SWATCH & REVIEW: Pahlish - Partridge in a Pear Tree

Happy New Year guys!  Sorry for the lack of posts lately!  I got busy with last minute shopping and gift wrapping right before Christmas, and then I kinda took a break from the internet, lol.  So I failed at the challenge, but I'm still planning to upload my last 3 days of the challenge sometime during this month.  After Christmas, I really didn't do much of anything the last week of the year except bum and catch up on some TV.  No swatching time at all! o_o;;

But I'm up and running again.  Today I have Partridge in a Pear Tree which is from Pahlish's holiday collection.  This is the one that first caught my eye when she released this collection.  I think it's a pretty polish that's complex and quite unique.  Also, it's very festive for the holidays!

This has a linen colored jelly base with fine red shimmer, burgundy hex glitter, and green square glitter.  I used 3 coats to achieve the opacity above.  It was easy to apply and I had no problems with glitter application (didn't have to do any fishing).  Overall, a nice polish and I really recommend picking it up while it's still available!  You can find it at her etsy shop.

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Day 9 - Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree~ 

I was excited to do these Christmas tree nails specifically, once I saw the challenge list.  I had seen Pshiiit's Instagram of Christmas tree nails that she had done, and I thought that really nice!  She had a tutorial, so I decided to try them.

For my base, I used Layla Softtouch 02.  I'm not sure if it has a name other than its number, as I can't find one on the bottle.  This was a very pretty, sparkly gold color (and I will have swatched of it on its own, once 12 days is over haha).  After that, I taped up my nails and applied China Glaze Winter Holly. Then I just took some red and white, dotting around to make ornaments on the filled in trees.  I thought the Pshiit-style trees looked cool on their own, so I didn't add anything to those.  What do you think?  Which tree version do you like better? :)


Please also check out the other participants of this challenge:
XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
It's All About the Polish
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)
Artigo Beauty

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Day 8 - Santa

Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas...in a few more days.  Here are my Santa nails!  I decided to go with just one Santa, on my middle finger and a Santa hat on my pinkie.  I messed up a little on Santa's eye because I don't have the steadiest hand...

To create Santa, I used Circus by Andrea's Choice in Reverso for Santa's beard and the white part of the hat.  Then I dotted on his eyes and drew his smile with Orly Liquid Vinyl.  Finally, I used Revlon All Fired Up to create the red part of his hat.  (Side note: All Fired Up is my new favorite red!  So smooth and easy to work with.  My pointer and ring finger are painted with just 1 coat of All Fired Up!) 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out! Can't wait to show you my Christmas tree nails next. :)  

In the mean time, please check out the other participants of this challenge:
XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
It's All About the Polish
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)
Artigo Beauty

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Day 7 - Lights

Day 7's theme was lights/ornaments.  I decided to try lights, but I probably should have gone with ornaments, because my lights came out kind of messy. :(

But if you look at it from afar, it looks okay! :)

To create this manicure, I used 2 coats of OCC's Something Blue as a base.  Then I drew a line across my nails with a nail art brush and Orly Liquid Vinyl.  After that, I used a dotting tool and dotted China Glaze Starboard (green), Revlon All Fired Up (red), China Glaze Solar Power (yellow), and Sinful Colors Rain Storm (blue), and then used a brush to try and make pointed ends to make them resemble lights more.  What do you think? :)

Sooo, I will post my Santa nails tomorrow and my Christmas tree nails on Thursday, and then I'll be all caught up and back on track with this challenge!  (Right as it's about to end, lol.)

In the mean time, please check out the other participants of this challenge:
XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
It's All About the Polish
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)
Artigo Beauty

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Day 6 - Snowman

I'm so behind on this challenge!  I underestimated how much studying I would be doing for my finals this past week, and I went to a holiday party yesterday.  So I didn't have time to do my Snowman nails until today!  And, of course, all the other days got pushed back because of that.  But I'm trying to get caught up!  I might post two tomorrow so that I'll be all caught up and ready to do my Christmas tree nails.  Pretty excited about that one!  Hahaha

Well, onto the nails!

I wanted to go with a freshly fallen snow kind of background, with snow swirls still floating about.  Now, I haven't ever experienced a snow day, so I had to use my imagination for how that would actually look.  And out in the snow is my snowman!

To create these nails, I started with 1 coat of Sinful Colors Rain Storm, and then layered 2 coats of Sinful Colors Cinderella over that.  This created a pretty blue-gray with a pink shimmer that I hoped would give it more dimension.  It's gorgeous!  Anyway, after I had my base laid down, I sponged on the snow layer at the tips, using Circus by Andrea's Choice in Reverso.  As I said, I was going for swirly snow effect, so I didn't make it perfect and left some patchiness in the snow to try and show some swirling snow, lol.  After that, I created my snowman using dotting tools and more CbAC in Reverso.  Gave him a face and added some arms using Wet N Wild Mega Last Nail Color in Blackmail.  Finished off by adding random falling snow dots and 1 coat of Seche Vite.  Overall, I am quite pleased with how it came out!  I wore it out to the mall and was complimented by several cashiers, haha.

I think my snowman looks a little like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  What do you think? xD

Stay tuned for the next set of challenge nails: lights/ornaments, hopefully coming up tomorrow!

In the mean time, please check out the other participants of this challenge:
XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
It's All About the Polish
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)
Artigo Beauty

They have some great nail art! :)

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Day 5 - Holly/Wreaths

Sorry it took me so long to get this one up!  The nail on the middle finger on both of my hands broke, and I didn't get a chance to file my nails down to match until today.  So, here we are with Day 5: holly/wreath nails!  

I started with a 3 coats of Revero from Circus by Andrea's Choice. It's just a stark white; felt like I had white out on my nails, lol.  It was a bit streaky with the first coat, but evened out pretty well.  I feel like white nail polish is always streaky.  I haven't found one that isn't, yet!

After I got my base down, I started making a wreath on my accent nail using my LA Colors (Nail) Art Deco polishes.  I used green for the wreath, and a glittery red for the berries.  I thought doing a wreath on every nail wouldn't look so nice, so I decided to do holly on the other nails instead.  But when I was done, I thought there was too much blank space and I wasn't sure what to fill it with.  So I decided to try plaid, and that is what you see in the picture below.  Different levels of my thought process for the nail art for holly/wreath nails day.

Now that I look at it, I think the holly on its own (like on my pinkie) would have looked fine without adding anything to the blank space (like what I did for the pointer and middle).  But I don't mind the plaid either, but it probably would have looked loads better if it was on its own instead of with the holly.

Let me know what you think!  I'll have the Snowman nails up tomorrow, hopefully, and then I'll be caught up.  Thank goodness Lights/Ornaments is on Saturday.  I'll be done with finals by then, so I'll be able to work on them more and hopefully come up with something nice. :)

In the mean time, please check out the other participants of this challenge:
XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
It's All About the Polish
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)
Artigo Beauty

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Day 4 - Candy Cane Nails!

I was on track with this challenge and meant to post my Candy Cane nails yesterday, but I went to a family birthday party and the day just got away from me, haha.  So here they are now!

To create this manicure, I used two coats of Julep Kate as my base.  Then I used striping tape to create the lines.  I had to double up the tape to create the thicker lines, but I didn't put them close enough on several of my nails, as you can see, and some of the red bled through. :/  It was my first time using striping tape, so I'm learning from this.  But still, I like how it turned out!  The red I used was Butter London Knees Up, and I finished it off with one coat of Seche Vite.  First time doing Candy Cane nails, and I'd say it's a success!  :)

Also, please check out the other participants of this challenge:
XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
It's All About the Polish
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)
Artigo Beauty

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge: Day 3 - Snowflakes

Today I have for you my first attempt at nail art with a brush.  This was what I got after three tries of trying to make snowflakes, lol.  I'm not super happy with it, but I figured snowflakes are not always perfect and they never look the same, so this was okay.  I guess with more practice I may get better.

I used two coats of Julep Eloise as my base and then used Julep Kate for the snowflakes.  As you can see, the snowflakes are not super opaque.  There are some transparent spots, that now that I look at it, kind of gives a shading effect, haha.  Oh well.  I think I'll take this as a learning experience and keep practicing with my nail art brushes!  Also, sorry for the state of my cuticles and lack of cleanup!  I was rushing a bit to try and get this up before the day was out, which didn't happen, gahhh~  

Let me know if you have any tips for nail art/using brushes!  Or is it just a keep practicing kind of thing? :)

Also, please check out the other participants of this challenge:
XOXO Alexis Leigh
Purple Castle
It's All About the Polish
A Ginger's Nail
The Polished Mommy
Robyn Loves Nails
Teen Polish Junkie
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Mari522 (on Instagram)
nailzbyroro (on Instagram)
Artigo Beauty

SWATCH: China Glaze - Winter Holly (12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge)

This is a bit late, but for day two of the 12 Days of Christmas Nail Challenge, I have Winter Holly from China Glaze's Holiday Joy collection.  This is a clear base filled with lots of green, gold, and holographic micro glitter.  It's really pretty, and I don't think my camera capture the full effect of the glitter.

3 coats polish, 1 coat seche vite

3 coats of polish, 2 coats seche vite

This applied very patchy for me at first, and I had quite a few bald spots, but it evened out after the third coat.  I still had problems with the tips though, for some reason, especially my ring finger in these pictures.  The polish just did not want to apply, so it looks like I have tip wear already.  :(  It dried to a rough, gritty finish, so I would say you definitely need a top coat.  But 1 coat was not enough to completely smooth it over, so I used 2 coats of Seche Vite.

SWATCH: 365 Days of Color - Mrs. Claus (12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge)

Sunny of 365 Days of Color is currently selling Holiday Mystery Bags.  They include one of two limited edition polish that you can only get through these bags.  You can get either Mrs. Claus, if you've been nice, or I Stole Christmas, if you've been naughty. ;)  Turns out, I was on the Nice list, haha!

Looking at the bottle, Mrs. Claus seemed to be a nice red jelly with lots of gold shimmer.  Really pretty and sparkly; perfect for the holiday season!  But once I started swatching, it turned out to be a bright pink-leaning red jelly instead! The gold shimmer shows up beautifully and seems to really compliment the color.  A nice surprise, and something different from the rest of those reds out there.

This applied beautifully!  I used 3 coats (without top coat) to achieve the opacity above, and I had no problems with the application.  Formula was great!

In addition to this polish, you also get another full-size polish from Sunny's line as well as some other seasonal goodies, including 2-3 balms or oils.  This is what I got:

The other polish I received was Gimme Some Bubbly.  Other goodies included 1 balm in Candy Cane, 1 balm in Merry Mistletoe, a pack of holiday stickers (pictured), and several candy canes (not pictured because they've already been consumed, lol).  I also received an extra cuticle oil of choice because I purchased my bag on Black Friday.  Yay!  The scent I chose was Apple Blossom, though now I'm thinking I probably should have tried another holiday scent.  Oh well, Apple Blossom smells amazing!  So does Candy Cane and Merry Mistletoe.

These were my first products from 365 Days of Color and I am very happy with my purchase.  I recommend all the scents I received, if you're wondering what scent to get.  Definitely recommend Apple Blossom if you love apple scents, like I do!

12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge

Hello~ I just wanted to do a quick post about this 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art challenge that Tia from Iced Lacquer is hosting.  It will be my first time attempting a challenge, and I'm pretty excited.  I love the Holiday season, so this theme is perfect for my first try!  Look out for my first post coming soon.  Editing photos right now!  It'll be a little late~  But just barely past December 1st! :)

SPOTTED @ Target: 2-Pack Mascaras and More Holiday Sets!

So, usually around this time (i.e. the start of holiday shopping season), Target has these 2-packs of mascara, eyeliners, etc. for practically the price of one.  I love to get these because they're such good deals! Well, guess what I saw in one of my recent trips to Target??

I'm sorry, I forgot to make note of all the prices.  But I do remember that the Baby Lips sets are $5.99 and the mascara sets are all $9 something (I want to say $9.99, but I'm not 100% on that).  I'm thinking of getting one of the Maybelline Plush mascara set, because I want to try it.  The only problem is, if I don't like it...I'm stuck with two!  Has anyone tried it before?  Would you recommend it?  

Then, I spotted another ELF nail polish set, at the bottom of the above display.  I don't know why it was separated from the other ELF holiday stuff...but this one is 14 mini nail polishes for $10.

And lastly, I also spotted some Burt's Bees holiday gift sets:

I think these are packaged really nicely, and quite affordable.  I don't remember all the pricing but I do remember the sets on the top shelf, which include soap, loofa, lip balm, sugar scrub, and lotion, are $19.99 (I think).  The lip balm + cuticle balm sets (2nd shelf) and the 3-pack shimmer balm sets (3rd row, right side) are $4.99.  And the set on the far left side of the 4th shelf is a "Head to Toe" set and is $12.99.  

Lots of options!  I personally haven't started Christmas shopping, but seeing all these holiday sets coming out is making me excited for the season!  This is probably my most favorite time of the year. xD

♪ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas~ ♪

REVIEW+SWATCH: Sinful Colors Faceted (Holiday 2012)

Sorry this is a bit late!  I didn't consider studying or napping into my equation for calculating when I would get time to swatch this, haha.  But here it is!

Sinful Colors Faceted is small purple round glitter and color-shifting bar glitter in a clear base.  I used 1 coat of Faceted over 3 coats of China Glaze Light As Air.

under natural light

under fluorescent light

I really like this combination!  But the bar glitter doesn't really show up on this lighter color, so I also swatched it over a darker polish.  The next picture shows 1 coat of Faceted over 2 coats of China Glaze VIII:

under natural light

As you can see the bar glitter shows up a lot more over a dark base.  You get to see color-shifting in the bar glitter a lot more, but the purple glitter is less obvious.  This combination is also nice, but I still prefer it over the lighter polish more.  I normally don't like bar glitter, but have to say, this one is really pretty.  I think it may be because of the color-shifting glitter, as I mentioned in my last post. :P

This was a little thick, but applied well.  I didn't use any special maneuvering to get the amount of glitter I have on the nail, though I don't think this is a glitter you can wear alone.  I tried 3 coats on its own, and it still showed a lot of my nail.  (I didn't take any pictures of that though :x)  Overall, I'm pleased with this polish and am happy to have it in my collection!