Natalie's Koi Fish

These nails are inspired by this look from Natalie over at heartNAT. It's been pinned on my "nail art inspiration" board over on Pinterest for a while now. I don't have the same polishes she used, and I don't have the fancy koi fish image plate she has, but it's still pretty cool. :)

 The polishes I used were:

Base of Orly Decades of Dysfunction. Then I sponged on - L'Oreal Macaroon Me Madly, China Glaze Flirty Tankini & Passion For Petals, & Zoya Ziv.

Then 1 coat of Essie Shine of the Times for an extra "fish-scale" vibe.

Then stamped M.A.S.H 39 with Konad black

More about → Natalie's Koi Fish

Flakie Flip Flop Fantasy

Essie Shine of the Times over China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

It's mesmerizing!

More about → Flakie Flip Flop Fantasy

Brazilian Flakies

I used Sally Hansen CSM Trouble Maker and layered 2 coats of Big Universo Espectral. It's a multi colored flakie that I got in this swap.

 

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China Glaze - Ride the Waves

Another China Glaze neon to show. This is the royal blue color. Not sure if it's a true neon, but it is definitely bright. Applies slightly thick like a jelly polish.

This is 3 moderate coats. I was trying for thin even coats, but the formula is a little off.

Still quite a delicious color though! And soooo shiny with topcoat.

After a day of wear I tried adding a flakie topcoat. Essie Shine of the Times. Why haven't I tried this combo before? A flakie over a vibrant royal blue?! This is a must if you haven't done it yet.



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Hunger Games Nail Art

I'm not entirely sure when I'll be able to see the Hunger Games movie in theaters, but I'm excited about it! I thought the books were fantastic, and the movies look like they will be amazing! So here is some Hunger Games Nail Art in honor of the movie's release.

 Before you read further, here is a disclaimer: This nail art was accomplished after a very long day. I had been awake since 5am and worked a 12 hour shift. I finished these nails at 9:30pm but my brain was fried and running off diet coke only, so I apologize in advance that they are not more perfect. Lol

My left hand ring finger features the "Mockingjay." Yes mine looks a bit wonky and inbred, but whatever....

 The other nails are China Glaze Stone Cold from what else? But the Hunger Games collection.

My right hand ring finger features some flame nail art because by now you might have heard.... In the book, Katniss' nails are painted with flame nail art for the opening ceremonies of the Hunger Games.

I'll show the exact polishes I used below, but I topped the flames with Essie Shine of the Times because those flakies have always made me think of fire embers. It was difficult to capture in a picture, but it really adds a special touch.

Polishes used:
Sinful Colors Black on Black
China Glaze Stone Cold
Color Club Gingerbread Man

for the flames:
China Glaze In Awe of Amber
Hard Candy Lava
Sinful Colors Let's Meet
(not pictured Essie Shine of the Times)

Happy Hunger Games Everyone!

Just on a side note, I'm considering buying this shirt. It's hilarious.

"Bake bread with Peeta - Skinny dip with Finnick!"

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Deborah Lippmann - Lara's Theme

Hi guys! Here is another one of the Deborah Lippmann's that I recently acquired. This is Lara's Theme which is pretty much just a bright orange creme finish.

2 coats

I showed you this swatch stick comparison earlier. Left is DL Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Right is DL Lara's Theme.

This is 2 coats of Lara's Theme.

Then I wanted to add some flakes, so I added 1 coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Glass Slipper. Instead of staying a frosty white, the flakes took on a gold color when layered over the orange.

I wore this with a dress that I thought was bright orange, but when I got under the lights of where I was going.... The dress turned out to be more coral toned! So I felt a little silly, but that's what happens when you have poor lighting in your apartment and it's no longer daylight! Oops!

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Essie - Shine of the Times

I recently acquired the entire Essie Luxeffects collection by winning heartNAT's 300 follower giveaway! I am so happy because this is my first ever giveaway to win! Before I've only ever won if it was a contest or something. So this was awesome and random! So far I've only worn Shine of the Time. As you might have heard, this is a dupe for Nubar 2010 and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I layered 2 coats of Shine of the Times over Sinful Colors Snow Me White. It really made my nails look like opals!

Thanks again Natalie!

More about → Essie - Shine of the Times

Matte flakie love...

I never understood the appeal of matte anything. I like my polish shiny! But I've been determined to expand my horizons and try it out more. (Like in mimicking Erika's matte black with shiny tips). After try mattifying flakie glitter, I totally understand! It made it even more amazing to look at!

This is 1 coats of Speciallita HITS Can Can over 2 coats of China Glaze Spontaneous. Finished off with Essie Matte About You.

 The flakies stand out so much more! It's crazy!

The mattified version photographs just as beautiful as it looks in real life. The shiny version was more difficult. My photos in no way compare to how flashy and noticeable the flakes are in real life.

 This is before I added Essie Matte About You, of course.

More about → Matte flakie love...

Finger Paints - Asylum

This is how I wore Asylum. I layered 2 coats over 2 coats of China Glaze Life Preserver.

It's not as blingy as Twisted, but it's still awesome! The purple/blue flakes stood out much more in real life.

:)

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Finger Paints - Twisted

I recently got my hands on Twisted and Asylum. They were the only two of the Special Effects that I wanted. Here I layered 2 coats of Twisted over 2 coats of China Glaze Urban Night.

 It's very drool-worthy. Go out and get some!

Then a swatch of 1 coat each over black. For your enjoyment.

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Swap with Polish Me Pink!

I recently swapped with Francini of Polish Me Pink! for some Brazilian beauties. She helped me get my hands on lots of flakies, some glitter, and tons of multichromes!

It's going to be a massive post, so get ready!

It all started when I asked someone to swap for these 4. I wanted these flakies from Speciallita. They look like dupes for Nfu-Oh flakies that I still have yet to get.

Left to Right:

Jazz, Can Can, Twist, Samba

 In the same order. 

Jazz is swatched over black and white on the index nail, all the others are by themselves.

Jazz- 1 coat.

Just look at those green flakes! It showed up best over black, the white side looked very opal-y but it was difficult to capture in pictures.

 Can Can- 3 coats.

This one looks like Nfu-Oh 50 to me. Light purple base with teal/blue flakes.

Since it took 3 coats, I'll likely just layer it over a medium tone purple when I use it as a full manicure.

Twist- 2 coats.

This one looks like Nfu-Oh 52 to me. Medium blue base with teal/green flakes.

 Same thing here, for future use I will probably layer it over a royal blue to save my precious polish...
The flakes look to be concentrated where the flash hit, but they are perfect & evenly dispersed! Don't let the camera fool you.

Samba - 2 coats

OMG green. Green on green flakes. I love green. This is gorgeous. End of story.

It looks like Nfu-Oh 56, in my opinion. Again, I'll layer it for future use.

Francini called this one Brazil's version of Unicorn Puke. Instead of a purple base, it's a clear base.
Big Universo - Espectral
I'm so happy this is a full 15mL! I know I will be using it a lot!

It has flakes of all different colors. Here is 2 coats over black.

Same combo, different angle.

2 coats layered over OPI Dating a Royal, Zoya Mira, Wet n Wild Black, Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

Same combo, different angle.

She found the last polish of the Hits no Olimpo collection that I wanted.
Dionisio. The dark purple holo.

Dionisio- 2 thin beautiful coats.

She also got me Hits #612 Glitter Forte.
This is a dupe for OPI Absolutely Alice!

It was quite thick and this was 2 gloopy coats. I didn't have any spare room in the bottle to add thinner, so now that I've swatched it maybe I can. :) I might even transfer it to larger polish bottle. I don't know yet...

This she included as a surprise.
Impala SPFW na mira 3d.
It is an awesome holographic glitter polish.

So intensely packed! Left is 2 coats over black, right is 3 coats by itself to show that the base is slightly tinted. It flashes through the whole rainbow, but it has a strong purple flash in the center. I hope you can see that in the pictures. It's beautiful!

She also included a Brazilian quick dry top coat. Extra Brilho.

I haven't given it a full test run yet, but what's up with this brush?! It's horrid! It's round and fluffy, yet limp and scraggly! Ugh! So frustrating. I dumped it into an empty bottle of Seche Vite so that I could use it with a normal brush!

I saw this polish on Francini's blog and asked if she could find it for me. It's a gorgeous multichrome.
Check out her pictures because she did a much better job at capturing the color shifts. HERE.
Ludurana Reluz
Seeing as how I don't exactly know how to read Portugese... It took me a day of wearing this as a full mani and saying "what's that smell?" before I realized it must be scented! Perfumado, yeah it's scented. Lol
It reminds me of a strong cotton/fresh linen type smell mixed with a light generic perfume smell. It's quite potent at first but not unpleasant, and it faded a good bit after the first day.

 It shifts blue, teal, purple, magenta, to rust orange.

My swatch is 3 thin coats. It's a thin formula that is slow-drying. And it was quite pesky in that it moved around after I finished each nail. Weird, right? I painted very neatly, and yet when I moved on and looked back, the polish had moved and flooded my cuticle! It was really crazy. But I will totally put up with strangeness for beauty. :)

In our discussion prior to the swap she told me about this new collection out by Speciallita Hits.
All multichromes! Drool. I wanted them all! And she came through. :)

Again, Francini was able to capture the color transitions better, so check out her post here.

Left to Right:
Daring,
Chameleon,
Artsy,
Unconventional.
These were all on the thin side. Each took 3 coats.

 

Then the other half of the collection.
Left to Right:
Cutie Pie - 3 coats
Trendy- 2 coats
Cool- 2 coats
Dreamer- 3 coats

And the last little goodies she included.
A perfectly compact container of cuticle balm. It's more of a wax than a cream, and it doesn't have a strong scent which is nice. :)
Then a matchbook style packet of 12 mini emery boards. So feminine and cute!

Thanks a million to you, Francini. You should get your package any day now, and I hope you love it as much as I do mine!

More about → Swap with Polish Me Pink!