Linear holo french-tip

I promised to share a bit about my delicious new linear holo set from Color Club (the Halo Hues)... here we go!

For the first nail art with the set, I did a simple french tip: 

I cheated on my 10-pan challenge to get these, but they are so, SO worth it! I ordered the set of 12 from Amazon, with the six 2012 shades and the new 2013 shades. Every single one is gorgeous as can be! No guilt... ok maybe a little, but only a tiny bit!

The base for this manicure was Cloud Nine, the ever-so-slightly lavender leaning pale pink, and I freehanded the french tips with Harp On It, the silver of the set. 

I tried a trick I'd read about for getting more wear out of a holo polish without using aqua base, which I don't have (I used my regular base coat for this. I do buff my nails to remove ridges though, which I would definitely recommend if not using a ridge-filling base for linear holo to look its best!) or dulling the holo finish with top coat. The trick is, to sandwich your layers. Base coat, holo coat, top coat, holo coat OVER the top coat! This way you get the staying power of the top coat and the full rainbow effect of the holo. Very effective, very nice. 

I used NYC Grand Central Station, which some people say doesn't dull holos as much... I did definitely notice it dulling Cloud Nine though, until I put on the second coat.

Look for more holo nail art coming soon! I can't get enough of these beauties!

Half-angled French Glitter

A fleeting dark mood struck, and since I prefer a black with something extra instead of a plain creme now that I've outgrown my teenage goth phase I started out with a base of Sephora by OPI -- Never Enough Shoes, then blinged it up a little with Nicole by OPI -- All is Glam, All is Bright. 

And then, because I wasn't feeling shiny, I mattified myself.

I love how subtle the glittery bits in Never Enough Shoes are. Barely there, just enough to keep it fun instead of full goth black nails. 

And yes, I have absolutely no problem with wearing holiday-release polishes all year long. It's a pretty, pretty glitter! I love the effect of the red with the silver and the super-light blue. Yum yum! 

Do the intentions of the brand for the release or seasonal colors have any influence on your decision of when or not to wear certain polishes? Or do you just wear what you feel like all year 'round like me?

Spring Flowers

I was feeling in a very spring mood and desperately needed some major bling on my hands. What's the result? A freehand flowers accent nail over holo glitter!

The base is Color Club - Sugarplum Fairy, which despite being from a holiday collection is super appropriate for spring. Or summer. What the heck, I'd wear it all year! 

The flowers were freehanded with Kiss stripers and a toothpick dipped in Color Club - Almost Famous for the centers.

(I broke down and ordered the Color Club Halo Hues off Amazon. More on that later, for now I'll just say THEY. ARE. AMAZING!!!)

A dilemma...

I have a problem.

No sooner do I embark on a challenge aimed at curbing my spending on beauty stuff (nail polish included) than I hear about how China Glaze is putting out a holographic collection next month. >.<

You might have noticed I love me some holo. And these... 

(picture from Laquered Lover)

...look absolutely must-have. And of course, they're LE so I can't just wait til I'm done with the challenge. :/

I might, MIGHT be able to convince myself that I don't need every single shade. I could probably skip one or two of the blues, at least, since I don't tend to wear blues all that often and there *are* four of them... 

In good news, I decided to trash that eyeshadow palette (and the other similar one in brights that I had) after using it for a few days. Too much settling in creases, I expect better of any shadow I'm going to let take up my precious bathroom space. Consider us broken up, HT cream shadows!

One eyeliner also quickly followed, as it was too hard to use without warming it with a lighter first, plus it wasn't pigmented enough to be worth the trouble. Bye, unknown (I think it was a bonus with some eyeshadow or something) brown pencil liner!

Still a long way from done, though, even with ridding myself of two of the most likely to take longest. I highly doubt I'll finish by the end of the month!

Help me out here, ladies. Are fabulous, LE holo polishes worth an exception, or should I stay strong and resist the very tempting temptation? I suppose I *could* cheat a little and throw the whole bunch away, since that's allowed under the rules I set... but then I'd feel like I was just wasting some perfectly good products. 

10-pan Challenge

In my wanderings around the internets I found this neat idea called the 10-pan challenge. Basically, it forces one to pare down their collection of beauty products, which can be such a daunting task! I know I have far more makeup and such than I really need or even regularly use, and I*am* on an organization kick lately. So here I go. 

The rules: 

No buying new beauty products until the products pictured below are used up or I've decided I just don't want them at all and thrown them away (the nail polish could be given to a friend instead of thrown away... but you get the idea).

Because I want this to be doable I'm giving myself a few exceptions: 

1) I can replace essentials if I use up everything of that type I have (for instance if I use up not only the mascara I picked for the challenge, but all my other mascara as well, I can buy one new mascara even if I haven't used up the other products I picked)

2) I can buy new foundation/powder to match my summer tan, if I need it before I'm done with the challenge (which is quite possible).

I don't have to use all these every day, or even any of them every day. I just can't buy anything new outside of my exceptions until they're gone. 

This might be tough... but if it helps me break my hoarderish habits, it's worthwhile!

Butterfly Reloaded

Something a little rocker-y today, again with the pinky accent...

For this mani I started with a base of Essence Chic Reloaded, sponged on a gradient from the cuticle with Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Aisle Be There, and added a Kiss decal for an accent. 

Girly but badass, my favorite sort of style! :D

As always, I'm a sucker for duochromes. The second I saw Chic Reloaded I had to have it, even though I'm pretty sure it's a close mimic if not a dead-on dupe for Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Black Tie, which I've had for quite a while and just never really got around to using... nothing wrong with having a backup bottle of an awesome shade, after all!

I've really gotta pare down my polish purchasing, though. It's feeling a bit out of control lately. :/ 

First Featured Polish: St. Patrick's Edition

So I've had this idea kicking around for a while, to do "featured polishes", where I take one polish and do a bunch of nail art using it and generally show off how awesome or un-awesome it is. 

Since St. Patrick's is coming right up, I had to pick a green. So today I present to you, in all its glory (for everything except.... well, you'll see) *drumroll* 

Sinful Colors San Francisco!

First up, I thought I'd show how the polish builds. It starts out pretty sheer, but two coats would be acceptable on short nails, full coverage and perfect bottle color in three:

(ready? One, two three!)

I just realized you can see some nail line on my index and middle nails in the photo still... rest assured, that wasn't visible IRL!

Note this is a stainer! I highly recommend doubling up on base coat.

Next, since it's a bit on the sheer side, I thought it might be cool to see how it layers, with one coat over white (Wet & Wild French White Creme) and black (Wet & Wild Black Creme):

Oooh lookie how pretty over black!

I tried stamping, it really is far too sheer for that... *might* show over white, but after this test I really didn't want to even bother trying.

Barely even shows stamping in a macro. Works fine with a dotting tool, however! The gold is Wet & Wild Chrome A Show At The Palladium.

Whew, that was a failure! Now let's get on to the successful nail art looks I tried! 

Ruffian style with Wet & Wild Chrome I Got A New Com-Pewter

 

Gradient over Sinful Colors Last Chance

Mattified under NOPI White Texture (how cool that the white turned green! It sure is a stainer haha!)

With Wet & Wild Coloricon Frosted Over, freehand on my index and pinky, brush over stamp on my ring finger, and layered as undies on my middle.

What a lot of fun that was! I think I'll do it again one of these days. Unless everyone hates it. Please tell me you don't hate it! I'll do requests! 

Seriously, I would love feedback. Since this is a new thing, obviously it might have kinks to smooth out. Let me know what you think?