Frozen Elsa Holographic Gradient

For those of you who have been following me for a while below nails may not look very familiar to you. There's a very good reason for that!

My younger sister is fourteen and decided to dress up as Elsa from Frozen for Halloween. She wanted something that was Elsa-like on her nails and had previously asked me to create a gradient on her nails for a while. So I figured now was as good of a time as any!

I wanted to use something holographic to create an icy look, like how snow and ice glisten in the sunlight. And of course, who can resist rhinestones?

I used four shades for this blue holographic gradient. From dark to light: Zoya Dream, OPI Blue Chips (aka: OPI The Flowers are Blue-Ming), Wet n Wild Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and OPI DS Shimmer.

I used a bit different of a technique for this gradient than I've used in the past. Normally, I sponge on one color at a time, however, I decided to try a different method. This time, I painted on Who Wants to Be a Millonaire as a base coat and painted the gradient onto a makeup sponge, then dabbed that on my nail.
 
It needed a few touch ups, but I was happy with it and my sister was over the moon.

I added some bling in the form of a rhinestone snowflake... unfortunately, one fell off sometime between the night I painted them and the afternoon I took the picture, but it's still blingtastic to me!

What do you think of this blue holo gradient? Did I do Elsa proud?

Swatch and Review: Muir Muir on the Wall

Hello, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend!

Today, I have one of the new shades from the OPI San Francisco Collection called Muir Muir on the Wall. It's named for Muir Woods, one of the United States National Parks. Muir Woods is home to a ton of redwood trees, which are some of the tallest in the world!

I actually went to Muir Woods when I was fifteen and it was very beautiful.

Muir Muir on the Wall is a scarlet shimmer polish with a black base...

ANNOUNCING: Back in Action Giveaway

Hello again, everyone! Thank you for sticking around during this crazy month. Now that the publishing issue with Blogger is fixed, Princess Polish is officially back in action!

As a thank you for standing by me, I decided to create this giveaway featuring some awesome prizes:

The prizes include: Illamasqua Poke, Zoya Audrina (mini), butter LONDON Champers, Milani Carnival, Julep Zelda, and OPI Light My Sapphire!

Here are the rules:

1) Due to mail restrictions, the giveaway is open to US and Canada only. Sorry. :-/
2) All winners will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond.
3) All participants must be over 18 years of age.
4) All rules, as well as entry requirements, must be followed. Failure to follow any of the aforementioned will result in a disqualification and a new winner will be selected.
5) The giveaway starts today (8/25) and will end at 12am EST on Sunday, September 1st.

Now that all of the technical stuff is out of the way, enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. And good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Black and White and Red All Over Floral Nails

Hey, everyone! I'm kicking off the work week with a little bit of nail art in this short, but sweet post. It's what I wore for most of my first week of work at the end of last month.

I wanted to wear red and this just kind of snowballed from there! For the base, I used OPI Big Apple Red.

I tried a little something different with the flowers, more on the artsy and abstract side. What do you think?

Floral Nail Art Tutorial

Happy Hump Day! I promised a few weeks ago in my birthday manicure that this would be coming and it's finally here!

I wanted to make this a color-themed floral manicure, so I went with my favorite color of all: purple! Although, I did mix in a little pink and green for accents and highlights. But it's mostly purple. And all OPI.

The colors that I used: OPI You're Such a Budapest (base), OPI Suzi and the 7 Dusseldorfs, OPI Gift Cards for Everyone, OPI Skip the Gift Wrap, OPI Strawberry Margarita, and OPI Alpine Snow.

I have a few tips for color selection:

Swatch and Review: OPI You're Such a Budapest

Happy weekend, my friends! I was in a bit of a purple mood today, so I thought I'd show you the beautiful periwinkle from the OPI Euro Centrale Collection: You're Such a Budapest!

OPI You're Such a Budapest is a periwinkle creme with subtle silver shimmer. The above is with two coats.

The formula was fairly watery, but it applied well anyway. However, you can't see any of the silver shimmer. Like, at all.

So while this made a pretty purple, it didn't have the pop or uniqueness I was really looking for.

What's your opinion of You're Such a Budapest?

Valentine's Day Lace Nail Art & Tutorial

Hi, everyone! Today, I'm starting my four-part series of Valentine's Day nail art! I'm going to try and bring you some manicures that are fun and funky, along with classic and sweet. For the most part, you'll be able to do all of them at home!

Monday's manicure theme is lace!

This look was accomplished using two coats of OPI You Only Live Twice and and OPI Skull and Glossbones. But obviously, you can replicate this using any shades you like and two different sized dotting tools! (Or a toothpick and a bobby pin. Seriously, that will work too! It's what I used before I knew what dotting tools were.)

This is really easy to replicate!

Step 1: Paint your base color until opaque, as you normally would.

Step 2: Using your second color, paint a French tip. It doesn't have to be perfectly even because you're going to be covering it up anyway!

Step 3: Take your larger dotting tool and dip it in the second color. Make dots along the outline of the French tip, with the top 1/3 of the dot overlapping the tip.

Step 4: Take the smaller dotting tool and dip it in your base color. Place a dot in the center of each of the large dots.

Step 5: Let it dry for about fifteen minutes before applying top coat to avoid dragging.

Step 6: Go rock it and look fabulous!

So what do you all think? Is this something you'd try on your own?

Until tomorrow!

Announcing: Valentine's Day Giveaway

Hello, everyone! I hope you all did well in your Superbowl pools last night! (Mine was completely messed up by the safety.)

I know we all despite Mondays, so I thought I'd help brighten your day with a giveaway! I've teamed up with the lovely ladies behind nine other blogs for a really fun giveaway filled with great prizes!

The Rafflecopter entry widget is at the end of the post!

Check out what's up for grabs:

Prize 1 - Princess Polish

Top of 2012: Red

Day 3 of the Top of 2012 is here and I'm taking a look at my Top 3 reds, just in time for Christmas Eve!

Number 1 on my list is Zoya Blaze, a lush cranberry scattered holo polish. I mean, could you PICK a better shade for the holidays? I think... NOT!

Number 2 is my favorite surprise duochrome, OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest! It looked berry in the bottle, but when I put it on... holy purple shift, Batman! In a collection I wasn't particularly thrilled by in terms of uniqueness, this one was the standout.

Number 3 on my list is another Zoya, this time Rekha. Originally released in the early spring as part of the LE Bibhu Mohapatra collection and re-released in the Zoya Designer Collection this fall, I fell in love with Rekha on the spot. It's the perfect red creme: smooth application and a stunning color.

What reds do you think should have been included in the list?

Swatch and Review: OPI ULTA Holiday 2012

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend so far!

Today, I'm bringing you this year's OPI holiday shades exclusively for ULTA Beauty. I stumbled upon them at my local ULTA in East Brunswick. If you purchase two OPI shades this weekend, you receive a special gift of your choice of the holiday shades for free.

 

Last Minute Shopper is a juicy strawberry red metallic polish. It applied evenly and was opaque in two coats. It's not the most unique shade out there, but it's a very pretty one. It has a very subtle glow about it. I like that has depth to the color without being a glass fleck. This reminds me of You Only Live Twice from the Bond Collection for Holiday 2012 without the aforementioned flecks.

For the record, this has already been stolen by the Queen Mum (aka: Nana) and I have not seen it since. I have a feeling it will make an appearance when she heads back to Florida and I find it on her dresser during winter break there.

Next up is Skip the Gift Wrap, a vibrant emerald metallic polish that slightly skews towards the frost spectrum. The application was fine and even. The brush strokes in this picture are virtually unnoticeable in real life. I think it's the macro that brings that out.

As Pantone has announced, emerald is SO in for 2013 and I think Skip the Gift Wrap is definitely a color to rock in the new year!

The last of the trio is Gift Cards for Everyone, a blurple shimmer with scattered specks of sapphire glitter. Forgive the lack of a bottle... it has gone missing somewhere within my bedroom.

The glitter is definitely apparent in sunlight, but not as much as in the bottle. It's a lot more scattered on the nail. Though, the effect is mostly there.

Overall, I liked this trio better than last year's two rough glitters and shimmery red. All three are very wearable for me and while they're not incredibly unique, I think they're very pretty shades that anyone would like to find in their Christmas stocking or for their last night of Chanukah.

As I mentioned before, you can currently receive one of these shades free with the purchase of two OPI polishes at ULTA. Because I only purchased these three, they were essentially B2G1 for me. They retail for $8.00 each and are available only at your local ULTA store! They also have a mini set called Stuff My Stocking that retails for $12.50 and includes the three minis

Three OPI's for $16? Not a bad deal, in my opinion. (And the 20% off my total purchase coupon didn't hurt... so they wound up being closer to $12!)

What's your verdict on this holiday collection?

Princess Polish

Polished Professionals: Weekday to Weekend

The weekend is nearly upon us, a three-day weekend at that, and I don't know about you, but I'm SO ready! So here's a little weekend-themed post as part of the Polished Professionals series. If you missed last week's post, you can check out my Beauty Survival Kit!

With Labor Day weekend officially here, I'm sure that many of you, like myself, have plans for a party or barbecue. Weekend plans can often throw a little bit of a wrench into things when it comes to your nails.

Maybe you've just gotten a manicure at the start of the week and it's tough to part with your perfect polish job. Or maybe you have gel polish in a neutral color that's just not going to cut it for a party. You could have last minute plans. Or perhaps, as this is often the case for me, you're too lazy/tired to take off your polish, put on new, and wait for it to dry. After all, it's a long process!

Today, I'm going to show you a few weekday to weekend looks that can be accomplished in just fifteen-twenty minutes. And most of that is just drying time. You could really even do this on the way to the party in the car... not that I've done it before or anything...

The best part about the looks to follow is that they're very simple and easy to achieve. All you need is two kinds of top coat: your normal quick-dry brand (I use either Seche Vite or HK Girl) and a special effects top coat.

Special Effects top coats are those that change the look of your polish in some way. They can be your ordinary glitter/sparkle, a flake-filled fiesta, or even a holo top coat. It's totally up to you.

So, let's get started with some transformations!

Swatch and Review: OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest

Happy Monday, everyone!

This morning, I'm bringing you something I teased at last week on the Princess Polish Facebook Page.

OPI's brand new Germany Collection offers a color that piqued my interest from the get-go and that color is Every Month is Oktoberfest!

I'm a fan of deep, vampy reds, which is part of the reason I love the fall. School aside, of course.

But this red gave me a little bit of a surprise...

Check out that color shift... it's a duochrome! It's a red-purple duochrome!

Definitely unexpected. This was with two coats of polish and a top coat of Seche Vite.

I wasn't too thrilled with the look of the Germany collection. To be honest, though I have Suzi and the Seven Duseldorfs on my toes, I'm still not.

But really, all you need is one gem. And truly, this was it.

Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: Hump Day Holo - HITS Mari Moon Cutie Pie

Happy Hump Day! Hump Day Holo has returned once again, but this time, we're going to holo-fy a color for you. It's a little throwback!

I'm bringing you HITS Mari Moon Cutie Pie, which is normally a blue-purple-magneta duochrome.

See:

And with a little help from OPI DS Shimmer, I have turned into sparkly holo goodness!

Here, you can see the MAJOR POP the OPI DS Shimmer added to the color!

And even here, you can tell the shift in color.

 

This one, lastly, shows just how much duochrome the DS Shimmer pulled out. It's not nearly as much as the original polish, but it's still a gorgeous shift nonetheless!

So what do you think? Would you rock a holo-fied Mari Moon Cutie Pie?

Enjoy your Hump Day!

Princess Polish

Hump Day Holo: Independence Day Manicure

Happy Independence Day! I hope no one has singed themselves with fireworks! I got stung by a bee (a yellow jacket) today for the first time in my life, which was pretty interesting.

It was the first time I had ever gotten stung (side of my bicep, near my elbow) and while I was allergic, I didn't go into shock or anything. I just broke out in a rash from elbow to wrist. And while a little Benedryl cleared that up, I did require a bag of frozen blueberries to ice my arm! It also afforded me a nice little nap on a lounge chair by the pool, which was nice.

Anyhoo... I wanted to do something fun for Hump Day Holo that was July 4th themed, but didn't want to repeat my Memorial Day Manicure or go cliche with the flag.

So I grabbed a-England Tristam, OPI DS Ruby, and my white Stripe Rite bottle... and went to work.

The tips are Tristam with the swipes of Ruby and white. I wanted something that had some pop (you can see the sparkle of Tristam's holo glitter), but that I could get away with wearing for a few days. The hardest part was the white swipe with my It's So Easy striping brush, which thins out towards the left side of the nail. The Ruby stripe was not only pretty, but helpful, as it helped even out any errors I made with Tristam. My base, for the record, was my go-to nude: Zoya Audrey.

I think that if this wasn't a holiday, it would have a very nautical feel to it!

I would definitely like to do this manicure again with some different colors. Have any suggestions? Leave them in the comments section!

Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

I normally don't post this late in the day, but I was holding out hope that the sun would make an appearance so that I could take pictures of this polish in the sunlight. But alas, Mother Nature didn't cooperate. Though, I think I captured this color pretty well in spite of that.

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard is from the summer Spiderman Collection and really stands out for two reasons.

One: It was the only color that screamed "different" to me. I'm not a huge fan of crackles/shatters/etc, so it wasn't exactly my cup of tea from the start. And I could really live without the other shades.

Two: It's a dupe for Chanel Peridot, which always appealed to me, but came with a heck of a price tag.

Just Spotted the Lizard is a metallic duochrome polish that shifts between pale gold, to mossy olive, to straw.

Here's the straw color...

And the moss color!

Overall, I really liked the application of the polish. Normally, I'm not a fan of these kind of metallics because they leave too many brushstrokes, but they really weren't too bad. It's barely noticeable. It actually sort of has a brushed gold look to it.

The entire Spiderman Collection is available at your local Ulta and JC Penney and the suggested retail price is $8.50 a bottle.

So what do you think of Just Spotted the Lizard? Is it a keeper?

Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: OPI Strawberry Fields

Hello, everyone! I'm back from vacation... did you miss me?

Today, I'm bringing you an oldie-but-goody, which shares a name with one of my favorite Beatles songs: OPI Strawberry Fields!

A cerise pink with some iridescent shimmer, it's not too bright or Barbie-ish that I feel ridiculous wearing it. It flattered my skin-tone and gave me an AWESOME idea for some nail art that you'll see at the end of the week! It's also what I wore for my entire vacation time!

I am so glad to be back on track here on the blog, though my workspace is full of pigment, base, glitter, and the rest of the materials in the Princess Polish factory! The pre-ordered packages should start to go out at the end of the week, though I'm not sure exactly when the official shop opening day is going to be. Look for that to be sometime next week. I'll make an announcement on my Facebook page!

I'm in the middle of mad swatching tonight and tomorrow, as a ton of my pictures were somehow erased off of my chip. :-( But I should be caught up by Wednesday morning!

Until tomorrow!
Princess Polish

ANNOUNCING: Charity Nail Polish Jewelry Sale!

I've been making nail polish jewelry for myself for as long as I can remember and have made a few pairs of earrings for different occasions, unable to find the right color combo. With the encouragement of my friends, I have opened up an online shop featuring earrings, pendants, hair clips, and other items made with nail polish! The BEST part is that all of the profits are donated to Autism New Jersey, a nonprofit dedicated to serving autistic individuals and their families.

I'm constantly adding items to the site and only the earrings are up at the moment. They are available in both sterling silver and surgical steel.

Another cool aspect of the jewelry is that I am able to do custom designs in whatever combinations, shades, and patterns you can dream up. There is no additional charge for a custom order either! Check out my polish stash here for some ideas!

There is a certain pre-made quantity of each item listed at the store, but they don't take too long to make. So don't worry if something sells out. It will be re-stocked really quickly!

If you have any questions or custom orders, please feel free to email me: PrincessPolishBlog(at)gmail.com.

Thank you in advance for your support!
Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: OPI Grape Set Match and Serving Up Sparkle

Hi everyone! Sorry for the late post... it has been a stressful day at home!

Today I have a duo that I searched for, to no avail, last year, but managed to find at TJ Maxx on sale, along with another duo I swatched a nail polish from earlier in the week, OPI Love is a Racket. So here is the Serena Williams Glam Slam Duo: Grape Set... Match and Servin' Up Sparkle!

OPI Grape Set... Match is a gorgeous royal purple nail polish with blue shimmer that gives it the appearance of a blurple! When pictures of these duos were first released, I knew this was the one I wanted more than anything. And I'm SO happy I got it!

The application was a dream and with two coats, I could not have asked for better opacity.

 

OPI Servin' Up Sparkle is definitely a nail polish meant for layering. If you want to build it up to see if you can ever get it opaque, you are a far braver soul than I am. It was a little tough to take off, but was not the worst I've ever seen. (I'm looking at YOU, Nubar Night Sparkle). Zoya Remove + got the job done. That being said, I imagine it would be very difficult to take off after 8 coats for opacity's sake. *Shudder*

The glitter was a little too sparse for my personal taste (above was one coat), but I loved the inclusion of hexagonal glitter. Hex glitter seems to be very on-trend this year, so OPI was ahead of the curve in 2011.

Overall, I'm glad that I finally managed to get the duo and would definitely recommend Grape Set... Match.

Swatch and Review: OPI Love is a Racket

Hi everyone! I'm going to post my manicure for Relay for Life tomorrow (once I fix up my cuticles a little bit more hehe), so I'm going to post a swatch of one of the prizes for the Cosmetics for a Cure raffle that ended this more.

Here is one half of the OPI nail polish duo from last summer, Serena Williams Glam Slam: Love is a Racket!

 

I'm not a person who regularly wears reds, but this had a slight blue shimmer to it that makes it perfect for me! I LOVED this nail polish and wore it for a few days before Valentine's Day!

Hope you're all having a great Saturday! Can't wait to announce the raffle winners!

Princess Polish

March Madness Top 32: Midwest and East Divisions

Kicking off the Top 32 for the Midwest and East divisions.

Game 1:

Online Surveys & Market Research

Image Credit: AllLacqueredUp.com and NailsNeverFails.blogspot.com