Icing- Winning: Glitter Bomb

Morning Everyone!  So, after all the beautiful, yet subtle glitters, I decided it was time for a glitter bomb.  I wanted to wear something that would hurt your eyes if you looked at it in the sun.  And I found it at Claire's, Winning by Icing.

Winning is definitely a glitter bomb and it's fabulous!  Winning has a clear base with royal blue and holographic round glitter.  The pictures show two coats of Winning over two coats of Pure Ice Silver Mercedes (a silver metallic) and one coat of top coat.  Love, love, love it!  It glitters like mad even in low light.  In fact, it glitters so much that it was really hard to get pictures.

The formula was great, not too thick, not too thin.  There was no dragging and the glitter deposited very evenly on the nail.  I used two coats to get the look I was wanting.  One thick top coat gave me a smooth finish.  The only problem I had was that it is extremely hard to get off the skin.  I think this is going to take the foil method to remove it.

Winning is definitely a winning polish!!  (Lol, sorry.  I couldn't resist.) If you're looking for a polish that makes a statement, this is it.  I love it!  And I think I found my New Year's Eve polish.  What do y'all think? Happy Polishing!!

See?  Really hard to get off of skin.  Sorry.

Out of focus to show you what it really looks like in the sun.

Review: Color Club- Snow Flakes

Hi Everyone!!  First I want to remind everyone that this is for people with natural AND acrylic nails.  Check out my post For Everyone With Artificial Nails about changing your polish and To Acetone or Not To Acetone about what kind of polish remover to use whether you have natural or acrylic nails. 

Ok, now on to my post.  I was so excited when I walked into my local Sally's and saw Color Club polishes.  As I've told y'all, I live way, way out in the country and haven't been able to find Color Club anywhere.  My fingers are crossed that this isn't just a one time thing, and that they are going to start carrying it.  Anyway, you know I had to buy some.

(All pictures show two coats of Snow Flake over two coats of Orly Shockwave and one coat of top coat.)

This is Snow Flakes, a really surprising polish.  Because of that this is a picture heavy post.

In the bottle it looks like a duochrome flakie in a white base that shifts from orange to green.  But on the nail it is so much more.

On the nail Snow Flakes is incredible.  First, the flakies are in a clear base.  The polish is just so full of flakes it makes the base look white.  Next, the flakies have a linear shift from a copper/red, to orange, to yellow then to green.  Lastly, the flakes look metallic on the nail.  It looks like you're wearing foil instead of nail polish.

And if that wasn't enough to make you love Snow Flakes, the polish and the flakies settle to a smooth finish.
Yep, you read that right, no flakies sticking up.

I am blown away by this polish.  It was beautiful in the bottle, that's why I bought it.  But on the nail, it's magical.  This polish would make a great finish no matter what time of the year it is or what color you put it over.  What can I say y'all?  I'm in love!  Happy Polishing!!

Review: China Glaze- Angel Wings

I love this time of year!  Time spent with my family, football, boots and the holiday polish collections come out.  So when I was out this weekend I had to run by my beauty supply store to check them out.  And of course, I had to buy a few.  Just a few :(  The first one I'm reviewing is China Glaze's Angel Wings.

Angel Wing is an extremely dense glitter polish in a clear base with micro gold and holographic glitters.  Bur this polish is actually very subtle.  It isn't the glitter bomb you would think it would be.  The pictures show 1 1/2 coats (I'll explain) of Angel Wings over Orly's Smolder with two coats of top coat.

This is a very elegant polish.  It has a nice, true gold color, not the fake, brassy look a lot of gold glitter can have.  The holographic glitter is not linear, just subtle little flashes of green, orange, blue and red.

The formula was actually wonderful.  A lot of times, glitter polish can be very thick, but Angel Wings was perfect.  There were only a couple of issues with the formula.  Most glitter polishes tend to dry quickly, but this one dries really fast!  Almost as you're putting it on.  It also drags (hence the 1 1/2 coats mentioned above).  Make sure to let each coat dry completely before painting the next one.  If you want your base color to show through, I suggest one to 1 1/2 coats.  Otherwise, two coats would give you complete coverage.

Clean up was easy despite being a glitter.  I was able to remove it from my skin without leaving behind a ton of glitter.  Removal was surprisingly pretty easy too.  I didn't have to result to the foil method (under Tips) to remove it.  And I still have acrylic over my natural nails.

This polish is perfect for the Holiday season.  Worn alone, it would give you that little extra sparkle without blinding anyone (my hubby actually complained that I did that to him once).  If you wanted an even more subtle look, this would be gorgeous as a french nail tip over nude nails or nude polish.  Overall I love Angel Wings and think it's perfect for the Holidays, or any time you just need a little sparkle!  Happy Polishing!!

Out of focus to show you the holographic glitter

Sadly, there wasn't any sun, but it is a very pretty polish

Review: Orly- Smolder

Hi Everyone!!  As you may have read on my Giveaway page, I won the Orly "Dark Shadows" giveaway (and if you haven't entered, go to the Giveaway page now).  When they went to send the package, they were out of Buried Alive, which is my favorite color from that collection.  So instead, they sent Smolder from their Fired Up collection.  I was so happy.  I had been looking forward to this collection since the moment that I heard about it.  Sadly, my Sally's didn't get the collection and by the time I made the trek (yes, trek, 40 mile trek actually) to Ulta, they were sold out :( 

So I was very excited to at least get one of the polishes.  And I wasn't disappointed.  Smolder is gorgeous!!

It's a deep Burgundy with a lighter wine colored shimmer.  It is such a rich, deep color.  It looks beautiful in the shade,

but it comes alive in the sun.  I could (and did!) get lost just staring at it.

The formula was a bit thick, but nothing that a few drops of thinner couldn't fix.  It's such a deep color that you could get away with just one coat.  I used two coats just to make sure I had an even finish.  Smolder settled nice and smooth and without any brush strokes.

How much do I love this polish?  I wore just it, no glitter or nail art, for more than 24  hours.  And I just don't do that.  If you're looking for a gorgeous, rich color that is perfect for the holidays, Smolder is it!!  Happy Polishing!!

Giveaway Time!!

Hey Everyone!! So sorry I've been missing for the last few days.  My daughter is sick and has been nice enough to share it with her dad and me.  But I do have a couple of posts almost ready and will post them over the next couple of days.

But I did add a new page to my blog: Giveaways!!!

I'm holding my very first giveaway!!  Just click here or above to read all about it.  What's up for grabs?

This:

Going to one lucky (USA only) winner:
"Dark Shadows" on Blue-ray, DVD Combo pack
Orly- Decades of Dysfunction
Orly- Grave Mistake
Orly- Mysterious Curse

Head on over to see how to enter today!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (Halloween Design)

Happy Halloween Everybody!!  I hope you are having a spook-tacular day!  I wanted to get one last Halloween nail art design in before it's all over, I was just having a hard time deciding what to do.  Then my daughter wanted to watch a marathon of "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" movies.  She had never seen them before and since she loves horribly bad movies, and it is Halloween, I said ok.  Hence the idea for my newest design...Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!!!

I Used:
Wet-n-Wild Fantasy Makers- Nail in the Coffin (glittery black)
China Glaze- White on White
LA Colors- BCC 660 (dark red)
LA Colors- Palm Tree (green)
China Glaze- Liquid Leather (black)
2- smallest dotting tools (click here for tips on alternative dotting tools and brushes)
Liner Brush

So here is the finished design:

I love how they turned out.  And here's how I did it:

Start with two coats of Nail in the Coffin.  I did put a thin coat of top coat to give me a smooth surface to work on.  Even though the glitter is extremely subtle, it is there and made a bumpy work surface.

Then, so the color would show, I painted white tomato shapes.  I used a small brush to do this, but the brush that came with the polish would have worked much better and given a more even finish.  Remember, tomatoes are far from round, so don't worry about them having to be perfect.  In fact, they shouldn't be perfect.

Next, cover the white with red polish.  I had to use two coats to make the tomatoes look even since the white wasn't.  Using a dotting tool, make the eyes by placing the dot and moving it just slightly, like you're drawing a very short line.  Then using a smaller dotting tool, make the pupils.  I used a liner brush (just a very thin, long brush) to make the mouths.  I just drew a line.  Using the same brush make very short lines for the fangs.  For the stems, I put a couple of drops of the green polish and the white polish on my plate (or sheet of paper works perfectly too) and dipped my brush into both colors to paint the stems.  They didn't show up using just the green.  The last step was the top coat.

I hope y'all enjoy my spooky, killer design and I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!!  Happy Polishing!!

Pink & White Abstract

Hi Everybody!  Hope y'all had a fabulous weekend!  Mine was full of young teen girls and sleepovers.  Although my child pretty much went two days without actually sleeping. LOL. 

I wanted to post a new manicure for y'all today, but I love my Halloween water marble so much, I can't force myself to take it off yet.  So instead I have an older manicure for you and it works great for Breast Cancer Awareness.  I've been holding on to this one trying to find the wonderful blogger that first came up with this design.  When my computer crashed, I lost all of my web sites, sadly including this one.  So if any of y'all know who did this design, let me know in the comments so I can post a link to her site. I can't quite remember it, but I this is close to an exact copy.  I promise this is an easy manicure and it gets TONS of compliments!  I did use a nail art brush and dotting tools, but I have tips for easy alternatives, just click here.

I Used:
Orly- White Tops
Orly- Preamp
Zoya- Charisma
Orly- Basket Case
China Glaze- Purple Panic
Nail Art by Diamond Cosmetics- Black
Sinful Colors Nail Art- Bad Chick

Start with two coats of Orly White Tops or whatever white polish you have.  Once that has completely dried, choose your first color.  I started with Orly preamp.  Put only a small amount of polish on your brush (can be the brush that came with the polish), and starting at the right top corner of your nail, brush down toward your cuticle lifting the brush before you reach your cuticle.  You want to leave a jagged edge with some of the white showing.

Then repeat with the next three colors making each color a different length.  Once that has completely dried, paint a line with the black polish from the bottom left corner of your nail, diagonally towards the top of your nail lifting as you go.  Make sure to stop before reaching the tip of your nail.  Then draw a white line from the opposite side.

With a dotting tool (see link above for what to use as a dotter) make dotes along the lines with the matching color.

One of the great things about this design is that every nail should be different...you can't make a mistake!  I can think of a multiple of colors to do this in too.  I will be doing this one again!

And again, if y'all know who's design this is PLEASE let me know in the comments.  I want to give her all the credit!

And for everyone in the path of Sandy, my thoughts are with you.  Stay safe!