4th of July Skittles

I couldn't decide what to do for a 4th of July mani, so I kinda just did a little of everything. I used more polishes then I thought I would lol.

These are all the polishes I used: Finger Paints "Santa's Magic" Hard Candy "Fireworks" Fing'rs Heart 2 Art "Star Crossed Lovers" Wet N' Wild Fergie "Hollywood Walk Of Fame" Essie "Blanc" China Glaze "Splish Splash" and Zoya "Sarah"

I started out with a base coat of Essie "blanc" it's been my go to white polish. It applies well, but it needed 3 coats to be fully opaque. I used 3 coats for a good starting point. I then started painting... This is what I ended up with:

 Here is the break down of each nail. All are over 3 coats of white.

 On my thumbs I used 2 coats of Zoya "Sarah" and using a striping brush I used Essie "blanc" again. This is suppose to be like the stripes on the flag.

 Next on the pointer finger I had to have the blue with stars, so I did 2 coats of China Glaze "Splish Splash" This polish is from last years summer neon collection (which is still one of my favorite collections) Application was smooth and opaque.

 I then used Fing'rs Heart 2 Art "Star Crossed Lovers" for the stars. They were being a pain so I used a dotting tool to place the stars in random places.

 On my middle fingers I applied Wet N' Wild Fergie "Hollywood Walk Of Fame" again I had to use a dotting tool to place the stars, and I didn't even realize I put them in a circle until I was editing the photos. It makes me think of fireworks :)

 The ring fingers are 2 coats of Hard Candy "Fireworks" the combo of red and blue made me think of the 4th so I though it was fitting. I wasn't crazy about this polish. It applies to messy for my likes. I think I might have liked it a little better if I had put it over a red base so that it looked more opaque.

 On my pinky nails I just applied 2 coats of Finger Paints "Santa's Magic" It applied nicely and I had no issues with it.

 After all of this was done I still felt like it needed something.

 Hmmmmm......

 AH HA!!! Just add a glitter top coat :) That always makes everything better! So that is just what I did.

 I guess it will do. I think if I would have thought about it more I think I could have come up with something better.

So what do you think? Does it make you think of 4th of July?

Thanks for reading and have a great holiday!!

Two Polish Comparisons

I haven't done one of these posts in awhile, so I thought it was time. Since this is a comparison post, the clean up isn't perfect. 

The first comparison is:

Ulta "Material Girl" vs Zoya "Blaze" 

 In the bottle they looked kinda similar, but on the nail.... Not even close lol. All nails are 2 coats.

"Material Girl" is more of a berry color where "Blaze" is on the reddish side. both have a scattered holo.

 I personally prefer "Blaze" I didn't really care for "Material Girl" once I saw it on the nail. "Blaze" is a bit more shiny too.

 Since I didn't really care for "Material Girl" I put it up on my blog sale, and it is already on it's way to a new home :) 

The next comparison is"

China Glaze "Glistening Snow" vs. FingerPaints "Sparkle and Snowflake"

First I just want to note that while taking pictures I somehow scrapped my nail on my ring finger. I didn't realize this until after I took my pictures and was removing my polish... sorry :(

 I love "Glistening Snow" and I've already bought a back up bottle. In the bottles these polishes look a lot alike. On the nail they are very similar, but they have a few slight differences.

 The first nails are 1 coat over black. The next two nails are 2 coats on the bare nail. "Glistening Snow" is a more dense and opaque polish and can be worn alone, I've done it. "Sparkle and Snowflake" is more of a topper and less dense. Not a stand alone polish.

 I love both of these polishes and they have a loving home. I think they are both great and the formulas are smooth. If I had to choose just one, it would be "Glistening Snow" but i don't have to choose so I'm keeping them both lol.

Well I hope this post was helpful. If you'd like to see more comparison posts please let me know. If no one really wants to see them then I guess there is no point in posting them.

Thanks for reading, and if you haven't done so already please enter my giveaway.

Santa And His Elves Are A Little Late...

So I'm a little late with this post, I'm sorry :( Please forgive me. I hope every one had a great X-mas (or other holiday as it applies to you) I didn't really celebrate it this year. Things have changed a lot since I was a kid. The holidays just aren't the same. But anyways, the theme for today's post, which was meant for the 24th, is Santa and Elves.

I had an idea in my head and it turned out like I planned. I like it, what do you think?

 I started out with 2 coats of China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" on my ring finger and thumb.

 And 2 coats of Zoya "Logan" from this years Ornate Collection. I love both of these colors and I think they are very "christmasy" (I don't think that's a word, but I'm making it a word) but also nice for an every day color.

 I think this is the first time I've used "Ruby Pumps" and now I know why everyone is always talking about it and always trying to find it. I know that it is apart of the main collection but it's almost always out of stock. This is a must have polish for everyone!

 I forgot to take a picture of the white before adding the glitter, but I used a dotting tool and China Glaze "White On White" to make the fluffy part of the hats on the tips of my nails and the fluff for Santa's jacket on my thumbs. I figured adding white would make the glitter stand out more.

 For the Santa nails I also used my dotting tool along with China Glaze "Glistening Snow" and applied it over the white.

 For the elves nails I used China Glaze "Angel Wings" along with the dotting tool over the white.

 I figured since there is only one Santa it made more sense to have several elves and one one Santa :) I think it turned out cute and people seemed to like them.

 I noticed that I missed a few spots during clean up, but oh well lol.

All of the polishes applied great. The China Glaze holo glitters applied like a dream and had great coverage. I can't wait to use these again. They are so sparkly and a distraction in the sun lol.

Well we only have 1 more mani left in this challenge. I don't think I've doing anything for New Year's, but I'm still going to put on some major sparkle and bling nails :) Can't wait to see what everyone else does :)

Thanks for reading. Either later tonight or tomorrow I will be posting pics of some recent packages and gifts I've gotten recently. So keep an eye out for that, and don't forget to check out the other ladies participating in this challenge.

Neons, Crackle, and Striping - Days 41, 42 & 43

Day 41 of the 90 Day Challenge

I did this mani before I realized that the popular trend right now is gradient manis. I wanted to do something bright, but I didn't want just one color. I decided to try doing a gradient. I haven't done many, maybe 1 or 2 in the past. I love how it came out :)

For this mani I did a base coat of China Glaze - "Oxygen" and then using a makeup sponge I sponged using:

China Glaze - "In The Lime Light"

Sinful Colors - "Neon Melon"

Sinful Colors - "Summer Peach"

 China Glaze - "In The Lime Light"

Sinful Colors - "Neon Melon"

Sinful Colors - "Summer Peach"

 

 Most of the nails turned out great. I had a few where the orange wanted to over take the yellow, but all and all it turned out awesome. I loved it and I can see me doing this one again. I plan on trying other neon colors. The sad thing though is while I had this mani I ended up breaking about 3 nails :( But on the upside they are all about the same length now!!

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Day 42 of the 90 Day Challenge

My SO wanted me to paint my nails using green and gray. I decided to paint them green ad use gray crackle on top. The problem came when I couldn't decide which green to use.... so I choose 5 greens :)

 L to R: China Glaze "Tree Hugger", "Four Leaf Clover", "Paper Chasing", Zoya "Ivanka", and Revlon "Rain Forest"

 Thumb = "Rain Forest", Pointer = "Ivanka", Middle = "Paper Chasing", Ring = "Four Leaf Clover", Pinky = "Tree Hugger"

After I applied 2 coats of each polish to each nail I saw that 2 had a shimmer but the other 3 didn't so I added a coat of Icing "Call Me Glitzy" over the last 3. This way they all looked to have a similar finish.

 I then added a coat of 2012 by Cherimoya "DNA" crackle polish.

Final Results:

All of the polishes went on great. The crackle was a bit thick and goopy, but it turned out so that's what matters :) I have a bunch of the 2012 crackles and I should use them more. I wonder if you can add thinner to crackle or if that would ruin it... Will have to do some research :)
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Day 43 of the 90 Day Challenge

The last thing for today is a mani that I am currently wearing while typing up this post. I used the gradient method again but I also used some striping tape :)

I used 2 coats of Nicole by O.P.I. "Kim-Pletely In Love" but I forgot to take a picture :/ sorry

I then sponged over that using Sinful Colors "Dream On" and "Bikini"

 Sinful Colors "Dream On"

 Sinful Colors "Bikini"

I added a coat of SV Quick Dry and then applied striping tape to each nail. I used the same designs on my other hand too. I then applied 1 coat of China Glaze "Smoke and Ashes"

I need to work on getting my tape straight but other then that I really like the results :)

Well that's it for today. I'm trying to catch up with the 90 challenge that's why I posted for 3 days in one post.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

Thank you for reading and remember to check out the other ladies participating in the 90 Day Challenge!!

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