Harry Potter Nail Art!

Hi everyone! Ive been doing a bunch of review and swatch posts lately and I figured it was time for some actual nail art! I was letting my inner geek shine, and I went with some Harry Potter nails!

 

I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of the process, so I will describe it as best as I can.

1. Use a nail art pen or brush (I used Pearlized White from the Nail Ritz Shimmer Nail Art Pens set, then used a toothpick to go over it in the color I wanted) to draw a "Z" shape in the middle of your nail.

2. Draw diagonal lines from each end of the Z to form the lightning bolt shape.

3. Using the pen, nail art brush, or toothpick, fill in either side of the lightning bolt with the color of your choosing. I chose to do the colors of each Hogwarts house, using Wet N Wild Blue Moon and e.l.f  Glamour Girl on my index finger for Ravenclaw, Nail Ritz Golden and Wet N Wild Black Creme on my middle finger for Hufflepuff, Nail Ritz Ruby and Nail Ritz Golden on my ring finger for Griffindore, and Wet N Wild Sagreena the Teenage Witch and Tribeca Silver on my pinky for Slytherin.

I think it came out looking pretty cool! I like the Slytherin nail the best, its been my house of choice since I was sorted into that house at Harry Potter camp when I was in middle school.  I'm actually wearing my Slytherin T-shirt now!You say evil, I say awesome!

So, are you a Potter head like I am? If so, whats your house? Send me a link to your HP nail art! I'd love to see it!

Until then, happy spell casting..I mean painting!

 

Happy Holidays!

Merry belated Christmas everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, been super busy with the holidays and all. Im currently at the hotel where my cousins wedding is going to be held, and I thought i'd post while I have a little bit of down time. I thought I'd take the opportunity to show you my christmas mani! I was going to something like that cute santa hat manicure ive seen a few times around the internet, but I was a bit short on time so I went with something simpler..

I used two coats of E.l.f Red-y or Not and added Sagreena the teenage witch across the tips. The red polish is extremely shiny and was just perfect for christmas! Also, you might notice a big change in photo quality, because I recieved a new camera for christmas! Yes, its good bye to crappy iphone pictures and hello to clear DSLR made pictures!
By the way, I thought i'd say that I took the pictures a whole week after I painted my nails and as you can see they still look great! I'm in love with the top coat I use! Ive gotten two weeks wear out of some manicures before while using it! It's Sally Hansen Insta Dry! You can easily spot the red bottle it comes in if anyone wants to go pick it up!
So anyway, ive got a TON of swatch pictures that i'll be posting soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear anyones thoughts, ideas, or suggestions about what polishes youve liked, disliked, or what you want to see in the future! And as always, happy painting!

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge Day 8: Metallic Nails

Hello beautiful people! Today i'm continuing on showing you my attempt at the 31 Days of Nail Art Challenge! Now were up to day 8, metallic nails! Now, I got a bit lazy. A few days ago I did a post on my swatch of NYC Tibetan Silver, and if you read it, you'll know that I love it. So..I didn't want to take it off or cover it up for the challenge. So I improvised. This post was supposed to go up after the swatch about the NYC polis, but it got lost in my folder. So here it is, a bit late.

As you can see, all I did was add a coat of a Claire's blue polish called Blue Hologram. Not very creative I know..I promise this isn't all I have to offer you. But just for this post, its what I have. I also painted my pinky blue for a reason other than laziness. Have you guys seen the pictures around the internet of girls painting their pinkies blue to symbolize that they're against bullying. I have, and I thought it was really nice, so I did it too. So thats my reasoning there. I love the blue polish too. Its a cute blue with small holographic glitter in it. The polish actually belongs to my friend, but maybe someday i'll find it and buy it.

Anyway, thats what I have for right now. I'll do a second post later to make up for the shortness of this one. Well, until then! :)

Shoutout to an amazing blog! The Hungry Asian!

Hello beautiful people! Today im going to give a shoutout to a really great blog and etsy store, The Hungry Asian! Now, this store is one of my favorites, I think the girl who runs it is brilliant! Everything about these polishes is cute. The names, the colors, even the bottles!
In case you've never seen them, heres a few of her swatches from the store!

The Hungry Asian Kiwi Smoothie

This one is my personal favorite. Its a light pastel green with some small black glitter in it. The name fits is really what makes it awesome, Kiwi Smoothie. It really looks like it was made with kiwis! It also kind of reminds me of spring time even though its winter. I love it! Now, onto the next pretty..

The Hungry Asian Cookies and Cream

This was the first polish that got me interested in the store. I hadn't really thought all that much about polishes inspired by food before, except for the standard "bubble gum pink" and so on. I think the idea is awesome. This particular polish looks even better matte in my opinion, as you can see in this awesome post from the blog Polish All the Nails: http://www.polishallthenails.com/2012/08/review-hungry-asian-cookies-cream.html. I think when matte-ifed it looks almost exactly like ice cream. It looks even more like that in this equally fantastic post from the Manicurator: http://www.manicurator.com/2013/06/magnum-ice-cream-good-as-gold-nail-art.html. But thats enough link dropping for now. :) Heres my next favorite Hungry asian polish..

The Hungry Asian: Strawberry

Strawberry. Normally if I were to think of "strawberry" as a nail polish color I would have thought of a standard reddish color or possibly pink. But this really reminds me of real strawberries, especially with the black glitter. I guess I really like the small black glitter, since its in all the polishes i've shown you so far. Anyway, to me this looks like bright strawberry jelly. :)

The Hungry Asian Snow Sprinkles

I Love this one, and I'm showing it to show you that not all of these polishes were inspired by food, despite the store name and the fact that this does kind of remind me of cupcake frosting. I like this one, because its cute and sweet looking, plus it has star shaped glitter, which is an automatic bonus in my opinion. Its also perfect for the holidays! :)

Thats all im going to show you now, since its getting late and I should probably go to bed before I fall asleep on my keyboard. But Hungry Asian Store has lots more polishes, all with cute names such as "Bliss"(a pastel yellow with pink glitter), "Tickled pink"(a light pink with small teal glitter), and "Mumbling"(a top coat full of gold and silver glitter). You can check out the store here http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHungryAsian or find the blog here You won"t regret it!

There's currently a giveaway going on too! Should be awesome!

So thats my daily rant about a well deserving blog and store! Hope you like the stuff as much as I do! I'm off to dream about glitter and cute colors now! Good night!

Sally Hansen Magnetic Polish: Electric Emerald Review and Swatches!

Hello everyone! Today I have for you a polish from an awesome collection! Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish! I wanted these as soon as I discovered them online, and now I have three of them to swatch and review for you today. The first one is called Electric Emerald, it goes on a olive toned emerald color, but then when you use the magnet on it, the design is a deep shimmery emerald green with light green waves.

Application

With magnetic nail polish there are several application steps. The first is to apply 1-2 coats and let dry. That went beautifully. It went on easily, and looked smooth and even. Heres some pictures of that first step.

Electric Emerald Before Magnet

Electric Emerald Before Magnet 

I just noticed how red my fingers look. Probably because I had to swatch them outside in the cold because I don't have good enough air ventilation indoors. But yeah. This next part is where things got a bit harder. The directions said to apply another thick coat then hold the magnet over it for a minimum of 15 seconds. I tried it, and heres what I got..

Electric Emerald After Magnet(Indoor light)

Electric Emerald After Magnet(Sunlight)

Not too shabby for a first try with magnetic polish...okay, this was my second. I took it off after I took the picture and realized I'd taken the picture wrong, so I had to redo them. The polish went on well both times and the design shows up nicely. Word of advice for people who are trying this for the first time, be careful of how thick a second coat you put on. If its too thin the design won't show up. If its too thick the magnet will attract the polish and it will rise up, touch the magnet, and smudge the design. this takes some practice so be prepared to make a few mistakes. 

Look

The color itself is really pretty. I'm not sure that it complements my skin tone all that well, so i'm not sure how often i'll wear it, but its still pretty. The design showed up exactly how it was supposed to as well.

Price

I'm still psyched that, as you might've read in my dollar store post, I bought these for a dollar each at the dollar tree near my house! I think thats a pretty awesome deal, since I probably wouldn't have paid the $8-$10 dollars that they've been going for at various other stores.

Overall

I really like this. I was expecting application to be harder, but it was easy given what you have to do. The color might look better on people who don't have pink undertones in their skin like I do though, as the green seems to clash with my skin somewhat. But this is a good polish, and I don't regret buying it.

So..i'll have the reviews and swatches for the other two that I bought from this collection to show you soon! Until then, happy painting! :)

Maybelline Color Show Red Relic Review and Swatch

Hello beautiful people! A little while back I was in CVS and saw Maybellines limited edition vintage leather collection. I was in a bit of a rush but I couldn't stand to pass them up so I grabbed one and bought it. Heres what I came up with it.

This is Red Relic. Its a tomato red color with bits of flake glitter in it. Its also matte like all the others in the collection.

Application

As far as that goes, it applies alright. It took about three thin coats to be opaque. In the pictures you can almost see nail line on my pinky. But it could've been much worse. If I had put more work into applying it, it probably would've been fully opaque.

Look

Im going to be honest here. I hate this. I don't really think that a matte polish with flake glitter in this color is a very attractive combination. To me, it looks like cheap lumpy plastic rather then leather. But thats just my opinion. Thats also why it doesn't look totally matte in the picture. Its because I took the picture before it dried completely because I was in a rush to get it off my nails. I also want to add that, even though it didn't dry completely, it still stained. Badly. Had to break out the remover and scrub for a while even though it was only on for maybe five minutes at most. I can't imagine how bad it would've stained if I had allowed it to dry completely.

Price

About $4.50. Not too bad if you like the color and finish.

Overall

I like a lot of of the colors in the collection. But this isn't one of them. As you can probably tell, I'm not too happy about this purchase. Then again, its completely my own fault, as I really should've thought about what I was purchasing. Oh well, lesson learned. No more last second grab and buys. Hopefully at some point I can buy the colors in the collection that I do like and forget about this one.

Well then, what do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your opinion! Until next time, happy painting! :)

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OPI Bubble Bath Review and Swatch!

Okay, I have for you today an OPI polish, bubble bath. It was given to me by a friend, and I figured I'd swatch it for you!

Its a sheer, very light pink color. Heres the review:

Application

It gave me a lot of trouble. Its extremely sheer, so at first I tried to layer it over white, but then it 

looked patchy in the middle of my nails and too thick on the sides, so I tried it by itself. It took four to five coats to get it layered enough to be opaque enough to pass. But you can still see some nail line in the pictures. It takes a long time to apply, and the formula could be a lot better in my opinion.

Look

As far as looks, after you finish applying all those layers, I think it looks great. Its a very soft,  elegant color, and I felt pretty wearing it. I just wish it were easier to get to that effect. 

Price

I don't know what the exact price for it was, as I didn't buy it myself. But I assume it was probably in the normal price rang for OPI, about $8-$9. 

Overall

If I had made the purchase myself, im not sure I would've been happy with it. I like the color a lot, but im not crazy about the formula. If you want a "barely there" polish, then this would be perfect for you. One coat will give you this glossy finish:

Please excuse the bit of old polish left on my nails. I didn't realize it was there until a little bit ago. But anyways, it might make a good base for a french manicure. But if you want an opaque color..you might be disappointed. Honestly, even though its meant to be sheer, it could layer much better then it does. For $9, I expect a bit better then polish that looks lumpy when layered and see through when by itself even after four coats. Maybe my standards are high, but I think OPI can and does do better then this. Maybe i'm wearing it wrong though, I'm not sure. 

Anyway, what do you think? Do you have the color? Do you like it? Hate it? Tell me because i'd love to hear from you! 

Awesome nail polish find at dollar tree!

Okay, the other day the most amazing thing happened to me! I was going to the dollar tree near my house, and you'll never guess what I found there! 

Nail polish! Lots of it! Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. "Its dollar store nail polish, it has to be cheap and crappy right?" Well, thats what I used to think too, and i'm happy to report that I was wrong! Mixed in along with the polishes from cheaper(but surprisingly good quality) polishes such as LA Colors, there were polishes from well known brands brands such as Sally Hansen, Wet N Wild, NYC, Milani, and Sinful Colors! But the best of them all..as you can see above, were the Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish! They had nearly ever color in the collection too, including some of the newer ones! After seeing these go for nearly $10 at CVS, I was pretty psyched to get them at a dollar each! I bought four of them and intend to go back soon! I'll swatch them for you soon enough. But the point is, this is going to be an awesome spot to go for a budget polish buyer like myself! I suggest that if you have a dollar tree or similar store near you, you should check it out and see what you find! :)

New York Color(NYC) Tribeca Silver Review and Swatch!

Hello fellow nail polish lovers! I was looking through my polish stash and just had to show you this! 

This beauty is called Tribeca Silver and its by New York Color(NYC).  I think it's so pretty! 

Lets get started with the review.

Application:  

This is just amazing. Since I'm usually on some sort of budget and so I typically go for cheaper polish, I sometimes get stuck with polishes with pretty colors and awful formulas. This however, was awesome. It went on smoothly and evenly, and it could've been a one coater! I used two coats in the picture though, for good measure.

Look:

You know those polishes that look incredible in the bottle and then you get it home and discover that they're super sheer/thick/goopy/not the color you expected? They're the bane of every polish lovers

existence(or at least mine). I have a few of those, but this is not one of them! This looks pretty in the bottle and on the nails! It dries to a foil finish and it looks almost frosted in the right light. 

Price:

Ive heard the saying "you get what you pay for" a lot. But while its true in some cases(like with matte top coats in my experience), you can also find hidden low priced gems if you look hard enough! This is one of them! Not only is it one of my current favorite polishes now, it's also the polish I bought for the cheapest price. I saw it at Walmart on sale for 85 cents and went ahead and picked it up. I think thats pretty dang awesome. :)

Overall:

If you like light metallic colors, this is probably right for you! It applies wonderfully, it looks great(in my opinion), and the price is right! I love it and would definitely buy again!

So tell me what you think? Do you like the color? Will you snap it up next time you see it? I can't wait to hear from you! Happy Painting! :)

Day 7: Black and White Nails

I could've gone a couple different directions with this one. But after some looking around on the internet, I found something really awesome.

Newspaper nails! Its so cute and fun :). For those of you who don't know how to do it, heres a little tutorial. 

What you need: 

- Newspaper

- Rubbing alcohol (I've heard this can also work with water but I've never tried that for myself)

1. Paint your nails with your base color. It should be a light color or the print won't show up as well. Also, make sure your nails are dried COMPLETELY before moving on, otherwise you'll be left with a mess of goopy nail polish and paper all over your fingers. I may or may not know from experience..

2. Take the newspaper and cut it into small pieces, large enough to cover your nails. I did this with plain text but you can do this with the cross word sections, or you can even try the comics!

3. Pour some rubbing alcohol (or water if you choose to try that) into a small bowl. You don't need very much of it, just enough to dip ten pieces of newspaper into(or more, if your like me and tend to need a few extra strips in case of mistakes). 

4. Dip a piece of newspaper into the alcohol to get it wet.

5. Place text side down over your nail, and put pressure on it. Be careful not to move it around, or the text might get smeared. Hold in place for around 15 seconds.

6. Carefully peel the paper off your nail.

7. Apply a top coat to protect your design.

There you go! Newspaper nails. Just as a note, when you do this, the text imprinted onto the nail will be backwards, so trying to imprint individual words won't work. So thats what I have for you today! If you like my posts, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear from you! Happy painting! :)