Nail Art- Summer Neon Water Marble

Hi everyone!

So yesterday's "flashback" post inspired me to try some water marble nail art again. I hadn't done it in about a year (school has been crazy with AP's and extracurriculars!) so I had to get the hang of it again. And let me tell you, I made a hugeee mess in the process! To add to the length of time it took to (finally!!!) get it right, I completely botched the white nail polish (that I use as a base for the design) on my entire left hand and had to stop, remove it, and start over again. I'm really such a klutz sometimes! In the end though, I'm satisfied with the results.

My original plan for this design was to mix all four colors (orange, green, blue, and pink) together in one design, but when i started making the bullseye, I found out the four of them together didn't play nice. Instead, I flip-flopped between green and orange on one nail and pink and blue on another, because those two combinations worked in the water (I used room temperature bottled water). The colors I used for this design are as follows:

Rue Beauté orange polish in color 145

Rue Beauté scented green polish (smells like mint!) in color 031

dELIA's blue polish in "Blue-Mint"

Claire's hot pink polish in "Hot Stuff"

Below are pictures of the final result. The white polish I used as a base was Ulta Salon Formula Nail Laquer in "Snow White", and the base and top coat are, as always, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength nail polish in "Flawless".

Right Hand

Right Hand

Left Hand

Left Hand

I apologize for the pictures for this one, it was picking up the orange all kinds of wrong. In these pictures, it looks like an orange-y red or a dark peach, when in reality it's a real in-your-face neon orange. All these colors are much more eye-searing in person.

So what do you think of my latest water-marble creation? Are you a fan of summer neons?

~Beth~

 

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday- Black and White Water Marble Nails

Hi everyone!

Today I have an old picture to share with you, since I didn't get a chance to swatch any new polish shades today. Last year, I had a small obsession with water marbling nail art. I was fascinated with it after watching youtubers (like ilovemylongnails and simplelittlepleasues, to name a few) do it so flawlessly. After mastering the technique (the water temperature is soooo important, it really needs to be very room temperature), I did all sorts of color combinations. This simple black and white one might be my favorite of them all. I always start with a base coat of white, to enhance the color, then used unknown black and white polishes to make the water marble "bullseye", and draw the design with toothpicks. I taped my cuticles around the nail to prevent making a giant mess (though isn't making a mess always inevitable?) and dipped away! Here's a (low quality) picture of the result.



I'm super thrilled with how this old nail art turned out. Maybe I'll do some more in the near future with some of the fun new colors I've acquired as of late. What color combos would you all like to see? Have any of you tried water marbling?

~Beth~

MOTD- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Mellow Yellow" With Claire's Precious Metals Glitter!

Hi everyone!

Today I have for you a quick MOTD, featuring one of the new "Precious Metals" glitter topcoats from Claire's. Unfortunately, none of these polishes have names, so we'll just call this one "blue/pink", since those are the colors of the glitters in it!

First, I'll discuss the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Mellow Yellow". While I love this almost "cheesy" yellow polish's color, it's not too fun to apply. I found the formula to be somewhat thick, and while it was fairly self-leveling, I still found there to be bald spots, even after 3 coats (and I gave up at three coats because I was too impatient!) It took FOREVER to dry as well. However, it's still a decent yellow, so the color alone is what saves it for me.

The Claire's glitter, on the other hand, was a real winner for me. It didn't require any "positioning" of the glitter, and was to my liking in two thin coats. It also was SUPER fast drying so I hardly had to wait between layers! I think it looks great over the yellow, the three primary colors work well together. It's almost a comic book effect, in my opinion. Below are pictures in indoor lighting, with 3 coats of "Mellow Yellow", two coats of the glitter, and Sally Hansen Diamond Strength polish in "Flawless" for the base and topcoat.

 

What do you think? Are you bold enough to try yellow polish? Are you as in love with glitter as I am? 

In other, much sadder news, a fellow member of the online beauty community has passed away today. Talia Castellano, age 13, died from her cancer today. Even though cancer took her life in the end, she still won her battle. She inspired so many others, like myself, to "just keep swimming", no matter how hard things get. And due to her undying commitment to her cause, she's helped raise awareness to several charities to help bring light to the horrific disease that is childhood cancer. May she rest in peace knowing that she's touched the world in a beautiful way, and her bright, amazing spirit will never be gone. 

~Beth~

MOTD- Hot n' Cold Mani With Essie "Tart Deco" and dELIA's "Blue-Mint"

Hi everyone! Today I have an awesome mani that I did to show you. When you have so many colors, sometimes it's hard to pick just one to use on my nails at a time! So, being as indecisive as I am, I couldn't pick between colors! So I picked two of my favorites- a hot coral and a cool mint, and paired them together to get the best of both worlds- hot and cold! I used the blue, dELIA's "Blue-Mint", as an accent nail on my pointer finger and pinky, and used Essie "Tart Deco" on the rest. 

dELIA's "Blue-Mint" is a bit sheer, and requires 3-4 coats to be fully opaque. But the end result is so beautiful, I'm willing to put in the extra effort to apply it. It's pretty quick drying, so that's a plus. dELIA's polishes can range anywhere from about $3.50-$6, depending on the kind of polish, and what kind of sales the store is having, and can only be found at dELIA's stores. Essie "Tart Deco" was a little thick, but not unworkable, and was opaque in two coats. It ranges from about $7-$9 retail, although this bottle was given to me as payment for babysitting! Pictures below are indoors, with Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in "Flawless" as a base and top coat. 3 coats of "Blue-Mint" and 2 coats of "Tart Deco"

What do you think of this frosty hot manicure? Will you be trying out accent nails too? 

~Beth~

 

Claire's Splatter Polish in "Paparazzi"

Hi everyone! While at the mall with a friend yesterday, we stopped by Claire's to look for some little trinkets. Of course, I made a beeline right for the nail polish rack! Lucky for me, they were having a sale, buy one get one 50% off! So I bought the mini set of the "Precious Metals" Glitter collection (review and swatches to come later) for $10, and then this polish was my 50% off purchase! It was originally $7, but I got it for $3.50. And let me tell you, I'm very happy with my purchase!

"Paparazzi" is essentially a matte glitter bomb. Small white, black, and matte pink hex glitters, medium size pink hex glitters, and large pink hex glitters, along with tiny translucent hex glitters and multiple sizes (from very thick to very thin) pink bar glitter interspersed throughout the rest. Holy perfection! You don't even really have to place the glitter on the nail (except for the large hexagonal glitters) because the glitter is so dense in the bottle! I only used two coats to clean up the sparser areas because I'm a nail perfectionist, LOL. This makes a great polkadot topcoat, very similar to the new Maybelline polkadot polishes (but this one has pink glitter, instead of the black and white in the Maybelline). Claire's also had a sky blue and white version of this, and a black and white version. After my love affair with this one, I might go back and get the others! Below are two coats of "Paparazzi" over two coats of Rue Beauté "004", with the Ulta color-enhancing top coat on top. Indoor lighting.

 

 

Claire's is having a sale right now, 50% off all cosmetics with the purchase of one cosmetic item, and if you spend $20 or more, you get $10 in Claire's cash, redeemable at the end of August. 

What do you think of this awesome polish? Gawdy or amazing? Will you be picking one up for yourself?

~Beth~

MOTD- Rue Beauté "004"

Hi everyone! Today I have a quick manicure to show you. I picked up this polish for 50¢ (!!!) at Rue 21 yesterday and I couldn't wait to try it out! Rue Beauté is Rue 21's own brand of polishes, and are packaged extremely similar to Color Club laquers. The polishes do not have names, but rather numbers, so this one is numbered "004". It's a light, tannish brown, just darker than my own skin tone. It's kinda like a creamy coffee or latte colored. It's deliciously shiny, even without top coat! It's wearable in 2 coats, but I went with 3 coats just to fix up some slight patchiness. While not a typical bright summer color, I think this would be great "for work" polish, and really, you can't beat the price of 50¢.

 

 

What do you think of this coffee colored polish? Have you tried any Rue Beauté products? Have a great day!

~Beth~

Sinful Colors Mini-Haul!

Yesterday I was sent to Walgreens to pick up some milk for my mom. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a huge display for Sinful Colors nail polish, 2 for $3! Being the addict that I am, I couldn't leave without some, so I picked up 4 pretty amazing colors! Two are quite sheer, one is opaque, and the other is a delightful glitter mix. Let's get started!

Purple diamond is a sheer, shimmery lilac. It leans a little more to the red side than the blue side of purples. There are also some very fine silver glitters in this polish. I really like it! It's buildable in 3-4 coats if you don't want to see the vertical nail line, however, you should beware. This polish does take awhile to dry between coats, no matter how thinly you paint it on. Watch out for unwanted 'dents' in your polish! This is 3 coats of Purple Diamond, no top coat.

 

 

You Just Wait is a sheer duchrome pink, with green and gold glimmers that can be seen depending on the angle your nails are at and the type of light hitting them. Unfortunately, when I took these pictures, it was dark and stormy, so I couldn't get an outdoors shot. I actually really disliked this polish, it was too sheer for my taste, dried poorly, and even after 4 coats, I could still see the vertical nail line. I'm kinda disappointed, but for only $1.50, I can't be too upset. Maybe I'll try layering it over some other colors and see what it can do. Below are pictures indoors, 4 coats.

 

 

Amazonian is a gorgeous shimmery dark emerald green, almost a bit like an alligator green. There are very subtle gold flecks running through this polish. Opaque in just two coats. Definitely like this one. Pictures are indoors, 2 coats (and sorry for the sloppy cuticles and pictures, I had to do this one in a hurry).

 

The last color I have today is I Dream in Jewels. And how appropriately named, since this is a glitter dream! This polish is full of tiny hexagonal glitters in gold and red in a clear base. There are also holographic silver and gold diamond glitters running throughout the polish. Those need to be "placed" on the nail, but are pretty easy to get out of the bottle. I'm excited to try this one over different colors! Based off of the glitter density, this one might even be opaque on its own in 3-4 coats. Below is one coat over Amazonian, indoor lighting.

 

 

Overall, besides the one miss, I'm very happy with my purchases! Sinful Colors is generally pretty good about polishes- they have a great variety of colors and the price is definitely right! I'll always be going back for more. What do you think? Are Sinful Colors polishes on your must have list?

~Beth~