Holographic Houndstooth with Sinful Colors and Colors by Llarowe

Hello, everyone! I hope you had a great Super Bowl Sunday!

I've really become a huge fan of stamping as of late and have been finding myself experimenting with a lot of different finishes and patterns. This is a fairly simple one that I wore to work last week, which everyone seemed to love.

This look was created by stamping the houndstooth pattern from the BP L-006 plate by Born Pretty in Sinful Colors Black on Black over Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise. It wasn't too overly sparkly and had a nice muted look when indoors, but a nice pop outside!

Easter Chevrons

Happy Easter, my lovelies!

For my Easter nails, I used two different sized Chevron nail vinyls over a base of OPI Skull and Glossbones, plus Colors by Llarowe Good Fortune and Smooth Criminal.

I really loved how this came out. It's sparkly and pretty and very springy!

Valentine's Day and Anti-Valentine's Day Nail Art

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I'm still recovering from both my surgery and the flu, so I can't stomach any chocolate or other candy. However, that doesn't mean I can't celebrate the holiday with a little sparkle!

When I asked over on the Princess Polish Facebook page what you all wanted to see from my Valentine's Day manicure this year, it seemed lots of you wanted something non-traditional, possibly holographic. So I came up with something that could be both in celebration or opposition of the holiday, depending on how you look at it!

The base color is Colors by Llarowe Dirty Diana with Sinful Colors Black on Black on top.

I thought that the slash of magenta could be something sassy and fierce for a night out with a special someone, but also could be anti-Valentine's Day because it reminds me of a broken heart.

I was really happy to rock this look at least for a day around school and work. Unfortunately, being sick meant I basically was the only one who got to stare at it this week. But oh well! Now you all can see it too!

Would you wear this non-traditional mani?

Swatch and Review: Colors by Llarowe Dirty Diana

Here's some swatches of a lemming I squashed last week when I picked it up in a swap. This shade comes from the Michael Jackson Collection from Colors by Llarowe and it's absolutely stunning!

Dirty Diana is a magenta linear holo that is honestly one of the most vivid holo polishes I have ever seen!

Dirty Diana is currently in stock over at Llarowe for $12! Scoop it up while you can!

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?

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.

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?

31 Days of Giveaways - Day 9: Mystery Holographic Trio

Welcome to Day 9! If you haven't read about the giveaway and the rules, click here.

Day 9's mystery holographic polishes are... going to remain a mystery! I'll announce the prize when the giveaway is over tomorrow night!

Fill out the Rafflecopter widget below to enter! And check back tomorrow for the reveal of the Zoya prize!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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 & Review: Zoya Magical Pixie Dust Collection for Spring 2014

Hello, everyone! Today, as part of my catching up on swatches, I have the trio of Zoya Spring Pixie Dusts for you to see!

Normally, I'm not a fan of these, but I really think they've won me over!

Zoya Cosmo is a silver crystal texture polish with fine and hex holographic glitter particles. The above is with two coats. I have to sy that I definitely have the non-textured version of this polish as sold by a ton of different other brands, but the textured Pixie Dust version just has so much more pop!

Zoya Lux is a rose quartz texture polish with with fine and hex holographic glitter particles. The above is with two coats. I'm not usually a fan of pink glitters because they just scream super duper girly girl. But this was delicate and eye-catching at the same time.

Zoya Vega is an opal blue texture polish with fine and hex holographic glitter particles. The above is with two coats. And I think she's a beauty that reminds me of the ocean in the tropics!

Overall, I was bowled over by this collection. The shades had such depth and sparkle to them and I loved them so much more than the original line of pixies!

All Magical Pixie Dust shades are available at Zoya.com for $10, as well as local beauty suppliers such as Ulta.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. For more information please visit my Disclaimer page.  

Hump Day Holo: Julep Rebel

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

Today's post is Julep Rebel, which is billed as a silver scattered holo. It came in my February box and is named for star of Pitch Perfect, Rebel Wilson.

Well, as it turns out, this is not as holographic as billed. Not even scattered. It just seems like a matte silver foil. I was rather disappointed by this. Oh well.

Even though this isn't holographic, do you like Rebel as a matte silver foil?

Top of 2012: Black

Plain and simple, there was only ONE black this year that blew me away. If I could only wear this shade for the rest of my life, I'd be perfectly happy.

Is there a better black than Zoya Storm? I say, no. This black scattered holographic polish is clearly the Queen of them all. The application? Fabulous. The sparkle? Mindblowing.

No other shade of black should even bother trying. Honestly.

Do you agree?

Top of 2012: Pink

Hey, everyone! Today starts my Year in Review, in which I post my top shades that were released in 2012. I'm going to go day by day, color by color and pick my Top 3. Although, on some occasions... that might turn into a top 4 or 5.

Today's color is pink! (Even though it's not Wednesday. Sorry!)

First up is Zoya Audrey, a ballerina pink jelly. It was released in March as part of the Limited Edition Peter Som collection. I usually do not like super fair pinks, sheer colors, or light shades. But I just loved this one. It's delicate AND if you're between gel fills, it actually creates a mini fill where your natural nail is growing in.

Second is another Zoya: Zoya Aurora. Really, does this surprise anyone? It's a gorgeous, rich fuchsia scattered holo that applies like a dream and makes quite the impact! Gah, I love it.

Saint Germain Pink Lotus is one from early summer. It's a magenta creme that applies like a DREAM. I absolutely adored this shade. I know Saint Germain isn't a well known brand yet, but this was a top notch polish that I didn't expect to love.

What would YOU pick as your top three?

Zoya Ornate Gradient

Good Monday morning to you all! I hope your weekend was more enjoyable than mine. I have midterms this week, so need I say more? Didn't think so.

Before all hell broke loose and my brain became a jumble of criminal law statutes and jibberish I'm convinced doesn't actually mean anything, I had a little fun with the scattered holo shades from Zoya's brand new Ornate collection!

Here are the three shades I used (left to right): Blaze, Aurora, and Storm!

I started out with a base of Aurora and then lightly sponged Blaze from the tip of my nail to just before where the half moons start. I repeated this about two or three times per nail until I was happy with the blend. Then I sponged Storm until a little below my visible nail line. I applied Storm lightly, but dabbed polish just at the tip a few times to make it a little more opaque.

Here was the end result:

What do you guys think of the finished product? I'm in LOVE with it!

Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: Zoya Ornate Collection

 

It's here! It's FINALLY here! I've been so excited for this collection from the moment the press release hit my inbox.

The Zoya Ornate Collection features six shades, three scattered holographic polishes, two foils, and a bar glitter. That's a pretty awesome variety for a seasonal release, which is usually saved for the same silver, gold, green, red, blue, and white shimmer/glitter bombs from year to year.

Also... five out of the six polishes share names with superheroes. So, that's not exactly a negative for me!

Warning, this is going to be a pic-heavy post!

Hump Day Holo Swatch and Review: butter LONDON Fishwife

Happy Hump Day!

Today's polish is a US web-exclusive from butter LONDON called Fishwife!

Fishwife is a dusty sage linear holographic polish with some major pop! It applied incredibly smooth and was opaque in just two coats, which surprised me immensely. It builds up really well.

Here is a sparkle shot so you can see how pronounced the linear holo is in actuality. If you follow my Facebook page, you know that this was stopping people in their tracks inside of a Starbucks. I repeat... INSIDE of a STARBUCKS. They're not exactly known for their bright interiors, now are they?

So what do you think of BL Fishwife? Is it your cup of tea?
Princess Polish

PS: On the subject of butter LONDON, check out my current Breast Cancer Awareness month giveaway, where you can win Disco Biscuit amongst other prizes!