China Glaze Keepin' It Teal

Hey y'all!  Today I have one of the 2 colors I own from the 2013 Sunsational collection, Keepin' It Teal.  The other one is Sun of a Peach.  I eventually want to get all of the others as well, but that'll have to wait.  For now, lets get to the swatches & my thoughts.

This is a green/teal super sheer jelly.

When I put this on my list of polishes, I knew it was a jelly finish.  So when I swatched it, I layered it over a white.  I needed 3 coats for the result in these pictures and probably could have done a 4th.  If I had used this alone there's no telling how many coats I'd have ended up applying.

That all being said, I still love this.  I can't wait to do a pond mani or a glitter sandwich with it.

Do you own any of the others from this collection?

What are your favorite jelly polishes?

Nails: The Story of the Modern Manicure

*Press Sample*

Hey y'all!  With all the books about nail art that have been coming out, I think this one takes it to another level.  Not only does it include great pictures, but it goes in depth about the actual history of nail polish, nail art, manicures, advertisement, EVERYTHING about nails. I was even lucky enough to receive a special polish, not sold in stores, with this book....more info on that later.

The manicure as we know it has been around for less than a century, but it’s become a major presence
in the culture of fashion, with its own trends, fads, and fringe aspects. This first definitive history of the manicure looks at the myriad ways in which the adorned fingernail has served as an expression
of the individual and the times. Author Suzanne E. Shapiro traces the origins of the modern manicure
as a radical gesture in style and follows it through today’s culture of ubiquitous nail salons and edgy
experiments in nail art, showing how at every turn the manicure has reflected larger style trends as well as changing ideals of femininity. Nails draws on an incredible range of pop cultural images, from early 20th-century beauty manuals and classic Hollywood glamour shots to hip-hop music videos and fine art. It also features gorgeous nail-centric images from iconic fashion photographers including Nickolas Muray, Richard Avedon, and Helmut Newton. A series of contemporary photo essays rounds out the volume with an international survey of the most vital pockets of manicure culture today, from hipster nails in London to outré nail art in Tokyo. Unique, accessible, and authoritative, Nails brilliantly connects the painted nail to the history of women’s fashion and the evolution of beauty.

I didn't want to take too many pictures of the inside, because I'd be giving a LOT away....but how can you NOT want a book discussing nail polish along side music.  Plus, a pretty rocking pic of Lou Reed wearing black nail polish. :D

 It starts out discussing the 19th century, then moves through each decade(or two) up until the present.  From nail shapes, to popular colors, to adornments, to new techniques.  This book is super informative and includes a TON of pictures.

 This is Switchboard Starlet.  The author, Suzanne E. Shapiro collaborated with OPI to make this rare, not sold in stores, polish for the book.  This is a BEAUTIFUL watermelon jelly  and it matches the book perfectly.

I think EVERY nail lover needs this book.  It's artistic enough to have out on the coffee table and, I feel, a conversation piece.

Nails: The Story of the Modern Manicure is available at most major book stores and Amazon. 

Fresh Paint Jellyfish

Hey y'all!  During a recent trip, just before Easter, to Five Below I picked up a few polishes.  This was one of them.  I can tell you it's appropriately named.

This is a gorgeous cobalt blue jelly, but unlike most jelly polishes it does need a top coat.  For this opacity, I used 4 coats.

I'm not 100% sure it's a dupe, because I haven't compared them....but it reminds me of Revlon Royal.  I might have to compare the two soon. 

Wet N Wild - 2% Milk

Hey y'all!  So I have a quickie today. 

This is 5 coats of WnW 2% Milk with topcoat.  Yes, you read that right, 5.  It's a cream colored jelly that almost has a pinkish tinge to it.  It really doesn't look white as the name might suggest.

Because it's so sheer, streaking shows badly, though I'm sure it would be ok with a base of white under it.  Even though I did use a topcoat with it, it's still shiny on its own. 

The only HUGE plus to this is the shine....and the brush being wide for easier application.  Make sure to keep an eye out this week as I'm using it as a base color for some nail art.  :D

Verity - Bright Green

Hey Y'all!  Today I have a gorgemus polish to share that I won in a recent giveaway from The Beauty Clutch on their Facebook page.

Now, to this amazing jelly.

For this bright grassy green jelly I used 4 coats, and possibly could've used 5 for full opacity.  Because it is a jelly, it's probably better to use over a white or same color base so you won't need as much to make it opaque.

Unlike a few of the other Verity jelly polishes I have, this does dry kinda rubbery(maybe because it's bright) and needs a top coat.  That being said, I'm in love with this color.  It's the perfect green for St. Patrick's Day.

Win Or Fail Nails - Purple Haze Pond

Hey y'all.  I know it's a strange name for this mani, but it was the first thing I thought of.  I've been wanting to do a "pond" mani for a while but haven't taken the time.  I really love jelly sandwich mani's, so decided to go ahead & give this a go.

I recently won a giveaway from The Beauty Clutch & one of the polishes I picked was Verity Deep Violet.  It honestly looks WAY more purple than I'm seeing on my screen right now.  For the random swirls, that look almost like tadpoles, I used Color Club Wicker Park.  Unfortunately, I can't remember how many layers I did.

This mani was SOOOOOOOO shiny that I didn't even really need top coat, but I used it anyway.  I have another Verity jelly polish that I can't wait to use.  This was another one that I really really did NOT want to remove even though the swirls/blobs were thicker than I wanted.

Revlon Cherry Bon Bon

I still have a large untrieds stash, but this crosses another one off the list & puts it in the Helmer.  A while back, while at Big Lots, I saw a few of the Revlon 2 pack polishes.  I honestly can't even remember how much they were, but decided to grab two packs.

This is one of them, that I happened not to pick up when they originally came out AND it's a scented polish.

Cherry Bon Bon is a jelly finish red that pulls kinda orange.  In the bottle, it looks neon orange, but on the nail it does show more red.  It is sheer, so it took me 3 coats for these results.  I did not use any topcoat.

I really like it & I'm glad I picked it up.  The only down side?  The smell.  It's kinda like some artificial candy cherry scent.  Like really bad lip balm.  Thankfully when I covered it with a glitter topcoat a while back I couldn't smell the fake cherry.

I think I have a few other of these Revlon scented polishes that I need to swatch.

Essie - Skirting The Issue

I've slowly but surely been going through my untrieds and trying to use them so they're not so lonely on their own little display.  This just happens to be one of many.  I got this a while back as a Klout perk.

It's from the Fall 2012 Stylenomics collection.

Polish provided as a Klout perk.

This is 3 thin coats with a top coat.  Skirting The Issue is a vampy wine red crelly.  It does tend to want to flood and get splotchy in some places.  It will also bubble if you're not careful with application.

I accidentally dinged one of my nails while applying the topcoat, so I attempted to fix it.  I took a q-tip dipped in acetone and rather than gently move around the area I removed like a hole of polish.  Instead of removing everything, I just smoothed a blob of polish over the hole & let it sit for a bit.  Once it filled in the hole and settled, I went over the entire nail with another coat.

To me, it doesn't even look like I messed anything up.  And I bet you can't guess which one it was either.  Psssst.  It was my ring finger.


Disclosure: This product was provided as a perk from Klout.com

Pure Ice Kissing Cupid

Sorry I'm a little late with my post today.  I honestly debated on posting or not.  Today I'm wanting to work on a post for tomorrow, but figured I could take at least a few minutes to get this up. 

Kinda like Valentines Day, I have a love/hate relationship with this polish.  I think the name is adorable, LOVE the color, and dig the price.  I hate the clean-up and that even though I swatched 3 different times, I still wound up with bubbles.  They were either from the polish or my topcoat, & it flip flopped between swatches. 

 This is 2 coats of Kissing Cupid with a top coat.  KC is a gorgeous ruby wine jelly shade. 

I will definitely have to try a jelly sandwich with this.  Y'all know I love my reds and nothing, not even bubbles, will keep me away from wearing this again.

Pure Ice is available at Walmart stores nationwide.



~Note: These items were sent for my 100% honest review/opinion.

Girly Bits - Hulk Smash!

Boy do I have an awesome polish for y'all today.  My son is absolutely loving me for having and wearing this.  Around the holiday Llarowe had a bunch of sales going on and I just had to snag this one.  The boy is a HUGE fan of The Avengers.  And since the most recent movie, we say "Hulk Smash!" a LOT. Plus, in school my 2 fav colors were green & purple. 

I'll stop babbling and show y'all the pretty.  I'll have more after the pics.

These pics were taken outside with my cell phone and macro lens.

My camera didn't seem to want to capture this polish as amazingly as it is in person, so I took the shots above to show how truly bright this is. 

Above is 3 coats of Hulk Smash! with topcoat.


Now I'll show y'all 2 coats of Hulk Smash over 2 coats of Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud.

This is a gorgeous bright green jelly with blue micro/shimmer glitters and purple shreds.  I was honestly afraid of the shreds, but they're not all crazy and stiff & don't need Gelous to smooth it out.  As it's neon-ish, it does dry to a semi-matte finish so it definitely needs a top coat. 

When I first swatched this alone, I showed Hunter the pics when he got home from school and he fell on the ground at its awesomenes.  He said it looks like Hulks shoulders ripped.  A few days later I put it on again and when he got home he says, "Yay!!!  You're wearing Hulk again!!!". 

I'm really happy with this purchase.  You can see it HERE on the Girly Bits shop & see links for the various e-tailers where you can purchase this and her other pretties. 

Glitzology Baby Dragon & Milani Rad Purple....500th post!!!

Today is my 500th post so you get 2 for 1!  I'm getting closer to 1000 GFC followers, so I might do a giveaway for that once it's hit. 

I picked up Glitzology Baby Dragon last month on sale in her shop & snagged Milani Rad Purple on clearance at CVS a few days later.  SO what better to use them than together for a mani. :D

I figured I'd give y'all a little teaser to start out with.  Here's 3, yes 3 coats of Milani Rad Purple with a top coat.  This is a raspberry purple jelly that isn't really neon, except in the fact that it dries matte-ish.

You can still somewhat see some VNL, so I threw 1 coat of Baby Dragon on top of it.

I've just recently started watching Game of Thrones and it reminds me of Daenerys Targaryen, even though it's actually named after her(the maker) BF's nickname for her.  Plus with the colors I had to have it.

Description from the store: "This polish features fuchsia glitter, purple matte glitter, and lots and lots of fuchsia, green, and purple shreds!"

Again, I honestly can't say enough good things about this line.  Yes, it's a glitter bomb, but not difficult at all to apply.  I hate fishing around for glitters or having to put coat after coat after coat on.  With these, one coat(or more if you absolutely want it, but you don't need it) and you're done.



**EDIT 9/9/13 - Glitzology is now defunct and this post is for archive purposes only.**