nail polish

March 23, 2013

Orly Gel FX Shade Shifter Color Changing Polish 8

by Andrea • Other Gel (SOG) Swatches, Videos • Tags: , , , ,

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Can’t… stop… staring… at… my… nails!  Wait until you see this.  Orly Gel FX Shade Shifter is a color changing gel polish that goes from clear to black based on the temperature of your hands.  You apply two coats over top of any base color and it goes clear to show the color underneath when your hands are warm, and is black when your hands are cold.  In my pics below, you can see that there are also some transitional stages.  I am so in love with this, and hope they make some other colors available other than just clear-to-black.  The base color seen in this demo is Tiki Tiki Laranga from Gelish.  I found Shade Shifter on eBay and Amazon.com.

I made a quick video to show you how this works.

Orly Gel FX Shade Shifter

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December 14, 2012

Adoring Adorée Polish 6

by Andrea • Nail Lacquer Swatches • Tags: , ,

I tried a new brand of polish called Adorée which you can find over at Esther’s Nail Center.  I have several polishes to try from this brand, but these are a few that are solid colors… the next batch will be of the glittery variety. They all had great formulas and applied flawlessly.  I didn’t even have to do any cleanup on any of these because I was able to control the brush very well and stay in the lines.  Each of these swatches is three coats of polish with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

The bottle shape is rounder than any others that I own so I decided to try some new “poses” for these photos.  Let me know what you think of them – yay or nay?  I think my hand looks too angular in a few of them, but I’m probably being overly critical.

First up is Buckland Blue – a gorgeous light blue with a chrome finish.

Adoree Buckland Blue Swatch

Adoree Buckland Blue Swatch

Next is Jewel Peach – a frosty peach unlike anything else that I own.

Adoree Jewel Peach Swatch

Adoree Jewel Peach Swatch

This is Garrison Red – a frosty, coppery brown.

Adoree Garrison Red Swatch

Adoree Garrison Red Swatch

And the last one for today is Rosy Apple – a bright red with a slight slight pearl finish.

Adoree Rosy Apple Swatch

Adoree Rosy Apple Swatch

 

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November 26, 2012

Gelish Swatches / Gelish Colors 12

by Andrea • Gelish Swatches • Tags: , , ,

At the suggestion of one of my readers, I decided to create a summary page containing all of my Harmony Gelish swatches. I will update this page on an ongoing basis as I swatch new colors. Click on the images to see larger photos, and click on the links to view or purchase the items on Amazon.com. They have the best prices on Gelish that I have found.

Red:

Pink:

Orange:

Yellow:

Green:

Blue:

Purple:

Grey & White:

Brown & Black:

Metallic – Silver & Gold:

Shimmer & Glitter: (Good for layering on top of other colors)

Neutral:

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November 18, 2012

Custom Nail Polish Shelf & Nail Station 4

by Andrea • DIY Projects • Tags: , , ,

My office redecoration is almost complete!  Just a few more finishing touches are needed, but I wanted to share my new nail polish station and custom built nail polish shelf.  The table and chairs are from Ikea.  The glass table top is supported by two helmers.

I searched for a shelf that I could use to display my polishes on the wall, but I wasn’t able to find anything suitable.  Most only hold 90 bottles or so, and they’re made of cheap plastic.  My dad has great carpentry skills so I asked him if he could make one for me as my Christmas gift… and viola, Christmas came early this year!  This shelf is 4 feet wide, and we estimate that it will hold approximately 300+ bottles if they are displayed in single rows.  The shelves are actually deep enough that some brands could be doubled up, or they could be staggered to hold more.  I currently have close to 200 bottles, so this gives some space for my collection to grow.

Nail Station with Custom Built Nail Polish ShelfNail Station with Custom Built Nail Polish ShelfCustom Nail Polish Rack

Here you can kind of see that the front actually has a little lip that keeps the bottles from sliding off.

Nail Polish Shelf

And here’s a quick peek at the book shelf that I just refinished.  This shelf was built by my great grandfather probably back in the 80′s.  My mom had it and though it would look cute in my office, but it was stained wood and didn’t fit in that well.  So I sanded it down and primed and painted it and now it looks brand new again.

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November 6, 2012

KB Shimmer Swatches 3

by Andrea • Indie Polish Swatches • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I purchased a few KB Shimmer polishes from my wishlist this week and I’m so in LOVE with them!  I had to try them all on this morning, so I have swatches of all three.  They all applied very smoothly and evenly, and I didn’t have to go fishing for glitter.  (Unfortunately my nails are now super short… ugh.  I had two bad breaks and had to cut them all down.)

Anyway… on to the swatches.  Each manicure is 3 coats of polish with 1 thick coat of Seche Vite top coat, which is the best for taming glitters in my opinion.

This is Don’t Teal Anyone… my favorite of the lot.  The color combo is so awesome and the blue gel base has great coverage.  I have this on both hands right now and plan to leave on for a few days.

KB Shimmer Don't Teal Anyone Swatch

KB Shimmer Don't Teal Anyone Swatch

This is Oh Splat!  I’ve had an obsession lately with polishes that have a white base and different colored glitters.  Of all the ones I’ve tried lately, this is my new favorite.  I feel like I say that every time I try one, but I swear this is the one!  LOL  Again, the base had very even coverage.  It was pretty opaque with just two coats, but I applied 3 coats in all of these swatches just for consistency.

KB Shimmer Oh Splat! SwatchKB Shimmer Oh Splat! Swatch

And this is Toucan Touch This.  The green base in this polish was much more sheer than the others, but it also applied great.  It has another great color combo.  Next time I might try adding this on top of another color to see what it would look like.

KB Shimmer Toucan Touch This SwatchKB Shimmer Toucan Touch This Swatch

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October 20, 2012

Woodsie’s Wish by Amy’s Nail Boutique 1

by Andrea • Indie Polish Swatches • Tags: , , , , ,

Last weekend I won a prize in a giveaway that was hosted by I Feel Polished!  Thank you, Heather!  I won the two mini polishes from Amy’s Nail Boutique, Woodie’s Wish and Sophie.  Today I tried out Woodsie’s Wish for the first time.  I was super excited to win this one because my favorite polishes lately have been whites and other “milky” polishes  with different colored glitter.  I love glitter polishes that can be built up so that the glitter looks layered and doesn’t just lay on top of the polish.  You can see lots of these on my Pinterest wishlist board.

I love the end result with this polish, but it did take 4 coats to get the opacity that I wanted.  I wore it out to dinner tonight and my boyfriend and the waitress both complimented it.  :)

Woodsie's Wish by Amy's Nail Boutique

Woodsie's Wish by Amy's Nail Boutique

This is Woodsie’s Wish with just 2 coats – you can see there’s still quite a bit of opacity, but it does build up nicely.

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October 19, 2012

Halloween Skull Nails 0

by Andrea • Nail Art • Tags: , , , ,

For this design I started with a white base using OPI Alpine Snow.  I sponged on a tiny bit of orange glitter polish, and then I drew on the black details with dotting tools using OPI Black Onyx.  Inspiration for this design came from Frippery Digits – her mani is much cooler than mine… check it out.

Halloween Skull Nail ArtHalloween Skull Nail Art

Halloween Skull Nail Art

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October 18, 2012

Blood Splatter Nails 0

by Andrea • Nail Art • Tags: , , , ,

I’ve been wanting to try splatter nails, so why not create some gruesome blood splatter nails for Halloween! My inspirations for this manicure are Wacky Laki’s Bloody Nails, Chalkboard Nails’ Spooky Splatter Nails, and the YouTube video that’s embedded below that shows the splatter technique using a straw.

Blood Splatter Nails for HalloweenBlood Splatter Nails for HalloweenBlood Splatter Nails for Halloween

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October 14, 2012

Gelish 2012 Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Collection – Limited Edition 9

by Andrea • Gelish Swatches, Nail Art • Tags: , , , , , , ,

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and Gelish released a limited edition Breast Cancer Awareness collection with some gorgeous pinks.  I did a mani using all three colors, and also swatched each of the new colors.  The quality of this collection is much better than their last release (House of Gelish), which had lots of issues with wrinkling and curing.  These all went on very smoothly and only required two coats each.  The lighter two shades have a very slight shimmer, and the darkest shade is nice and creamy.  The names of the colors are Take Action, Make a Difference, and Less Talk.

Gelish Breast Cancer Awareness CollectionGelish Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

Gelish Breast Cancer Awareness Collection 2012

This is Take Action:

Gelish Take Action - Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

Gelish Take Action - Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

This is Make a Difference:

Gelish Make a Difference - Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

Gelish Make a Difference - Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

This is Less Talk:

Gelish Less Talk - Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

Gelish Less Talk - Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

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October 12, 2012

Easy Snakeskin Nail Art 0

by Andrea • Nail Art • Tags: , , , , , , ,

I’ve seen lots of snakeskin manicures on Pinterest over time and always thought it would be extremely complicated to do. Today I ran across the video at the bottom of this post over on YouTube, and it looked really easy. I thought I would give it a try, but didn’t have very high expectations. My attempt doesn’t look as the video, but for a first try I think this mani turned out really cute. Thank you very much Raquel @ LOVE4NAILS for this tutorial!

This manicure requires some mesh or tulle fabric. I’ve heard of some people using bath loofahs. I actually cut up a bridesmaids dress that’s been hanging in my closet forever… I’ll never wear it again, why not! I used OPI Did You ‘Ear About Van Gogh as the base, and then sponged on Sally Hansen Golden, OPI Chocolate Moose, China Glaze Ingrid, and OPI Black Onyx. (Most of the same colors from my recent fall manicure).

Easy Snakeskin ManicureEasy Snakeskin ManicureEasy Snakeskin Manicure

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