Matching a Mani to the Sparkliest Bag I've Ever Owned

While travelling in New York over Christmas, I kept an eye for...something.  Something unique, something you don't see often, something that stood out.  While wandering around Brooklyn, I found the thing that I was looking for.  It may not be practical but oh man, is it sparkly.  Covered in a perfect gold-red-fuchsia-pale pink gradient of flat sequins, this bag had to be mine.  When I got it home, I of course had to honour it with a glitter gradient of my own.

I wanted to bring in the silver reverse side to all the sequins so I started this mani with two coats of Sally Hansen Celeb City.  I'm not really sure why now as I've tried to put glitter on this before and it never quite looks right.  Anyway, on I went with my usual technique, using Sally Hansen Invisible in very thin layers to stick the glitter on.  Again, I've had luck lately in first laying a strip of glitter down the centre of my nail then building out either side.  Once done, I added two coats of Seche Vite.  I was then silly enough to take a shower before taking photos so that's why the tip of my ring finger's a little mangled.  Once I fixed it, using my glitter fixing process, it didn't look too bad.  So much fun taking photos with this bag though.

The Verdict: Love the bag, would love the mani more if the pink didn't bleed quite so much.  Yay for sparkles for everyone!

Green and Gold Art Deco Nails

I do enjoy a good bandwagon-jumping-on party!  When I saw the gorgeous art deco nails Whitney at dressedupnails.com posted on Reddit, I knew I had to have a go, warnings about the amount of time it takes be damned!  I'm made of time! Yeah...really should have listen there cos these really do take an extraordinary about of time to do!

To start, I applied three coats of a polish I've been meaning to use for a while, OPI Goldeneye from the Skyfall collection.  It's such a beautiful gold, I have no idea why I haven't used it sooner.  Look at the macro shot below, haven't seen a foil that pretty in ages.  Once it and the extra coat of Seche Vite I added on top cos I'm impatient was dry I set to work with my striping tape.  I've only used it for stripes before so I had no idea what I was in for, trying to get tape ends to line up properly.  I didn't do anything special with the tape, just copied the designs from Whitney, embellishing where I felt like it.  On top of the tape I applied two coats in quick succession of Revlon Posh.  I should have gone with a darker, hunt green like I was originally going to but alas, Posh will have to do.  

The Verdict:  I love art deco everything so this one is a winner for me.  It's funny how the lines look drawn on the green rather than the green over the top but I'm ok with that.  Thanks for the idea Whitney!

Black, White and Gold Zig Zag Nails!

As much as I love the glitter mosaics, every once in a while I feel the need to do something different.  I stopped in at a craft store on the way home tonight as they tend to have all kinds of supplies I might be able to shoehorn into a manicure.  Along with a new, tiny paintbrush, I picked up painter's masking tape and metal craft scissors with a zig-zag blade.  Oh yes, I'm going to have fun with these!

I spent a good couple of hours watching The Mitchell and Webb look and staring at the scissors, trying to decide how best to use them.  I finally decided to try zig-zag strips as it's something I've tried to do by hand before but stopped because it was taking too long.  To start, I applied three thin coats of L.A. Girl Delicate, a shimmery white creme.  Once it and the coat of Seche Vite were totally dry, I cut thin strips of the painter's tape and laid them on my nails.  I then added the black and gold over the top, Rimmel Black Satin and Revlon Gold Coin respectively.  

The Verdict: I'm really happen with how these came out, especially with the gold accents.  I'm also super happy with how my index and ring fingers are holding up.  They both have breaks but are holding together with the tea-bag method.  It actually works really well - you cut a tiny piece of tea bag and stick it over the break with nail glue.  Hang in there, nails!

Review: Ciate Jewellery Box over Revlon Gold Coin

My previous job had a incentive program that let you "High-5" people when they did a good job, or agreed to swap with you.   This lead you to collect points that could be redeemed for a bunch of different stuff.  I obsessively hoarded my points and when I left, I managed to cash out these points for a ton of gift cards.  Unfortunately these gift cards could be used at Sephora so I did what any normal person would do - spend $120 on nail polish :D.  Sure I could use this for more productive things but too bad, I want fancy nail polish! 

A particular stand out of the polish I grabbed at random like I was on one of those competitions that gives you all you can grab in two minutes was Ciate Jewellery Box.  I don't own anything like, and that's impressive, given the amount I have. Jewellery Box is a clear polish with absolutely minuscule black glitter and larger gold holo glitter.  It's actually super opaque which surprised me - I initially fully layered it over Revlon Gold Coin but moved to a gradient as no gold was showing through!  Black and gold is always a good combination and glitter this tiny makes for a very interesting texture.  

The Verdict:  I love this polish and am now going to have to keep my eye out for more.  If only it wasn't $17....

Review: OPI Absolutely Alice!

Comparing photos from earlier this week to now, it's pretty obvious that I got acrylic nails.  I'm ok with it, it means my nails are all nice and even and I don't have to deal with having two broken nails on my photo hand.  The universe's reward for said fake nails?  Finding a polish I've longed for for ages in the salon, OPI Absolutely Alice!

Absolutely Alice is a super awesome blue and gold micro-glitter from all the way back in 2010.  I've longed for it for so long and there it was, just sitting on the rack of polishes to choose from.  Turns out it's super easy to just ask if you can buy one of said polishes and to bargain them down cos it's been used.  I know it's a little gross but I wanted it, dammit!  It was really full and hardly used so mine.  Anyway, I didn't want to waste three coats of it so I started with two coats of Orly Sweet Peacock, the sparkly blue foil.  Absolutely Alice has a really great consistency, it's nearly opaque in one coat on it's own. 

The Verdict:  I love this polish, I'm so happy to have rescued it from the salon round the corner.  So what are you going to do next time you get a manicure?  Look at the shelves - look for China Glazes with silver lids, polishes you don't immediately recognise, anything that stands out from the rest.  Don't let them hurry you and don't be afraid to haggle.  Or check your photo for the price on ebay.  If it's over $30 then buy, but keep that poker face!

Australia Day Nails

Urgh, today is just not a good day for nails.  Not only did I cut myself twice on the cheese shaver (in addition to the two other times I've done it) but both cuts were on my photo hand.  Acetone + fresh cuts = owies.  To top it off, the design I had in my head for Australia day didn't work out that well and I feel like I've cheated if my glitter doesn't line up properly.  I can't even re-do it cos I can't face the acetone again!  So we're all just going to have to deal with less-than-amazing Australia day nails. 

I thought about doing Australian flags but it felt too hard so instead, the call of the wild Australian: Aussie, aussie, aussie! Oy, oy, oy!  Believe it or not I've heard it in bars all over the world.  To start, I applied two coats of the greenest green I have, Revlon Posh.  Then, using my usual technique, I slapped the glitter on.  I couldn't work out which way round the pieces were supposed to go to sit together properly so I cheated and spaced them out a bit.  I used a gold Sharpie on my thumb but it smeared under the top coat, so I left out the super close up today. 

The Verdict:  Urgh, I hate everything about this, including the white balance and exposure on the photos.  And my hand hurts.  Blerg.  Happy Australia Day everyone.  I'll be less complainy tomorrow. 

Review: Art Deco mani using Floss Gloss Stun, Dimepiece and Partybruise!

I'm always on the lookout for new polish brands and I'd seen Floss Gloss around the place and thought I'd give it a shot.  I'm so glad I did because they are so very super sparkly and awesome.  I've been moving away from the traditional polish reviews lately as I like to contribute to the internet something that hasn't been done before. I really wanted to try out these polishes so the hardest part was trying to find out how to incorporate a coral, very dark brow, gold glitter and silver glitter polishes in the one mani.  Why not jump aboard the art deco train and do something with triangles and call it art deco?

I initially did a mani involving coral and brown stripes over the gold and silver glitter but it really wasn't working for me.  For my second attempt, I started with two coats of Partybruise, a really awesome brown so dark it could be black.  Application was good - you only need the two coats - and it's something different from just using black all the time.  After it and my coat of Seche Vite were dry, I went to work with my tape.   I started by cutting "M" shapes out of painter's tape for the silver polish.  Dimepiece has excellent coverage for a purely glitter polish - I only needed the one coat here.  After adding another coat of Seche Vite and letting everything dry, I switched to clear tape and taped off the V's for the gold polish, Stun. Everything was sealed off with another coat of Seche Vite and I was done.

The Verdict:  These polishes are awesome and not too expensive either.  I didn't get to post the vine of this manicure, but the one above is using the same silver glitter over Sally Hansen Celeb City and it'll give you a true idea of just how amazing it is.  And yay, art deco!

Review: Essence Nail Art Decoration Kits

Shoppers Drug Mart is a dangerous place for me and it's worse because it exerts a kind of magnetic pull I just can't resist.  I have to go in nearly all I pass because WHAT IF THEY HAVE NEW SPARKLIES MMMM SPARKLIES I COULD GO THAT, I'LL JUST GO IN REAL QUICK.  Didn't help me that I found Essence now sells Nail Art Decoration kits and they have holo glitter in them.  I clearly wasn't going to not buy them.  The trick is how to use them...

The kits come in gold and silver and I had really high hopes for the gold and silver holo diamond glitter.  The hardest part about working with this particular shape is that it often isn't cut even.  When you're trying to do a precise design, having a piece be off in shape or size really gets old fast.  Anyway, I got started with two coats of Essence Back in Black as my base colour then went to work with my usual technique.  I started by laying a line of a single colour down the middle of my nail, then alternated colours, building out each side.  On my non-feature nails, I just laid a line near the tips of my nails.  When I had the glitter spread out on my little plastic tray, I could find enough consistent pieces but there's a lot in there that has cut-off bits, weird shapes or just generally not even.  It is very sparkly though, so I guess it's ok.  

The Verdict:  For ~$3, these kits are worth it, wonky pieces aside.  If you're too impatient or generally not into ebay, it's a good start for holo glitter.  And seriously, look how sparkly it came out.  

Purple and Gold Hand-placed Glitter Gradient!

The Essence Nail Art Decoration Kits still have plenty of glitter in them, so I'm clearly going to do more glitter manis.  I try to not do these every day because I don't want you to get sick of them but this is so totally permission because I have to review these kits properly!  I really wanted to do a full coverage mani with the medium sized gold holo glitter from the gold kits but I've done this one recently, can't be predictable.  Glitter gradient it is!

I don't know what it is, but I'm totally obsessed with Urban Outfitters nail polish right now because their creme colours are really good at going with my glitter.  And the bottles are so square, they tesselate nicely in my drawers.  And they're $4 each.  So I started this mani off with three coats of UA Bandeau, a strong purple creme.  Next, I tipped a little of the gold hex glitter onto a plastic container lid (or anywhere where you can retrieve said glitter without dying) and went to work with my orange stick and cheap top coat.  I found it easiest to start at the cuticle - keep them nice and close together - then just work up until you think it's good.  Nice and easy, this one.  Then all the top coat.  Cos we want our glitter to stay cos yay sparklies. The end.  For this bit, there's more down there vv :)

The Verdict:  Ignore the bubbles in the top coat, that's just cos I tipped two Seche Vite bottles together and it was chucking a tanty.  You can't really go wrong with purple and gold, especially when it's sparkly and the purple is such an awesome colour.  Sparkly!

Floss Gloss Party Bruise with Gold and Silver Holo Glitter Dots

I've just started at a new job and now I'm sure they don't mind sparkly nails and the word is out that my nails are usually not bad, I had to pull out all the stops and go mega sparkly.  I've been into gold and silver holo glitter lately so why not use them together over a dark grey-brown polish?

To start, I applied two coats of Floss Gloss Party Bruise, a dark grey-brown creme polish with a great name.  I've woken up with bruises this colour before.  Next, using my cheapest top coat, I went to work with my glitter using my usual technique.  This may look tricky to get spaced evenly but if you do a stripe down the middle of your nail and place them evenly, it's not too difficult to match the spacing as you fill out the sides. I like to add two coats of a top coat like Seche Vite to this because you don't want the glitter to escape.

The Verdict:  I think this might actually hold the record for my most-commented-on nails ever.  They were so sparkly, so holo-y, I must have had ten people comment on them throughout the day.  I did manage to break my index nail half way through the day though :(

The Other Hand: It should be made clear that I really don't do both hands like this.  It may be cheating but my camera set up only works for my right hand and I'm not that good at doing both hands the same.  Instead, I used the same base colour and just sprinkled the same glitter over the wet polish.  It doesn't look that different and if anyone asks, just show them your right hand!

Urban Outfitter Cherry Tomato with Gold and Silver Diamond Holo Glitter

That's it, I think I've run out of fancy names for my nails, after being actually creative with the title yesterday with my computer nails.  Basically, I have this gold and silver diamond holo glitter and I wanted to use it and red was the colour I felt like using at the time so here we are.  Sparkly!

To start, I applied three coats of Urban Outfitters Cherry Tomato, a polish that I think is going to take the top spot for my new favourite red creme polish.  It's such an amazing red and applies so evenly and smoothly, I can't believe I just let it sit in the drawer for ages.  When it was dry, I did the usual thing to apply my glitter, starting in the middle and building out.  And yeah, I might have trimmed some pieces to fit around my cuticle and that might seem excessive but shhh look, sparkly.  The result reminds me of some kind of lacquered inlay box but I can't seem to turn that into a snappy title.  Sparkly!

The Verdict:  After all that, while it's sparkly I'm now not sure if I'm 100% down with the colour.  Oh well, sparkly!  So sparkly.

The Other Hand: Same base colour, dunked my thumb and ring finger in the same glitter and brushed off all the sticky-uppy bits.  SPAAARRRKKKKLLLYYYYYY