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Showing posts from November, 2013

Illamasqua, Faithful.

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I have a bit of a problem when it comes to brown polish… I have too much of it! Ever since I was a teen I tend to gravitate to browns. It's one of the colors that dominates my wardrobe as well. I try to be aware of it and try different colors but there are so many different tones & shades of it that I just can't resist! I literally picked up 6 different brown polishes to put on (and that's just in my Untrieds) before I suddenly remembered this lovely shade I purchased quite awhile ago. Faithful has this incredible glow from within and also has gold glitter scattered throughout. It's beyond pretty. Outside at Sunset. Outside in Shade. The formula was excellent as usual; the perfect consistency for a nice & neat application. I initially only did two coats of color but I saw a few areas that were a little bare so I did a 3rd. It helped to clear up those few bare areas and it also added some depth to the color. Dry time was average. I added a top coat

China Glaze, You're A Hoot.

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I'm a fan of bar glitter. Not the really long and chunky bar glitter, but the smaller finer version. When all the 'fuzzy' or 'feather' glitters started popping up I instantly loved them. As soon as China Glaze's On The Horizon Collection was out I snapped up my favorites. I especially loved this one with its combo of Orange, Yellow, and Black glitters in a clear base. It's perfect for fall. I layered one coat of You're A Hoot over Desert Sun . You can easily see all the different glitters over this base and that's exactly why I chose it. It's like pumpkin pie with sprinkles on top. The formula on these feather effect glitters isn't the worst but you will definitely need to use the dabbing technique to get the glitter where you want it. Just brushing it on like regular lacquer will leave you with very uneven coverage; some areas will be too heavy and others too sparse. I started with a dollop of the glitter at the base of my nail and

China Glaze, Desert Sun.

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2 coats. Topped with Seche Vite. I've had some of China Glaze's On Safari Collection colors sitting on my Wish List Pinterest Board for quite some time. I finally decided to treat myself a few weeks ago and picked up a few of them from eBay . I'm a sucker for a neutral nail and this one is no exception. Not only is it incredibly flattering it also looks like pumpkin pie filling and makes me wanna eat my nails. Probably not a good color for a nail biter, right? Formula was a little on the thin side so you want to stick to thin coats. It's a little bit sheer as well but 2 coats made it opaque enough for my preference. I got a bunch of bubbling but I just took Shellac off my nails and I think I left some of the residue on my nails so more than likely that's why. Dry time was average. I added a coat of Seche Vite to help smooth the bubbles for my photo. I purposely chose this color because I have a glitter topper that I want to layer over it. Check back on Fr

Icing, Red-Y or Not, Here I Am & CND Effects, Crimson Sparkle.

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Layered over Essence Vampire's Love, Gold Old Buffy. I decided to make my Essence Vampire's Love, Gold Old Buffy more vampire-ey. Meaning I had to add some red. Not just some but a lot. I used two different red lacquers to achieve my interpretation of 'vampire-ey'. Icing, Red-Y or Not, Here I Am layered over Gold Old Buffy; before I added Crimson Sparkle. First I started with Icing's Red-Y or Not, Here I Am . This is a basic metallic red glitter in a clear base. Nothing unusual but a staple in any collection. This one is very dense and I'm thinking it would be opaque on it's own in 2 - 3 coats. I applied it at the cuticle heavily, letting the brush fan out, and then lightly pulled it towards the free edge of my nail to give it a graduated look. The formula was really easy to work with for this purpose because it's a little on the thick side. That prevented it from looking messy. It also dried super quick, as most glitters do. Icing has thes

Essence Vampire's Love, Gold Old Buffy.

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2 coats with Seche Vite. I'm sorry to have to do this but I'm showing you a HTF polish today. This is Gold Old Buffy by Essence ; part of the 1st release of the Vampire's Love LE Series. Since I am a hard-core Buffy The Vampire Slayer (both the movie and TV series) fan I just had to have this. I have been lemming it since it was first released. I finally snagged it from a private seller a few months back. It's an opaque black jelly base filled with gold micro flakes. So awesome! Formula was on the thick side but not difficult to apply. Dry time did take a little longer and I experienced bubbling but a coat of Seche Vite smoothed things out. It's a little on the sheer side but 2 coats got me to an opacity I was happy with. I plan on amping this mani up a bit as well so stay tuned.