Sweet Heart Polish: Mermaid's Magic

Hi everyone, happy Hump Day!  My posts for the next few days will probably be short and sweet as I have to be out of town for work.  I will be driving all over the state for site visits but I do have some really great polishes coming up.  Today.....I have a really great polish :)  I received this polish because I won a naming contest when I named it Mermaid's Magic.  It reminded me so much of mermaids because of its blue/green iridescent quality.  

This polish is made by Cassandra at Sweet Heart Polish.  Cassandra describes the polish as a green/blue slightly holographic shifting polish with large turquoise holographic dots, sapphire squares, teal circles, and blue square glitter.  This baby is pretty, let me tell you.

I used this polish as a topper over the deep purple, OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? with no topcoat.  It completely changes the color of the polish underneath it and the polish has so much depth.  The circle glitters look like they are not lying flat, but they really are.  This polish was a perfect consistency.  I had to place a few of the circle glitters, although I didn't have to dig for them.  In the sun this polish just shines, sparkles, and is gorgeous.

Overall I have nothing negative to say about this polish.  It was easy to work with, is stunning, and I had no problems whatsoever.  You can find Sweet Heart Polish on Etsy here.

Incoco Nail Wraps: On The Edge

 *Press Sample

Hi everyone!  I hope the week is treating you well.  Today I have a really cool product to show you.  I was recently contacted by Incoco to try out their nail polish appliques.  I have only ever tried one brand of nail polish strips before and had a really good experience so I decided to give it a try.  

Incoco strips are base coat, polish, and top coat in one strip and are made of 100% polish.  You apply the strips to your nails and there is no drying time.  They remove with nail polish remover, just like you would a normal polish. Their website says that the appliques last for 14 days although I won't be testing that because my nails would look like talons if I let them grow for 14 days!

I chose a bright yellow and black houndstooth which is the design "On The Edge".  My strips came nicely packaged and also came with a cuticle stick, nail buffer with three different surfaces, and a polish removal cloth.  These strips were really easy to apply.  I think my total time including pushing back my cuticles and buffing my nails was less than ten minutes.  The instructions were very clear and the strips were easy to apply.  They fit my nail beds perfectly, I have long and semi-thin nail beds.  The only strips that didn't fit perfectly were my thumb nails.  The instructions were simple to follow and I didn't have any problems figuring out what to do.

Here is my final result!  I am still wearing these today and they look exactly the same as when I applied them on Sunday.  There's been no bubbling, peeling, chipping, or wear at all.  I am very happy with this product.

And yes....I did both hands :) 

Overall, I was really impressed with this product.  I can't really say that I prefer these over polish because I change my nail polish every day and that just wouldn't be practical.  That being said, I really like nail appliques for traveling and vacations.  I don't want to bring a ton of bottles of polish on a vacation or worry about chipping nails or touch-ups so I reach for nail appliques which last me the entire time I am away.  

These strips retail for $8.99 and you can find them here.  If you've made it all the way to the bottom of this post I will let you in on a little secret!  :)  Next week I will be showing a second design and will be having a giveaway for a design of your choice, sponsored by Incoco.   Yay!

*This product was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Very Skullicious Mani

*Press Sample

Hi everyone and welcome to Monday.  It never ceases to amaze me how fast the weekend goes by.  I spent all day yesterday catching up on reviews and blog things and have posts done all the way through next Sunday.  Today I have a really fun mani that I really enjoyed doing.  I picked out some nail art decals from Born Pretty Store.  These decals apply with water and were really easy to use and apply, once I figured them out!

To start off, these decals are item #4904 and can be found here.  I received a sheet of decals with all different kinds of skull designs.  These aren't something I would normally pick out, but I really liked the floral skulls and thought they were really funky. 

I started out with a base of OPI I'm Indi-A Mood for Love.  I was going for a really girly mani, but with the edginess of the skulls.  I will say that I couldn't really understand the instructions that came with the decals.  I ended up applying the one on my pointer finger backwards, which just looked white with no design. 

In the end, this is how I applied them:  I cut the design out that I wanted to use from the big sheet of designs.  I removed the plastic sheet on top of the decal and then plunged the decal into a little bowl of water for about 5-10 seconds.  I then used my finger to slide the decal off of the paper backing and onto my nail.  I dried it off with a paper towel and then added topcoat.  Once I figured it out, it probably took my a minute or so to do the rest of my nails.  Super easy!

I am quite happy with my finished mani and look forward to using some of the "darker" skulls around Halloween time.  What do you think of my girly yet edgy mani? 

These decals were $1.99 and can be found here.  Shipping is free and you can receive and additional 10% off with my coupon code below.

*Products were received in exchange for my honest opinion.

Bornprettystore.com

 

Pinspiration: Dot Manicure

Hi everyone.  Today I have a simple pinspiration mani to share.  This look was very easy to do, but I really liked the final result.  Here is a cropped version of the original picture.  I really liked the contrast of the background color and the dots.  I also really liked how the dots weren't perfectly round, I think it added character.

Source

Now....here is my version.  I think I never really realize how small nails are until I try and put a design on them :)  My dots ended up being closer together, but I wanted to include a bunch of colors from the picture.

I started with a base of Essie Playa del Platinum, which is a mix between tan and grey.  For the dots, I used various sizes of dotting tools with L'oreal Not a Cloud in Sight, OPI My Vampire is Buff, Wet N Wild Sunny Side Up, OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where?, and Julep Millie.

So there you have it.  I quite like it, it reminds me of a nice beachy setting with its mix of nautical and summery colors.

Massive Swatch Spam Saturday!

Hi everyone, welcome to the weekend!  Today I decided to do something a little crazy and get rid of all of the random swatches I've been holding on to.  I plan on upgrading my lightbox soon to hopefully improve my pictures, and these swatches will look out of place if all goes well with the new upgrade.  There are quite a few swatches, so let's jump right in, shall we?

China Glaze

Dandy Lyin' Around: Subtle white with shimmer-three coats, no topcoat

Essie

Bikini So Teeny: light blue with subtle shimmer which doesn't really translate to the nail-two coats, but needed a third, no topcoat

Fiji: pale pastel pink-three coats with topcoat

Hard Candy

Crush on Copper:  copper shimmer-two coats, no topcoat

Pixie Pink: pale pink base with aqua, medium pink, and silver glitter-three coats, no topcoat

Julie G

Frosted Gumdrops Blueberry Fizz: medium silvery blue-two coats, no topcoat

OPI

Blue My Mind: medium metallic blue with no shimmer-two coats, with topcoat.  This polish is stunning!

There you have it...all of the swatches I've been hoarding.  You might still see the normal swatches for a few more days, but if all goes well, better swatches will be up during next week.

Wearable Nail Soakers Review - The Pink Pods That Save You Time

Wearble Nail Soakers. What Are They and Are They Any Good?

It’s been a week and my nail art is starting to look a little tired and so I desperately wanted to take off my acrylic set. This gave me the perfect excuse to try out and test my new nail art soakers I recently purchased.

Normally I soak off my nail enhancements or nail art using a soak off bowl in the time tested way or sometimes I use the foil and Acetone soaked pads.

However being someone who’s always ready to try something new especially anything involving nails and nail art I thought that these wearable nail soakers looked such a good idea that I’d give them a whirl.

I got these from ‘The Nail Art Company’ at just £5.95 for a pack of 10 they aren't expensive and was actually quite excited and a little intrigued to find out for myself just how well they worked. The following is my review of these rather nifty and time saving nail care products. I hope you find it useful.

10 Wearable Nail Soakers From 'The Nail Art Company'

What Are Wearable Nail Soakers?

Basically they are a set of 10 Acetone resistant pods that you fill with Acetone (or Acetone free equivalent) solution and pop on your fingers to soak off and remove nail art, nail polish, shellac or artificial nails.

Each nail soaker pod consists of an opaque body with a pink silicone aperture that allows you to a) fill the soaker with Acetone and b) easily pop your finger tips in.

The pink silicone is designed to create a snug fit around your finger tips and acts as a seal to prevent the acetone from making a mess.

This is What a Wearable Nail soaker Looks Like.

Here We Have a Typical Wearable Nail Soaker.

Beautifully simple - Acetone resistant plastic cups with pink silicone lids you pop you finger through. The lids don’t need to be removed but can be for easy periodic cleaning.

The Best Way to Fill Wearable Nail Soakers.

From my research this is where I first came across some negative comments and opinions relating to wearable nail soakers. These comments generally related to making a mess or wasting Acetone when trying to fill the soaker pods.

After my extensive testing I believe I know why. Many simply try to fill the nail soakers straight from the Acetone Bottle (Usually an oversize bottle too). The size of the aperture in the pink lid is small, the opening in the Acetone bottle is large and often pours too quick and too much causing an over spill and a right mess. What you would expect really.

Want to know the secret to filling these little nail soakers without making a mess? Use a proper Acetone dispenser like this:

The Best Way to Fill Wearable Nail Soakers is with a Proper Acetone Dispenser.

Simply put the tip of the dispenser nozzle inside the cup and with a gentle squeeze fill up to the top of the fill line marked on the side of the soaker. These Acetone dispensers are so convenient, filling takes seconds and no mess what’s so ever.  A pipette or syringe is just as effective.

How Full Should You Fill The Nail Soakers?

Not as much as you might think. Don’t forget you have to put your finger tip in and that takes up quite a bit of volume. So if you overfill the nail soakers the only thing that going to happen when you put your finger tips in is its going to squirt, leak or both and again make a mess. I found that you only had to fill the soakers approximately half way up the opaque cup.

Overfilling Nail Soakers Only Leads to a Mess. Below the Pink Line is More Than Adequate.

I also found it much easier to pre-fill all the soakers so they were ready before putting them on.

What Is The Best Way To Place My Finger Tips In The Soakers Without Making A Mess?

Filling the nail soakers with acetone and then putting your finger tips in sounds straight forward. That’s until the first time you do it and get caught out by an ‘Acetone Squirt’. How does this happen?

Pushing your finger through the pink seal into the acetone filled soaker compresses the air trapped in the pod, and this has to go somewhere and will eventually results in a leak or squirt.

To be fair if you read the instructions on the packaging (and I know many of us don’t) it does clearly say to give the nail soakers a little squeeze and to slowly rotate as you put them on. This effective distorts the pink seal and lets the excess air out. 

Once you get the technique there easy to put on without a mess.   Tip: Try practicing with water first.

With Nail Soakers Installed It Only Takes 3 to 5 Minutes for the Acetone to Become Very Effective.

Do Nail Soakers Leak When You’re Wearing Them?

I guess the point of wearable nail soakers is that you can watch a bit of TV whilst letting your nail art soak off or whilst nourishing your nails. Either way you don’t want them to leak and cause a mess.

So I wanted to know would the nail soakers leak whilst wearing them. To test this I decided to raise my hands with the soakers filled and installed. I can happily report that they didn’t leak, however I really think this depends on whether you fill them correctly. As previously discovered the key is not to over fill.

How Long Does A Soak Off Take?

It depends what you are removing, whether its nail polish, shellac, nail art or a full set of artificial nails. From my experience I left my nails in the soakers for 2-3 minutes for nail polish and nail art, and a little longer for removing artificial nail enhancements. In each case my nails were wither perfectly clean or required just a small amount of work to remove any stubborn remnants.

Using Wearable Nail Soakers to Nourish Ones Nails.

I particularly enjoyed this aspect of the nail soaker’s review. A quick squirt of nail cream in each nail pod and then sit down and watch your favourite program whilst my nails and finger tips re-hydrate. Can’t do that with a finger soaking bowl!

My Conclusions

I was very happy with the nail soakers and I was pleased I got them. They are fairly inexpensive and I like the way they can be reused again and again. I also liked the added benefit of being able to use them to nourish my nails and finger tips after all that exposure to Acetone. 

They do allow me to watch the telly instead of sitting at the table with my hands in soaking trays and they are easy to clean and store.

I could see how some people might initially be put off due to the perceived mess they make but it goes without saying that as with anything new, make sure you read the instructions carefully before use. 

In my experience it was wise to experiment and practice the process a couple of times before getting the best out of them but hopefully I have identified most of tips and techniques for you in this review. I hope you enjoyed this nail article. Feel free to share, tweet or link to It and happy soaking.

OPI Russian Navy and Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Hi everyone!  Let me just start off by saying....Yay, it's Friday :)  Now that that's out of the way, today I have a really vampy combination that I was sporting yesterday.  I wasn't feeling well this week so my hubby surprised me with this little beauty, OPI Russian Navy.  I will first start out by saying that pictures cannot do it justice but I did my best.

OPI Russian Navy is a deep navy blue with red and teal shimmer.  The shimmer is hard to capture, but in the sunlight it just glows.  I was a little skeptical when I applied it inside and it just looked like a flat navy creme, but when it's in the sunlight, the shimmers twinkle and the polish just glows.  It's really fantastic.  If you look at the picture below, you can see how the light catches the shimmer near the top of the bottle.

I found the formula to be really good on this polish.  It was the perfect consistency and it just took two easy coats to be fully opaque.  I used topcoat for my swatches.

Here's an outdoor shot, still not showing its true beauty, but you can see the polish's glowy quality.  I am a sucker for blues, and this blue is at the top of my list.  I'm so excited for vampy fall shades and I think this is a twist on the traditional vampy red or dark maroon color.

In this macro sunlight shot, you can really see the shimmer stand out.  In the bottle, the polish actually looks purple instead of blue but I think its from the shimmer.

A while back, I won a giveaway from a Serbian blog, and Max Factor Fantasy Fire was one of the prizes.  I don't know why I hadn't tried it, but yesterday was the day.  This polish created a really beautiful effect over my blue polish and it was just glowing.  I used one coat of Fantasy Fire and added one coat of Seche Vite.  I think next time I will try two coats and see what happens.

I hope you enjoyed these polishes, these are my kind of shades!  Do you own either?  What do you think?

My Take on Sugar Spun

Hi everyone, happy Thursday.  I am back at work today and feeling better.  Today I have a mani that I wasn't sure about posting.  I liked it and my husband liked it but I wasn't sure if it was too abstract...I guess I will leave that up to you guys.  

I will start off by saying that I had a different plan for this mani, which is why it started with a ruffian.  For the ruffian I used Essie Mochachino topped with Essie Little Brown Dress.  I've never attempted a sugar spun mani and I don't think it looks terribly difficult, but I wonder if they are practical to wear.  I always wonder if those 3D lines of polish ever dry.....do they?  So, to create a kind of sugar spun effect, I took my smallest nail art brush with some bright colors and simply drew lines across my nails.   The colors I used were Essie Splash of Grenadine, China Glaze Highlight of My Summer, China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, and China Glaze Bottoms Up.  I started with one color on each nail, and then decided to create a layered effect with some of the colors. 

I finished off with one coat of Seche Vite and had it dry like normal.  I would love to know what people think of this one.  Have you tried a sugar spun mani?  Were you able to get it to dry?