Chinese New Year Gradient

Hello, lovelies! And Happy Chinese New Year!

Today, I'm going to show you my most recent glitter gradient featuring, what else? Red and gold!

In order to achieve this look, you need a cosmetic wedge and two chunky glitter polishes. I chose Julep Oscar and China Glaze Ring in the Red, the latter of which I bought my junior year at Rutgers and hadn't used up until this manicure.

Fair warning, my nails are going to look SO much longer here than the last few posts because I rocked this gradient long before I chopped my nails down! I like them so much better now!

I used three coats of Oscar as a base and sponged Ring in the Red from the tip of the nail down. I really like how this turned out. I think that using chunkier glitter makes for a better fade. The pieces of glitter start to get wedged between each other creating a speckle effect that lends itself really well to a gradient.

The main tip I have is to do VERY light coats when you sponge with the glitter for a good speckle fade. Leaving too much on the sponge makes for a big blob... and nobody wants that!

What do you think of my Chinese New Year gradient? Will you be rocking red and gold today?

Swatch & Review: My Spirit Fingers Cutie Pie

Happy Saturday! If you live in the Northeast like I do, I hope that you're safely snowed in and stocked up. We only got about 6" or so, but I have friends in Connecticut and Massachusetts whose snow totals are WELL over 30."

Today, I'm bringing you a brand new indie brand called My Spirit Fingers, which makes glitter top coats. The polish I will be showing you is called Cutie Pie.

My Cutie Pie is a clear base with silver bar glitter and varying sizes of hex glitter in magenta, silver, and bright blue. Here, I polished two coats of it over Essie No More film for a fun and playful look.

It applied easily with two coats and wasn't gloopy at all, a common problem with glitter bombs. In fact, I got a large variety of glitter with the first coat, so that was a major plus.

And here it is over SoFlaJo Silverado. I think this was my favorite combination and wore it for three days after I put it on! It has a nice pop to it, but it's a little more subdued and vampy. LOVED this.

Overally, this was a great glitter bomb and I was impressed with the overall formula.

Currently, My Spirit Fingers is taking orders via the invoice method. All polishes, including Cutie Pie, are $8.50 per bottle. For more information, you can email Dona (the mind behind MSF) at MySpiritFingers@gmail.com or visit the MSF Facebook page.

What do you all think of this glitter bomb?

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.   

Swatch & Review: SoFlaJo Silverado

Happy Thursday, my lovelies!

Today's featured polish is by the wonderful brand, SoFlaJo! You may remember this awesome indie for Pendragon, Sunset Grille, and Ghost of a Chance. This shade is from the brand new Matte Love Collection, which features seven shimmers that can be worn as matte (which is how they dry) or with top coat for some big time pop!

The polish I'm showing you today is called Silverado!

 Silverado is a matte charcoal polish with holo glitter. Here, it is with two coats.

You all know me. I'm not exactly a fan of mattes. But this one was a shade I could wear without issue all day, every day.

And bonus...

 Look at how gorgeous it looks with top coat! It's a little blacker with gloss, but you can see how much the shimmer pops in this one. I can't wait to two-tone this with a glossy tip French manicure or stripes. Or some other awesome options!

Overall, this was a BIG winner for me. If you're a fan of mattes, this is totally for you. Even if you're not, this one will definitely surprise you.

All SoFlaJo polishes are available on her website. The full Matte Love Collection consists of a yellow (Going Down), magenta (Pink it Up!), amethyst (Involved), solid black (Black Dagger), Silverado, black shimmer (Black Beauty), and white (White Sensation). They are $5 for a mini bottle (5mL) and $10 for a full sized bottle (15mL). The mini set is $35 with discounted shipping.

I LOVED this shade. How about you?

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.  

Review: Drybar (TriBeCa)

Hello, my lovelies! Today, I've written about something a little bit different from my normal nail posts.

Back in September, a little sign went up in a previously-vacant window next door to my regular Starbucks, which is across the street from my school. It read: Coming Soon... Drybar.

My curiosity was piqued, so I headed to the Google and received a pleasant surprise!