Comparisons

Hello :)

Today I have some comparisons for you. Please excuse the messy cuticles-I was angered by one of the polishes and got very impatient. Well then, onto the pictures! (BTW, all the photos were taken in direct sunlight, but not outside.)

First, we have some yellows:

On my pinky is NYC Midtown Mimosa, the middle is OPI Need Sunglasses?, and the pointer is Zoya Creamy. Obviously, the odd man out is Creamy, but she's actually my favorite of the bunch. Great formula, only required two coats—plus no streaks. Need Sunglasses? was misbehaving today. It was streaky and required three coats just for me to get it like that: still streaky. I gave up and just took the picture. As for Midtown Mimosa, you really hate it on the first two coats because it's so sheer and streaky, you almost want to give up. But on the third coat, it really evens itself out and opaques (yes, I made that word up) up. So, if you're looking for dupes, Need Sunglasses? and Midtown Mimosa are the ones.

Next, the pinks:

Grrrrr…what's the point in having a comparison post if the colors don't even come out right? The thumb is two coats of OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! And the pointer is two coats of OPI That's Hot! Pink. Well, again I apologize for messy painting. So, you guys can't even see if there's a difference in color, but there is. That's Hot! Pink is much more true hot pink and purple toned than SHA, and SHA is more

coral-y than THP. 

And finally, shimmery, glittery blue-ish gold-ish polishes:

The pinky is Wet n Wild Fast Dry Teal of Fortune. Ring is Zoya Charla, and the middle is China Glaze Dorothy Who?. No dupes here, obviously. Charla has much more gold flecks/shimmer/glitter than either of the other polishes, Teal of Fortune has the least glitter/flecks altogether, and DW has more blue glitter than gold glitter or shimmer.

Well, hope you enjoyed this post, messy cuticles and bad photography and all :)

Thanks for reading,

-Kiki

NYC can be purchased at drugstores, varying in price from $1 to $5.

OPI products can be purchased at professional salons, Trade Secret, Bobbi and Guy Beauty Supply, Hino Hairstyles, Amazon, eBay and many other places from $5.49-$9.00.

Zoya can be purchased at professional salons, Hino Hairstyles, their website, Amazon, eBay and many other places for $8.50.

Wet n Wild Fast Dry and their other brands can be purchased at drugstores and many othe places, varying in price from $1-$5.

China Glaze can be purchased at professional salons, Bobbi and Guy Beauty Supply, Hino Hairstyles, Amazon, eBay, Sally Beauty Supply, and many other places for $5.49-$8.00.

All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way to review these products. All products were bought with my own money.

Cupcakes

Hello :)

Today I have a quick NOTD for you guys.

CUPCAKES!

Please excuse the writing on my fingers, I was doing the "this is buggy" trick.

To create this look, I painted my nails white, then polished 1/3 of my nail with light pink or blue, then added stripes with the darker color, and finally added frosting with the opposite color. I made sprinkles with the corresponding darker color and dotted a little cherry on top.

Sorry it's a little messy.

Thanks for reading,

-Kiki

Polishes Used:

Light pink- L'oreal I Pink I'm In Love

Dark pink- Zoya Kiki

Light blue- China Glaze For Audrey

Dark blue- Essie Butler Please

Red- Sephora by OPI High Maintenance

White- Wet n' Wild Shine French White Crème

Top coat/ Base coat- Jordana Tough Stuff Base & Topcoat

Bunnies with Mustaches

Hello :)

HAPPY EASTER! Do you guys have any plans for today? I do, my family's having dinner. Well, today I have an Easter manicure for you! I'm also entering this in Rambles of a Polish Addict's March Nail Art Contest !

Well, here it is!

BUNNIES WITH MUSTACHES!

I started off with two coats of OPI Need Sunglasses? on my middle and ring fingers, and two coats of OPI Can't Find My Czechbook on my pinky and pointer fingers. For the bunnies, I used Wet n Wild Wild Shine French White Crème, NYC Black Lace Crème, OPI Suzi's Hungary Again, and a detail brush. For the hatching baby chick, I used the same white and black, Zoya Lianne, and a detail brush. Finally, last but not least; for the eggs, I saran wrapped China Glaze In The Limelight for the Easter grass that's in the bottom of your basket, then, with a detail brush, drew a couple of Easter eggs using the same yellow and pink.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my Easter manicure!

Thanks for reading,

-Kiki

St. Patrick's Day Mani(S)!!!

Hello :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Are you doing anything fun? I'm not Irish, so I'm just doing my nails and wearing green :)

So I have a TWO manis to share with you folks today! One is a bit of a copycat, and the other is original (although there are probably many of the same out there, I didn’t look at anything to create the second look, it was all in my head). So, let's get started!

The first is a copy-cat of Beauty Gnome's St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Nail Art.

First, I applied one coat of Sephora by OPI Looks Like Rain, Dear.

Next, I drew a shamrock with a detail brush (and CG In The Limelight and OPI Black Onyx) on a piece of wax paper, top coated it, waited for it to dry, and then peeled it off. Then, I top coated it to my nail. This is called making your own decals. It's very popular right now, so you should be able to find many tutorials for it out on the interweb.

For the second mani, I applied one coat of China Glaze For Audrey on my pointer, middle, and ring fingers. On my thumb and pinky, I applied one coat of each: Sephora by OPI Charge It, Sephora by OPI Wild About Shimmer, and Sephora by OPI Only Gold For Me Top Coat. Finally, I free handed a rainbow, a pot of gold, a sun, and some blades of grass over For Audrey using CG Ruby Pumps, NYC Midtown Mimosa, CG In The Limelight, Sephora by OPI Charge It and Only Gold For Me Top Coat, and OPI Black Onyx.

Well, there you have it folks! Hope you have the Luck of the Irish on your side today!

Thanks for reading, and Happy St. Patrick's Day-

-Kiki

Sephora by OPI polishes can be purchased at Sephora or on their website for $8.50 a bottle. China Glaze polishes can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply, Bobbi and Guy Beauty Supply, Amazon, eBay, professional salons, and many other places for $5.49-$8.50.

NYC can be bought and many drugstores, ranging in price from $1.00 to $5.00.

OPI can be purchased at Bobbi and Guy Beauty Supply, Amazon, eBay, professional salons, and many other places for $5.49-$9.00.

Nabi Magnetic

Hey guys! How has your weekend been going? Ok, so I want to show you a very interesting and different manicure. I have today Nabi Ocean Blue and China Glaze Liquid Crystal.

 (I think this picture captured the magnetic effect the best, don't you think?)

Ocean Blue is a very nice medium-dark blue MAGNETIC!! At first, I thought this magnetic wouldn't work very well, but it actually has a magnificent magnet effect.

Ocean Blue, I must say, is not a very easy polish to apply. This polish is extremely thick and at least 2 thick coats are needed to get a good magnetic effect. I speak from experience, thin coats just don't work. The magnet, I must say, works like a charm, a few seconds of hovering over the magnet and POOF! magnetic waves!(although I must say, the magnetic effect is not as strong as I wish) I used a pencil to draw a line of China Glaze Liquid Crystal and voila! A magnetic mani!

Ok, I must say, a huge downside is the smell. It smells weirdly metallic, like metal pipes, but much stronger. I think it smells horrible, although some people might not mind as much…

(all but the first picture were taken indoors)

Thanks for reading!

-Remy

Nabi Ocean Blue is available at many drugstores and are $4 a piece.

China Glaze Liquid Crystal is also available at many beauty stores, and have a variety of prices.

Illamasqua Fragile

 Hello :)

Today I have Illamasqua Fragile and Wet n' Wild Fast Dry Teal of Fortune for you! First, a bottle shot:

Fragile is from Illamasqua's spring collection, I'mperfection. I love these polishes because of the stinking spots! I love the stinking spots! Some really good swatches of the I'mperfection collection are here. As for Teal of Fortune, I got this one as a gift (I got Fragile as a gift as well). I lurrrvvveee this one! It may be a dupe (Nail Polish Speak: dupe- n. a exact duplicate of another polish, e.g. same opacity, formula, and color) for Zoya Charla, though.

So:

This is two coats of Illamasqua Fragile on all fingers, and on the ring finger is one coat of Wet n' Wild Fast Dry Teal of Fortune over Fragile.

Formulas: Illamasqua was a bit thin on the first try, if you do thin coats, but if you do thick coats, you could get away with one. I did thin coats, and only used two.

Teal of Fortune was very opaque as well; I used one coat over Fragile.

So, you may be wondering, why did she put that $1 polish over the beautiful Illamasqua? Well, for one, TOF is beautiful sparklinesses, and I wanted to see if the speckles would show through the over polish. It did, but would probably work better with a lighter color. I might try that in the future…

You can buy Illamasqua polishes at Sephora for $16 in the US. As for Wet n' Wild, you can buy them at CVS Pharmacy, Kmart, Longs Drugs, Rite Aid, Ulta, Walgreens, and Walmart varying prices but usually between $1 and $5.

Thanks for reading!

-Kiki

    

Birthday Mani

Hello :)

This past week, it was my mom's birthday! She is turning somewhere between 30 and 50…teehee. I did her nails for this special occasion, and used her new iPhone 5- (birthday present)-phone case as inspiration. First, the case and some bottle shots:

 

So, here it is:

First, I did three coats of OPI Care to Danse? on all fingers.

Then, I freehanded some flowers and scrolls with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Deep Purple.

Well, I thought this turned out pretty well. Definitely not the best in the world, but it'll do :).

Thanks for reading!

-Kiki

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