Twilight Saga Themed Mani

I did this mani for the Breaking Dawn premier! I am a big fan of the Twilight books and movies, so I thought it would be fun chance to do my nails for the movie! These are each of the book covers, and my ring finger is supposed to look like Bella's ring from the movies. Here is how I did this mani:

Thumb: This is inspired by the cover of Twilight. Two coats of Sally Hansen Black Out. I free handed the apple using Butter London Knees Up. I used a thin nail art striper and dipped it into Ulta Taupe on a Rope for the stem. I did the shine spot using the pen side of my Two Way nail art pen and brush in white. I did a full mani of similar apples here.

Index: This is inspired by the cover of New Moon. Two coats of Sally Hansen Black Out. I used a nail art brush and tried to draw the flower on the book, first using Sally Hansen White Out, then Butter London Knees Up.

Middle: This is inspired by the cover of Eclipse. Two coats of Sally Hansen Black Out. I used the brush on Butter London Knees Up and drew on the swirl.

Ring. This is inspired by Bella's engagement ring in the movies. Two coats of Sally Hansen Black Out. Then using Seche Vite I attached a lot of Silver rhinestones in an oval shape.

Pinky: This is inspired by the cover of Breaking Dawn. Two coats of Sally Hansen Black Out. To draw the pawn I used the pen side of my Two Way nail art pen and brush in white.

Btw, I did my friend Rachel's nails to match! Yay twins! Haha. We are both big Twilight nerds :-D

Rachel's nails!

Orly Coffee Break Beach-y Nails :)

I am not sure how these nails ended up as a beach theme! I started by wanting to use my new Orly Coffee Break, and then decided maybe I would use a stamp on it... and then I found my cutie lobster stamp... and it spiraled from there! Maybe not season appropriate, but still cute!

To do this mani I started with two coats of Orly Coffee Break (below), with a coat of Seche Vite on top. I think this color is really pretty, and I suppose it does look a bit like a coffee loaded with some creamer! This polish was a little on the thin side, so it had a tendency to puddle in my cuticles if I wasn't careful. It still had good coverage though. 

Then I wanted to make it look a little bit like sand, so I used a make up sponge, using the same technique I described here, and lightly sponged on some Ulta Taupe on a Rope. In hindsight I wish I had also sponged a lighter color on it to make it look even more like sand.



Then after this dried, I used a Konad knock off plate that I ordered in a bundle on ebay, Plate B88, and stamped my little lobster on my ring finger using Essie One of a Kind. I used the same plate and stamped two sets of the feet on my thumb using Sinful Colors Rich in Heart. I am a little bummed because I thought I would give my Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat some love, and when I started to paint it on my thumb, it smeared my feet! Ugh. So I promptly put down the bottle and finished with Seche Vite. This is just another reason I love Seche Vite, besides a ton of reasons I don't need to ramble about now, it is GREAT for nail art. I have never had it smear a design for me. EVER. I love my Seche Vite....love love love.

Look at that cutie lobster!! I love him!!

Dupes? OPI Don't Mess With OPI & Sinful Colors Envy

I wanted to compare OPI Don't Mess with OPI from the Texas Collection and Sinful Colors Envy from the Lone Star Collection. Can you tell the difference between these two?

Index & Ring: Don't Mess with OPI / Middle & Pinky: Envy

This is three coats of each polish, and the formula on these was pretty much the same. I think that I tried putting on the second coat when the first was still too wet, so it started to drag the polish. That's why I ended up using a third coat of polish, so that I could even it out. I think you could definitely get away with two coats for each of these.

Honestly, you have to REALLY try to see the difference between these two polishes. Side by side I think that Don't Mess with OPI is the tiniest bit lighter than Envy. Considering how similar they are, color AND formula, I would definitely purchase Envy. OPI runs about $8.50/bottle, and I got this Sinful Colors from Rite Aid for $1.99... it seems like a no brainer to me! The following are a few more comparison pictures painted as the same combination as above.

Indoor - no flash

Indoor - flash

Color Club Holographic Polish

I am so happy that the sun was out last weekend ... seriously! I was able to swatch the four Color Club Holographic polishes I own. Just like with other holos, these pictures just don't do them justice! All the following pictures are two coats of polish, no base coat and no top coat.

Color Club Fashion Addict:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Sunlight

Color Club Wild at Heart:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Sunlight

Color Club Revvvolution:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Sunlight

Color Club Worth The Risque:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Sunlight

These all went on really nicely, I think that my favorites in this collection are actually Revvvolution and Wild at Heart, and you could almost get away with just one coat for those two colors. I love the way you can see how Revvvolution has an amazing rainbow - it even shows up in the indoor pictures! Honestly though, these are all ridiculously gorgeous!  

China Glaze Purple Panic with OMG Sponge

To do this mani, I started with two coats of China Glaze Purple Panic. This is a neon, with a slight shimmer in it - and it dries matte. The color is pretty, but I had a hard time with the application on this polish. I put on two coats and it was just so lumpy and streaky, I really didn't think a third coat would help. I put a coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat on it, and it helped smooth it out a little bit. Then, when the polish was no longer tacky, I used a make up sponge and dipped it into China Glaze OMG and lightly sponged it on top. I didn't put on a top coat on it because I thought it may dimish the beautiful holo of OMG.

Without Topcoat

With Topcoat

Rimmel London Hard Metal Stripe

Another simple mani today... school is kicking my butt these days! We are reaching the end of the semester though, so hopefully after the semester is over I will have more time to do some fun designs (in time for Christmas!!).

To do this mani I used two coats of Rimmel London Hard Metal (below). This polish had really nice coverage, but it did show the brush strokes a little bit. I didn't really find it too noticeable in person, but in the pictures I think you can really see it (especially the one with the flash).

Indoor - no flash

Indoor - flash

Then, I added one stripe of Sinful Colors Nail Art striper in Hey Dear! - then I added a coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

Milani 3D Holographic Polish

I own four of the Milani 3D Holographic Collection. I have been waiting for the sun to be out for WEEKS so I could get the chance and swatch these babies. The following pictures are each with 3 thin coats of polish, no base coat and no top coat. I really don't think that these pictures do these polishes justice, out in the sun they are very pretty and you can see a lot of the rainbow that my pictures barely caught. Enjoy!

Milani Hi-Tech:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Evening sunlight

Milani Digital:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Sunlight

Milani 3D:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Milani Cyberspace:

Indoor - no flash

Sunlight

Sunlight

China Glaze Flying Dragon

So, I wanted to start this off by saying that I generally find it hard to truly dislike a nail polish. I may like some less than others, but that is usually the extent of it. I guess I just love polish so much in general, that it's hard for me hate something. Saying that, this may be the first polish that I have felt this strongly disappointed by.

Indoor - no flash

Indoor - with flash

This is two coats of China Glaze Flying Dragon. Can you see how gritty the finish on this is? It reminds me of sandpaper, and it's not attractive at all. It also has a matte finish that I was not at all expecting. In the picture without the flash, can you see how pretty the color looks IN the bottle, a lighter purple with some pretty blue and purple/pink shimmery micro glitters? Yea... it's nothing like that once you get it on the nail. It dries very dark. So - I thought I would try it with top coat on top, and see if this helped me to like it more.

Indoor - no flash

Indoor - with flash

These are with a coat of top coat on it. I think that the top coat helped lighten the polish up a bit (you can especially see this with the no flash pictures), and remove the grit. However, I still really wasn't happy with this polish. Based on the color in the bottle, it was not what I expected at all, I wouldn't recommend this one.

Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice

I wanted to show another Fall color, before it's time to think of Holiday colors (we are getting close)! This is three coats of Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice. It's a very sheer jelly, and I think it would be best for layering over a dark brown. My friend Debby at Snack Love used this a few times layering it over Estee Lauder Black Mocha here and here. You can see how shear it is even after three coats, I think I would need to add another two coats for it to be opaque enough for me to be satisfied.