ArtisticShadows Nail Blog

Butter London Wellies & SOPI Blasted Opalescent

2015-01-18T04:00:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone!

It's been well over a year since my last post. I'm so sorry! I haven't been too into painting my nails during that time period and I kind of let my nails take a break. I didn't really have the time to paint my nails and my daughter needed my attention constantly so I stopped painting them as much. Now that she's older and more independent I've gotten back around to painting them more frequently! Yay!

So here's photos of my most recent mani. This is 3 coats of Butter London Wellies and 1 coat of Sephora by OPI Blasted Opalescent on my ring finger. I did not use a base coat and I used one coat of OPI RapiDry Topcoat.

I'm not sure how I feel about this color. I loved it in the bottle, but once I painted my nails I was a little turned off from it. It's not horrible, it's just not my color. Maybe I'll find some other use for this color. It kinda reminds me of the yellow tint to Nickelodeon green slime. I'm weird lol.

You can purchase Wellies HERE . I found my bottle at my local TJ Maxx for around $5 I think, so you should check it out! Sephora by OPI Blasted Opalescent is discontinued, but I'm sure if you search, you'll be able to find yourself a bottle!

~Emily

Older Random Swatches!

2013-10-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

I figured I'd show some of my older nail swatches. They aren't the best and my clean-up back then was lacking in some ways, but I figured why not. We all start from somewhere!

Butter London Fash Pack- 2 coats/OPI Rapidry Top Coat

Finger Paints- Itsy Bitsy Spider- 3 coats/OPI Rapidry Top Coat

Finger Paints- Late Night Rendezvous- 2 coats/OPI Rapidry Top Coat

Finger Paints- Late Night Rendezvous- 2 coats/OPI Rapidry Top Coat With Flash

Pure Ice- Grunge- 2 coats/No Top Coat

Notes:
- With Butter London Fash Pack, the bottle has noticeable golden shimmer. The shimmer doesn't translate well onto the nail and it's barely noticeable.
- Finger Paints Itsy Bitsy Spider has a blue/violet to pink shimmer, depending on the light. I had a hard time photographing the pink shimmer, but it is noticeable in person.
- Pure Ice Grunge was part of the Velour collection last winter. I believe this was limited edition. The polish is meant to have a velvet sort of finish, so I did not use top coat.
- I had no issues with formula with any of these polishes.

~Emily

Update on Life!

2013-08-30T05:38:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I know I haven't posted since April, yuck. I hate that! I've actually had mani's I've done, taken the photos, take off the polish and the photos are horrible. Just my luck, huh? I don't want to post horrible photos, so I just wait off on it. I promise I will have some newer stuff soon. I enjoy blogging and miss it!

Since last time I made a post I told you all that I was pregnant. I was still in my first trimester and dealing with horrible morning sickness (I lost 30lbs, it was the worst!) but now I'm in my third trimester and our little girl will be here soon! Yep! That's right! We're having a girl! I'm thrilled beyond belief! We haven't finished up her nursery yet, but we're getting close. I've just been really busy preparing/cleaning/organizing/going to appointments/making sure everything is set for when she gets here.

So, not too much has been going on. I'm ready to get back into blogging when the time allows for now. I have a Facebook Page for both my blogs. I keep that updated somewhat regularly on new posts, deals, sales, new stuff, giveaways, etc. You're welcome to check it out and like the page.

I'm glad everyone is sticking around and "Hello!" to my new followers! I truly appreciate each and every one of you! I'll be back at it before you know it! :)

~Emily

An Update!

2013-04-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I know I haven't been around much, sorry about that! I recently found out that I'm pregnant with my first child! It's so exciting! I have been dealing with the dreaded morning sickness so polishing my nails hasn't been at the top of my list lately. Last time I tried to paint my nails, my super-sniffing-nose smelled some weird things. One polish smelt like evergreens and my top coat somehow smelt like bananas to me. That COMPLETELY threw me off considering none of them were scented. It's really strange, but after that I quit painting my nails for a while lol.

The good news is the morning sickness has lessened up a bit and I'm feeling pretty good! So I will hopefully be back to blogging very soon. Although every time I say that I jinx myself and go back to feeling horrible. Blah!

Anyway, I thought I should let all of you know that I haven't fallen off of the planet! Thanks for being a follower/fan/friend! I truly appreciate it!

-Emily

Custom Franken Polish By Franken Femme!

2013-03-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

So I have a bit of a different polish today! Becca over at FrankenFemme was offering to make a custom one-of-a-kind polish for people who were willing to tell others about her blog and what she does. I had seen some of her other frankens (they are GORGEOUS by the way) so I offered! It didn't take too long before I had my amazing mini bottle of polish in my hands. Becca also shows on her blog how she creates her polishes and gives each amount of colors/glitter to help you make your own!

Along with my polish, I got a nice note saying how my polish was made. It was nice knowing what went into my polish! I had a little ribbon along with a small note tied around my polish also. It was amazing what she came up with considering I had only said I liked glitter, purple, blue and green. The color combos in this go together extremely well. The only issue I had was my polish was a little lumpy and a tiny bit thick. I think a few drops of thinner would make this perfect (in my opinion).

My note said that my polish was made using suspension base, white cream base, purple shimmer base, satin mint green hexes, purple matte hexes, matte teal hexes and holo glitter. There was absolutely no bleeding or curling. All glitter/hexes laid flat on my nail.

This is 2 coats of polish with 2 coats of OPI Rapidry top coat.

I think this is one of my top favorite polishes. The combination of glitter along with the overall color works extremely well together! I suggest checking out her blog for her other creations. I have really been blown away by some of her colors!

~Emily

Hmm, This Is Strange...

2013-03-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

Edit: This color is LA Colors Sea Green. I forgot to add that! Sorry!

So while I was shopping today, I stumbled upon a big bin of LA Colors nail polish at a discount store. Awesome! I like some of LA Colors' stuff so I browsed through them. I found two colors I really liked and I bought them.

Well once I got home and started swatching, I noticed something. These colors both had the same name! They were two different colors! One looks like it is older and the other looks like it is newer. Here's the photos. Take a look for yourself!

Old on the left, new on the right

New on left, old on right

As you can see, the new one is more blue while the older one is more green. I shook the bottles and everything thinking it may have been discoloration, but then I remembered I saw a few of the new and old ones there and they were the same. I also thought maybe the stickers had been switched possibly, but they don't show any signs of it and are stuck on pretty normal. It seems like the newer color has less golden shimmer than the older too.

I also noticed that the newer bottles have less than the older. Hmmm... I had never noticed that before either!

It's really weird. I'm guessing the newer batches are made more blue. I prefer the green (older) but I like them both so they're staying with me! :)

China Glaze- It's A Trap-eze!

2013-02-26T19:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I picked up It's A Trap-eze! a while back when the Cirque Du Soleil had just came out. I'm slow at getting around to polishes sometimes.

It's A Trap-eze! is a a pretty different type of polish. I can say I don't have anything like it in my collection! There are lots of different color hex glitter in a milky white base. I spotted yellow, blue, green, red, pink and white glitter within it. There may be more colors that I'm not seeing. There are some medium sized hex glitter along with smaller sizes.

My bottle was a tiny bit too thick for my liking, but it wasn't too big of an issue. To spread out the glitter, you have to dab it in the area you'd like (like some other glitter polishes). Two coats were needed to make this opaque which is nice! After I put on top coat though, I did notice that all the glitter tended to make the overall finish a little lumpy, so I added two coats of top coat and it smoothed things out.

I really like this polish. I get sort of a birthday party vibe from this, so I'll be wearing it to my nephew's birthday party in a few weeks. Anyone else get that feeling? I guess it's just all the bright colors.

~Emily

China Glaze- Kiwi Cool-Ada

2013-02-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

I don't run into this problem much, but I have today.

I asked on my personal Facebook page what color I should paint my nails. One of my friends suggested neon green. Can do. I had Kiwi Cool-Ada I hadn't tried. Luckily nail polish comes off with a little work.

I really don't like this color! It's just not for me and it clashes with my skin tone. Not only that but my bottle is really thin and runny and the formula is streaky. After 4 coats you could still see my nail line. My camera couldn't take a decent picture either. I guess it had a "freak out"!

Not so great huh? I thought I'd really love this color, unfortunately I was wrong.

~Emily

Layla Ceramic Effect- CE 52

2013-02-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

This is one of my picks from my birthday haul (which I should post!). I found it on clearance at Ulta for $6.99.

I'm not 100% sure if this is also called the Butterfly Effect, but I believe it is. My bottle doesn't say it, so I won't say it with certainty.

CE 52 is a purple jelly polish that is full of flakies that change from red to gold to green. I had absolutely no issues with the formula and I had full coverage within 3 coats. I've seen that this is a dupe for Nfu Oh 51 and while I don't have it to compare, I believe it is from my online searches.

Has anyone tried the other Ceramic Effect polishes? They look really interesting! I may pick up a few if I see them on sale.

~Emily

Layla Hologram Effect- Ultra Violet

2013-02-02T20:01:00.001-08:00

This is one of my first real holographic polishes! I know, I'm late to the game. The sad thing was, about a week ago I was just telling myself how tired I was of holographic nail polish. I picked Ultra Violet and Ocean Rush up since they were on clearance at Ulta for $6.99. Awesome deal!

I would just like to say, I now know what all the hype is about. I couldn't stop staring at my nails all day! It's so gorgeous!

I didn't really look up how to apply these and I just did my normal routine. China Glaze base coat, 3 coats of Ultra Violet and OPI Rapidry top coat. I did have a problem with dragging and bald spots with this polish. I would do a coat and let it dry in-between, but the next coat would drag and make a a few bald spots. I fixed them with a light dab of polish and it seemed to fix the problem. I've heard some people say don't use a top coat or it will ruin the holographic finish, but I didn't run into that problem at all. I need to do some more research!

I have a new love for holographic polishes. Have any tips you'd like to share when working with holographic polishes? I'd love to know!

~Emily

Zoya- Happi

2013-01-28T21:18:00.001-08:00

Hi!

I bought this polish (along with Skylar and Zara) for the Zoya promo. I've really been feeling springy pinks lately, so I felt this was completely appropriate.

Zoya descripes Happi as a "Pink metallic duochrome. A frosty hint of gold creates a unique peachy-pink." I had no issues with the formula, although it can be a little sheer.

This is 3 coats along with OPI Rapidry.

I'll have swatches of Skylar and Zara up soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Emily

OPI- Pros & Bronze

2013-01-22T12:34:00.001-08:00

Pros & Bronze is part of the Serena Glam Slam collection (along with Love Is A Racket). I found my collection at Ulta a little over a year ago on clearance.

Pros & Bronze is described as "a glimmering golden-bronze" by OPI, but it's so much more than that. It's full of little flakes that make up the polish. Depending on the light, it flashes gold, bronze, pink, and copper. It's definitely one of my favorite polishes, I just hate how it tends to clash with my skin tone.

This is 3 coats with Rapidry top coat.

In shade

Pros & Bronze is a little sheer, so 2 coats would probably work although I used 3 for full coverage.

~Emily

Pure Ice- Glass of Bordeaux

2013-01-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

This is one of the polishes I was given for Christmas (along with some of the other new colors). Glass of Bordeaux is part of Pure Ice's French Trend collection. Pure Ice's website describes Glass of Bordeaux as burgundy glitter. I believe their descriptions are a bit "off" considering the polish is red micro glitter in a thin black base.

I had no problems with application. The polish can be a little sheer, so 3 coats are needed. I really like this polish, I just wish the red glitter would shine through as much as the bottle shows it.

This is 3 coats with OPI Rapidry top coat.

Indirect sunlight

I'm really excited for what Pure Ice has in store for us. I've been buying polishes from that brand since I was about 12 and it seemed to be a brand that was pretty "stale" for a while. I'm glad they have released collections now and are adding new colors to their permanent line.

Pure Ice polishes can be found for $2 at Walmart and Walgreens.

More information can be found HERE.

~Emily

SpaRitual- It's Raining Men

2013-01-10T01:03:00.000-08:00

This will be a quick post. I got SO MANY POLISHES for Christmas I'm swimming in them. Yeah, it's totally not a bad thing, I'm not complaining!

SpaRitual's It's Raining Men is a periwinkle blue color that shifts pink/gold/light green. It's amazing. I've been lemming this for what seems like ages and I got it for Christmas. It is pretty sheer. This is 4 coats with Orly Won't Chip top coat.

Under bright lights

Under dim fluorescent lighting

I've seen that this is a dupe for Orly's Sky Blue Pink (which I was also lemming *crosses it off the list*). From what I can tell it is pretty dead on.

Sorry for the messy nails. My top coat is turning gross and thick and pretty much ruined my mani. I also forgot to do some clean up. Oops. After this post I'll be switching to OPI Rapidry top coat for my mani's.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Emily

Christmas Mani!

2012-12-28T19:03:00.001-08:00

Sorry to have this post up so late! I've been busy with the holidays, but better late than never right?

This was my Christmas manicure! The base color is Butter London Pearly Queen and the glitter is China Glaze Twinkle Lights. I've seen a few other bloggers with manicures similar to this and I wanted to try it out! I absolutely LOVE this combination.

This is 3 coats of Pearly Queen and I just dabbed and spread out Twinkle Lights to get the design I wanted.

With Flash

I had no trouble with any of the formulas. This was actually one of my first Butter London polishes and I've fell in love with it! The formula is great for Pearly Queen. No drags or patchiness. It was a bit sheer, but 2-3 coats fixes it.

-Emily

Orly- Fowl Play

2012-12-06T13:06:00.000-08:00

I found one of my lemmings two weeks ago! I've already checked it off my wishlist and everything. I was super excited to find Fowl Play! I thought it was discontinued (maybe it was? It was part of the Birds of a Feather collection), but anyway I found this along with a few more bottles at Ulta. Thought it was strange since it's from last fall but I picked it up anyway.

Fowl Play is a gorgeous mix of duochrome flakies (that shift from red, orange and green), blue glitter and silver micro glitter all in a medium/deep plum colored jelly polish.

This is 3 coats of Orly Fowl Play with Orly Won't Chip topcoat. I had no issues with the formula or application.

I've seen a lot of people say that Fowl Play is a near dupe of OPI's Merry Midnight that's HTF. I unfortunately don't own Merry Midnight, but from what I can tell, they are pretty close. If you're searching for Merry Midnight, Fowl Play may just be your fix (of course it's a lot cheaper too!)

-Emily

Time For Another Baddie But Goodie!

2012-12-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

So while my normal camera was being a pain and didn't have batteries, I was using my phone to take photos. My phone does have a macro setting so I don't get the worst pictures but they aren't great enough to make a blog post with them.

Well here are those pictures! Polish is goodie, horrible pictures on my part, baddie.

2 Coats Sinful Colors Black on Black and 2 coats of Jesse's Girl Confetti on top

3 coats of China Glaze Fast Track

My Thanksgiving mani: 2 coats of Piggy Polish- Baby, It's Gold Outside (on index, middle and pinky) and 3 coats of China Glaze I Herd That (on ring finger)

2 coats of OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest

3 coats of Maybelline Color Show-Downtown Brown

I believe that's all I have for now!

-Emily

Sephora + Pantone Universe- Parachute Purple

2012-11-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I made my first visit to Sephora yesterday! I had browsed online and passed the store numerous times, but yesterday I decided that day was the day. I've been missing out on a lot! I found so many things I fell in love with but of course I had limited funds.

Anyway, I came across the Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Lacquers. There were only 4 colors there but they are now $5 if you happen to be looking for any! I of course picked up Parachute Purple, although I'm really wanting a few others before they're gone!

Parachute Purple is a vibrant medium colored purple with aqua colored shimmer. The polish can lean towards a darker purple in certain lighting. I used two coats and had no trouble with it being too runny or thick. The only issue I have is that the aqua shimmer is not as strong on your nails as it is in the bottle. It's still gorgeous though!

Sephora Stock Photo

With flash on

In sunlight

I really love this polish! I've seen others say it's a dupe for Rescue Beauty Lounge's Scrangie, but from what I can tell by other bloggers photos, it is not a dupe. Parachute Purple is darker and has less shimmer.

-Emily

China Glaze- Pelican Gray & Candeo- Sprouse

2012-11-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hi!

So I've had these two polishes for a while. I actually received Candeo Sprouse in a giveaway from Llarowe some time ago. I never wore it because I didn't know what to wear it over but then I spotted Pelican Gray in my collection and it just clicked to use them together! Candeo Sprouse is actually the only indie nail polish I have, although I've been eying some others lately.

Pelican Gray is a somewhat sheer light to medium gray with a bit of silver shimmer. It takes about 3 coats to cover. Sprouse is an interesting top coat. It's loaded with so many different glitters. There's white and black bar/horizontal glitter, small and medium sized black and white hexagonal glitter, medium blue hexagonal glitter that switches to red and green depending on the angle, medium gray hexagonal glitter that switches to silver depending on the angle and finally sparse holographic glitter. It's absolutely gorgeous.

I used 3 coats of Pelican Gray and 2 coats of Sprouse and Orly Won't Chip topcoat. I had no trouble applying either although with Sprouse I had to place glitter around sometimes to make it look the way I wanted.

China Glaze Pelican Gray under fluorescent lighting

Under fluorescent lighting

With flash

Under fluorescent lighting. Blurred to show holographic glitter.

I actually really loved this mani! Do any of you have Sprouse? What do you think about it?

-Emily

Quick Post

2012-11-01T04:41:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I've gained so many new followers, so I'd like to say hello! I hope you stick around for a while. :)

I just wanted to let all of you know I also have another blog for makeup (if you're interested). I have lots of swatches and reviews. If you'd like to check it out, feel free. Here's the link:

http://artisticshadowsetc.blogspot.com/

I hope all of you have an awesome day! I'll have new posts up very soon.

-Emily

OPI- Live and Let Die

2012-10-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

This is another mini from the Skyfall collection I bought a few days ago from Ulta. You can see my swatches of The World Is Not Enough here.

Live and Let Die is a hunter/dark green with golden green flecks. It almost appears black in some lighting, like florescent. I used two coats of Live and Let Die and a topcoat. I had no issues with this color. One coat was pretty good, but two was the magic number with this one!

I'll apologize ahead of time that I had to take these with my cell phone. My camera batteries died and I didn't want my polish to chip before I could get new ones. Luckily my cell phone has a macro setting so the photos didn't come out too bad.

Under florescent lighting.

With Flash

I thought I would fall in love with this polish. This was the one I was dying to get my hands on. Although I do like this color, I don't think it's my favorite from the mini collection. I have another two polishes to go and I'm really eying GoldenEye. We'll see!

-Emily

OPI- The World Is Not Enough

2012-10-24T21:30:00.002-07:00

Hi Everyone!

So I took a little trip to Ulta with my coupons in hand and I bought the Skyfall minis collection! I absolutely love every color in this collection. I was actually going to pick up all of these colors individually until I spotted this collection. I will have swatches of all of the colors up soon, but today I have The World Is Not Enough.

The World Is Not Enough is a rosey taupe with multicolored glitter (mostly pink and blue). I'd say it has a silver sheen/shimmer to it also. It's a complicated color, but I do enjoy it! I had no issues with application, although this polish is a bit sheer.

This is 3 coats of The World Is Not Enough along with Orly Won't Chip topcoat. All pictures are taken indoors in indirect sunlight.

What do you think about this polish? I haven't swatch the others from this collection, so I can't say for sure if it's my favorite yet. I do like how it is so unique! Which colors do you like from the Skyfall Collection?

-Emily

China Glaze- Ick-A-Bod-Y

2012-10-15T12:14:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Ick-A-Bod-Y is from the China Glaze Awakening Collection 2010 (Halloween collection). I found my bottle earlier this year at Sally's Beauty which was a big surprise considering it was one of my lemmings. So score on my end!

Ick-A-Bod-Y is full of orange glitter suspended in a murky green base. From the bottle you can't really tell that it's murky green, but once it's on your nail it's a nice surprise. The glitter in this is pretty dense so I only had to use two coats with no layering over black. I did have a bit of trouble since my bottle seems to be getting a little thick. I don't know if this is a common problem or not, but a little nail polish thinner should do the trick.

I really love this color! I like all of this collection's colors so I may pick them up soon!

~Emily

BPotW China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Fingerpaints Brilliant Brushstroke

2012-09-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I didn't get this post up sooner. I've been extremely busy and have been away. If I can't get the Boyfriend's Pick of the Week up sooner than I have lately, I'm just going to call it Boyfriend's Pick. I'll see how things go. I don't want to disappoint any of you!

The boyfriend picked China Glaze Ruby Pumps last week and dumb me thought it was just a glitter topcoat polish so I was going to use Fingerpaints Brilliant Brushstroke as a base, but I was in for a surprise when I realized it really wasn't just a glitter topcoat. It actually had a red base! So I just went ahead and kept both on since I actually really like Brilliant Brushstroke more than I thought.

Ruby Pumps is a gorgeous red base loaded with red glitter. This was part of the China Glaze Loves You Snow Much Holiday 2009 collection. Fingerpaints Brilliant Brushstroke is a bright cherry red with gold microglitter/shimmer.

Both are 3 coats with no top coat. Brilliant Brushstroke is on my index and ring finger and Ruby Pumps is on my middle and pinky finger.

Both formulas are pretty good. Even with 3 coats they can be a little on the sheer side. I like Brilliant Brushstroke a little more than Ruby Pumps. Which do you like more?

~Emily

Orly Rococo A Go-Go VS. Zoya Jem

2012-09-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

I was going through my collection a while back and I noticed I had two colors that looked the same. I don't purposely buy dupes really or anything that looks close to a polish I already have. The two that look similar are Orly Rococo A Go-Go and Zoya Jem. These are so close to being dupes of each other it hurts! The only differences I can tell are that Rococo A Go-Go has slightly bigger shimmer/glitter and is only a tiny bit darker than Jem. Jem is a little more red/pink toned. I prefer Zoya's formula since it seems to be a bit better to work with. Both formulas are good though.

Honestly, they look identical in person, so if you have one you really don't need the other (unless you really want it).

This is 3 coats of each polish with flash.

~Emily