Monday, July 30, 2012

Guest Week: Nail Wish


Hi girls!

First of all I want to thank Caitlin from Caitlin’s Creative corner for giving me the chance of making a guest post. I really hope she likes what I’m going to show you.

For this post I wanted to do something special, because Caitlin is such an amazing artist with nails and I wanted her to be proud of me, so I searched through her blog and I found that she stamps like a goddess and makes simple but amazing manicures, so I tried to do the same.


I chose a stunning color that I have used very little, H&M Lady Luck, a green and blue Duochrome polish. It’s opaque in two coats, and, like all metallic duochromes, the application was a little bit tricky. But I love the result.


I stamped with Konad Stamping Polish in Black and BM-204. I was looking for a stamp that showed the color well and I realized I had never used this stamp before! And now I love it.
 I think that you don’t really know how pretty a stamp is until you try it. Just like clothes. And I am thinking I have a few ones untried I should give a chance.


Here I can see the duochrome effect clearly, in the bottle and on the nails. I can’t spend a lot of money on expensive polishes and I think this 9mL bottle for 3,99€ is pretty good.
Isn’t it amazing? Do you love that color as much as I do?
I hope you liked this manicure and don’t forget to have a look around Caitlin’s Creative Corner, she has amazing manicures!

 www.nailwish.blogspot.com

Guest Week: Missy's Mani's

Hello lovely readers of Caitlin's Creative Corner!
A few weeks back Caitlin asked in the Fairy Crumpet Challenge Group if any bloggers would like to do a guest post for her while shes away on holiday, and having never done a guest post before I jumped at the chance! I'm a huge fan of Caitlin's blog and so this is a real honor :)
I had a hard time deciding what to do for this post so I had a look back at past manicures Caitlin has done for a bit of inspiration. I came across a fabulous Mickey mouse manicure that Caitlin did for a 21 day challenge back in March. I loved it so much I decided to do a similar Minnie mouse manicure.
Caitlin based her manicure on the old school Mickey mouse and so I decided to base mine on the modern Minnie mouse. I love Minnie mouse and pink is my favourite colour polish so I was really excited to do this!
I used Barry M - Bright pink for the base colour and a white Rio nail art pen to create the polka dots and the Minnie Mouse faces.
To create Minnie Mouses face on my thumb I used acrylic paints and a small brush. I mixed white, red and a little yellow paint to create the fleshy colour for Minnie's face and black and white paints for the rest of her face. I topped it off with good ole' Seche Vite to seal in the design. 
Here's Caitlin's wonderful design of the old school Mickey mouse that I based my design on:
I hope you've enjoyed my guest post as much as I've enjoyed putting it together! Thank you for reading and thank you to Caitlin for letting me do a post for her fab blog :)

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Guest Week: Sincerly, Obsessed with Polish

Hey everyone, I'm Amanda from Sincerely, Obsessed with Polish. I want to first thank Caitlin for letting me do a guest post. I absolutely love her blog! I have been loving floral prints lately, so I decided to use this as inspiration for this mani. I love doing floral manis. I used Sinful Colors Pink Forever, Essence Sundancer, and different acrylic paints (pink, white and green). I loved wearing this look. It's so girly to me. Enjoy!!




Sincerely,
Amanda
sincerelyobsessedwithpolish.blogspot.com

Saturday, July 28, 2012

BFF Challenge: 80s

Who doesn't love the 80s? Bec also chose today's challenge and I love the 80s.  I googled the 80s and lots of neon prints  came up, so I deided to try and replicate them on my nails.

I used Sinful Colors Snow me White as the base of my ring finger. and I used Color Club Warhol as the pink on the pointer and pinky.  I used Color Club Chelcea Girl for the base of the blue nail.  I also used nail art brushes and acrylic paint to freehand the designs on all of the nails. I really like them. :)



XOX Caitlin

Check out these other lovely ladies in the BFF Challenge!


Guest Week: Manicured Monkey!

Hi Everyone!! The Manicured Monkey here invading Caitlin's blog for the day :) I have a neat-o polish to share with you guys- OPI Black Spotted.

First I put down two coats of my favorite pink: OPI Strawberry Margarita. This one is a medium pink creme that I absolutely love for a mani/pedi combo and I think it's versatile enough year round. I let that dry (apparently not enough but I'll get to that) then I put on a super thin coat of OPI Black Spotted. This effect polish is so incredibly different from the shatters; it separates like water and oil does and it is an instant effect.

Now, I did notice a few cracks and I think that's either because I didn't let Strawberry Margarita dry enough and/or I used too much Spotted. I did top coat it (it dries like a vinyl/rubber look). I'm still experimenting with it but I look forward to perfecting this effect, I hope we get it in the U.S.!!




Thanks again to Caitlin for letting me take over today :)

Kristen
www.manicuredmonkey.blogspot.com

Friday, July 27, 2012

Guest Week: Gnarly Gnails!

Wooo! To kick off my week of AWESOME guest posts, I have Missy from Gnarly Gnails! I absolutely love her blog, and it is a must read for any nail polish lover! I'll get on to her post. ;)


Hey there friends of Caitlin's Little Creative Corner here...I'm so thrilled to be guest posting on her blog today! Caitlin is a nail genius and has quickly become one of my favorite bloggers to watch blossom! Anyway - I'm Missy, I ramble over at Gnarly Gnails (http://gnarlygnails.blogspot.com) - hope you like what I have put together for you today!

Today I am doing a loose interpretation of a camouflage design.
It consists of using a makeup sponge (or 2) and a LOT of colors!
8 in total!

For this design I started with a light gray (Zoya Dove), and then I sponged on each color, going from dark to light to dark to sort of balance it out. Each nail was done in a different order to give it a more variated look.





Colors I used for this were:
American Apparel - MacArthur Park
Catrice - It's Rambo No. 5
Borghese - Euro Green
Zoya - Bevin
Orly - Au Champagne
Zoya - Dovima
China Glaze - Recycle
and Zoya Dove.

Hope you enjoyed and thank you so much for reading!
Missy
www.gnarlygnails.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Vacation Week Full of Guest Posts!

Guess where I'm headed!



You guessed it LONDON! I am super excited about this vacation, as it is my very first time out of the country. I will be doing all the touristy things of course, and we have a few days we will be vacationing in Bath. There is just so much to see and do!


In light of my vacation I so graciously asked in a few polish groups on facebook if any lovely ladies would like to do a guest post for me while I am away, and let me tell you, YOU WON'T BE DISSAPPOINTED!   I had 11 amazing ladies contact me back, so for the next 11 days a new guest post will be on the blog!  I am super excited for you guys to see what is coming up! 


I will also still post manis from the BFF challenge on Thursday and Saturday, as those themes were predetermined, so I have them ready and set to post those days as well! 


I really love all of the support I have received from all of you who follow my blog, and I really can't wait to get to London and see what I can get myself into! I know I am going shopping, so don't be surprised if there is a little giveaway when I return. ;)

I am so excited about these next few weeks, they will be amazing, I just know it!  Thanks for all your love and support!



XOX Caitlin

BFF Challenge: Punk

Punk Rock! For this week's challenge Bec chose to do Punk Nails.  I kept thinking what I could do that would be punk, and I had a hard time, so I eventually came up with this!

I decided to do chains on my nails. I don't think they turned out bad. I used a small straw(from a capri sun) to make the chains, and I dipped the end of the straw into Sally Hansen Silver Sweep, and in order to get the look, I just lined up the straw next to each other.  In the end there were a few gaps, so to fill in, I used my dotting tool and filled in the holes that were missing or needed more polish. 

I used a base of China Glaze Stone Cold, which is matte, but when you topcoat it you get this cool black with micro-shimmer in it! I absolutely love it! It looks awesome matte, or shiny, so whichever you prefer. :)  I added 1 coat of HK Girl topcoat to seal it off, and to make the nails shiny instead of the matte base.


I really like how these turned out!

XOX Caitlin

Check out these other lovely ladies!



Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Blue Comparison!

Blues! I have an obsession with blues, as you can see from the picture.  I love all of these, and they are all a little different.


I will go in order, and talk about formula, application, and what I like about the polishes. All of these polishes have 2 coats.

Nails Inc Baker Street: This is my absolute favorite of them all. It is an amazing cobalt blue with a bit of an electric feel to it. It applied flawlessly in 2 coats, and is the brightest of the polishes on this swatch wheel.

Essie Mesmerize:A great creme blue.  This polish has a great formula, that covered perfectly in 2 coats. I will definitely reach for this one quite often.

Illamasqua Force: This polish has a bit of a purple undertone. The finish on this one dries more satin than the other polishes, and on the nail it lasts quite a while. Illamasqua formula is great, and the consistency of this polish is amazing. It is a gorgeous creme, and covers perfectly in 2 coats.

China Glaze First Mate: This one is a darker creme blue.  I have had it in my stash for some time, and don't wear it often, but I probably should! It applied very well in 2 coats, and it a dusty royal blue.

OPI Dating a Royal:  this polish is tricky. When I first applied it, I was a bit worried that it was super sheer.  On the second coat, I got better coverage though, so it made it all better. In these photos I used 2 coats, and they covered all the way, but in my application I tend to use thicker coats, so you may need 3 thin coats depending on how you polish.

China Glaze Manhunt: This blue is a semi jelly looking polish, and it applies much like OPI Dating a royal.  At first coat I thought they would be dupes, but they are obviously not.  Manhunt is a deeper blue than Dating a Royal, but I can justify having both of them. ;)  I would say that this one is a jelly, but covers to look like a deep creme.

Revlon Royal: A royal blue jelly! This one has been one of my favorite for quite a long time. It is sheer, 2 coats works well, but in 3 coats it is perfectly opaque. It is great for jelly sandwiches.  This one was not too bad in the beginning in regards to formula, but I am halfway through my bottle, and for some reason it began to smell differently!

Essie No More Film:  This one is absolutely perfect.  One coat is opaque, but I did 2 for consistency. It is more purple than blue, especially in this picture, but in certain light it looks like a deep navy blue.  I included this one thinking it would be similar to some of these polishes, but it obviously is not. lol.

NYX Ink Heart: This blue is a slight jelly polish, but is still a bit creme. It stains terribly, and stinks a little bit.  Not really one of my absolute favorites. I don't find myself reaching for it often.

Barry M Indigo: I love love love this one.  It is a cool indigo blue jelly like polish. Covers in 2 coats, and has a great coloring to it!

Ruby Kisses Blue My Mind:  This one stinks to high heaven! I don't think it is B3F but I could be wrong. It is a really cool jelly, and needs more than 2 coats to be opaque.

Jessica Solar Eclipse:  This polish I was expecting more from.  I wanted it to be a creme, and it was a jelly. It was a deep dark jelly. It is a pretty color, but it looks quite similar to the Barielle right next to it.

Barielle Berry Blue: Another dark jelly polish.  I wasn't wowed by this polish either. It applied easily in 2 coats, but the color was average and very similar to the Jessica next to it.



All in all, I think I like the lighter blue polishes more than the darker ones. and it really proved my love for cremes. especially one coaters. lol. Of all of these, my favorites would have to be Nails Inc Baker Street, Revlon Royal, Essie No More Film, and Barry M Indigo.  Other notable mentions would be Essie Mesmerize, Illlamasqua Force, and China Glaze Manhunt.

Hope this helped out in your search for the perfect blue!  I know there are plenty of polishes that I have yet to come across that would be a great blue to add to my collection, if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment telling me about it! 

XOX Caitlin


Saturday, July 21, 2012

BFF Challenge: Book Cover

Book nail art! Today's theme was inspired by a book. And obviously I chose the Hunger Games! I think these turned out really well, and I am really happy with the result.

The base is Wet N Wild Black Creme.  The gold for the mocking jay is Orly Glitz, with accent of Kleancolor Metallic Mango.  Silver is China Glaze Jitterbug. I did all of this nail art with a set of nail art brushes.  And as always I finished off with a coat of HK Girl Topcoat.




And a photo of the book cover for reference. :)


I really love this mani!

XOX Caitlin

Check out the other lovely ladies in the challenge:



Friday, July 20, 2012

Review: Hong Kong Girl Top Coat

I have had the amazing honor of purchasing from Jill at Glisten and Glow a couple of times. Every time has been exceptionally wonderful. Today I have a rave review of Hong Kong Girl Topcoat, which can be purchased through her store on her facebook page or by email. Jill has AMAZING customer service, her packages are packed very well, and ships really fast.

This topcoat is amazing. I absolutely love it, I have found myself reaching for it non stop, when I usually reach for my Seche Vite.

It is so great over nail art, it is thick enough so you don't touch the nail polish, but it doesn't get goopy halfway through the bottle like Seche Vite.  It is super shiny, dries super fast, and overall I think this is my superhero topcoat. (I just ordered another bottle!)

This is the bottle with the cute tag that Jill uses.  (she doesn't make the topcoat, but she re-bottles and resells it to her customers, It's definitely a bestseller!)



I have used this topcoat on quite a few of my previous manis. It leaves them super shiny, I don't think I will ever need another topcoat!

Here is the Info Jill gave me for her shop! If you have time, you should totally check it out!


The Glisten & Glow collection currently includes handmade body and foot scrub, body and foot lotion, body wash, exfoliating body wash,  body spray, shampoo and conditioner, lip balm, body butter, bubble bath and both anti-bacterial and non anti-bacterial foaming hand soap, body/massage oil, cuticle oil and hand sanitizer. Using only the finest ingredients in creating your custom fragrance and/or label allows you to create a product that smells/works perfectly for you or your occasion! As mixing mavens, we have 95+ fragrances in-stock to choose from or to customize with! Let's make them your own!
Glisten & Glow also offers discounted prices on OPI, Essie, China Glaze, Orly, Barielle, Sation, Jade (USA) and Verity, which can be purchased from the nail polish shop on the Facebook page, or by email.
Email: jill@glistenandglow.com
Nail Polish: nails@glistenandglow.com

XOX Caitlin

Do let me know if you decide to order from her! She is really nice, and should be able to help you to the best of her ability! <3


*This product was purchased by me*

It's Franken Time!

So, as I'm looking over at my polish, I begin to think, I haven't done a franken in a long time! So I think of all the indie craze lately, and decide to whip up my own frankenpolish creation!

This is a combination of Clear, Cosmetic Arts light grey polish which I got at Ross, and China Glaze Tinsel Town. I didn't measure any of them, so if you try to recreate it, you just have to eye it.  I poured out about half of the clear in the Essence bottle, and added the grey polish to it. and then added the glitter, rolled in my palms and voila! This pretty baby came out! And I am in love, because the glitter isn't gritty, it is relatively smooth!

For the photo I didn't use topcoat, so you can see the actual texture of the polish.  I really love how it turned out!


XOX Caitlin

Have you frankened anything amazing recently?

Thursday, July 19, 2012

BFF: Striping Tape Challenge

For todays BFF Challenge, Pram chose Striping Tape!

These didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but I am not disappointed with them.  I used Sinful Colors Snow me White as the base, and then I used striping tape to tape off the chevrons.  I then used China Glaze Manhunt to create the blue chevrons.   I was originally going to do these in black, but I had all of my blues sitting in front of me, so I decided why not do blue instead. :)


This one turned out ok, but  I feel it could have been better.

XOX Caitlin

Check out these other BFFs:
 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Teal Tuesday: 3D Nail Art

For today's teal tuesday, the theme is 3D Nail Art! I think these came out pretty well. The accent nail did bug me, so this ended up coming off quite soon after I applied it. It wouldn't have lasted very long I'm afraid.

I did a basecoat of Zoya Bevin, and used some broken seashell looking things that I got in a pack at the Dollar Tree, similar to the seed beads.  I applied the little seashells to my nail trying to achieve a mosaic tile look, but it kind of failed to smooth out at all. I ended up just doing 1 coat of topcoat on top of the nails, but for the accent nail, I did 2 coats of Gelous, and 1 Coat of Seche Vite and 1 Coat of HK Girl TC, and it was just too much for the poor topcoat to handle, so it is still very ridgy, which you can see.  Also, the Accent nail didn't want to dry, so I just took photos, and the tc was still wet. (which I know is my fault for putting so many coats, but I felt it needed it. lol)

I just love Zoya Bevin so much. It is kind of more of a sea-foam green, but I wanted it to be teal, so lets pretend. ;)


XOX Caitlin

Check out these other Teal Tuesday ladies!

Missy/Gnarly Gnails - http://gnarlygnails.blogspot.com
Rhonda Nail Polish Marbury - http://nailsbeautiqued.blogspot.com

Monday, July 16, 2012

"I don't know what to think" Mani

 A while back I purchased a few of the China Glaze Hunger Games polishes on clearance. I am a sucker for clearance, and I hate paying full price for anything.

I put on Dress Me Up as a base coat, and I just have to say, THIS IS NOT MY COLOR. lol. This color does not go with my skintone at all. It made my hands look weird, and I really hated the color on its own. I'm sure that it looks pretty on other people, but on me, it just doesn't flow. lol. The color in online swatches looks like a more camel toned, but on my nails(and maybe its just because of my skintone) It looked much more like a nude blushing rosy color, with a touch of peach and a touch of camel.  It just has a mauve vibe. I wanted to like it so bad, but I just couldn't.

Since I had this color on that looked terrible on me, I figured why not do a little stamping and post it as a fail on the blog, so here it is! I don't actually think that it looks that bad once it has the stamp on it. I used Orly Glitz (sidenote: my glitz isn't glitz&glamour like most, it just says glitz on the bottle, does that mean anything? lol)

I used the Red Angel stamping plate RA109 for the flower image. 



Well, I don't love it, but it isn't too bad. What do you think?

XOX Caitlin

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Magnetic Week: Filthy Gorgeous Heavy Metal

 This is my least favorite magnetic polish from Filthy Gorgeous. This magnetic is called Heavy Metal. 

I applied 2 coats, and when I put the magnet over it, it pulled the pigment away to where you can see my nail through it! I wish it were more pigmented like its sister Got the Blues I posted yesterday.  You can also see its particles  in this polish, which isn't as noticeable as the other polishes I have.

Again this polish was purchased in the UK, and I am not sure of its availability here in the US.



You can see the nail through the top magnetic part. isn't that crazy! Maybe I should have put another coat.


I finish up magnetic week tomorrow with a Sally Hansen polish. so be on the look out for it!

XOX Caitlin

BFF Nail Art Challenge: Girly Girl

 For the 2nd installment of BFF Challenge, the theme was Girly Girl. :) I was thinking of doing something flowery, but we have flowers coming up, so I wanted to do something that is girly, but better fits my personality. :)

I started out with 2 costs of this gorgeous seafoam from Color Club, Blue-Ming, and then added the heart accents with Orly Glitz.  I added a topcoat of HK Girl to finish it off.

 How adorable are these? :) I am so in love with these, it is not even funny.


(ignore the bottle, I put the wrong sticker on! oopsie)

Don't forget to check out the other lovely ladies in on this challenge, They have some pretty great nail art as well! :)


XOX Caitlin
PS: my giveaway ends soon!! Don't forget to enter!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Magnetic Week: Filthy Gorgeous Got the Blues

Ok, this is my absolute favorite magnetic that I own. It is simply gorgeous, and I think it is very unique in that the magnetic particles pull purple instead of black/grey!

This polish is called Got the Blues and it is from Filthy Gorgeous.  This is a polish purchased in the UK, so I am not sure on how to get it in the US.

This is 2 easy coats of Got the Blues, and I used the magnet from the Nails Inc polishes, because it is stronger than the on that came with this polish. I also did a topcoat of Hong Kong Girl Topcoat, which is just amazing.

My absolute favorite thing about this polish is that the pulled magnetic pigments are purple, in contrast to the blue of the base, instead of pulling black or grey like they do in other magnetic polishes.




Look at the amazing purple shimmer that pops through with the magnet!


And a macro to show the purple shimmer up close!


I love this one!

XOX Caitlin

Don't forget my giveaway ends in 2 days! Check it out in the sidebar, and click through to enter!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Magnetic Week: Filthy Gorgeous In A Trance

Now that you have seen the Nails Inc Magnetic Polishes I have, I will be showing you the 3 Filthy Gorgeous magnetic polishes that i have. My awesome boyfriend brought these to me when he came to visit in March.  As far as I know, these polishes are only available in the UK, or order them online.

This polish is more of a green/teal magnetic, at some times(especially in the bottle) it looks hunter green.  and it is just as the name states, Gorgeous! This is 2 coats and topcoat, using the Filthy Gorgeous magnet that came in the cap.



And a macro!


I really love the look of these magnetics! And on the nail, there is so much dimension! I wish I could portray that on the nail through the photographs!

I am not sure where you can purchase these polishes, but they retail for £12. 

XOX Caitlin

BFF Challenge: Cartoon/Anime

Recently I became a part of a very small group in which we do nail art and support each other. We all have chosen 2 themes, and over the next 8 weeks we will all post manis twice a week using the theme that person chose!

Today Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's(links below) chose Cartoon nails! What better to do than Scooby Doo?!?  Who didn't love scooby when they were growing up, and I chose to paint the iconic clothing of the whole gang.

All of it is free handed, and if there are any colors you would like to know, don't hesitate to ask, I will try to be prompt in my response! There are a lot of polishes involved in these nails.





I think these turned out quite well. :)

hehe I have a bonus pic for you: Me and my best friend in high school. For spirit week we had to dress up like cartoons, and we chose scooby!



XOX Caitlin

Don't forget to check out these other BFFs. They have some pretty awesome stuff!

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