Cheap and Lovely Light Pink for Valentine's Day

I feel like always available and cheap polishes get overlooked. I'm guilty of this. I tend to grab my salon brand or high end polishes first, and I end up overlooking my less expensive brands. But the thing to remember about those cheap brands, like Pure Ice, is those are some of the most easily accessible brands for consumers. They're sold at Walmart for $2. Isn't it a little nice to know whether or not they're worth purchasing?

I always maintain that price has nothing to do with the quality of a polish. Pure Ice is a great indicator of that.

2 coats Pure Ice Love

1 coat Poshe

Love is a straight forward light pink creme. If I had to say an undertone, I'd probably say yellow, but I imagine it would flatter nearly any skin tone. I think it's a pretty safe bet that it will work on your skin tone. The formula was slightly "puffy". I find this formula on lighter colors occasionally, and I think it has to do with trying to make the polish more opaque. This is not a bad puffy polish. The puffiness aides in the opacity and I don't think it makes it difficulty to apply like some puffy polishes. So if you're looking for an OPAQUE light pink for Valentine's Day, or any day, consider Love! I'm also excited to try to stamp with it because I think it may come out pretty well. We'll see!

Valentine's Day Stamping: My Orly Submission!

Orly has a contest right now on their Facebook for Valentine's Day. I've always been a HUGE Orly fan and have gone on tangents talking about this many times in my blog. Trying to decide on something to do was so difficult! Because my Orly collection is pretty large, I have quite a selection of polishes that would work great for Valentine's Day. I was thinking of going more demure, but then decided to make it a little brighter and playful. Here's what I came up with!





Base is Orly Softest White
Bright Pink is Orly Fancy Fuchsia
Berry is Happily Ever After
Ring finger plate BM-209
Other fingers plate BM-317

If you're up for entering, or if you'd like to vote for my nails, go to the Orly contest HERE. My nails match the first photo I posted here, and I titled it "Happily Ever After".

Orly Basket Case

I've been using this polish for nail art for quite some time. But I've never worn it alone. I only have a mini bottle that I got on clearance for $.50 at CVS over a year ago. I love the polish when I use it for nail art, I figured it's about time it gets to be worn on its own!! If you want to see where else I've used it, here are the links:
Stellar Nails
Paintball Nails
My Little Pony Nails
Summer Water Marble












1 coat Orly Basket Case
1 coat Best Topcoat (this topcoat is terrible)

Basket case is a purple based pink creme. It's a pretty basic color, but honestly I thought it'd be a little bright. Something about it is just kind of dull, but I'm thinking it may be because I used that stupid top coat and not Poshe, and because I only used one coat.

This went on totally opaque in one coat, but I definitely suggest using two. I went against my better judgement and just did the one. I usually ALWAYS do at least two coats even if I don't need to. But it makes the color richer, smoother, and it makes it last longer.

Purple Polka Dots

So these are kind of default nails. I started with China Glaze VIII because I figured a nice, rich color would be nice. I hadn't worn one in a while. Everything looks gorgeous and dark purple after the first coat. Then as soon as I applied to second coat I knew it was WAY too dark.
For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you may know that I hate the dark vampy colors that just straight up look black. If I wanted black, I'd wear black, not super dark purple that looks black. But I will say this polish came off RIDICULOUSLY easy. No staining, smudging, nothing like that. Way easier to remove than your typical black. So that's a win.

Anyway, because the purple was SO dark, I wanted to so some sort of nail art with lighter purple. I knew stamping was out because I have no lighter purples that would've remained opaque enough stamped over VII. My initial plan had been to do a gradient with sponge stamping. Then I realized I had no sponges. So this is what I came up with.





2 coats China Glaze VIII
Lightest Purple - Sally Hansen CSM Lavender Cloud
Medium Purple - Essie Nice Is Nice
Darker Purple - Sally Hansen CSM Good To Grape

I'm sure you'll notice my ring finger is fairly different. This was the first nail I did, and I initially planned to use Nice Is Nice as the lightest, China Glaze Spontaneous as the darkest, and then mix the two before dotting them for the middle color. I quickly realized that was far too much work, and decided to scrap that idea. So that nail is the odd ball and I just didn't bother to redo it. Eh, oh well! Consider it my "accent nail".
And just so you don't think you're going mad, the photos have my left and right hand, so that's why one of my ring fingers is normal.

I'm Back!!

I'm alive I swear!! I abandoned my poor blog back in early July last year. A brief explanation. I got engaged May 27 last year, and then immediately started a class over the summer semester, then immediately went into the fall semester. Between working, school, and trying to plan a wedding, my blog has really gone by the wayside.

I decided to come back here due to a recent, exciting nail related event. Orly posted my Cherry Blossom nails on Facebook! You can see the post here (that should work), if it doesn't, let me know! I was SO shocked!! Those are nails I did back in March 2011 close to when I first started my blog. I'm just so excited and it really made me miss updating my blog.

I've been doing my nails as usual but without posting. I've been much more plain lately, less nail art. I've also been wearing polish for longer than usual... meaning like 3 or 4 days! lol. But I am not taking classes this semester, so I should have more time to work on my blog.

I think I may also post wedding things here and there. I won't be excessive about it, but if anyone else is like me, I love reading about people's experiences planning their wedding. I'm sure this is only because I'm engaged and planning my own wedding, which is why I won't post too much about it. But what do you think? Post about wedding stuff or skip it?

So let this be my welcome back post, and I thank you all who have kept following me even through my 6 month break! I'm glad to be back :)

Oh, and I figured I'd include a photo!!

I'm wearing Orly Happily Ever After in the pic! This was JUST after we got engaged at Castle Hill Inn in Newport, RI :)

A Classic: Essie Mint Candy Apple

When I first started getting big into polish, this was one of the first polishes I had to have. My boyfriend got it for me for my birthday along with China Glaze For Audrey and Essie Mademoiselle. I've used it in other posts and I have worn it on its own, I've just never given it its own blog post! I think it's about time :)











2 coats Essie Mint Candy Apple
1 coat Poshe

First and foremost, this polish is not "mint". I think the name is fairly deceptive in that manner. When frequently compared to For Audrey, For Audrey which is a "Tiffany blue" is actually more green than MCA because it's more turquoise. Don't let that be a deterrence from the color. It's still beautiful in its own right, just not what I would call "mint". All Lacquered Up has one of the most faulty photos trying to show the color. She's usually spot on (unfortunately I haven't seen her update her blog in quite a while), but her photo of MCA is definitely off. What I find is interesting is it seems like she got to try the polish before its release. I'm thinking this is what the original intent of the polish was to look like, but before it was released, they changed the color quite a bit making it not really mint at all. If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, click here for her blog post about MCA.

Anyway, onto the color. This is a beautiful bright light sky blue/robbin's egg blue creme. I kinda hate describing blues because they're SO various. But the important thing about this is the brightness and the lack of mint undertones.

The formula is eh. It's on the thicker side and is one of those that dries VERY quickly on the brush while you're mid-paint. I'd imagine it's far easier to use if you have shorter nails just because you'll be able to paint it down your nail before it starts to dry. It like seizes up. It's kinda annoying. It is also uneven. My recommendation for these types of polish is always to take it slow. The brush needs to rest in the bottle between nails and you can't do a ton of coats before re-dipping the brush. Take your time with it and it'll come out much better. If you try to rush, it's going to come out poorly and you'll just get frustrated. But this is such a beautiful color, and will especially make your hands look even tanner in the summertime because of the underlying brightness. It's definitely worth it despite the formula IMO.

Spring Flower Stamping

Gargantuan Green Grape is probably one of my favorite spring colors ever. I'd probably wear it more if the formula (quite honestly) did't SUCK so badly. I've already posted about it before because it really is like the prettiest spring green, but you've gotta be prepared when you apply this color just because it's sheer, patchy, and not friendly. Anyway, I was wearing it and decided to spring it up even more! This is what I came up with








I really love the full hand shot



And I wasn't sure if I wanted to add the dots to the center of the flowers, so here is what it looked like with just the stamping before the dots




Stamping with Bundle Monster plate BM224 using China Glaze Heli-Yum
Blue dots with OPI Fly
Yellow dots with Revlon Electric
Dots made using dotting tools

Rainy Day Dots

This was pretty much what I had in mind back when I did my silver and purple dots. I wanted to redo it with these colors, and I intended to add more dots, but I love doing these mani's, so that just gives me an excuse to do it again!!












2 coats Orly Mirror Mirror
1 coat Best Top Coat
Dots are done with:
OPI Fly
Orly Frisky
Essie Mint Candy Apple

I actually did not top coat the dots because I loved the kind of raised effect they had. These photos were taken like 2-3 days after I initially did the mani. I'm sure you can tell due to my lack of posting that I've been very busy lately. I hadn't gotten around to photographing them until then. And even now, it's been a while since I actually had these nails.

China Glaze Heli-Yum

This is a polish I love to use with nail art. It's a staple stamping polish for me. The only pain about stamping with it is it's nearly identical to the color of my Konad stamper, so it's pretty difficult to see where you're going to stamp it. So I figured it was about time to wear it on its own!












2 coats China Glaze Heli-Yum
1 coat Poshe

So beautiful! This was from China Glaze's Up & Away collection which was one of my favorite nail polish collections ever released. I'm still trying to collect all of the colors. It'll happen eventually! But Heli-Yum is a beautiful almost red dark pink creme. If you tell yourself it's pink, it looks pink. But at first glance, it may look a little more on the red side.

The formula was perfect. Because reds/pinks are such basic polish colors, I have very high expectations when it comes to formula on these shades. Thankfully, this one did not disappoint. It was beautifully opaque in one coat, but I always prefer to do a second just for added richness and I find it reduces tip wear.

Summer Ocean Tide Gradient

In honor of my new blog look, I decided it was the perfect time to post these nails! (I'll be updating the header to something nicer soon). I apologize for not being around. My life has been CRAZY lately! More on that to come later. First, I'm going to be posting all my backlogged posts, then I'll get into the new stuff.
I love doing summer nails. I usually love spring nails, too, but I'm finding myself skipping spring nails and jumping right into summer. And I'm big on blue polishes in the summer especially because obviously blue=ocean and that's one of the best things about summer!











2 coats OPI Fly 1 coat Poshe Gradient done with makeup sponge starting with China Glaze White On White and covered by OPI Gargantuan Green Grape I loved my method for this the only thing I would have changed would be to not let the green go up so high. Looking at the full hand view, you can see GGG dominates more than I wanted on some nails (ring finger). So what I know GGG is too sheer to just stamp over Fly on its own. So I took my makeup sponge and painted some white on it and just dabbed it from the tip towards my cuticle so it gave somewhat of a gradient effect. I didn't want to to blend well or I would have used a different method to make it a smoother transition. So then I painted GGG onto the sponge and went over the white in the same fashion. The white was covered by GGG and it left it green.

The other thing was I opted to NOT top coat. I actually top coated my hand I didn't photograph and it made the colors blend too much for the look I was going for and it smoothed everything out. I love the texture it has without a top coat. Exactly what I pictured minus going too far down on a few nails.

Here in New England we don't have the best beaches with the most beautiful water, but it's pretty in its own right! I'm throwing this photo in because it's fitting to the post. I took this in early/mid May this year while some of my girlfriends and I were having dinner at a restaurant that is literally on the beach. (This was at Paddy's at Misquamicut Beach if you live in the area or are visiting Rhode Island).

Orly Beach Cruiser

I picked up Beach Cruiser and Skinny Dip from Orly's new summer neon collection Feel The Vibe at Sally's yesterday. I don't own a neon yellow or orange so I was tempted to get those, but I didn't and stuck with these two instead. Unfortunately, I'm a little disappointed in Beach Cruiser because it's really not what I expected.







2 coats Orly Beach Cruiser
1 coat Poshe
I know I said I'd try to cut back on photos since I tend to post so many, but I figured since at the time I'm posting this, this is a new polish, the extra photos might help since they're in slightly different lightings.

The color is where I'm disappointed. I was under the impression that these were true neons. I know Skinny Dip isn't going to be, but I really expected that Beach Cruiser was. It's a very bright hot pink/fuchsia-ish color that's a little darker than I expected. But I'm really not seeing neon. It kinda borders between a neon and bright, but unfortunately, I just don't think it's a true neon. The other thing that gives me a hunch that it's not a true neon is it doesn't have that satin, semi-matte finish that is a trademark of a neon. I did a swatch on my nail wheel because I always top coat my polish anyway, and it looks quite shiny even without a top coat. When I picture summer neons, I picture China Glaze's Poolside collection. And don't get me wrong, this is still a BRIGHT color. I'm just still not convinced it's a neon. And also don't think that I don't like this polish. I still think it's a beautiful color. I just really expected more of a real neon.

The formula was flawless (another reason why I think it might not be a neon! lol). Not streaky, patchy, or sheer. Completely easily opaque in 2 coats. It was a perfect consistency, and I don't think this needs to be layered over white at all as some neons do to reach their full potential.

Overall, it's an amazing quality polish, a beautiful summer bright hot pink, but it's not the neon I expected it to be.