Showing posts with label purple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purple. Show all posts

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Random Q&D Skittles and Swatches

So, with some birthday money, I decided to go to my local Walgreens. There I found the new collection of Sinful Colors. The collection is called "Cast Away". Upon first entering the store, I was disappointed. I found the display, but only 5 of the colors were available. Fortunately, I wandered back to where the regular Sinful Colors display is, and found the rest of the collection. There are eight colors; however, one of them is called 'Pandora' and is a weird almost terracotta/orange-y/yellow/brown/apricot? Those colors are not my favorite, so I passed on 'Pandora'.

As the title indicates this is quick and dirty (Q&D). Q&D basically means, for this post, at least, that I had zero clean-up, zero care for cuticle flooding, zero care about staying on the nail, and zero base or top coat. This polish stayed on  my nails... 10-15 minutes?

Also, these are "skittles" because I used a different color on every finger. With that said, I used some of my new A Englands to make up for blank fingernails.

Here we go!



 I'll break down my thoughts on the right hand first:

TRISTAM - THUMB
I really enjoy this color. It has so much depth. Believe it when you read that this formula goes on amazingly well. I can't wait to dig this out to use it for a full mani soon! It is so sparkly and eye-catching, but subtle and under-stated too. I know, that didn't make sense. But, if you ever try out, or have already tried out, Tristam, you know what I'm talking about.
GRECIAN SUN - POINTER FINGER
Overlook the second photo where I call this polish Grecian Sea. To me, that's what this should be called, not Grecian Sun. But, oh well! This color is stunning. It looks more neon on the nail than it does in the bottle. Now, I say neon, but, don't be scared. It's just a nice, bright, happy blue.
NEPTUNE - MIDDLE FINGER
Neptune is another stunner. It's a dark, smokey, blue base with micro glitter? shimmer? flakes? It's hard to tell, but I can tell you that this color reminds me of a cloudy day when the sun barely reflects off the water. There is depth, but also a little bit of light. This description sounds cheesy, but this color is too gorgeous to be properly put into words. :)
ZEUS - RING FINGER
Zeus. When I think of the name, I don't think of a lilac grey polish with a  pink shimmer. In this case, I do. There's nothing too in-your-face about Zeus, but I think it is a pretty polish. It reminds me of  mother of pearl sheen  added to a purple grey. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this polish on my nails.
IRISH GREEN - PINKIE FINGER
Irish Green. I know, you all are thinking. "Where the %$&# did that come from?!" Well, it's in Sinful Color's St. Patrick's Day display. Since St. Patrick's Day is my favorite, Favorite, FAVORITE day of the year, I thought I would try it out. I was a little disappointed. The color in the bottle is exactly what I think of when I think of St. Patty's Day. However, it went on really translucently (as opposed to being opaque). I'll have to layer this over white. Stay tuned. This color is about to reappear a LOT this month!



Now, time for left hand colors!

PRINCESS SABRA - THUMB
Princess Sabra is one of the newer A Englands. It is a holo polish that is a golden/olive. It's absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to bust this out when the sun decides to make a comeback. Like many say, perfect, perfect formula. It's actually also called 'Tristam's Eyes' after A England's owner's cat.
OLYMPIA - POINTER FINGER
Olympia is a pretty light green. It's not very lime green and neon, but it is a yellower light green.  It almost has a tint of tan as well. This is a gorgeous color also. It reminds me of *something*, but I can't put my finger on it.
BE HAPPY - MIDDLE FINGER
Be Happy. Doesn't really fit in name-wise with the rest of the "Cast Away" collection, does it? Haha. There's speculation that is a re-promotion, but I'm not sure if that is the case. I'm not quite sure how to describe this color, either. It's a light blue green that looks more blue when around green; it also looks more green when around blue. For example, against Grecian Sun and Neptune (above), it looks like a sea foam green (Crayola, anyone?). Against a yellow-green like Olympia, it looks more blue. It also has the slightest hint of shimmer. Regardless of its color confusion... It's soooo pretty!
GREEK ISLES - RING FINGER
I was afraid this would be a dupe (duplicate) for OPI's Mermaid's Tears. Boy, was I wrong. This is the happier version of Mermaid's Tears. :) Mermaid's Tears is definitely more grey than Greek Isles. Greek Isles is such a soothing color. It looks like a mint green. But, not a biting, sharp, mint green. It's very mellow. I love it.
ATHENS - PINKY FINGER
I'll admit... I didn't think I would like this color. It actually is one of my favorites. It reminds me of an antiquated, Grecian painting, but, at the same time, seems so modern and, just, right. It kind of looks like the sea after a storm (no "Princess Bride" reference intended). You walk to the shallower area and it is a little murky because of the sand being swept up and around... That's what this reminds me of. A little murky, mysterious, and gorgeous.

So, obviously my word of the night was gorgeous, haha. After scoping out my local ULTA and looking at the new OPIs, a few of them called to me. After seeing these new Sinful Colors, they became part of my soul. :P I love green, greys, purples, blues. So, obviously, this was a collection made for me. :)

Oh, the only little nit-pick / pet peeve for these was cuticle drag here and there. But, this can be easily managed! Instead of dragging the brush middle to side to side, drag side to side to middle. It works much better!

As for the A Englands, I cannot wait to get to know them better. I ordered Dragon last night and hope to use it in a St. Patty's Day or March mani.

Also, March is my favorite month. Obviously, one reason is because of St. Patrick's Day. Secondly, it is the start of spring. So, my nail challenges for this month might become a little one-dimensional in terms of color. :)

Happy March, everyone!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Day 10: Gradient

As I said in the Day 9 Rainbow post, I recently bought butter LONDON's No More Waity, Katie and I knew I had to do the gradient based on this polish.

Here are the pictures!





So, I won't lie. The first time I saw this polish, I just wanted my piece of the Royal Wedding. Is that shameful? Haha. This was also my birthday mani. February's birthstone is amethyst, which is purple. I also wasn't feeling very flashy on my birthday, so I went for something a little more subtle. I love this polish. As you can see by the pictures, I had some slight application issues. I blame my impatience, however; my right hand looked fine.

I might try No More Waity, Katie with different base and top coats next time. My gradient accent nail held up awesome in comparison to the butter LONDONs.

BASE COATS
butter LONDON Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat
nails inc Kensington Caviar (ring finger)
COLORS
butter LONDON No More Waity, Katie
nails inc The Thames
Jordana Celebration
TOP COATS
butter LONDON Hardwear P.D. Quick Topcoat
nails inc Kensington Caviar (ring finger)

Let's see... Next is Day 11 which is... *drum roll*... polka dots. Or, as I like to say, polka spots.

Currently, I'm not wearing any polish. I removed my polish last night. Today, I filed them down real good and oiled them up! The oil has already absorbed, so I'm going to oil back up, and check out some other blogs. I need some inspiration for the polka spots! :) Have a good day everyone!

Day 9: Rainbow

Hello again! For the rainbow theme, I decided to go with gradient again (I was going to cheat and count this for day 9 and 10, but then I got butter LONDON's No More Waity, Katie, so I decided to gradient that instead).

Rainbow time!

This picture was taken in flash (sorry for blinding you with my whiteness!). I also tried to crop it more, but my software wouldn't let me! Grrrr. It is a little hard to see the red and orange differentiation, but I tried... 

You can see the red/orange difference much better here. But, the blue/purple kind of blend. 


This is probably the best picture of them all! 


Close up of my thumb! :)

BASE COAT
Mavlava Ridge Filler
COLORS
Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Crushed
Sinful Colors Pull Over
Sinful Colors HD Nails
Sinful Colors Midnight Blue
Sinful Colors Let's Talk
TOP COAT
Seche Vite

There we have it: ROY. G. BIV. This manicure did remind me of school in that aspect... Learning about the colors of the rainbow using the name ROY G. BIV. Unfortunately, Indigo did not join us. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Violet sure did! :)

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Day 6: Purple

All I have to say about my purple is, well, AMAZING!

I was able to get a few shots in the sun, but none of these pictures really capture what this mani looked like in real life.

Additionally, there are some pictures marked as "KTP". These are my pictures; I changed the watermark for the specific pictures because I plan to post them on MUA. MUA has a strict "do not talk about your blog" policy.

Enjoy!




 This picture directly above is the closest (on my monitor) to what this mani looked like in person.






BASE
Mavala Ridge Filler
COLORS
Orly Fowl Play
Finger Paints Twisted
TOP COAT
Seche Vite
MATTE TOP COAT
essie Matte About You

Black & White is next! I just finished it up a few minutes ago, so I've just got to get a few good pictures and they should be up soon!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Day 3: Yellow!

Day 3 was the day for Yellow!

I took yellow and gave it a more "golden" spin for the autumnal season. I hope y'all like it!

And, unfortunately, the time when these photos were taken, it was during a 4 day rainy period, so I have no good pictures with sunshine.
:(

The final mani!

I'm trying to capture the awesomeness that's in this bottle!!!! 

 When you click on the photo for a larger image, you can see the multi-colored glitter that's in this gold!



And, because I can't leave well enough alone, giraffe spots and polka dots!!! 


Products used:

BASE
China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
COLORS
Sinful Colors - Pull Over (true yellow; first coat)
Sinful Colors - This Is It (shimmery gold; second coat)
FIRST TOP COAT
Sinful Colors - Quick Dry
KONAD COLOR
OPI - DS Radiance
POLKA DOTS
OPI - DS Original
Sally Hansen - Lightening
SECOND TOP COAT
Sally Hansen - Dries Instantly
FEAUX-NAD PLATE
M61


Coming up next is green!! It'll be a few days before I post it... But I know what I plan on doing. I just finished finals so I have a lot of "minor" things to do (for example, laundry, cleaning my room, re-potting plants, other things that take a back seat when graduate school is in full force). I plan on this design being very Christmas-y. I'm going to visit family this Thursday, so I need pretty nails! Right now, my nails are sittin' pretty with just OPI Nail Envy.

I plan to "bring on the green" with some China Glaze Near Dark. I picked up some small acrylic paints to test with, so be prepared for Christmas trees! I might try a little sponging too to make Near Dark more Christmas-tree like. It will be fun!!! I can't wait to paint and post pictures! Let's hope I don't do too terribly! :-/

Monday, November 28, 2011

Day 2 - Orange Nails

Okay, so, I may have cheated a bit. I used this "orange" day for Thanksgiving. It's seasonal and appropriate, I thought. But, I also think I'm a bit of a cop out... I DESPISE the color orange, haha.

Here we are though...



BASE
Sally Hansen - Double Duty
COLORS
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On (base color for all nails)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Wined Up (Leaves & Polka Dots)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Snappy Sorbet (Leaves)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Lightening (Leaves & Polka Dots)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Mint Sprint (Polka Dots)
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Crushed (Polka Dots)
Essie - Sexy Divide (Polka Dots)
TOP COAT
Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
Feaux-Nad
Plate 47



Next up: Yellow! ...Yikes! haha.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Disney Mani!!

So, let me tell you, I was super excited to do a Disney mani. I LOVE Disney. From Snow White to Pirates, love, love, Love, Love, LOVE!!!

I'll get the boring stuff done with first... Nails, colors, and bases... But first, the pattern is the patchwork mani! (If y'all haven't been to the Chloe's Nails blog before, beware! Haha. Some great designs and colors going on and you'll be spending like crazy!)

So here we go with boring-ness...
Thumb (no theme, just purple):
Base - OPI Nail Envy
OPI Planks A Lot (Love this color!!)
OPI DS Original
Essie Sexy Divide

Pointer (Cinderella):
Base - Essie's Fill the Gap
Essie Coat Azure
Essie Loophole
Sinful Colors Midnight Blue

Middle (Belle):
Base: Sinful Colors Basecoat 902
Sinful Colors Unicorn
Essie After Sex
Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl

Ring (Jasmine, but Tiana works too):
Base: Sinful Colors 902
Sinful Colors This Is It (this is a beautiful color, btw! It has little holos in it!!)
Sinful Colors Rise and Shine
Essie Blanc

Pinky (Aurora)
Base: Essie Fill the Gap
Essie French Affair
Sinful Colors 24/7
Essie Watermelon




So, voila! There we have it! The first picture is the Friday following the day I did the mani - I was bored in the airport. The next ones are also in the airport 4 days later!!! I didn't do ANYTHING to my nails to maintain them. There was slight tip wear, but I didn't reapply a topcoat or anything! No babying at all on vacation. Of course, I didn't do dishes or anything on vacation either. This manicure stayed awesome!... Until I bumped one of my nails on my luggage. Then I peeled it off (eek). So, there we have it!

Anyone have any other themed manis that are their favorites?? Have a good week!