Spring, Butterflies, Gradients? Oh my!

Hi guys!! How are you all? On my end things are up and down as they have been the last few weeks. I've been feeling down and depressed and nothing really seems to be helping. Although there is one thing that has been helping, that  is my friends not just here at home but on the Internet too! If it hadn't been for their words of encouragement I don't know what I would do. I just have to remember I'm not alone in my struggles and eventually everything will work out.

So for today's post I wanted to share with you some nail art I did last week. Since the weather is finally getting warmer (its gonna be 60 today) I was inspired to do a bright manicure.

I started off with two of my favorite neon's from China Glaze, Pink Plumeria and Loves A Beach. The pair of polishes created a subtle gradient that I really liked. Then I decided to add some nail art. Originally I was going to do butterfly wings on all of my nails but since I like the gradient so much that I only did the accent nail.

I have to say I need to practice my butterfly wings more, my nails also need to grow out more too. Its hard to do a butterfly wing on short nails.

After finishing the nail art I waited a day and added Finger Paints Flakies in Flashy.  The iridescence of the flakies really made it look like a butterfly wing. I topped it all off with Julie G Jet Set Fast Drying Top Coat. It has quickly replaced my Seche Vite and Sally Hansen Insta Dry as my favorite top coat!

That's it for today! See you next time! <3 Nicole

Spring has Sprung!

Well hello again!

As promised in my last post here is my next post that is Spring nail oriented!

A while back before my two weeks of hell started I did some freehand nail art which I don't always get to do because I suck at it! I'm practicing when I can but nothing turns out the way I would like it to. I think that's why I stick to stamping so much.

Anyway enough pity party for one up there in that last paragraph lets get to it. Since Spring is FINALLY here, I cannot wait to start wearing bright clothes and spring dresses and not heavy sweaters and boots! Even though the temperatures are not Spring worthy yet, were still in the upper 30s to 40 degrees here in NY. A funny fact is that the weather guy the other day said that one year ago at this time we were actually having a heat wave, it was almost 80 degrees here last year! I wish we could have it back! We still have 3 inches of snow to get rid of!

Anyway one part of spring that I love is when all the pretty little butterflies come out, so that's what I decided to recreate was butterfly wings. I have seen so many nail artist recreate these I wanted to give it a shot. My favorite butterfly is the Monarch Butterfly as seen over on the left.



So to create my version I started off with three coats of China Glaze Orange You hot from the Summer Neon (2012) collection.

Here is a swatch photo of it on its own.

My photo makes it look more golden but its not it is very much orange! I couldn't get my editing program to color correct it :(.

Then I did a gradient of Love's a Beach on my tips, and then with a fine nail art brush from my Cheeky kit I got for Christmas I did the black out lines and then the white dots with a fine dotting tool also from the same kit.

All photos were taken with top coat and in natural light with the exception of the swatch of Orange You Hot that has no top coat.

 

 

For a first time take on butterfly wings I have to say I like them a lot and actually wore them for almost a whole week before changing the polish due to chips and pealing.

Since spring is here I hope I get inspired to do more spring nail art post and to work on my free hand more!

So until then I will talk to you all soon! <3 Nicole.


*Any and all nail polish mention in the above post was purchased by myself with my own money*

China Glaze Loves A Beach.

Hello all! Happy Friday afternoon!

It has been bitterly cold here in New York for the past almost week, I can't tell you how much I want the spring time to get here!

To help combat the bitter cold today I have a polish that will make you want to go to the beach!

Loves A Beach is from the China Glaze Summer Neon's collection it is a medium bright florescent pink. You could compare it to Hang Ten Toes its just a shade or two darker.

When Loves A Beach dries the shimmer that you can see in the other colors isn't too prevalent, at least to me it isn't. The finish is much more of a matte satin. With the addition of top coat though the shimmer comes alive and creates a great back drop for nail art or glitter.

The formula on this polish is pretty good, three coats take care of any visible nail line. It is definitely a good idea to wait a few minutes in between coats so you don't get any brush drag or bald spots.

I still believe that The Summer Neon's is still available to purchase through the online E-tailers. So if your stuck in the bitter cold like I am or just in need of a spring-ish color then you might want to pick up a couple of these colors!

Do you already own any of the Summer Neon's?

<3Nicole

Sephora X Nail Polish: Chaotic

Hello lovelies!

Happy almost weekend!

Today I have a polish to show you that I was very excited to get my hands on. I first saw this polish when Jen from The Polishaholic featured it on her blog about a month ago I want to say. Sephora created a new line of nail polishes called Sephora X, they have a ton of different colors and finishes, this polish is a part of collection called 'The Toppers'.  It is a black and white glitter polish! How cool is that? I know that some of the best B&W glitters come from all the amazing indie nail polish brands out there, and I do hope to get my hands on some of them one day, I just have to set up a PayPal account, which I always forget to do!

So this Sephora Polish is called Chaotic, which I feel its name does suit it. It does look like it creates chaos on the nail when applied over certain colors. Over other colors it just looks freaking awesome.

The glitter make up of Chaotic consist of small round black and white glitter, black bar glitter, medium hex black and white glitter, and large black and white hex glitter in a clear base. I think I would been a little bit more happier if they had put a bit more white glitter into the mix, especially white bar glitter.

Application is fairly good, the small standard brush can get stuck with some of the big pieces of glitter in between the bristles which can make glitter placement a little clumped together. Dry time is good and the finish is glossy but a little rough to the touch, not so rough that its annoying to touch it though. A good coat of your top coat makes it all better.

In the two pictures above I used chaotic over China Glaze Loves A Beach from the Summer Neons Collection,( I will have a full review of Loves A Beach soon) I also used it over Essie Mint Candy Apple, (full review to come of that soon as well). I think Chaotic over MCA makes it look like mint chocolate chip ice cream, anyone else think so?

Anyway the availability of Chaotic is pretty good, if you cannot get your hands on one of the many awesomely amazing  B&W  Indie glitters then this can help you get by until you do. Most Sephora Anchor stores have the Sephora X line, if you only have access to the Sephora's that are located in some JC Penny stores then you won't find it there and you will have to order it online through the Sephora Website. This polish retail for $11.50 each, which is pretty steep price tag for only a 10ml bottle but hey it is Sephora after all.

Until next time!
<3 Nicole