31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 20: Water Marble

Hi everyone!!

I'm back!!! Got back last week but there have been so many events that I have had to go to and things to catch up on so I haven't been able to post on here. I promise I will catch up soon!

I'll put up a few pictures of my trip as soon as I can (hopefully this week).

Anyways, back to the point of the post! Last week's challenge was water marbling. It took a long time for me to decide on what color theme I wanted but I eventually went with blue; something that looks like water. Take a look at my attempt and tell me what you think about it!

To get this look:

• After putting on my base coat, I put on one coat of Sinful Colors Snow Me White to use as my base polish.
• For the water marbling, I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Revlon Plunge Pool, Revlon Midnight Haze, and Revlon Downtown. I used a toothpick to swirl the patterns for each nail.
• I sealed the deal with my trusty top coat.

  

I absolutely love how my middle finger turned out! And of course that was the first nail that I did so obviously I couldn't recreate something even close to that for the other nails...womp womp. But I do like how all of them turned out! There wasn't a single nail that I had to redo because of being disappointed with it or it just messing up completely. Yay!

 I hope you all like it!! I sure do :) But still, I would love to hear what you think of my water marbling! Let me know in the comments section below. Or if there is a color scheme you would like for me to try out or some type of...well, anything! Just let me know below. I try to respond back to everyone.

As I said above, I will try to get a few pictures up from my vacation (although picking a few is going to be very hard because I have over 1000 pictures). But I'll try! I hope you all have a great Tuesday!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 19: Galaxies

Hi everyone!

I have the next 31DC post for you and I was able to make this one because I had to do something with my nails for my trip anyways! And what a better mani to have for a cruise to Alaska! I thought that the galaxies mani could somewhat represent the northern lights as well, so it sort of goes, right?

Anyways, this is going to be a quick post because I need to head out to the airport soon! Take a look at my attempt.

To get this look:

• After applying a trusty base coat, I applied one coat of Sinful Colors Snow Me White because I don't like applying black polish directly to my nails. 
• I followed the white with two coats of Sinful Colors Black On Black.
• Then I used a sponge to sponge on blue polish (Revlon Plunge Pool), lavender polish (Revlon Enchanting), bright pink polish (Revlon Colorstay Wild Strawberry), and yellow polish (Revlon Sunshine Sparkle). After all of that, I went back and added a little bit more of the blue polish.
• I also sponged on some Orly Space Cadet because, well, it has the word "space" in it. I had to use it! Plus the multichrome glitter particles went with the whole look perfectly.
• I also added some silver glitter by applying one coat of Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Ice Queen.
• I sealed everything with a top coat.

This was super easy to create and I love how it turned out! I even did the galaxies on my big toes so I'm totally galaxy-fied!

I've seen other bloggers add white dots to this type of mani too and I tried that out on my toes (I did my toes before my fingers) and I didn't like how it looked on me. Maybe I should have tried to use a light grey instead of white? Who knows. But I like the effect the glitter brings to this look.

Well, there you have it! What do you all think of this? Let me know!! This is my very first attempt at galaxy nails. I've tried sponging in a similar way before but the mani wasn't actually a galaxy mani. So hopefully you all think my first attempt was alright!

I hope you all have an amazing couple of weeks and I'll see you all once I get back!

Tri-Polish Challenge (May #4) - Layer It Up

Hello hello!

Today is the last post for May's TPC, can you believe it? May seems to have flown by!

Sorry for the late post. I decided to go see Star Trek, finally, and just got home! It's a good thing I had the pictures ready, otherwise I don't think I would have been able to put it up until later tomorrow. (In case any of you are wondering, Star Trek was really good!)

To refresh, the colors for May are Red, Grey, and Blue.

For today's mani, I decided to use all three polishes and just layer them, but so that you can see all three colors. Take a look!

To get this look:

• I first applied my base coat and then applied three coats of Revlon Coast is Clear because it is a very sheer polish, but I applied most of the polish over the lunula and a little down the sides.
• I then applied one coat of Revlon Midnight Haze in the same shape of my nail, but a little down the nail so that the blue polish was still visible.
• Using two coats of Revlon Revlon Red, I created the same shape over the grey but a little more down so that the grey was still visible behind the red polish. 
• I sealed everything up with my favorite top coat.

I actually love how this turned out! It is much better than I was expecting. The best part about this mani is that it is super easy! And if creating the rounded tops are hard to do with the regular brush, I think using a detail brush to create the outline would help. Either way, this mani is super simple but fun. Plus, I love how the whole look makes each color pop!

What do you all think of my last TPC mani for May? Let me know below! If you want to see some more great looks, check out the ones the other challengers have created below.

I have a busy weekend ahead of me so I am not sure if I'll be able to post anything this weekend. If I do, then I do. But if not, check back on Monday to see my next 31DC post!

Tri-Polish Challenge (May #3) - Tie-Dye Explosion

Hello everyone!

Today is the third TPC post for May! These TPC posts finish so quickly; I can't believe that there is only one more post left for May! And even though May is almost over, Chicago can't seem to get its weather in check. Oh well...

Remember, the colors for May are Red, Grey, and Blue.

For today's post, I decided to use a drag marbling technique. I found an awesome tutorial by Brie from Lacquerheads of Oz. Take a look at how my attempt turned out!

To get this look:

• The tutorial says to use white as a base polish to create the look but I tried to do this several times with a white base polish and even if it was completely dry, I ended up peeling it over when I was dragging the other polishes.
• I worked with one nail at a time and first put a long red blob using Revlon Revlon Red on my nail, followed my a long grey blob using Revlon Midnight Haze, and then ended with putting a small blue blob using Revlon Coast is Clear. I put the blue last because it's a very thin polish and whenever I put it first, the red would end up mixing in with it and would overtake the blue.
• Then I used a toothpick (you can use a needle or any other pointy tool you may have) to drag the polish outwards (from the blue polish blob to the grey polish blob). 
• To get rid of the bumps and ridges, I added my favorite top coat.

It's the not as clean as Brie's tie-dye design but I think with some practice, I'll get used to this. I only got this end result after trying this out about 7 times on one of my nails, and I still ended up having to redo my middle nail three times after the other nails were done.

I think it turned out quite nice for a first attempt, don't you think? Have any of you ever tried the drag marbling technique? There are several other designs you can make with this aside from the tie-dye look.

I also love how the blue gives the whole look a nice pop! The pinky nail, to me, turned out the best, which is odd because usually I am the most disappointed with my pinky nail. Take a look at my pinky in the first picture I posted and the next picture.

Clean up was really hard. I should have used tape around my nails but I thought that it wouldn't get that bad. Clearly, I was so wrong and the nail polish decided to get back at me for not listening to the tutorial! I was also surprised at how hard this was for me considering the drag technique with a single polish blob is not hard at all. I even made a tutorial for that! Practice makes perfect, huh? I'll definitely keep trying!

Anyways, let me know what you think of this! Also, don't forget to check out the other great manicures from today! Check back on Thursday for the last TPC post for May.

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 17: Glitter

Hi guys!

Today, I have for you the next post in the 31 Day Challenge: Glitter manicure! I had a hard time thinking of something to do for this one so I decided to go find some inspiration. Kayla from Nails by Kayla Shevonne is my absolute favorite nail blogger so I went through her blog and found this! The whole manicure looked like so much fun so I knew that I had to try it out! My challenge mani for today is inspired by her Mish Mash Mint Mani.

To get this look:

• After applying a base coat, I applied two coats of Sinful Colors Timbleberry to use as my base polish color on all of my nails. It's such a pretty coral!
• Pointer: I used a dotting tool and Sinful Colors In The Spotlight to apply glitter dots randomly on my nail. I then used a small detail brush to outline the dots with Sinful Colors Black On Black.
• Middle: Using a small detail brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black, I made a drippy outline. Then I filled in the drips with Sinful Colors In The Spotlight using my detail brush.
• Ring: I used my detail brush to add a rectangular section of glitter to the side of my nail with Sinful Colors In The Spotlight. Then, using my small detail brush, I added the black outline and random black lines to the non-glitter area.
• Pinky: With Sinful Colors Black On Black and a small detail brush, I painted a triangle and the triangular lines. Then I filled in the gaps with Sinful Colors In The Spotlight using a detail brush.
• I smoothed everything out by applying my favorite top coat.

I think my drippy nail would have better if I made the drips using the glitter first and then outlining it. But what's done is done! I also don't like my pinky nail. Oh well. Out of all the nails, I think the pointer finger nail turned out the best with the leopard print!

However, all together, I do like this mani! I think it's fun and it's definitely something that would be fun to wear over the summer. What do you think?

I think the glitter went well with the coral polish as well. So that's always a plus!

Let me know what you think of this! I would love to get some feedback/tips form you.

Make sure you check out my friend's 31DC mani at My Life In Turquoise.

I have several great ideas for next week's 31DC mani so make sure you tune in next Monday! But before that, I have the 3rd post for you for May's Tri-Polish Challenge tomorrow. There's a cool technique that I saw that I want to try out for it.

That's 17 down and 14 more to go!

Tri-Polish Challenge (May #2) - Put Me Together

Hello hello!

Sorry for being a little late on this post (it's only 20 minutes late!!). I had guests over at my house all day and then had to go to an awards ceremony for my brother at his high school. It was a fun, busy day!

To recap, the colors for May are Red, Grey, and Blue.

I didn't have much time to create my manicure so I went with something that was super simple to create but cute at the same time. I've seen this kind of manicure around on many different blogs so I can't really put up a direct link for where I got my inspiration from. Anyways, check out what I have for you today!

To get this look:

• I started off with using Sinful Colors Snow Me White as my base polish color (after applying a base coat, of course).
• Using a detail brush and Revlon Revlon Red, Revlon Midnight Haze, and Revlon Coast is Clear, I created colored squares/blocks.
• After letting the blocks/squares dry completely, I used a large-sized dotting tool and all of the polishes to add dots in between each of the blocks, creating puzzle pieces that fit together.
• I sealed it all with my favorite top coat!

Before I go further, I want to apologize for the horrible pictures! I was in such a rush because we were getting late for the awards ceremony so I quickly took the pictures and ran out the door.

This manicure was probably one of the easiest ones I've ever created. There's really nothing to it because the squares don't have to be perfect and the dots don't necessarily have to be perfect either. As long as the dots overlap the squares, you're good to go! If any of you want me to make a tutorial for this, let me know in the comments section below so I can add it to my list of things to take care of ASAP!

What do you all think of my puzzle pieces attempt? I really like it! It's cute, fun, and ended up being a conversation starter for me at my brother's high school because of the bright, bold colors!

I've seen this manicure created with actual color themes, such as shades of colors, pastels, warm colors, etc. That's why I was a bit hesitant at first to do this, since it has no real color theme (aside from being nautical colors). But I think the colors worked well together! What do you all think? Let me know below!

Make sure you check out the other great looks for the 2nd TPC post. And be sure to check back on Monday for the next 31 Day Challenge post! I have a great idea and I'm very excited to try it out and show you how it ends up looking!

Tri-Polish Challenge (May #1) - Ikat Print

Hey guys!

The Crumpet'sTri-Polish Challenge is back for the month of May! I have the first post for that challenge for you today. But first, let me go over the rules again:

Rules:

• Crumpet's Nail Tarts will be choosing three colors each month and you must ONLY use those three colors to create the manicures
• The colors for May are Grey, Red, & Blue
• That being said, you have free use of white, black, silver, gold, and glitter toppers
• You must choose 1 polish to represent each color choice and use the same three polishes throughout the challenge
• The challenge has 4 posts each month: the Tuesday and Thursday of the 3rd and 4th week of each month 
• For May: 21, 23, 28, 30

 The brands/colors that I ended up choosing are:

Revlon Midnight Haze, Revlon Revlon Red, Revlon Coast is Clear

Revlon Midnight Haze is a metallic shimmery grey, Revlon Revlon Red is a bright red creme, and Revlon Coast is Clear is a light shimmery tiffany blue.

Now onto the good stuff! I decided to do ikat print for the first day of the challenge because I really wanted to do it in April but ended up not doing it. I also love how ikat looks and how the manicures for it end up turning out! Take a look at it.

 To get this look:

• I wanted to have a lighter base color so after applying my base coat, I used Revlon Coast is Clear as my base polish color.
• I then used Sinful Colors Snow Me White and a small detail brush to create white triangles on all of my nails.
• After the white had dried, I used Revlon Revlon Red to create a smaller, red triangle within the white triangles.
• Normally, the next step would use black polish, but since this is the first manicure for May's Tri-Polish Challenge, I wanted to use all three polishes. I used Revlon Midnight Haze to imperfectly outline the white triangles and then add a smaller triangle within all of the red triangles.
• I sealed the deal with my favorite top coat.

I absolutely love how it turned out! It's a cleaner version of the ikat because it is really supposed to be a little more rough looking (to compare, take a look at my other ikat print manicure) but I still like it.

What do you all think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!

Take a look at the other great manicures for the first post in the Tri-Polish Challenge!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 16: Tribal Print

Hi guys!

I have the next manicure for the 31 Day Challenge for you. I think it looks fun and well...my brother said that it reminded him of the rugs that were in our hotel in Guatemala because of the print that I used. He's a little...odd? But in reality, they really do resemble them!

Anyways, let's get to the good stuff! This manicure was super fun to create and I now know that I love tribal print!

To get this look:

• I used Revlon Colorstay Bare Bones as the base polish on all of my nails and then decided to create the print over it.
• I used a small detail brush, thinnest striping brush, and dotting tools in various sizes, along with Revlon Lagoon Afternoon, Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix, and Sinful Colors Black On Black to create the various prints that you see.
• I sealed everything with my favorite top coat!

Coincidentally, my manicure ended up matching my outfit because I wore a nude colored dress. I love when things work out like that, don't you?

I hope you all liked my attempt at a tribal print manicure. This was my first real attempt at a tribal manicure (I had doodled on my nails in India and it ended up having a tribal-esque feel to it and my 2nd manicure for April's Tri-Polish Challenge mani had a tribal-esque quality to it). What do you think of it? I know that I need some work to make things a bit more even and cleaner, but I'm still happy considering it is my first attempt.

If you have any tips or suggestions, please let me know in the comments section below!

And as always, check out my friend's mani at My Life In Turquoise.

Now, that's 16 down and 15 more to go!! We're more than half way through this. No turning back now!

A quick word: My thoughts and prayers are with all of the families affected by the tornado in Oklahoma. It's devastating news but the heroic actions of the first response team lessened the blow. Stay strong, Oklahoma!

Review & Swatches - Revlon Summer 2013 Haute Tropics Collection

Hello hello!

I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday. It feels like a Friday to me for some reason. Since summer is so bright, most of the summer collections usually have bright, bold nail polishes, and Revlon is no different! This is part of the Revlon Limited Edition Summer 2013 Haute Tropics Collection! Wow, that's a mouthful! The collection has eight bright, fun polishes, but I was only able to snag three, so those are the ones that I will be showing you.

The above three bottles are the only ones I was able to grab.

From left to right: Mai Tai Ask?; Lagoon Afternoon; Belize, Please
The names of the other polishes in the collection are: Cabana Queen; Plunge Pool; Coast is Clear;
Hello, Bali;  and Secluded Beach. They all look lovely so I hope I can get a hold of the rest soon and swatch those as well!

Mai Tai Ask? is a bright orange creme/jelly. It took about 2 coats to reach opacity, although 2 finger needed 3 coats, and the formula was a little runny, but not too bad. I absolutely love this color and I think it's just so fun looking that I wouldn't mind wearing it alone!

Just to see how the color would look with a topper, I added Sally Hansen Ice Queen.

Lagoon Afternoon is a deep, bright blue creme/jelly which totally reminds me of the ocean! I absolutely love the color and I needed 3 coats to reach opacity. The formula was also a tad bit too runny but after I got used to it, it wasn't a problem. My only concern with this one was that when I removed the polish, it stained my nails slightly blue (even though I used a base coat) so I'm not sure if I would use this one just alone on my nails, but then again, that always seems to happen with blue polishes so it isn't a big concern for me. I will probably definitely end up using it for some nail art.

Also, sorry about the pictures! I didn't even notice the blue on my palm until after I started editing the pictures.

Since this polish reminded me so much of water, I added Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Glass Slipper (flakies!!) to make it look like sparkling, crystal water! It really does look gorgeous!

Belize, Please is a hot pink/fuchsia creme/jelly. It required 2 coats to reach opacity and the formula was just like the rest, just a little bit on the runny side. This color is fantastic but I loved it even more after adding a topper! There were no stains with this one after removal.

My topper for this one was Sinful Colors Let Me Go and I think I liked this combo the best out of the three.

Regarding the formula, even though I said that they were a little runny, it's to be expected with jellies. They weren't hard to work with after you wiped off the excess polish from the brush.

Another quick note: I have been hearing around the nail community that this collection is full of dupes. I'm not sure if they are, but I love these polishes and the collection and in my opinion, there is always something that is different in every polish that is somewhat the same color, even if it's the slightest difference. 

Overall, these shades are very fun and perfect for the summer. This collection also really is Limited Edition because not only does it say "Limited Edition" on the displays at Walgreens, but the bottles also don't have numbers on the caps, which means they are limited edition. So get these while they're still here! Out of these three swatches, I would say that my favorite stand alone polish is probably Mai Tai Ask? because I've been liking orange a lot lately and then Belize, Please is my favorite with the topper that I picked out.

I have a great nail art idea with Lagoon Afternoon so hopefully I can show you all that soon!

The product(s) were purchased by me and I am providing an honest review.

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 14: Flowers

Hello hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend! We're back today with the new challenge mani for the 31 Day Challenge! I'm starting right off the bat by saying that I was disappointed with my mani but I didn't have time to fix it or create a new one. So I'm stuck with this one for this post. Womp womp :(

My favorite flower is the white calla lily so I really wanted to do something with it. I'm just not going to say anything more than that because I really am upset with the end result.

A lot of polishes were used to create this so bare with me again!

To get this look:
 Lily

•  I started by working on the lily. I needed an undie so I used Orly Country Club Khaki. It actually ended up being the perfect base for my accent nail!
• To create the green background for the accent nail, I sponged on Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lickety-Split Lime and Revlon Colorstay Spanish Moss in random spots. 
• For the actual calla lily, I used a small detail brush and Sinful Colors Snow Me White to create the heart shaped petal. Then I used my smallest detail brush and Revlon Colorstay Bonsai to create the shadow/hole where the center piece comes out.
• I needed to add some shadows to the calla lily because it looked too fake to me so I mixed together Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Revlon Downtown to create a light blue because I don't own the right shade to use as the shadow color. I added some of that custom blue to the left side of the petal and to create the shadow from the center piece.
• I didn't have the correct shade for the center piece either. The polishes that I have are either too yellow or too orange, nothing in between. So I mixed together Revlon Sunshine Sparkle and Sally Hansen Insta Dri Snappy Sorbet to create a light orange. I used my small detail brush to create the carrot-shaped piece.
• I add some darkness/shadow under the calla lily, I used Zoya Yara and the sponge to dab a little of that polish under the petal on bottom right and left sides of the accent nail.

Other nails

• I used Zoya Pixie Dust Vespa on the other nails.  

I'm actually proud of my calla lily but it's the Pixie Dust that, I think, ruined my mani. I haven't used it before so I thought it would be a darker color and would just add some sparkle. But this was about 3 coats (1 nail was 2 coats) and the color was still a lot lighter than what the bottle shows. I do love the polish, just not with this mani. I also think I ended up crapping out on the shading because the lighting was bad in my room. It looked good in that light but ended up looking completely different in natural light and you could see the the stark difference in the shading. But what's done is done! Hopefully I'll be more happy with my next challenge mani.

** Just in case someone wants a reference to the flower, here's a picture**

http://pphotography-blog.blogspot.com/2012/01/calla-lily-flower.html

I hope you all at least like my attempt at creating the calla lily! Be sure to check out my friend's flower post at My Life In Turquoise!

Now that's 14 done, and 17 more to go!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 9: Rainbow Nails

Hey guys!!

I'm super excited to show you all my challenge mani for today. Originally, I was going to have one balloon on each finger but then I realized that I would have to lose one color since there are only five fingers. So I decided to have two balloons on each finger so that I could fit in that extra color.

I'm also dedicating this party inspired mani to my boyfriend's nephew because his 1st birthday just passed!!

A lot of polishes went into creating this challenge mani. I wanted to have a base color because I didn't want to have the balloons and confetti on my bare nail and I didn't want to have a white background either. So for my base polish color, I used one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Platinum because I still wanted to have a VNL. The red balloons and confetti were made using Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Perfect Cherry. All of the orange was created by Sinful Colors Courtney Orange. I used Revlong Sunshine Sparkle for the yellow but it was too light so I ended up going over it with Wet n Wild Fast Dry The Wonder Yellows. The green I used was Sinful Colors Irish Green. The blue was made using Rimmel London Marine Blue. And last but not least, the purple came from Nicole by OPI Prized Possession Purple. Now for the detail work. For the balloon strings, I used Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen Black. To make the "shine" streaks on the balloons, I used Nubar Nail Art Pen Basic White. Of course, none of this would have been possible without my handy dandy small detail brush!

Even though there were a lot of nail polishes involved in making this mani, it would super easy because of the detail brush. I worked with one color at a time so that I didn't have to keep cleaning the brush after every single use. But I'm not going to lie, as easy as this mani was, it was highly time consuming because of all of the small detail work.

This is such a fun mani and it makes me so happy every time I see it! It just reminds me of parties and all the fun that goes along with it. I really hope you all love this mani as much as I do!

Be sure to check out the challenge mani by My Life In Turquoise!

That's 9 down and 22 more to go!