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!

Weekly Challenge - Cocktails: Strawberry Peach Margaritas!!

Hi everyone!

I'm participating in weekly challenges by Laura. This week's theme is cocktails! What better theme could go along with the beautiful summer weather we've been having here in Chicago?

My favorite summer cocktail/drink is a frozen margarita, specifically, a strawberry, peach, or mango margarita! I chose to create a combo, strawberry and peach, frozen margarita. I got my inspiration from this picture:

www.barmano.com

Frozen margaritas usually have that frosty look to them and when they've been sitting for a little while, you can see the condensation on the glasses. That's what I tried to create with my mani: condensation on a frosty margarita glass!

To get this look:

• I started off with a base color coat of Revlon Mai Tai Ask? (perfect choice because even the name is cocktail-inspired!).
• The random gradient was created using Revlon Mai Tai Ask? and Revlon Colorstay Wild Strawberry (also perfect because I was going for a strawberry margarita and this one has strawberries in the name!).
• I then used Essie Matte About You to create the frosted look.
• A small sized dotting tool and Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat to add the condensation dots and drops.

What do you all think of my attempt?? I'm definitely in the mood for margaritas now!!

Check out the other great cocktail-inspired manis the other challengers have created below! The theme lasts until Saturday evening so I'm sure we'll be seeing more manicures throughout the week!

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 13: Animal Print Nails

Hi everyone!!

I'm super excited to show you the challenge mani that I created for today! It's simple and I think that it doesn't have too much going on, which I believe is the case for the most part with animal print manis. I decided on doing french tips with the animal prints overflowing onto my bare nail (on top of the base coat, of course). So check it out below and let me know what you think! Welcome to The Polish Zoo!!

 I used several different polishes so bare with me! And everything was used after applying a base coat.

To get this look: 

• Thumb (zebra print): French tip was made using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and the zebra print was made using a medium sized detail brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black
• Pointer (leopard print): French tip was made using Piggy Polish Stand At The Edge. The leopard print was made using Revlon Top Speed Varnished and Sinful Colors Black on Black and a medium sized detail brush and small dotting tool
• Middle (cow print): The french tip was made using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and the spots were made using a medium sized detail brush and Sinful Colors Black On Black
• Ring (giraffe print):  The french tip was made using Orly Country Club Khaki and the print was made using a medium sized detail brush and Revlon Totally Toffee
• Pinky (tiger print): The french tip was made using Sally Hansen Insta Dri Snappy Sorbet and the print was made using Sinful Colors Black On Black and my smallest sized striping brush

 

This mani was quite fun to create and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I didn't want an overpowering animal print mani this week so I opted for the french tips instead The entire look was not time consuming either because I just made quick french tips and didn't have to worry about them being super clean since I was going to put the print over it anyways. Also, animal print is never PERFECT. There are always some imperfections so it allowed me to just go with flow in creating the different prints.

My inspirations! 

What did you all think about my mani? I really like love it!! Let me know your thoughts on this one or if you have any suggestions/tips/ideas to help me next time I decide to do an animal print mani.

Make sure to check out my friend's post today at My Life In Turquoise!

13 down, and 18 to go!! Check back next Monday for the flower challenge mani!!

Tri-Polish Challenge (April #4) - Splatter

Hey guys!

Can you believe that this is the last post for April's Tri-Polish Challenge hosted by Crumpet's Nail Tarts? May's challenge will be here soon, though, and the colors for May are blue, grey, and red so it'll be exciting coming up with new manis for that!

But back to this month's last post. To refresh, the colors for April are Turquoise, Pink, and Orange. I haven't used Orange for the last two posts so I had to bring it back for this last post. I wanted to do a splatter mani but I don't have any nail polish thinner. I tried to do it without the thinner anyways but it wasn't working for me. So I decided to do a freehand splatter! I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out.
**The turquoise that I am using is the closest to turquoise that I have**

To get this look:

• After applying a base coat, I put on two coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. White nail polish is always streaky unless you apply a few coats. You could still see some streaks through the second coat but since I was going to be putting splatters over it anyways, I decided to leave it
• I then put "blobs" (one at a time, of course) of China Glaze For Audrey, Sinful Colors Island Coral, and Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix. 
• Using a toothpick (you could use any pointy/sharp object), I dragged the polish outwards to create the splatter look. 
• I also added dots of each polish here and there to enhance the effect
• To end it, I finished off with a top coat!

Doesn't it look cool? It wasn't hard to create either. What do you all think of my final post for the Tri-Polish Challenge?? Leave me comments in the section below to tell me what you think! I hope you all liked it! I have a tutorial for this so I'll be putting that up soon.

Check back soon for my next 31 Day Challenge mani! Animal print is next and I have a great idea for that :)

Tri-Polish Challenge (April #1) - Dotticure

Hey guys!!

I'm participating in my very first tri-polish challenge, hosted by Debbie Crumpet from The Crumpet!!! It's so exciting doing all of these challenges! So just like the 31-Day Challenge, this challenge has rules too.

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 April are Turquoise, Orange, & Pink
• 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 April: 16, 18, 23, 25

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Here's a look at my first challenge mani!

I saw an amazing mani by Manicurator that I have been wanting to try and make. You can see her mani here. She created an amazing stained glass effect and I wanted to see if I could do something like that. It didn't turn out quite the same and I think it's because 1) she used darker polishes and 2) she used jellies. Mine are the complete opposite, light cremes. The mani still turned out pretty cool.

To add a little something extra, I added dots!

To get this look:

• As always, I started off with my favorite base coat Essie 3-Way Glaze
• The base was created by randomly dabbing China Glaze For Audrey, Sinful Colors Island Coral, and Maybelline Color Show Orange Fix
• I dabbed the different polishes several times until I was satisfied with the look
• Then I used dotting tools in various sizes to create the dots. The black dots were Sinful Colors Black On Black, the white dots were Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and the gold dots were Revlon Colorstay Fall Mood
• To top it all off, I used my trusty Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat

 *** I know the dots are not well made. My shoulders and back muscles are still pulled and I couldn't keep my hand steady for very long and ended up rushing 
**The turquoise that I am using is the closest to turquoise that I have**

I hope you all liked my attempt!! I'm looking forward to coming up with something else for this Thursday's (April 18) challenge mani!

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!

31 Day (Week) Challenge - Day 2: Orange Nails

Hi everyone!!

Week 2 of the challenge is here! This week's theme is orange nails and I was having a really hard time coming up with something to do for orange. All I could think about were oranges. Since that's what immediately came to my mind, I was determined to find something else that I could do.

After literally spending a few days looking at designs and concepts, I realized that doing monarch wings would be perfect to do with orange!! I've seen a lot of monarch wing nail art that has a gradient so I decided against that, opting for something more simple.

Here's what it looks like!

For this manicure, I started out using Revlon Amber Ablaze as a base coat. It already has some shine to it which I thought added a nice touch to the overall look. But I wanted some more sparkle, so I added one very light coat of Wet N Wild Fast Dry Orange on top.

For the wing details, I used a detail brush and a black polish to get the outlines. Then I used a small dotting tool and some white polish to add the white dots.

 

I'm SO happy with how it turned out because I thought it would end up looking like a disaster. I actually did mess up on one of the nails but since I did this very late at night, I didn't go back and fix it.

My friend from My Life in Turquoise is also doing this challenge with me. Check out her manicure as well!!

I hope you all like it! 2 down, 29 more to go!!

Autumnal Blur

I did these a few days ago since it is now fall. I wanted to do something to match the colors of the leaves changing because Fall is my favorite season and the leaves are gorgeous! Especially the trees near me. There are so many around me that turn bright red. These trees start turning red at the tips of every leaf and VERY slowly move down the leaf. So right now, some of them are half red and half green, where the tips all around the tree are red and in the middle, towards the trunk are still very much green. It looks breathtaking. Enough about these trees...!

One of the things I like about Fall is sitting in the car and just staring at the trees passing by. So I tried doing something to match what that looks like.

 This was easy to do but just took a steady hand.

1) Always always apply a base coat!!
2) The base color that I used was Revlon Golden
3) Then I used an art brush to lightly swipe across my nails. But I only used each color on a few spots on my nails and sometimes even only swiped across once for certain colors. The key is to not take up too much polish on the brush so that you can see the brush stroke on the nails.
4) Here are the colors I used, in order:
- Wet n Wild Sage in the City
- Zoya Sarah
- Revlon Sunshine Sparkle
- Revlon Amber Ablaze
- Zoya Edyta
5) Then to add some sparkle, I used Jane Megawatt and wiped the polish brush on the edge of the bottle so that most of the polish was off the brush. Then I swiped over the nail in the direction I did the other colors.

What do you think of my blur of autumn colors??