NOTD: Winter Tree Branches + Tutorial

My second Sephora-sponsored video, this is a little more difficult than the first design which I considered to be a simpler design.  With Formula X for Sephora White Matter as a base, I sponged with White Matter & Gray Matter, then with Dark Matter and a striping brush I added the branches:

Here's the tutorial:

I hope you guys enjoyed =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette
 (These were sent to me for review) 

NOTD: Black & Wine Water Marble + Tutorial

I wanted to do something for the holidays without being blatantly red & green - I thought this deep wine was festive without being too traditional.  I used China Glaze Don't Make me Wine as my base color, then marbled with that & China Glaze Liquid Leather:

Here's the tutorial:



Several more holiday design to come before the end of the month =)  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Hunger Games Catching Fire - Girl on Fire French Tips + Tutorial

I am a HUGE Hunger Games fan ... I didn't realize until after the fact how well the Harvest Waterfall would have worked out for the movie, so this is what I ended up wearing to go see the movie.  I started out with a base of OPI Alpine Snow, then a couple coats of Formula X for Sephora Spark, then topped that as a jelly sandwich with OPI Meet Me at the Bonfire.  Then I painted the flames with black acrylic paint:

Here's the tutorial:

Are you a Hunger Games fan?  Have you seen the movie and I'm guessing loved it?  Casting was so spot-on flawless, I think it was even better than the first one.  I can't wait for the next ones!  The last book is getting split into 2 movies if you didn't already know.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Harvest Waterfall + Tutorial

This was my Thanksgiving design for this year - Thanksgiving is always a bit of a challenge for me ... it's not really a holiday that has a wide range of themes LOL, so since I didn't want to do a turkey again I just went with traditional colors.  This look was inspired by a couple of designs by the Nailasaurus: that are on my Pinterest inspiration board HERE and HERE

I started of with a plain black base of OPI Black Onyx, then did the waterfall with 4 OPI Liquid Sand colors: What Wizardry is This?, Jinx, Honey Ryder, and Magazine Cover Mouse:

Here's the tutorial:

While I did like the textural contrast, after a few days I did add topcoat so that the entire mani was glossy:

Have you tried a waterfall manicure?  Which version of this one was your favorite?

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Blue & White Water Marble + Tutorial

I've been meaning & meaning to get this posted ... then I've had interruptions at lunch, connectivity issues, and yesterday a crapload of thieves that I had to file copyright infringements on.  So!  Finally here is my blue & white water marble, using Orly White Tips & Orly Angel Rain, a beautiful combination and one I took a lot of pictures of ... even so, the iridescence of the blue was nearly impossible to capture on camera:

Here are some close-ups:

And here's the tutorial:

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Green Color Block for Depression Awareness + Tutorial

Well, this is just a tad late onto the blog, but I did manage to get it posted on YouTube before the end of October which was my goal.  (October is Depression Awareness Month)

This manicure was inspired by a design I saw on Pinterest and added to my "I Wanna Try That" board (here:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/460422761875760772/), and after digging through just my unworns I picked a light green for my base color & seven additional greens for my blocks; Piggy Polish Daylilly's & Music, Color Club Kiss Me Mistletoe, Finger Paints Evergreen Dream, Icing All That Glitters is Green, Love & Beauty ? (no label & not sure if it ever had one), Sinful Colors Exotic Green, Ulta Army of 1 & Zoya Shawn:

I made each nail a little different, but if you have one that you particularly like, obviously you could stick with just one style.  Here's the tutorial:

I think I already have more ideas pinned than I may ever get to, but now that I'm finally on there I just can't help myself, there are so many cool ideas!  So you can count on seeing more Pinterest-inspired manis going forward =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Introducing Formula X for Sephora + Teardrop Nail Art Tutorial

I'm always flattered when I'm contacted by a company to do a review.  This was even more than that, an introduction for a completely new nail polish line.  Formula X for Sephora is the next in nail, a 3-free polish that has a wide range of colors, finishes, and products extending to nail appliques & nail care treatments.  Sephora sent me a selection of colors from both the New Classics, and the Celestials.  You can see my thoughts on the collection as a whole, a close up look at the polishes, as well as a tutorial for my teardrop design in this vid:

One thing I forgot to mention in the vid is that the caps are not really square - that's just for looks & can be removed to reveal a normal cap, which makes application much easier.

Here's a closer look at the manicure - I used Pyrotechnic for the base color & Sparklebomb for the teardrops:

So what do you all think?  Have you been in store to see the awesome display of the full collection?  Let me know in the comments!

If you don't live near a store you can always order online from Sephora's website:
http://www.sephora.com/formula-x-for-sephora

Or, if you're just looking for some inspiration, check out the Formla X site:
http://www.formulax.com/

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette
(These were sent to me for review)