Friday, January 30, 2015

Swatch and Review: Jade Mystic Gold


TGIF! And to celebrate, I wanted a little sparkle on my nails. So what better choice than a little linear holo in what I affectionately call Command Gold (after Star Trek)!?!



Jade Mystic Gold is a gold linear holo polish. The above is with three coats, but you can still see some visible nail line. It's just as visible in person as in the photo. Here, it has a marigold sort of tint indoors, but you can see below that it has a much truer gold look in sunlight.


I actually wore Mystic Gold last weekend when, as many of you saw on Facebook, I underwent surgery. I was only allowed to wear nail polish if they could still see my nails underneath and I thought this was a good compromise. The doctors and nurses LOVED it, actually. It was kind of funny.

I have a bunch of different Jade polishes in my stash, though this is the first one I've swatched. Jade is a Brazilian company that makes a ton of different finishes, but my favorite are the holos in the Holografica collection. They're also reasonably priced at a price of $7-$8, which is right on par with a lot of salon brands. 

The only downside is that you can't purchase them in stores, but can purchase them from stockists such as Llarowe. (Link will take you to the Jade Holograficas collection). I know that Llarowe offers free shipping on orders over $50, so with six or seven polishes, you'll get them shipped for free.

What do you think of Mystic Gold? Would you like to see other Jade holos on the blog?

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Swatch and Review: Emily de Molly Oceanic Forces


This was a polish that was a lemming of mine for an exceptionally long time. I don't own a lot of indie brands, but this was the first I ever saw use the big circle glitter and I fell in love.

Check out Emily de Molly Oceanic Forces!


Oceanic Forces is a dark teal jelly base with silver holo and hex glitter. The above is with three coats.

The goods: This color is stunning. The depth of the jelly is breathtaking and there are plenty of silver circles to go around.

The bads: The circular glitter took a long time to fish out, the polish took even longer to dry, and last, it turned my nails yellow. YELLOW. And I use basecoat!

Now, it could be that the polish reacted poorly to the basecoat, which was the OPI Glitter Base. I didn't care to try again with another, but would be interested to hear if you've had similar or different results with other basecoats!

Emily de Molly is available via the brand website for Australian residents or at seven different stockists, which cover the US, Canada, and Europe, and ship worldwide! Prices vary based on retailer.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Swatch and Review: Layla Ocean Rush

Here's some holo for this hump day! I'm finally up to doing some swatching again, so while I build up some new posts, check out one of my favorite holos to date!

Check out Layla Ocean Rush!


The above is an indoor shot with three coats. I love how quickly this polish dries. It was ready to go at around 10 minutes, which was fantastic dry time for me!


And here is the same, but outdoor. Ocean Rush truly is a stunner!

I haven't seen Layla Holographic polishes in stores in a few years, but these are still floating around on Amazon.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Up Your Nail and Holo Nail Art


Happy Saturday! Today is my first new post since I've gotten home from the hospital and I'm really glad to say that I'm starting to feel leaps and bounds better than my first day after surgery. My pain is minimal and I'm sleeping through the night, plus most of my nausea is completely gone! Woo hoo!

This post features two of my favorite things: holographic polishes and nail vinyls.

The nail vinyls used to make this manicure were fancy chevrons from Up Your Nail. Up Your Nail is pretty much my go-to store for the vinyls because their prices are ridiculously awesome. These chevrons came in my mystery bag but are 100 vinyls for $2.50. I haven't seen anyone else's prices come remotely close to that!



To achieve this look, I used three coats of Layla Ocean Rush as my base with one coat of a-England Tristam on top. I like the look of the scattered holo on top of the linear holo, though I'm interested to see how this would have turned out with two linears.

What's your verdict on this color combo and pattern? Have you tried Up Your Nail?

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Zoya Loredana with Studs





Hello, everyone! I just picked up some awesome clearance stuff while at Ulta, including backups of the Zoya MatteVelvet Collection and a nail wheel of studs. Both were on clearance for 50% off!

I thought it would be kind of cool to play with the matte silver metallic look of Zoya Loredana with the shiny gold metallic pop of the square studs.



The above is with three coats of Loredana. In order to make the studs stick (because they're concave), I had to apply top coat to my ring finger before applying the studs. After I felt the top coat was dry and the studs were secure, I went back over the polish with a matte top coat. I honestly wouldn't notice the difference.

Will you try the mixed metallic look anytime soon?

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

How to Spruce Up a Boring Mani with Simple Nail Art!


I don't know about you, but even if my manicure lasts for DAYS, I find myself bored by the third day of rocking the same color, no matter how pretty it is. So here, I have for you some very simple ways of jazzing up your manicure without having to change polish. This also works for adding a little something extra when the weekend rolls around.


I have broken down the techniques from beginner to intermediate to advanced to expert, but one thing is for certain: no matter what your skill level is, you'll always be able to show off some fantastic fingers!

Beginner Level: Polka Dots!

Monday, January 5, 2015

ANNOUNCING: Zoya Delight



ZOYA DELIGHT
Get ready for mouth-watering spring delights from Zoya! Inspired by the soft and airy colors of the season, Zoya Delight serves up three cheerful creams and three turquoise flash metallics for an updated, flirty way to wear pastels! All in the full-coverage, long-wearing, Big5Free* formula Zoya Nail Polish is famous for.


·            ZP772/Rayne: Dewy, spring blue with an energizing turquoise metallic flash.
·        ZP773/Lillian: Faded aquamarine with a glossy cream finish.
·            ZP774/Tiana: Palette-cleansing ‘pistachio gelato’ green in a glossy cream finish.
·        ZP775/Daisy: Refreshing ‘lemon merengue’ yellow with a turquoise metallic flash.
·            ZP776/Leslie: Soft spring lavender with a turquoise metallic flash.
·        ZP777/Eden: Classic spring flower pink in a glossy cream finish.
**BIG5FREE: Zoya Professional Nail Lacquer formula contains no formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate, toluene or camphor.
AVAILABLE 02/02/15!

ZOYA IS THE HEALTHY COLOR OF FASHION!
$9 (US)

Available in top salons, spas and on zoya.com



I'm definitely looking forward to such a bright pink in Eden, but also the metallic turquoise flash found in Rayne, Daisy, and Leslie! What are your thoughts on this upcoming collection?

Friday, January 2, 2015

Swatch and Review: L'Oreal Masked Affair

TGIF! And in honor of the weekend, I have a VERY exciting swatch to share with you today. It appears that there is now officially a linear holographic polish that is available at drug stores and other national retailers!

And it comes from a very surprising source: L'Oreal!

Masked Affair was released as part of the Dark Sides of Grey Colour Riche collection, which I assume is in honor of the novel "50 Shades of Gray." But whatever the reason, I am incredibly excited that they did!


L'Oreal 701 Masked Affair is a silver linear holo with pinkish undertones.  I used three coats to achieve full opacity, but this dried INCREDIBLY quickly. I honestly could have gone about my day after fifteen minutes and not even remotely dinged it up.

The above photo was taken indoors without a top coat. Please continue to scroll for more indoor photos, a photo with top coat, and an outdoor shot.