31DC2016 - Delicate Print - Madame de Pompadour Inspired

*Nothing to Disclose*

Hi everyone! For my Delicate Print in the 31 Day Challenge, I decided to revisit my favorite brocade stamping plate from MoYou-London! I have a Doctor Who design that I have meant to do for awhile (ever since I bought this base polish) and I finally did it!

31DC2016 - Gradient - Subtle Metallic Gradient

*Press Sample*

Hi everyone! I got a bit behind this weekend because I've had a cold AND I had to go out of town for a wedding, so I'm just getting to Gradient nails today in the 31 Day Challenge. I wanted something sort of neutral since I've been doing a lot of colors so far, so let's see what I came up with.

Flakies + Stamping with Essie Shine of the Times and Born Pretty Store Stamping Plates

*Some items in this post were sent for review*

Hi everyone! With the recent flakie madness, I decided to pull out one of my all-time favorite flakies, Essie Shine of the Times. What I love about this one is that it is SO DENSE and gives such amazing coverage with one coat. For this mani, I started out with a base of OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest and then I painted on 1 coat of Essie Shine of the Times. I decided I wanted to see what it would look like with black stamping so I stamped over the mani with a leafy image from Born Pretty Store plate 05 (Egypt Style) Stamping Plate and Mundo de Unas Black. The image stamped really nice and crisply, but my base sort of swallowed it up because it is so busy. I feel like it gave the overall look a nice "weathered" sort of feel, but I don't feel like it showcases the stamp as nicely as I wanted it to so I will use it again and do a full review of the plate. All in all, I really loved this mani and the flash of the flakes is so nice over a dark base.

Be sure to check out Born Pretty Store for all of your nail art supply needs (you can use my coupon code JCX31 for 10% off your order).  I've always had great experiences with ordering from them at very reasonable prices. Also, you can't beat free worldwide shipping! You can also follow Born Pretty Store on Facebook and Instagram. 

What do you think about the resurgence of flakie madness? I personally love flakies, so I can never get enough! I feel like I have most of my bases covered in my collection as far as these type of flakie are concerned so I haven't picked any of the new ones up yet, but I am still tempted... Thanks for looking everyone!

Darling Diva Polish I Hate Pink with Stamped Roses

Hi everyone! Today I have the mani I wore a week ago for Mother's Day. I'm SO behind! I have a backlog of manis to post that I will get to over the next few days. I started off with a base of Darling Diva Polish I Hate Pink. I'm going to do some regular swatches of it soon because it is just too gorgeous! It is a medium pink holographic with strong metallic pink flake shimmer. The shimmer is amazing! I thought roses would be good for Mother's Day, so I stamped using Essie Penny Talk and BM-323.

Darling Diva Polish is available from creator Carrie's Big Cartel Shop. Darling Diva Polish is also available from Llarowe. Follow Darling Diva Polish on Facebook and Instagram for updates on new collections and restock news.

Layering with Essie, Girly Bits, and Illamasqua

Today I have a layered look to share. I have been wanting to wear flakies lately, so this is what I came up with. I started off with a base of Illamasqua Rampage (the BEST dark green jelly I know) and then layered on one thin coat of Girly Bits Street Magic, which is a gold/green color shifting topcoat. Now that was magical on its own, but then I decided to make it EVEN BETTER and added one coat of Essie Shine of the Times. Manis that change in every light are my favorite sort of manis and this one really fits the bill.

Super macro fun again!

Now here are a few pics of Girly Bits Street Magic over Illamasqua Rampage before the flakies were added. Still a magical combination!

I purchased Illamasqua Rampage from Sephora.com. Essie Shine of the Times is unfortunately discontined, but there are several dupe of this polish around. 

Girly Bits Cosmetics' polishes are available from creator Pam's online shop as well as from 

e-tailers around the world including: Llarowe (US), Overall Beauty (US), Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore),Harlow and Co. (Canada), Femme Fatale Cosmetics (Australia), Foxy Fingertips (Denmark), and Maria Gastadeira (Brazil). Be sure to follow Girly Bits on Facebook and Instagram for news about restocks and new collections. 

Thanks for looking everyone!

Essie Watermelon + Heart Stamping

Hi everyone! So for the very last day of February, I decided to do one more heart mani. I have really been in a creme mood lately, so I decided to bust out an oldie but goodie. Essie Watermelon is part of Essie's core line and is a very wearable warm reddish pink creme. The formula is excellent, with even opaque coverage at 2 coats. This is a very good polish to have as a staple in every polish collection.

For a little last-minute Valentine's theme, I stamped using Bundle Monster plate H18 and Konad White. The stamping was kind of rushed and imperfect, but it looked ok in real life. 

Now onto ALL THE GREENS for March!! Thanks for looking everyone!

a-England Princess Tears Nail Art

Hi everyone! Today I have a nail art post for you featuring a-England Princess Tears. I've actually had this polish since it came out and have never worn it, but now I've used it in two nail art manis in the past few weeks. 

The first mani I've used Princess Tears only as an accent in a mixed texture mani. First, I used OPI Baby Please Come Home from the Holiday Mariah Carey Liquid Sands for the textured nails. Then I used Essie St. Lucia Lilac as a base for my pointed and pinky nails and came back and did dots with a-England Princess Tears. I really enjoyed the monochromatic look of this mani. 

Next I have a tape mani that I did a few weeks ago with Princess Tears as the base and another a-England on the tips, Lady of the Lake. First I taped off the corners with painter's tape and then I placed a single strip of striping tape parallel to the painter's tape for this lined effect. This mani was inspired by @faustgil on Instagram. 

I do have some pictures of Princess Tears by itself as well. It's a very greyed out lavender scattered holo with a pink flash. The pink flash is very apparent in real life, but got a little washed out in my pics. The formula is perfect like all of my other a-Englands. This is two easy coats. 

a-England polishes can be purchased from a-England's official website if you live in the UK as well as from several international e-tailers (see full list here). Thanks for looking everyone!

Mixed Textures With Essie Parka Perfect and OPI It's Frosty Outside

Hi everyone! Today's mani is a tribute to Sammy at The Nailasaurus, who has really done some fabulous things this past year. I love that her nail art is always so chic, clean, and approachable. This isn't a mani that she has done per say, but it was more inspired the way that she uses soft colors and mixed finishes/textures in her nail art. I always find her nail art to be simply elegant, and that is what I was going for here. I used Nailz Craze plate NC03 for the floral design and China Glaze Millennium for the stamping (The base is Essie Parka Perfect). For the textured accent nails, I used OPI It's Frosty Outside.

I've really been enjoying accent nails lately and I think I'm going to be using them more and more in the future. Thanks for looking everyone!

Falling for Nail Art: Sweater Weather

Hi everyone! Today's theme for the Falling for Nail Art Challenge is "Sweater Weather". This mani was so hard for me to do because it is still 80 + degrees F here in South Alabama, so sweater weather isn't even on my radar. But...I guess my nails can look they are ready for it, eh?

For this mani, I started out with a base of a dark teal creme, CND Urban Oasis. Then I used a sponge and lightly sponged on a mixture of Essie School of Hard Rocks and OPI Mermaid Tears to give the nails a mottled look, so it would look more "sweatery". Then I used Nailz Craze plate 03 to do the stamping. This was a hard plate to use because it needed to be lined up just right on every nail for the design to look uniform, and I failed a bit at this (on my middle nail especially). But the design is brilliant for winter. It would probably look nicer on someone with nice long nails, but, I digress...

Nailz Craze stamping plates are available from designer Natalie's Etsy Shop. They do ship from Israel, but I found that the shipping time and cost of shipping was very reasonable to the United States. Thanks for looking everyone!

Falling for Nail Art: Bobbing for Apples

Hi everyone! For today's Falling for Nail Art challenge, the theme is "Bobbing for Apples". I decided to utilize the theme in all aspects of my mani, including the polishes chosen. I started off with a base of Essie Jelly Apple and then added a coat of Candy Lacquer Big Macintosh. I used Sally Hansen Limestone to make my Granny Smith Apples with accents of black, white, and Revlon Emerald. I just did accents of the apples because I really loved the combo of Jelly Apple and Big Macintosh. And of course, I had to be cheesy and use a real Granny Smith apple as my prop.

An apple is hella awkward for mani posing, but I sort of enjoyed the abstract shots I got. Thanks for looking everyone!

Essie Smooth Sailing + Polish Revolution The Sea Was Boiling Hot

Hi everyone! I have a very soothing mani for you that I did this weekend. I was looking around my stash and I found one of my old favorites, Essie Smooth Sailing. The color of this polish is so pretty and the shimmer is just to die for! It is hard to even capture the awesome that is the shimmer of Smooth Sailing. It is one of my favorite Essies for sure, and I'm pretty sure it is part of Essie's core line now too.

In keeping with the theme of matchy matchy undies (see Purple Shimmer Sunday post) I chose to layer Polish Revolution The Sea Was Boiling Hot over Smooth Sailing. It was a match made in heaven. The glitters in The Sea Was Boiling Hot remind me a lot of the color palette of Lynnderella Forget You Not, but I like this small glitter version much better. This is 1 coat over The Sea Was Boiling Hot over Smooth Sailing.

Then I decided to matte the whole thing with 1 coat of Essie Matte About You. I loved every step of this mani progression. 

Polish Revolution polishes can be found at creator Lauryn's Etsy Shop as well as at Shoppe Eclecticco and Edgy Polish. Thanks for looking everyone!

Favorite Neutrals/Nudes

I'm going to be careful here when I say "nudes" because I am not generally a "nude" person. With my skintone, most true nudes do not look right on me, so I generally go for stuff that is more in the pink family. I want to include them here, separate from the pinks, though.

OPI My Very First Knockwurst. This one is actually a really a nudey pink, but it is PERFECT in every way. Holy grail material for me. It matches my skintone and I could not love it more. I didn't think I could love a "nude" until I found this one.

CrowsToes Birthday Suit (over OPI My Very First Knockwurst). I layered this polish basically to hide visible nail line, but it is such a lovely nude shimmer. Very flattering and great as a nude with a twist. 

Essie Vanity Fairest. This polish is so dainty and the shimmer is what makes it stand out to me. My very first "my nails but better" polish. 

OPI Care to Danse? My favorite of the OPI Ballet Collection (followed very closely by Don't Touch My Tutu...to be added to another favorites category later). This one is just perfect for a "my nails but better" look. 

Color Club Magic Attraction (2 coats over Butter London All Hail the Queen). Nude glitter? Well..I call it nude...ish? LOL...overall it reads very neutral but also blingy as all get out. This is one glitter that everyone needs for sure! Check out the blurry picture for the bling factor!

Butter London All Hail the Queen. This is very subtle and neutral. A no fuss, work appropriate mani. 

Color Club Cherubic. Flawless nude holo. And such a strong holo at that!

I know I don't have a lot of favorite nudes, but I think these are really nice! Also a good variety of finishes so I can go for a really safe neutral or one that steals the show. A lot of the other posts I'm putting together are going to be a lot longer so be ready. They are going to take longer to put together but I hope you guys will like them!