Wednesday, September 25, 2013

ORLY Nail Rescue: Rescue Me Please!

Hello all! It's been over a week! Oui! Between classes, being VP of 2 clubs, and 80 of Education fieldwork, I've been busy busy! And as you may know, I got a tear in my pointer nail. I thought polish was going to be a no no. Then I found this awesomeness!


Here was my savior! All I had to do was brush on some of the nail glue (which is an irritant, so don't get too much on your cuticles!), dip it in the white sparkly powder (ooooo), and then lightly buff the nail once it was dry. Easy peasy!


Not a bad deal right? Into the powder the nail goes! And your nail is then ROCK SOLID! It's kinda like having artificial nails a bit. Getting it off required about 20 minutes of soaking/scrubbing though, so that's the only rough stuff. 


So as you can see, my nail is totally fine (gritty with powder but fine) after about 2 weeks now. This stuff is so awesome! And with base coat/polish everything is great. This kit is a life saver, and I suggest you give it a whirl! It gave my nail much more stability than the tea bag method!



Sunday, September 15, 2013

Lit From Within: A Guest Post

Evening all! I know it's late, but I had 6 hours of club leadership training today! I'm on an eboard for 2 clubs in my college, so it was worth it at least! Since I haven't had time to do my nail rescue post today, here's a guest post from Nidia at Lit From Within!

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Hi!  No need to panic, or adjust your monitors - Alex's nails didn't all break off!  Ok, ONE of her nails broke off, so I'm filling in to give her a chance to whip that hand back into shape.  I'm Nidia, and I run a little blog called Lit From Within.  Have you heard the buzz about I Love Nail Polish's new mega-ultra-multichromes?  They are pretty fantastic, and I have two to show you today:  Birefringence, and Cygnus Loop.
Birefringence, and Cygnus Loop
Cygnus Loop (named for a supernova remnant in the Cygnus constellation) has a more purple base, and is on my thumb, middle, and pinky fingers.  Birefringence (also a real thing, by the way) is a teal-based multichrome, and is on my pointer and ring fingers. I love doing nail art, and was inspired by these 'Peacock Nails' by Beauty by Suzi.  You can find her tutorial by following the link.  I decided to leave one of each color plain, so I have a thumb accent of Cygnus Loop, and a ring accent of Birefringence.  Then, I applied a layer of black over the other nails, leaving an edge of the undies.
Then, I painted over the black (again, leaving an edge) with the opposite color.  Looking pretty cool, I think... but I'm not done yet!
One more layer of black, and then back to the original color for that nail.  This was so cool when I would move my nails around and the colors would shift.  There are violets and reds and blues and purples in both of the polishes, but not at the same angles. Very psychedelic!
Here's the bottle shot:  ILNP Cygnus Loop, Birefringence, and OPI Black Onyx.
I've seen some pix that suggest that these two are close cousins, if not dupes, to Enchanted Polish's Across the Universe and Octopus' Garden, when used with a holo topcoat, too!  Are you a fan of multichrome polishes? If you'd like to see more from me, please head over to my Facebook page, Twitter, or follow my blog! Thanks to Alex for letting me share my nail art with you today!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Try the Untrieds: Picture Polish Swatch Spam

Happy Tuesday glittery polish lovers! I recently did a group order of Picture Polish from Australia, and might I say, I got some of the best pretties they had! On to the swatches :D


Ohhhhhh yeahhhh. This was one of my BIGGEST lemmings. I've wanted it since...I started blogging? This is 1, yes 1, coat of Cosmos, a dark royal blue polish with tons of scattered holo. Just...yes! It's thick but workable, and this makes it an easy one coater!


Here's another pretty. This is 3 coats of Shy Violet, a new collaboration shade that is chock full of scattered holo shards. Yup. Shards. LOVE IT. It's supposed to dry matte, but that didn't really happen for me. It's color varies from a dark purple in some lights, to a nice medium purple here...


....to a super special awesome electric neon violet purple with awesome holo flkie shards here! Mmm!


Last, but not least, is an old favorite...Poor Glitter Ball. Twas my first PP and I swapped it out in October. I missed it so....you can see my elation over it on my old nails HERE. Finally, it is mine once more, and I'm never letting it go! This polish is chock full of holographic sparkles and hexes in a clear base. Ahhhhhhh. I missed it so....


Never again shall me and my precious part! It's smooth! It's got great coverage! And it's got glitter in it. Yup. This is a winner for years to come :)

You can buy Picture Polish from their Australia site here:https://www.picturepolish.com.au/ or from Llarowe's US site here: http://www.llarowe.com/






Saturday, August 24, 2013

A Waterfall Fail with Zoya Fall Pixies

Afternoon glittery polish lovers! Now in case you've forgotten, my giveaway ends August 26 at midnight EST, so go enter here. Now onto the tad bit of a nail art fail here. 


Now the waterfall mani has been making its rounds, so I thought I'd try with my uber glittery Zoya pixie dusts! Mistake number 1. I also thought I'd be able to do it with a nail art brush that wasn't about an inch long. Mistake number 2.  I used Ginessa for the base and pixies in Sunshine, Carter, and Tomoko for the waterfall.


So what have we learned? One, let your base color dry completely before trying this. Two, use a longer brush. Seriously. The short brush made this impossible to get long, tapered  clean lines. And three, don't use textured polishes for this! Didn't work like I thought. I have a better brush and plan on reattempting this soon! 


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Try the Untrieds: Lynnderella Talismans and Birthstones

Hello glittery polish lovers! For this edition of Try the Untrieds, I have 2 Lynnderella Birthstones polishes to share with you! I got Diamond Light (April) and Sapphire Starfire (September).


First up is 2 coats of Sapphire Starfire over 2 coats of Zoya Storm. OMG. While this is not my fave of the 2, it is still freaking awesome! There's an assortment of blue glitters in here, be they holo dark blue hexes, holo stars, a flower, a heart, or more! And there's a blue shimmery clear base. MMMMMM! This embodies a sapphire perfectly. My only issue was slight curling on the large holo blue hexes, though this may be solved by pushing them down a bit next time.


Now for my new favorite Lynnderella, under a new light of mine! :D This is 1 coat of Diamond Light with a bit of placement over 2 coats of Picture Polish Denim. Wooooooahhhhh. Dot glitter. Good coverage. Holo. YES! There are pale pink and holo silver dots, holo silver diamonds, and blue diamonds, along with some rainbow dust in the clear base. Just pure beauty for April's diamond!


And as you can see on the pinky of my terribly painted right hand, I got a large hot pink dot. I got one on that thumb too. Man this polish is awesome! While Lynnderellas are more on the expensive side, it is worth it to get one in a swap or sale every 2 months or so! :)

Get Lynnderellas from new and past collections at the ebay store here: http://lynnderella.com/



Sunday, August 18, 2013

Ipsy August 2013 Glam Bag: Glamour Academy

Afternoon glittery polish lovers! It's time for a review of the items I got in my August Ipsy bag! The theme was Glamour Academy. While I love making my nails look their best, these items were there to make the rest of you look great too!


I love this month's cosmetic bag so much more than the one from last month! It's purple! GAH! I received a sample of Pixi Beauty Lash Booster Mascara in Blackest Black ($7.29).  I don't wear mascara, so this hasn't been touched. However, I love the Noya Vanilla lip balm ($3.99). It smells like fresh baked vanilla cupcakes, is Kosher, all natural, and felt great!


Next up is City Color Cheek Stain in Pink ($2.99). I have it just rubbed on on the left, and blended in on the right. It's light, but more makes it a bit darker. I rarely use blush, but this would be great for a quick touch up during concerts!


Now we have Pacifica Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream ($5.33). It's a bit dark on my hand, but it worked great on my cheek! It's got some color and slight shimmer to it. Again, not something I'd use normally, but for concerts or a night out, why not? 


Finally there's Michael Todd True Organics Jojoba Charcoal Scrub ($5.40). This I like! It's got an earthy scent. I used it on my face one night after my shower. It's not too gritty, and I rinsed my face after rubbing it all over for about 1-2 minutes. It left my face feeling fresh, clean, and a little bit tight. Surprisingly though, it didn't make my face red or break out! Mary Kay scrubs have done that to me. This one's a keeper! 

***Grand Total of My Bag: About $25***
***Cost of My Bag: $10***

While this bag was not as great as months past, it still had some things I'll use. There's always a slight flop sometimes! If you like any of these items, go get an Ipsy bag for $10 a month here: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-hh12bk9wpncf1cj8