SF 49er's Nail Art

So, I am the best girlfriend in the world and got my boyfriend tickets to see the 49ers game tomorrow for christmas! I pretty much can't stand football, but I'm sure it is better live. I just can't stand how they stop every 15 seconds! Soccer is more my sport. Of course I had to do 49er appropriate nails, here's what I came up with:

 

Yes I know it isn't perfect. But this is my first attempt at gradient nails by painting both colors onto the makeup sponge and then patting them onto my nail. For those of you don't know, 49er's colors are red and gold, and white for away games I guess?

 

Direct Sunlight

I love the sparkles!

I started with a base coat of OPI- My Boyfriend Scales Walls from their Spiderman collection this year. I put a top coat on that so it could dry faster so the tape wouldn't stick too much. I was originally going to do the tape effect to all my nails, but I totally spaced out and just sponged my index finger without putting tape on...I guess I was too anxious. But I think it looks good with it being on just the two middle fingers. So, I placed the tape randomly, and used Zoya- Nidhi (red) and China Glaze- Midnight Kiss (gold) for the ombre. These two polishes worked great because they are fairly opaque so one layer was just fine! Unfortunately using the white base made the gold look silver :( 

What do you think? Hopefully you aren't a Raiders fan and enjoy them :)

Nfu Oh No. 56

So I have been dying to try this combo I just did, and I must admit I am kind of upset about it. I thought it was going to be amazing, but it turned out my base color out shined what should have been the star :( Here is is:

 

 

The base color I used was China Glaze- Running In Circles. I freakin love this color, so I figured why not make it even more awesome and add an Nfu Oh Flaky! I applied 1 coat of Nfu Oh- No. 56 after applying two coats of Running In Circles. I guess I forgot this one was pretty sheer, so you can barely see it :( Maybe I should have used 2 coats? I would have if the one coat didn't take forever to dry! Here is one more picture:

 

This one is a little blurry, but you can see more of the flash of duochrome from green to blue that makes flakies so beautiful. I used in door florescent lighting for all these photos. I originally planned on doing these matte, but after I tested it on my pinky on my other hand, it was far less impressive than I thought it would be. I don't like matte nails, but they look so good with flakies. So, I think I am going to try it with the other Nfu Oh flaky I have, hopefully it won't be as disappointing!

As far as formula goes, Running In Circles is flawless. Anyone who has a green fetish needs this in their stash, I can't believe I passed on it at first. No. 56 was pretty good too, aside from the dry time, but my Seche Vite fixed that!

What do you think? Have you tried any Nfu Oh's?

Barry M + Ninja Polish

I am back with an awesome manicure featuring one of my Christmas presents. My boyfriends sister lives in Northern Ireland, so she hooked me up with some Barry M's! Here is the first I have to show:

Sunlight

Shade

I also got a new camera, so these pictures are slightly blurry since I am just getting used to the different settings. My next step is to make a light box for even better pictures! 

The base color is Barry M- Indigo. I love this color so much! I have nothing like it. It is the darkest richest purple, and it has kind of a jelly finish to it, but it is more of a creme. I used 2 coats. After that dried, I applied 1 thick coat of Ninja Polish- Pinkerbell. The first time I saw this was when The PolishAholic wore it as an accent. I instantly fell in love and checked Ninja Polish nearly every single day to see if it was in stock. I ended up getting all the floams I wanted too! This polish looks a lot like the floam polishes, but it isn't as dense, and it doesn't have as rough of a texture. It consists of matte blue, green, and pink microglitters. It applied pretty well too! Here is one more picture:

Overcast lighting

The purple looks a lot ore vibrant here, almost like China Glaze- Creative Fantasy. I took this earlier in the day when it was all rainy, but luckily the sun came out a little bit for the first photos I showed you.

I believe Barry M's are only sold in the UK and various online shops. Ninja Polish can be found here, along with many other amazing brands, including Barry M! They range from $9-$11, and Pinkerbell is currently out of stock, but FLOAM isn't! So go get you some! Hope you enjoyed

South park nails!

Oh my gosh ya'll, I am in love with these nails! This is really my first attempt at nail art that doesn't involve a glitter gradient or just dotting tools...I think I was pretty successful. There are definitely some flaws, but they aren't so bad. Here they are!

Sorry for such awful lighting, but this is the best I could do. It is raining over here, but it is better than the world ending i suppose.

For those of you who don't really watch South park, going from left to right, the hats are supposed to represent Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny! I am a huge South park fan so I think that is another reason I am in love with these. I put them in this order because this is usually the way they are standing at the usual bus stop scene.

On to the colors I used!

For Stan, I used a tiny striper brush and made the red part of his hat first using Zoya- Nidhi. This is the only shimmer polish I used because I only own two reds, and the other one is straight up glitter! After that dried, I used one of the Blue Cross Snowman Polishes for the top part of his hat, which don't have names. I got this one this year. Lastly I used a large dotting tool for the little fluffy ball on the very top.

For Kyle, I just used the brush from the bottle of China Glaze- Gaga for Green for the lighter part of his hat. This polish was from their Electropop collection this year. Then I used the same striper brush and applied China Glaze- Starboard for the lower flap of his hat. Starboard was from their Anchors Away collection from 2011.

For Cartman, I applied China Glaze- Happy Go Lucky with a striper brush to the tip of my nail. Then I used China Glaze- Flyin' High for the blue part of his hat. After that dried I used Happy go Lucky again using a small dotting tool for the top part of his hat.

Onto Kenny. I used the same striper brush and applied the orange color first using OPI- On The Same Paige from their Summer brights collection in 2009. Then for the brown I just made the same shape of the orange part but lower, and I used OPI- A Taupe the Space Needle which was from their Touring America collection.

Let me know what you think of these! Hope you enjoyed these as much as I do :)

OPI Skyfall + Burlesque

Three posts in three days in a row! I'm on a roll. I actually had time during the day to do my nails, and here is what I came up with:

 

OPI- The World Is Not Enough. This is one of the three polishes I got from the Skyfall collection. They weren't that unique to me, although I really want Golden Eye now. This polish was three coats, not my favorite, but the color is so purty. It is like a weird browny purple, depending on how the light hits it, there's some hints of blue as well. You could probably get away with two thicker coats if you want.

After the three coats were dry, I added two coats of OPI- Sparkle-icious, which was from their Burlesque Holiday/Winter collection in 2010. It is made up of gold, purple, and blue glitters all in a clear base. I love this glitter so much! This is my first time trying it because my friend at work was giving away a lot of her polishes since she doesn't wear polish much anymore. So I came up on this polish, and DS Illuminate, so awesome! She almost gave me Mad as a Hatter, but she decided last minute she wanted to keep it.

What do you think? Do you own any of these polishes? I have really special nail art planned for my next manicure. Hopefully I can make it soon, cuz it is gonna be awesome!

2nd Lush Lacquer Holiday Polish

Today I successfully swatched my other Lush Lacquer holiday polish! Here it is:

Sunlight

Lush Lacquer- Ho Ho Holiday shown on top of China Glaze- Cheers to You. Ho Ho Holidays is pretty much christmas in a bottle. It reminds me a lot of China Glaze- Party Hearty. The main difference is that there is white, and these glitters are primarily matte, which is another reason I love Lush Lacquer's glitters so much! It consists of super tiny white hexagonal glitters, medium size red and green hexagonal and square glitters, large red green and white hexagonals, and lastly, super large red and white hexagonal glitters! I kind of had to work a little to get the right amount of glitter I wanted onto the brush.

Shade

Cheers to You is from China Glaze's Tis the Season winter collection from 2010. It is just your standard silver foil, but it is unique to my collection. I just picked this one up on Friday after I was on a foil kick when I wore Designer de Better. The application was pretty good. Pretty much opaque in one coat, but it was a little streaky, so a second coat made it perfect. 

So, what do you think? Have you tried any of Lush Lacquers polishes?

Lush Lacquer + China Glaze

Today I have the first of the two Lush Lacquer holiday polishes that I have. I must say, I am in love! Here it is:

 

Crappy indoor lighting

This is Lush Lacquer- Tree-mendous on top of China Glaze- Running in Circles. 

These polishes were pretty much made for each other. Running in circles is almost a glitter polish, just really fine glitter. I didn't originally pick this one up when I got my first picks from the Cirque De Soleil collection, but then I totally regretted it. I am a sucker for green polishes. I used two coats here.

Then sticking with the Christmas/holiday theme this month, I decided to use some Lush Lacquer. As I mentioned before, they are hands down my favorite independent nail polish brand. They have the perfect balance of glitters in each polish that isn't total glitter vomit, and they are so affordable. Tree-mendous is mainly a finely milled green glitter base which is pretty much the same green as Running in Circles, which represents the christmas tree. Then it has medium sized hexagonal glitters in pretty much every color of the rainbow, representing the lights on the tree. And to top it all off there are yellow stars! You kind of have to work a little to get the stars on your brush which I had a feeling was going to happen, but oh well! I love this look and can't wait to wear my other Lush Lacquer holiday polish. I will try to wear that one next.

Lush Lacquer can be found on Etsy. Their polishes are only $8.75 and always in stock! Definitely check them out.

Liebster Award

Today I have some exciting news! I was nominated by Christine May from Nails at 2am for the Liebster Award. YAY!!!

It is just a nice treat for bloggers with less than 200 followers to get their blog out there! Although I have done some research and it ranges from people with less than 200 followers, to 3,000...I guess once you accept the award, you tell 11 random facts about yourself, then answer the 11 questions the person who nominated you asked. After that, make up your own 11 questions, and nominate however many people you want!

Here are 11 random facts about me:

1. I am pretty girly when it comes to makeup and nail polish, but I freakin love to go camping and anything involving beautiful scenery.
2. Not only is my favorite color green, but it is Jennifer green. I surprisingly haven't shown any Jennifer green polishes on my blog yet...
3. I am comfortable saying I really am a crazy cat lady.
4. I was born and raised in the Bay Area, therefore the word "hella" is a regular part of my vocabulary. And I am not ashamed one bit!
5. I have a pretty impressive rock collection to go with my nail polish collection.
6. I drive a 2000 chevy tracker convertible, I couldn't ask for a better car.
7. I have never gotten a manicure done in a salon.
8. I own a chinchilla. Her name is Chibi.
9. I love peanut butter, but can't stand to eat peanuts in their natural state.
10. I have been to 9 different countries.
11. My all time favorite video game is any Grand Theft Auto.

Here are the questions Christine May asked:

1. Who was the first (or one of the first) nail bloggers that you came across and loved? I am gonna have to go with the one and only Scrangie. I think she really is one of the first, and she just has the best freakin swatches!

2. Summer of Winter? I'll go with winter. I love winter clothes and polishes since it is glitter mania for me! I prefer the cold over the heat too. Summer is awesome though because that means no school and time to travel!

3. Do you have any pet peeves? I can't stand it when people snap their fingers to get mine or anyone elses attention. I just think it is not only annoying, but incredibly rude. I hate rude people.

4. What's your most liked nail art trend? Disliked nail art trend? My most liked nail art trend is probably gradient nails. Especially glitter gradients! It's just a nice subtle touch, and pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it. My least favorite is probably caviar nails. I know they aren't meant to last very long, and I change my polish a lot anyways, but i don't like the idea of possibly getting it in my food...Although they do make great pictures!

5. Thoughts/opinions on the duck feet nails? T-A-C-K-E-Y. That is all I have to say about them.

6. The color you wear the most? Green all the way baby.

7. What's your guilty pleasure? Bad Girls Club. It is just so awful, but so addicting. My excuse is that it makes me feel good about myself since I will never be that crazy, or hang out with bitches that crazy!

8. What are some of the things on your bucket list? Live on at least 30 acres of land with my honey boo boo and little Jenniberts, travel as much as possible, breed dogs and cats, and camp in every county in California.

9. Is there anything else you collect other than nail polish? Like i mentioned before, I have a pretty sweet rock collection. I collect makeup as well.

10. Do you eat oysters? Not all the time, but i don't mind them really. I love shell fish. It's muscles that literally make me sick to my stomach.

11. Would you consider doing nail art as a career? Definitely not. I wanted to be a makeup artist in high school, but I didn't want to ruin my hobby. I see nail polish the same way.


11 questions for the bloggers I nominate:
1.What is your first memory of using nail polish?
2. What is your favorite nail polish finish?
3. How many polishes do you own? Try to give an exact number
4. What is the favorite manicure you have ever created?
5. How many people in your personal life know about your nail obsession?
6. How long do you plan on collecting polish?
7. How many bottles of nail polish can you say you have completely used up?
8. What is your all time favorite polish?
9. What are your thoughts on the caviar manicure?
10. Favorite way to store your collection?
11. Can you wear any type of nail polish at work?

The blogs I nominate are:
misshollyberries
Swatch Nails
warmvanillasugar0823
joyluscious
packapunchpolish

OPI + Orly + Dots

I am taking a break from writing my English final, and instead writing something more worth my while! Continuing with the winter theme, I have a pretty popular polish to share today. This is the first time I have worn it, only because I didn't get it when it came out last year, so I picked it up like two months ago. Here it is:

 

Direct Sunlight

 

Shade

The base color is OPI- Designer...de Better! topped off with Orly- Halo. Designer de Better was one of the more popular shades from their Muppets/Christmas collection last year. And Halo is from Orly's Naughty or Nice winter collection this year. The formula on both were  pretty good! The OPI shade was a little runny, but I don't know if that is because it is a  foil or not. I am pretty sure this is the only foil polish in my collection, and now I want more! It was like putting liquid metal onto my nails. It is a very unique shade as well. It is a nice champagne color, but if you look close there are tiny orange/copper shimmers in it too. You can't see it on my nails really, but if you look at the picture in the shade, you can totally see the shimmers in the bottle.

After I applied Halo, which applied amazingly, I decided to get more use out of my dotting tools. I first put some scattered dots of OPI- My Boyfriend Scales Walls, waited for that to dry, then added China Glaze- Glittering Garland. You can tell I am still on a gradient kick too with the way I dispersed the dots. I like how it turned out, although I think it would have been better if I added the Glitter top coat over the dots. It would have looked more uniform. Hope you like these as much as I do!

Polka Dot Gradient

Today's Christmas nails are yet another glitter gradient, but a little more special. I finally got around to getting some dotting tools, so when they came in the mail I knew exactly what manicure I was going to do. Here it is:

 

Direct Sunlight

 Shade

The base color I used is China Glaze- Ultamate Holiday which was from their Ulta exclusive holiday collection from last year, hence the name. Then I used the largest dotting tool end and added the red dots first, I always start with the lightest color. The red is Stila- Firecracker. Yeah Stila has some nail polishes. I got them on Cyber Monday last year and checked their site before I wrote this, and it looks like they don't have them anymore. Then I added the large green dots with China Glaze- Winter Holly which is from their

Holiday Joy collection from this year. I used it in another manicure which you can see here. Then I repeated the same steps, but used a significantly smaller dotting tool.

Ultamate Holiday applies pretty well. I used two coats and it dries to a very gritty almost matte texture. Winter Holly is pretty much the same consistency. As far as the red goes, it gave me some trouble. It isn't a very dense polish, so I constantly had to go over the same dot a few times, and you can see the red dots still aren't perfect. Oh well, I am still happy with the results. Since they were such rough textured glitters I used my Gelous Advance Nail Gel Coat, then finished it off with Seche Vite, of course. Hope you enjoy this as much as i do! :)

Christmas Nails No. 3

Today I have my favorite polish from the Zoya Ornate collection released this year, and one of my all time favorite silver/iridescent glitters. Here they are:

 

Sorry for the awful lighting and blurry photos. I was in a rush and the sun wasn't being very convenient. But you can still see how awesome they are! The base color is Zoya- Aurora and then I did another glitter gradient using China Glaze- Snow Globe, which was released in their Let it Snow collection from last year. I think everyone loves this Zoya shade, not only because it is holographic, but the color is just the perfect shade of purple.

Shade

I think my camera is about to crap out on me because it gave me an awesome airbrushed look in this photo...You can't see the holo as much in the shade, but that is usually expected. The formula was alright. I am usually happy with two coater polishes, which is what I did for Aurora, but I probably should have used three. You can kind of see through to my nail in the sunny photos. After those two coats dried, I added one thin coat of Snow Globe, then added another layer mainly to the tips. I am very happy with the way it turned out! I am obsessing with gradients now, I plan on doing another one for my next manicure, but I promise to switch it up a bit to make it more interesting :)

China Glaze Overload

Oh my gosh I am so excited for this post! I made my second set of Christmas nails last night, and I seriously can not stop staring at my nails. I had a group presentation in class earlier today and after I said my part I was pretty much staring at them the entire time. On to the awesomeness!

 

Look how gorgeous that is! I don't want to take this manicure off! The polishes I used are all China Glaze, of course, the best brand in the world. I started off with two coats of CG- Mistletoe Kisses all over the nail. This polish is from their 'Tis the Season To Be Naughty and Nice Holiday collection way back in 2010! I just got it recently from my nail supply store, I thought it was an appropriate time to finally get it. Then I added one thin coat of CG- Twinkle Lights two thirds the way down my nail. This polish is from their Let it Snow Holiday collection from 2011. Last but not least, I added CG- Party Hearty, which was the star of their 'Tis the Season To Be Naughty and Nice collection from two years ago. I tried adding it to just the tips, but I ended up applying it a little further down. Here's more photos:

 

A little overcast lighting

 

Indoor Lighting

 Awesome Glitter Detail!

The application of all these polishes is pretty much amazing. Mistletoe Kisses was kind of sheer, but it is a jelly base, so it was expected. It pretty much has only silver microglitters packed into the light green jelly base. Twinkle Lights has gold, green, and silver micro glitters in a clear base. And Party Hearty is just ridiculous! It has like every shape and size possible of red and green glitters, along with silver microglitters. I knew it has always been one of my all time favorite polishes, mainly because it was one of my first polishes I got when I first really got into collecting polishes. I have used it so much of it there's like two thirds of the polish left, which is rare for me! I will definitely be getting another backup, and possibly one for my viewers. Everyone needs this polish in their life!

I got the inspiration for this manicure from another nail blogger, Swatched Nails. Here is the post she made: Swatched Nails. She has some awesome swatches, go check her out!

First Christmas Nails

Well, I guess it isn't totally christmas-y, but it is from Orly's Winter collection: Naughty or Nice. I first saw this polish way back when Jen from The Polishaholic reviewed her picks way back in summer! I about died since they released a holographic polish. Has Orly ever made holograhic polishes? I bet they would be amazing. Luckily they had a set of three that had all three of the polishes I wanted. Here is one of them:

 

Orly- Miss Conduct plus OPI- Superbass Shatter. I know Shatters/Crackles are so last year, but I like to whip mine out every once and a while. I am not ashamed that I went a little Crackle crazy. Anyways, on to the polish. This polish was pretty much perfect. It was nearly a one coater, but I did two just for reassurance. You can tell it dries significantly lighter than it looks in the bottle, which I was pretty bummed about. Mainly because it leans more towards red. I am not into the color red really, at all. I own one red polish...I know, crazy. 

Indoor Lighting

I added this so you can see more of the holo come out. It is a more scattered holo affect like Gem from my previous post. Either way it is gorgeous! Adding a top coat doesn't ruin the affect either which is nice. I am attempting to do some "nail art" with my next manicure. That post is soon to come seeing as I am posting this so late! Enjoy

Nubar- Gem

Today I have an awesome polish to share. As I mentioned in the last post I did, I have an amazing nail supply store in my area that sells pretty much every salon brand, including rare, really sot after polishes, for pretty much half price! The first time I went I about pissed myself because I found the entire Nubar Prisms collection in a set like this!. It was only $40 but at that point I already had my basket full, so luckily they had them individually, so I chose my three favorites. Although I think the next time I go, I will purchase the entire set for a future giveaway once I have some followers :). Let me know if you would like that. Onto the polish!

 Direct Sunlight

Nubar- Gem is just stunning. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Prisms collection, it was a full collection of 8 polishes that aren't linear holographic, but instead have a subtle scattered holographic affect. The color of this polish is kind of hard to describe. It is like a mauve/purple/taupe? I feel like it has a subtle duochrome to it too. Here are some more pictures of it in different lighting:

 

Shade

In this picture you can definitely see more of the taupe color, where as the first two pictures it is more purple.

 

Indoor Lighting

 

And of course I couldn't leave out a trusty blurry photo that really shows the holographic glitters!

The base of the polish is pretty standard, but what gives it the holographic affect is tiny microglitters. They sparkle so much! They leave a little bit of a gritty texture too. I used one coat of Seche Vite Top coat and you can still feel the texture. So if you like your nails to be super smooth, maybe use a second layer of top coat. I used two coats in these photos as well, but I kind of wish I did three. If you look at my ring finger you can kind of see through it, but I still think it looks amazing! I plan on getting Jewel from the collection too, which is like a darker version of Gem. I can't wait!

NOTD

Today I have another polish from the Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away collection. It is the third I have tried out of the four I got. I am still going to get two more once I make a trip to my beauty supply store that has ridonculous deals. On to the polish:

 

China Glaze- Surreal Appeal. I love this color! I have been wanting a perfect creme finish coral, and this definitely satisfies my needs! It is super bright too which I love, almost neon, although this picture doesn't do it justice. There has been no sunlight where I live lately :(. I applied two coats and it was perfect, then I added one of my most recent finds on the ring finger; OPI- I Lilly Love You. 

As I mentioned before, there is this amazing beauty supply store in my area that not only sells OPI, China Glaze, Zoya, Orly, Nubar, Essie, and Color Club for half price, but they also have really hard to find polishes that were released a while ago. I saw I Lilly Love You and snatched it right up. It is an iridescent flaky in a sheer pink base. So pretty! Both polishes apply great, and I highly recommend them if you can get your hands on them!

My original Thanksgiving Day nails

I don't know what I was thinking when I did this combo...if I had done like three weeks before, I would have probably loved it!

 

The base color is Wet n Wild- Club Havana, and the glitter is Ninja Polish- Spooky Floam. I was beyond excited to get this polish because the floam polishes are a legend in the nail polish world. They are usually sold out, but once I saw this one was in stock, I hopped on it! I looked the other day as well and the original floam was in stock! And if you are reading this now, it is still in stock! Hurry and get yours!

On to the application. Club Havana was alright in my book. It was a little streaky after applying the second coat, but I figured the glitter would cover it up, which it did. Spooky Floam was very easy to apply. I applied two pretty thick coats, which is what is shown in the picture. I love the effect, I just wasn't in the mood for it I guess. Maybe if I applied it on a darker color I would have kept it on. The best thing about this polish is it is glow in the dark! I am a sucker for a glow in the dark polish that isn't your standard murky green top coat. I attempted to take a picture of it glowing, but it just wasn't happening. Have you tried any of the floam polishes? Expect to see the original Floam soon!

China Glaze + Deborah Lippman

This polish is probably the most excited I have gotten for a release in a while! I have had it for two weeks and finally put it on. Here it is:

 

The colors are China Glaze- It's A Trap-Eze!, and the accent nail is Deborah Lippmann- Candy Shop. I am absolutely in love. I really can not stop looking at my fingers. It is like a funfettit party on your nails! I just want to eat them up.

It's a Trap-eze! is an off white jelly base with every color of the rainbow glitters in it. As most of you know, it was released in China Galzes most recent release in their Cirque Du Soleil collection. It is by far the best collection that's been released in a while. I still need to get my hands on two more of the colors. But this polish is basically a Jelly Sandwich in a bottle. They made it easier for us. Candy Shop is pretty much the same concept as well, but it's kind of old news.

As far as application goes, it was kind of tricky. The first coat you had to use the dabbing method to get the glitters evenly on the nail. But the second coat is a breeze since the glitters have a better foundation to stick to. The weird application is TOTALLY worth it. I don't think China Glaze will ever disappoint me!

Thanksgiving nails

My original idea for my thanksgiving nails turned out way too Halloweenie, so I did a new manicure and I love it! Here there are:

 Sunlight

Shade

The colors I used was first two coats of Butter London- Scuppered and then one coat of China Glaze- Glitter Goblin. Scuppered is from their winter collection and Glitter Goblin is from the Halloween collection. I think I chose two polishes with the cutest names ever. I don't know what Scuppered means, but I like it.

Scuppered is a very unique color in my collection, like all the Butter London's I own. It is almost a copper foil which is why I gravitated towards it for Thanksgiving, but then the green glitters in it just make it even better. You can't see the green on my nails really, but they are very noticeable in the bottle.

Here are some more photos:

I added this last blurry one because you can really see the holographic glitters that are in Glitter Goblin. It mainly consists of orange, gold, and silver/holographic glitters. The name is very appropriate! So pretty. The application of it was of course flawless like most China Glaze glitters. It took me a while to finally try it out, and I can tell I will definitely be using this a lot more now. I can't wait till December so I can bring out all my awesome Christmas colors!

Using some new winter polishes

So, I really wanted to use my OPI- The Man With The Golden Gun gold leaf top coat, so here is what I whipped up:

Direct sunlight

 

Just look at that shine! The green I used was China Glaze- Winter Holly which is from their Holiday Joy Winter 2012 collection. And the blue is China Glaze- Water You Waiting For from their Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away collection that just came out in the beginning of the month. I feel like I say this a lot with every manicure I do, but I am freakin obsessed with it! Here are some more photos:

 

In the shade

 

 Ultra closeup shot

These glitters are some of my favorite from China Glaze. Partly because you would expect since the glitters are so finely milled they would go on kind of sheer, but they are anything but that. They are PACKED with glitter. The two colors are not the same consistency, but they are pretty similar. Water You Waiting For has much bigger glitters mixed in which gives it such a wonderful texture. I made sure to get some shots of it without the gold leaf and a top coat:

 

Indoor lighting

Here you can definitely see the difference in textures. The blue reflects much more light and you can see how grainy of a texture Winter Holly is. Winter Holly is pretty much the same consistency of the ULTA exclusive glitters they had last year, and I think one of the glitters from their On Safari collection for fall this year was the same too.They both apply like butter.

I have two thin coats pictured here, and when it came to applying the Gold Leaf, I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't get much glitter on the brush unless I screwed the cap completely on and shook it up; still that wasn't enough. And when it came to actually applying it, I had to use the dabbing method. I kind of want to try the Jessica or Zoya one, but they are just so damn expensive! But all in all I got enough on my nails to give it an awesome affect :)

As far as top coat, the way I got such a beautiful shine was I used two different top coats. First I applied a generous amount of Gelous- Advanced Nail Gel Coat. It is actually a base coat, but I've heard from many different bloggers that it makes a great top coat for those chunky gritty glitters. Not only does it add a beautiful shine, but it also makes it sooooo smooth. I love the feeling of smooth glossy nails. Then after that I topped it off with Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat, my holy grail!