OPI - Down To The Core-al

Hey y'all!  Today I have an OPI color that I can't remember if I got in the swap or bought at the local meet-up last year.  Anyway, it's so fun and I can't wait to wear it this summer on my toes!

I don't really own that many OPI polishes and most of the ones I do have are dark or vampy shades. So this was a treat to get.

As usual I used Seche Vite as my top coat and only needed 2 coats for these swatches.

It's one of those gorgeous peachy/orange/coral shades with a subtle pink shimmer.

I definitely need to add more OPI's to my collection.  What are some of your fav's?

Zoya - Petals - Spring 2016

*Press Sample*

Hey y'all!  Today I have the spring collection called Petals from Zoya.  Almost all caught up on the swatches I missed while I was on hiatus.  

These were all pretty sheer & either have a colored shimmer or a subtle silver shimmer.  As per usual, I used Seche Vite as my topcoat.

Leia - 4 coats - Can be best described as a sheer, opalescent white with flecks of fuchsia, green, and gold - The base on this is clear, but when you build up the layers it looks almost green. The shimmers are opalescent, but look almost holo.  This looks better when layered over something else.

Tulip - 3 coats - Can be best described as a pure pastel salmon cream with the slightest hint of sheen - Sheen being shimmer, and I agree with the shade description.

Laurel - 3 coats - Can be best described as a warm pastel pink with the slightest hint of sheen - Again, sheen means shimmer. It's a silver-ish shimmer, but subtle. And the pink is a creamy baby pink.

Zahara - 4 coats - Can be best described as a brilliant shimmering coral - I agree, coral to me is a peachy pink & this leans more peach/orange.  The shimmer in this is pink and silver.

Azalea - 3 coats - Can be best described as a classic spring pink with a captivating white and fuchsia flash - More of a bubblegum pink, I can almost see the white and fuchsia flash.

Aster - 3 coats - Can be best described as a fresh periwinkle with flecks of fuchsia - The flecks look more pink & blue with silver, but they're difficult to pick up on camera. 

These are now currently available on Zoya.com for $10ea. There are also lip sticks and glosses available.

Funky Fingers - Totally Buggin'

Hey y'all!  Today I have another one of the polishes Funky Fingers released sometime last year. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the collection, but I do know the names came from the movie Clueless.

This is 2 coats of Totally Buggin' with a top coat.

 Totally Buggin' is a coral-y-ish pink cream.

It's super bright and summery.

I think this needs to be my next pedicure color. :D

Peachy Coral Neon Gradient Leopard Nails

Hey y'all!  I have had a strange leopard print obsession lately when it comes to doing my nails.  I think it's because this is super easy and looks great with a neon base.  Especially for the summer.  So if you want to see what I used, keep reading.......

This is the first time in a LONG time that my nails have actually matched my toes.  It's not exact, but I do have one of these shades currently on my toes.

For this mani, I started off with a white base and a couple coats of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy.

Once that dried, I sponged on a gradient of FFF, Fresh Paint Guava, and China Glaze Surfin' For  Boys.  On the accent nail, I just applied Color Club Call Of The Disco Ball over top of FFF.

Then, using black acrylic paint and my dotting tool, I made some random leopard print designs on the rest of the nails before applying a top coat.

This is SO bright, and the gradient is so subtle that it looks like the light is hitting it differently.  In fact, this almost looks all pink if the sun hits it just right.

What do y'all think?

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy & a comparison

Hey y'all!  Today I have one of the shades from the 2010 Poolside collection.  I hadn't quite started blogging yet, I don't think, when this came out.  This is one of many polishes that I picked up while shopping after the Atlanta Nail Meetup back in April.

 I also have a comparison, so keep reading to see what it is...

I needed 3 coats for full opacity with this beautiful bright/neon peach cream.  Like most neon polishes, this dries matte so it needs top coat, IMO.

 I think this would benefit more from being layered over a white base.  Less of this polish would be used/needed to even things out.

I think this was originally a different shade when this collection released, but I love it just the way it is.

And now for the comparison....

One of these is Flip Flop Fantasy and the other is Fresh Paint Guava.

I purchased Guava because I thought that it would be a dupe.  However when I had the opportunity to get FFF, I went for it.  Now I'm glad I did.  They're just slightly different enough for me.

 FFF is more of a true peach while Guava is a peachy coral.  The difference is subtle, but it's there...especially for us polish addicts.

Do you own either or both of these?  Can you tell which is which without knowing?

Be sure to keep an eye out for an upcoming nail art post using both of these!

China Glaze Surfin' For Boys

Hey y'all!  This beauty I'm going to show you today is from the 2012 Summer Neon collection.  While shopping after the Atlanta Nail Meetup, this just happened to jump into my basket. :x I dunno HOW that happened.  I blame my neon obsession.

For these pics I only needed 2 coats, plus top coat.

This is a BRIGHT coral, of the pink/orange variety, neon with a subtle fuchsia shimmer.

As with most neon's, this dries to a matte finish and needs top coat to look its best.

What's your favorite neon shade?

Blue & Orange Marble & Chevron

Hey y'all!  I have something a little different for y'all today & a little earlier than usual. It's another mani that was inspired by stuff on Pinterest, but the idea came from a few different pins.  I kinda mashed something together from each of them and this is what I came up with.

When I was editing the pictures, the base of the mani looked kinda like marble.  So no, this isn't a water marble mani.  If you'd like to see how I did it, keep reading....or just go watch the video. :D

I started out with Zoya Chantal as my base.  I wanted something light and creamy for the other colors to pop off of.  I think it worked quite well.

Once the base was dry, I grabbed Zoya Thandie & Zoya Ryan and put a little of each onto a palette.  Using my fan brush, I got as little polish as I could on the tips of the brush before sweeping it lightly down the length of the nail. I applied a coat of Seche Vite to make sure everything was dry before moving on to the next step.

Once that was dry, I used the Mini Chevron vinyls from Nail Vinyls and placed 3 on each nail.  Then applied the opposing color on top & removed the vinyl while the polish was still wet.  I did this one nail at a time to make it a little easier.  This way that by the time I finished the 2nd nail, the first one was dry enough to put a top coat on without smearing the design.  

 For the middle and ring fingers, I used Ryan.

For the index and pinky fingers, I used Thandie.

This was super easy to do, even though at one point I got mad at my tweezers and just tossed them into the trash can. 

I've wanted to do YouTube videos for AGES.  I've actually done a few for some previous posts, but none of them required any editing.  My DSLR doesn't do video so I have to use my phone.  The other day I decided to record something & was going to use it for Instagram, but it was a little too long.  Instead I decided to throw a video together, so please excuse the patching together of this.  I may do more in the future since my laptop is so much easier to do them on than my desktop.


Feel free to leave feedback.  I also think this base would look awesome under a full nail stamping design, so I'll definitely have to try it again.

Neon Spider Block

Hey y'all! Quick & easy post today as I try to catch back up with everything.  Since I showed y'all the base for this on Monday, you get to see what I added to it.

While I was editing the pictures for this mani, I was thinking of a name.  It was actually inspired by a dress I saw on Pinterest, but turned out NOTHING like it.

 The ring finger kinda looks spider-ish & the middle is color block....so there was my name.

For this, I used Fresh Paint Guava & Wet N Wild Black Creme with a small brush. 

Fresh Paint - Guava

Hey y'all.  Last summer, during one of my many Five Below "hauls", I snatched this up.  I've only worn it a few times on my toes so I decided to put it on my nails this time.

 This is 3 coats, but this is easily a 2 coater, with topcoat.

Guava is a beautiful bright/pastel peachy coral.  It acts like a neon, drying fast and pretty flat....so it definitely needs a topcoat.

I'm not sure if they still have this available at Five Below, but if you can find it I think you need it.  I think this was actually the first Fresh Paint polish I bought and I absolutely LOVE it.