OPI - I Get A Kick Out Of Gold

I bought this polish AGES ago, probably the beginning of last year, and yesterday I was going through my boxes to find polishes that I hadn't swatched and I found this one.  I can't believe I forgot about it and it got lost amongst my stash.  I didn't even include it in my gold foil comparison.  I'll have to do another one now.

The above photo was taken in the sun, below indoors under artificial light.  OPI - I get a kick out of gold is an older polish, but you can still get it on ebay.  But, given that there are so many gold foil polishes out there that would be almost dupes of this, it's not one that you need to go out and get.  What I like about this gold is that it is a cool tone (like Orly Lux and Jessica Palladium). This was three coats + one Seche Vite.

To mix it up a bit, last night I added two coats of LA Girls Rock Star Double Platinum.  I love this polish but have never been able to get it opaque enough to do a swatch of it on its own.  LA Girls Rock Star Double Platinum is a holographic glitter in a slightly smokey, almost clear base.  Here is the full sun pic from this morning.

Under artificial light last night.

And the obligatory blurry shot to show the glitter.

It makes me smile looking at my nails today, what a shame I have to take it off to put on the green magnetic polish that turned up in the post today!! 

Loving gel top coat..

So last night, after my crazy two year old went off to bed I decided to do a nice design on my red nails. Right after I was done with my nails my body was too tired to wait for them to dry and I fell asleep. I woke up with my nails stuck to my hair, not a pretty sight =/ I didn't want to put another coat of just a regular top coat because I was afraid it was going to take a long time to dry and I do have that little two year old running around. lol So I decided to use a gel top coat and dry it with the uv lamp. Not only did the gel fixed all imperfections that where caused by me falling asleep last night but it made the polish extra shiny and it dried in a minute! Ready to start the day looking after my little terror :) The gel top coat is not a very well known brand, I got it on ebay from this seller:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=electronichomesland&ftab=AllFeedback&myworld=true


Bad pic alert!

''Bogie'' Woogie

Hello dear readers,

I hope this week has started nicely for everyone. For the first manicure of the week I've chosen China Glaze - Bogie from the Vintage Vixen Collection. I have to say I wasn't trilled by that collection at the time it came out. I only got Bogie and Jitterburg. It feels like most of the colors of this collection have an old-fashion touch  (I guess that's why they called it Vintage Vixen... ahah) that I don't like so much.

Anyway, here's Bogie:

Outdoors - with flash

Outdoors - no flash



Outdoors - with flash

 

Close-up  

Of course the application was smooth, no problem here, thanks China Glaze. Bogie is a nice silver/eggplant frost that covers great in two coats.

There's absolutely no sun here today, it's only cold and windy so I wasn't abe to take a sunny pic, sorry about that gals.

What about you ? Did you enjoy the Vintage Vixen Collection ? Which polish was your favorite ?  Maybe I should give them a try ! ;)



Come back soon !

xoxo

Models Own - Purple Ash

Today I have a Models Own polish for you, Purple Ash, which I bought as a part of the 'Autumn/Winter Collection'-set (it's the 3rd one from the right). The lovely Ulmiel asked for a swatch and a comparison with other polishes, well, it's all here, enjoy! :O

Purple Ash is a muted red toned purple creme, but describing it as a dark dusty rose seems fitting too. It looks like Models Own also put a drop of brown in it.. It's a gorgeous, unique colour. I have nothing like it! The application was very good, it was opaque in two coats. I also used a topcoat.

I was searching through my stash for polishes that are close to Purple Ash and these are the ones I found (I told you I had nothing like it, lol). As you can see Purple Ash is more red toned than the other two, but I think they dó look nice next to each other, don't they? :) I totally forgot I had P2 Gracious, it's so pretty with its subtle shimmer (which isn't visible in this picture). I should definitely make a special post on that one! And China Glaze's Channelesque... well, it's Channelesque. :L (I just noticed I misspelled it in the picture, #fail).

Thanks for watching!

Magnetic polishes - Purple and Rust Red

Here I have two more of my new magnetic polishes from Nail Art and More.  This one is called Purple and its super pretty.  The bottle colour is the same as the pale colour on the nail, then when you use the magnet it brings our the darker purple colour.

These polishes have the most beautiful colours in them.  This one has a blue, pink and purple shimmer which can be seen the pic below.

My application of the magnets is getting much better too.

Here is Rust Red. Again the bottle colour is closer to the pale colour on the nail, then with the magnet the darker rust colour lifts out.

I think I prefer the lines magnet to the star one, maybe because its a little more forgiving with bad alignment. 

If you don't get the star magnet lined up correctly on the nail it looks pretty shoddy.

As promised, here are the magnets and the positioning tool.

The base of the positioning tool has a little target on it so you know where to put your finger. 

You then tread the magnet design you want to use onto the fork and position it at the right height for your nail.  I then paint my nail while its still on the target and immediately place the fork, with the magnet, over my finger and hold for 10 seconds.

There you have it.  I'm now just waiting for my Green polish that was missing to turn up, and then to go shopping on their site again, as they have told me there will be seven new colours on their site in the next couple of weeks.

Finding Fimo

So since I spotted a fimo nail art post in Chloe's Nails blog, I've been hooked. I've ordered up a ton and once I get a new idea in my head, another bumps my current mani right out. So my hands are super dry from all the nail polish removing, but it's so worth it - because this is fun!! Here's my newest fimo combo. China Glaze's "Shower Together" base coat, and Sinful Colors "Nail Junkie" as french tips. Nail Junkie is one of the neatest glitter swatches out there, as I previously swatched on top of a nice aqua Ulta base called Dance Teal Dawn last year.

So here is my creation of the day. My "Aloha, Bitches" french mani lol (have you seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall? It's totally a reference to the film)

3 Days Left To Win Deborah Lippmann And Nfu Oh Polishes!!! 75 Followers Gets Extra Prize!

Spread the word! 3 days left to enter and be eligible to win Deborah Lippmann's Razzle Dazzle, and Nfu Oh's 59.

And if we reach our goal of 75 followers, we will also be adding a swatch by Zoya. That'll be a surprise.

So please make your way to our original giveaway post, and sign up before it's too late! And stick around because another giveaway will be going on next month!!

http://apolishedlife.blogspot.com/2011/02/polished-lifes-first-giveaway-nfu-oh-59.html

CRACKKK !!!

Hey there what's up ?!

I spent the evening with my best friend and guess what we did ??? That's right, painting our nails ! Oh yeah baby ! And look at what I found in her collection:

This is two coats of Essie - Lapis Of Luxury with OPI - Black Shatter. What do you guys think of this combo ? We think it's super pretty !

Have a nice evening and a happy week-end.

Come back soon !

xoxo

Orly Cosmic FX Collection - Lunar Eclipse

So here is it, my favourite.  So pretty and sparkly and blue.  Apparently is a dupe of OPI Designer Series Magic and Sally Hansen Ultra HD Laser, but I don't have either of those, so I just love it.  I know it doesn't have the same multi chrome, or even duo chrome thing going on as Space Cadet, but sometimes you just put a polish on and fall in love with it, and that is what happened with this one.

The above shot was taken in full sun, and it was so sparkly that this picture doesn't do it justice.  Below shot was taken indoors, and you can still see the glossy magic of the polish.

Here it is up close.  Just look at all those rich blue sparkly flecks.  It reminds me of the sun reflecting off the rippling water on our pool. I feel like I could just jump in.

So there you have it, the magnificent Orly Cosmic FX collection.  Go now and get it.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things ( Julie )

I was arranging my polishes out of boredom, and started to get creative and take photos of some really beautiful swatches. I grouped them according to type/color/glitter/flakes/etc and made it a bit artsy fartsy....check it out.

Which do you like best? Are there any here that you didn't know about? Any you might want to get your hands on?

(please click on the images to view them in all their glory!)

First grouping are my purples/indigos/eggplants/magentas/etc:

Zoya - Zara, Zoya - Deidra, OPI - Merry Midnight, Barry M - Dusky Mauve, Barry M - Indigo, Sinful Colors - Frenzy, Nubar - Violet Sparkles, Nicole for OPI - Step 2 The Beat of My Heart, Nfu Oh - 51

Next are my HEXAGON Glitters:

Deborah Lippmann - Today Was A Fairytale, Wet & Wild FastDry - Party of 5 Glitters, NYC - Starry Silver Glitter, China Glaze - Solar Flare, Hard Candy - Break Up, Hard Candy - Hot Pants, Deborah Lippmann - Ruby Red Slippers, Deborah Lippmann - Bad Romance, Nfu Oh - GS 05

And now for some Silver/Grey Swatches:

China Glaze: Fairy Dust, Zoya - Luna, China Glaze - Recycle, Deborah Lippmann - Today Was A Fairytale, Nubar - Antiquity Silver, China Glaze - Platinum Silver, Piggy Polish - Grey-T, Laura Mercier - Sterling, Nfu Oh - GS 05, Color Club - High Society

Care for some Powdery Pinks/Neutrals?

Barry M - Pink Iridescent, Zoya - Brenna, China Glaze - Innocence, Orly - Tie The Knot, OPI - Heart Throb, Essie- Pink Glove Service

And Last- this is for you, Erika- AVATAR swatches-

China Glaze - Dorothy, Who?, Piggy Polish - Navy I'm Right, China Glaze - Frost Bite, Chi - Midnight Rendezvous, Barry M - Indigo

It's bouquet with me by OPI for Sephora

I bought this a couple of weeks ago, but never really got a chance to use it yet. I havent been in the most creative moods lately when it comes to my nail polish, I can thank school for that one..

I used this on top of Zoya Icicle( 3 coats) and then 2 coats of IBWM. It prolly would have came out a bit denser with 3 coats, but I think 2 is pretty good for me.



I need to get out of this polish funk and start doing something like Julie, Renee, and Tammy and change it up!

Nfu Oh #62

I finally tried one of the prismatic/holographic polishes from Nfu Oh, this is #62! I would describe it as a light almond coloured polish with a hint of pink and a smooth, silky finish if that makes sense... Very chique! The polish contains very small particles that cause an in-your-face rainbow on the nail in bright light. Even in normal daylight there's still a subtle rainbow visible at some angles. Some prismatic polishes become dull in low light, but with this one: never a dull moment. 8) It's an incredibly awesome polish!

I applied it over one coat of Nfu Oh's Aqua Base, a great basecoat for lineair prismatic polishes like this one (and I heard it's also great as a base for matte polishes, I have to try that soon!). This is two coats of #62, no topcoat.

Thanks for watching!

Orly Cosmic FX Collection - Space Cadet

WTF I hear you say, are you serious, Space Cadet is only your second favourite polish in this collection?

Well, yeah.  I seriously love this polish, in fact I'm wearing it again right now. Last night I wanted to make sure I was happy to put this is second place so I put on a full mani of it again.  But I'm sure, I'm a sucker for blue polish and I just love Lunar Eclipse more.

This polish is a bright and foily multi chrome polish. My photos of this polish make it look more bronze than it does in real life.  On me, I see much more purple and pink tones.  But there is orange and gold and blue as well. 

Here is the up close shot.

If you don't own this polish then you MUST get it. I can see this becoming hard to find in the not too distant future.  Everyone is raving about it on their blogs, and deservedly so, it is truly unique, there is no other polish like it.

Fimo Butterflies For The Ring fingers! SO cute (Julie & Tammy)

I found these on eBay, came out to about $3.00 and they arrived the next day...no joke! I just ordered a bunch more. They're made from fimo clay. These are butterflies, but there are also fruit slices, hearts, stars, flowers, animals, etc. I got mine from a seller in NY, but it seems most are based out of Asia. So if you're in the US and are looking to get them sooner, try this link.

This is what Tammy did - a nice bright pink by OPI with a blue fimo butterfly-

And I did Indigo by Barry M, a blue/black butterfly, and a top coat of China Glaze Golden Enchantment

Here it is blurred so you can see the rainbow sparkles:

Oh and don't forget - there are only 4 days left to sign up for our Nfu Oh & Deborah Lippmann giveaway! So get on moving to that post and enter!!

:)

Walgreen finds(erika)

Last weekend I took a trip to Walmart with my mom. I was hoping to see if they had any Hard Candy left. Now I am aware of how the walmart is around my grandmother's. Well walmart did shock me when I went into the cosmetics aisle. They had... 2 colors. Sky blue( which i own already) and this horrid yellow. Blech. So I ended up going home with nail polish remover and cotton(whoa, big spender here). Right next to the walmart is a Walgreen's. I went in, and saw a Wet n Wild display. And literally grabbed the last 5 colors they had. In no order in particular:
Buffy the violet slayer, Gray's anatomy, Hannah Pinktana, Party of five glitters, and Blue wants to be a millionaire. I was shocked they had Party of five glitters as It seems to be hard to find from a few bloggers.

Party of five glitters, this one is insane with glitter

Hannah Pinktana, awful name- beautiful pink

Buffy the Violet Slayer, this one was hard to photograph but this is as close as I could get it to look. Gorgeous purple! And Gray's Anatomy. This is a great dupe for Zoya Ki and Deborah's Lippmans Wicked game.

And last but not least, Blue wants to be a millionaire. This is a hard one to describe. I would say that its par with the Milani Prisms. I own Cyber space, and its almost the same color but this one is not as much as blue. 

Now the only reason I left with five nail polishes is because A- Who the hell will know if and when I find them again and B) it is Wet n Wild, super cheap. These are 1.99$ and the colors are amazing. Now will they chip faster, who knows. But for 2$ I really do not care. So ladies (and guys) if you see these in the store grab them, they are selling out fast! Believe me! Now I'm aware my blogging has slowed but I will be back with my past few manicures. Tisk, I know..so lazy!