Friday, May 15, 2015

6:00 AM

Hobby Polish Bloggers Presents: May Flowers


     On Monday I showed you my failed attempt at making my own decal and the feedback and suggestions I got was so great that I decided to try it again. I figured the Hobby Polish Bloggers May link up would be the perfect time since the theme is May Flowers.

     Now this is not my original idea but I loved the look and knew I needed to try it myself. The original manicure was done by  Nailartstampingmania. <----( click here for the original post.)  Here is my version.

Holographic-DIY-nail-decals

     I started with a base of Milani White on the Spot and while that dried I started on the decals. This was a long slow process for me as I had to make each decal one at a time. I only have one stamper that I like using at the moment. Good thing I was binge watching episodes of Heros on Netflix to pass the time. I love Netflix by the way, I get to watch all the shows I missed the first time around.

To create my decal I used:
Winstonia plate W-04 
 Zoya Black Swan
Parallox Polish April Holo from the April Subscription box 
 Zoya Penny
Sally Hansen Double Duty base/top coat
Small dotting tool


     As you might remember from my previous post I had a lot of trouble with the decal being stiff and hard to work with. I also had issues with it wanting to stay on the nail. That was because I used Seche Vite on the decal. A quick Dry top coat is what you want in most instances when it comes to nail art but not when making decals. Sally Hansen Double Duty was a dream come true for me. After letting it dry on the stamper for about 10 minutes I was able to easily peel it off, the decal was flexible, but not floppy and, adhered to my nail nicely.


     What a difference the top coat makes! What I once thought was a difficult technique is now so easy! I can see myself doing this over and over again. Of course I'll need to pick up a few more stampers so the process goes a bit quicker. But man o man am I impressed with my results. Now as much as I want you all to sit here and admire my work, it's time to check out what everyone else has come up with. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
6:00 AM

Hobby Polish Bloggers Presents: May Flowers


     On Monday I showed you my failed attempt at making my own decal and the feedback and suggestions I got were so great that I decided to try it again. I figured the Hobby Polish Bloggers May link up would be a perfect time since the theme is May Flowers.

     Now, this is not my original idea but I loved the look and knew I needed to try it myself. The original manicure was done by  Nailartstampingmania. <----( click here for the original post.)  Here is my version.

Holographic-DIY-nail-decals

     I started with a base of Milani White on the Spot and while that dried I started on the decals. This was a long slow process for me as I had to make each decal one at a time. I only have one stamper that I like using at the moment. Good thing I was binge watching episodes of Heros on Netflix to pass the time. I love Netflix by the way, I get to watch all the shows I missed the first time around.

To create my decal I used:
Winstonia plate W-04 
 Zoya Black Swan
Parallax Polish April Holo from the April Subscription box 
 Zoya Penny
Sally Hansen Double Duty base/top coat
Small dotting tool


     As you might remember from my previous post I had a lot of trouble with the decal being stiff and hard to work with. I also had issues with it wanting to stay on the nail. That was because I used Seche Vite on the decal. A quick Dry top coat is what you want in most instances when it comes to nail art but not when making decals. Sally Hansen Double Duty was a dream come true for me. After letting it dry on the stamper for about 10 minutes I was able to easily peel it off, the decal was flexible, but not floppy and, adhered to my nail nicely.


     What a difference the top coat makes! What I once thought was a difficult technique is now so easy! I can see myself doing this over and over again. Of course, I'll need to pick up a few more stampers so the process goes a bit quicker. But man o man am I impressed with my results. Now as much as I want you all to sit here and admire my work, it's time to check out what everyone else has come up with. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

6:00 AM

Parallax Polish - The SeCience Collection


     I'm so excited to share toady's blog post with you. Not only did I have the chance to swatch a collection before you could buy it, but it's a great collection full of fun vibrant colors. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the SeCience Collection from Parallax Polish!  And no that's not a type-o with the name, but a very clever twist on the collection theme. These polishes or the entire collection can be yours starting Friday, May 15th. 

Parallax-Polish-The-SeCience-Collection


     "The SeCience collection was designed to highlight the ongoing research and educational goals at major universities in the SEC conference. While these schools are normally thought of as “football” schools, each one has unique accomplishments in the classroom and laboratory. Facts are shared on social media, so be sure to follow Parallax Polish!"

 Before I start showing you swatches here are a few facts about how this brand has grown in the last year. New square bottles! They are bigger than a traditional mini at 9 ml each. This makes them smaller than a full sized but lets 's be honest, how many of you have finished a full-size bottle of polish that wasn't black, white or top coat? Also, the new flat brushes make application a breeze with more control over where the polish goes and fewer strokes required. They remind me of the brushes in the Sally Hansen Insta-dry line but not quite as wide. 

     This post is going to be very picture heavy so I'll try to keep my words short and concise. Each polish will be shown with 2 coats plus top coat (Seche Vite) unless noted otherwise.

Parallax-Polish-Choppin-The-SeCience-Collection

     CHOPPIN - LSU Home of the Tigers
     A dark purple polish with gold sparks.                           


     The first coat was slightly sheer and uneven and I did experience a little dragging when using multiple strokes on the same nail.  I still had a small amount of VNL after 2 coats, shown here is 3 coats plus top coat.

    
     I love the colors you get from the gold flecks in this polish.  It's so pretty on the nail, you really miss out on the depth this polish has by looking at it in the bottle. 


Parallax-Polish-Scen-The-SeCience-Collection
     
    SCEN - Arkansas Home of the Razorbacks.
     A deep red polish loaded with a variety of white glitters.


     Fishing for glitters was required for this polish, but only for the larger ones. I found I had an abundance of the smaller glitters with each coat. Sadly there are some large circle glitters that I was never able to get out of the bottle.


    The jelly-like finish of the polish made it easy to move the glitters around on the nail so I could place them right where I wanted them. 

Parallax-Polish-McClung-The-SeCience-Collection

     McClung - Tennessee Home of the Volunteers.
     A bright orange polish with white glitter.


     The application was extremely easy with even coverage and lots of glitters in each coat. 


     I thought for sure this would be at least a 3 coat polish but it's amazingly opaque. And the bright orange actually looked pretty good with my skin tone. I call that a win-win.

Parallax-Polish-Bryant-The-SeCience-Collection

     Bryant – Florida Home of the Gators.
     A navy blue polish with an orange shimmer.


     This is one of those polishes where you need to use a slightly thicker coat during application and only 3 strokes on each nail or you'll get dragging. I also recommend waiting until each coat is dry before applying the next.  Before top coat Bryant dries to a rubbery finish that looked pretty cool but didn't showcase the shimmer very well.


     Even with the not so user-friendly application, I think this polish is totally worth it. I mean look at how pretty that shimmer is! A bit of patience is all you really need. My photos captured a slight VNL but I couldn't see it when looking at my nails. 

Parallax-Polish-McAlester-The-SeCience-Collection


     McAlester – Missouri Home of the Tigers.
     A black polish with small and large gold holographic glitters.


     Very smooth application with even coverage and surprisingly opaque after 1 coat. 2 coats are needed for full coverage.


     I really like how the glitters seem to dance on the nail as the light reflects off it.

Parallax-Polish-Halbouty-The-SeCience-Collection

     Halbouty – Texas A&M Home of the Aggies.
     A maroon polish with chrome shimmer.



     Very opaque polish but slightly uneven on the first coat. Builds up nicely after 2 with a smooth application of the polish.


     Leans more to the berry side than maroon on me, but I love this color. It was also a big hit with my friends and coworkers. In fact, there's a list of people waiting to borrow my bottle. I might just have to have a polishing party to keep it from "walking off". 

Parallax-Polish-Morgan-The-SeCience-Collection

     Morgan - Kentucky Home of the Wildcats.
     A true blue polish with chrome sparkle.


     Smooth application but sheer on the first coat. This is a great shade of blue and very similar if not an exact dupe to Midnight on NYE that I blogged about last week. Since that one is no longer available this is a great polish to pick up instead.


     I love the quick flashes of sparkle this polish has. It almost radiated off the nail when in direct light and looked awesome!

     Whew, that was a lot of photos. If you've made it this far thank you for sticking with me. Overall I really like the colors in this collection. Do all of them have perfect formulas, no but none of them are terrible or impossible to work with. Id have to say my favorites are Halbouty, Bryant, and McAlester.

     As I mentioned above this collection releases on Friday, May 15th  from Parallax Polish. (time to be announced) To make sure you don't miss out be sure to follow Parallax Polish on Instagram or Facebook. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Monday, May 11, 2015

6:00 AM

Smokey Mountain Lacquers - Radiant in Orchid


     How was everyone's weekend? Mine was busy busy and busy with some fun thrown in but now it's time for me to get back into the work week mindset. Today I have a pretty nail polish and a personal mani fail to share with you. Let's start off with the good stuff, shall we?

     Radiant in Orchid was released by Smokey Mountain Lacquers last year and I ordered it right away, but like a lot of the polishes I purchase it ended up in my helmer and forgotten. Until now that is. Radiant in Orchid is a dusty lilac creme that I thought would be perfect for this time of year. Especially since my lilac bushes are just starting to bloom and fragrance the air as I walk to and from my house. 


     The application was slightly tricky but that might have been because my bottle is over a year old and I didn't exactly mix it up really well after sitting for so long. This polish is sheer with the first coat and was prone to dragging when doing multiple strokes.  I was able to achieve full opacity after 3 thin coats. 

 As for my accent nail, well that's where the failure comes in for this post. I tried making my own nail decal for the first time and ran into a little trouble. I stamped the flip-flop image onto my stamper using Bundle Monster Plate BM-309 and Finger Paints Black Expressionism, filled in a few places with some striping polishes, added a top coat and waited for it to dry.



     While my decal was drying I painted 1 coat of Finger Paints Paper Mache on my ring finger and when it was tacky I added my decal. The only problem was my decal felt really stiff and didn't want to curve onto my nail. I thought a layer of wet top coat would help, but nope I was wrong.  The top coat made my base color mushy and it smeared over the sides of my finger when I pressed my decal on. 

     It was a fun mess to deal with let me tell you, and a little disheartening to be honest. I'm not sure if I let the decal dry too long or if it was the top cost I used. I haven't given up on this technique yet, but I'm not jumping at the bit to try it again soon. If you have any tips or tricks I'm all ears. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Friday, May 8, 2015

6:00 AM

OPI - It's Totally Forth Worth It


     Today I have another quick post to share with you. This time around I've gone mainstream with OPI's It's Totally Fort Worth It from the 2011 Texas Collection.

OPI-Texas-Collection-2011-It's-totally-fort-worth-it

     It's Totally Fort Worth It is a silver frost with purple micro-shimmer. Shown here is 3 coats plus top coat. As you can see even after 3 coats this is still a very sheer polish. Id have to say that this would work better as a topper, than wearing it all alone. Unless you're going for a subtle hint of color look.

     

     The application was pretty easy with even coverage for all 3 coats even though this polish is a little on the runny side.  Staying true to the frost finish there were a few minor brush strokes which thankfully seemed to almost disappear once my top coat was added. There's nothing that can ruin a polish quite like those annoying brushstrokes.

     The micro shimmer is slightly more visible than shown here in my photos which I think saves this polish from being a boring pearl like color and more like mother of pearl.  I can see this looking great over a darker color so that shimmer can really shine.

     What are your thoughts on polishes like this? Wear them alone or layer over a darker shade? Let me know in the comments. As always thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Thursday, May 7, 2015

6:00 AM

MoYou London - The Illusion Collection (Press Release)


     It's been a few weeks since MoYou London had released some new plates but I promise you it was worth the wait. I am so excited about the entirely new collection and I cant wait for you to see it. The Illusion collection is the biggest set of plates released at once that I know of so far from MoYou. This 11 piece set,  that's right I said 11 piece set, has my mind thinking up all sorts of manicure ideas and just looks like so much fun. I haven't been this excited about a collection release since the Kaleidoscope Collection from last year.  But enough about my excitement, let's show you these plates and let your own excitement begin.

Hi!
 
Meet ELLE, she’s so much more than meets the eye. With just one glance, her optical illusions will catch you in a trance!
 
These eye-catching plates will be available as part of THE ILLUSION COLLECTION starting this Friday, 8th May. 
 
Have a spellbinding day,
The MoYou-London Team

     MoYou plates can be purchased in their shop. As mentioned above these plates will be available Friday May 8th. each or about $8 US.  Plates are £4.99 each or about $8 US. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Monday, May 4, 2015

6:00 AM

Ruby White Tips - Midnight on NYE



      I know it's been pretty silent on my blog and Facebook lately but life has thrown me a few curve balls. And to be honest when my nails busted down so low I lost a lot of motivation. Anyone else feel uninspired when they have super nubbins? Today I have a quick post to share in hopes that it brings my blogging mojo back. 

    Midnight on NYE from Ruby White tips is a beautiful true blue holographic polish that I picked up on a blog sale a while back. It is the only polish I own from this brand but I was seriously impressed. I wore the blue beauty for almost 2 weeks with minimal tip wear.


     Application was similar to most holographic polishes where the first coat was a little sheer and full opacity was reached after 2.  While under most lighting the holo has a subtle effect you do get intense flashes from time to time.


     I ended up wearing this alone without any nail art but think it would make a great base for some galaxy nails.



     I mean it already looks like a sky just before the last rays of sunlight disappear and everything goes black.  And while this color is no longer available I know there are a few out there that are really close if not an exact dupe.

     I know this was a quick post, and there wasn't a lot to it but as always Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

  

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