Texture without the glitter?

I've been having so much fun with these textured polishes, I decided to do some more.  These Milani textures are like nothing else I have (though I suspect they are very much like the new China Glaze textured polishes) because they are creams, not glitters.

All of these go on best with one thick coat of polish.  The more coats you use, the softer the texture.  All of them had terrific formulas - no pooling, no streaking, dried fairly quickly, removed easily, and I think they look pretty cool.

Shady Gray and Yellow Mark.  I loved this combo.  Something about the somber grey and the pop of bright yellow.

Spoiled in Fuchsia and Purple Streak.  It was actually easy to do a gradient with these polishes.  Usually, I do the full nail in the base coat, but I didn't here because I didn't want the texture to get too thick, and I knew I wasn't going to use topcoat.

No sponge, either.  Just painted the top in Spoiled in Fuchsia, and then the tips in Purple Streak, and then dabbed a little of each color at the meeting line to 'blend' the colors togther.

Aqua Splash and Spoiled in Fuchsia.  I thought these two colors were fun together.  The aqua needed one more coat, however, because the formula was thinner.  I didn't use tape, so the line isn't perfect, but the polishes are thick enough to make getting a straight line possible.

Tainted in Red and Shady Gray.  This red was one of my faves of the collection.  Bright, vibrant color - so bright, in fact, that it freaked my camera out a bit, and only one pix came out clearly.  This is a perfect ripe, juicy, summer red.  I did funky French tips in grey for contrast.

Still on the fence about texture?  What do you think of this version with no glitter?  Have you tried the China Glaze ones?  From swatches I've seen, it reminds me of shag carpet. These are more like Berber carpet.

Sunday Stamping - Spring in the Garden

I think it was fate that the day I decide to work on my Adventures in Stamping challenge: Spring, is the day my Cult Nails In The Garden collection came in the mail!  I managed to use a few of the new polishes in this mani.

Let's Get Dirty.  I started with this interesting wax-finish polish.  It's not pink, it's not grey, I don't think it's taupe, but that's probably close.  It's like a ..dirty pink.  Wet, it has a sparkle, but it dries waxy.  This is ONE coat.  I'm impressed.

I knew I wanted to stamp over a gradient, so I sponged on some bright yellow You're My Dandy Lion.
This one is a glossy creme, but I wasn't worried about the mashup of textures, because I am stamping and using topcoat in a minute.

The tips got a sponge treatment of Kiss My Rose Bush, another waxy-finish polish, in a soft, but bright pink.  These three look so good together...

...that I had to topcoat at this stage, just to see what it would look like.  If I were stopping here, I would have tried to blend my gradients a little better, but I knew I was stamping, and it would hide a lot of imperfections in the mani.  Because, at heart, I am lazy!  Work smarter, not harder, I say.

Again, with the Cheeky Jumbo plate.  I think I could probably use this plate all year and not get bored.  Best. Plate. Ever.  I stamped with Morning Glory, a bright fuchsia creme.

I love how the stamp pulls all the colors together and just pops.  Reminds me a little of my youth in the 80's. 

If you'd like more info about Cult Nails, you can find them on Facebook, and on their webpage.  The In The Garden collex pre-sale is over, so you can now buy each color individually if you'd like.  There's also a traffic-cone orange creme, Ay Poppy!, in this collection that is pretty cool.

Pure Ice Suedes - the Pinks

Who would have thought that Pure Ice would come out with some very cool LE Suedes?  I guess when Revlon bought them, they stepped up their game.

This first suede is a lovely dusty pink with the gross name - Grunge.

These are half the price of the (sale) price of the Avons, at $1.97 at Walmart.  You'd never know how inexpensive they are, though - they apply and look like the big brands..

Forever 21 had a 99-cent sale on some of their Love & Beauty polishes, and I thought this purple/multi glitter would look good paired with Grunge.

 Pure Ice Stunning is just that!  A bright fuchsia that pops.

I took another Forever 21 glitter in Faded Rose that is supposed to be a dupe for OPI I Lily Love You, I think, and made horizontal stripes across the nail in different lengths.  Not that you can tell.  It just looks like globs of glitter.  Not every glitter works well with nail art, but I keep trying...

 Are you into the suedes yet?   More, MOAR to come!

Pink, two ways

Sally Hansen Rosy Posie is a frosty pink that I picked up on sale.  Not my usual polish, but it is soft and pretty... and a little boring.  So, I pumped it up!

I loved this combination of glitters in Amy's Nail Boutique Cherry Blossoms.  If you've ever seen the cherry blossoms blooming in Washington, D.C., it is amazing!

I like how Rosie Posy gives a boost of shine to the mani, but it is still a soft, pretty look.

Kleancolor Fuschia Glitter is, like many of their glitters, thick and heavy on the base.  It's a pretty mix, but I needed a denser glitter to work with the frost of Rosy Posy.  Two layers of Kleancolor would never dry!

 I just wish it would look on the nail like it does in the bottle!!

Celebrate glitter - Pink and Snazzy!

I wanted something bright, and I found it!  This is Zoya Anaka.  Isn't she beautiful?

She has a shimmer all her own, and is a strong, strong woman!  No wallflowers here.  Loved this color, and I felt such grrrrl power wearing it.

I am a recent glitter convert, and now feel the need to glitter up almost every mani.  So for the next week or so, I'm going to show you a new glitter every day!

This is a very accessible and inexpensive glitter - Kleancolor My Valentine.

It's full of small purple glitter, and medium hex glitter in gold, turquoise, and silver, in a clear base.
If you're not familiar with Kleancolor, there are some things to know - it usually smells horrible in the bottle, but dries odorless.  It's not usually an opaque glitter - the formula is pretty thick, so you'll need to dab it on, and you can really only do one full coat.  And, it's usually really inexpensive.  I bought some of these at the Flea Market for a dollar a bottle, and I've bought it for about that price on Ebay.

Right hand.  I love how the turquoise glitter pops on this mani.

Don't be afraid of the cheap glitter!  Some of it may surprise you!

Crack-head

As part of the Central Florida Beauty Bloggers, I was given a sample of Crack Hair fix to try.

WOW.

I have a lot of very thick hair.  It's very curly underneath, and straighter towards the crown.  It's going through a growing out phase right now - I was using a chemical relaxer on it to tame the curls, but decided to go back to curly.  So, normally, my hair has a mind of its own; some curls, some doesn't, and because of the humid Florida summer, it's usually a bit frizzy.

Not with Crack Hair Fix.

This pix was after I combed it out, so there are fewer curls.  I only like to wash my hair every 3-5 days, so having a product that works beyond one day is important to me.  The first time I used Crack, the second day my hair was a little dry, so I spritzed on some Argan oil product.  Bad idea - the next day it was so thick and itchy I had to wash it all out. 

The second time I used it, on the second day when it was dry, I dampened my hair a little bit with water on my hands and applied a little more Crack to the ends.  Much better.  Lesson learned - if you're going to use Crack - and you should - then don't mix it with oil products.


I loved it so much, it inspired a mani. I used Zoya Robyn, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, and Milani Fuchsia Fierce.

This product was provided to me for review.  Nonetheless, the opinions stated are my own, and as unbiased as possible.

https://www.facebook.com/CrackHairFix/info

http://www.prolocksusa.com

Strawberries, two ways

This mani makes me think of a strawberry sundae with chocolate sauce and sprinkles.  I started with 2 coats of Milani Pink Slippers, a beautiful light pink with a slight shimmer.  Then, I added vertical stripes in Milani Morning Coffee, a medium brown, and Milani Chocolate Sprinkles, a dark espresso brown with copper microglitter.  Chcolate Sprinkles is a CVS exclusive color.  After seeing a swatch of it, I made a special trip to my local CVS to get it!

I added a border in Milani Chocolate Sprinkles all around the nail, except for the tip.  I think that the vertical lines make my nails look longer.

Right hand:

 

And a bonus strawberry mani!  Jackpot!

This is two coats of Milani Fuschia Fierce.  Must be a cousin of Sascha Fierce. It is bright, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners, almost neon color.

Look at that shine.  It almost looked shellacked.

I thought it would pair nicely with LA Girls Fruity in Strawberry Delight.

I swatched 2 coats on a nail wheel so you could see it's color.  It's great for layering - I think it would take too many layers to be opaque.  On the thumb, it's over 2 coats of the Milani Fuchsia Fierce.

It smells strongly of artificial strawberry!  My dog Banjo was crazy for it.  He kept trying to lick my fingers, searching for the food, but he didn't like the taste of the polish.  It was so confusing for my poor pooch for something to smell sooo good, but taste sooo awful!

 

Looks like it *could* be tasty, though, right?


The Milani and LA Girl polishes were provided to me for review (Although I already owned a bottle of Milani Chocolate Sprinkles that I had purchased beforehand.)  Nonetheless, the opinions presented are my own, and as unbiased as possible.

http://www.milanicosmetics.com/ 
http://www.lagirlusa.com/