Nail Challenge Collaborative: Halloween #2

Hi guys! 2 posts in 2 days, I know - crazy, right?! I am really trying to get back into the swing of things, promise!
Today I have a Halloween themed mani for the NCC that just sort of popped into my head as I was creating it. I knew I wanted to use some new Sinful Colors I got, and this mani just kinda happened!

My index and pinky are 2-3 coats (can't remember!) of Sinful Colors Black Magic. This is such a pretty Halloween shade. It can be layered or built up to opacity in about 3 coats. On my other nails, I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors Citrine, one of my all-time favorite oranges! For the tips, I used Sinful Colors as well, I want to say Amethyst? Then I used my Orly Instant Artist in black to add some diagonal lines, and a chevron on the thumb. The finishing touch was adding some square studs I got from Born Pretty Store. I just pressed them gently into a small dot of topcoat.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this mani! My middle two fingers ended up reminding me a bit of a Pokeball haha. Totally wasn't intentional, but I don't mind it :) Thanks for looking everyone, and be sure to check out the other ladies Halloween manis!

<3 Kelly

Whimsical Nail Polish by Pam - Wicked

 Hey everyone! Quick swatch post for you tonight. I am sorry for my unexpected hiatus- work has been kicking my butt. I don't really have a good excuse, lol - just haven't had time for editing.

Last winter, I bought my first Whimsies - among them was Wicked. I waited to try it until Halloween because I think it is just the perfect Halloween polish! Check it out :)

For these swatches, I used 2 coats of Wicked over Sally Hansen Limestone and topped with Seche Vite topcoat.

That's it for tonight! Hope you like this polish :) I LOVE the squishy jelly look of it!

<3 Kelly

Nail Art Society: I Love Studs!

Hey everyone! This month's Nail Art Society kit features one of my favorite things in nail art - studs! This month's kit was curated by the amazingly talented Emily of Very Emily!

The monthly Nail Art Society kits retail for $11.95 per month. If you subscribe to Nail Art Society by the 15th of this month, you will receive the I Love Studs kit, which includes: a bottle of Jessica polish in Black Matte, 2mm neon orange studs, 2mm pink studs, 2mm purple studs, and 3mm gold studs. 

I used a similar polish, Jessica polish in Black Lustre (the same polish included in the kit, but shiny) and all the neon studs to create my first look. I'll be showing another look in a few days, using the matte polish and the gold studs!

These Jessica polishes are really great, almost one coaters for me! I used 2 coats to cover up any patchiness and applied Seche Vite topcoat. Then, I added the studs while topcoat was still tacky. There are many ways to pick up studs such as wax pencils, picker uppers, tweezers, or you could use my proven method - I lick the tip of my finger and touch it to the stud! I know, I'm weird - but it works. If you need more accurate placement, though, I definitely recommend the picker upper from It's So Easy - you can get it at Sally's. I chose to topcoat over the studs to make them last longer, and it worked - this mani lasted a couple days before the urge to pick off the studs was just too great and I gave in haha! Some of the color came off of my studs, too, after a couple days - but it wasn't very noticeable.

What do you think of this look?? It reminds me of the dot candy from when I was little! I'd love to hear your thoughts below! If you're interested in subscribing in Nail Art Society, you can check it out here. And don't forget to check out the other Renowned Artists' looks created with this kit. :)

<3 Kelly

Nail Art Society: Foil & Decal Kit

Happy Monday everyone! Back to work this morning - it's still only my second week at this job, so I'm still really excited about it lol! Today I have to share with you this month's Nail Art Society kit. For those of you that don't know, Nail Art Society is an awesome monthly subscription that you can get for $11.95 per month. Each month, you will receive a selection of nail polish and nail art supplies hand selected by Renowned Artists (like me!). We are truly committed to making sure customers are receiving the best value for their money, as well as nail art items that are on trend, useful and versatile. I strongly recommend checking it out! :)

This month's polish was sent by Jessica. It's a gorgeous shade from their fall collection called Cinnamon Kiss. You will also receive 2 sets of Cala nail decals, one pot of gold foil, one pot of silver foil, and 2 packages of rhinestones (not pictured).

My first thought was to try nail art looks using ONLY what came in the kit. Here's what I came up with!

The polish is a wonderfully vampy shade that's perfect for Fall. It was perfection in 2 coats - no complaints here! The decals were super simple to apply - just peel and stick. I added topcoat over them to be sure they didn't fall off, and I had no problems. The foil is a bit trickier. It's very, very fragile - it's lighter than you might think! You have to be very careful handling it or it will rip. For that reason, I think the easiest way to use it is to shred it and use it as a flaky overlay. If you are very careful, though, you can smooth it flat on top of wet topcoat. I recommend topcoating over it as well, or else it will flake off. For the last photo above, on the silver nails, I laid down the foil flat on top of wet topcoat, and then while it was still wet, I stretched it around a bit and it made a cool crackle effect. :)

I also wanted to try the two foils over some other colors of polish. This is the gold foil over Revlon Topaz.

And this is the silver foil over Sinful Shine in Slick.

So what do you think of these looks? Have you worked with foil before - any tips? Which is your favorite look created above! I'd love to hear below. <3

Don't forget, if you'd like to receive this kit, you still have until the 15th to subscribe and get this one. And, this month only - when you enter the code "Shemar" you will receive 10% off. Shemar Moore, who plays Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds, is a friend of one of our founders, and Tia has created this discount for any of his fans who sign up this month! How awesome is that?! :)

Nail Art Society website
Nail Art Society on Facebook
Nail Art Society on Twitter
Nail Art Society on Instagram

Thanks for reading!
<3 Kelly

Guest post at Sassy Paints!

Good morning everyone! Happy Sassy Saturday!

Today I have a guest post up at Sassy Paints - head over there to check it out by clicking here! <3

Nail Challenge Collaborative: Technique #4 (3D Nail Art featuring Cellairis)

Hi lovelies! Today is the first day of my new job, and I am very excited! It's going well so far, I think I am really going to like it. :)

Well, since today is the last day of September, I have my last September NCC mani to share with you, just in time! Today, the technique I chose to focus on is 3D Nails! For the most part, these sorts of nail art looks don't last on me because I admit it, I am a picker. But this one actually lasted me about a week! I couldn't bear to take it off until one of the rhinestones fell off.

Anyway! I drew inspiration from my Hibiscus cellphone case from Cellairis. Here is a close-up so you can see the base of the case is a blue glitter.

So, I started with a base as similar as I could get to the phone's base color. I forget the navy I used, I think it was an NYC, but then I added 2 coats of Nubar Star Sparkle overtop to give it the glittery effect.

From there, I went to work with my dotting tool (and sometimes just the polish brush) to try to recreate the look of the case. I used Revlon Royal, Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint, Zoya Trixie and a bit of China Glaze fairy dust on all but the accent nail. The accent nail, I just used a super thick coat of Gelous and hand placed all the rhinestones. The rhinestones are from a kit I got at Sally's. I was surprised to see that I had rhinestones in all the colors of the case - they matched perfectly! Here's the finished product!

Here are 2 close-ups of the accent nail before I topcoated over it - I so wish I had left it like this, but it wouldn't have lasted nearly as long.

So after that, I added a couple coats of Seche Vite, thinking mostly of longevity of the mani, but it kinda takes away from the finished look, I think. Oh well! I was still in LOVE with this mani.

I think this look went perfectly with the Cellairis case, I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out! As for the technique, I think I'm still figuring out what works and what doesn't. I definitely enjoy the look of 3D nails, but they aren't always the most practical or long-lasting. For an accent nail now and again, though, I'm definitely a big fan!

What do you think of these? Have you tried 3D nails? What have been your experiences? I'd love to hear below! <3
Kelly

Shimmer Polish: Bernice, Courtney, Lindsey, and Trixie (pic heavy)

Hi everyone! Today I have 4 gorgeous Shimmer Polishes to share with you, including one custom polish that I had created! :)

First up is Bernice. She is full of hexes and squares in silver, gunmetal, blue, turquoise and black.

This one has a slightly blue/grey tinted jelly base. It builds up very nicely in 3 coats, but you could just as easily layer it for a different look. Formula was great! This polish is packed full of glitter, but it dispersed nicely with no clumping or dragging. I used 3 coats of Bernice alone, with 1 coat of Seche Vite, for the following photos. 

Next is Courtney. She has a red tinted jelly base and is full of blue, gold, red, purple, and turquoise glitter. Reminds me of a treasure chest!

Again, formula was perfect on this one. I used 3 coats with a coat of Seche Vite for the following photos.

Next is Lindsey, a stunning gold glitter topper. She makes me think of fancy cocktail parties! Very classy and elegant.

While this one was also easy to build up to opacity, and formula was great, I think this one would be better layered, because of the clear base. But I used 3 coats for the photos below and had no problems at all!

Okay, I've saved the best for last (in my opinion, anyway)! I had read that Shimmer Polish created custom polishes before, and recently I decided to go for it. I had it in my head what I wanted, and Cindy was wonderful about creating it and tweaking it until it was just perfect. The final product is just what I was looking for - I couldn't have asked for anything better!
Now for the name. I already own Shimmer Polish in Kelly, so my next logical idea? Name the polish after my furbaby, Trixie! :)

When I contacted Cindy about making this polish, I told her I wanted it to be Halloween themed. Trixie is my black Halloween cat that I got from a shelter right before Halloween in 2010, so it was perfect! Trixie the polish is a black jelly base with black, purple, orange and green glitters! I used 3 coats with 1 coat of Seche Vite for the photos below.

Here's a shot in natural lighting - the rest were shown in my lightbox. But here in indirect sunlight, you can really see all the different colors pop! I honestly could not be any more in love with this polish!

I would love to hear your thoughts on these - do you have a favorite? If not for Trixie, I would have to say Courtney is my next pick. I just love how it looks just like buried treasure!
If you haven't already, I strongly recommend you check out Shimmer Polish on her blog, Etsy shop, and Facebook. She has gorgeous pre-made shades, and creating a custom polish was a lot of fun too.

Thanks for reading! <3
Kelly
Some of these products were provided to me in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I am not being compensated for this post. Please see my Disclosure Statement for more information.