Layering: Gilded Marshmallow

Posted on February 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Okay… so this was definitely a layering that didn’t turn out quite as I had planned. Take a look…

Natural Lighting

Sally Girl Chunky Glitter Gold, OPI Powder Puff, Essie Shine of the Times

Artificial Lighting

Here are the layers I used:

  • 1 coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
  • 1 coat Orly Powder Puff
  • 1 coat Sinful Colors Snow Me White
  • 1 coat Orly Powder Puff
  • 2 coats Sally Girl Chunky Glitter Gold
  • 1 coat Essie Marshmallow
  • 1 coat Seche Vite

I like everything about this manicure until I covered up the glitter with marshmallow. I think it muted the sparkle a little too much. I had previously done a similar layering with multi-colored glitter, and thought that marshmallow would yield the same results. Now, I wish I would’ve mixed it with a little bit of clear polish to make it even more sheer.

Oh, well. You can’t win them all, right? It was still a pretty manicure, just not exactly what I had in mind. :)

Would you wear Gilded Marshmallow?

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OPI: Black Onyx Accent Mani

Posted on February 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

What’s black, white, and red all over? At the moment… ME!

Black Onyx, Ants in my Pants Accent

Black Onyx Accent Mani

OPI Black Onyx, Spoiled Ants in My Pants

OPI Black Onyx, Spoiled Ants in My Pants Accent Nail

Today’s mani is actually super simple, and it totally matches my outfit. Oh wait, that last part happens almost every day*! So today, I’m rocking a red scarf with a black and white striped sweater… totally gondolier inspired. Anyhoo… I figured my mani should be subtle… so I painted my nails black and simply accented my ring finger on my left hand, and my pointer and pinky fingers on my right hand. (As per my usual accent configuration.)

OPI Black Onyx is seriously one of my favorite black polishes ever. Black Taxi from Nails Inc. would be a serious contender for the list if it weren’t so ridiculously chippy. It’s a shame too, because their formula packs some serious shine!

I recently picked up Ants in My Pants from Spoiled, and I thought that would make a nice, subtle accent for this mani. It’s small and large hex glitter in a black jelly base… so it’s a perfect match for any black polish!

I started out with a layer of Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler, added 2 layers of OPI Black Onyx, accented with 2 layers of Ants in My Pants, 1 layer of Borghese Top Coat, and then a final layer of Seche Vite. OPI polishes never cease to amaze me with their formula, and Black Onyx is no exception. It’s easily opaque in just 2 coats. Ants in My Pants went on decently too. I would change their brush in a heartbeat, but for all intensive purposes, the inferior brush didn’t put a halt to this mani. The formula on this glitter polish is decent too. Nothing like Pet my Peacock!

I would definitely wear this mani again… Ants in My Pants aren’t so bad… That’s nothing compared to Squirrels in my Pants**!!!

Would you wear this layering?

* I paint my nails at night, once I’ve figured out my outfit for the next day. Coordinating the two has actually helped me cut down on my get ready time in the morning by A LOT! Seriously… I used to try on 5 or more outfits before I figured out what I wanted to wear for the day.

** Do I watch Phineas and Ferb, you ask? Why, yes. Yes I do. :)

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Layering with Essie Fair Game

Posted on February 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

So when I hauled all of those Spoiled polishes I’d been searching around for… I also picked up a bottle of Confetti Tazmanian Devil. I’ve been wanting to pick up a bottle for a while, but the Confetti displays are always pretty badly ravaged. In fact, when I picked up Tazmanian Devil, it was the last bottle on the display.

Tazmanian Devil wasn’t my first pick for a Glitter Sandwich last night. I had actually planned on using Spoiled Pet my Peacock, but that polish turned out to be quite a disaster. It really needs to be modified a bit before I try to layer with it again.

Anyhoo… I had also recently picked up the Essie 2011 resort collection on a trip to T.J. Maxx. It contains Da Bush, Lion Around, Fair Game, and Your Hut or Mine. Since I haven’t worn blue in a while… Fair Game was the winner for my base coat…

Essie Fair Game Glitter Sandwich

Fair Game by Essie

Essie Glitter Sandwich

Glitter Sandwich - Fair Game by Essie

Essie Fair Game, OPI Cotton Candy, Confetti Tazmanian Devil

Macro

Tazmanian Devil is not the first multi-colored glitter polish to grace my collection, but it does have something unique to separate it from all the others out there. If you look at the Macro, you’ll see very fine multi-coloured glitter in addition to small and medium hex glitter. This is something that most of the other polishes lack.

I actually really like the effect that the tiny pieces of glitter give this layering. It makes it look like the glitter was there to begin with, in a gray colored base. Oh, and speaking of gray, I bet some of you are wondering why Fair Game looks so gray when it’s supposed to be a shimmery blue-gray polish?

Layers:

  • 1 coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
  • 2 coats Essie Fair Game
  • 2 coats Confetti Tazmanian Devil
  • 1 coat OPI Bubble Bath
  • 1 coat Borghese Top Coat
  • 1 coat Seche Vite

I blame it on Bubble Bath! After 2 coats of glitter and 1 coat of Bubble Bath from OPI, my base polish took on more of a gray appearance than the shimmery blue-gray it had before. I have to admit, I actually prefer the end result! Some of the shimmer in Fair Game is still visible, and when added to the layered look of Tazmanian Devil, this polish takes on the look of a poured concrete floor with glitter mixed in!

What have you layered with Fair Game?

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Spoiled: Shrimp on the Barbie

Posted on February 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

WOW… I stayed away from wearing pink for a whole… 8 days… LOL!!! I just had to wear this pink polish though… I’ve been dying to try it since I picked it up on Wednesday. Meet Shrimp on the Barbie… a close cousin of Are Mermaids Real?

Shrimp on the Barbie Bottle Shot

Spoiled: Shrimp on the Barbie

Spoiled: Shrimp on the Barbie

pretty pink!

Shrimp on the Barbie

Shrimp on the Barbie by Spoiled

Spoiled SOTB

pink and gold shimmer...

Spoiled Shrimp on the Barbie

sunrise, sunset

Shrimp on the Barbie by Spoiled

shimmery blur

If you don’t already have this polish in your collection… You MUST run out and get it. Honestly, it’s ridiculously gorgeous.

For the pics, I’m wearing 1 coat of Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler, 3 coats of Spoiled Shrimp on the Barbie, 1 coat of Borghese Top Coat, and 1 coat of Seche Vite.

Application of this polish was pretty much the same as Are Mermaids Real? I must be good at picking out bottles with wonky brushes! Anyway… 3 coats went on very easily with decent coverage. This polish is sheer, but not quite as sheer as Are Mermaids Real?

Shrimp on the Barbie is a gilded rosy pink that I imagine would look awesome on any skin tone. It has gold and pink shimmer like Are Mermaids Real? but you’ll find more pink shimmer in Shrimp on the Barbie. The gold shimmer gives this polish a coral pink sheen when you’re looking at it straight on. So incredibly pretty. I bet this would look AMAZING with some glitter layered into it! :)

Did you happen to catch the pic titled sunrise, sunset? That’s totally the effect of this polish at certain angles. You get a really neat fade from coral, to pink leaning coral, to rosy pink. Then, add in the pink and gold shimmer, and this polish looks like a gradient mani without the work!

What do you think of Shrimp on the Barbie?

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Spoiled: Are Mermaids Real?

Posted on February 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

After the atrocity of a manicure I showed you yesterday… I’m proud to say that this purple beauty is completely devoid of bubbles and wrinkles!

Spoiled Are Mermaids Real?

(Sunlight)

Spoiled Are Mermaids Real?

Are Mermaids Real? (Natural)

Are Mermaids Real? by Spoiled

Are Mermaids Real? by Spoiled (Natural)

Spoiled Are Mermaids Real?

Spoiled: Are Mermaids Real? (Natural)

Are Mermaids Real? by Spoiled

Are Mermaids Real? (Sunlight)

Are Mermaids Real by Spoiled is a translucent violet jelly loaded with gold and pink shimmer. There’s way more gold shimmer… but look closely and you’ll see a pretty pink shimmer. Unfortunately I couldn’t get it to show up in any of my pictures. :(

This is such a lovely dusty shade… but it is a VERY sheer polish. Looking at it head on, the shimmer hides the translucence, but at other angles, you can definitely see VNL. I might have to layer this over an opaque violet to see if that corrects this problem. Maybe 2 Weeks Sober would do the trick…

Application was a breeze, even if the moppy brush had a scraggly bristle! What you see above is three easy coats over Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler. Then I added 1 coat of Borghese top coat and topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite. (In my mind, I still think this makes my nails trés shiny.) This polish might be sheer, but it’s so pretty… even prettier in person!

Have you picked up Are Mermaids Real?!?

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