Cat vs. Bird Nails

Hello polish lovers!

Sorry to be MIA for so long but I am still waiting for that damaged nail to grow out on my swatching hand and it is taking forever.  Because of this I have really not been motivated to paint the non dominant, to say nothing of my freehand skills with my right hand are atrocious.

Anyway, here is a mani I did a number of weeks ago but just got around to editing the photos.

This is 2 coats of Ciate's Pepperminty, one of my favourite blue-green cremes.  First coat is streaky but evens and becomes opaque with the second coat.  Once this was completely dry I added my stamping.  I used Konad black and MoYou London Kitty Collection 01.

I flipped the image so that you got the story in the correct order.  Bird breaks free of cage, cat sees bird, cat catches bird, bird no more.  I love the cat images from this plate...probably why it is not currently available.

In other news, at my local Marshalls I was able to find 7 LVX polishes...there were a few more I wanted but the first time I was there I had never tried the brand and did not want to go overboard, so I only bought 2...then I was blown away by the formula, application and longevity of the polish and so went back.  Unfortunately 2 of the colours that I wanted to get had been sold, so I could only get the 5 remaining.  I have swatched them all and now need to edit all the photos, so I may have a LVX post for you tomorrow.

Until then, polish happy!

Sally Hansen Triple Shine First Look and Review

Hello polish lovers!

I was browsing through my local Walmart earlier this week and stumbled upon the new Sally Hansen Triple Shine display!  Me being the nail polish addict that I am, I could not resist getting 2 to try out.  I decided to limit myself to 1 creme and one glitter, to get a sample of both.  The colours that I got are, Kelp Out, a bright leaf green creme, and Fanta-Sea, a silver and ice blue glitter.

I started by swatching Kelp Out.  The instructions on the bottle say to do 2 coats...but this is what 2 coats looked like on my nails.

2 coats equals definite VNL and I can't do that, my OCD kicks in and makes me want to take it all off.  So I decided to add another coat....and this is when the magic happened.

Yes! This is what I was looking for.  I love this colour!  It is so bright and cheerful, it reminds me of new leaves in the spring, not at all like Kelp, I've seen kelp and that stuff is usually much more brown than this.  The formula, besides being a 3 coat-er was smooth and creamy.  I don't think I have a similar colour in my collection.  The Triple Shine bottles have the same brush that the Insta-Dri do so it takes very few brush strokes because the brush is so wide(these photos show zero cleanup, this polish stays where you want it and doesn't flood the cuticles).

Now for Fanta-Sea.

On my pinky I have 1 coat, ring is 2 coats, middle is 3 coats, and pointer is 4 coats.  I did not do this over a base colour because I wanted to show the true colour of the polish without influence.

As you can see, this polish isn't really meant to be worn alone.  It would take way more coats than I have patience for to achieve opacity.  I am really looking forward to seeing what this looks like over undies, I think I may go dark, like a navy polish.  I may show something like that in the future.

Overall, besides the misleading instructions on the bottles(neither of these polishes are 2 coat-ers), I am rather impressed with this new line.  My photos are taken showing the polish by itself, no top coat!  They are super shiny! I have only swatched so far, I have not done a wear test, that may come in the future.

And now, for a mani I rocked for almost a week!

Ahh! Empty hand!

As you can see, this photo was taken before the sun disappeared from the skies and we were left in darkness.  This is a few days in so you can see some legitimate tip wear(normally my mani comes off way before wearing can occur) but I love this Bird plate from Messy Mansion!  The feathers look drawn on and sketchy and I love that.

That is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with the next theme in the Falling for Nail Art Challenge.

Until then, polish happy!

33DC Day 15: Animals

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my 33DC Animal nails to share with you.  I really liked these nails and will probably end up doing them again.

I started with a base of Barry M's Blue Moon, a light blue with a faint blue shimmer that does not translate on the nail, good formula, self levels in 2 coats.  I coated with SV and let dry before I did my first layer of stamping.  I stamped the lines to look like grass using Bundle Monster plate BM319 and Sally Hanson 's Insta-Dri in Lickety-Split Lime.  I then let that dry and stamped over top using GALS plates 27, 32, 45, and 46 with Konad Black for the animals.

I really loved how crisp this is.  What is really funny is I could never get those animal images to stamp clearly before.  I don't know if it is because I am more practiced now of because of the stamping polish(before I was just trying to use regular polish) but I am really pleased with these.

That is all for today but I think tomorrow I will post my first impressions and review of the Sally Hanson's Triple Shine(I got 2 from my local Walmart and felt the need to share).

Until tomorrow, polish happy!