Jade Uau!

Self-purchased

Jade Uau! is a coppery orange with strong linear holo. It's more coppery/brown-toned than many swatches showed so I was pretty surprised when I first wore it. Nevertheless, I still think it's beautiful. I used 3 coats, though I could have gotten away with just 2. The formula was good and easy to apply, but thickened a bit with successive coats. It dried fairly quickly. I actually applied Uau! over OPI Nail Envy (because I was too lazy to remove my base coat... heh), but didn't have any problems doing so. No top coat.

I bought Uau! from Llarowe.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Julep Clara

Self-purchased

Julep Clara is a darling, neutral-toned peach creme. It's neither too orange nor too pink so it will work for many skintones. (It pulls more orange in the swatch though.) I really adore it and think it's such a great "nude" polish! I used 2 coats. The formula was good, especially for such a pale shade. It was pigmented, very thick, and buttery, but easy to apply. Since it's so thick, it didn't level well, but a good top coat should be able to fix that. It dried shiny, but I still used top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

China Glaze Wish on a Starfish

Self-purchased

China Glaze Wish on a Starfish is a beautiful warm light pink texture, glistening with gold shimmer. It reminds me of a peach for some reason... I used 3 coats, but it was still a little patchy. The formula was sheer and thin, but easy to control and not runny. The texture didn't materialize until a couple minutes after I had finish painting. It also took a bit to dry completely and smoothly. I didn't use top coat in order to preserve the textured finish. I left my adorable cats on my middle and ring fingers because I couldn't bare to take them off just yet. <3 They make for such a cute mani! :3

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Les Nail Smiths: November 2014 - Cute Animals

It's finally November! Now we're nearing to big, scrumptious dinners and holiday breaks! (And hopefully actual fall weather...) This time for LNS, Millie from the Nail Smith had the honor of choosing the prompt. She wanted to use some nail art decals she recently got so she chose "Cute Animals". I was finally able to do the mani pictured below thanks to this prompt! :D I couldn't before because I was too busy burning out from midterms.

This mani is actually an ode to my pet baby, Alice. <3 She's a British Shorthair and has a right eye that's blue and a left one that's gold. She's so adorable and friendly and loving. <3 :3 (That's enough gushing for now~)

I used Zoya Purity as my base. I freehanded the cat heads and ears with Purity's brush. Using my second smallest dotting tool, I dotted on the eyes with Sally Hansen Barracuda and Julep Catrina. I painted the inside of the ears and whiskers with a brush from Born Pretty Store (whoops, forgot to write down which one!) using Love & Beauty Pink and NYC Sidewalkers, respectively.

Check out Millie's mani for this prompt here! :)

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Nailed It Tag

Today, I have something different for you guys! Little Beauty Bag, one of the great blogs I follow, posted this tag a bit ago. I really liked the tag so I decided to do it myself as well.

1. Which color family of nail polish do you own the most of?

Without a doubt, it's blue! I'm a sucker for them! ;)

2. Name your most favorite memory you associate with a specific polish.

Chanel Taboo. Ever since I saw swatches of it, I scavenged the web for dupes. The best dupe I found was from Kiko, but it's a European brand not sold where I live. :( But while hanging out with my high school friends this past summer, I found it in a department store. They knew how much I loved Taboo and bought it for me. <3

3. What's your best-kept secret for chip-free polish?

I don't have one actually. Polish, from any brand, usually wear really well on me. Above are the base and top coats I usually use.

4. Which brand do you own the most colors of and why is that formula your favorite?  

Unsurprisingly, it's OPI! I love the consistency of the polishes - they're usually wonderful, opaque, and easy to apply. However, there are a few polishes that are runny or require at least 3 coats to become opaque. (And let's not mention the wide brush.)

5. Name the polish you like the least in your collection and why you still hold onto it.

Hmm... I would say Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty because it takes at least 4 coats to become opaque. It's a really sheer yellow! I keep it because I like the color and was the first polish (I think) in my collection.

6. Name your holy grail of nail polish remover! 

I haven't tried that many nail polish removers, but, out of all the ones I've tried, I like Zoya Remove Plus the best. However, I don't like the slightly sticky residue that's left behind after using it.

7. If you use glitter or nail effects, which is your favorite brand, and why?

This is a super tough question! I really love my indies, and most of them are glitterbomb toppers or in a jelly base. I would say Candy Lacquer for glitter polishes and Zoya Pixies for nail effects. (Ahhh, this question makes me remember about Glitter Lamb polishes. I really want to try out her glitters!)

8. Do you match your toes to your nails when you re-polish?

Nope, never! Actually, I don't even paint my toenails a lot of the time. But if I do, then I usually wear nude polishes.

9. Name the specific polishes you've repurchased more than twice to show us your holy grail colors!

I haven't repurchased any of my polishes twice. I've only repurchased one once (Essie Turquoise & Caicos) because thinner couldn't save my old one and my mom loves to wear the polish. Also, I own two dupes of Chanel Ciel de Nuit/Essie Starry Starry Night. They are Maya Cosmetics Stargazing and Colors by Llarowe Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I think both are worth having! Heh. (Would having two of the same color, but from different brands count as repurchasing? :P )

10. Do you paint accents nails or only use one color?

Usually, I only use one color because I'm mostly a swatcher. (As you readers may know...) Recently, however, I've been doing two accent nails to speed up swatching my collection... And so I can wear more polishes at a time. :D Above is my favorite combo, which I swatched here.

11. Can you name the oldest nail polish in your collection?

I'm pretty sure they're either China Glaze White Ice, Purple Rain, and Visible Shivers (my dad bought me these three at the same time <3) or Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty.

I tag my nail buddy, Millie of The Nail Smith, and anyone else who would like to do this tag! :)

Thanks for looking! Happy Halloween!

Michelle