Flakey Patchwork Mani

I just got back from Student Health Services - I accidentally sliced open a knuckle (and on my photographing hand too)! Luckily, no stitches are required. I just have to try not to bend it too much. I just painted my nails yesterday, so hopefully it heals up a bit before my next manicure. It'll be hard to take pictures without bending my finger!

Anyway, today I have some nail art for you! I bought a bunch of Sinful Colors before I came back to school, but I never got around to trying them. So I did a patchwork mani to test some out.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Winterberry, a dusty purple. Very pretty! Then I freehanded a thick striped of Sinful Colors Mint Apple and let that dry. I did a final stripe of Sinful Colors Innocent, which was really thick and goopy :( I decided that wasn't enough, so I added a coat of Finger Paints Flecked, which is a clear base with blue-green flakies.

I think the thickness of Innocent made it a little messy, but it's still came out okay!

Lynnderella: Inner Space

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I know I did - but now it's back to school for the last few weeks of classes (and finals) :(

I currently only own a few Lynnderella polishes. Her polishes are quite pretty, but they're much too expensive (and I'm not a fan of all of the controversy, either). I decided that the ones I bought should be the most versatile type possible: glitter topcoats. My very first Lynnderella is called Inner Space. And man, does she nail it.

Inner Space is about a million different kinds of glitter in a clear base. There's hex, circles, bars, squares, even some stars!

This was just one coat of Inner Space over three coats of Rose Among Thorns by China Glaze (which looks pinker in real life). Lynnderellas are known for being very glitter dense, and I'm definitely sold. Really it's a shame these are so hard to come by (and so expensive) - the formula was perfect, and it's so pretty!

I have to say, I'm really glad I picked up this polish. It's so interesting, and it does remind me of space! It's especially appropriate since I'm actually taking Intro to Astronomy this semester :)

Lynderella polishes can be found through her eBay store, but I bought mine from another eBay seller.

Hare Polish: Afterglow

Happy Thanksgiving Break! I'm all done with class until Monday. I get to go home tomorrow morning :) Yay!

Today I have another fabulous Hare Polish: Afterglow.

Afterglow is a mix of purple and orange hex glitters of various sizes suspended in a navy blue base.

To conserve polish, I layered Afterglow over Fashionista by Revlon, a navy creme that covered perfectly in just one coat! I used two coats of Afterglow for this mani. As usual, the formula was excellent.

Hare Polish is available through her Etsy store or from Llarowe.

Ninja Polish/Nail-Venturous: Floam (Bonus Accent Nail Art!)

TGIF! I've had a particularly long week, so here's to a great weekend :)

Today, I have Floam by Ninja Polish (formerly by Nail-venturous).

Floam is a mix of tiny, matte lime green and turquoise glitters suspended in a clear base. Which makes it pretty much perfect in my eyes - two of my favorite colors!

I started with a base of Turned Up Turquoise by China Glaze (I've actually put quite a dent in this polish). Then I layered on two coats of Floam. I decided I wanted to do a little bit of nail art as well, so I skipped the Floam on my ring finger. When applying a thick polish like Floam, give it some time to dry between coats so you don't wind up messing up the previous layers. I didn't have any problems with application; I think the formula was pretty good!

As for the accent nail, I let Turned Up Turquoise dry, then used triangles of tape to block off the top. I added a layer of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out and let that dry. Then I took more tape triangles and blocked off the turquoise and most of the black, and used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Green With Envy for the last layer. I used some Seche Vite to smooth everything out!

I'm really happy with this polish - it's so fun!

You can buy Floam directly from Ninja Polish. They have other colors of Floam; collect them all :)

Different Dimension: Smashing Pumpkins

Today, I bring you photos from my new camera! Wooo. I got a Nikon Coolpix S8200. I'm still figuring out its settings, so bear with me.

Anyway, on to the polish: Smashing Pumpkins by Different Dimension.

Taking macro bottle shots is tricky with my new camera :( Smashing Pumpkins has orange and black hexes with iridescent, pearly square glitters suspended in a sheer gray base. Oh and guess what: It glows in the dark!

I started out with two coats of Recycle by China Glaze. Then I layered two coats of Smashing Pumpkins. I think I would have liked a little bit more of the bigger glitters in this polish. Otherwise, I have no complaints! Consistency was good, and the glitters were easy to work with.

Close ups are hard too!

Not only does it glow - it glows in orange/yellow! I don't have any other polishes that glow that color. I think the glow is a little weak compared to polishes that glow green, but I like it!

This polish was part of her Halloween collection, so I don't think it's available anymore :( But she has lots of other great polishes available in her Etsy store.

Halloween Nails: Gypsy/Pirate

I didn't actually dress up on Halloween this year, but I did dress up for Halloweekend, aka the weekend closest to Halloween where college students dress up and throw parties. I hate spending money on costumes, so I came up with ideas that were relatively easy to dress up as. I was a gypsy the first night, and the second night my friends and I dressed up as the characters from Peter Pan. I was Captain Hook :) I decided to do nails that could work for both costumes. They needed to be glittery and over the top. So I came up with these!

These (sadly) are iPhone pictures as well, so I apologize for any lack in quality! Anyway, I started out with a base of Midtown Magic by China Glaze, an almost black brown with lots of different color shimmer. Then I used a makeup sponge to add a few layers of a glitter gradient. I started with Another Heart Breaks by Dandy Nails, then I added Divebomb by Candeo Colors, and finally topped those off with Batman by Daring Digits. I loved how it looked just like that, but I decided to go bigger.

I pulled out some rhinestones that I purchased from the Born Pretty store online and added them to every nail. I picked colors that complimented the colors of the glitter, too. I think the rhinestones gave this mani the extra drama it needed for Halloween!

I'm a big fan of dramatic Halloween makeup, so these nails were a lot of fun for me to do! My friends and I had a great time, and we took lots of great pictures :)

Here's me as Captain Hook:

Hope you all had a great Halloween as well - even if this is a bit late!

Hare Polish: Heat Plague

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...I've been really preoccupied over Hurricane Sandy. I can't stop looking at pictures. My family just got power back on Friday, but half of my hometown is still without power. And really, we're the lucky ones - so many people along the Jersey shore have lost everything. It's been a very emotional week for me.

Anyway, I have another fabulous polish by Hare today. These were taken on my friend's iPhone during my week of being camera-less, so sorry for any quality issues!

I didn't take a macro of this since I only had an iPhone. Heat Plague is tons of purple, pink, and orange glitter in a sheer, dark green base.

I layered just one coat of Heat Plague over two coats of Don't Mess With OPI by OPI. Heat Plague has so much glitter! The formula's great too - easy to work with, and the glitter spreads evenly.

Hare continues to impress me with their awesome polishes. They're available through their Etsy store and Llarowe.