L.A. Girl 3D Effect Teal Dimension

Hello lovely readers!

So we are back to Monday, how blah. I'm kind of glad I work in retail only for this one point I am going to make, I enjoy having days off during the week. I think if I had a Monday through Friday job that I didn't like (like retail) I would go nuts. I'm not saying I love being a part time associate but I do love getting three days off every so often.

Today I bring you one of the new L.A. Girl 3D Effects! I purchased this at Rite Aid as soon as I heard they were out. I love the color teal, its just one of those colors that for polish next to pinks and purples I am drawn to buy. Although I don't have many teals in my collection, I think every time I see one I just think I have three at home, unless its absolutely unique then I don't need it.

Well this was definitely a unique polish, I don't have a teal scattered holographic polish!

Application of Teal Dimension was nice two coats and its opaque. These L.A. Girl polishes like the Milani 3D holographic's have a jelly type formula which I like but some of the darker jelly polishes in this collection are a biotch to clean up! These don't stain or anything but if you miss a spot during clean up and then take your photos you will notice it when editing.

I love the sparkle that this polish has! I wish I had gotten better pictures in the sun, but it didn't want to cooperate that day! I feel like this is polish I am definitely going to rock on my toes this summer when I hit the beach in Florida in June or if I go to the lake with friends back home here in NY. I know it will definitely distract my niece, she is getting to that age now ( 7 months) that she is noticing things on the person who is holding her. The other day she couldn't stop touching my watch! I think between her mom's love for makeup, hair and hockey and my love for makeup and nails she is going to be  girly girl who wields a hockey stick!

So if you want to get your hands on this pretty polish then they should be available at Rite Aid or Online! I paid $3.99 for mine. These sold like hot cakes too because when I went back to Rite Aid to look for new stuff the display was and still is practically empty!

So I hope you enjoyed this post!
Until next time! <3 Nicole

Zoya VS. L.A Girl

Well hello there! Wow its nice to be back writing here at the blog! As you know things have been crazy over the last month but now that they are al settled down for the most part I hope to get back into a routine and start Free For All Beauty Fridays, like I had mentioned in my post a couple weeks ago.

Today's post is going to my very first dupe post! Back at Christmas time Zoya released their Ornate collection which held highly sought after holographic polishes! I know that I was on the look out for them when they were released, and even though they were not linear holographic polishes, none the less I wanted them for my ever growing collection!

Just before Christmas I was lucky and found them at the Beauty Plus Salon, I also had yet to swatch them or wear them for the blog. Such a fail I know! But now almost five months after Christmas L.A. Girl released a scattered holographic collection. L.A. Girl can be found in some Rite Aids (that's where I got mine) and I believe on Cherry Culture's Website.

When looking at the L.A. Girl collection I had remember someone said that three of the polishes looked like dupes of the Zoya Xmas polishes, and to my surprise I had bought one and didn't realize it. The L.A. Girl Purple Effect was the first one I had purchased and thought that it was actually darker than its counter part Aurora from Zoya. But when I compare the two bottles side by side, there was no denying that they were sisters, identical twin sisters. I even posted a picture on Instagram about it. That became the deciding point that I wanted to purchase the other two to do an official dupe post!

**NOTE: In all pictures I am holding the Zoya bottle since it was easier to get a better picture with it.
Except for the last one... so much for continuity.

**On my middle and pinky fingers I am wearing the L.A. Girl 3D Effect and on my pointer and ring fingers I am wearing the corresponding Zoya polish. Goes for all pictures***

So we shall start with the polish that began my dupe adventure. Zoya Aurora Versus L.A. Girl 3D Effects: Purple Effect.

When wearing both polishes on your hands you really cannot tell a difference at all. The sparkle is the same on the nail so neither polish has more scattered holo than the other.  So if you don't own the Zoya or don't have access to it, then the L.A. Girl might be a nice alternative for availability  and price point. Zoya sells for a bout $8 and L.A. Girl was $3.99

If your a nail blogger you will notice the subtle differences, such as L.A. girl is a bit thicker than the Zoya and applies to the nail thicker as well. Even though L.A. Girl is thicker drying time is not affected.

Next up is Zoya Blaze Versus L.A. Girl Sparkling Ruby.

I noticed that the names of the L.A. Girl Polishes were not very unique at all where as some had fitting names. Some just said the name of the color and then 'effect' after and some have names like this one.

With Blaze and Sparkling Ruby once again identical twins, even formula wise they were the same not thick but not watery either. The holo effect is nice in person and most difficult to capture on camera. One detail I did notice is that in the bottle Zoya Blaze looks like it has more chunky pieces of holo than L.A. Girl but it doesn't translate on to the nail that way.


Finally we have Zoya Storm Versus L.A. Girl Black Illusion.

Who doesn't love a black holo? I have to say I do not like black polish on me unless its being used to stamp with. It makes my fingers look stubby and overall its just a hard color to clean up. I think I had black polish on my cuticles for days and still a little bit on my thumbs.

Anyway Storm and Black Illusion conclude as the identical twins, once again formula wise they are the same, a bit sheer on the first coat but by the second its opaque and ready to go. The holographic bits are no different; as like I said with Blaze; Storm also looked more holo in the bottle than Black Illusion.

So all in all if you have the Zoya you don't need the L.A. Girl or vice versa, unless you want back ups of course. If your a polish addict who doesn't need a back up of a polish once in a while.

Going toe to toe, Zoya is slightly more expensive at $8 a bottle and L.A. Girl at $3.99 a bottle. Please also remember prices may differ where you live due to location. I believe the $8 price tag for Zoya is always the same on their website, as for purchasing Zoya polishes in beauty supply stores like Ulta or Beauty Plus Salon the prices may vary.

 That's all for today! Hope you enjoyed and I will talk to you all soon!
<3 Nicole

Countdown to spring!

Hey fellow polish lovers!

Today I bring you a Spring inspired splatter manicure. I feel like I always talk about the weather when I do a blog post, mostly its complaining about how horrible the weather is but today its about how spring is making its way in to New York!

Even with the crazy ass weather we have had where it snows for a day then is gone the next becaue it gets warm out I am super excited that spring is 10 days away! I've already got some spring/summer dresses out and ready to be worn when the snow melts and the weather starts to stay steady in the temperatures.

So for this manicure I started off with a base of China Glaze light as air. Wanting to add some bright colors to it grabbed some straws and some spring colors and went to work,.

The colors I used are Orly: Its not me. It's you. Pure Ice: Twinkle. Wet 'n' Wild: I Need A Refreshmint.

I'm still kind of new to the whole splatter manicure, I have only done one other which was back at Halloween time last year.

To add just a bit more of sparkle, I used this unlabled L.A, Girl Rockstar polish that Adri, from Morie's Nail Art sent me! It is a dupe for China Glaze Fairy Dust but its done with gold holo glitter.

Thats it for this post! I hope you enjoyed and I'll talk to you all soon!
<3 Nicole

Ghostly Nails

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hope you all are having a safe and awesome Halloween!

So as you know the east coast got devastated by Hurricane Sandy, up here in the Hudson Valley we were spared, not a lot of rain but it was pretty windy. My dad however who is on Long Island where my grandfather is was in the brunt of the storm. As of Monday night he had texted to say he was without power and would call us in the morning. Sadly there is very limited cell service right now as it went out with the power, we have had a few calls from him since then and he is fine. It worries me because he is my dad and I miss him. He has no way to get home right now since the train service is suspended until the fix everything which could take some time, and he maybe without power for 7-10 days. I know he wants to come home soon so I'm praying that the train service gets restored soon and he can come home.

Anyway on to today's post! Ghosties for Halloween!

If you have a last minute party to go to and have no idea what to do with your nails here is a quick little idea.

First off you want to paint your nails with a black polish.After you base coat your nails of course!  I used a little mini black polish from L.A. Girls. Let that dry completely!

Then with your dotting tool and a white polish make your ghosties! Let them dry. Then if you want as an optional step, you can go over the white polish with a glow in the dark polish and then let that dry as well.

Finally dot on black eyes and a mouth and once your design is completely dry, seal it in with your favorite top coat!

So here are my ghouls! And the last photo  is of them in the dark! I love how they glow! I was so surprised that my camera actually picked it up and I didn't need a special light or something!

Okay so I hope you enjoyed that! Can't wait until December to do Christmas Nail art! Hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!

<3 Nicole

L.A. Girl Disco Brights. Vinyl Record.

Holy crap!! Long time no post! I am so sorry for not posting! The last time I posted was the last day of the SNARRRKM Challenge. That's over two weeks! I feel that is so unacceptable! I just wasn't inspired by anything.

Although today I am back! Today I have a polish from L.A. Girl Disco Brights polish. This photos and notes on this polish has been sitting in my 'need to blog' folder for at least a month now!

 All of the polishes that are in this collection are creme finishes and glow under a black light! I sadly do not have a black light, so I can't show you how cool this polish is.

Vinyl Record is a pretty teal creme that leads more blue then green. I think I have like three of them now!

The formula on this polish was a dream. Two coats and perfect opacity! The brush is the usual standard brush and I had no problems with it.

I think that this polish would be great to stamp with and then sticking your hands under a black light and only the bits that you stamped light up!

L.A. Girl polishes are usually sold at Rite Aid. At least that's where I got mine from. I don't actually remember how much this was but I want to say it was probably $3.99.



31 Day Challenge. Day 13 Animal Print!

Happy Friday the 13th!!

I think that this has been one of the post that I could not wait to do next to the rainbow one! Ever since I got my nail stamping kit and saw that I had gotten a leopard print pattern I couldn't wait to use it.

With the salon express kit that I bought it is definitely a trial and error project. I think I went through every one of my polishes before I found out that only some of them work with the kit.