TIOT: Sinful Colors Get It on

Hey Y'all!!  It's Try It On Tuesday!!  And I have a fun one today, Sinful Colors Get It On:

I've had this one so long, I don't even remember when I got it. 

Get It On is a gorgeous fuchsia matte polish.  It is highly pigmented, bold formula that worked wonderfully.  Photos show two coats without top coat.  There was no streaking or balding.

And believe it or not (believe it!), no staining!  The formula worked wonderfully and wore really well!

I just love this color!!  And for $1.99, it's a steal! 

Have a fabulous Tuesday!  Happy Polishing!!

Fuchsia Plastic Wrap

Hey Y'all!!  Happy Monday!  And yes, I've decided it's going to be a happy Monday.  After last week, ugh, this week started off much better.  We went to my cousins' house for Easter and had great food and great company!  What did y'all do this weekend

Today's mani is a fun, different finishes, plastic wrap manicure (I know, I'm a little plastic wrap happy lately): a Fuchsia Plastic Wrap:

I Used:
Sinful Colors- Get It On (dark fuchsia matte)
Cover Girl- Bombshell (fuchsia with silver shimmer)
China Glaze- Travel In Color (pale white with purple shimmer)
Plastic Wrap

To start there is not a top coat.  I wanted a variety of finishes, so even though it doesn't show well in photos, there is matte and shimmers.  I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Get It On, a fuchsia matte polish.

Next I balled up some plastic wrap and dipped into Cover Girl Bombshell, a fuchsia polish with a silver shimmer, and dabbed it on my nails.  Be sure to turn the plastic so you get a varied look on your nails.

Next, using a new ball of plastic, I did the same thing with the China Glaze Travel In Color, a pale white with a purple shimmer.  And again, no topcoat.  I'm so sad I couldn't get the different finishes to show better in the photos.  It looked amazing in real life!

Have a fabulous day and Happy Polishing!!

Ulta FX Top Coats Review & Swatches

Hi y'all!!  How are you on this Tuesday?  Since I'm reviewing FOUR top coats for you today, I'm going to get right to it (it's kind of long,  but so worth it!).  When the May Ulta sales flyer came out, I saw they had a 4 piece special effects top coat and I knew I HAD to have it!  It took me a while to get there, but I made it:

They are, from left to right, as described by Ulta:
Color Enhancing Top Coat- "Brightens and intensifies any nail enamel.  Pops in direct sunlight and glows under black light."
Matte Top Coat- "Create a matte effect when applied over any shade."
Holographic Top Coat- "Futuristic rainbow holographic effect when used alone.  Silvery holographic frost when used over any colored nail enamel."
Smokey Top Coat- Gives any shade of nail polish a dark smokey effect.  Extends wear and increase shine."

And the nail polishes I used were:
Piggy Polish- Pink-ing of You (a super shimmery pink)
Nina Ultra Pro- Lilacing Discipline (lilac crème)

Are you dying to see the results??  All Pictures show two coats of the base color with ONE coat of the top coat.  Ok, first up is Piggy Polish Pink-ing of You (in direct sun):

Thumb: my normal top coat (Pro-FX High Gloss Quick Dry Top Coat)
Index:  Color Enhancing Top Coat
Middle Finger:  Matte Top Coat
Ring Finger:  Holographic Top Coat
Pinky:  Smokey Top Coat

And the crème, Nina Ultra Pro Lilacing Disipline (in direct sun):

Thumb:  Normal top coat (Pro-FX High Gloss Quick Dry Top Coat)
Index:  Smokey Top Coat
Middle Finger:  Holographic Top Coat
Ring Finger: Matte Top Coat
Pinky: Color Enhancing Top Coat

Ok, so let's take them one at a time.  First up, Color Enhancing Top Coat.  To be honest, I can't tell any difference between it and my regular top coat.  They looked identical to me.  It was a nice, glossy top coat and since I can't find my regular one anymore, I'm glad to have it.  I don't have any pictures of it under black light, because I don't have a black light, but I'm sure it glows.  If I come across a light, I'll give it a try.

Next is the Matte Top Coat.  This worked just like any matte top coat.  Although I so like the matte on the Piggy Polish more than the crème.  But that's just my preference.  The Matte Top Coat worked perfectly on both types of polish.

Next we have the Holographic Top Coat.  Oh my goodness!!  Who doesn't love holo???  And this worked perfectly.  And although for some reason it looks sedated in the pictures, it was a gorgeous, bright linear holo in person.  I do think this one looked better on the crème, but again, that is just my opinion.  It worked fabulously.  You could use two coats and just wear it alone.  It would be fabulous!

Last is the Smokey Top Coat.  This was the one I was probably most excited about, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.  On the super shimmery Piggy Polish, it was fabulous!  It went on smoothly and evenly.  And it did give the pink polish a dark, smokey look and I loved it!  But then came the crème.  Ugh.  Big difference.  One coat looked streaky and for some reason on the lilac, it shrunk from the edges.  Weird. 

My bottom line?  I'm happy that I bought them.  The only one I'm not sure about is the Smokey Top Coat, but I will give it another try soon.   These are available through Ulta and are $14.99.  What do y'all think of them?  Let me know in the comments!  Until later, Happy Polishing!!

Black & Silver French Tips

Happy Monday Everyone!!  How is your day going?  I'm actually happy it's Monday! The now-a-teenager and I have the day off after a very long seven days.  The ballet was wonderful and if I say so myself, she was the best raccoon ever!  But now I'm absolutely exhausted!  And I guess she is too since she didn't wake up until 11:45!!  So today's post is be kind of short because as soon as she woke up, it was nap time for me!

These are the nails I wore to the actual ballet.  I had bought a gorgeous black and white chevron dress to wear, but the weather didn't cooperate (it was 59 and constantly raining), so these were designed to match that dress:

I Used:
Sinful Colors- Black on Black (black crème)
Milani- HD (silver scatter holographic)
NYC- Matte Me Crazy (matte top coat)

I thought these were fun and they were easy to do.  I started with two coats of black polish (Sinful Colors Black on Black) and topped it with NYC Matte Me Crazy.  I love that top coat.  Instead of having to buy a bunch of matte polishes, this makes any polish matte.  Then just using the brush that came with the polish I painted Milani HD on the corners of my nails.  But you can use scotch tape to do this too.  In fact, I ended up having to do my nails in an extremely short amount of time, so when I do this again I will probably use the tape.

Here is a picture from in the theater.  It's really dark, I know, but it shows the holo:

I hope y'all enjoyed this!  I'm off to drag the kid out of bed so I can go back to sleep, ha ha.  Happy Polishing!!

ABC Challenge: M is for Matte

Hello my Darlings!!!  I'm so happy for this challenge.  Mainly because I finally feel like myself again.  I just need to build my stamina back up.  So does the little one, although there is definitely an advantage to being 13.  And thank you so much to everyone for all the well wishes.  We are back at about 95% now and feel SO much better.

Now on to today's challenge.  It's the letter M.  So I've gone with a matte look over Nina Ultra Pro in Lilacing Discipline and China Glaze Razzle Me Dazzle Me...both untried!!  And then I used NYC Matte Me Crazy top coat:

I love this shade of purple!!  It's just a perfect Spring lilac.  The formula was perfect, as most Nina polishes tend to be.  I've always loved Nina Ultra Pro, I have some bottles going back 15 years from them...I'm just not sure what I think of their new "Professional double brush".  It's as wide as most of my nails...and wider than my pinkie finger.  I haven't decided if I like it or not. 

Then the pictures show one coat of China Glaze Razzle Me, Dazzle Me.  This polish has matte bar, large hex and micro round black glitter with small hex and micro light pink glitter.  I like this polish, don't love it, but like it.  It has nothing to do with the formula, or even that it's China Glaze, for some reason, it's just not my favorite.  And that is a rare thing for me to say about glitter!  The last picture shows it before the matte is added.  (I don't know why the index finger is a different color...shooting purples and blues is hard)

The top coat is NYC Matte Me Crazy.  Pictures show one coat, and I have no complaints.  The formula was fabulous.  And since matte isn't my favorite thing (hence the name of my blog), I like having a matte top coat so I can make anything matte.

I hope you enjoy my very rare matte design.  Be sure to check out what all the other fabulous ladies came up with for M.  Happy Polishing!!!

 

Without Matte

Review: OPI Stay the Night Liquid Sand

Hi y'all!!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day and weekend.  Because of my little tests, we spent a quiet weekend at home, which was fabulous!!  Well, except for a dance rehearsal we were at home.  We rented some movies, (Brave, good movie; Hotel Transylvannia, which is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen...we were all dying laughing, and Ted, funny) and pigged out on junk food.  Just spending some down time together was wonderful.

But now, back to nail polish, lol.  Today I have a review of Stay the Night, one of the liquid sand polishes from the OPI Mariah Carey collection:

So I'm going to start with what I think is the biggest question about this polish...Are y'all like me and liked the look but was unsure about a "textured" finish?  I loved how it looked on the display, but wasn't sure if I could wear a textured finish.  I mean, I will put two or even three coats of top coat on my nails to get a smooth finish (don't worry, I always tell you when I need more than one).  I know this may sound weird but I love the feel of smooth nails.  But I bought this anyway....and loved it!!  It does have a different feel than other polishes, but it wasn't rough or uncomfortable.  It felt like the smoothest grit sand paper, or nail file.  I was actually shocked at how comfortable it was. 

Now for the polish/color itself:

It's gorgeous!!!   Sorry for the slightly blurred pictures, but the glitter wrecked havoc on my camera.  Stay the Night is a gorgeous textured polish in black matte with bright red glitter throughout it.  The glitter in this polish is phenomenal!  I don't know if it's because of the black textured finish, or because the black is matte, but the red seems to sparkle more than most polishes.  I know it doesn't seem it in the pictures, but the glitter is a show stopper!  Pictures show two coats without a top coat.

I only have one complaint, it doesn't wear well.  Here is a picture of the polish after about 30 hours of wear:

It may be hard to see here, but the red glitters started turning silver, and it started wearing away at the edges of my nails.  Although to be fair, that was after 3 loads of dishes without a dishwasher, four loads of laundry and two showers.  I didn't mind the wearing away, but hated the glitter turning silver.  Despite that, I love this polish!!  And I went back to buy more of the OPI's liquid sand!!  (review to come)  I would highly recommend trying this polish!!  It's very unique and gets a lot of attention!

Polish was bought and paid for by me.  All opinions are my own.

Red French Tip

Hi again!  As promised, here's my second post of the day.  If you are looking for a more classic look, or something more elegant, I may have what you are looking for:

This is a matte/glossy French tip.  And I promise the hardest thing about this design was figuring out what to call it!

I Used:
Orly- Smolder (dark red shimmer)
NYC- Matte Me Crazy (matte top coat)
Pro FX- Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat
Crystal Rhinestones

I started with two coats of Orly Smolder .  After that had dried completely, I taped off the ends of my nails (see my tips for creating the perfect French tips here) and then painted the nail beds with the NYC matte top coat.  Then I painted the tips with the Pro-FX high gloss top coat free hand.  You do need to paint the tips to give your nails a smooth finish and feel.

One special thing I did was use real crystal rhinestones as opposed to the acrylic ones sold in beauty supply stores.  You can find them at your local hobby/craft store.  I found mine at Michael's for under $5.00.  I do have two different sizes on too.  Start by placing a dot of the matte top coat in the middle of your nail.  Then place the largest rhinestone.  Then repeat, placing the smaller rhinestones around the larger one.'

I hope y'all enjoy it!  Have a fabulous New Year's Eve!! And be sure to post pictures of your nails and outfits on my facebook page.  Happy Polishing!!

Sparkle and Matte

As you may have gathered, I LOVE GLITTER!! Matte is not my favorite finish, but I've found I do like the effect, especially if I can combine it with sparkle!  I've fallen in love with this manicure.  It's so simple and elegant.

I used:

China Glaze- Liquid Leather

NYC- Matte Me Crazy

Rhinestones- Crystazzi - SS6

Start with two coats of the China Glaze Liquid Leather.  Once dry, paint one coat of the NYC Matte Me Crazy.  The matte finish will show almost immediately.  When the matte is almost dry, just tacky, it's time to add the rhinestones.  Using the matte top coat, put a dot of polish, about the same size as the stone, where you want it.  In this manicure, I put them along the french tip line.  Then place the rhinestone on the drop and gently press down.  Continue for each finger.  Usually you would put a top coat over the rhinestones when done, but in this case it would ruin the effect.  By setting them down in the dot of polish, that will hold them just as well. (The pictures were taken 24 hours after I did the manicure and it still looks great.)  When you're done, if you see the matte polish leaking out, just apply another coat of the matte top coat to that half of the nail and it will disappear.

I absolutely LOVE how this manicure turned out.  As I'm typing this my fingers are glittering like crazy!  The only sad thing is that it was really hard to get a good photograph.  I promise this manicure is a show stopper!  And as always, if you have any questions, leave a comment or send me an email (glitteryfingers@gmail.com) I love this mani and I hope you do too!  Happy Polishing!!

Update:  It's day3 and I still have my rhinestones!

 

Outside:

Matte Finish

Ok, I realize you may not know me that well yet, but if nothing else, the name of my blog should tell you that I LOVE GLITTER!!! Out of my 209'ish bottles of polish, a good 50 of them are glitter.  And that doesn't even count the shimmers, frosts, duochromes, well you get the picture. So for me personally a matte finish seems to go against everything I love. But since it is so popular now, and I want to be a good little blogger, I bought NYC Matte top coat. And I don't hate it! In fact, I kind of like it.

I borrowed this peachy orange from a friend (so sorry, can't remember the name...it was Finger Paints though).  The polish is a really pretty light orange with a slight gold shimmer to it.  I put the NYC Matte over it and it gave the polish a pretty satin-like finish.

Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and added a glossy french tip of Orly's Royal Navy.  I love the effect, but the color combination, not so much.  I thought they would work well together, but for me personally, I just didn't care for it.  I can't wait to try this again with a different color combination. 

Happy Polishing!