Franken-free Friday- China Glaze Halloween “Awakening”

Happy Friday!

Today I have the China Glaze “Awakening” Halloween colors to show you. I was so excited when these arrived, and it was hard to wait until my “non-franken day” to showcase them. China Glaze always does cool colors for holidays, and these are no exception!

Ick-a-Body has a deep, murky green jelly base with tons of orange glitter. The name makes me giggle, though. I can picture some unsuspecting couple strolling through the park at night, then screaming “Ick! A Body!” when they stumble upon a corpse half-hidden in the bushes. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Law & Order! But regardless of the name, this color is really unique and absolutely perfect for Halloween. I used two coats, and it covered great!

Zombie Zest is a yellowish-green jelly with green toned glitter in it. Very appropriately named, and what would Halloween be without zombies? I used two coats, and was surprised that this was smooth even before I got around to doing a topcoat!

Mummy May I is the pretty side of Halloween. Very girly, but still dark and vampy. The purple glitter really stands out against the black jelly base, and reminds me a lot of the new Lippmann color, Bad Romance, minus the chunky glitter. I almost caved and bought BR, but I think the lemming has been satisfied with Mummy May I! I used three coats of this, since it was a tiny bit more sheer than the others, but someone with shorter nails may get away with just two.

I loved all three of these, and it was impossible to pick a favorite. I always look forward to what China Glaze is going to come out with next, and they never disappoint! 🙂

Franken-free Friday: Some golden oldies

Happy Friday!

Today, I have a few really old colors that I wore this past week to show you. With all the awesome new polishes coming out, I’ve been neglecting my “oldies”, so I decided to give them some love.

This first one…I’m only showing it because I *do* like the color, but I must say there aren’t enough swear words to properly describe the application. Theons #116 is a pretty pale mint/pistachio color. Looks very promising in the bottle, but five ( yes FIVE) coats later…I still had a bit of streaking on my ring finger. I have a couple other Theons colors, and haven’t had this problem, so I’m not sure what’s up with this one.

Next up…MAC Tilt. I got this from a friend of mine who has had the bottle since high school, so this one is literally old school! Tilt is a shimmery light blue/green color with a gold flash. It’s very similar to NYX Paradise, only a bit more opaque. I did two coats for this.

I saved the best for last! One of my most prized polishes in my collection is Liquid Euphoria Bliss. Sadly, this one is super hard to find, but if you are lucky enough to come across it…it’s a winner! Bliss is probably the closest dupe to the equally hard to find Clarins 230, and it is just gorgeous! I got my bottle from my sister, who was cleaning out some cosmetics when she was moving. She showed up with a bunch of polishes in hand, telling me they were old and might not be anything I wanted. As soon as I saw Bliss, I had a giant thrill fit which involved me shrieking, squealing and some sort of dancing. I think I scared her LOL. So here is Bliss in all it’s well deserved glory at various lighting…I did three coats.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! 🙂

Franken-free Friday: Zoya Wicked & Wonderfuls

Happy Friday!

Today I have a few of my favorites from Zoya’s recent collections, Wicked and Wonderful. Both collections are full of beautiful shades, so it was difficult to choose which ones were my absolute favorites. What I really like about these two releases is the variety! So many colors to choose from, in both cremes and shimmers, that it really has something for everyone. These were all two coaters, and applied wonderfully.

First up, Cheryl, from the “Wicked” foily-shimmer collection. This is a gorgeous chocolate-bronze shade, and stood out immediately to me. It is the perfect fall color, and although I am not quite ready for fall yet, I still loved wearing this.

Kelly is another definite standout shade. It is a dark grey creme, with a hint of blue/purple to it. Very unique and versatile…I think this is one of my new “go to” colors when I’m not sure what I feel like wearing.

Edyta was the one I was anticipating the most, and it didn’t disappoint! It is green-ish, with grey and tiny multi-color shimmer. A weird color, but weird in a good way!

Kristi just may be my new favorite red. I know I don’t give the reds nearly enough love. Red is probably the one shade I have trouble pulling off. But Kristi was extremely flattering on, and is a true classic, pretty red. I ended up wearing this for three days (that’s long for me) because I loved it so much.

Julieanne, oh sweet purple Julieanne! All you purple lovers out there need to get this one. You won’t be let down! It’s dark and shimmery, and doesn’t look black in low light.

This entire Wicked and Wonderful collections are truly amazing colors, great job Zoya!:-)

For Elmor

Hello, all!

Today I have a color that was a request by a friend of mine. She wanted something along the lines of China Glaze For Audrey, but with a squishy, jelly finish like RBL Bikini Bottom. This one was actually super easy to make, and I nailed it on my first try. My friend Elma was quite pleased with it as well, so I named it after her (Elmor is a silly nickname I have for her).

I used Wet ‘N Wild French White Creme, New York Summer Hot Sky Blue, Tropical Manicure #13, and NYC Clear.

I filled an empty bottle half full of clear, added in just a tad less of 1/4 each of Hot Sky Blue & TM #13, then added in about 5 drops of white.

I loved the color so much, and am glad I made an extra bottle for myself to show off on here! I used 3 thickish coats, because we all know how I feel about VNL’s. This one is very versatile, so you can wear it as sheer or as opaque as you want!

Thanks for stopping by! More coming up soon 🙂

Franken-free Friday: China Glaze Vintage Vixens

Happy Friday!

I received the China Glaze Vintage Vixen polishes a couple days ago, and have picked my five favorites to show you today. This is a quite diverse collection, and certainly has a range of colors for everyone. One of the reasons I love China Glaze…their collections are always filled with different shades, so you’d be hard pressed not to find a few that work for you!

First Class Ticket is a rich, shimmery purple that has tiny blue microglitter in it. Quite appropriately named, since it has a very luxurious feel to it. Two coats covered well:

Swing Baby gave me a difficult time because the formula was very thin, but the color won me over! It reminds me of bubbly champagne, very foily and shimmery and just gorgeous. This was a three coater:

Jitterbug also has a foil-like finish to it, and was another favorite in this collection. It is a slate grey with the slightest blue tinge to it…very unique. I don’t think I own anything else that looks like this! This one was good to go with two coats:

Of course, Emerald Fitzgerald is in my top favorites as well. China Glaze is quite generous with the greens, and they know how to do them right! I love that this is a dark, vampy green, but never looks black, even under low light. It isn’t green-green, but has a bit of a blue cast to it. I see myself wearing this one a lot. This was two coats:

Now, even though I adore EF (and greens in general)…one color really stood out. My favorite of this collection is Ingrid, a strange choice for me, but I am oddly fascinated with this color! Ingrid reminds me of mud. Yes, mud. But pretty mud with a beautiful gold shimmer. My fiance, who rarely ever comments on my polish, noticed this right after I finished my mani and said he really liked the color. This one was also a bit on the thin side, but was even and opaque in three coats:

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully I will have a fun 4th of July mani to show you on Sunday…I’m still trying to figure out what I should do!
😀

Franken-free Friday: Overseas Beauties

Happy Friday!
I have some more overseas colors to show you today. Most of these aren’t terribly hard to find, and I’ve even seen a few pop up on ebay from time to time.

First up, a long time lemmings satisfied (once again by my good friend Vikki in the U.K. <3), Stargazer #232. I have a couple other Stargazer colors, and while I am not crazy about the round, bubble-like bottle shape…the colors are very pretty and apply nicely. #232 is a silver chrome with a mirror-like finish to it. Despite being a metallic, it really wasn’t hard to work with. I had very minimal visible brush strokes, and it covered in 2 thin coats.

Next, another U.K. silver…but this one is a holographic! And not just any old holo. GOSH Holographic is THE best silver holo I own. I’ve actually had this one a while and have worn it several times. It never fails to amaze me. 2 coats over Nailtek Foundation II…liquid awesome!

I recently received my very first BYS polishes from Aussie blogger and friend Kaz (check her out at Pretty-Random). The first one I tried out, I fell head over heels in love with. Thunderstorm, which I admit I only wanted because of the name, is a very dark blue-almost-black with fine silver glitter and larger holo glitter pieces. It’s gorgeous. I wore it for 3 days and keep staring at my nails constantly. I applied 2 coats, and it was slightly lumpy on…but evened out with 1 thin coat of TC. The BYS polishes smell AWFUL, just to warn you. I think the waterproofing paint we used on our basement smelled better than these. But the color makes it totally worth it…this one is really unique.

And last up, Mavala Pygmee. Mavala is a Swiss brand, and has a lot of really neat colors. The bottles are teeny, but I have yet to be disappointed by what’s inside! Pygmee is a weird, swampy green shimmer that looks like the love child of RBL No More War and China Glaze Moonpool. The first coat went on a bit sheer, but it covered nicely with the second coat.

Thanks for stopping by! Check in tomorrow…I will have a review up of a couple “Hand Perfection” products I got to try out! 🙂
Have a great weekend, all!

Franken-free Friday: Sally Hansens and some nail art!

Happy Friday!

Today I have a few of the newer Sally Hansens to show you, as well as my attempt at some nail art. Nothing fancy, just playing around…but I figured I would post the pics anyway!

As you all may know, Sally Hansen recently revamped their entire “Salon” polish line…new colors, new brushes, and new bottle design. While I don’t particularly like the new bottles (I’m a square lover!), I do really love the brush. It’s bigger and has a rounded shape, similar to the Insta-Dri style. The rounded shape works excellent for getting a nice “gap”, and the bigger brush covers more of my nail, so I can paint faster!

First up, Lavender Cloud! Pretty name, even prettier color! It’s a clean, crisp pale white-lavender. I was really impressed at how smooth this went on. No streaks, no runny mess. I did 2 coats, and it was completely opaque:

Next, of course, the green! Grass Slipper (which I think is a hilarious name) is a green creme, and also applied nicely and covered great in 2 coats:

I jazzed this up a little by using french mani guides to make a diagonal design. The pink is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Rose Rush. I love these Insta-Dri colors because they cover completely in only one coat, so I didn’t need to put much effort into this.

And lastly, one of the new Salon colors that I think has been greatly overlooked. Calypso Blue, which honestly doesn’t look like much in the bottle, is really gorgeous. It is an electric shimmery blue, and not the least bit sheer. 2 thin coats and I was good to go.

I snazzed this one up after a few days, using my new stencils from SmARTnails. After seeing a post about these on the nail board, I decided to order a few to try out. This is the “Small Teeth” design, and I used another Insta-Dri, Sea Breeze, as an accent color. It’s subtle, but that’s what I was going for. And I was a bit nervous about screwing up, I admit. These were foolproof, and not messy at all.

That’s all for today…I hope you all have a great Memorial weekend! 🙂

Franken-free Friday: BB Coutures!

Happy Friday!

Today I have a few polishes to show you from one of my absolute favorite brands, BB Couture. BB Couture may not be as well known as OPI or Essie, but their polishes are AMAZING. The have some of the coolest and unique colors, and their formula is one of the best I have ever used, hands down.

First, is a color that is near and dear to me. Frosty Meadow was the first BB Couture polish I bought a few years back, and not only is it GREEN…but it’s a green jelly with glitter! Of course I didn’t notice until later on my pictures of this all came out slightly blurry, but you get the idea. This is 2 coats, as are the rest:

Napa Valley Red is another one of my BBC favorites. This has the same jelly-like base with glitter, but with a vampy twist! Very fitting, since this is one of the colors created by Kelly from Vampy Varnish.

Painted Lady is one of the newer BBC summer colors from the Ladybug Collection. It’s a gorgeous orange jelly with glitter, and so perfect for summer.

Finally, I have one of my other new favorites that I got with my last order, Intake Valve. This is one of the BB Couture “polish for men” colors, but of course it looks just as good on ladies! Intake Valve is a pale grey creme with a touch of purple and slight shimmer to it. Really cool looking! I love these grey/purple colors, and was pleased that I couldn’t find a dupe for this in my stash.

I buy all my BB Couture polishes from Overall Beauty, and have had nothing but outstanding experiences with them. Kim, the owner, is such a sweetheart, and always sends me personal emails with updates on my order, or answers to my questions.

Thanks for stopping by! I have some more fun frankens coming up, as well as goodies to giveaway, so check back!
😛

Serpentine

Good morning!

For today’s franken, I decided to use one of my pigment samples that I had laying around. It is a brand called Aromaleigh, and I had never tried frankening with their pigments before. This one was almost too pretty to mix with…I’ve worn it a couple times as an eyeshadow and it’s gorgeous!

I used NYC Clear, and Aromaleigh pigment in Arabesque.

I filled an empty bottle 2/3 full of clear, then mixed in 1 teaspoon of Arabesque pigment. This mixed fairly easily with light shaking, so I knew I was off to a good start!

The color reminds me of OPI Creme De Menthe or Chanel Jade…but I don’t think it’s a dead on dupe for either. It is quite pretty, though!

Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Franken-free Friday: A Couple Kleancolors

Happy Friday!

I have a couple Kleancolors that I just bought recently to show you. First off, I must say that I absolutely love their new bottle design. I’m partial to square shaped bottles, but these are really pretty. I have a modest collection of Kleancolors, and have always been pleased with the application & wear on them. Plus, they have really cool colors. One word of warning…they STINK to high heaven! Very chemical-y smelling…so make sure to open a window.

I purchased these from an ebay store, because I was only buying a few. Cherryculture.com also has a lot of Kleancolors, not to mention a ton of other goodies from NYX and such, and I usually order there when I’m making a fairly big order. This first one, I thought for sure was a misprint in the listing. They had it listed as “Vikini Green“, while Kleancolor’s site says “Bikini Green” (which makes more sense). But low and behold…when I got it….

Yup, that clearly says “Vikini Green”! Maybe I just got a misprinted one, but that’s alright. I think it’s silly, and it reminds me of my friend Vikki…so it’s all good. Anyway, here’s VG…

Looooooooove! This is what I’d call a neon-pastel. It’s very bright, but still has that soft, creamy look to it. This is two coats, and was perfect and streak free.

The other color I have to show you today is Neon Purple. Not a terribly fun name, but what it lacks in the creativity department it makes up for by what is inside the bottle. Again, two coats and it came out flawless. I hate photographing purples, because no mater what lighting/settings I use, they never come out 100% accurate. This one is a tad less blue in real life.

I was positive this was another neon creme, but I noticed later on it has a very subtle secret shimmer to it!

Thanks for stopping by…have a great weekend & don’t forget to check back tomorrow to see who won the Del Sol giveaway!