Pink Wednesday

Many nail bloggers & polish fans participate in "Pink Wednesday," an homage to the movie Mean Girls, in which “The Plastics” always wear pink on Wednesdays.

I'm kind of anti-pink in general. I don't care for the gender-specific connotation placed on the color, not to mention that pink looks, well, pretty terrible on me. :) When my daughter was born, I swore I'd never dress her in pink ... but that quickly ended due to the excessive amount of pink baby girl clothes available, and later, to her own love of wearing pink. That said, I rarely participate in Pink Wednesday - in fact, pink is probably just after yellow and orange on the list of polish colors I own the least of ! Still, my little girl loves pink in every incarnation. 

So today, in honor of my sweet girl Daelyn and all things pink, I give you ... Pink Wednesday!

This is 2 coats of Claire's Candy Shop (a sheer pink jelly packed with circus glitter, and a dupe of the Deborah Lippmann polish of the same name) over 2 coats of Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl. Even for an "anti-pink" like me, I have to say I was pleased with the combo, and it really does remind me of candy! 


What are you rocking on this Pink Wednesday? :) 

Color Club Take Wing Collection - Summer 2012

It's National Find A Rainbow Day, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than by showing you this sparkling rainbow of amazing shades from Color Club! This is the gorgeous Take Wing collection for Summer 2012. All the colors in this collection are inspired by the iridescent colors found on butterfly wings.  

All of the Take Wing shades are dreamy, glass-fleck shimmers with a sheer, jelly quality. As if that weren't enough to get you excited, each shade has a bit of duochrome shimmer to illustrate the filmy, shimmery quality of the wings of butterflies.

Left to Right: Wing Fling, Sparkle and Soar, Daisy Does It, Fly With Me, Metamorphosis, Sky High

First up is Wing Fling. I'm not a huge fan of pink polish, but I'm a sucker for a beautiful glass fleck, and this one is! These polishes, as I mentioned, seem to fall into the increasingly-popular "sheer shimmer" category that has been all the rage for Spring. You can see that there is still visible nail line even after 3 coats of this beauty. So, yes, it is a bit sheer, but nothing a little underwear or a few extra coats wouldn't cure. In the right light, this eye-popping pink also flashes blue and purple (the subtle duochrome I was referring to above). 

Pink butterflies are rare in nature, but they do exist in places like Australia and in tropical rainforests!

Next up is Sparkle and Soar. I am NOT a fan of orange polishes (it's one of two colors I simply can't carry off with my skin tone), but I have to say, I fell in love with this one. Again, application is sheer but I'm not bothered by it. The glass flecks in S&S shimmer gold and yellow with an occasional greenish tint. My nails looked like they were on fire! This is definitely an orange I will be wearing again.

This butterfly (actually a moth) is called the "Painted Lady." Fitting, no? 

This is Metamorphosis, and one of the standouts from the collection. At first it looks a bit like Zoya Charla (or one of her many dupes), but I think it has a different color & density of glass fleck. Metamorphosis glances blue & purple depending on lighting, and my pictures don't do it justice - it's simply stunning. 

The Emerald Green butterfly, showing her true colors. 

Sky High is, for me, the other true standout in this collection. Sure, it looks similar to some of the other blues out there (Orly Sweet Peacock, Color Club Cold Metal), but once you see it on the nail you realize it is not the same in either formula or appearance. The grainy glass fleck look, sheer application & texture, and purple shift set this stunner apart from her sisters in the polish world. 

The Blue Morpho. My favorite butterfly, and one of the most amazing colors found in nature. 

Next we have Daisy Does It. Yellow is the second of the two colors I usually don't wear - my olive skin just doesn't play well with yellow or orange. I do love this shade though! You can see the orangey-gold shimmer, and in sunlight this beauty even casts a subtle greenish glow.

Papilio lycrophon butterfly. Some believe that seeing a yellow butterfly is a sign from a loved one who has passed who wants to grant peace to those in mourning. 

Finally, Fly With Me. This is another of my favorites from this collection. I have many greens like this one, but none so shimmery, and none with the gold-green color shift Fly With Me displays. 

Although often Color Club polish collections can be found on the cheap at Ross or other outlet/wholesale stores, this one has not been spotted outside of online beauty supply retailers to my knowledge. You can pick up the set or individual shades at Transdesign.com, or from the Color Club website at http://www.cosmeticgroup.com/.

What do you think of this bright, sunny collection for Summer? I hope you enjoyed my swatches! Get out there and find your own rainbow today! 

Thanks for reading! 

Sinful Colors Cast Away - Olympia

Today I'd like to share with you a gorgeous combo for Spring - Sinful Colors Olympia topped with CND Effects in Emerald Shimmer. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of just Olympia; this particular shade of green, although one of my favorites, doesn't look great with my skin tone. I hear that SC Olympia is a dupe for Essie Navigate Her, but I don't have that one to compare. These photos represent two coats of Olympia with 1 coat of CND Emerald Shimmer; all were taken outdoors in sunlight.

What do you think of this Spring-y combo? I didn't care for Olympia on its own (on me) but I think the shimmer adds a special touch and definitely improves the appearance with my skin tone!

A. England Tristam

One of the polishes I've had my eye on for AGES and been wanting so very badly is the lovely A.England Tristam. Thanks to the fantastic Jamie at NailsAdored, this polish dream has finally come true! She gave me Tristam, along with several other gorgeous polishes and goodies, as part of a Secret Bunny gift exchange in a group we belong to on Facebook. I could not have been more stunned when I opened my package!

Look at all the treats! Tristam, Jordana Glitters Sequins, Jordana Glitters Cosmic, Jordana Glitters Celestial, Zoya Mitzi, Zoya Lolly, nail stickers, candy, lovely beauty samples, a gorgeous rhinestone studded container, candy, and Birthday Cake Oreos! Jamie truly outdid herself and all I can say is THANK YOU!!

Of course I couldn't wait to put Tristam on my nails, seeing as how I've been waiting SO long for this beauty! Tristam is a gorgeous purply-blue with a (relatively) subtle scattered holo effect. She is so beautiful, and applied like a dream - 2 coats for glossy full coverage!

Outdoor, overcast

 Indoor, flash

 Outdoor, sunlight

Indoor, artificial light

A.England polishes can be purchased from their website, http://www.a-england.co.uk/. Thanks again to Jamie at NailsAdored for fulfilling a longtime polish fantasy! 

It May Be Spring ... But Winter Is Coming!

So, those of you who know me know that I am a HUGE fan of the HBO series Game of Thrones, which is based on the book series A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin. This epic fantasy series, set in a fictional world, takes place mostly on the continent of Westeros. Primarily, the story is about several different Houses, or families, and their struggle for power as they war over who will lay claim to the Iron Throne and reign over the Seven Kingdoms. As so many characters discover throughout this gripping series, "When you play the Game of Thrones, you win - or you die."

The second season of Game of Thrones premieres Sunday, April 1 at 9:00pm on HBO. In honor of its triumphant return, I decided to do a mani representing my love for this excellent series!

This is my representation of some of the major Houses, or families, represented in Game of Thrones. Each House carries a banner containing its device, or sigil, when in battle. The characters' clothing and decor also often reflects these colors and symbols. I chose what I believe to be the five major Houses in this story to display for this mani, choosing to go with their colors instead of their symbols (because my confidence in my ability to free-hand some of these symbols was not high):

House Stark of Winterfell - A grey direwolf on an ice-white field. Motto: Winter Is Coming.
House Tully of Riverrun - A leaping silver trout on a field of blue and red. Motto: Family, Duty, Honor.
House Lannister of Casterly Rock - A golden lion on a field of crimson. Motto: Hear Me Roar.
House Baratheon of Storm's End - A crowned black stag on a field of gold/yellow. Motto: Ours Is The Fury.
House Targaryen of Dragonstone - A black field with a red three-headed dragon. Motto: Fire And Blood.

I started by painting each nail the base color for the banner of each house.

For the thumb (House Stark), I used a base of Wet N Wild French White Creme, then taped off the top part of the nail and painted the bottom with Claw Polish Phantom (a grey, shimmery Halloween polish). I then painted over half of the white portion of the nail with Revlon Snow Bunny, a shimmery sheer white polish, to give it an "icy" look to represent the cold of Winterfell and the North.

The pointer finger was also done with tape, and I used China Glaze First Mate for the deep blue of House Tully, and Wet N Wild Everybody Loves Red-mond for the red. L.A. Colors Art Deco Silver Glitter was used for the stripe. (I tried unsuccessfully several times to stamp a silver fish onto this mani, and just eventually gave up after many fails!)

The Lannisters have the pleasure of gracing my middle finger (if you read the books or watch the show, you know why). :) I used OPI Wocka Wocka for the base, a perfect Lannister crimson, and then used tape and Mattese Elite Cream Dream to apply a golden stripe. The glitter, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength White Veil, represents the wealth & the life of luxury lived by the Lannisters and the royal family.

The ring finger is painted with the colors of House Baratheon. I used Sinful Colors Let's Meet for the yellow field, and applied a stripe of WnW Black Creme using Scotch tape. I followed the same method on the pinky for House Targaryen, using OPI Wocka Wocka as a base. Then I added a top coat of Seche Vite, let dry, and - VOILA - a Game of Thrones-themed mani fit for a King! (Or queen...)

I hope you enjoy this mani as much as I do! If you haven't seen Game of Thrones or read A Song Of Ice And Fire, I highly recommend it!

Rest In Peace, Ned Stark - The North Remembers!

Vintage Gold

For a glitzy, Fall-themed, festive Thanksgiving mani, I chose to layer Wet N Wild 24 Carats (from the LE Ice Baby collection available at Walgreens) over Color Club Nouveau Vintage (from the Back to BoHo collection).

Here's the lovely Nouveau Vintage on its own. It's a gold-red-brown-green multichrome that captures the light differently depending on angle. It is gorgeous by itself - very warm, festive, and classy - and it shimmers! Still, as you can see, I had some pretty gnarly ridges in my nails. (I just removed my acrylics and did not apply ridge filler as a base this time around; I used Orly Nailtrition instead. Bad call!)

So, because I wanted to cover my unflattering ridges (and because I felt like, even though this color is amazing alone, this mani needed a bit more POP), I decided to try layering 24 Carats over this beauty. I'm very happy with the result!

I didn't think I was going to be a fan of this polish. I don't love bar glitters - I don't really dig the "hairy" look - but this truly was gorgeous! All I saw was sparkle and shine glinting out of the corner of my eye, and I couldn't stop staring at my nails. I also don't generally do gold polishes or glitters, so I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed this one, especially as a layering polish. The texture and the coppery flecks really gave this polish depth, and the formula was nice - very smooth and easy to apply despite the heavy-appearing glitter. This is 2 coats, no topcoat. I think adding 24 Carats really helped to accent the beauty of Nouveau Vintage!

Disclaimer: These products were purchased by me and I was not compensated for this review in any way. 

I'm baaack!

After a long hiatus, I've decided it's time to start giving my blog some attention again. I've had an eventful past few months - new job, lots of family changes, and TONS of new polishes to swatch for you! I can't wait to get back to blogging. Thanks to all my followers who've stuck with me for the long haul :) I promise to have pretty pics to show you soon!