The Neverending Pile Challenge: Most Expensive

I like to think I am quite thrifty when it comes nail polish buying but every so often I feel like splurging if there is something amazing that I can't get any dupes for cheaper. When I started blogging, I'd see swatches of holographic polishes and I'd just look at the my screen trying to keep my mouth closed. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any holos at the local Target so I had to go hunting for the only brand I knew had good holos and I knew where to get from. Yes, it took a plane, bus and tram round trip to get the $19.95 Layla Hologram Effect polish (I had other plans for this trip but I was utterly excited to go shopping for polish). Yes, I was unaware if the price when I gave it to the checkout lady and didn't want to seem like a cheapskate and put it back on the shelf before walking out. As awkward as that experience was for me, today I can be glad that Coral Glam is part of my stash. 

This wasn't an untried as such. I had put it on on a couple of fingers  before to marvel at the beauty of the holo but had never worn it as a full mani. And man! I forgot how pretty this was. It's subtle enough on the shade but once it comes out to the sun that flame is strong. 

By the way, I used a base coat for this ad three coats of  Coral Glam to reach opacity and cover up all the drag marks that I manage to get during application.

I'm not good at leaving nail polish alone so I added my first ever DIY nail decal with a three of unused polishes. I used Konad Special Nail Polish in Black for the outline and coloured in the flower from MoYou's Suki 04 plate with Revlon Parfumerie's African Tea Rose, Sunlit Grass and Apricot Nectar. I thought the green polish was an unused polished but turned out I had used Essence's The Green & the Grunge before. Once I applied and cleaned up around the decal, I topped the whole mani with one coat of HK Girl Top Coat.

I know the decal isn't the best but I'm happy with the way this turned out. And you know, one can always look at the holo instead of the decal. :)

I really like this polish and I am glad it has come out of the untried  stash considering all the effort that was required to get this little bottle.

Till next time, 

Laura

BPS Fox Studs Reviews AKA 33 Day Challenge: Animals

I'm killing two birds with this post mostly because the timing of my latest Born Pretty Store delivery could not have been better. I may have also singularised today's prompt of the 33 Day Challenge from animals to animal... Not a big deal, right?

A few weeks ago, I asked to review these beautiful fox studs from Born Pretty Store and I knew I had to use them for this post. I was eagerly hoping they would arrived before today and they did. Phew!!! I found it a bit challenging to think of what to do with these apart from just sticking them to my coloured nail polish. I ended up coming up with this mani that I would like to call 'Night Fox' (it's fun naming manis...). 

This studs are absolutely beautiful, just look at them. They're these dainty little detailed studs, 6mm to be precise, and because they're a sort of abstract fox face there's so much you can do with them. Another wonder about this is that they don't sit flat on the nail as they are so slightly bent so there's no snagging on clothes, hair, fluff, etc.

I think they are made of an alloy metal that is used for most studs as these are really sturdy but light. There are only five in the pack, not quite enough for a whole mani, but they are great for accent fingers. Looking at the photo above, I just realised one of the studs has silver ears compared to the white ears of the others. Hey, that's more variety for me from one pack!

I stuck the stud with clear polish but I'm pretty sure nail glue would have been better. It didn't stick very well with my method and it fell off after a few hours. They can be reused so it really depends whether you are planning to reuse them or not to choose your adhesive. 

Now for the polishes used in the mani, I started with two coats of Ulta3 in Black Satin, followed by one coat of Max Factor Nailfinity in Extra Frost, which gives the black that lovely night sky look without too much effort, and sealed the base with two coats of Seche Vite. I painted the grass with a green stripper before using Layla in Metal Chrome to stamp the moon and free hand the what-I-thought-looked-like stars. I dotted the paws and tail with the same polish before I finished the mani off by creating the tip of the fox tail with a white stripper. I decided not to topcoat the mani because I wanted to keep the texture on the grass and the fox tail. Oh yeah, I stuck the stud with some clear polish right at the end.

You can get the studs by clicking here for US$3.48. Don't forget to use our code to LUCKYG10 to get 10% off full priced products of Born Pretty Store site.

I'm pretty happy with the way the mani came out and I was surprised that the free-handing that I did was fairly quick. All that behind the scenes practice might be paying off. Check out the other talented ladies' manicures for today. 

Disclosure: 
Affilliate Link. 
Fox studs were sent by Born Pretty Store for honest review. 
All other products featured were purchased by me.

September Tri-Polish Challenge Day 4

Today is the last day of the September Tri-Polish Challenge and I was tempted to skip this post. I did some sugar spinnning for the first day of this challenge last week  but managed to smudge it badly before it was completely dry. I thought I could try it for the last day of the September challenge and there wouldn't be much problem. I went to work on some sugar spun nails again this morning but they were terrible!!! 

I'm not one to give up easily so I had to come up with a new design quickly. I remembered we could used black, white, silver and gold as well as our three chosen colours. I figured I could use a nail art pen I've had laying around for a while but hadn't used. To be completely honest, I have never tried free hand nail art. Today seemed like a good day to start. 

Here's what I came up with. I used two coats of Essence in Absolutely Blue on my index finger and pinky, two coats of China Glaze in Sweet Hook on my ring finger and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Sonic Bloom on my middle finger and thumb. I then used one coat of OPI Matte Top Coat on all my fingers. This was mostly done for the black nail art pen to grab onto the base as I have found that it slides right of anything slightly smooth. I taped my ring finger off to create the diamond shape using Layla in Metal Chrome. I used the same polish to create two dots on  my index finger and pinky. Then, my masterpiece (Haha! I wish) came to life. I created two diamond outlines using Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in Black but managed to push it a little to far into the base polishes, which created uneven lines. 

I couldn't quite figure how to take photos of my hands upside down and make them look good so I just flipped my normal pose photos on Picasa. I guess that's a skill I'm gonna have to acquire.

If you've ever used a nail art pen from Sally Hansen, you may know they are basically acrylic paint in a handy package.  If you've used it without a top coat, you'll know they can smudge easily or wash away with some soap and water. I had to bring out my clear top coat to seal it as I wanted to wear this for a few days. I also know the black can smudge quite easily if the top coat is not applied correctly so I dabbed on some Sally Hansen Insta-Drip topcoat finish the mani. Unfortunately, I ended up with bubbles from the thickness of the last coat but it's hardly noticeable in real life.

Putting my rough lines aside and top coats bubbles, I quite like this mani. I'll just have to keep practicing this free handing business.

Check out the other entries to this challenge.

Till next time, 

Laura

Dorothy For The Land Of Oz

Back when I was about 9 or 10 years old, I went to my dad's place where he had a computer game about Leonardo da Vinci, this was back on 1995/96 so it was super exciting. It was basically a game that run you through all of his career paths and all the inventions that came out of that, think the very early stages of helicopters, forts, painting, discoveries in anatomy, scuba diving. He was an painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, planner (source), and who else knows what would run through his head that he didn't put down in paper. Since then, I found the man utterly fascinating and have been jaw-droppingly amazed at what the human mind can do and create. 

Now you may think, why is she talking about Leonardo when I came here for nails? Well, I'm just having a bit of a rant. Skip the next couple of paragraphs if you only came here to see Dorothy. I don't want to put you off. Anyway, I'm finding a tad difficult to think that I have to sit exams and take a lot of pressure for four years to do ONE thing for the rest of my life.  I know I will get bored, I know I will need  a big change every decade or so. I wanna have twenty odd careers in my life, like Leonardo (not saying I'm a genius but it would be nice). I'm really over the fact that I have to pay $40,000 for uni to work for when I could be learning through experience and inquisitiveness. I guess I won't beat the system on this one.

I think I'm just having a shitty time trying to get my assignments done and pushing myself past a mental barrier that's stopping me from thinking freely and getting them done. I can also be a perfectionist with what I do and if it's not great, I'd rather not do it.

In the meantime, I'll keep going with this colourful hobby of painting my nails to cheer me up a little and stop that mental block. 

I present to you Dorothy from Picture Polish, a raspberry red jelly with tiny silver glitter.  the formula was pretty good, if a little thick like Peacock, but still manageable and expected from such dense glitter. Photos done below with two coats and no top coat.

I've checked out other blogs to make sure there's only silver glitter but I swear it looks like there is pink glitter. I had to take some macro photos of the bottle and nail to convince myself that there's only silver. The polish on the nail looks a lot pinker and the glitter may even look golden in some lights.

To be completely sure, I applied some Rimmel Matte Top Coat, which made Dorothy even lighter. I'm still in doubt.

Hmm... Either way it is a beautiful polish that shines and sparkles like you would expect a piCture pOlish glitter to do. I added a tape accent nail with Layla's Mirror Effect in Metal Chrome and dotted Dorothy on top. 

Funny how that perfectionist streak hasn't translated to this blog because I can tell by the above photo, that's not my best work. 

It is still fun and very sparkly, though. Hope you guys can take some enjoyment from the swatches and my tiny rants.

Till next time, 

Laura

Layla Mirror Effects Tape Mani *Edited*

When in doubt, reach out for the sticky tape... Yes, I'm bad at rhyming but the idea stays true. This mani is not my finest work, the lines aren't that crisp, the pink is quite patchy, the clean up left a lot to be desired, the top coat created bubbles. If you squint your eyes, it looks ok. :)

Polishes used:

Pink: OPI in If You Moust You Moust 

Silver: Layla Mirror Effects in Metal Chrome 

Black: Ulta3 in Black Satin 

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

The pink polish belongs to the Minnie Mouse collection by OPI and I really like the colour. 

I originally got a mini bottle  but love it so much that I got a full size bottle. However, both bottles are very streaky and the mini bottle has gotten fairly thick, which didn't help with the application. 

******Edit******

I had to add a matte top coat to this mani. I think I may be in absolute and utter love with Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat. It looks everything look so... soft and dreamy. and it doesn't streak like every other matte top coat I've tried. 

**************

Leaving it very short today, 

Til next time, 

Laura