My First Jelly Sandwich With Hard Candy!

Well, that's a strange title for a manicure! I went to Wal-Mart today and got a couple of Hard Candy polishes and I knew I would have to try a jelly sandwich. (For those of you who don't know, a "jelly sandwich" is when you sandwich a glitter polish between coats of a sheer polish.

I used OPI My Pointe Exactly as my jelly polish, and layered it with Hard Candy Party Central.

I am so excited about this glitter bomb! It's got 4 different size white glitter hexes, and medium sized blue, purple, orange and yellow hexes. I think I also see pink and green little hexes!

You can't make a jelly sandwich without mattifying it! I added Hard Candy Matte-ly in Love.

I am pretty excited about this manicure. The gliter was easy to grab and the look was easier than I thought it would be. Here is a super macro shot of the mattified sandwich:

Wowza! I love it. What's your opinion on jelly sandwiches?

Deadly Sins Challenge Day 5: Greed

Today's nail prompt is to "go wild and use your most expensive and precious polish." Well, most of my polishes are within the same price range, so I decided to go with a polish I "borrowed" from my mom the last time I was home - that's pretty greedy of me, isn't it? Haha!

Anyway, the color I took was OPI A Woman's Prague-ative, which is literally a gorgeous orangey gold with flecks of gold and red in it. My camera got a bit freaked out when I was taking pictures, but I tried to get as color accurate as possible. I stamped on these little crowns with ORLY Dazzle.

Look at how deep and intense this polish is! My mom noticed that I took it, of course, but I promised that I would return it eventually :P

Check out the other greedy manicures this week:

Mix n Match Purple Patterned Nails!

Today's nail art is inspired by a BUNCH of amazing nail artists. Now, my cuticles aren't looking great today, because I took the photos in a hurry!

So let's start with the pinky finger, which is a mixed up chevron manicure inspired by this awesome manicure by Dressed Up Nails.

The middle finger is inspired by the amazing Little Nails and her flawless mermaid nails.

And last but not least is the fishtail braid nails, which I created with the help of this tutorial by Lucy's Stash.

(Yes, you can see the edge of my lightbox! Whoops!)

I used a TON of colors in this manicure. I will try to rattle them all off:
- China Glaze Fancy Pants, Tart-y For the Party, Designer Satin
- a England Avalon
- Pretty & Polished Romance is Dead
- Colour Gossip Bora Bora

I think that's all of them!

 Enjoy this mixed up manicure :)

Deadly Sins Challenge Day 3: Gluttony

So I waited until the very last minute for this manicure because I have been totally dreading this day of the challenge, because the prompt is to "delight yourself with a sugar spun inspired manicure." Well, sugar spun nails are messy and gloopy and I am not sure if I really even think they look good at all! But I had to do the next sin, so I went with a chocolate covered strawberry manicure!

I used Julep Rose as a base, then used a dotting tool to create seeds. I used OPI Jade is the New Black and China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard for the leaves. And I topped it all off with Essie Don't Sweater It for the chocolate!

I do like the way it looks, but I can't keep this on my nails for too long!

I chose not to use top coat because I like the texture of the chocolate drizzle.

Here is the challenge sheet, for those of you who forgot!

Illustrations by Dahlig (http://dahlig.deviantart.com/)

I am kind of nervous about the next sin, Greed, because I don't really own especially expensive nail polish! But I'll figure something out ;P

Born Pretty Store Nail Decals

Today I have another review for you guys from Born Pretty Store, which is pretty much the best store for all your nail art accessories!

I chose to review these cute nail decals, which comes as a set of 12 sheets with different cute designs including stilettos, bows, and butterflies. I picked two designs for you guys to see how the nail decals work:

My first manicure was created using China Glaze Dance Baby and China Glaze Glistening Snow.

I love the way this turned out! This decal was probably my favorite out of the bunch, and it came with smaller decals with the same design.

The next design is also pretty simple. I used Julep Sasha and China Glaze For Audrey. These hearts are perfect for a quick and cute little accent. (I know I put one on a bit lopsided!)

You can get these decals for super cheap at the Born Pretty Store - but you can get them for even cheaper now because I have a 10% off coupon for you!

Click the coupon above to be taken to the store and use the code RFL91 at checkout to get 10% off your order and free shipping anywhere in the world!

What do you think of these decals?

My Very First Konad Manicure!

SO, today I begrudgingly drove my boyfriend to some bar in the mall, and as I was walking to Sephora to check out some nail polish, I saw a strange kiosk out of the corner of my eye. And guess what it was -------- A KONAD KIOSK!

I freaked out and immediately bought 3 plates, a red nail polish, and a new stamper and scraper and I am shocked and amazed at how great the quality is!

Here is my first "Konadicure" using m60 -

I used Colour Gossip Bora Bora as a base and used Konad Black for stamping.

Let me just say that I am generally pretty awful at stamping but Konad plates made it SO much easier!

What do you guys think? What's your favorite stamping plate brand?

Cartoon Fun With Spongebob and Friends!

Today's nail art is a bit different than usual. It's not as "flawless" as some of the true nail are you see on the internet, but it's only my second time drawing actual characters on my nails!

Check it out:

Spongebob Squarepants! He's my absolute favorite cartoon character and the star of my favorite show :)

I won't bother with all the colors I used, because I mixed a bunch of colors up to make them accurate to the show, but the base is OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui.

I think I can definitely improve, but I LOVE the way Squidward turned out :)

Stay tuned for this week's challenge nail art !!

Pink Leopard and Bow Tie Nail Art!

I know I have been all over leopard print, pink polish, and bows lately so I had to tie it all together in today's nail art!

When Born Pretty Store sent me these adorable bows for review, I knew I had to make a cutesy matching manicure to go with them!

(For those of you who don't know, Born Pretty Store has the best nail accessories and polishes known to mankind, and with the coupon code RFL91, you can get 10% off your entire order and free shipping anywhere in the world!)

Anyway, to the nail art!

For this manicure, I used a base of Essie Blanc and then used Essie Bottle Service for the detail nail and dots, and then finished off the leopard print with Sinful Colors Black on Black.

HOW CUTE are these bows?

I am not entirely positive if the pattern on the bow is leopard print, but I just couldn't resist.

The pink on my ring finger is the same as in the bottle and on my leopard spots, but since it is three coats over white, it looks much more saturated and neon.

If you want to purchase these or anything else from the Born Pretty Store, you can use my code RFL91 at checkout for 10% off and free shipping!

Serum No. 5 Day Glow Swatch -- It Glows In The Dark!

So during Serum No. 5's last restock, I grabbed a bottle of Day Glow, an awesome lemon yellow polish that - get this - glows in the dark!

I layered Day Glow over two coats of Essie Blanc to make the color really pop. The good thing about this polish is that you can put top coat over it and it still glows!

Now keep in mind that I have never taken a photo of my nails in the dark so I didn't do a wonderful job capturing the glow - but trust me on this one, it lasted for SO long after just charging my nails under a lamp for a few seconds!

I am thrilled with this polish and I am definitely going to do some nail art with it, I just have to figure out how to properly take a glow-in-the-dark photo.

Deadly Sins Challenge Day 1: Lust

When I found out that One Nail to Rule Them All and Nail Wish created a nail art challenge based on the Seven Deadly Sins, I just had to join in!

This is actually the first challenge I will be participating in with other (extremely talented) nail artists, despite my name, so bear with me!

The first day of Deadly Sins is "Lust."The challenge says to "Be a bad girl and make something you have wanted to do so badly." Well, I have always wanted to do this Daily Polish inspired design that incorporated bows, but I also wanted to make it a bit sexy!

Of course, I have little experience drawing actual art on my nails, so the bow isn't exactly... good. But anyway, I used a base of China Glaze Designer Satin on my pointer and pinky, and OPI Liquid Sand in Stay The Night for my ring finger. On my middle finger, I used a base of Sinful Colors Black on Black, then painted the bow using Designer Satin, China Glaze Rich and Famous, and OPI Casino Royale.

And here is the dreaded photo of my bow.....

I know it's sucky but it was my first try!! I am going to make an effort to start drawing better art on my nails, so be patient!

Here is the challenge list for anyone who wants to take part: (click to enlarge)

Illustrations by Dahlig (http://dahlig.deviantart.com/)

And here are the other lovely ladies who have made "lust"y manicures!

Pink Leopard Print Nails

I am not too sure how I feel about these nails, so you guys will have to decide whether they are a fail or a win!

I wanted to use the gorgeous Matte OPI La Paz-itively Hot as a base for this manicure, but I couldn't resist adding top coat!

I used ORLY Dazzle and Sinful Colors Black on Black for the details with a dotting tool.

What do you guys think? I am going to practice my leopard print so I can do better next time!

Stripes with Colour Gossip Nail Lacquer

Today I have some simple nail art for you using some great colors that the amazing Colour Gossip sent me to review! I'll show you my nail art first, then go over the swatches and review.

In this manicure, I also used ORLY Luxe for a gold highlight. Anyway, here are the colors I used:

This first color is Shallow, a lovely sheer creamy white. This color would be great for a French manicure! I used three coats to build opacity.

Next up we have Bora Bora, a periwinkle with just the slightest hint of silver shimmer.

When I first got this color, I thought it looked like Essie Bikini So Teeny, but no dupes here! Bora Bora is much more saturated and the shimmer is more slight. This is just two coats.

I think this color is a great base for nail art!

And last but not least we have Designer Shades, a stunning orangey yellow creme.

When I used this in my nail art, it turned out a bit less saturated and more of a pale yellow, but alone on the nail it really pops! I had to use four coats to make the color fully opaque, but I'm sure it would be easier to build up if I had used a white base.

I really love this color even though I thought I wouldn't - it's just so summery! Perfect for toes in my opinion.

The formula of Colour Gossip is amazing. The colors were a bit thin, which I like much better than a thicker, gloopy polish! I think the best part of this brand is that each collection that they create gives donations to different organizations for each bottle sold! Check out more information on their website.

What do you guys think of this brand?

Inspired Purple Nails for Boston

Today's manicure is inspired by a pattern created by Will Paint Nails for Food - one of my favorite nail bloggers! I also decided to use purple in honor of the horrible tragedy that occurred yesterday in Boston.

I used China Glaze Tart-y for the Party as a base, and then dotted on China Glaze Fancy Pants, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and Orly Dazzle.

I also am having a bit of a change as far as photography goes - so let me know what photography you like the best lately.
I think I might go back to using a lightbox.

Houndstooth Stamping with Julep

Today's manicure is some practice with stamping -

I used a base of Julep Minka, a gorgeous copper matte. I stamped on the houndstooth using ORLY Dazzle.

I love how the silver stayed mattified too :) Simple, but effective! What do you think?

My Picks From the China Glaze Avant Garden Collection!

I want to show you guys my picks from the new spring collection from China Glaze, the Avant Garden Collection, which consists of 12 shades that range from soft pastels to bold bright shimmers.

I chose five colors from my local Sally Beauty Supply, which has a special sale going on for the month of April where you can buy any two polishes, and get one free!

This first color is Snap My Dragon, a pink leaning bright red with a gorgeous fuchsia shimmer.

I love this color, and it applied the easiest out of all the colors I bought! Photos show two coats.

Next we have Fancy Pants, a bluish purple with an intense violet shimmer.

I love how unique the shimmers are in this collection! This color is definitely gorgeous with my skin tone. Shown is two coats.

Next, we have Tart-y for the Party, a lavender cream.

I love how pretty this color is! It is pretty warm toned, much more so than any other purples I own! Shown is three thin coats.

Next we have the gorgeous Keep Calm, Paint On. This color is a pale mint green with a subtle shimmer.

Formula wasn't as easy on this one, but it evened out nicely in three coats.

And finally, we have Dandy Lyin' Around, a gorgeous white with an intense shimmer! My camera freaked out when I tried to photograph this, so the shimmer is not as visible in the photos as it is in real life.

This was the hardest to apply, and it was kind of patchy, but the color is just so pretty. Shown is three coats.

I love these spring colors! They are available in most beauty supply stores. Which ones will you be getting?

China Glaze Avant Garden Nail Art

Today's post was supposed to be a list of all my picks from the China Glaze Avant Garden Collection - I got five of them! - but that is going to be a bit delayed so I decided to show you some nail art that I did using Tarty for the Party and Fancy Pants.

This manicure was inspired by the stunning quilted manicure by the Polished Perfectionist.

I like the gradient nails better than the detail nail, but I think both look pretty good! For some reason, I had a lot of trouble getting my photos to be color accurate (my camera gets nervous when I use glitter, haha!) so this is the only one that I have to show you ;).

Swatch: OPI Liquid Sand Can't Let Go

This is a super delayed post - I got all the Mariah Carey Liquid Sand polishes for Christmas from my boyfriend (who also made me this rotating nail polish rack from scratch!) and I have taken photos of them, but never completely swatched them. So here is my long overdue swatch of OPI Can't Let Go -

I am loving this texture trend! I can't wait to get my hands on more.

So this polish is a gorgeous purple with some bigger purple hex glitters and a bunch of fine glitters that make it dry with a texture. It took me 2 coats for opacity - I think this one might be the most opaque in the collection.

It almost feels like I have a nail file on my nails! Haha!

Here is a closer look at all that cool texture.

Should I post the rest of the Liquid Sand polishes?