Comfy Sweater Nails & More Updates!!

Here is my newest nail art design. I was inspired by a sweater that I have & wanted to create nails to match my winter wardrobe. I had this idea floating around in my head back since Fall and was unpaitently waiting for Winter weather to do this design. 

Gray Color: Sally Hansen "Wet Cement"

White Color: Konad Special Polish "White"

Black Color: Konad Special Polish "Pearl Black"

Image Plates Used: BM204 & BM20

A few days after I went over this mani with Essie's "Matte About You." I think I might actually like this design more with a matte finish. 

About a week ago we had some light snow fall followed by freezing rain. Everything outside looked so pretty and was covered with a thin sheet of ice. As you can see in the second picture, there is ice around each individual pine needle. The ice blue glitter nails went perfectly with the weather.

Polishes Used: Deborah Lippmann "Just Dance" & Wet'n'Wild "Believe me, it's real"

So for some updates. Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I am taking block courses at college which are only 7 weeks long. Between work, 5 hour classes, and homework, I am struggling to find time to not only do my nails, but getting any spare time during the day to take pictures.

There is some good news though! I finally got a camera, but not just any camera. I finally caved in and bought a DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel T3i to be exact. I hope you noticed the quality of the pictures has upgraded from my last ones. At this time I only have the kit lenses, but I have a macro lens on my wish list which will really take my polish and nail art pictures to the next level.

I promise to start updating more! I am editing pictures now for another post I have coming up which features soft spring colors. I also have a DIY project I am dying to show you! I finished editing the pictures for the tutorial part, but I need to wait until Saturday morning to take pics of the final product. While I am at it, I am going to try to come up with a nail art design to match the bracelet, but we will see how that goes.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge!! // Red Nails

I have been seeing a lot of posts for the 31 Day Nail Challenge floating around on the blogisphere lately. It was tempting enough to make me take the plunge. I want to mention that there is most like NO way I will finish this in 31 days. Mostly because of the holidays are coming up I will want to take a break in between the challenges to do some Christmas nail art. Not to mention the holidays are hectic, so it would be extremely challenging to find time to paint my nails every day. Even though it defeats the purpose of the 31 day challenge, I wanted to do it also so I would have some direction to go in for those times I can't decide what to do to my nails. Plus, that means I will be posting A LOT more! Regardless, I want to complete the challenge as soon as possible. 

I wish I had more pictures to show you. Since the red came out darker than I had anticipated, the black card shapes seem to fade in the background. Either way, I love the dark shimmer this nail design provides & how the shimmering red and black go together.

Red Color: Orly "Candy Cane Lane"

Red Shimmer: Barielle "Elle's Spell" 

Black Color: Deborah Lippmann "Ruby Red Slippers"

Black Stamping Color: Sinful Colors "Black on Black"

What do you think of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge? If you already started, leave me a link to your blog in the comments, I would love to see what you came up with so far!! =D

Until next time .. Happy blogging!!

Deborah Lippmann Dance Music Holiday Trio // Review & Swatches!!

There is nothing more gorgeous than Deborah Lippmann's glitter polishes. I recently bought the new Deborah Lippmann Dance Music Holiday Trio. I am so excited to review them for you and show you some swatches!! I bought these from Nordstrom.com for $29.00 with FREE S&H! I also used my Ebates account to buy them so I can get some cash back while I was at it. =) Shipping only took about a week, so I was very happy with that. The Dance Music Holiday Trio is only available in mini sizes as far as I am aware of. But with the price reduction, it is worth it and very affordable.

The first shade I would like to show you is "Just Dance," which is a lovely aqua glitter. The glitter in this polish is finer than the glitters you are used to with the larger sizes, but it allows it to dry a bit faster.

This is 3 coats with no base or top coat. This polish has a medium blue jelly base to it, which helps you achieve opacity without using a base color. Since the glitter is more fine when compared to DL's traditional glitter polishes, it give you almost a foil-like finish which I love.

Next up is "Dancing in the Dark" which is a fabulous silvery-gray color packed with multi sized holographic and silver glitter.

For this swatch I used 3 thick coats, with no base or top coat. The jelly base in this polish is a bit less pigmented than I would have liked. However, I love this color, especially the dark shimmer quality it has about it. It would look stunning over a black base coat of polish & would be perfect for a night out or celebrating the New Year.

"Flash Dance" might be my favorite color from this collection. It is a nice pinky/purple color and the combo of the two works harmoniously together.

This color was the most opaque of the three polishes in this trio. This swatch is using 2 coats with no base or top coat. There is a darker purple jelly base in this polish which gives you rich color with two quick coats. This color is so mesmerizing and is sure to catch the eye of any passerby.

As I mentioned before, these polishes are only available in mini sizes for the moment. They are 0.2 oz each compared to the full sizes at 0.5 oz. The picture below is a size comparison of the full size v.s. the mini size.

(Pictured above: DL "Across the Universe" & DL "Just Dance")

The size difference isn't too dramatic. Honestly, I will most likely never use all the polish in my full sized DL bottles. So I think getting the mini sizes are a great option & I actually kinda prefer them! It allows you to own some of the well sought after DL glitters without hurting your bank account. On that note, I would really love to see them come out with more mini sized collections in the future. =)

The picture above shows you a size comparison of a full sized and mini set. On the left is my "All that Jazz" collection, in case you were wondering. The box sizes are a bit dramatic in comparison, but the boxes for the full sized collections are more wasted space than product. So don't turn away from these small trios if they are displayed next to a full sized set.

Overall, I am really impressed with the *NEW* Music Holiday Trio. I would definitely purchase them again and I would definitely recommend them.

What do you think about this collection? Is it a must have or pass? Which color is your favorite? Would you purchase the mini sizes or opt for the full sized bottles? Let me know! I would love to hear your comments!

& I need to give a BIG THANKS to Deriniti from My Pretty Nails!! Because of her, I finally figured out how to reply to your comments!! =) xx

Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe Swatch & Design

How gorgeous are Deborah Lippmann glitters?! They are so pretty I want every single last one of them. lol I used Pure Ice "All Night Long" which is a dark navy blue color for the base, then topped it off with 2 coats of Deborah Lippmann "Across The Universe" polish. I probably could have achieved the same color effect with a few coats of the DL "ATU" but I love this polish soo much I didn't want to use the extra coats if I can achieve the same effect using a base coat, so that's what I did. I think this and my Gosh polish are definitely my two favorites in my collection. I love polishes that don't need anything added to them to look this good, although my deco-tendencies made me add some pearls and rhinestones a few days later. lol I also used Seche Vite as my top coat, and this is the first time I experience shrinkage with this top coat. As you can see from the pics above, it looks like I have some slight tip wear, but the polish was freshly applied before the swatch pics. Meaning Seche Vite had to be the culprit lol.

What do you think of this color? Do you like the color more just by itself, or do you think the decorations make it that much more beautiful? Which polishes have you used that you experienced shrinkage while using Seche Vite as your top coat?

Oh My GOSH HOLOGRAPHIC & New Polishes!

 (w/flash)

 LED Light

 Fluorescent Light

LED Light

Sunlight

Do I even need to say anything?! I will anyway- even though I think the pictures speak for themselves lol. My Mom gave me some early Easter presents, including this Gosh Holographic polish which makes me feel bad after knowing how much she spent! lol If you ever checked out this polish on Ebay, you will know what I am talking about. But nonetheless, my Mom has given me the best polishes in my collection =)

I was having some trouble with this polish at first. I tried it out on my mom's nails that were already prepped with a base coat and the polish was like slipping and moving around on her nails. It was kinda weird. Then I tried to apply this over Sally Hansen's "Pure Chrome" and it worked a lot better over this polish. Apparently you are supposed to use this polish with a special base coat, so maybe that makes all the difference. The one thing I didn't like about this polish is you only get that awesome rainbow effect in certain lighting and angles. I got the best rainbow effect with flash lighting and LED lighting & in some lighting it looked like a regular silver polish. (I'm not sure if that was due to my base color though) I am going to play with this polish some and see what works and what doesn't, but either way, it is still gorgeous and I would guard this polish with my life! lol

Next up are these beautiful Deborah Lippmann polishes that my Mom also got me! (Bless her dear heart! lol) The blue one is "Across The Universe" and the red one is "Ruby Red Slippers." After seeing these polishes in person, I think this is going to be that brand that I am going to collect and make a special little spot for in my nail polish stash. =) They are just soo pretty I am afraid to even paint my nails with them because I don't want to waste any! lol I love the multiple glitter shapes and colors in these polishes, it really gives them this multi-dimensional effect that is so unique. Here is a close up so you can see what I am talking about..

I feel like my life is more complete with these polishes. lol It will be even more complete when I have the new BM plates too! =)

This week I will have more swatches & a review, a picture tutorial for my spring flowers nail design, and a really pretty pedicure that I will have to do more than once!