NOTD: Pink & Blue Easter Dots + Tutorial

This was kind of a last minute design, at the time I didn't want the purple swirls on my nails for Easter LOL.  For the base white I used Orly Au Champagne, then the dotting is done with Revlon Coastal Surf & Revlon Passionate Pink:

Here's the tutorial:



Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Guest NOTD: Revlon Blue Lagoon

I think that at the time, Mom was looking for a light sky blue and she got this because it was still out from the pastel rainbow marble.  Revlon Blue Lagoon is a little lighter than I would consider a true sky blue, with just a hint of sparkle which is actually easier to see in the shade picture:

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Spring Pastel Rainbow Water Marble + Tutorial

So, Nail Art April started off with a marble that didn't quite fit into March =)  I used Orly Au Champagne for my base, then Marbling was done with 6 Revlon pastels - Sunshine Sparkle, Peach Smoothie, Pink Again, Gum Drop, Blue Lagoon & Minted.

I actually started out this design with a big fail that turned out kind of cool in hindsight; I wish I'd taken more pictures.  I wanted each nail to have just an arc of color, but it turned out too pale - I tried an overlay-marble of black that turned out looking grey ... and so after I did one hand I took it off & stared over again.  Here's a look at the fail that maybe wasn't quite such a fail:

Either way, this is what replaced it - due to the way I dipped my nails, they almost all turned out just a little different.  Very pale, especially in certain lights, but it was well suited for the Easter season it happened to be at the time:

I didn't have any nails that I didn't like, which as you know is pretty rare - so I took close-ups for all of them:

And of course here is the tutorial:



Thanks for reading.

~Colette

The Haul Post

Usually for hauls I'll do a vid, and then I'll do some close-up pics with whatever info I forgot to mention in the vid - because no matter how thorough I think I'm being I always forget something. But most of these I never got around to bottle pics, or if I did I never go around to editing them, and at this point I don't think I'm going to ... so if you're interested to see any of these polishes before they get full manicure posts, the vids are it ... pick & choose as you will because there are kind of a lot LOL.  I've also included the related swatch videos and/or polish in motion vids that I've finished, although there are others I still would like to do.

This vid is mainly on the China Glaze Prismatic Chroma Glitter collection - I still haven't gotten around to swatching the Nabis that I mention at the end:



Big Lots is of course one of my favorite places for discounted polish, and I really enjoyed getting these glitters from Michael's - even though so far all I've done is gaze adoringly at them:



The gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS Layla Hologram effect polishes:



If you do want to see more of that awesomeness I've got 4 polish in motions so far, for Flash Black, Ocean Rush, and Jade Groove & Mercury Twilight which are quite similar -  full posts for these still upcoming:






I always look forward to Zoya's Earth Day sale - I'm already looking forward to the next one LOL although I'm sure there will be other good sales before then =)



A few colors from the OPI Spiderman collection:



Many  of you probably already know that Just Spotted the Lizard is a dupe for Chanel Peridot:



A gigantic Big Lots haul of Revlon polishes, along with a decent serving of DSW's Anise brand:



My first haul of the initial 5 Orly Flash Glam FX glitters:



Another bucketful of glitter, this batch from the Dollar Tree:



My unexpected birthday haul including the Essie Mirror Metallic collection:



Revlon's Moon Candy flakies from Walgreens:



And swatches - so hard to capture flakies on camera but I tried:




And to end on a bang, the crown jewel of all these hauls as well as my most recent (well, except for the ones I just bought & haven't recorded yet!), my prize for winning Orly's Flash Glam FX contest - the entire 22 glitters, plus the Fired Up collection - awesomeness, awesomeness & more awesomeness:



I've done polish in motion vids for Sunglasses at Night & Be Brave, as well as 2 swatch videos on these so far - and I would like to do another set of swatches, with no base and/or complimentary base colors.  Not sure when that will happen but coming eventually =)






So, that's it ... for now ;)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Revlon Petal Chrome

Revlon Petal Chrome was pretty awesome, although it does show every flaw in the nail, including the seam on my patches.  Another awesome old collection that Revlon could bring back if you ask me:

These old Chrome colors are also great for stamping if you have any =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: The Evolution of Revlon Dreamer

I was on such a roll yesterday with getting things done, and videos edited, and just as I turned my attention towards this post - the power went out =(  The electrician was working the bathroom, lord knows why my room had to be turned off for the process.  But I am trying to keep momentum & so I'm finishing this today =)  It is my last manicure from 2011

Revlon Dreamer is a perfectly nice blue all on its own:

But I wanted to add some shimmer & I'd just picked up the Special Effects collection, so I added a coat of Finger Paints Motley.  It added a tiny bit of shimmer.  The shade pic shows it best, a lot of the day it was, like in the other pics, nearly invisible:

Without time to fully changed it, I tried one more time for bling, bringing out the big guns - Essie Shine of the Times (aka the easiest to find dupe for Hidden Treasure).  And I finally got my sparkles, lots of them - you can also still see the blue glimmers of Motley underneath in a few shots:

Here's a look in motion:

Yay!  OK, so I know it's February, but I've just been busy.  I am so freaking glad to be ... well, obviously not caught up, but at least operating in the right year LOL.  

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Zoya True & Fleck Effect Haul

I was sooo happy when these arrived on Saturday - the package tracking estimate had been Monday the last I looked so it was kind of a surprise.  I had to play with them of course, and the swatch vid will be coming soon - I actually thought of several more colors I wanted to try as soon as I finished recording, so I will probably do a few more swatches when I get home later & tack them onto the end of the vid.  But for now here's a look at the haul:

As a side note, if you're wondering why this post is so early in the morning - uploading takes freaking forever  & a half now that I'm doing HD.  I have to really plan ... or at least try to plan ... or at minimum roll with the punches LOL. In this case, I started the upload before I went to bed, got the blog post ready, then verified everything was ready to publish & made it live before I head off to work.

Most of the True collection - I wasn't too taken by the 2 neutrals so I skipped them:

Left to right:  Bevin, Skylar, Lotus, Tru.

Fleck Effect "Mylar Glazes" as the website refers to them:

Maisie, Opal, Chloe.

As a side note, I found out the Grapefruit Surprise Sugar Scrub free 7 oz "sample" that I got sells for $18 direct from  Art of Beauty & isn't much cheaper on amazon.  Nicest freebie I've receive lately =)

And my couple of oddballs:

Essie Dive Bar & Revlon Rain Forest.

I can't wait to use the rhinestones I show in the vid too, although I don't think they need their own pics - I literally got an idea when I saw them & it wouldn't leave my head so I had to go back & purchase them.

UPDATE:
I had a few people wanting to see the bottles for the acrylic paint:

This is Silver Bling & Gold Glitz.  They had lots more glittery & holographic colors, but I decided I should start slow ... no need to buy one of each yet.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette