warm and lustrous!

Application was lovely.  There was no dragging or patchiness, and as always, the OPI brush applies like a dream.  This is three thin coats of Goldeneye.

Update and Some Chinese New Years' Nails!

Hey guys!  Recently I've found some time to get this blog back in order, so hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly again!  This post is going to be short since I've been reorganizing all my photos for a new hosting site, and that's made me pretty tired.

Here are some nails that I did a couple weeks ago.  I didn't intend for this mani to be CNY-themed, but this is how it turned out :)

The gold is OPI's goldeneye, a perfect yellowy-gold for the new year.  I applied the red using the sponge gradient menthod.  The red is Zoya's Nidhi, a vibrant red with gold shimmer running thoughout.  The final touch was the black glitter sponging at the base of my nails.  The black glitter is Nubar's Black Polka Dot.

The effect I was going for was fire, especially with the black glitters representing flyaway ash.  However, my friend pointed out that it was a perfect manicure for the lunar new year.

Happy New Year everyone!  Gong xi fa cai~  Hopefully I will post again for you soon!

97. Fergie - Grammy Gold

I realized that I never did an actual swatch of Grammy Gold before/after I did the comparison post on it, so here it is!  Grammy Gold has relatively large foil particles, which gives it that grainy look that I love in foils.  It covers pretty well, so I believe that it'd make a good stamping polish (haven't tried it yet though).  But like I said in my comparison, this is pretty much the same as Golden-I, so you don't need both.

This is one coat of Grammy Gold, no topcoat :)

95. China Glaze - I'm Not Lion

Hey guys!  If anyone's noticed, it's been a while since my last post, and I'm really sorry about that.  I've completed moving, but unpacking is another story.  Everything in the house is just a mess...

Today I'm wearing I'm Not Lion from China Glaze's fall collection.  I'm Not Lion is a lovely white-gold glitter with holographic glitter scatter throughout the polish.  This polish is definitely a little bit less in-your-face, due to the subtle color, but I really like it.  It's like jewelry on your nails (white gold is actually my favorite metal for jewelry)!

This swatch is shown with 2 coats, just enough for opacity.  The color of this polish is quite similar to my skintone, you can't really see VNL so I'm not really bothered enough to add another coat.  The formula was quite nice, not too thick or thin, and it dries really fast!  On top of the glitter, I applied 3 coats of Poshe topcoat.  This glitter dries quite gritty, but the topcoat really helps bring out the shine.

52WC: Week 1 - Taping (Autumnal Triangles)

Hey guys!  I've decided that I'm probably not going to finish the 31 day challenge, just because as a student, my schedule is sometimes unpredictable and I don't have time to do intricate nail art everyday.  However, I felt like doing something special today (it's my birthday!), and I've had the 52 week challenge (from RedditLaqueristas) on my mind.  One special mani a week seems way more achievable, and I know I'm a little late on week 1, but here it is (better late than never): taping!

This mani recreates my Tropical Triangles, which was inspired by Sophie at MyAwesomeBeauty.  I really liked the look of that manicure, but it's a little late in the season for all those bright colors.  So I decided to switch it up, using the dusty shades from Zoya's Designer collection (which I absolutely love, by the way).  I've got to say, these colors look gorgeous together!

As a base, I used Fergie's Grammy Gold.  I taped over that with striping tape and then painted Monica, Natty, and then Evvie in the appropriate region of my nail.  When I took the tape off, a funny thing happened: the red from the striping tape bled off onto the gold base.  I guess it was from the rubbing alcohol that drowned all my tape when I was moving (I had all my nail art supplies in one box).  Most of my tape was ruined from the rubbing alcohol, but I thought this one looked okay.  I guess the color wasn't completely set. Luckily, I think the red compliments this manicure and adds even more of a Fall look to this mani.

This manicure was much easier this time around, mostly due to the opacity of the polishes I used.  The ones from the tropical version were much more sheer.  I love how this mani looks, so I'm gonna be sad when I remove it later this week (I'm hoping to catch up on the 52 week challenge) to do the next challenge.  Keep your eyes peeled!

Polishes Used:
Fergie - Grammy Gold
Zoya - Natty
Zoya - Monica
Zoya - Evvie

Regal Marble

Hey guys!  So today's post is my first attempt at the recently-popular saran wrap marble mani.  I think that this method is really awesome; it's such a creative, interesting mani, and yet it's so easy to do!  I used this method to spruce up a color I wasn't ready to take off.  I painted one coat of Sally Hansen's Infinity Band over my old mani, Zoya Monica.  Immediately after painting on the gold, I took some crumpled up saran wrap and blotted it over the wet nail polish.  If you wait a bit before blotting, the marbling effect will not look as nice...it'll just turn out to be a thin patchy layer of your second color (you can kind of see this on my thumb).

Hope you guys enjoyed this post!

30DC: Day 10 - Gradient

Since I've done so many regular gradient designs during this challenge, I decided to do something different.  However, my first attempt did not turn out quite like I wanted.  The gradient wasn't very smooth and looks messy.  What I tried to do is similar to a border mani, but instead of clean-cut lines, a gradient goes around the edges.  I'll probably be trying this in the future again.

Colors Used:
China Glaze - Bermuda Breakaway
American Apparel - Gold Flash

Comparison: Sally Hansen Infinity Band vs. Golden-I vs. Fergie by Wet N' Wild Grammy Gold

Here's a comparison requested by Raechelly!  These are 3 drugstore brand golds.  Golden-I is from the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear line, Infinity Band is a LE from Sally Hansen Diamond Strength, and Grammy Gold is from the new Fergie by Wet N' Wild collection.

First impression from the bottle shot: Grammy Gold is a lot smoother than the other 2, with Infinity Band with the coarsest particles.  Infinity Band is paler than the other 2, Golden-I looks to be the most warm-toned.

From left to right: Grammy Gold, Golden-I, Infinity Band

At the first coat, Grammy Gold is the most opaque.  It could probably be a one-coater if you were careful.  However, I hate the brush on it; it's quite similar to the Sally Hansen Complete Salon brush.  Grammy Gold is the slowest to dry.

Grammy Gold on pointer and ring.  Infinity band on middle.  Golden-I on thumb and pinky.

Golden-I and Infinity Band look to be pretty similar; both are a shade lighter than Grammy Gold, which is warmer and more saturated than the other 2.  Grammy Gold actually has the largest, chunkiest particles, and Infinity Band had the smoothest finish.  All 3 applied pretty well, with Golden-I having the thinnest formula, and Grammy Gold with the thickest.

Final verdict:  You really don't need all three of these.  The two Sally Hansens are pretty much the same, there is no real difference on the nail.  If you want a one-coater, the Fergie polish is the way to go.  It'd probably be good for stamping.  However, the brush kind of puts me off the Fergie; it's just way too big to handle neatly.

30DC: Day 8 - Metallic

Hey everyone!  So for this day of the challenge, I decided to do a metallic gradient.  I love doing gradients, they're pretty, so easy to do, and often are faster than doing a regular manicure where you just paint the color on.  I did green and gold because I thought it'd be a nice combination (kind of like money, you know), but in retrospect, I'm thinking I would have liked silver more.

Colors Used:

China Glaze - Passion

Color Club - Perfect Mol-ten

87. Wet N' Wild - A Show at the Palladium

A Show at the Palladium is the base of my subtle sparkle mani.  This is a gold foil with particles on the medium side.  There also appears to be some copperish particles too.  This polish was part of the Chrome collection, so I was a little disappointed with the grainy-looking surface.  However, it did dry without brushstrokes.

See the dark particles?

This picture was 1 coat.  The polish itself had a good consistency and dried fast, but the brush is big and unwieldy.

NOTD: A Subtle Sparkle

So this is definitely not a combination I'd usually think of, but the other night, me and some other DRD ladies (+Patrick) had a nail night.  I tried to do a purple nail for the 30DC, but it kinda flopped.  So I went for something easy, a gold foil.  However, I can't just leave it at that.  So I look at what colors the other ladies have out, and I see Shine of the Times, and I thought, "why not?"

Glad I decided to layer these, it looks pretty damn cool!  There are little red flecks subtly showing on top of the gold foil, and at some angles, it looks green.  It's a very blingy mani, but with a little something else.  I don't know if the flakes come across in the pictures, but in real life, this mani is really interesting!

Subtle red flecks

Duochrome-y :)

Look at that green flash!

Colors Used:

WNW A Show at the Palladium

Essie Shine of the Times

73. Sinful Colors - Paris II

One day I was wandering around my local Rite-Aid's nail polish section, and I picked up this beauty.  This version of Paris is a slightly sheer white base with multi-colored glitters in it.

Shown here layered over SH Xtreme Pacific Blue.  Sinful Colors Hottie on ring.

Looking around a bit more, I see another polish by the name of Paris.  Now I was awfully confused, considering that these polishes were not even remotely the same.  I bought both, just for the sake of hoarding oddities.  I'm assuming this gold glitter is the original version of Paris, since it was on the permanent Sinful display rack.

Ehhhh??? o_O

Both of these polishes are awesome, but so obviously different.  I wonder if Sinful is planning to discontinue the gold one or something o_o

68. China Glaze - Passion

Sorry about the sporadic posting, but it is finals season, and finding time to edit pictures and posts is a bit scarce!  But no worries, my last final is on Tuesday, and I will have time for my beloved blog.  Here's a post that has been long in the making.  This here is Passion, a perfectly metallic gold.  I've had this on my toes for a good month (I get a bit lazy on pedis).

Application was a bit brushstrokey, but the formula is excellent and very easy to control.  Shown is 2 coats Passion over 1 coat Essie fill the gap!

Tropical Triangles

Hi everyone!  Here's some nail art for you!  I've been really busy, and I know it's almost been a week since I've last posted, but life waits for no one (I've been really busy).  Don't worry, I have lots of posts queued up for you guys :)  (Lots of fun nail art, nail projects, and swatches for everyone!)

Today's mani was inspired by Sophie at MyAwesomeBeauty.  You should go check her out, she's got some beautiful stuff there!

Excuse the dents!  Happened to hit the tips against a wall while I was getting a lamp into place.

How I did this mani was:
1. Paint the base color
2. Place striping tape in a diagonal manner (I placed it where you can see the gold peeking through)
3. Paint the bottom color (blue), trying to be careful to stay inside the bottom part
4. Paint the middle (green), again, careful to stay inside that part
5. Paint the top region (dusty lighter blue).
6. Remove tape

The reason I painted in this order was so I could possibly cover up any bits I painted out of place with the next color (it's easier to go from bottom to top).  Not the most sophisticated manner, but it works!  There are a few spots where the polish isn't quite opaque, but what can I do?  I didn't want to do multiple coats on top.  

And now here's a rarity: a shot of my right hand!  Same color scheme, but my right hand nails are little nubbins right now.  I keep almost breaking them, so I just decided to cut them.  And the previous design probably wouldn't work with such little nail space, so I decided to do something different, but still similar.  So here's a simple tape mani, using the same colors as the left hand.  I'm not used to taking pics of the opposite hand, so excuse the sub-par posing :3

I rather like this color combination, don't you?  It's a little bit brighter than Sophie's original manicure, but I think it's fitting for the season :)  The colors remind me of tropical seas and the beach (meanwhile, I've still got 2 more weeks of school...).

Colors Used:
Gold: American Apparel Gold Flash
Turquoise: Zoya Wednesday
Teal: China Glaze Shower Together
Green: OPI Green-wich Village

Stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Classy Chevrons

I did these nails over my last mani Tira-Mi-Su.  It looks quite good, considering that the arrows are all freehanded (no nail art brushes or tape).  I tried to do this mani with tape, but I lack the patience for it.  The first time, I managed to pull out chunks of my base color (gross...and sad).  After failing with the tape, I gave up and freehanded this stuff.  I got lots of compliments on this mani!

Nude: Diamond - Tira-Mi-Su

Black: American Apparel - Hassid

Gold: China Glaze - Passion

37. Color Club - Wild and Willing

Wild and Willing is like taking a sunset and stuffing it into a bottle!  This is an absolutely gorgeous yellow/gold/rose/orange multichrome.  In the bottle, there is a little green that shows up at the edges, but it doesn't seem to translate to the nail, as far as I can tell.  On the nail, the polish seems to have a little less depth, but it is pretty nonetheless.  In most indoor lighting, the main color is this rose color and the edges are orange.  At certain angles, you'll get a flash of a really yellow-toned gold.  Wild and Willing is a very interesting color.  It's colored like a neutral, but it's too flashy to actually be a neutral.  I don't think it's really a good  match for my skintone, but it's a pretty enough color for me to keep it and wear it anyways :)

Formula on this polish was a bit strange.  It was kinda stringy, but application did not suffer at all from that.  It's a little sheer though, sheerer than I'm used to from Color Club.  This is 3 coats of Wild and Willing, one coat of Poshe on top.

36. American Apparel Metallic - Gold Flash

Here is two coats of Gold Flash, no topcoat.  Gold Flash is an understated, slightly pale metallic gold.  I think it's simply beautiful, but application could have been better.  The formula was slightly thick and hard to control. I would think I got just the right amount of polish on the brush, and then -PLOP- a huge drop falls on my nail.  There was also some cuticle drag in some spots.

I'll be keeping this one though, or at least until I find a better metallic gold (China Glaze 2030, perhaps?), since it's the only true gold I have in my stash.  Gold is such a pretty color, I don't understand why I don't have more of them...

35. Dating a Royal/Nail Art - Midnight Half Moons

Dating a Royal is a gorgeous deep blue jelly.  Admittedly, I'm not very good at telling the difference between creams and jellys yet (which is a sign I need more jellys), but other swatches and my experience applying this suggest that it is indeed a jelly.  I absolutely LOVE this color!  It's very flattering on my skin, and it is such an elegant color without being too soft.  When I saw the bottle, I knew I just HAD to have it.  And I'm glad I did get it, it's one of my go-to polishes.  It makes me very calm when I look at it, and I could just stare at it for days :)  And the fact that it's a jelly means that it has a lot of extra depth and that special squishy look that you cannot get from looking at a cream; it's kind of like looking at the sky. <3

Formula's a little watery on this polish, but other than that, there weren't many issues with application.  Here shown is 2 thick coats, but 3 regular coats would be necessary for full opacity.

The reason I'm doing a combined post on my nail art and the swatch is because I may have accidentally deleted all my pictures of DAR.  Oops!

Okay, so they aren't exactly the color of the sky at midnight, but these nails did remind me of a night sky with some golden stars :)  Today, I have a half-moon mani.  I used half of those paper-hole reinforcers to make the half moons.  This is 2 coats of American Apparel's Gold Flash as the base, with 2 coats of OPI's Dating a Royal on top.  I absolutely love this color combination!  The pairing of the deep blue with the gold looks elegant and mesmerizing!

This mani gave me so much trouble.  The thing about me and tape manicures is that I am too impatient and put down the tape before the polish is fully dry.  Then, when I try to take off the tape, the entire base layer of polish will peel off with the tape :(  Luckily, that only happened on 2 nails, so I just started over on those nails; it's still annoying though.

Half moon manis are pretty awesome!  I really like how this one turned out, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've successfully done one :)