Hi all, just wanted to share some news!


This is an AMAZING prize!!!! If you haven't already, head on over to Bareille's Facebook page HERE and sign up to win!

And if you want to check out all that Barielle has to offer, check out their website HERE!

xoxo,
-j

Hi everyone, sorry it's been so long. As many of you know, I'm getting married in a few months and we're at crunch time now! My head is swimming and my ear is constantly glued to my phone speaking to this vendor or that vendor! Gahhh!

I just wanted to let you know I didn't fall off of the face of the earth, I just don't have much spare time for myself to relax and swatch. It takes time to get decent pictures in decent lighting. le sigh.

Hopefully I'll be back in the game soon and stop running around like a headless chicken! (nice visual, eh?) Until then...

XoXo,
-jess

Hi guys!

I got an email from Barielle informing me of their Facebook contest and I just had to share! All you have to do is "Like" their Facebook page HERE and then enter the sweepstakes HERE! Easy peasy, right?

20 lucky winners, selected at random, will get the following Barielle items (a retail value up to $74.50):

• Nail Strengthener Cream (full size)
• Base Coat
• Top Coat
• 3 Shades of your choice – a retail value up to $74.50

You guys know by now that I'm very much a fan of Barielle's polishes and have done lots o' swatches of many shades! I haven't tried any of their nail treatments yet, but this is a fantastic prize for the Barielle fan - it even makes a great starter kit for someone new to the brand!

The sweepstakes is live now and runs through June 30, 2012 @ 07:00 am (EDT)

Good luck!!

xoxo,
-jess

Hi everyone! I normally don't post on the weekends, but I have another blogger group mani! Splatters! Oh my, did things get messy haha. If you've never done a splatter mani before, you should really prepare yourself ;)

Basically, a splatter mani is when you dip a straw (yes, a drinking straw) into nail polish and then, by blowing through the other end of the straw with a fast puff of air onto your nail, you get a splatter effect.

Let's get to some pictures!

Close-up shot

The possibilities for polish for splatters is endless. You can paint your base any color and any design, then you can splatter with 1 color or go crazy with it and do more!  For my splatter, I did 1 coat of Color Club Where's the Soiree?, which is a 1 coater black. Then I layered 1 coat of Joe Fresh Twilight over it, which is a sheer black with iridescent flakies. Then I matted it using China Glaze Matte Magic. For the splatter itself, I used OPI Love is  Racket.

Useful tip when splattering: tape around your nail with scotch tape, so when you start the splatter, you can minimize your clean up time.

Soooo.. thoughts? Have you attempted splatters before? What were your favorite color combos?

Don't forget to check out the other lovely bloggers who are participating in Splatter-day Saturday!


xoxo,
-jess

Good morning everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend :)
I own a bunch of indie polishes these days, and I'm rearing up to show them to you sooner than later :)

Today's indie polish comes from Amy at I'm Feeling Nail-venturous. You may have heard about her and her awesome polishes (Floam, you will one day be mine!). The last time she opened her Etsy Shop, I had a bunch of pretties in my cart, and I swore I was working fast! But by the time I checked out, all but 1 was available...that polish was Burst of Blue. At least I was lucky enough to nab 1, right?!?! :)





What can I say? I love it!! Burst of Blue consists of all matte glitters suspended in a clear base, which is a first for me because all of my glitters are shiny! There are small black and blue hex glitters with large white bar and hex glitters. This is perfect for layering (as you see in the first picture) or wearing it on its own by building up your coats. The formula, as with most glitters, is a little on the thick side, but as you can see, I got awesome coverage and I had no problem with getting a even distribution of every glitter type on the nail.

Right now, because of the shortage of polish base, indie polish makers are finding it very difficult to re-stock. But keep an eye on Amy's Facebook and Etsy shop, as well as on Ninja-Polish, where some of Amy's polishes are also sold, to be up to date on when her polishes will be available!

Soooooooooooo.....thoughts?? Do you have any Nail-venturous polishes?

xoxo,
-jess

Hi everyone!
By the time I got home last night, I had on the remnants of yesterday's tape mani. I lost most of the rhinestones, I was picking at the polish lines because they were raised from my nail and I couldn't help it!

So I kicked back on the sofa, acetone in hand when I said to myself, "Ehh, I'll just have naked nails for a couple of days..." I quickly realized I was hallucinating because I hadn't eaten dinner, snapped out of my haze and ran to my helmer for a polish! I did decide, though, that I wanted something simple and clean. What did I end up with? OPI - Steady As She Rose.

SASR is from OPI's LE 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides Collection, which was released in conjunction with the movie. I really am a huge fan of this set and am still contemplating getting the others I don't have.


SASR is a muted pink/purple/grey pastel creme.The first coat is streaky, as with most pastel polishes, but only needed 1 more coat to even things out. This was the perfect polish to give me a break from all the glitters and marbles and shimmers, oh my! But you can betcha, that when I get home tonight, I'll probably be layering a glitter over this...just because I can't leave plain nails alone! :)

Soooooo...thoughts? Were you a fan of the On Stranger Tides collection? Do you like Steady As She Rose? Can you not leave a mani alone for more than one day? (hehe)

xoxo,
-j

Hey everyone!
Remember last week, a bunch of fellow bloggers and I did a collaboration featuring water marbles? Today we have another collabo, featuring tape mani's. Basically you just use tape (scotch, masking, striping, etc) and create designs on your nails so when you paint over it and peel the tape off, your designs show.

For me, this was a miserable, miserable failed attempt! I tried 3 times (one of which was so horrible, I didn't even take pictures!)! I think the problem is that I'm too impatient and didn't want to wait for my base color to dry before applying the tape to my nail. It kept smudging, or moving. Nightmare! But I'm going to show you 2 of 3 of my  failed attempts because I didn't do this for nothin'! LOL. Plus, I'm sure it will be amusing to see for those of you who are "Master Tapers!" ;)

So here's Failed Attempt #1:
I had originally painted my base with OPI My Address is Hollywood, didn't wait long enough, and taped diagonally on each nail and painted one half with OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys. Then because it looked so lame, I thought Cover Band's Sticks n' Stones could save it. Wrong-o!


Last Attempt!


This was my last and final attempt. I used OPI Flit a Bit as the base, Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion and Color Club Age of Aquarius. Then because I thought it still wasn't enough, I added some purple gemstones. Still not happy with this, but at least it's somewhat decent hehe. Topped it all off with a layer of SV and I was done-zo! This was fun to do though, because you really get to play around with different designs and colors. I just need to be more patient and let my polishes dry before taping over them :)

Don't forget to check out the other ladies who participated in tape mani below!

xoxo,
-jess

Good morning everyone!
Today I have another Whimsical Ideas by Pam polish - Kismet's Pajamas. This is my favorite of all the WIbP polishes I own! Let's get to the pictures so you can see why!




OMG!!! You guys!! Isn't this gorgeous?!?! Kismet's Pajamas is a black jelly with small and large purpleish/pink and silver hex glitters. This is MY FAVORITE WIbP polish!! This is 3 thin coats with 1 layer of top coat, but you could easily layer this over any black and get away with 1 to 2 thin coats of KP.

For ordering info of this and other polishes by Whimsical Ideas by Pam, visit her Facebook page HERE . Polishes are $10.00/ bottle. To order, email Pam at pea422000@yahoo.com and she will put you in the queue and invoice you.

Sooooo...thoughts? Is Kismet's Pajamas your kind of polish?

xoxo,
-j

Good morning everyone! Yesterday's post of Suess was so successful, that I've decided to show you all the other colors I picked up from Whimsical Ideas by Pam! Today I have Georgia Peach Fuzz!




This totally reminds me of Georgia Peaches!! Georga Peach Fuzz is a sheer cool-toned peach jelly with small and medium copper-colored hex glitters. As with Suess, this was a thick jelly, but again, not difficult to work with at all. This was 3 coats with 1 layer of top coat. Although this color itself doesn't flatter my skin tone, this is a beautiful combo of color and glitter! I think this would look great layered over another polish. Maybe an orange? Even black! I love layering any sheer polish over black!

For ordering info of this and other polishes by Whimsical Ideas by Pam, visit her Facebook page HERE . Polishes are $10.00/ bottle. To order, email Pam at pea422000@yahoo.com and she will put you in the queue and invoice you.

Soooooooo...thoughts? What do you think of Georgia Peach Fuzz?

xoxo,
-j

Hi everyone! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Mine was great until the skies decided to open up Saturday night and unleash the lightning and rain! Oh well...

I have an awesome polish to show you today. I'm sure you've seen that indie polishes have exploded this year, mostly in part because they're so one of a kind and unlike what the big polish companies are showing us!  Plus it's so awesome seeing regular polish lovers taking it one step further and making their own line of polishes for the love of it!

Today I have "Suess" by Pam of Whimsical Ideas by Pam.




Suess is a 2 coater sky blue jelly polish with medium sized red hex glitter and large silver hex glitter, with the colors inspired by none other than Dr. Suess!  You guys know I love jelly-finish polishes, and this was no exception. The formula was a little thick, but it wasn't unmanageable at all. The bottle is so adorable, each polish coming with a black ribbon tied onto the brush handle! (Just a note: I slide the ribbons off the bottles when using them, just so they don't slip in my hand.)

These pictures show 2 coats of Suess with 1 layer of top coat. I love that this polish is inspired by Dr. Suess, and I think Pam got it spot on with the colors!

Pam has so many great polishes (you'll see more featured here this week, get excited!). For ordering info, visit her Facebook page HERE . Polishes are $10.00/ bottle. To order, email Pam at pea422000@yahoo.com and she will put you in the queue and invoice you.

Soooooo...what do you think? Have you gotten into the indie polish boom? Do you like Suess?

xoxo,
-jess

Hi everyone! How many of you have seen the Hunger Games yet? I think the mass consensus is either you love it or you hate it. I read the trilogy and fell in love, so I was excited to see the movie AND EVEN MORE EXCITED to know that China Glaze was releasing a collection of polishes to coincide with the film! I rushed over to Sally's and had to get a few. One of the polishes that I got is called Riveting. For me, this is the stand out polish of the bunch!



Isn't Riveting...well, riveting?! This is like a cherry red/blood orange/fire/gold shimmer polish! Haha! Best of all, this was the most amazing polish I've ever applied. I mean, it was so smooth, had such even and full coverage and it literally made me "ooh" and "ahh"!  This is 2 coats with 1 layer of top coat.

Soooooo....thoughts? What do you think of Riveting?

xoxo,
-j

Hi everyone! Have you ever just walked into a store to kill time, then found yourself pulling out your wallet and buying a bunch of things that magically jumped into your shopping cart? Well, that phenomenon happens to me all the time!

I was at Five Below, just browsing, when I came across their newest batch of Funky Fingers polishes! Plus you can't beat a "3 for $5" deal, can you? Not I said the duck!

So today's post is one of the polishes I ended up walking out of the store with that day. Funky Fingers Sugar Plum Fairy!

CLICK THIS PICTURE TO ENLARGE TO SEE GOLD SHIMMER

This is a baby pink/lilac hybrid creme with the tiniest hint of gold shimmer. I really couldn't capture it well, but if you zoom in on the 2nd and last pictures you can see it a bit. It applied like a dream, but to be honest, I rarely have issues with Funky Fingers' formula. The first coat was almost fully opaque itself, but I added a second to even out any streaks or spots I may have had. This is shown with 1 layer of top coat.

Soooooo...thoughts? Do you like Funky Fingers? Is this your type of shade?

xoxo,
-jess

Hi everyone!

Today I have another OPI Suede to show you.  Last week I showed you Russian Navy Suede. Today I have Suzi Skis in the Pyranees Suede. This is a gorgeous grey/black/charcoal color with crazy insane shimmer! Let's just get to pictures, shall we?




And now let's try it with some top coat.

Hi everyone! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

I've got a real treat for you today. A bunch of my nail polish friends and I thought it would be fun to do a day of water marbling where all of us would do some marbles and post them all for everyone to see! I've never featured any of my water marbles on here, so I figured I'd do a tutorial as well.

At the end of this post, you'll be able to see everyone else's designs of who participated, so be sure to check them out!

Let's begin (this is a very picture heavy post!)

What You'll Need:
-Water (I used room temperature bottled water, seems to work better than tap water)
-Nail polishes of your color choice (for beginners, I recommend China Glaze polishes, because they work very well for marbles
-A cup (I use an old Orbit gum cup, the ones that are supposed to fit car cup holders)
-A disposable plate (I work on top of this to contain the mess, because believe me, it gets messy!)
-A toothpick, needle, anything that has a pointy end
-Polish remover
-Cotton swabs/q-tips
OPTIONAL:
-Eyeshadow makeup brush (for clean up)
-Scotch tape (to tape around your nails to prevent getting polish all over your fingers)

Step 1
These are all of the polishes I used for my Marble. I painted my nails with a white base (OPI Alpine Snow) then used the following China Glaze polishes for the actual marble:
Near Dark, Go Go Pink, Electric Pineapple, Recycle and Sexy Lady

 Step 2
Pour water into your cup and unscrew all of the bottle caps off your polishes so you can move fast. Begin by dropping a drop of polish into your cup. Then with another color, drop into the center of the previous drop. Repeat until you are satisfied with the variety of color in your cup.


Step 3
Take your toothpick (or whatever your using) and lightly drag across the surface of the water and go crazy with whatever patterns you can think of!


Step 4
Take your finger, and dip it into the water (I did 2-3 fingers at a time) and keep your nail submerged under the water until Step 5

Step 5
With your nails still under the water, take your toothpick (or whatever you're using) and twirl the remaining polish on the surface until it is all gone.

Step 6
Slowly pull your fingers out of the water. It should look something like this! Take your cotton swab dipped in remover and begin removing the excess polish from your fingers.

Step 7
Take your eye makeup brush, or q-tip and clean up around your cuticles for a more "polished" look
 Voila! You're all done!!


So here is my finished product!
Now go check out my other nail polish friends participating in this Monday Marble!

XoXo,
-j

Hi everyone!

I'm really excited today! It's my birthday and it's Friday! Friday the 13th! I always love when my birthday falls on a Friday, it makes the day so much more interesting haha.

Today I have an awesome franken polish to show you made by the lovely Rebecca at Rebecca Likes Nails. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you're definitely missing out! I was lucky enough to get a bottle of Rebecca's franken called Rebecca Likes Cupcakes. It is such an awesome shade of lilac, and the glitter colors are perfect with it!




Isn't the cupcake sticker on the bottle so adorable?! I freakin' love this polish so much! This is 2 coats with top coat. And I had no problems with application. The color is slightly off; in real life it has more of a lilac purple tint and isn't as washed out as the pictures make it look.  This is the perfect birthday mani. The glitter reminds me of funfetti cake!          Overall... LOVE this polish!!!

So......thoughts? What do you think of Rebecca Likes Cupcakes?

xoxo,
-j