CHINA GLAZE Flirty Tankini

Hello! I'm back with the swatches of Flirty Tankini. This one is part of CG's Summer Neons Collection. It's a beautiful pink, shimmery, bright (but not in-your-face bright) smooth applying polish. Yes, this one is a keeper. I actually put it on my toes first and I loved it so much I wanted it on my nails too! I don't often match my toes and my nails which brings me to my question of the day; Do you match your mani to your pedi or vise versa? OR do you just change them up as inspiration hits you? Now, on to the polish!

These photos were taken outside in direct sunlight with no top coat.

Flirty Tankini

The shimmer really REALLY brings this polish to life for me. This entire collection was spot-on. I only have 3 polishes from it, but ohmygosh they are all gorgeous. Pink is always such a fun color to wear on my nails. Every woman needs pink in her life.

Thanks for popping in, girls!

Flirty Tankini w/ Gold Half Diamonds

Hello fellow polish fanatics! I hope you are all doing peachy today. I'm about to mow the lawn and then maybe head down to the pool for a bit. I also have a girly chick flick I'm looking forward to watching tonight.

So, I just finished doing my nails and I love them! I used 2 colors, CHINA GLAZE Flirty Tankini and COLOR CLUB Disco Nap. To make the half diamonds, I cut out triangles in some scotch tap and stuck the outlines, not the cut out pieces, on my COMPLETELY DRY base color, Flirty Tankini. Then, I removed the tape right after applying Disco Nap while it was still wet. I topped the whole look off with Julep's Fast Dry Top Coat.

taken outside in direct sunlight

Flirty Tankini & Disco Nap

taken indoors

I think the pink and the gold look fantastic together! I think the shine of the gold polish plays well with the shimmer in the pink. I love when I'm proud of my nails!

To keep this post from having an overflow of pictures, I'm going to post the swatches of Flirty Tankini separately. However, I want to do some stuff first so I might have to put it off until tomorrow. I just wanted to share this manicure with you before the plain swatches.

Thanks for popping in!

July Birchbox 2012

Good morning, ladies. Glad to see you all survived your Friday the 13th! :-P

Today is a Birchbox post, hooray! Usually I receive my Birchbox on the 11th, but this month's only just showed up today. It's a Glamour Box and I love it! There are so many great goodies in it. Ironically, just the other day I was watching a makeup tutorial on how to apply cat eyeliner and was thinking I needed to get some liquid eyeliner. Well, TY Birchbox for supplying me with a full size one! I was also surprised that I got 2 extra goodies in my box for a total of 6 samples! Shall we take a gander at this month's box?

July Glamour Birchbox

Inside the July 2012 Birchbox

Ahava Mud Mask & Alterna Finishing Spray

Tea Forté minteas in Ginger Pear

Harvey Prince "Hello" Perfume

Birchbox Exclusive Earbuds

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in Black

Fun box or what. I love facemasks! I gleefully showed/told my husband one came in my box and he says, "Don't you already have one?" Men... I had to inform him I have a CLAY mask not a mud mask. =P

I have never actually worked with liquid eyeliner before, but I am excited to try out my new eyeko liner. The eyeliner has a pen-like applicator and is smudge proof.

The Alterna Finishing Spray helps protect color-treated hair from being damaged and faded by UV rays. I don't personally have color-treated hair at this moment in time, but I do enjoy changing it up once in a while so maybe it will get some use.

The perfume is OK. I already have shared with you all I'm not a big perfume user really. I don't have much to say on it.

As an extra in the box, the earbuds were a cute surprise for sure. I love the coloring. Very girly and very summery. They are a Birchbox exclusive.

Tea Forté's teamints were another extra in the box. They are all-natural, sugar free with organic tea. These ones are in ginger pear. The hubby and I both tried one and weren't too keen on the flavor. The idea of tea infused mints is genius though.

Well, that pretty much wraps up my monthly Birchbox post! If you are interested in joining this great subscription for $10 a month and don't mind the waiting list, you can sign up here.

Thanks for popping by!

Just Playing Around

Hey, ladies! I hope you all are fairing well this Friday the 13th. I was trying to play around some with my nails. I didn't really know what I was trying to do and it turned out a bit wonky, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. I like the colors in it a lot. They're all Zoya, of course.

So, I tried nail dragging again. The first time I did this was here when I did tie-dye accents, which I loved! Well, honestly this is no where near as cool looking as those. Oh, why don't I just show you already! :-P

Colors used:
   ● ZOYA Midori
   ● ZOYA Robyn (base color)
   ● ZOYA Zuza
   ● ZOYA Bevin

I did not use a top coat because I liked the texture the needle left in the polish. I think the coloring is very aquatic. So, basically the color combo is all I really like about this. I'm not exactly stoked with the way it looks. Eh, you win some you lose some. Nail polishing can be quite the finicky art.

Thanks for popping by!

ZOYA Zara

Hello, girls. I hope you are all doing well today. It finally cooled off a bit yesterday because we had a lot of rain come through. It's nice to be out of the 100's!

Today I grabbed a purple shimmer from my collection, ZOYA Zara. Zara is a dusty light purple with an amazing golden shimmer throughout it. The formula was easy to work with and dried quickly. I applied 3 coats to see if I could get a bit of a deeper purple, but this one is really just a 2 coater. The 3rd coat didn't add anything except an extra layer of polish. I took my photos in natural sunlight.

ZOYA Zara

This polish makes me think of faeries. Is that weird? The shade of purple with the shimmer all throughout just seems whimsical to me. Actually, I would say that is very appropriate as Zoya describes this polish as having a "magical" feel. Whoever writes their polish descriptions over there is incredibly accurate.

Thanks for popping in!

LAYLA Mermaid Spell

Boy is it HOT outside! The sun is out in full force so I figure what better time to whip out another holo polish. (:

Mermaid Spell from Layla is a linear holographic. It has a thin formula that is hard to work with. It streaks and I had some balding. I used 3 coats and probably should have added a 4th to even it out. The only thing this polish has going for it is that it is beautiful. Completely gorgeous.

LAYLA Mermaid Spell - direct sunlight

So many different color particles in this! I LOVE the green in it against the blue. Holographic polish is made for the summer. They really dance in the sunlight.

Having had 2 bad application experiences with Layla's polish (Flash Black being the other) I don't plan on ever buying Layla again. It's too expensive for a sub-par application.

Thanks for popping in!

4th of July Mani

Happy Independence Day! I know my post is late. I was having a polish block. I didn't know what I wanted to do! I have seen so many great 4th of July manicures all over the place. I tried to do something cute to my toes and it ended up a horrible mess. So, I took a break and just recently finished up my manicure.

Of course my colors are red, white and blue. I went for an abstract star look. I started with a base coat of White On and then, using a small art brush, I did a rough freehand star-ish outlines.

4th of July abstract stars

Colors used:
   ● CHINA GLAZE Frostbite
   ● SINFUL COLORS Ruby Ruby
   ● SALLY HANSEN xTREME WEAR White On (300)

Very rough star-ish (emphasis on the "ish") outlines, indeed. Regardless, I think it's fun and patriotic!

I hope you all have a safe and fun holiday! HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Thanks for popping in!

CHINA GLAZE Ride the Waves

Happy July, girls! Last night the hubby and I saw Ted. It was quite silly. We are Family Guy fans so something directed by Seth MacFarlane is right up our ally.

I decided I needed some bright pop of color in my life today to contrast the sheer I've had on for quite a while. I grabbed CHINA GLAZE Ride the Waves (from the CG Summer Neons Collection) out of my stash and it fit my mood.

Ride the Waves is a deep cerulean jelly. It's GORGEOUS! The formula was a little bit on the sheer side and I applied 3 coats. 2 coats the color was great, but I wanted a bit more coverage and a little less VNL. I topped it with Seche and took my photos in the summer sun.

Ride the Waves - direct sunlight

Ride the Waves - shaded natural light

Ride the Waves - artificial lighting

CHINA GLAZE Ride the Waves

I know the artificial lighting photo is on the grainy side, but it was the only photo I got that showed just how deep of a blue this one really is.  I love that I have another great jelly in my stash.

Enjoy your evening and thanks for popping by!