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!:-)

Franken-free Friday: NailGirls

Happy Friday!

Today I have a few colors that I received earlier this week for review. They are a brand called NailGirls, and this is the first I have heard of them. They are a small, London based spa/salon that carries their own brand of polish colors…much like RBL does. I poked around their website and discovered they have a lot of colors, even some mattes! Not boring shades, either. I spotted a couple greens and some nice greys.

I received three colors to try out. I was REALLY excited to see that these have a lovely square bottle shape, similar to the American Apparel bottles. They fit so much better in a Helmer, and are just more aesthetically pleasing (to me, anyway!). Now, NailGirls are up there in price, retailing for 10 pounds, or approximately $15 and change U.S. dollars. They applied effortlessly and smooth, and I found the application and formula to be on par with a RBL or Lippmann. So you are definitely getting your moneys’ worth!

First up, Teal #2. This one is actually a pale blue rather than teal. I own a ton of blues, but this wasn’t a dupe for any of them. The first coat was a bit on the sheer side, so I did three coats on this one to make it nice and opaque, but I probably would have gotten away with only two:

Pink #2, is actually a pinky-purple shimmer. I really didn’t think this looked impressive in the bottle, but it is much prettier on! 2 coats:

The last one, Coral #1, was my favorite out of the three. It is a gorgeous coral creme, and completely opaque in two coats. I left the bottle out on my desk when I was done, because I plan to use this as a pedi this weekend. Such a great summer color!

The only complaint I have about these? The names! I wish they had “real” names, rather than just a color and a number. The quality of the polishes and the packaging was excellent, so I just think they deserve some catchy and cute names!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
🙂

Flux Capacitor

Hello, everyone!
I actually made this franken and took pics of it a while ago…and then forgot about it completely. Which is terrible because it was a color I really loved! And I borrowed the name from one of my all time favorite movies, Back to the Future. No matter how many times I see it…it never gets old! And who doesn’t secretly lust after a time traveling DeLorean?

I used NYC Clear, Pure Ice Electric, and fine purple glitter from INM. I poured about half each of clear and Electric into an empty bottle, and added about one tablespoon of INM glitter.

Love glitters! Especially dark, vampy ones!

Indoors:

Outside in the sun…here you can really see how gorgeous this is:

Thanks for stopping by….I have more pretties coming soon, as well as a giveaway! 😛

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!
😀

Electric Cinder

Hello, everyone!

I’m back with yet another Overall Beauty Minerals franken! This one definitely came out REALLY great…and is cool looking. I also added a little something to the name to properly describe it.

I choose Orly Rock Candy to pair with OM’s “Cinder” pigment. Cinder is a dark smoky black with teeny tiny purple glitter flecks. This was actually the second franken I made with Cinder…the first being a FAIL. Not a huge fail, but still not what I wanted, and these pigments are so darn pretty they deserve nothing less than a 100% effort on my part! Rock Candy was a wise choice, and I only needed about a
teaspoon of Cinder pigment.

I’m actually glad the first attempt didn’t work…otherwise I might not have discovered this duochrome beauty!

It flashes between a vivid teal, deep shimmery purple, and an array of blue hues in between. Reminds me a lot of one of the old and long-gone Sally Hansen Prism colors, Turquoise Opal. The fine purple glitter in the Cinder pigment really pops out when the sun hits this. Of course the weather here has been madness (Tornado warnings in NY, really?!) so sun has been scarce.
Indoors:

Outdoors with very partial sun:

Thanks for stopping by! I have the last (and my favorite) of these coming up tomorrow, so check back!
😉

Winter Night

Hi again!

I have another pretty today made with Overall Beauty Minerals Pigment!

I paired the “Winter Night” pigment, which is a dark shimmery blue/purple, with China Glaze Tinsel, a silver sparkle. I used about 2 teaspoons of WN pigment.

The silver sparkles really give this the illusion of a true winter night!

This applied nice and smooth, good coverage in two coats…and well, just look at that color! I couldn’t be happier with how this one turned out.

Thanks for stopping by…I have a couple more of these coming up, so check back!
🙂

Franken-free Friday: British Invasion!

Happy Friday!
Today I have a few colors to show you from across the pond. I recently received these pretties from my friend Vikki in the U.K., and had to wear them all immediately. These are all 2 coats.

First up, Barry M Berry Ice Cream, a beautiful light purple creme.

I think out of all the non-U.S. brands I own, I have the most Barry M’s. I have a huge collection of them, because they are AWESOME. The application is always perfect, and I love their color range.

Here is another of the newer colors, Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream, a light blue cream that is bright, but not neon. I’ve seen this one pop up on a few other blogs lately, and I can see why it is so popular!

I thought it might be useful to include some comparisons for this one, so here are a few other blues. Thumb to pinky: Orly Snowcone, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue Blast, Zoya Robyn, Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream, and OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui. None of them are exact dupes, but the SH Insta-Dri is very close. Snowcone has much more purple in it, Robyn is more neon, and SSFS isn’t really close at all, but I included it anyway for reference!

Another nice U.K. brand is Boots No. 7. Although I only own a couple of these, I’ve had good luck with this brand and no complaints. Here’s Totally Teal, a dark jelly-ish teal. I have never considered teal to be a vampy color, but this sure does a good job of convincing me:

And lately for today…Boots Violetta, a dark purple creme.

As I mentioned earlier, I have a TON of Barry M’s as well as other U.K. and foreign brands…so I may have those for you next Friday! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the weekend! 🙂

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! 🙂