NOTW: Sally Hansen Brisk Blue & Tuxedo

Hey all, sorry I've been MIA for a while, but I've been sick (again...ugh!) and haven't felt up to doing my nails. I was feeling adventurous, and decided to try and replicate Zooey Deschanel's tuxedo mani.

This mani started as just 2 coats of Salley Hansen Insta-Dri in Brisk Blue. So pretty, but, it started peeling the next day. Instead of starting over completely, I patched what I could, and cleaned up the worst nails (only one on each hand). On those nails, I used OPI Alpine Snow as a base, and Sinful Colors Black on Black to create the tuxedo.

I'm pleased with how this turned out, considering I'm crap at free-hand drawing, and had to do the entire thing with a toothpick. I'll definitely have to do this again.

NOTW: OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam!

My salon finally got OPI's Holland collection, and I couldn't resist picking up at least 1 polish. I picked up I Don't Give A Rotterdam! because the name is probably my favorite (next to Kinky in helsinki), and the color was pretty.

This is 2 coats of IDGAR! over basecoat, no top coat. IDGAR! is a slate blue/grey with silver glitter. So pretty. But I couldn't leave it just like that, especially since I also bought a bottle of Essie Matte About You.

*Sigh* I LOVE mattifying glitter/shimmer polishes. Please forgive the dent, my cat decided to play manicurist ;)

NOTW: Sally Hansen DVD

You know that cold that's going around? Yeah, I got it...of course. Today, my nose finally stopped running long enough for me to do my nails. Being sick = sparkly mani!!

This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen DVD over 2 coats of OPI Russian Navy Matte, topped with Seche Vite. This has been in my un-tried box forever. It looked so pretty in the bottle, I was worried it wouldn't look as good on my nails. Boy, was I wrong. It's an absolutely gorgeous glass fleck that shifts between blue and purple. *sigh*

In other news, did anyone see Adele's Louboutin mani for the Grammy's? I'm in love. I can't wait until my nails are long enough to attempt.

Go Big Blue!!!!!

Anyone else excited for the big game tonight?! I'm so excited that my Giants made it to the big game. I can't wait to see my boys play tonight! So, in their honor, here's my Big Blue Mani.

I started out with 2 coats of Zoya Phoebe (ring finger) and OPI Russian Navy Matte (all other nails). Then, I did 1 coat of Zoya Maisie, a gorgeous blue/green flakie, and topped with Seche Vite. So pretty...and blue! lol

Now I just need to finish making food, and I'm all ready for the big game. I better see some salsa dancing tonight!!

NOTW: OPI Russian Navy Matte + NYC Starry Silver Glitter

I've been under the weather the past few days, and finally decided this afternoon that I had had enough of my chipping polish (a sure sign that I'm getting better), and redid my manicure.

I started with 1 coat of OPI Russian Navy Matte, a navy blue matte, and then put on 1 medium coat of NYC Starry Silver Glitter; small silver glitter, and larger pink and blue hex glitter. Then I topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite. I absolutely love this look and can't stop staring at my nails! At a distance they sortof look like mini-galaxies, which makes my inner astronomy geek very happy :)

Urban Outfitters: Blue 1

I've got a quick swatch for y'all today. I was going through my stash and found a gorgeous Urban Outfitter's polish that I thought I'd share. This is Blue 1, a very pretty light blue. I ended up doing 3 coats.

This did give me several problems during application. It is fairly thin, and so was a challenge to keep it from pooling. The short stubby brush didn't help either.

That's all for now! Til next time!

NOTW: Nicole By OPI: Me + Blue

I never thought that I would one day own a Bieber polish, but this one called to me.

I lovelovelove this polish! It's a gorgeous blue with holo glitter. This is 2 coats of Me + Blue, topped with 1 coat of Poshe (I did end up putting another coat of Poshe on later since it is seriously gritty).

I was surprised that I really liked the brush for this polish. I wasn't sure about it since I have such small nails, but it was the perfect size for them. I only used 1 or 2 swipes per nail.

Rainbow Manicure

In honor of New York State's Senate approving same-sex marriagelast night, I did a quick rainbow manicure.

Sorry for the less-than-stellar picture. A couple nails on my left hand smudged, which meant I had to take pics of my right hand. Impossible, I tell you!

In terms of polishes, I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Cherry Red (red), Sinful Colors Great Wall (orange), Color Club Almost Famous (yellow), OPI What's with the Cattitude? (blue), and Zoya Mira (purple). I wish I had used a darker blue, but I don't have a creme blue any darker than Cattitude. I did 2 coats of each, except for the yellow which took 3 to even it out, and topped with Seche Vite.

That's all for now. Til next time!

NOTW: Zoya Phoebe

For this week, I decided to try out Zoya Phoebe, from their Mod Matte collection.

Phoebe is a gorgeously bright electric blue, that I can't stop staring at. I did 2 coats over a basecoat, and topped it with Seche Vite. The top coat really brings out the shimmer. Then, I added Sally Hansen's white crackle, Snow Blast, on my ring finger as an accent.

I really love how this turned out. I can't believe it took me so long to try out Phoebe, it's such a pretty color. And I got tons of compliments when I went to the store.

Unfortunately, I decided that the day after doing my nails is a good time to start scrubbing down the kitchen cabinets....without gloves. Needless to say, this manicure is wrecked. Bummer.

In other news, I recently started up a music blog, Records Spinning. Check it out if you're interested, and let me know what you think!

Til next time!

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat: Antiqued Gold

I was getting kind of bored with Essie Coat Azure, so I broke out my new gold crackle to it.


This was 1 coat of Antiqued Gold over my previous manicure. This isn't the best crackle out there, but the color is nice. Its a light gold, almost champagne color, which goes great with the blue.

Essie Coat Azure

So, I'm graduating from grad school tomorrow....YAY! But, I was having the hardest time trying to find a nail polish that wouldn't clash with the blue dress I'm wearing. I was just going to go with purple, my school color, but I'm going to a party after and I didn't want to clash. My friend had a great blue polish, Essie Coat Azure, that she let me borrow. It looks amazing next to my dress.

This was two coats of Coat Azure over base, topped with Poshe. Its a gorgeous dusty blue with a nice shimmer, which didn't really come out in the pictures I took. So pretty!!

In other news, I did go back and pick up the gold Sally Hansen crackle polish. I tried it out on a nail wheel, and it's awesome. I'm planning on using it for my next manicure.

That's all for now. Til next time, loves.

Sinful Colors Nail Junkie

Changing up the nails again!! I found out this morning that one of my favorite bands, A Silent Film, was playing a free show tonight at a bar downtown (if you don't know who A Silent Film are, check them out!!!). I wanted something more fun and flashy on my nails than the Mets colors, so I picked out one of my untrieds to use.

Nail Junkie is a gorgeous turquoise/aqua jelly with blue, green, and gold glitter. This is 2 very thick coats of Sinful Colors Nail Junkie, over base coat, with 1 coat of Seche Vite on top. I only did 2 coats because I kind of like the sheerness, but you would probably need at least 1-2 more coats for full coverage, depending on how thick they are.

Let's Go Mets!!

So, my friend, her mom, and I are going to a Mets game tomorrow, and taking a tour around Citi Field. I originally wasn't going to do anything special with my nails, but decided at around 10 that I should do something to show my team spirit (even though they suck...). Its not fancy, but it gets the job done.
On all nails except my ring finger, I did 1 coat of Morbid (Hot Topic) Black over basecoat. Then, I put one coat of Sally Hansen Blu. On my ring finger, I did 2 coats of Sinful Colors Great Wall. I topped it all with Poshe.


By itself, Blu is nothing special; really sheer and not that great looking. But, over black, it practically glows. I always get tons of compliments on my nails when I wear it.

Easter Mani

Hey all! So, I decided to jazz up my NYC Hint of Mint mani for Easter tomorrow (today?...it is 2am..). It's pretty simple, but it looks cute.

I used scotch tape as a guide, and used 1 medium coat OPI What's With the Cattitude? to make asymmetrical tips. I really like the color combination. It reminds me of blue sky and green grass, the way spring is supposed to look like. Unfortunately, the colors blend together, unless you look closely under bright light. :/ Still pretty though...

Well, that's all for now. Happy Easter, Passover, what have you. Til next time, loves!

NOTW: Scherer Chameleon Blue Sky

I found Blue Sky at Rite Aid the other day (along with Calypso) and it looked so pretty in the bottle that I just had to get it. Its a gorgeous duochrome that flashes between purple, green, and blue.

Indoors, artificial light

Natural sunlight

As you can see, it does not disappoint. Depending on the angle, it flashes between all three colors, reminding me of a peacock feather. This is 2 coats, over basecoat, and then one coat of Poshe. I ended up putting OPI Black Shatter on my ring nail because my cousin's daughter wanted to see how it worked. I really like how it came out.

Overall, application of this wasn't too bad. I had read some horror stories about this brand on different blogs, but it wasn't that bad for me. I did medium coats since it has a tendency to dry quickly, and then pull. I'm also loving Poshe right now. Its not as shiny as Seche Vite, but it dried just as quickly, and didn't shrink. Yay!!!

Yodel Me + Love Letters

My bottle of NYC Love Letters caught my eye when I was washing my face tonight so, despite the fact that my manicure is in shambles (polish peeled off of 5 nails) and I'm changing it tomorrow, I wanted to see how it looked over OPI Yodel Me On My Cell.

Please forgive the chip-age, this is after 7 days of wear. I did one quick coat of Love Letters over Yodel. I didn't put a top coat on. Look at the gorgeousness that this is. The pink shimmer is crazy strong, and looks so good over the teal. Why, oh why, didn't I think of this earlier?!

NOTW: OPI Yodel Me On My Cell

I'm going to see Civil Twilight tonight (whoo!!!), so I needed a rocking blue-ish polish to go with my outfit. Finally, I ended up choosing OPI Yodel Me On My Cell.

Pic taken before clean up. Its so glow-y and pretty! I can't believe I didn't get this when the Swiss collection first came out. This is three coats over base, and finished with Sech Vite.

Now I must go listen to "Letters From the Sky" for the millionth time. *sigh* Good stuff.

NOTW: Zoya Ibiza

Back in January, I took advantage of Zoya's 3 Free facebook promo and got my first Zoyas. I ended up getting Savita, Ibiza, and Valerie. I've already worn Savita, so I decided to give Ibiza a try.

This manicure was pretty basic. 1 coat of Ibiza over base coat. I love that this was completely opaque in 1 medium coat. I then put one coat of NYC top coat, when Seche Vite. I'm a bit disappointed in this one. It looks great under strong light (and with a camera flash), but under regular lighting, it just looks black. Boo :(