El Hielo

Self-purchased

El hielo: (Spanish) noun. ice

I sponged Sally Hansen Barracuda onto the tips to create a gradient and then topped it off with China Glaze Fairy Dust to smooth the gradient out and add some pretty sparkles. After it was relatively dry, I carefully placed on some rhinestone decals from Daiso with the included cuticle stick. I used two coats of top coat over the decals to ensure they wouldn't pop off easily. I wore this mani for three or so days, but could have worn it for at least one week!

 

At Daiso, there are loooads of these rhinestone decals in various designs that can be used for either the nails or toes. Since there were only $1.50 each, I stocked up on a whole bunch. (Also, I don't go to Daiso very often... Only when I'm in the area. :( ) These decals are VERY good quality! The rhinestones don't get cloudy after one or two coats of top coat and remain shiny. I could still see some of the facets on the rhinestones! (The other loose, cheap rhinestones I usually use get very cloudy after I top-coat them.) As I mentioned above, the decal packets contain a cuticle stick to help remove and place the decals. I preferred using the slanted tip when removing the decals because the slant provides a resting place for them and helps you control their placement. The decals are a little delicate so it's best not to apply too much pressure when removing them from the plastic backing. The decals are just sticky enough to adhere well on the nail so they won't cling to your fingers. :) I definitely recommend these decals because they are worth every penny!

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

Michelle 

A-England Saint George

Self-purchased

A-England Saint George is an exquisite, pine green with a subtle linear holo, which was difficult to capture in pictures. In the bottle, it looks like a green-leaning teal.  It's so unbelievably pigmented that it took just 1 coat to become opaque on my somewhat short nails. If you have long nails, then you'll need 2. Make sure to wear 2 coats of base coat or your nails will get stained! It had, by far, the best formula I have ever tried. It totally beats OPI's. It's so creamy and easy to apply and control. The viscosity was amazing as well. It dried so lustrously too! I can't say enough wonderful things about this polish. Saint George really leaves me speechless and astonished. This beats almost every other polish in my collection. (I haven't tried my other three A-Englands yet so I can't be sure. ;) ) You definitely need this little gem in your life.

I should stop spazzing now... Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Milani Totally Cool

Self-purchased

Milani Totally Cool has a dark purple crelly base packed with flakie-like shimmer that flashes red, pink, and yellow. The shift is more prominent in real life. It's a stunning polish! I would say it's the purple-flakie-shimmer version of Rimmel Night Before. *swoon* Surprisingly, I used only 2 coats! I thought I would need 3 coats to achieve opacity as it's usually the case for crellies. The formula was nice since it was easy to apply and flowed easily. I feel that the brush is a bit too skinny and doesn't pick up polish well because I had to re-dip it repeatedly to retrieve enough polish for each nail. It dried shiny though I still used top coat. (Please pardon the smudge on my index finger. I thought it had already dried before I went to sleep...)

I purchased Totally Cool from Milani's website. Unfortunately, Milani no longer sells it online. I think you will be able to find it on ebay though!

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

Michelle

熊 (kuma)

熊 (kuma): (Japanese) noun. bear

Self-purchased

For my thumb, index, and pinky fingers, I used China Glaze For Audrey. For my middle and ring fingers, I used China Glaze Desert Sun and OPI My Vampire is Buff, respectively.

I wanted to do some super simple nail art so I decided to use these water decals from Born Pretty Store. Unfortunately, they are no longer sold. They're bears with either a flower or bow on them. After removing the plastic film covering, I slightly dipped the bear-faced water decals in a small dish filled with room-temperature water for 30 seconds and then dabbed them onto a paper towel to remove the excess water. I removed the water decals by gently rubbing and sliding them off the paper backing. Application was a bit tricky; I found it best to have your nails face you and center the bear's nose and mouth first. I found out this trick when I was doing my left middle finger... It's so slanted. :( At least they're still cute! :) Top coat easily smoothed out wrinkles in the water decals. (The wrinkles formed when I was manipulating the water decals on my nails.) The bear faces really remind me of Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma.

Don't forget to use my code NFX31 for 10% off your order at Born Pretty Store!

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

Michelle

Chanel Taboo

Gift

Chanel Taboo is an exquisite gem. It has a deep blue base packed with red shimmer that shifts to yellow at extreme angles and blue flakie-shimmer that flashes pink. It's very pigmented, and I almost got away with only 1 coat! I did 2 coats for good measure though. The formula was nearly perfect! It was super easy to control, smooth, and creamy. It was such a joy to apply! Also, the viscosity is probably the best of all my polishes. Unfortunately, Taboo didn't level well; however, it wasn't noticeable since it was a dark, vampy shade. :) It dried shiny, but I still used top coat to smooth everything out.

Much thanks to my friends who gifted this to me! :D

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

Michelle

VOV Apple Nail 5776 + Avon Vintage Blue

Self-purchased

VOV Apple Nail 5776 (index and middle fingers) is a darling, pale blue crelly with rosy pink and sky blue glitter. It is not a dupe of Revlon Whimsical since it doesn't have any iridescent glitter or a green-tinged, sheer blue base. In my opinion, you should own both of these delightful polishes. ;) Plus, 5776 is housed in a cute apple bottle with a tree trunk-engraved handle! (The packaging is most likely inspired by the Apple Nail line to which 5776 belongs.) I used 3 coats. The formula was good, but a bit runny. It kept wanting to pool on the sides of my nails. Surprisingly, I had very little trouble getting out the glitter. I did have to dab a little bit, though, to get more glitter onto my nails. It dried smoothly, but patchy for some reason so I used top coat to level it out.

I bought 5776 from f2plus1 on Ebay. Shipping was very cheap ($2.50 for 4 items, including 5776) and took 2-3 weeks, which is typical for packages from South Korea and China.

Avon Vintage Blue (ring and pinky fingers) is an ultra pale sky blue creme. It's really not nearly as dark as it photographed here. I used 2 coats. The formula was amazing! It was buttery (but not too thick) and so easy to apply! I really thought it would be a pain to apply because of how much white was in its base. It dried shiny, but I still used top coat. Overall, I give Vintage Blue huge thumbs up and highly recommend it!

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

Michelle

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains + Milani Shady Gray

Self-purchased

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains (index and middle fingers) has purple and silver shimmer and silver, turquoise, rose gold, and lilac glitter in a sheer, pale grey jelly base. I used/dabbed 4 coats. The formula was thin and difficult. The glitter (especially the large hex glitter) was hard to get out even though I set the polish upside-down for a while before application. Dabbing helped, but not by much because the glitter was still very sparse on the brush and nail. I thought there would have been a lot of glitter from looking at the bottle. Additionally, I had to be careful during application because the normal polishing method would wipe off the glitter. If the polish had been thicker, then these problems would either be minimized or not exist at all. I was very disappointed by the curled large hex glitter on my middle finger - it's only a matter of time before the other large hexes curl as well. Overall, I would recommend skipping this particular Lynnderella unless you like the color as much as I do (and can get it at a relatively cheap price from a blog sale like I did). It dried somewhat bumpy so I used top coat to try to remedy it.

Milani Shady Gray (ring and pinky fingers) is a dark gray textured creme. I used 2 coats. The formula was good and quite pigmented, but a bit too thin and watery to me. However, I had no problems with application since the polish was easy to control. The textured finish materialized quickly after each application. It dried rougher than the other textured cremes I've tried. I didn't use top coat in order to preserve the textured finish.

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

Michelle

P.S. Did you know that grey is closer to white (so it is lighter) while gray is closer to black (so it is darker)?