Pink Lemonade Lightning

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I recently moved back to Pittsburgh for the semester, and I guess I just let time get away from me.

Anyway, today's manicure features some lightning.

I started with a white base so the neon would really pop. I've been on the hunt for a new white polish, and I tried Essie Blanc. I did not like it. It was too thin and runny! But it did the job after three careful coats. Then I used China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes for all of my fingers except the ring finger. On that one, I used China Glaze Sun-Kissed.

For the accent nail, I let the yellow dry, then I used tape and Hang-Ten Toes to make the lightning bolt. On the rest of my fingers, I used Elevation Polish in Huangshan which is a very unique yellow glitter.

It's filled with iridescent hexes and matte neon yellow hexes and circles.

The mix of colors reminds me of pink lemonade. I think this mani came out pretty cute!

Throwback Thursday: Strawberry Fields Forever

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday! Sorry this is so late - I've been very busy lately with my summer internship at Good Housekeeping. But anyway, here's the manicure:

I was inspired by the name of this polish for this manicure. The pink I used is Strawberry Fields by China Glaze, so I decided strawberry accent nails would be appropriate! The accent is Tree Hugger by China Glaze, and I used Therese is Red Hot by Brucci for the stamping with my Konad stamper. I topped the accent nails with a coat of High Fashion by Milani to complement the gold flecks in the pink of my other nails. I think it's pretty cute, and I'm a big fan of the Beatles so I'm happy.

Sticks 'n' Stones and Cotton Candy

Happy Sunday everyone! Sorry for the late post today; I may have gotten caught up in playing the new Animal Crossing game that came out today. (I'm an adult, I swear!) But anyway, I have some super awesome nail art for you today.

I had seen black and white glitter layered over a gradient before, and I absolutely loved how it looked. So that was my inspiration.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Bubblegum Pink. I let that dry, then I used a makeup sponge to add a gradient of Barry M Blueberry. Then I layered one coat of Ninja Polish Sticks 'n' Stones.

I really love how the black and white glitter looks with the pastel gradient. I'm totally in love with this manicure. The gradient reminds me of cotton candy colors, too. I used to love getting cotton candy when I went to hockey games as a kid.

Black and white glitter looks good over pretty much anything! I'll have to try it over more gradients.

Throwback Thursday: Neon and Glitter Polka Dots

Throwback Thursday strikes again! Today, I combine two of my favorite things: neon and glitter.

I love neon and glitter, so what better way to show the love than combining them? Polka dots are a fun way to spice up an ordinary manicure, so I added some glittery ones over this great neon. I used Flip Flop Fantasy by China Glaze over a white base coat (those neons can be finicky without a white base coat) and used Milani One Coat Glitter in Silver Dazzle with a dotting tool for the polka dots.

Whimsical Ideas by Pam: I Heart NY

Hello readers! I've really been enjoying my time so far in Sheffield, England. I've already visited three really great cities - Liverpool, York, and Manchester. They were all lovely in their own way. I have a soft spot for our Liverpool trip though: We saw so many Beatles sights! I'll have a post about the mani I wore in Liverpool eventually (with a Beatles themed polish), so perhaps I'll post a few pictures with that :)

Anyway, onto the polish. Today's polish is based on one of my favorite places in the world: New York City, which is conveniently located just across the river from my hometown. It's called I Heart NY from Whimsical Ideas by Pam.

I Heart NY is a collection of black and white hex glitters and red hearts suspended in a clear base. There are also some tiny black hexes in there too.

This polish is PACKED with glitter. I used just one coat of I Heart NY over a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pink Satin, a pink chrome. The glitters distributed pretty well, though I did have to finagle some of the hearts to get them where I wanted. But the hearts came out of the bottle quite readily, which was nice.

Next time, I'll use a different base. Pink Satin turned all strange and streaky, and I don't like how it looked very much. But I Heart NY was lovely. But it makes me feel the tiniest bit homesick since I'm so far from my beloved New York!

This polish is really awesome, and it's a great tribute to one of the the greatest cities in the world ;) Whimsical Ideas by Pam can be purchased via email; see her Facebook page for more information.

Jindie Nails: Got Glitter?

I have to say, I love me some glitterbombs. I recently made my first purchase from Jindie Nails, and it included the lovely glitterbomb, Got Glitter?

Got Glitter? is a mix of lots of different glitters in a clear base. There are hexes, bars, diamonds, squares, and even some stars in a variety of colors. Some of the glitters are holo which really makes this glitterbomb special.

The glitter was quite dense; this is two coats layered over ORLY Flirty. The glitter dispersed evenly, although the polish itself is quite thick.

Overall, I'm happy with this polish! I can't wait to try out my other Jindie polishes. Jindie Nails can be purchased from her Etsy shop.

Enchanted Polish: Magical Mystery Tour + Glitter

Happy Friday! Today was my last day of classes for the semester. Next week starts finals, and then I go home :)

Today, I have an Enchanted Polish for you. It's from the Beatles Collection, which I had to have as soon as I saw. Beautiful holo duochromes named after one of my favorite bands' songs? Yes please! This one is called Magical Mystery Tour. I also added some glitter to the tips, but I'll get to that soon.

Magical Mystery Tour is a fabulous duochrome with scattered holo - it shifts from warm and cool purple to blue to an almost gold. I started with a base coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out because I wanted to conserve polish. Then I added just one coat of MMT. I wanted to add a little more sparkle, so I sponged some glitter on the tips. It's called Sapphire Masquerade by Maybelline Color Show. The name is pretty odd, since the glitter is purple and pink. Pretty nonetheless.

It looks so stunning in the bottle! I couldn't stop moving my fingers around to look at all of the colors.

It looks cool purple here.

This is the warm purple.

You can see the blue in the center of my nails here.

You can see a little of the gold in this picture.

Anyway, I think Enchanted Polish did a fabulous job on these polishes! You can purchase Enchanted Polish from Llarowe.

Zombies and Elvis' Pink Cadillac

Sometimes one color just isn't enough. Today I went for two - Zombies! by Pirate Polish and Elvis' Pink Cadillac by Pretty & Polished.

I layered them to conserve polish. I started with bases of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mint Sorbet and Bubblegum Pink.

Elvis' Pink Cadillic is a pale pink creme/jelly with matte black hexes in various sizes. The glitter was denser in this than in Zombies. I used two coats, and the formula was easy to work with.

Zombies is basically a mint version of Elvis' Pink Cadillac, which is why I chose to pair them. It did have less tiny hexes. I used two-three coats, depending on how much glitter came out on each finger.

Pirate Polish is available on their Etsy store, and Pretty & Polished (formerly on Etsy) can now be found in their own website.

Happy Hands: Flowers On The Highway

I have another indie for you today. This one is by Happy Hands; it's called Flowers On The Highway.

Flowers On The Highway is a glitter topcoat. It contains an assortment of matte/satin glitters: small pink and black hexes; medium green, lavendar, and pink hexes; and large yellow and white hexes. I love the name of this one. It really does remind me of flowers growing wildly along the highway!

Glitter close-up

I decided to layer this over one of my new polishes: Kalahari Kiss by China Glaze. Kalahari Kiss is a camel creme. I used two coats of that, then added just one coat of FOTH. Look at how dense that glitter is!

It did take some dabbing to get the bigger hexes where I wanted them. They had a tendency to migrate to the end of the nail, but I was able to move them around.

Even though it did require some dabbing, I didn't have to fish for any of the bigger glitters! What you see on the nail is what came out on the brush. I topped it off with one coat of Seche Vite. My nails feel a little bumpy (if that bothers you, I'm sure another coat of top coat would smooth it out), but the glitter lays flat to the nail.

Thumb detail

Overall, I'm really impressed with this polish! There are so many layering possibilities. I can't wait to try out the other polish I purchased along with this one. It's called Afternoon Thunderstorms.

Happy Hands polish can be purchased from their Etsy store. Full-sized bottles go for $8.00, a pretty good price for an indie brand!

Lush Lacquer: Mr. Bubble

Today, I'm wearing my first indie polish ever! It's Mr. Bubble by Lush Lacquer. I know some people have complained about how long it takes to get their polish from them, but my order shipped very quickly.

Mr. Bubble is full of different sizes of blue, pink, and white glitter suspended in a clear base. But this isn't any glitter; it's matte glitter (which I'm currently obsessed with).

Here's a close up of the glitter in the bottle.

I decided to layer it over Victoria's Blue Eyes by Brucci, a darkened sky blue creme. Here's one coat.

As you can see, one coat was still a little sparse, so I added another coat of Mr. Bubble and topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite. There's still a little bit of texture, but nothing too bumpy.

Close up of the thumbnail.

The polish went on smoothly with even glitter distribution, and I didn't have to fish around for big hex glitters. Overall, I'm really happy with this polish!

You can purchase Lush Lacquer here from their Etsy shop.

Rainbow Polka Dots

I still haven't gotten around to painting my nails :( Maybe later on today I'll hobble into my room and give it a shot. So again, I have a picture from the vault. I think this manicure came out great. It's really fun and really easy!

All you need is a dotting tool and some patience :)

I used a ton of colors in this. I started out with a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out. The polka dots are the following shades:

Orange: Sun Kissed by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear
Blue: The Real Teal by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear
Pink: Flirty by ORLY
Purple: Frolic by ORLY
Green: Fresh by ORLY
Yellow: IM Beauty by Sephora by OPI

And that's all I have for you today. Happy Sunday!