Older Random Swatches!

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

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

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

Custom Franken Polish By Franken Femme!

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

Layla Ceramic Effect- CE 52

 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

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

Orly- Fowl Play

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!

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

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

BPoftheW: Zoya Adina

Sorry for getting this up so late. I've been super busy and tired. So really this should be Boyfriend's Pick of Last Week LOL! Don't worry, I'll make up for it this week. I'll have another post up soon.

Zoya Adina is a amazing violet with green duochrome/shimmer. It's described on the Zoya website as the following: "Adina can be best described as: Violet metallic multichrome. A frosty hint of green and magenta creates a unique "oil-slick" look." This is one of my favorite colors I own! My photos are not the greatest by any means. The green duochrome/shimmer is much stronger in person.

(In direct sunlight)

(Indirect sunlight)

You can purchase HERE. ALTHOUGH if you do not already have an account, you can click HERE (my Share The Love code) and you'll get a FREE bottle of nail polish (any color from Zoya). All you have to do is pay shipping.

~Emily

L'Oreal Bijou Crystals- B. Impulsive

I've had this polish for a year or so and I found it at a discount store. Since I found it at a discount store I'm guessing this is discontinued or it's just an older line.

I have an older post (probably one of my first ones) with another polish from this line. I really love the colors but the polish seems kind of thick and drags over my nails. I believe I have another polish in my collection from this line so I'll see if it is doing the same thing. It could be because the polish is older, but I have a few that are older than those polishes and doesn't have that problem.

Anyway, this is China Glaze base coat, 3 coats of B. Impulsive and Orly topcoat. It is a gorgeous medium purple that has a bit of metallic shimmer in it's base that is seen in bright lights. It's full of scattered rainbow glitter that just adds to the color.

Under florescent lighting

With flash

I love this color, just not a fan of the formula.

~Emily

Sinful Colors- Zeus

Hi Everyone!

I decided to make a quick post about Sinful Colors Zeus before I headed to bed. I'm having company over later today (Sunday) so I didn't know if I would have the time to post this so I just went ahead and decided to post it early. :)

Sinful Colors Zeus is a sort of dusty purple with a pink/purple shimmer. This was part of the Cast Away collection I believe. I love Sinful Colors. They are pretty cheap ($1.99 or even cheaper if you find them on sale) and they wear just as long, if not longer, than some of the big name brands. With this mani I used China Glaze base coat, 2 coats of Zeus and Orly topcoat.

 Indoors under fluorescent light.

With flash on.

You could possibly still find this color in stores along with their permanent and current collections.

Thanks for reading!

~Emily

Baddie but Goodie

So, I think I'm going to make a new trend on my blog called "Baddie but Goodie" (let me know if you've seen this on another blog by this name; I'll change it). It's bad photos of good nail polish. I get LOTS of those and I don't even realize it until I've scrubbed off the polish. Boo!

Colors are true to the bottle, I just take crappy photos sometimes.

Here we go!

This is 2 coats of China Glaze Full Spectrum. It's a silver/purple duochrome with loads of multi-colored glitter. I like the color, but it's a little too busy for me. (Ignore the gross finger)

China Glaze Strawberry Fields with Nubar 2010 on top. 2 coats of Strawberry Fields and one coat of Nubar 2010. Strawberry Fields is a medium pink with lots of gold shimmer. Nubar 2010 is a clear flake polish. I LOVE both these colors. 

4 coats of Sinful Colors Let Me Go. A purple/pink that flashes silver and light blue. I love the polish, but it's just so sheer!

2 coats of Spoiled (by Wet N' Wild) I'm So Jaded. Neon green with gold shimmer.

By the way, Spoiled polishes have a bit of a wide brush. While some people don't like the wide brush, I actually really like it. It takes less time to paint my nails and I don't have as much clean up to do afterwards.

Revlon- Not So Blueberry

So I picked up this polish along with the Mon Cherry scented one (I will swatch it soon!).

This color is a bit of a lavender with a silver shimmer.  I was going by scents when picking these out, but since I saw how pretty this color was, I just picked this one!  I applied two coats and I found that it took FOR-EV-ER to dry. As you can see in the pictures, I messed up my polish a little bit trying to get my camera out the bag even though I had been wearing it for about 10 minutes. It finally dried about 10 minutes later just by letting them "air dry".

I found that this smelled like a mixture of blueberry and grape.  It's a nice scent and isn't too overwhelming.  I didn't apply a top coat since I will probably be taking this off soon to try on the other!

You can find this in stores everywhere along with many more colors and scents!