Wednesday 30 April 2014

Tip Top Nails Cha Cha Cha and Rocky Road

Good day to everyone! Today I have a special post for you. I was gifted both of these polishes through a facebook group that I am in. I received two Tip Top polishes all the way from South Africa. My first chance at trying this brand. Another big thank you to Kerry from the blog Painted Fingertips. Make sure to visit her blog too!

Cha Cha Cha #980 is a bright tiffany blue creme. Think China Glaze For Audrey, but brighter. I used two coats plus top coat. I found that it dried fast on the brush so you need to work somewhat quickly. It had good coverage and self leveled well.
Rocky Road #926 is a silver holographic glitter top coat. The base has a nice formula. Glitter payout isn't huge, so I recommend using the dabbing technique if you want the most coverage possible. The photos show one coat of Rocky Road. A regular top coat smooths this out perfectly.

cha cha cha 980

cha cha cha 980

cha cha cha

I really enjoyed both of these polishes.
As far as I can find, this brand is only available in South Africa. If anyone has other information, please share it! You can find their website HERE, but be warned that there isn't a whole lot of information on it. You can also follow them on facebook HERE.
Thanks for the visit. Hope to see you all back soon.

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Dance Legend 161 Thermal Polish

Hello readers. Today I have Dance Legend 161 for you. Dance Legend is a Russian brand that is available internationally at Llarowe.

161 is a thermal polish that when warm is a bright light grey/white and while cool is a granite grey. Also contains silver shimmer that shows nicely at all times. I used three thin coats plus top coat. I had no issues with the formula. Wore this for three days with only minimal tip wear when I removed. 

Dance Legend 161

thermal colour change

Dance Legend 161

Dance Legend 161

I admit that I have a bit of a weakness for thermals. I really loved this and it got a ton of compliments while I was wearing it. As mentioned, I purchased this at Llarowe. Unfortunately it is currently out of stock. Sorry about that. Hope you enjoyed.

*polish purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Saturday 26 April 2014

Divergent Cosmetics nail polish set - Sephora exclusive

Sephora recently released the Divergent Cosmetics make-up and polish line. I admit, I bought them all! My bad. The polish set consists of 6 polishes, 1 transforming top coat, and a set of nail water decals. As mentioned this is exclusive to Sephora and can be found HERE. The set retails for $33.00 cdn. Note that the bottle size is 8.43 ml. So slightly larger then a normal sized mini bottle. The water decals are meant to be cut to the size you want and then applied to the nail like a temporary tattoo. I did not try these. I have to mention that I love the box this comes in.
I did review all 7 polishes so the post is a bit long.


True Pearl is a sheer greenish shimmer. Photos are two coats with top coat. I didn't bother adding any further coats because it won't become opaque. It did apply nicely. I guess this is fine, if you like a sheer look. Personally, I would have labelled it as an effect top coat. The shimmer is very noticeable.

true pearl

divergent nail polish

Neutral Lace is a nude beige creme polish. The formula was on the thin side and I needed four coats for full coverage. This also didn't self level and it was finicky to work with. Nothing special enough about it to justify the effort needed to apply.

neutral lace

divergent nail polish

Opal Compassion is another sheer shimmer. Purple/green shift to this, almost like a duochrome. Again, I stopped at two coats because there was no point in continuing with more. Formula wise there were no issues. Like True Pearl, I would treat this as an effect top coat.

opal compassion

divergent nail polish

Violet Abnegation is a smokey purple/grey creme. It got greyer with each additional coat, which is unfortunate. I wish more of the purple remained. Three medium coats needed for full coverage. Leveled better then the beige, but still not completely. Top coat did help. Okay formula other then the leveling.

violet abnegation

divergent nail polish

Evolve is the transforming top coat in the set. So really the third top coat we're looking at. I used one coat over Violet Abnegation. No issues with formula. Translucent green and pink. Nothing special really.

evolve

divergent nail polish

Midnight Calm is a deep navy crelly. Unfortunately it ends up looking more black then blue. Three coats were used and again it had a finicky formula. Uneven and didn't self level. As I only swatched this I can't say if there were any issues with staining.

midnight calm

divergent nail polish

Well, overall thoughts, not good. Sad to say, but I found this entire set to be a big disappointment. Too sheer, too difficult, too blah. I didn't even like the names. Bottles have no design on them and are very small. Which at this point I guess doesn't matter because I don't see myself ever using any of them again. Personally, I would skip these if you have been thinking of getting them. Even if it goes into their sale section I would pass! Although if you have been eyeing any of the make-up sets in the collection they are fantastic. Buy that instead!
Thanks for sticking through the entire post. Hope to see you back soon!

*purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Tuesday 22 April 2014

OPI Sheer Tints collection - various manicures

Today's post is a bit different then my usual, so please bare with me. Since the OPI Sheer Tints are too sheer to be shown as a regular mani, I thought I would share a few different manicures I've done using them. This will be a bit pic heavy!

The OPI Sheer Tints collection consists of four jelly polishes. I Can Teal You Like Me - sheer teal blue. Don't Violet Me Down - sheer purple. I'm Never Amberrassed - sheer yellow orange. Be Magentale With Me - sheer dark pink.

I find these polishes quite versatile when it comes to nail art design. So many options. Unfortunately I find the formula itself to be lacking. It tends to dry on the too fast side and becomes stringy as a result. But if you apply it too thick, it doesn't seem to dry at all. I also notice a lot of bubbles in the finished product. If layering, give it a few minutes between coats to set or you will pull off your previous layer.

Up first is Be Magentale With Me over a simple stamping design. I forgot to write down what plate I used. Now I can't seem to find it! This is one coat.




This is what is referred to as the LeadLight technique. This technique is credited to Messy Mansion. I used all four of the colours to fill in the stamp. Plate is LilyAnna 06. You can see some of the little stringy bits hanging off the end of the nail. The base is Marc Jacobs Fluorescent Beige. You can see a full review of that polish HERE.




Last for today is what I am calling my Tie Dye nails. Drops of all four shades dropped onto the nail and then swirled around with a dotter. I had to do one nail at a time or it would dry too quickly to move around. One drop of each colour still made this very thick. You'll notice build up at the side of my nails. I tried to clean it up, but it was just making it worse. Tons of bubbles throughout.




So there you have it. Jellies really are fun to work with. Let your imagination run wild! I'll be trying out a few more manicures with these, even though they aren't my favourites. I purchased these from Nail Polish Canada.  For more information on LeadLight and LilyAnna plates visit Messy Mansion.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you liked the post!

*all products were purchased by me*

Monday 21 April 2014

Formula X for Sephora Omni and Bionic

Formula X for Sephora is their new line of polish. To view the collection please visit Sephora.

Omni is a royal blue creme polish. The formula had great coverage, but didn't self level. Top coat did help, but not completely. Photos are two coats with top coat. No issues with staining.

formula x omni

formula x omni

formula x omni

Bionic is a matte glitter topper. Various sizes of matte black and matte pale lime green glitter. Photos show one coat of Bionic. No digging or placement of glitter was necessary. No top coat used in photos.

formula x bionic

formula x bionic

formula x bionic

Overall thoughts are I love Bionic! Omni didn't really do anything for me. Of course, blue isn't usually a fave of mine, so that could be part of the problem.
Thanks for stopping in today. Hope to see you back soon!

*polish purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Sunday 20 April 2014

Easter bunny nail art

Hello all! Here is my better late then never Easter notd. For those that don't celebrate, we'll call it cute bunny nails! This was my first attempt at hand done bunnies. They were mostly recognizable!

Dollish Polish

Sinful Colors Mauve

Cult Nails Untamed

Polishes used were Dollish Polish You're A Real Sweet Tart, Pure Ice Super Star and Black Out, Sinful Colors Mauve.
Hope you all enjoyed your long weekend!

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Marc Jacobs nail polish Fluorescent Beige

Today I have my first Marc Jacobs polish for you. This was purchased from Sephora. I realized while editing that I forgot to clean up my pinky finger. Please ignore!

Fluorescent Beige is a pink/brown nude with a light purple shimmer. The shimmer is only noticeable in certain lighting, but it is mighty pretty. I found this to be quite flattering and would think that it would be a work appropriate shade. I used three thin coats plus top coat. Nice formula and no issues with leveling or streaking.


fluorescent beige

marc jacobs nail polish

fluorescent beige

marc jacobs nail polish

I also have to say that I think the bottles are pretty. The outer cap pulls off with no issues, so there is no fussing with a strangely shaped top.
Do you have any Marc Jacobs polish? Do you like them? I always like to try to new brands. Thanks for the visit, and I hope to see you back soon.

*polish purchased by me and all opinions are my own*

Monday 14 April 2014

Nail Polish Canada Easter challenge

Today I have my entry for the Nail Polish Canada Easter nail art challenge. I like to enter just for fun. It's a good way to challenge yourself to do something a little out of your normal range.

jelly polish

moyou london

nail art

chicks and flowers

In no particular order, here are the products used.
China Glaze White On White and Fairy Dust
L'Oreal Jolly Lolly, Berry Nice and Bananarama Love
Sally Hansen Insta-dri Lightening
OPI Sheer Tints I Can Teal You Like Me
Mundo de Unas Black
MoYou London stamping plate Princess 08

To visit the challenge page and vote for your favourite mani, please click HERE!

Thanks for visiting my page today.