A girl and her love of nail polish

Archive for September, 2012

30 Day Challenge Day 5: Blue – Sinful Colors Rain Storm With Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

I’ve got something a little simpler for Day 5 of the 30 Day Challenge after yesterday’s uber-challenging (for me) fishtail braid manicure, but that doesn’t mean I love this one any less. Day 5 means blue, and since I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds, so this post covers both challenges.

Sinful Colors Rain Storm with Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

This is one coat of Sinful Colors Rain Storm (untried) with one coat of Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing (untried) on top, followed by one coat of Poshe fast dry top coat.

Sinful Colors Rain Storm with Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

Sinful Colors Rain Storm is a very pretty medium dusty blue. It’s a bit of a runner, meaning it goes on thick but really wants to move down the nail. But it was a one-coater for me, so I’m very happy with it.

Rainbow Honey’s The Worst Possible Thing is a glitter top coat with pink, purple, blue and iridescent glitter. It does dry pretty quickly so you need to move fast, but it has great coverage. Mine is a mini bottle, which I still found a little challenging to use, but it was definitely easier to apply than Rainbow Honey Mare Of The Moon. You can buy both at RainbowHoney.com.

Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

Here’s what it looks like mattified with one coat of Essie Matte About You:

Sinful Colors Rain Storm with Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing

And here’s Sinful Colors Rain Storm on its own:

Sinful Colors Rain Storm

Guess I’m on a bit of a Sinful Colors kick. How about you? They are on sale for $0.99 at Walgreens through Sept. 8 if you want to stock up.

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30-Day Challenge, Indies, NOTD, Swatches

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30 Day Challenge Day 4: Green – Fishtail Braid Manicure

It just got interesting! For Day 4 of the 30 Day Challenge, I really wanted to make this a challenge. Since I’ve never tried a fishtail braid manicure, that seemed to fit the bill. I’m also simultaneously participating in the 30 Days of Untrieds challenge, so this covers both.

Fishtail braid manicure with sinful colors exotic green

If you’ve never seen one of these manicures, you take three colors and alternate them as you paint wide stripes across your nails, making it look like a braid. I modeled mine after a very popular tutorial from Lucy’s Stash.

Fishtail braid manicure with sinful colors exotic green

The theme for the day is green. This mani includes

  • Sinful Colors Exotic Green (untried)
  • Sinful Colors Last Chance (untried)
  • Petites Color Fever Daze (untried) *part of my giveaway haul*

While in theory this isn’t difficult nail art to pull off (swipe, swipe, swipe!), in practice it wasn’t easy. I don’t have much experience doing free-hand nail art, so wasn’t able to get the edges very neat. I wasn’t able to do a very good job with the cleanup, either, so you can see the flaws (poor little make-up brush wasn’t really up to the task).

I did get more comfortable with it as I went along, so I felt good about that and think I will brave it again sometime.

Here’s a look at Sinful Colors Exotic Green on it’s own before the braid, two coats, no top coat:

Sinful Colors Exotic Green

Have you mastered the fishtail braid mani yet? Any tips?

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30-Day Challenge, NOTD

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30 Day Challenge Day 3: Yellow- Sinful Colors Let’s Meet

So I had no yellow polish except one that is sort of a green-yellow, so I went out and grabbed one. Yellow’s not my color — on anything — but them’s the rules of the challenge. It is after all, Day 3 of the 30 Day Challenge, and means we’re all committed to yellow today. I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds too, so both are covered.

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

I picked up Sinful Colors Let’s Meet (untried), which I would describe as a Tweety bird yellow with shimmer. I’ve been looking at some of the other bloggers’ efforts for today’s challenge, and like many of them, my first attempt at this challenge did not turn out as I had hoped so I scrapped it.

But I’m actually quite pleased with my second try, and it’s making me come around to the benefits of bright yellow polish. I’m a little sad that summer is unofficially over because I think this is a perfect summer combo.

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

This is three coats of Sinful Colors Let’s Meet, and then I applied the rhinestones sandwiched between two layers of topcoat. The idea for the two-stone design came from a post I had seen earlier in the month from Chalkboard Nails, where she featured a work-appropriate manicure she had done for a friend.

Sinful Colors Let's Meet yellow nail polish

That idea stuck with me, and it was something I’ve been wanting to recreate. The ring finger originally was going to be a straight line too, but as I was laying them out on a piece of paper during mani prep they got knocked around a bit and it me the idea for this pattern … a happy accident.

Have you found a yellow polish that works for you?

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through! Click here to see them:



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30-Day Challenge, NOTD, Swatches

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Restock Radar: Week Of Sept. 3

Here’s a look at some of the indie nail polish restocks scheduled for this week. Check back every Monday to see what’s coming up.

Monday, September 3
available now
Cirque (On CirqueColors.com)
Notables: Launch of limited edition All Hallow’s Eve collection, including Neko (black matte glitter shards in a clear base)  and Kabocha (bright orange glow-in-the-dark)

eveningET
ELEMENTAL STYLES (On Etsy)
Notables: Colors not specified

Tuesday, September 4
3pmET & 9pmET
SMITTEN POLISH (On Llarowe, and Wednesday on Etsy at 2pmET and 8pmET)
Notables: You’re Turning Violet, Violet (purple and dark blue glitter in a purple base) and Strawberry Tart (pink, blue and red glitter in a pink base)

Wednesday, September 5
5pmET
NAIL SAUCE (On nailsauce.com)
Notables: Limited edition polishes launching – limited info available but they look like holo glitter in a black base

8pmET
ALL THAT GLITTERS (On Big Cartel)
Notables: The Princess Collection, including Kissing On A Frog (green and blue glitter in a green/yellow duo base) and Be Home By Midnight (silver holo and blue glitter in a light blue base)

8pmET
PRETTY & POLISHED (On Etsy)
Notables: Halloween collection, including Candy Corn (an orange-to-yellow color shifter), Witchy Woman (shimmery purple), Blood Clot (lives up to the name!) and Them Bones (mix of hex and bar black & white glitter)

Friday, September 7
3pmET & 9pmET
CANDEO COLORS (On Llarowe)
Notables: Melonball (red, pink and green glitter in a clear base), **a Llarowe exclusive**

10pmET
ELEVATION POLISH (On elevationpolish.com)
Notables: Launch of the new Japan collection, including Dasien (light and dark pink, copper and mutli-colored glitter in a sheer pink base), Kita (silver shimmer in a dark gray base) and Matsuda (Elevation’s version of the “perfect red,” two years in the making)

time not specified
PAHLISH (On Etsy)
Notables: Launch of Portals collection, including Marbles On Glass (hex, square and bar black matte glitter in a clear base) and Little Caroline (orange-to-green color-shifting hex and square glitter in a fuchsia jelly base)

Saturday, September 7
5pmET
HAPPY HANDS POLISH (on Etsy)
Notables: Illusions, Michael (red and gold glitter, gold star glitter, orange and holo shimmer)

time not specified
NOSTALGIC NAIL LACQUER
Notables: Halloween collection, including Bitchcraft (black, pink and blue glitter in a green jelly base) and Like Lovin’ The Dead (mix of green and black glitter in a green milky base)

If you know of any planned restocks coming in the future, please let me know at polishgroupie@gmail.com Thanks for stopping by!

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Indies

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30 Day Challenge Day 2: Orange – Zoya Jancyn with Cos Bar Copper

Orange (tangerine?) was definitely the “it” color of the spring. I didn’t even own one before I bought Riveting from the China Glaze Capitol Colors collection back in March; now thanks to some I bought and a cool giveaway win, I have six or seven.

For Day 2 of the 30 Day Challenge, we’re moving onto orange. I’m simultaneously doing 30 Days of Untrieds, so both challenges are covered here.

This is three coats of Zoya Jancyn, with Cos Bar Copper (untried) from the special Shops At Target collection on the tips. I finished it off with some orange/red striping tape and a generous coat of Poshe fast dry top coat.

Zoya Jancyn with Cos Bar Copper

Zoya Jancyn is an almost-neon tangerine. It runs a little toward the thin side, so this took all three coats and really could have used one more but I didn’t have the patience.

Cos Bar Copper is more of a shimmery orange than a copper, though that’s what was called on the Target Web site when the line launched. It’s not too frosty, so I like it quite a bit. Can’t speak much to the formula since I only used it on the tips, but what you see is only one coat, so that’s promising.

Zoya Jancyn with Cos Bar Copper

For the Cos Bar Copper tips, I used Scotch tape as a stencil to get a clean edge. Your base polish has to be really hard and dry for this technique, and even then I recommend putting the tape on your skin a few times before you apply it to your nails just to reduce the stickiness a bit. I read that tip on a blog somewhere but cannot remember where.

I then added the stripping tape. Calling this vintage is not an exaggeration. I’ve had it in my little nail art box since I was in junior high or maybe early high school, so around 20 years. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s not staying down all that well on the edges despite the top coat. Alas.

Did you go orange-crazy this year? Still loving orange polish or are you so over it?

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through!

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Click here to see all of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge:


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30-Day Challenge, NOTD, Swatches

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30 Day Challenge Day 1: Red – Savina Ruby and Hearts

Here we go! Today I’m embarking on my first-ever blog challenge, and actually not just one but two. I’m going for both the 30 Day Challenge and 30 Days of Untrieds, inspired by Rachel from Polished Criminails, who is doing the same.

Savina Ruby, Savina Hearts

Day 1’s theme is Red. Not only does this manicure include untried colors for me but also an untried brand, Savina, which is available at Nordstrom Rack. This mani includes:

  • Savina Ruby (untried)
  • Savina Hearts (untried)
  • NYC French White Tip (untried)

Savina Ruby, Savina Hearts, NYC French White Tip

Savina Ruby, Savina Hearts
For my nails I used two coats of Savina Ruby, followed by one coat of Poshe fast dry top coat. On the accent nails, I used three coats of NYC French White Tip, one coat of Savina Hearts and one coat of Poshe.

I didn’t think of myself as a fan of red nail polish, but I actually liked this one quite a bit once it was on. It’s more of a jelly polish with a red shimmer. It went on very smoothly and seemed to dry pretty quickly, though the finish was a little bit bumpy. Definitely needed the Poshe.

Savina Ruby, Hearts

White polish can often be tricky, and NYC French White Tip was no exception. First coat was extremely streaky, second mostly covered, third did the trick. I was a little disappointed with Savina Hearts. Since the bottle is jam-packed with heart-shaped glitter, I hoped it would go on with decent coverage. But that wasn’t the case for me. I had to fish out and place the glitter.

I tried dabbing; that didn’t work so well because I was just getting lots of the base with none of the hearts. In the end I grabbed a toothpick and used that to place them on the nail. It turned out a little messy.

Savina Hearts

Next time I will try to apply a coat of Savina Hearts that has no glitter at all, just so I can build up a good base of the iridescent shimmer first, and then fish out and place the hearts.

What do you think? Any tips and tricks for applying polishes with large glitter?

Please visit some of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day this month. I know we will need a lot of encouragement to get through!

30-Day Challenge, 30 Days of Untrieds

Click here to see all of the other bloggers that are participating in the 30 Day Challenge:


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30-Day Challenge, NOTD, Swatches

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