Silver Houndstooth Konadicure

Houndstooth is my most favorite pattern that exists. I dunno why but I am obsessed. The reason I got into nail stamping was because I knew it would be possible to have houndstooth nails (for realz). I've done this pattern tons but here we are again. This is actually from about a month ago but I'm catching up in blogland now that I'm settling into working full-time again.

• Base: One coat Sinful "basecoat" + Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear "Grey Area" (2 coats) + one coat of  SV*
• Image Plate: fauxnad m63
• Stamping Polish: Sally Hansen Insta Dri "Silver Sweep"

And just for kicks... Here is a picture of my very first attempt at nail stamping:

Houndstooth, of course!!!

Thanks to all my new followers, both here and on tumblr. Welcome! I will post my Year-Long challenge mani  pics for this week's challenge (Half Moon Mani) tomorrow. 

xo

*"SV" will always refer to Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat on this blog

Swatches: Revlon Nail Enamel "Fasionista" (NEW shade)

I got a few new polishes over the weekend (and noticed a bunch of new L'Oreal nail polishes that I need as I don't have dupes in my collection of many of the new colors). One of them was one of the new Revlon shades, "Fasionista". It's a dark navy creme with almost a blue-green tint to it, but only slightly. I decided to review and swatch it today.

Outdoors, natural light.

Outdoors, natural light.

The formula is very opaque, almost only need one coat although I used 2 for these pictures. Not runny or streaky but like most blues, if you get it on your skin it will be a pain (nearly impossible) to get off without leaving stains. I had done clean-up and showered and washed my hands numerous times by the time I took these photos and you can still see some blue tinting around my cuticles.

I like the color. I'm not a big fan of blues (especially because of the staining issues) but this neutral navy color is pretty enough to wear again some time. 

In pictures I am wearing:

• 1 coat of Nail Magic "Base Coat Therapy"
• 2 coats of Revlon "Fasionista"
• 1 coat Seche Vite "Fast Dry Top Coat

What do you think? Anyone know of any colors "Fashionista" could be a dupe of?

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Joined bloglovin so you can follow me even if you don't have access to GFC! <333

Freehand Nail Art: Cloudy with a Chance of Rainbows

My first attempt at utilizing the sponging technique. I LOVE it. I think sponging is one of my new favorite nail art techniques. I love the way it turns out and the amount of control I have. I had started out with a grey polish and was going to do some dotting (inspired by this tutorial) but when it took FOREVER to dot just one nail, I decided to do a cloudy sky look on the rest of my nails but it looked weird with just white and grey so I sponged some blue around the white and then sponged some more white to make it look "fluffier"/more cloud-like and voila! I got so many comments on these nails. I ended up sporting this mani for almost a week (I usually can't go more than a day or two between manicures)!

Polishes used (L to R): SH Insta-Dri Blue-Away & Whirlwind White (sponged clouds); SH Insta-Dri Rapid Red, Borghese Capri Coral, SH Insta-Dri Lightning, Revlon Posh, SH Insta-Dri Brisk Blue, Borghese Palermo Plum (rainbow dots)

I redid my accent nail so the dots would be smaller.

For the sponging I just used some generic (walgreens' brand I believe) cosmetic sponges that I tore up into bits. I'd describe the process of sponging but there are already so many great tutorials out there, like this one @ Nailin' It.

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1, Nail Wheel 113

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number. Oh yeah, and FYI, the little red marks above each swatch are how I keep track of the number of coats I used to achieve the resulting color.

Outdoors, natural light

Nail Wheel 113

1. China Glaze Champagne Bubbles 1002 - Holiday 2011
2. Orly Ma Cherie 730 - Holiday 2011
3. Orly  Oui 734 - Holiday 2011
4. Orly  Androgynie 731 - Holiday 2011
5. Sonia Kashuk Chocoholic 25 - Target Exclusive
6. Sonia Kashuk Fatigued 22 - Target Exclusive
7. Wet 'n Wild Tickled Pink 402 - Wild Shine
8. Wet 'n Wild Sunny Side Up 405  - Wild Shine
9. Wet 'n Wild Caribbean Frost 446  - Wild Shine
10. Wet 'n Wild Black Creme 424  - Wild Shine
11. Sinful Unicorn 953
12. Sinful  Tokyo Pearl 112
13. Sinful  Snow Me White 101
14. Sinful  Savage 950
15. Sinful  Scandal 855
16. Sinful  Ruby Rush 369
17. Sinful  Pull Over 955
18. Sinful  Mint Apple 947

Indoors w/flash

Indoors w/flash

Leave a comment if you want to see a full swatched manicure review of any of these  polishes featured  in this series! 

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF

A Year's Challenge: Week 3 - Color Block Mani

I had no idea what color blocking was before this challenge! I googled it and after reading a couple articles and searching images, I had somewhat of an idea. So here is my interpretation of a color block mani, inspired by this photo of Rihanna (photo from teenvogue.com):

Left hand, natural light.

Right hand, natural light.

To create this look I used lots of tiny slivers of masking tape (any low-adhesive tape would work though), small paint brushes, patience, and the following colors:

• Essie - Case Study (base)
• Revlon - Plum Seduction (fuschia)
• Borghese - Capri Coral (orange)

I might have taken the term color blocking a bit literally! I like how it turned out though and I learned something about current fashion trends in the process! :D

To check out the details of "A Year's Challenge" and see how others participating in the challenge interpreted the Color Block manicure, go here.

My Polish Collection Swatches: Part 1, Nail Wheel 112

The numbers in the first photo correspond to the list, which indicates the brand, polish name, line/collection/edition (if applicable), and bottle number. Oh yeah, and FYI, the little red marks above each swatch are how I keep track of the number of coats I used to achieve the resulting color.

Outdoors, natural light.

Nail Wheel 112

1. Sinful Easy Going 300
2. Sinful Courtney Orange 30
3. Sinful Black on Black 103
4. Sinful Beautiful Girl 314
5. Sally Hansen (SH) Wild Life 32 - Xtreme Wear
6. SH White On 02  - Xtreme Wear (old formula)*
7. SH White On 300  - Xtreme Wear
8. SH Twisted Pink 240  - Xtreme Wear
9. SH The Real Teal 39  - Xtreme Wear*
10. SH Rockstar Pink 140  - Xtreme Wear
11. SH Purple Potion 13  - Xtreme Wear
12. SH Mint Sorbet 340  - Xtreme Wear
13. SH Marine Scene 23  - Xtreme Wear
14. SH Lime Lights 22  - Xtreme Wear*
15. SH Black Out 24  - Xtreme Wear
16. Sinful Let's Talk 929
17. Sinful Irish Green 198
18. Sinful Happy Ending 946

Indoors w/Flash.

Indoors w/flash.

Leave a comment if you want to see a full swatched manicure review of any of these  polishes featured  in this series!  

* = Discontinued

** = Discontinued and hard to find (HTF)

*** = Discontinued for ages and VERY HTF