Purple Shimmer Sunday: Illamasqua Poke

Hi everyone! For the second edition of Purple Shimmer Sunday, I have a polish that I've had for probably almost 2 years untried. I got Illamasqua Poke when I first started my polish collection and it have sort of forgotten about it. I even considered selling it once. It is SO PRETTY though. And also a beast to photograph. It has a reddish purple base, but it wants to lean really blue in photographs. I swear it has some sort of neon pigment in it. It has a fabulous silver shimmer with hints of blue throughout the base. This is 2 coats of Illamasqua Poke.

*Most color accurate pic...it leans more red like this*

After I wore Poke alone for a day, I added a cute blue/purple fine glitter topper from Nicole by OPI called Gone Wishin' (that was a gift from my pal Moxie over at Pied Polish Piper). I thought this worked really well together.

So all in all I love both of these polishes that have been untried for ages. It is fun to dig around and find treasures in my stash. Be sure to check out what Kristy has in store over at The Polish Haven for all of your purple shimmer needs on Purple Shimmer Sunday! Also check out Kathy over at Pied Polish Piper as she is joining in on the purple shimmer fun now as well. Thanks for looking!

Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams over Illamasqua Collide

Hi everyone! I guess it is the weather finally turning warm here (since it has actually been a pleasant spring here in Alabama without the usual hot as hades temps), but I'm craving bright colors. And one of my favorite brights to wear would have to be hot pink. I decided to dust off my favorite Deborah Lippmann polish, Sweet Dreams, and layer if over the neon pink Illamasqua Collide for extra brightness. Now Sweet Dreams can definitely be worn on its own and built up to opacity (I've done it in the past) but the flakie formula is not the best I've ever encountered so layering it over Collide made it much easier to handle. And boy is it pretty.

This Deborah Lippman polish is still available at HSN.com, which is where I purchased it from. Thanks for looking everyone!

Glitter Gradient with HARE Polish Dauphine of Decadence

Even before I got HARE Polish Dauphine of Decadence, I knew I wanted to pair it with Illamasqua Nomad. I think they make a stunning combo. I decided to do some glitter tips with Dauphine of Decadence over Nomad and I think it turned out fab. The shimmer in the base of Dauphine of Decadence is so dreamy and I totally failed to capture it in my pictures. I love the little minty glitters among the gold as well.

HARE Polish is available from creator Nikole's Etsy Shop as well as from Llarowe. Thanks for looking everyone!

Pastel Brushstrokes

Happy Easter everyone! I haven't done much as far as Eastery nails this year, so I wanted to go all out on Easter. I wanted a pastel look and I had several ideas (water marble, gradient, dots) but I ended up going with a brushstroke mani. For any of you out there that are afraid of nail art, this couldn't be simpler.

Here are the colors that I used:

L-R: OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, Revlon Buttercup, Orly Ancient Jade, 

Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream, Illamasqua Jo'mina

Here is a step-by-step:

1) Paint on your base color. Use the lightest color you are working with (in my case it was the yellow) and let it dry.

2) Get a small brush to make swipes of color on your nails. I have seen some people use the actual polish brush, but this didn't work as well for me. To make the "brushstroked" look, you want as little polish on your brush as possible or otherwise it will just make blobs of color. I opted to use a frayed, bristly brush so that the brushstrokes would really be apparent (it was an old ELF concealer brush that was partially melted off from dipping it in acetone for clean-up...nothing fancy! Haha!).

3) Get a flat surface (I used a paper plate) and blob some polish on it sort of like a painter's palette. It doesn't take much! Work with one color at a time because you want the polish to still be thin and wet when you swipe in on your nail. If you put all of your colors out on your plate at one time, the ones you use last will dry out and get thick before you get to them.

4) Dip your brush LIGHTLY into the first color and make a few random swipes on each nail. Repeat this with all of the other colors that you have chosen, cleaning your brush with acetone between each color and drying it a bit with a paper towel. Be sure to clean the brush or otherwise your colors will look very muddy. Also be sure to leave some of your base color peeking through!

5) Clean up your cuticles and seal with topcoat!

This sounds more labor intensive than it is. I think it took me 5 minutes to do once my base color was dry. You can do this with any color scheme you want and you can also try it with different finishes (and mix finishes) for a very interesting look.

I hope all of you have a blessed Easter! Thanks for looking!

Belated Mardi Gras Mani

So I don't really do much for Mardi Gras (read I don't do ANYTHING for Mardi Gras) but I do enjoy the color scheme. I got really busy this week and forgot to do a mani for Mardi Gras so here is my belated offering. I used Illamasqua Baptiste as the base and then did a reverse glitter gradient with China Glaze Glitter All the Way. When I got Glitter All the Way around Christmas, I thought it was perfect for Mardi Gras so I saved it for the occasion.

Did you guys do a mani for Mardi Gras? Thanks for looking everyone!

Illamasqua Collide with Zebra Print

So have do you ever have the desire to wear polishes/colors that are completely "out of season"? Well lately, I have had a burning desire to wear neons. I decided I didn't care if they are "out of season"...neons in January was happening. I started off with a base of Illamasqua Collide, a gorgeous neon pink cream/jelly. In some lights it looks really bright pink and in others it takes more of a coral tone. Then I stamped it with Konad Black polish and Bundle Monster plate 223 (Zebra Print? Tiger Print? Is there a difference?). I thought it was so fun if perhaps a little teenager-y...but who cares?

Here is Collide all on its own (2 coats). It has a creme-like texture, but it still has a little bit of a jelly quality to it. The formula is fantastic and not streaky or temperamental at all (as some neons can be). The neon quality of it is more apparent in real life. 

There is another neon animal print that I did this week that I will post soon! It was fun to do these manis to brighten up my dreary January. Thanks for looking everyone!

Advent Calendar Challenge Day 13: Snow

So today's mani had a few steps, but I love the end result! This is my favorite so far in the challenge.

First I started off with a base of Illamasqua Cameo, a gorgeous periwinkle blue creme. It wants to photograph more "blue" than "periwinkle"...but I promise it is periwinkle! It has a lovely formula as well.

 Then I layered on a coat of Girly Bits January Morning. This is SO pretty. It has tiny blue, green, and purple sparkles in it that are so difficult to photograph, but the are magical! I love this polish!

Then to finish off the mani, I stamped with Bundle Monster plate 323 using Sally Hansen Whirlwind White. I then used my dotting tool and dotted OPI DS Shimmer in the centers of the snowflakes for a little extra pizzazz. I am in LOVE with the final mani.

January Morning really pops under this more than the pictures show. I'm very pleased with this mani. I just wish it would actually snow here! Nothing but a bunch of rain. Thanks for looking everyone!

Illamasqua Nomad

Guess what...another Illamasqua creme! Did I mention that I'm obsessed with these? Well...I need them all! They are so fabulous! This one I have been waiting on for awhile and I am stoked to finally have it.

Illamasqua Nomad is a bright jade green creme. It is so vibrant and fun! The formula was top notch as well. This is two coats.

I decided to jazz it up a bit, so I layered it with Paul & Joe #14 (Confetti) , a primarily gold microglitter with multicolored and iridescent glitter mixed in. I loved this combo.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Illamasqua Noble + Flakies

So I have a new addiction: Illamasqua cremes. It all started with my purchase of Jo'Mina back in April. It is a positively gorgeous color and the formula is dreamy. I thought...ok...this is pretty awesome...but $12 for a creme? I didn't think I would be buying any more because surely there were dupey colors to the rest of them...right?

Well...fast forward to the recent VIB sale at Sephora. EVERYONE was talking about Illamasqua Noble so I thought I would throw it in my cart. HOLY CRAP! It is amazing! I didn't think anything could compare to my Jo'Mina love, but it certainly has jumped up near the top of my "fantastic cremes" list. Now...I need them all. All of the Illamasqua cremes.

This is two coats of Noble (with no topcoat...SO SHINY). It is an electric robin's egg blue creme. It is so smooth and applies like a dream. I've heard the color is similar to Zoya Robyn, but I don't have it to compare.

Next I decided to add some flakies. I used 1 coat of Essie Shine of the Times on top.

My hand looks super lobstery here...but the flakies are so pretty!





So yeah...I love Illamasqua cremes. Going to need some more. And guess what I got in the mail today from a swap? Illamasqua Nomad! So guess what my next mani is going to be?! So excited! Yes and by the way...I have about a week and a half worth of manis that I still haven't posted for you guys so those will be coming up over the next week. Sorry I'm so far behind but life has just been hectic lately! I hope to be posting more now though! Thanks for looking everyone!

Some Pinks for Breast Cancer Awareness

So not only are Halloween manis in store this month, but also pink manis in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. I've got three to share with you today.

First is a franken I made called Cosmic Pink. I absolutely loved how this turned out. In real life, the color was very similar to China Glaze Strawberry Fields, just with much more shimmer and teeny disco glitters.

My next mani was inspired by bottle shots of Deborah Lippmann's Raspberry Beret, a new polish that is coming out in a set for the holidays. I want it SO bad but I'm trying to limit by buying now so I tried to recreate it using layering. It ended up being a deep raspberry color with flakies. For this mani, I started off with 2 coats of Illmasqua Stance. Next I added 2 coats of Barielle Elle's Spell. Finally I finished off my flakie sandwich with one thin coat of OPI Houston We Have a Purple.

Finally I have an oldie, but a goodie: China Glaze Don't Be a Square from the Kaleidoscope collection. I was fortunate to find this at a dusty awhile back, but up until now it has been untried! Very pretty pink scattered holo. 

I know pink isn't everyone's favorite color, but I really happen to enjoy wearing it, although I don't reach for it often. And this month, it's for a good cause too! Thanks for looking everyone!