Yesterday's Nail

Jessica: Venus Was Her Name

2012-01-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous, gorgeous polish!! I actually used this as a base to layer Lynnderella Mercurial over...and completely forgot to take a photo of the final product. *LOSER*

Amazing dusty, deep purple with brighter purple shimmer which catches in the sunlight. There is no topcoat on this and it's still shiny!

Have an amazing Sunday everyone! I'll be busy putting my new Helmers together today!!

Revlon Colorstay: Spanish Moss

2012-01-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

I finally have a sane moment to sit down and write a new post! Between all the extra skating I have been doing (I am getting ready to take the 2nd part of assessments for my derby team to test if my skills are up to par to bout some more this season!!! So excited!!), a broken washing machine which has now taken 5 days to get replaced...I haven't been looking forward to doing laundry in a very long time!! Also, working long hours has been kicking my butt lately. Trying to balance work, play and love is challenging but oh so fulfilling!!

Here are my opinions on one of the new Revlon Colorstay polishes. I wanted to give this a fair chance as the claims tout 10 days of chip free wear if used with the Colorstay base and top coats.

This is 2 coats of polish between 1 coat each of the base and top coats.
The base has a milky appearance which made me think of the aqua bases that you *need* for linear holo polishes. I am hoping to do a comparison of an aqua base -vs- the Colorstay base to see what the differences may be. Also, the base is slightly thick which made me think it had a bit of a ridge filling benefit to it.

This took several hours to cure. Once it cured it had settled a bit so my nail ridges were not completely filled in like my usual base coat combo does for me. I went to bed and it was dry to touch...but not completely set.
These photos were taken on day 6 of wear. 6 days of no chips is a big deal for me. Not that I really like wearing my polish for that many days, this can certainly come in handy for travel. Regular polish usally starts to crack from normal wear and tear...usually from moisture expanding the nail then shrinking them when they lose the moisture...if that makes sense! This showed very minimal of those cracks at day 6. Whatever is in this makes the cured polish flexible enough so it doesn't chip or crack. Also, I had pretty minimal tipwear even though I was sure to not baby my hands.

Here is a close up shot of the bottle of Spanish Moss. In the 1st 2 photos, it looks like a dusty, pale grey/green. I did not realize this had super, micro, hidden shimmer in it! The day after I applied this is when I noticed. You can see all the little shimmers in the close up shot...pale green, pale pink and silver. Super subtle but still very pretty.

All in all, I really like these new Colorstays. They are a bit pricey for a DS polish...around $8-9 at major drug stores. WalMart has the lowest price point I have found so far at right under $5. Keep an eye out for those Revlon coupons or BOGO deals if you really want to try these.

Happy Saturday!! I am getting ready to head out to Ikea in a few hours for alittle BFF excursion. Wonder what I will be bringing home with me....

Givenchy Purple By Night

2012-01-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday!! I am being distracted by football, basketball and my new addiction...Pinterest!!! This is going to be another short but sweet post today.

2 coats of this amazing polish that I was fortunate to snag in a private sale. This was released in 2008 as part of their holiday collection called Nightlights.

This shot really shows the difference between how it looks in the bottle versus how it looks on the nail. The bottle has an amazing shimmer in it...which does not translate to the nail. It also dries darker on the nail than what you see in the bottle.

I can't say I am completely disappointed in this one but it was definitely not what I was hoping for. It's still pretty but I would have loved to see more of that shimmer on my nails and for it to have kept the bottle color.

Coming up this week I will have a review of one of the new Revlon Colorstay polishes. Wonder what 7 days of wear looks like? Stay tuned!!

FP Motley to the rescue!

2012-01-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

Quick, short post.

I topped the last mani I posted about with Finger Paints Motely. It had such a pretty violet blue/aqua shift in the sun. You can see a bit of the aqua in the bottle and mainly the aqua on my nails. The blue gets a little lost due to the blue base. Still lovely though!

If you are interested in the Finger Paints you better run to your local Sally's and hope they still have them in stock. Mine have been extremely picked over but I was lucky enough to get the ones I wanted. It also seems that Twisted has been the hardest to find in my experience. So...if you want these...good luck!
Happy hump day...get to humpin'!!

China Glaze Up All Night + a little layering

2012-01-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

1 coat. Yup. 1 amazingly level, even, gorgeous coat! I had this in my untireds for quite a while and was actually just looking for a layering base. I was completely blown away by this polish! Deep navy with a slight, glowy shimmer. This is over my usual base combo and without top coat.

Then I added to it to get this:

1 coat of LA Girls Glitter: Jostle. I really liked this combo. Even though it is basically tone on tone the glitter stands out just enough to give it a very nice effect even in lower light.

Hump day...get over it.

Disco Diva + stamping

2012-01-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday!!

I definitely do not have very good stamping skills which is why I do it so rarely. This is one of the few attempts that I thought came out fairly decent.

This is from Bundle Monster plate BM19. I used WnW Wild Shine Black Creme for the stamping. My biggest complaint about the Bundle Monter plates is that the image is very small compared to a Konad image. The image did not cover my smallest nail (the pinky) so it naturally did not cover any of my nails. I had to double stamp all of them and hoped that they lined up enough to look decent.

I used the new SH Diamond Flash fast dry top coat over the images and was pleasantly surprised that it did not smear my images.

This mani was not a complete fail but I wasn't loving it either. I just was looking for a way to stretch out my Disco Diva mani...which is on day 4 in this photo! Great wear for a holographic polish that has no top coat on it!

Have a great week!!

Jessica Hologram Chic Disco Diva

2012-01-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

Holy holo!!! Ok...really, no words needed.

3 thin coats over Gelous and the base coat that comes in the set.

You can buy this at jessicacosmetics.com $25 for the silver holo polish an aqua type base coat. Hopefully this won't go the way of all the other fantastic holos recently and turn into a dud due to formula and pigment changes. Also...wouldn't it be fantastic to see this in more colors?

Love, love, love!!

Palette cleanser!

2012-01-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

Color Club Nomadic In Nude. Great coverage and application for such a stark color. 2 coats ove 1 coat of SH Nail Quencher and 1 coat of Gelous (my HG base combo) This was actually underwear for a glitter so there is no clean up or top coat in that shot.

Topped with 2 thin coats of Icing Gold Dust. I loved this combo so much I wore it until it started to peel off...as most glitters do on me. Though the colors are subdued, the glitter adds a nice kick without being too over the top. Not that over the top is bad...I love over the top! I was just trying to cleanse the palette to get ready for some of the glitters I have seemed to amass in 2011!!

Happy New Year...now with Brains!!

2012-01-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!! I thought I'd start of my year with a post just to get my blogging year rolling.

This was my NYE mani...which I had on since 12/29. I wanted to change out to something with more bling and sparkle but this held up so well I figured I'd get as much mileage out of it as possible.

2 coats of Misa Grey Matters topped with 2 coats of Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains.

I really hated the application of the Misa. It was very watery and uneven on the first coat and still a bit uneven on the 2nd. In the end, it didn't matter because it was just being used as the base for the Lynnderella.

I have gotten so many compliments on this combo...as well as the other Lynnderella combos I have worn. I usually have a hard time trying explain to someone what I am wearing because most people have not heard of some the brands that the nail obsessed deal in. I have written down Lynnderella's blog site down for a few people and warned them that they have to monitor her site regularly if they want to own some of her amazing creations! But isn't it worth it?

Hope you all had safe New Year's Eve celebrations and are starting your year off right!

Merry (sparkly) Christmas!

2011-12-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas Holiday!! I know I did! Sadly, I have to return to work tomorrow =/

Here are some quick shots of my Christmas mani...

2 coats of China Glaze Poinsettia topped with 2 coats of Lynnderella Happy HoloDaze!

I also added 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of SH Insta-Dri (the clear bottle, not the red one) and the glitter is completely smooth!!

Again, Merry Christmas!!

MAC Illegal Purple

2011-12-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

2 coats, no top coat. This was the base for another color which is why there is no top coat. I was not incredibly impressed with the color. With a name like Illegal Purple you would think it would be super hot...instead, it's only lukewarm.

Blackened purple/plum that leans brownish red. Nothing new or extraordinary. There are so many more vampy colors out there that I could have saved my $12 on!!

Yeah, Illegal Purple...'cause I got robbed.

Naked

2011-12-11T14:06:00.000-08:00

This is me now...

I need some inspiration...or motvation. I'd much rather snuggle into bed and channel surf :)

Sunday Funday!!

Cha-ching!

2011-11-29T17:23:00.000-08:00

Whoa! It's been 14 days since my last post...errr, sorry? I'll have to admit, it is a bit from laziness and also from lack of time these days. I'm working 12 hour shifts now too so that surely doesn't help. Enough of my whining...on to the polish!

2 coats of Color Club Santa's Cinnamon topped with 2 coats of Lynnderella's Change.

Now, Santa's Cinnamon was a no brainer. Gorgeous, sparkly, micro glitter which was opaque in 2 coats. The kicker to this one...it smells like Red Hots or Hot Tamales!! It had that lit from within type of glow to it as well. Well done, Color Club!
Then we have Change. I was honestly going to pass on this one because I thought...what could be so unique about metallic glitters in a shimmery gold base? I should have known better and glad I didn't pass on this gem. So many different shapes, sizes and colors in a very shimmery yet sheer gold base. I loved the randomness of the occassional large, square glitter or the deep bronze glitters. This is also 2 coats...but not the typical 2 coats. To get these glitters to lay right you have to kind of dab them on and manipulate them into place. It takes a little more effort but it is well worth it.
Also, please excuse the weird clean up on my middle finger. I had a rogue hair on my clean up brush that took off a little too much =/

Tuesday...the gateway to Wednesday and the middle of the week! Enjoy!

Ozotic 531

2011-11-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

Recently I ordered a few Ozotic polishes online from Picture Polish. They had amazingly fast turn around time. I think I had my polish on my doorstep in a little less than 7 days...which is saying a lot because they came from Australia!
This is one of 4 Ozotic's that I got...531!

I am now officially calling this polish "Don't Lock Your Keys In Your Car"! That is exactly what I did when I was wearing this one =/

The good thing was I was in a Target parking lot connected to a mall so, if I had to use the bathroom or got hungry, cold, bored I could go inside while I waited for help to arrive.

The bad thing...my ex had the only spare key! Well, I DO have a spare but it was locked in the car in the glove box...where it belongs-right? Good thing I am on good terms with the ex because he and his girlfriend came to my rescue and brought me the spare...2 1/2 hours later.

This is 1 coat of 531 over 1 coat of Illamasqua Boosh. The wear from this combo was excellent! I wore it for 4 days with no chipping and very minor tipwear. The color is very pretty and I like it a lot but...not as much as the other Ozotic Mish Mash polish I got! The color shift in this is amazing! The predominant color I see is a rusty/brownish/maroon but at different angles you see deep purple, gold and a bit of olive if you squint real hard! In one of the pictures you can see the color range in the bottle. Oh, and did I forget to mention that this has a nice sprinkle of holo particles in it too?! It's scattered but still the linear type of holo...if that makes sense.

So, what else could you ask for...multichrome and holo rolled into one! I say it's a win-win all around!

Have a great Tuesday!

Re-do!!

2011-11-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

FYI...I edited this as I realized I used the wrong link code for the picture! So sorry!!

Happy Saturday!!

Today I am wearing a combo for a special reason! Today is game day!! Today is our last away game of the 2011 season for roller derby. Our team colors are hot pink and black & white. I recently got NARS Schiap on a whim as I am not a big "pink" gal. Am I sure glad I decided to bet it because it is pure love!!

This is 2 coats of Schiap with 2 coats of Connect the Dots. Schiap applied amazing!! Smooth, even coats that felt like they were applying themselves. Connect the Dots applied like a standars glitter...needed to be dabbed on in some areas and the glitters needed to be pushed around a little but, the extra work was so worth it! I never realized the CtD had that amazing micro shimmer! It looks to be holographic or irridescent in some lights too...amazing!!

Now I'm off for a long drive down to San Diego for some derby!! Wish us luck!

Nicole for OPI Follow Me On Glitter

2011-11-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Lately I have not been able to decide if I want to wear glitter or cremes. It seems like the glitters always win!!

This is 2 coats of one of the new Kardashian Kollection NOPI's. Follow Me On Glitter. I didn't get the name at first...duh!

This is a very pretty gunmetal and silver tiny glitter base with different colors of slightly larger glitters mixed in. So far I have seen dark pink, light blue, green, orange and gold. I SWEAR I've also seen a random red and silver glitter in there too!! I really could not tell if the base is tinted or colored because the glitter in this is so dense!! I think it has a dark grey tint to it though. The formula on this was easy to use but tended to clump up a bit by the time I started the 2nd coat. I think this may have been because the formula dried so fast. I used 1 coat of NYC Grand Central Station to top it off but it could have used another coat.

Here is what I added to it the next day:

A single coat of Spectraflair topcoat! It is very subtle but it looked amazing in the sun! My camera went a little crazy hence the blur.

My Spectraflair is mixed into a bottle of NYC Grand Central Station...cheap but dries fast and is nice and shiny!

Hope you all have a great Sunday and those of you who get to enjoy DST...enjoyed your extra hour of sleep!!

Mail Call...and over-haulin'!

2011-11-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Soooooo...I bought a few things. Ok, that might be a bit of an understatement. I couldn't resist the Sephora Friends & Family though! That is one of the only times of the year I shop at Sephora so I don't feel too bad about that. I also found the LE WnW palettes at my Walgreen's so I couldn't pass those up--right?
Here's a photo of the madness...

There are also some goodies in there from Sally, Ulta and a Lynnderella order.

Now, what to try out first?!?!

If you'd like to see more posts on mail or hauls, let me know...I'd be glad to post! :)

Also...please excuse the picture quality. I am STILL trying to figure out my new camera!! I have a Fuji Finepix S4000...if anyone has any pointers or experience with this camera model, I am all ears!

Mattified Fall Mani

2011-11-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Quick and easy way to extend a mani...or if you're too lazy to remove your mani like I was!

What have you mattified?

:o)

A little layering for fall

2011-10-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday night to everyone! Since I couldn't get any Halloween mani's done, I figured I'd at least do a mani that felt very Fall.

1 coat of Illamasqua Fabricate. I've had this sitting in my untried for about a year or maybe even longer. A wonderful international friend sent this to me as a kind of joke because I said I liked wearing "ugly" colors sometimes. I bet she didn't think I'd ever wear it! It's actually a very warm, chocolate cream with a tiny touch of red to it. Pretty and warm...just perfect for fall.

Next, I added 1 coat of KleanColor Chunky Holo Poppy. I wish I would have taken a shot of this outside to show a better representation of the color shift. It goes from red to orange to yellow/gold to green. Beautiful!! This was taken under a small OTT light.

Finally, I added 1 coat of KleanColor Chunky Black Holo. I love that this gives the same red thru green color shift but the glitter size is bigger.

This mani really makes me feel like I'm in fall with all the warm colors. I think my favorite part of it is the bright, almost neon lime green color it has under certain light conditions.

As for application, the Illamasqua applied like a dream! Full coverage with a single coat and super glossy without a top coat. The KleanColors were a bit thick but still easy to use. They also had that "unique" KC smell to them...very strong and chemical-y.

I'd also like to take a minute to ask for a pardon on my not so crisp pictures. I am using a new camera and still trying to get used to the settings.

Have a great night and hope you have a fun and safe Halloween tomorrow! Are you dressing up? If so, as what? And what will your mani be?
:o)

KleanColor: Holo Orange + Halloween decals

2011-10-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! My nails and cuticles are finally back in nice enough shape to start taking photos...YAY! Not to mention I finally have a little time to shoot and edit shots, I think (HOPE) I am back on the road to blogging again!

KleanColor Holo Orange. This is 3 thin coats with my regular base and top coats. This polish was a bit thick but relatively easy to work with. These KC holos are actually pretty nice! Packed with tiny holographic glitters that are smooth and offer a very pretty scattered, yet dense holo effect. As you can see, I still have a little VNL so if that bothers you...use an undercoat.

Here is Holo Orange a few days later with some Kiss Halloween decals. I know, not very original or artistic but I love the simplicity of decals and the skulls are so freakin' cute!!

Have a spooky but safe Halloween weekend!

OPI Dating A Royal

2011-09-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

Lets start off with the polish! 3 coats of Dating a Royal. I don't know why I waited so long to wear this one because it's such a pretty shade of purple...blue...blurple? Don't know quite where this fits in to that equation.

I've been gone for many, many months. Those of you who still have me in your blog readers...THANK YOU!! I've had so many changes in my life over the past 6 months and it was very hard to balance all my "fun" activities with my everyday life. I think I have found a decent balance for now and am hoping to get back to nurturing my blog on a regular basis.

Over the next few days I will likely post a few press releases on upcoming collections. Most of which I am sure you have seen but, I'd like to give my opinions on what I like or don't like about them as well as what I am looking forward to from them. I get press release info from a few popular brands but have not been active on my blog to report them. This is something I'd like to keep on top of as I get them.

I've got TONS of new polish to show you all too...I just need to start painting and taking photos more regularly. Over the next few weeks I will be showing A LOT of Halloween polishes and fall shades. I know Halloween is still over a month away but I can't resist the fun polishes that come with the holiday! Skulls, blood and black polish? Yes, please!!

For those of you on MUA...I have been absent from there as well. I have been reading a lot of the posts there and look at all the nice NOTD's and great hauls but, haven't felt like I have anything to contribute. I'm hoping to change that too. Without MUA's NB, I would not be the polish collector that I am today. I haven't been swapping at all lately but hope to get back to that soon as well. I've moved so my swap stash is a mess...once I get that under control I'll be back in action!

Have a great Friday everyone!!

Jordana Purple Rain

2011-05-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

Happy, happy Sunday! The weather is beautiful here today and I am looking forward to putting on my roller skates and new wheels tonight!!

Today I have my mani from Friday night for you. I had such a great night on Friday! We went to see Prince in concert and I am still singing and dancing around! He is doing a 21 show tour in Los Angeles right now and we saw show #6 of 21. Anyone in the Los Angeles area...if you want to see a GREAT concert, this is a must see! Tickets are super reasonable. We paid $25 and were not in the upper level...we got middle level seats which were at the front area of the stage. He also has a rotating opening act so you never know who you will get. Couple that with surprise guests most nights...AWESOME! We didn't get a surprise guest but we did get Sheila E!! She was awesome and can still rock her timbales!! Last night's special guests were Gwen Stefani and No Doubt...OMFG!!! I can't believe I missed that one. I will definitely be going again!

Back to my mani for the concert...I HAD to use one of my Purple Rain polishes for sure! That was a no brainer.

Beautiful deep purple shimmer with just a faint touch of red sparkles if you look real close! This is 3 coats with my regular base and top combo.

I am definitely planning on going to see Prince at least 1 more time before he is gone. And, I will definitely be wearing another Purple Rain polish to show my love for both Prince and for nail polish!!!

Have a great week all!

3 step matte glitter mani.

2011-04-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday or Happy Easter. Whichever salutation you are using today, I hope you are having a fab day!!

Here is my Easter day mani...kind of. I had planned on wearing this today but took it off last night because I wanted something else!

I started with a base of 2 coats of Quirius Lucy Diamond. This is a gorgeous sky blue with just a very light touch of fine shimmer. This is without a top coat.

Next, I added some glitter...

2 coats of Ulta Pinata Yada-Yada. I am assuming this is meant to be a Happy Birthday knockoff. I don't have HB to compare it to but I do like the look of this colorful, multi-sized glitter.

And the finishing touch...

1 coat of Essie Matte About You.

I saw a similar mani on MUA a few weeks ago and decided I had to duplicate it! Icannot for the life of me find it again though to make reference to.

Have a great upcoming week and I hope to have a few more new posts up this week!

Striped tape mani!

2011-04-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Howdy do!! Saturday night and I'm sitting in front of the compute AND watching a movie (The Other Guys...so far, so good!)

Today I have my 1 st attempt at a tape mani. I decided to do a 3 color, diagonal stripe because 2 didn't seem like enough and 4 just felt like too many...or at least that's what I keep telling myself!

Base color is Ulta Smoke Screen
Middle color is OPI La Pazatively Hot Matte
Tip color is China Glaze Sexagon

Tape mani's are a huge contradiction to me...they are so simple yet very hard. First off, this does not work with a matte finish tape. Use the shiny tape!!! Polish ate through the matte finish tape and my middle, index and pinky fingers paid the price for that mistake! Other than that, it just takes time and patience to get a fun tape mani!

Hope you all have a great Easter if you celebrate it, otherwise have a great Sunday!

Yes Love 402

2011-04-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Aaahhhhhh...a nice relaxing Sunday! The weather was beautiful, I got to go for a short skate outside by the ocean channels and took a little nap. How was your Sunday?

Today I have a gorgeous green for you! I was very fortunate to get this, along with a couple of other beauties, in a swap on MUA with a member from Spain.

This is Yes Love #402. Yes, that's the name of the polish! The brand is Yes Love and the color # is 402. Gorgeous mix of olive and forest green with tiny emerald green shimmers. I also got a few other colors from this line which I hope to wear soon! And how cute is the bottle!!!

If you have access to this brand, do your self a favor a get a few! The application was nice. The polish was rather thin and required 3 coats to be opaque but it built up nicely.

Hope you have a great week ahead!!