Fashion Friday #1

Hey everyone! I have some exciting news to share! I am teaming up with a friend & fellow Austinite to do a fashion/mani collaboration. Camille, my incredibly stylish pal, has a fashion blog where she puts together outfit posts and I thought it would be fun to do a mani inspired by the looks she creates. This is my first real shot at nail art and creative nail designs, so I hope you all like it! And be sure to check out Pretty and Punk, Camille's blog, so you can see the inspiration behind my creations!

 

Inspiration Look

 

Used:

Sephora by OPI, Betsey Johnson Mini set

- Too Too Turq (base color)

- Alley Cat (rose color)

- Son of a Gun (dot colot)

 

I started with a base coat of Too Too Turq, used Son of a Gun and a dotting tool to make some large dots on my thumb and ring finger nails, then used Alley Cat to make some irregular blobs on the rest of my nails, for the roses. I used a fine point black sharpie to add petal details and give the flowers better shape. This is my first actual "nail art" look and I love it! I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!

 

Inspiration Look

 

Used:

Urban Decay Naked Nail set

- Naked

- Sidecar

Hard Candy - Matte-ly in Love

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Black Out

Wing Tip nail stickers

Mini rhinestones

 

For this look, I layered Sidecar over Naked (I really need to swatch this set) and matted it. Once it was dry I used a wing tip nail sticker (similar to french tip stickers) and added a black tip. After that dried, I added a dot of Gelous to each point and added a mini rhinestone to each nail. Despite how much, I like this mani, I don't think I would ever wear it outside of the house. Seems too high-maintenance for me!

 

That's all for this week, but check back next Friday for another post! I am super excited to do more!

Nail of the Day: Show some PRIDE!

This weekend was Gay Pride in Austin. To show my support, I painted a Pride inspired mani!

 

The LGBT community holds a very special place in my heart. My mother-in-law is gay, and I have gone through my own struggles of gender identity and sexual experimentation. My first Pride celebration was an amazing experience, and something that I will never forget. I hope to take my daughter one day (when she is an adult!) to a pride with my husband and m.i.l. We want her to understand, above all, that everyone deserves to be loved, and we should all be able to love who we choose. Now enough of my soapbox, on to the mani! ; )

 

I decided to try some very basic nail art and free handed a rainbow striped accent nail, along with the "NO H8" logo on my middle finger. My stripes and lettering aren't the best, so be kind!

 

I used Spoiled by Wet n Wild Visibly Slimming black cream as a base and the following colors for the rainbow stripes:

 

Sephora by OPI/Betsey Johnson - Pushing Your Luck

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Sunkissed

Maybelline Color Show - Fierce N Tangy

Maybelline Color Show - Go Go Green

Nails Inc - Baker St.

Zoya - Dannii

 

For the "NO H8" lettering, I used:

 

Maybelline Color Show - Porcelin Party

Zoya - Dannii

 

 

For more info on Austin's Pride community, please check out Austin Pride.

 

 

Please remember to respect my opinions, if you leave a comment, and I will respect yours. Any offensive or derogatory comments will be removed and the author will be blocked. Thank you & have a nice day!

Nails Inc Neutrals Collection

This past weekend was very dreary and rainy and a bit chilly. I think the grey weather put me in the mood for some soft grey polishes. While virtually browsing Sephora, I ordered this cozy neutral toned collection of Nails Inc polishes.

 

Elizabeth St., Jermyn St., The Thames, Porchester Square

 

 

Elizabeth St.

 

Elizabeth St is a sheer warm pink jelly/cream hybrid. This is a great polish as a "palette cleanser." One coat is incredibly sheer and would be good to even out nail coloration when you want a clean look. It does have a tiny bit of streaking problems, but levels really well as it dries. 3 coats for full coverage. Good dry time.

 

Jermyn St.

Jermyn St is a dusty red/brown mauve cream. I didn't really like this one until I put it on. It is really flattering for my skin tone, and not out dated like I thought it would be. 2 coats, great coverage, nice flow and good dry time. My only issue was a few stray bristles on the brush, definitely a lack of quality control.

 

The Thames

The Thames is a dark grey cream with blue/green undertones. This one is my least favorite of the set & horrible for my skin tone. Hello lobster hands!!! Similar formula as Jermyn St & Porchester square. And the same brush issue as Jermyn St. Two polishes out of four with wonky brushes is pretty bad.

Porchester Square

 

Porchester Square is a light purple toned taupe cream. Nails Inc claims it is the original "Greige" color. It is actually a great color, soft and simple. Great for days when you want to have a nice clean look, instead of flashy, bright or glittery. Same formula as Jermyn St and The Thames, but thankfully no brush issues.

 

 

Overall, this is a really great set if you are in need of a good range of neutrals or work appropriate colors. It's a great deal as well, four full sized polishes for $25. Nails Inc continues to impress me with their formula, brush quality aside.

 

Nails Inc is available for US customers in stores and on line at Sephora

Nails Inc Special Effects: Sprinkles in Sweets Away

Nails Inc is quickly becoming a new obsession for me. I love their base line of colors, especially the phenomenal blue, Baker Street. I am currently coveting the Mirror Metallic collection and the Nail Jewelry collection as well. I recently snagged Sweets Way from the "Sprinkles" special effect line.

 

Nails Inc "Sprinkles" Special Effects - Sweets Way

 

Sweets Way is a sheer milky white base loaded with silver, pink and blue round glitter. The base isn't exactly jelly, more of a sheer cream and combined with the glitter, it is supposed to resemble icing with candy sprinkle.

 

 

One Coat

 

It builds nicely for such a sheer base, I had full coverage in 4 coats. The glitter also layers really well, no application problems. Quick dry time, as well, hardly any waiting between coats.

 

 

Two Coats

 

My two issues with it, formula wise, is that you definitely needs two coats of a good shiny top coat and since it is so glitter-heavy, you will absolutely need to use the "foil method" to remove it (soak a cotton ball, place it on your finger & wrap with a piece of aluminum foil. Let it set for a few minutes & remove), otherwise, you will be scraping glitter off and getting it all over yourself. This is what happened to me, I was out of foil. : \

 

 

Three Coats

 

Nails Inc really impressed me with this polish. Most times, a company claims to have something new and special, but doesn't always deliver. This time they did. It really did look like I dipped my nails in a bowl of sprinkles! The milky base mutes the shiny glitter which really amps up the "sprinkle" look. Honestly, I was a little put off by the amount of glitter, at first, but as I wore it through out the day, I really started to like it. I will definitely be picking up the others in the collection!

 

Nails Inc "Sprinkle" Special Effects is available on the Nails Inc. website for UK customers & at Sephora online and in stores.

 

 



Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Laquers Fall 2012 Collection - Parachute Purple & Violet Quartz

Sephora & Pantone Universe has teamed up again to release a Fall collection called "The Alchemy of Color"

"Fall under the spell of the Alchemy of Color Collection, an enchanting collaboration between Pantone Universe and Sephora that marries the hottest shades of the season with exclusive formulation and finish. The collection includes a kaleidoscope of colors and each of the multi-dimensional lacquers feature an innovative texture and futuristic finish, from metallic, to sparkle, iridescent, and never-seen-before metallic matte."

(Sephora.com website description)

The nail polish collection is called Jewel Laquers, taking inspiration from precious stones. Out of the collection, I purchased Parachute Purple & Violet Quartz.

Packing is a very pretty irridescent box

Parachute Purple - a blue toned purple with a turquoise shimmer

This particular shade was what drew me in to the collection. On the website, it was irridescent, shimmery & teased a very pretty duo chrome shift. Sadly, it didn't deliver. While the color is very nice, it dries a bit darker than the bottle & as a result, drowns out the lovely turquoise shimmer. A good shiny top coat does help, slightly.

Shimmer

No Shimmer : (

Violet Quartz - a deep burgundey red with brown undertones that shifts to bronze

This is an Amethyst, which is also known as Violet Quartz.

A bit more purple than the burgundy base the polish has.

It does have a bit of a purple flash to it, but honestly, not enough for me to think of the color Violet.

The bronze shift is really nice, if you can catch the right lighting. For me, it was only evident outside.

Formula on both was really good. They flowed smoothly from the brush, & full coverage in 2 coats. Good dry time as well.  Overall, a pretty big let down. I wanted so much more from these two colors, but they didn't deliver. They certainly don't live up to the description. Violet Quartz is a nice fall color on it's own & out of the two, I do prefer it over Parachute Purple.

Both polishes are available at Sephora.

Sephora by OPI - Betsey Johnson Collection

Along with the Pantone Universe set, I recently picked up this limited edition Sephora by OPI Betsey Johnson polish sample set. If you aren't aware, the incredibly wild & talented fashion designer, Betsey Johnson, has declared bankruptcy. I have always loved her designs & spent my fair share of time ogling her amazing line of shoes. I think she is an amazing designer & part of it is the color palette he often works with. Sephora by OPI released a whole line of full sized polishes inspired by her eye catching color palettes along with this sample set of 6 mini polishes.

XOX Betsey, Alley Cat, Too Too Turq, Yellow My Name is Betsey, Son of a Gun, & Pushing Your Luck

XOX Betsey

XOX Betsey is a soft pink nude cream. I loved this color in the bottle, but on my nails, I wasn't so much of a fan. It's too pale & desaturated for my skin tone. I wish it would have been a jelly finish, it would have given the color so much more depth. The formula was a bit streaky on the first two coats, it took 4 total to even everything out & look smooth. Other than that, it was fine, not too thick & good dry time.

Alley Cat

A deep magenta with a slight gold shimmer (although the shimmer is so so subtle that I didn't see it until after I took the swatch picture & caught a flash in the sun light). Better than what I expected. I'm usually not a fan of colors like these, but it looked really pretty after all. Good formula & application. 3 coats for perfect coverage.



Too Too Turq

This is one of the colors exclusive to the set, a very saturated turquoise blue with a bit of teal shimmer. I so wanted the shimmer to be noticeable! It's very apparent in the bottle, but just barely there on the nail, but it is so pretty! Definitely my favorite color of the set. Same as Alley Cat, formula wise, 3 coats on this one as well.

Yellow My Name is Betsey

First off, sorry the dark picture (my camera battery died while swatching & had to re shoot later in the afternoon, boo). Yellow My Name is Betsey, is a soft, bright yellow cream. No, it's not exactly a unique yellow, but it is a good color & I don't think you could have a Betsey Johnson set without having a yellow color. This one is another exclusive as well. Similar application to XOX, Betsey, as far as streaking goes. 4 coats as well, just to even out the streaks.

Son of a Gun

A blue toned, gun metal grey with small silver fleck glitter & a smattering of hologram micro glitter (again, not enough for my taste, but just enough to make you notice). This is  an unexpected color for me. I am not a girl who wears dark colors, but I love this grey. It is a lot more vibrant than I was expecting, definitely has that Betsey touch. The last exclusive of the set & a close runner up for my favorite. A bit on the thin side, but the glitter built up nicely with each coat, 4 total.



Pushing Your Luck

If you bottled up Betsey's signature lipstick, this would be the color. Bright, saturated, true red. I can honestly say, that this is the first red I have had in my stash for a long, long time. But like the yellow, it is a good red, not too dark & vampy, not too pink & washed out. Just red. Good application & formula, 3 coats for full coverage.

Overall, I like the set. I think it is a bit overpriced for a set of six mini's ($24.50 on Sephora.com), but seeing how three are exclusive to the set, I'm not too opposed to paying a little more. Out of all the colors, I think these represent the essence of Betsey's style; girlie & glam all in one set.



Sephora + Pantone Color of the Year Set

Recently, I picked up one of the Sephora and Pantone Universe "Color of the Year" sets. Pantone is a color branding company that "creates" color used by artists, designers, fashion houses, etc. Every year they determine what color will be the trend and develop a color palette revolving around that specific shade. This year's color is Tangerine Tango. The polish set comes in a really nice pixelated package & includes 4 full sized polishes.

Front

Back

Inside

Each polish is a variation of the Tangerine shade, in 4 different finishes - Cream, Shimmer, Matte, & Glitter.

If you love orange polish, I definitely suggest getting this set. The colors are lovely & I think the different finishes is a great way to diversify the set. The formula on all is a bit thin. It took 5 coats for full coverage, but other than that, it was great. All dried very quickly & flowed very nice. No drips or other problems other than the sheer formula. Overall, I really love this set & am happy that I got it. On Sephora's website, it retails for $17, along with other Sephora + Pantone Universe make up collections.