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?

DEAL ALERT: Get any Zoya polish for just $6.50 at ULTA Beauty

When Zoya released the Entice and Ignite Collections for Fall 2014, I knew I immediately had to pick up an extra bottle of Sansa for a friend who is a HUGE fan of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire.

There's a Harmon's Discount Cosmetics in my town, so I hardly ever shop at ULTA for brands like OPI, Essie, Color Club, and Orly, as well as a most of the drug store brands. However, Harmon's doesn't carry Zoya or China Glaze and the only other discount place is in the mall. And let me make this very clear: I ABHOR going to the local mall.

However, I've found a way to purchase Zoya polishes for the discount store price at my local ULTA, a mere three minutes drive from my house, right next to Whole Foods. (Let's not even get started on Whole Foods, aka: Whole Paycheck.)

By the time I was done, Zoya Sansa cost me a mere $6.50 AND I got a three-pack of mini nail files as an added free bonus.

So how did I do it? The solution was incredibly easy and all you really need is a smartphone.

Swatch and Review: Barielle AND a Promo Code

Recently, I had the opportunity to select three shades from Barielle to review for you all. It was an arduous process to narrow my choices down, but I finally landed on Blue Cotton Candy, Decadence, and Do Unto Others.

However, my all-time favorite Barielle is Elle's Spell, so I included that in here, too!

Zoya Bruised and Bloody Nail Art

Happy Halloween, my lovelies! May your day be filled with lots of treats and not only a moderately acceptable amount of screaming, sugared-up children!

My NOTD in honor of this holiday uses the classic blood drip look, but with a little something extra.

 

By sponging a little Zoya Cynthia around the border of my nail, over a coat of Zoya Audrey, and topping it off with Zoya Rekha for the blood, I created something a bit spookier than usual. Perhaps, Zombie-like?

What do you think of my subtle twist on a Halloween classic manicure?