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?

Mani in Motion: Zoya Dream

Happy Thursday, everyone!

I'm trying something a bit new and different today called a Mani in Motion. Basically, through images on a loop, you can see how a shade looks from shade to sunlight, in both color shift and sparkle.

The first Mani in Motion is Zoya Dream, a royal blue scattered holo polish:

Check out how awesome the movement of the holographic glitter as it catches the sunlight!

What do you think of Dream "in motion?" And do you think I should do this with more shades?

Swatch and Review: Zoya Zenith Collection

Hi, everyone! I'm super excited to bring you the Zoya Zenith Collection, Zoya's newest collection for Winter 2013, today!

It came in my mail this morning and by 4:30pm, these babies were swatched and you are NOT going to be disappointed!

Without further adieu, here they are!

First up is Zoya Seraphina!

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: 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?

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: a-England Lady of the Lake and Sally Hansen Lapis Amethyst

Good morning, everyone! I'm bringing back Hump Day Holo with a special combination that I have come to adore!

I combined a-England Lady of the Lake with Sally Hansen Lapis Amethyst to create a stunning, funky purple French manicure that I'm in love with.

Check it out:

 

I LOVED this combination of the pearl duochrome that is SH Lapis Amethyst and the bright holo pop of a-England Lady of the Lake. This was actually pretty easy to accomplish too! 

I apologize for the bubbles on my index finger... didn't realize my top coat had gotten to that point until it was too late!

Blurred sparkle shot!

So what do you think about this combo? Do you adore it as much as I do?

Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: China Glaze Atlantis

Today's polish is one I picked up in a blog sale back in the fall. I wear it all of the time, but have never managed to take a picture since I received my new camera for my birthday.

Atlantis is a gorgeous teal jelly jam-packed with holo glitter that I am absolutely obsessed with.

It's drop dead gorgeous! It needed three coats to be opaque and ate top coat like nobody's business... but who gives a crap? It's to die for!

And on the subject of being to die for... remember to enter The New Black Giveaway!

Until tomorrow!
Princess Polish

Hump Day Holo: a-England Ascalon

Thanks to a swap with a lovely fellow blogger of mine, The Nail Files, I snagged this lemming and nearly cried tears of joy when I opened the box!

I mean, how could you not LOVE this color? I loved it so much, I had to take a picture of it immediately. That's the shipping box it arrived in behind the bottle.

Dear GOD, look at that holo!

On the nails, it's just gorgeous. Seriously, a-England Ascalon has a nice linear aspect about it, as well as scattered quality, depending on the light. The base of the actual nail polish is pretty similar to Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game/OPI Not Like the Movies/Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy in that it's a gray-lavender duochrome. But the holographic quality cranks it up to 11.

Polishes by a-England are 13ml bottles and available from their official website and through Llarowe. They retail for $12.50 each.

Hump Day Holo: Color Club Wild at Heart

Hump Day Holo is back with my first Color Club swatch on the blog. It's a gorgeous purple holo called Wild at Heart.

This was borrowed from a friend of mine, so I do not have the bottle. But it looks much nicer on my nails than in the bottle!

Depending on how you look at your nails, the nail polish looks either like a super scattered holo or a linear holo. Sometimes, it even looks like both. But do I care which one?