Utopia Polish Square Pants

What?! Two posts in one day?!? Yes.

I am going to have A LOT of etsy polishes coming in the mail pretty soon and this is the start.

This is Square Pants by Utopia Polish. Its a light yellow base with all kinds of different colored square and hex glitter as well as what looks like some tiny holo glitter. My favorite thing about this polish is that all the glitter is pretty muted, it gives the polish a very spring look. I LOVE the large blue and orange hexes, they are so cool. I used 2 fussy coats over 2 coats of Finger Paints Lemon Sour. I'm sure Square Pants could be opaque on its own but it would take more coats than I am willing to part with at this point.

The first two are in the sun

These last photos are in the shade

I will for sure buy more from Utopias Polish!

Whimsical Ideas By Pam, Kismet's Pajamas

As promised, here is part 2 of my Whimsical Ideas by Pam order. Sorry it's taken so long, I have been completely consumed by the Fifty Shades of Grey books!

I like to conserve my indie polishes so I decided to use 1 coat of Kismet's Pajamas over 2 coats of Finger Paint's Expressionism. Black is always a nightmare for me but it was totally worth it for this polish! I love the black jelly base with the purple and silver glitter. Its perfect. Perfect application, perfect everything. Just plain perfect. Could I say perfect any more? Probably but I'll show you the pictures instead.

It was kind of rainy and overcast when I took these but I think they turned out pretty accurate.

What do you think?

Peanut Butter & Jelly. Yum!

I meant to do this post as soon as I got home at 8:00 but 2 hours later, I'm finally starting it. I got really distracted registering for the GMAT then started watching American Idol. Man, I really could listen to/look at Phillip Phillips all day long.

Anyway, back to the post. As promised, I have Peanut Butter & Jelly by Whimsical Ideas by Pam, which came in the mail yesterday. I really love this polish and it really looks like raspberry jelly with some chunky peanut butter mixed in. Mmmm... *drool*.... The application was awesome and dry time was average. I think the brush I got is a little wonky but its not that bad, still super easy to apply. I used 2 coats of PB&J over 2 coats of Ulta Plum Perfect. This polish can be worn alone and can be built to be opaque in 3 coats but I like to conserve my indie polishes so I decided to layer. I took a gamble with Plum Perfect because I thought it would be too light but it dried the EXACT color as the base in PB&J. WIN! So here she is!!

Sun

Shade

Next time I will have Kismet's Pajamas but I think I'll be wearing PB&J for a few days!

First Day of Summer!

Today is the first Monday of the summer and I am SO glad I got to sit at home and do nothing all day! Actually, what I did do was swatch all my polish on color wheels, create an excel spreadsheet with all my colors, take pictures of my current mani and watch movies. I'd call that a pretty successful day, no?

Since today is MY first day of summer I decided to do a summer-y mani. My best friend, Sarah, recently bought L'Oreal Tweet Me and I had to have it so, of course, I went out the next day and bought it. I decided it was time to try it and I'm so glad I did. I could not have been happier with this color. It is a bright, cheery yellow with gold shimmer. As far as application goes, it was a lot better than I was expecting from a yellow. It was a little sheer and I had to make sure to wait long enough between coats to avoid dragging but overall, pretty good. I used 3 thin coats to make it opaque and then decided to jazz up that gold shimmer with Essie As Gold As It Gets, also inspired by Sarah's purchase! I love love love this combo. LOVE! LOVE!

 Sun

Shade

Look at how great that gold looks!! It just adds another dimension to this already awesome polish! By far my favorite spring/summer mani.

Another exciting note for today, I GOT NAIL MAIL!! As soon as my husband got home from work I practically tackled him for the package I knew had been delivered. I got my first two bottles from Pam at Whimsical Ideas by Pam which are Peanut Butter and Jelly and Kismets Pajamas. I'm sure I'll be swatching these in the next day or so, so stay tuned! 

Here's a sneak peak ;)

 

*Squeel!!*

First(ish) Indie Polish!!!!

I have been super duper excited to do this post! I got this nail mail this week and I'm pretty sure I screamed like a little girl haha. The reason this is titled first(ish) is because I have another indie polish but because of some indie polish drama, the people who got the polish were asked not to post it online, so I get to enjoy it all to myself :)

 This is Margarita from Aphrodite Lacquers and it is amazing! Its a green jelly base with green glitter, green holo glitter and some silver micro glitter. The holo glitter isn't super noticeable but its definitely there! It doesn't really remind me of a margarita, maybe its just too green but either way its gorgeous and I am in love. Application was a dream and I only needed 2 coats to make it opaque but I did three because I wanted it a little darker. I am so in love with this polish, I can't even tell you. I'll be wearing this for a while. Win! All three pictures were taken outside but it was overcast. Lame.

 

LOVE the depth of this polish... mmmm... squishy yummy-ness!

I really want the other 2 polishes from this collection, they are just so pretty and I love the jelly polishes with glitter.

What do you think??

OPI Just Spotted The Lizard!

Finals are over! YAY!! This semester has been rough so I'm really glad to be able to breathe for a few weeks before summer school starts. All this extra time means more nail art!! 

I am not a big fan of gold or metallic/foil polishes so I don't own any. I decided to buy the OPI Just Spotted The Lizard from the Spider Man collection for a couple reasons. 1- I don't own anything like it and I thought I should give it a shot and 2- I know its a dupe for Chanel Peridot and I thought it would be kinda cool to have this one since I can't afford the Chanel. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would and I think its because of the duo chrome and the slight sparkle that makes me like it more. It applied really well but it was a little sheer so I did 3 coats for good coverage. I probably should have done thicker coats because you can see some of the air bubbles in the gel through the polish but oh well!

In the first picture you can see a little bit of the green shift. A lot of other bloggers have better swatches with the color shift but I just couldn't get it :(

On the ride side of my nails you can see the green better.

 

And because everything is better with glitter...

So, overall, this is not my favorite polish. I like it better than I thought I would and I like it much better with glitter. Maybe another color duo chrome would be better for me..

Gradient with stamping

It seems like I can never get to posting anything on the weekends. I will try to work on that after finals are over. I have 2 more finals this week then I'm done! WOO HOO!

Anyway, I LOVED my galaxy nails but all good things have to end sometime (And I really needed a fill). So I came up with something fun and I think it turned out pretty well.

For this mani I used 2 coats of Ulta Mint Condition then created the gradient look using Mint Condition and Ulta Plum Perfect. I was really happy with the application of both colors, not too watery and not too thick. I was also surprised at how good the coverage was on them since they are lighter colors. I will start investing in more Ulta polish, for sure! I added the dots using stamping plate CH6 from Cheeky and Revlon Impulsive. It looked good but it was really light, I thought Impulsive would show up better but I guess its too close to Plum Perfect. I decided adding some pink dots would look good so I used OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips and did a double stamp. I wasn't trying to match up the two stamps but some of them ended up that way anyway. I followed with 2 coats of some random off brand quick dry top coat. I wish I had been more careful with the second layer of stamping but I think it looks pretty cool!

 Sun

Shade

What do you think of this gradient?

Galaxy Nails

I loved my Revlon Scandalous manicure but it was a little boring for my taste so I decided to change it up a bit. I thought about stamping but I do that a lot, then I tried matting it and that was alright but just wasn't doing it for me. Then I had an epiphany! I decided to try galaxy nails.

Here's a picture of my little work station and all the colors I used.

This first picture is in the sun

 

Shade

 

 Shade

 Sun

I'm pretty proud of this mani! I know its not perfect but I thought for my first try it turned out pretty well! What do you think??

Orly Beach Cruiser nail art

Last one for today, I promise!

I saw a review of the Orly neon collection that just came out and I got super excited about them! So, like a true collector, I had to get them! I went to Sally's and I got Beach Cruiser, a NEON pink, and Glow Stick, an awesome neon yellow. A few days later I went back and got Melt Your Popsicle, a neon construction cone orange! Since my favorite color is pink I had to try Beach Cruiser first... here it is!

I love stamping but I'm not very good at it so please forgive the light spots in the stamping :(

This was taken in the sun

 These two were taken in the shade

I used 2 coats of Beach Cruiser, then stamped using Finger Paints Black Expressionism, and 1 coat of Seche Vite. I'm really disappointed that I couldn't capture how neon this is, but believe me you need sunglasses with this baby!!

China Glaze Peachy Keen vs. Finger Paints Circus Peanuts

I was looking at random polish on amazon last week and came across China Glaze Peachy Keen and I had to have it. I contemplated ordering it on amazon but something told me to wait and I'm glad I did! I randomly (or not so randomly.. hehehe) went to Sally's Beauty and they had it! woo hoo!

I used 2 coats with 2 coats of sech vite then I decided to add a coat of Essie Lux Effects A Cut Above. The application was a little frustrating. The first coat went on really thick and gloppy so I waited a while to do the second coat and I had a lot of dragging and uneven spots. Yuck! I'm hoping I can thin it out. After I finished this mani I realized that it looked super familiar then I remembered that I did the same thing with Circus Peanuts from the Finger Paints Gumdrops and Lolipops collection. The formulas are about the same crappy mess and they are near dupes! I haven't swatched them together but I just happened to have pictures of the Finger Paints mani. I'll add those at the end.

 

This photo was taken in the sun

Shade

 Here you can see the color of the glitter a little better.

Just for S's and G's I decided to add a coat of Essie Matte About You. It looks pretty cool in person and pretty much just makes the glitter blend in with the polish. I like it. It was fun!

Here's the Finger Paints mani. The pictures suck because I hadn't yet figured out how to get clear pictures with my camera.

Pretty close, eh?? I think Circus Peanuts is a little brighter and a little more on the orange side while Peachy Keen leans more.. well, peach! lol 

Revlon Scandalous!!

Since my last post I have gone through like 4 manicures and I have pictures of some of them but the first is my favorite by far!

Scandalous by Revlon is probably my favorite polish right now. Its a black jelly base with purple hexes and purple micro glitter. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this polish!! Application was awesome, 3 thin coats to make it opaque.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!!

These 2 were taken in the sun

 

Taken in shade.

For this mani I used 2 coats of OPI base coat, 3 coats Revlon Scandalous, and 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat. LOVEEEE!!

(P.s. looks like I need a fill too! LOL)

Hit No Olimpo Collection

Hi Everyone!!

I meant to do this post yesterday but I have just been soooo busy with finals coming up! So, anyway, here it is a day late! I am quickly becoming a "Holo whore" so I was super excited to get this nail mail this week!!

Again, please excuse the bad photos! (And my sad cuticles!!)

These two colors are from the Hits No Olimpo Collection. The orange I used for this mani is called Demeter. It is a really pretty linear orange holo. The formula was great and I used three coats to get the color nice and opaque. It probably could have used another coat because it is pretty light but I was happy with three. The red accent fingers are Ares; a bright red AMAZING holo! I can't even begin to tell you how in love with this polish I am. Formula wise it was ok. It was a little funky but with 2 careful coats it was completely opaque. I used 1 coat of seche vite for this mani.

 This is in the shade. The holo isn't great inside but you can see that it's not super blah either.

 Both of these were taken in the sun. I tried so many times to get these perfect but my camera just did NOT want to work with the holo! There were actually a few pictures where there was so much glare that they just ended up being a horrible blurry mess!

You can order these from llarowe for $10.