Orly Galaxy Girl

I have decided I am going to put up a swatch of each polish I own on this blog. This is a huge undertaking, and I having a feeling it is going to take forever! To start off with a bang I decided to show you a polish from my favourite nail polish collection.....So here is Orly's Galaxy Girl from their Cosmic FX Collection (Fall 2010).

 

 

 

 

Galaxy Girl is full of glass like flecks in a dark burgundy base, with the flecks shining teal and purple depending on the lighting. The formula was 'meh', it was thick and gloopy, but considering the polish is from 2010 it might just be age that is causing the thickness. I don't remember where I purchased the polish, but for all you Canadians you can purchase it on Nail Polish Canada for $11.25 CDN plus S&H. It is also still available on Ebay. 

Stay Tuned for more polishes from the same collection!

Thank-you for Reading!

-Kristen

Quo by Orly First Class and Essie A Cut Above

I have a rose gold Fossil watch that I used as inspiration for this manicure. I looked through my whole stash and realized that I don't own a rose gold polish (GASP!) and I'm not sure one even exists, so I decided to layer polishes to create one of my very own.....

 

For my base layer I did two layers of Quo by Orly's First Class, which is a gorgeous bronze foil polish. I love this polish on it's own and the formula is amazing. I received First Class for Christmas 2011 from my old boss, it came in a 18 piece mini bottle set. She got the set at Shoppers Drugmart for $39 CDN. I know that they don't sell the sets at Shoppers anymore, but they now have full sized bottles of each polish in the mini set (including First Class) for $10 CDN. 

All Quo by Orly polishes are exclusive to Shoppers Drugmart.

 

 

I then put two coats of Essie's A Cut Above from their Luxeffects collection, which has light pink small and medium glitter, plus light pink hex glitter in a clear base. The formula was really good and was easy to apply. I purchased A Cut Above from Wal-mart for $6.99 CDN (on sale). Essie polishes are also sold at Shopper Drugmart and I think I have seen them at Superstore as well. However, by far they are the cheapest at Wal-mart, so get them there if you can ;).

 

  Here is my nails with its inspiration! It's not an exact match, but pretty close!

Thank-you for Reading!

-Kristen

How to Remove Glitter/Sparkle Nail Polish

As you know, I am in love with glitter/sparkle polish, but I hate how long it takes to remove it. If this sounds like you too, I have a awesome method to show you on how to remove sparkle/glitter polish quickly! So say goodbye to 30 minutes of trying to pry off polish and hello to the foil method!

Supplies you will need:

 

1. Nail Polish Remover - Any kind will do the trick.
2. Cotton pads, cotton balls, or toilet paper - I use make-up remover cotton pads.
3. Aluminum Foil

Step 1: Have Icky Glitter Nails

I don't normally let my nails get this peeled and gross, but I spent that day cleaning and this is what happens when you scrub the bathroom without gloves.

Step 2: Sopping Amounts of remover
Take one of the cotton pads and soak it in nail polish remover until it is sopping wet and drippy, then fold it and place it on top of your nail.
  

Step 3: Foil Finger
Then take a piece of the aluminum foil and wrap it around the nail with the soaked cotton pad and twist tightly at the end.

Step 4: Foil Claws
Repeat steps 2 and 3 on all of your other nails and wait 5-10 minutes before you remove the foil and cotton pad. When I remove the foil I like to twist the foil around my nail a couple of times, it gets rid of the last bits of glitter what seem to embed itself in your nail.
 

Voila, icky chipped glitter/sparkle nails to naked nails in less than 15 minutes!!!!

Thank-you for reading!

-Kristen

CrowsToes Cheshire

Hey everyone, I have another Indie polish to show you. It is two coats CrowsToes' Cheshire over one coat of Ulta3's waterlilly.  This polish has too much going on to even describe so I am going to depend on the pics below to give the explanation for me. I must say that I wasn't very impressed with this polish, don't get me wrong it's very pretty, but the formula was really thick and gunky and I had difficulties getting it on my nails. Also, after a hour of wear the tips were already showing tip wear as you can see from the pics. At first I thought it was a "user" issue with how I applied it, but honestly I now think it is because the polish is so thick it shows wear a lot faster.

 

 

Caitlin bought me this polish for Christmas and she purchased it online here for $13.00 USD.

Thank-you for reading!

-Kristen

Sephore X's Chaotic (Lynderella Connect the Dots Dupe)

I have yet to be this excited about a polish before in my entire life! I seriously want to wear this polish every single day and never ever take it off. Do I have your interest yet? I sure hope so because the below picture is one coat of Chaotic from the Sephora X collection, over two coats of OPI's Mermaid Tears from the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection.

There is sooo much I want to say about this mani, but where to start?

Well I guess firstly I want to talk about a gorgeous Lynderella Polish called Connect the Dots, which I wanted to get Caitlin for Christmas but couldn't buy it online or through eBay because it was constantly sold out. It is also very costly at around $22 Canadian per bottle not including shipping and handling. However, there is good news because Sephora X's Chaotic is a pretty close dupe to Connect the Dots (I'm serious google it!), you can order it online here or buy it within the Sephora store itself, and it is only $14 Canadian plus shipping and handling! That's good math people!

Next I will write about the base polish I used, which I remembered to take a picture of before I put Chaotic over it. Anyways, Mermaids Tears is a light sage green that has a greyish undertone to it. I purchased OPI's Mermaid's Tears last year at Chatters for $8.00 Canadian, but I don't think it is in the stores anymore. However, it is still available on ebay.

Lastly, let's talk about Chaotic some more!! Sephora X's Chaotic has large black and white hex glitter, medium black and white hex glitter (they almost look like circles), small black and white glitter, and black bar glitter all jam packed in a clear base. I can't say enough about how much I love this polish, I think it looks like abstract paint splattering art and I can't help but show my mani to everyone I see. 

 

Thank-you for reading!

-Kristen

Girly Bits Mother May I?!

I have another indie polish to show you, it is Mother May I?! by Girly Bits. There is sooo much going on with this polish, I don't even know where to start describing it. The Girly Bits website does describe the polish as, "a medium purple base with aqua squares, red squares, blue, turquoise, pink, purple, opal, and aqua hexes in various sizes". I would say the base is more a light purple not medium though, but the rest sounds "looks" about right. The formula of this polish was pretty thick, and I had some problems getting even coats on my nails. I don't mind the consistency too much because I really love the look of this polish, the light purple makes it look really feminine, but the bright glitters add a pop to it. Here is 3 coats of Girly Bits' Mother May I?!

I received this polish from Caitlin for Christmas and she bought it online here, where is costs $11.00 USD.

Thank-you for reading!!

- Kristen

CrowsToes Absolum-your Potions Master

I have my very first Indie polish to show you today!! I got this polish from Caitlin for Christmas, and it is jam packed with wonderfulness. So here is 2 coats of CrowsToes' Absolum-your potions master (that's a mouthful) over one coat of Wet n Wild's Teal of Fortune.

 

 

 

  

CrowsToes' Absolum-your potions master is exploding with small silver and aqua glitter, small silver and aqua hex glitter, medium orange/bronze and aqua hex glitter, and black bar glitter. The polish is super thick because of all the glitter, but it was surprisingly easy to put on. Unfortunately, this polish is only available online. Caitlin bought the polish here, where is costs $13.00 USD.

Thank-you for reading!

-Kristen

Ozotic Beam 905 & 906

Caitlin went on a nail polish shopping bender and bought a bunch of indie and Ozotic polishes from the internet. She ended up buying almost all the Ozotic Beam collection polishes, including 905 which she gave me Christmas. I wanted to use one of her polishes at our last nail night, but also wanted to use my own polish too. Therefore, I decided to use Ozotic Beam 906 on all my nails except my ring fingers which I painted with Ozotic Beam 905. As you can see from the pictures the polish in the bottle has a iridescent fairy dust look to it. All the polishes in the collection look very similar in the bottle, but they come to life when put over black polish! You can also put them over other colours, but trust me they are amazing over black.

 

 

 

Ozotic Beam 905 (on my ring fingers) has all the colours of shimmer in it, yellow, blue, pink, blue, etc. in a clear base. It hardly came across in the pictures except picture 3 which you can clearly see the ring finger is a different polish. The colours of the shimmer changes depending on the lighting and if you are inside or outside.

Ozotic Beam 906 (all the other fingers) has pink and purple shimmer in a clear base coat. It too changes depending on the lighting, but it is predominately pink and purple.

I used Nails Inc. Black Taxi as the base on all the nails. The formula of the Ozotic polishes was a little thick, but it is packed with shimmer so the consistency is forgivable. I used two thin coats of the polishes for it to be opaque over the black base.

Unfortunately, you cannot buy Ozotic polishes in Canada because they are a Australian brand, but you can order them online here, they are $14.50 USD each.

Thank-you for reading!

-Kristen

China Glaze Get Carried Away

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I sure got spoiled this year and got tons of presents from family and friends! The best present I received was a Canon Rebel T3i, courtesy of Ricky. I am so excited because now my pictures for my blog won't look like poop anymore. My mani today is 3 coats of China Glaze's Get Carried Away from their Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away collection (2012) over one coat of Nails Inc. Black Taxi. I LOVE THIS MANI! The polish is awesome!

 

Get Carried Away is loaded with small silver and black glitter, large bronze-red and silver hex glitter and black bar glitter in a black base. Unfortunately, because I used a black base colour the bar glitter didn't really show up in the mani, next time I think I would put it over a dark blue, red, or bronze. Caitlin bought the polish for me at chatters for $8 (Canadian). If you are a Calgarian like moi, the best chatters to find polishes at is the one in Deerfoot Meadows and the one in Sunridge mall.

Thank-you for reading!!

- Kristen

Christmas Tree Accent Nail

Last year Caitlin and I did Christmas Tree nails using a tutorial from Nailside (pictures 1). We got so many compliments on our manis that I decided to do it again this year. However, this time I wasn't so ambitious and just did an accent nail as you can see in pictures 2 and 3.

Christmas Nails 2011

Christmas Tree Accent Nail 2012

Christmas Tree Accent Nail 2012

I don't remember what polishes I used on my mani last year :(. However, this years mani... the red is OPI's I'm not Really a Waitress, the green is Zoya's Holly which was from their 2011 Gems and Jewels collection. As for the Christmas tree it was created with tape, a holo silver glitter (I don't remember the name), and a little star I placed on my nail with clear polish as glue. For the complete tutorial, please see the link to Nailside on the top of this post. I apologize that I can't give you prices of the polishes I used, because they were all Caitlin's ;).

Thank-you for reading!

- Kristen

Sparkle Layering Gone Gonzo and Servin up Sparkle

I have a new mani to show all of you! I started off with one thin coat of OPI's Gone Gonzo! from their Muppet's collection, but decided I wanted some holo in my mani too. I then layered one thin coat of OPI's Servin' Up Sparkle from the Serena Williams Glam Slam collection. I ended up doing three thin layers of each to get the final look (I alternated between colours so they blended together). I put up three pictures because the mani was super hard to photograph properly and I wanted you guys to see the holo effect!

 

Gone Gonzo! was given to me by my friend Kathryn, I think she got it a Chatters, which has a huge selection of OPI and China Glaze polishes. Gone Gonzo! has small blue glitter and large silver hex glitter in a clear base.

Servin' up Sparkle came in a set with a purple polish called Grape...Set...Match, I am pretty sure I ordered the set on Ebay, but cannot remember the cost. Servin' up Sparkle has small silver and holo glitter and large holo hex glitter in a clear base.

Thank-you for reading!

-Kristen

Christmas Lights Nail Art Tutorial

These nails were done for my work Christmas party, I got the tutorial and inspiration from the Beauty Department blog. The only difference between their tutorial and mine, is that I used nail polish instead of the thread for the wire on the Christmas lights.

 Here is the finished product! I really like how they turned out!

 I first started off with two coats of Zoya Trixie, which I purchased on Ebay a couple of years ago. It is a gorgeous silver foil and it is by far the nail polish I use the most. I am seeing Zoya in more and more salons lately, but Trixie is usually already sold out by the time I see the display. 

 I then painted the wire for the Christmas lights using a skinny nail brush and Nail Inc's Black Taxi. I got Black Taxi from Sephora and it came in a special effects set with a flakie top coat, the set cost $24.99. Black Taxi is not the best black I have owned and you can save your dollars by buying a cheaper black nail polish. 

 I then used a smaller nail art brush and OPI's Wocka Wocka! to paint the red Christmas lights. I got Wocka Wocka! from Chatters for $10.00 and it is my favourite red I own.

 Lastly, I used the same nail art brush as before and China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle to paint on the green Christmas Lights. I got Emerald Sparkle from ebay for $5.00 including shipping and receiving, it was a awesome buy.

 Add two coats of top coat and there you go! Super cute Christmas Lights Nails!

Thank-you for reading!

- Kristen