Comparison & Review

   Quite a bit has happened in the 6 months I've been away.  During this time time of absence from the blog my nails have been (of course) better than ever.  It feels like I'm finally finding the sweet spot in my nail care routine.  I've had the chance to try some new products, and I've left behind some old standbys.  Rather than let my 6 months of learning go to waste, here is a collective post on the different base coats I was and am using, and some things I've learned about them.

Nail Art

   Here is a manicure I created using the new Sally Hansen Color Foil polishes.  They were perfect for this technique, which is much simpler to create than you might think!  Yes, this is the art that was originally meant to go over Raven.  But this base color was more fun - it glows in the dark!

Swatch & Review

   This was meant to be a base for nail art that never happened.  Well, it did happen, but this manicure didn't last until the time I was ready to do it, and I used a different base color for the art, haha.  So I ended up just swatching Raven, basically!

   Raven is one of my first Zoya polishes, and I realized that I don't remember ever wearing it.  It's a really pretty black with a super-fine shimmer.  However my bottle seems to have some issues, like it wasn't capped tightly.  The formula was off compared my other Zoya pretties, namely in that it did not want to level itself out and didn't wear as well.  I also has some odd bubbles when I added topcoat.  I don't know if that should be attributed to Raven or not.

Nail Art

   Oh, readers, this post is a fun one for me to share!  You may think that with all the pastel colors around here that I am simply a girly-girl.  Not true!  Beneath my frilly, lacy outer layer you will find a cold, hard nerdy comic book geek.  Hey, sometimes your knight in shining armor is actually a knight in really tight spandex.  Don't complain, fellow princesses, you know a spandex spidey-suit is easier to clean than a full suit of armor.  Yay for wash-and-wear!  ...Moving on!


   See what I did here, channeling the vintage comic book cover style?  I'm pretty proud of it... not nearly as proud as I am of these nails, though!!  I painted them on May 3rd, in preparation of my my 2nd wedding anniversary day-early dinner & movie celebration.  (What a mouthful.)  See, I really am a geek - I totally felt this was a sufficient romantic date for an important occasion.

   So yes, this was nail art for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie - wait 'til you see the other hand! - but  promise that I will reveal no spoilers.  I hate spoilers!

Influenster Prizes!  ·  Craft Projects  ·  Spring, is that you?

   Oops, it's already April!  I don't know exactly how it happened, but I haven't been the only one to say this: March went by just as quickly as February.  (Was it that way for you, too?)  Perhaps because it had the same cold, dreary blur that the days of February had.  I don't really know.  I do know that I was very disappointed 1 week ago when I realized how close April was.  Alas, now it is already here.  Let's see how I did this month.

March Goals

   Not too bad, I guess we could call that 50-60% completed?  I left my list of goals pretty bare because I expected to be busy, and indeed I was.

Swatch & Review / Nail Art

   This was one of the items provided for review in my Violet VoxBox from Influenster. They would like us to share a "shining moment" we had while wearing the polish.  I didn't actually get to wear this for very long, but I did dress Sparkling Water up with some pearl-chain nail stickers.  As I was finishing my manicure, I had a realization...

   Are nail stickers "cheating" when it comes to nail art?  Should they even count?  Yes.  Just because you make a cake using a box mix instead of from scratch, will someone claim that you didn't bake a cake: you cheated?  No, you just made what you currently had time and ability to do.  We all admire the hand-piped frosting flowers, the mind-blowing 3D fondant creations that make their way to Pinterest collections... but sometimes you have to be content with sprinkles.  In the end it's tasty, you did make cake.
    With nail stickers and decals... they are quick and easy to master, but do take skill to apply in a creative, eye-pleasing way.  So what if I didn't sit down with a tiny brush and make each dot myself.  I still chose where I wanted the design, carefully cut them to the proper length, and carefully applied them with tweezers.  That's all I had time for.  And you know what?  It was pretty, I enjoyed the look - I did nail art.

   Now, let's get to what we're really after: a proper swatch and review of Sally Hansen Sparkling Water!

Video

   Woohoo!  Another box from Influester, and another video showing what was inside it!  The contents of the Violet VoxBox were customized depending on who they were sent to.  For me, this is the best box yet - it includes nail polish, and a hairbrush!!  =D

   I was sent these complimentary products in exchange for my opinions; you can learn more about Influenster here!

Nail Art / Swatch & Review

   Working through more of my untried indie glitters, I created this cute manicure to wear to the baby shower that my best friend held yesterday!  It was such a nice party.  These might not look like very baby-themed nails, but I'm not one for baby motifs.  So I went with nice bright colors, instead.  Also, Lush Lacquer is created by a mother-daughter team, so it totally fits!

   All my nails started out with a base coat of white, which was Zoya Purity.  For my glitter gradient nails I used Lush Lacquer Pebbles.  This is an awesome, colorful matte glitter in a clear base.  It looks way better on the nail than in the bottle, where the colors appear muddled because of the tiny glitter size.  On the nail the yellow, pink, purple and blue really pop!

   The glitter coverage was good, too.  My nails are showing 1 coat at the cuticle/top, 2 coats from the middle down, and 3 at the very tip.  Roughly.  I just dabbed the glitter on carefully to make the gradient effect.  My verdict is that this polish is great!

   For accent nails I tried doing fishtail style chevrons for the first time.  They didn't come out too badly, but 4 colors was way too many for a beginner's attempt!  Definitely going to stick with 2 the next time I practice.  I did a pretty good job matching up the polish colors to the glitter in Pebbles, though.  Here is what I used:

Lush Lacquer Pebbles, China Glaze Happy-Go-Lucky, Zoya Sweet, Pure Ice Fairy Godmother and Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!

   What do you think of these nails?  Do you have any Lush Lacquer colors to recommend?  They can be found in the Lush Lacquer etsy shop!  Thanks for looking.  =)

   Greetings fellow Princesses!  How has your month of May been?  My husband and I are back from our travels and it has been back to "the real world" for us.  At the beginning of this week my Mom helped me arrange (or pulled me into) a really fun get-together where I was expected attempted to be a good teacher and show some friends how to water marble your nails!  I knew it was going to be fun no matter what, but I was really pleased with how everything turned out!  =)

   First off I spent time before the party practicing my marbling skills.  This was helpful because I needed to feel comfortable, and I was able to test polishes to bring with me to the party.  I tried to make many different styles of marble designs to show what a variety you can get.  Everybody got to look at these beforehand for some inspiration.


   There were six of us altogether, so I set each of us up with a dish of filtered water and the necessary tools.  I talked about the process, then had everyone stand close by as I did my first nail.  That was all it took!  Everyone rushed back to their nail stations and started doing their thing!  These were the results.  (Please keep in mind that these are candid, before-clean-up shots that I snapped in fairly poor indoor lighting!)

Miss Heather's Nails
Colors Used:  China Glaze Four Leaf Clover, Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, and her own coral from Spoiled
   These colors really pop together!  Heather says she is inspired to let her nails grow longer to do more marbling, but in my opinion this shows how great marbling can look on short nails, too.  Lots of great swirls here!  (One of the highlights of the party was when she forgot to mask off her thumbnail and her whole thumb came out with a beautiful swirly design.  I assured her it happens to everyone eventually!  Water marbling is messy business, and when you get a lot of polish on your hand it's easiest to let the polish dry on your skin, then wash it off with soap and water.)

Grammee's Nails
Colors Used:  China Glaze Aquadelic and Sinful Colors Hazard, with China Glaze Riveting accent nails
   My grandmother is awesome.  Not one of those ladies to go get a boring manicure from a salon, she does her own nails and comes up with great layering combinations.  Now, she water marbles!  (Yes, I have had quite the influence on her.)  Her nails look great and she's definitely getting the hang of it!  I can't wait to see what she tries next.

Michelle's Nails
Colors Used: China Glaze Blue Iguana, 108 Degrees, and Senorita Bonita, also as a solid color
   My friend and fellow polisher Michelle snapped up these sparkly glass-fleck hues that look fantastic together, and especially good on her!  She did the more conservative "marbled nails as accent nails" approach, which left her with more time for clean up afterwards.  I'm inspired to try a manicure like this some time!

Mom's Nails
Colors Used:  Essie French Affair, Bachelorette Bash and Little Brown Dress
   She started off with her own Zoya colors that refused to marble on the water, so I switched her to some of my Essie polishes that would give a similar look.  (The sad truth is that not every polish works for water marbling.)  Fortunately these shades are super easy to marble with and she ended up happy!  I think we could vote her nails as Most Swirly; she went for an every-nail-unique look.

Ruth's Nails
Colors Used:  Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac, Zoya Caitlin and her own Wet 'n Wild dark purple
   Ruth got away before I could take a pre-clean up photo.  Don't let her professional after shot fool you - she had the most polish on her hands!  ;D  But wow, this sure doesn't look like a first time water marble, either - these nails are great!  And rather than fight with marbling her thumbs she painted them solid.

   Everyone did a fantastic job, had a great time, and all agreed that they wanted to keep going after they had ran out of nails to marble.  Success!  It made me really happy to be able to do this with my friends and family.  Oh, I that's right, I did my nails, too.  By the end of the party I only had about 3 nails done on my first hand because I tried to be there to get people more supplies and advice as needed.  This was the result on my right hand:


   I was going for a marbled rainbow gradient, and I'm pleased with the effect, though I think I could have picked some better colors.  The colors, from top to bottom are China Glaze Light As Air, Something Sweet, Peachy Keen, Lemon Fizz, Re-fresh Mint and Bahamian Escape.

   I also want to take a moment to thank my Mom for hosting the party, those who supplied the tasty snacks we had, and everyone who enjoys these awesome nails!  If you haven't tried water marbling yet, do!  If you already know how, host your own party!  =)

Swatch / NotD

   While digging through the contents of my SD card last month I found the first manicure I wore after getting married in May.  I didn't even have my nails done on my wedding day because I had just caught the chicken pox.  I was happy to have kept my nails at all after that ordeal!  During April I had been so busy with wedding prep that spiraled into trying-to-keep-my-fiancé-alive that I hadn't worn any polish in quite some time.  So to break my nails into being painted again I chose a lovely black polish...

   And look how rounded my nails still were at this point!  I think this fits the description of "squoval", haha.  I keep them much more squared now and I'm loving it!

   This polish was really nice to wear and easy to work with.  The shimmer didn't make it brushstroke-y, but gave it a softened look.  My last picture is with flash.

   I think I've improved considerably within the last half year.  I'm happy to share this little flashback, though.  Not only because Black Tie is a really pretty polish but that this was a sort of monumental nail day.  I was moving past the no-polish days of spring and things were settling into normality.  It may seem like a small thing but sitting down with a polish brush in my hand felt so good right then.  And I'd been married for 2 weeks!  Now it's been almost 8 months, wow! =D

NotD / Nail Art

   It dawned on me as I prepared this post that this will be the first water marble I've shared on my blog.  Actually, it's only the second one I've ever done.  So, I'm very proud of this post!

   This post also marks the first time I've used the "orange" color tag on my blog.  Orange isn't something that I'm usually drawn to, but when I saw these four colors next to each other I knew that I would have to do a marble with them some day.  They are just so happy and bright!  These swirls bring to mind limes, lemons, oranges and (my favorite) pink grapefruit!  Or blood oranges; those have a wonderful color too.

   I started with a white creme base to make the colors pop, and my water marble colors were all from the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear line, because as of yet they are the only ones that I have been able to get consistent results marbling with.  (Hey, I said this is only the second marble I've done, not my second attempt!  Lots of trial and error!)  The colors are Fuchsia Power, Sun Kissed, Mellow Yellow, and Green With Envy.

   I had tragedy strike when I applied topcoat, though.  There was some dragging, which is quite upsetting.  =(  Fortunately I noticed it right away and was able to save my designs for the most part.  Then I ended up with a small black fuzz on my thumbnail, which I had no way of getting out without causing further damage.  >_<  These things aren't noticeable unless you look very closely...  I got over it pretty quickly.  =P

   I'm entering this design in Smashley Sparkles water marble contest.  That is one of my favorite blogs - check it out!  As soon as she announced the contest I knew I had to enter.  I had been wanting to do another water marble anyway; this gave me extra incentive to practice and get it done.  Still, I don't envy her job of choosing winners - everyone who entered has such a gorgeous design, they are all so unique!  You never know exactly what you'll get with a water marble, and I think that is part of their charm.  =)

   Here's a fun post!  It could also be titled "When ShopRunner Shipping Goes Crazy", or "How I Ended Up With Enough Hair Stuff For Five Women", but those are too long and I'm trying something new.  Instead of posting little hauls here and there (which can end up being often and make it look like I manage a "lookie what I bought todaayyy!!" blog - ugh), I'm going to group them together at the end of each month.  I'm hoping that this will also make me realize just how much stuff I'm buying per month, and notice where my money is going.  Instead of it being a nail polish here, a new hair clip there... I want to fully realize how much stuff I'm acquiring so I know when to reign it in.

   This month it's a lot of stuff!  =D

   Oh, but there are other good reasons, too.  I plan on linking from my haul posts to any reviews or swatch posts I may have done for the items.  (Sadly that didn't happen this month... I was very sick with a cold.)  Or, if the item hasn't been featured on the blog already, readers can tell me what they want to see most and I can try to accommodate by posting about those things first.  =)

   So let's get started!  Follow the cut for more pictures and tales of wild Online shopping adventure!

   Hello everyone!  I'm taking a break to type this up with gloves on my hands.  My cuticles are turning scary because I haven't been giving them enough love.  Trying to make up for lost time with oil soaking on them right now.  Please ignore the dried skin, but enjoy the polish!

   I wanted something light, and I had a new polish to try.  I picked up Starry Silver Glitter by NYC and these are the two polishes I used along with it:

Sally Hansen Xtremewear Lacey Lilac, Nfu-Oh "Firefly Bums" #39, NYC Starry Silver Glitter

   Earlier this week I tried Sally Hansen Diamond Strength "No Chip Nail Color" nail polish in Glass Slipper.  This is her pink-hued sister, Princess Cut.  The polishes contain the same clear/white flakies and microshimmer particles, I do believe the only real difference is the color the flakes are floating in.  If you are interested in this polish be sure to read on!

   My base was Zoya nail polish in June, but I accidentally stained the polish with pink dye.  Just lightly but keep in mind that this may be a little pinker than it would be otherwise.  ;)  I used one coat of Sally Hansen Princess Cut on each nail.  Princess Cut did add slightly more pink to my nails, but nothing overpowering.  In fact, I think this may be perfect for topping a french manicure.  Take a look at the pics!

   I wanted to play with one of my new flakies for my last manicure!  I picked Glass Slipper since it is a clear polish and I didn't want to alter the color of Nyx Dusty Pink - one of my untrieds.  Actually... this entire manicure was made of untrieds!

   I used Nyx Girls in Dusty Pink (2 coats), Sally Hansen Glass Slipper (1-2 coats), China Glaze Frosty (2 thin coats), and Zoya Purity (1 coat).  I had intended on decorating each nail with some sort of design but never got around to it...

   Yes, another haul post today, with items from two different places.  Some goodies came from CherryCulture, and a couple polishes were found in a store locally.  It just got me thinking about the differences between shopping Online and In-store, especially when it comes to little colorful things like this.  Here is some discussion!

   I think we all prefer to see things in person, hold them in our hand and put them up to our skin or favorite shirt to make sure they match correctly.  But there is a sort of thrill that goes along with picking items out Online and being surprised when you receive them.  Sure there will be some letdowns and the inevitable pair of shoes that just don't fit, but generally I'm happy with my purchases.

   Then on one hand it's nice to find something and have it right away - sometimes you need it right away.  But I don't think I'm the only one who looks forward to getting a package in the mail later on.  It's like a present sent to yourself.  I think it is a lot of fun to unwrap things, and watch this...

   Go to this:

   Alright, fine, onto the haul goodies!

   Just a quick look at my sad post-work nails.  A bit of tip wear going on.  Two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Deep Purple.  This is a really pretty color with teeny pink and blue shimmers in it.  Then a coat of Pure Ice "Busted" overtop.  Busted is full of iridescent shimmer-glitter that mainly shows up as pink in this combination.  I've realized that I am drawn to purple polish in pictures, but hardly ever reach for it.  Strange!