Butter London Fash Pack

Today I have Butter London Fash Pack. I describe this as a taupey brown with gold shimmer that shines through in the lighting. I am so happy I was able to capture the gold shimmer in these pics, I was worried it wouldn't show itself for you. Butter London is a 3 free lacquer and they are $15 for a full sized ( .4 fl oz.) bottle.

The Butter London formula is another one of my favorites to work with. It goes on so smooth, no clumps, and no streaks. I used 2 coats of Fash Pack for these pictures. I did not put on a topcoat and you can see that there is a nice shine to it on it's own. Dry time is is amazing and I have yet to find a Butter London that I did not like working with.

Butter London lacquers can be purchased on their website, in select salons, some department stores, and Ulta stores.

China Glaze Skittlette

Here's a fun little skittlette mani I did reccently. I wanted something fun and something to cheer me up since I had been going through some medical stuff recently. So I thought what better way to cheer me up than to do a fun, cheery mani!!

For this mani I used China Glaze Purple Panic (the hot pink/purple), Zoya Purity (the white), and Zoya Raven (the black). Plus I wanted an opportunity to use the gold studs that I recently bought off of Amazon.

So I put Purple Panic on my thumb and ring fingers, and Purity on my middle and pinkie fingers, and lastly Raven on my pointer/index finger. Then I added some Purple Panic and Raven dots in different sizes to the Purity on my middle finger.

Then I contemplated on where I was going to put my gold studs...finally I figured since they were a little bigger than I thought they would be I put it diagonally on my thumb (kinda like a diamond). Now to get it to stay I had to add a drop of nail glue to adhere the stud to my nail.

Next for something fun on my pinkie fingers I added some hot pink rhinestones and placed them around a Raven dot to form a flower.

Once everything was dried I added a topcoat of Out The Door to seal everything in and give it that shine (which the Purple Panic needed since it dries to a matte finish). Hope you liked my fun, cheery, pick-me-up mani cause I know I did!!

Mom's NOTD: Sally Hansen & Zoya flowers

For Mom's NOTD we decided to go a little fun! I used Sally Hansen Raspberry Rose for her base color (which BTW is a way more beautiful color in person than is captured in pictures). It went on like a dream and just because I wanted to speed up the dry time I applied a coat of Out The Door. We were in a bit of a hurry because the night had gotten away from us so I didn't want her going to bed with wet nails.

Then for something fun I added little flowers to her ring fingers. For the flowers I used Zoya Purity and Raven for the centers of the flowers. Then once it was fairly dry I added a top coat of Out The Door to seal it all in! Viola!!

NOTD: Zoya flowers

For my NOTD I decide that I wanted to be a little dark but yet have a little fun so I went with black and some flowers for accent.

For my base I used Zoya Raven. I love Zoya polishes, they have such a beautiful formula and I love working with it. It's always so smooth and dries fairly quickly in my opinion.

Then for the flowers I added to my ring fingers I used Zoya Purity and Sally Hansen Raspberry Rose for the centers.

Once it was fairly dry I topped it all off with a coat of Out The Door to speed the dry time so I could go to bed and not worry about ruining my mani.

NOTD: Butter London Dotticure

For this bright and cheery mani I just didn't feel like doing a whole lot of work since I wasn't feeling the greatest the day I did this. I just wanted to keep this mani simple but yet have a little bit of nail art.

I used my base of Butter London MacBeth which is a gorgeous coral color that applies so smoothly. Once that was dry enough for me to start my dots I preceeded to apply my dots using different sized dotting tools to create the different sized dots. I will say that even though the dotting tools didn't cost me a lot of money (got them on Amazon), it was the best money I ever spent! For the dots I used Cult Nails Tempest and You're My Dandy Lion.

I only applied the dots to the pointer and ring fingers because I didn't want a lot going on, plus I had to keep it reasonable since we had important people coming in at work this week. Then once the dots were dry I applied a coat of Out The Door. Pretty but Simple!

Pretty and Polished Bath Bombs

***PRESS SAMPLE***

I had the pleasure of reviewing a couple bath and body bath bombs from Pretty and Polished and OMG I fell in love!!

I received two scents Soft Citrus and I believe the other one was Lavender Vanilla. All I can tell you was when I opened the package I was greated by such a pleasing scent. Their bath bombs come in 3 sizes: 4oz, 6oz, and 10oz, They also have them available in Foot Fizzys (approx. 1oz.) and they come in the shape of a heart for putting in your pedi baths to give your feet an extra special treat. The bath bombs are packed with skin softening ingredients like Natural Sea Salt, Vitamin E, Coconut Oil, and Essential Oils.

The Soft Citrus Bath Bombs contain:  Sodium Bicarbonate, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Citric Acid, Sea Salt, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Tocopherol, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil,  Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Oil, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil Colorants.

After using these in my pedi bath my feet were so soft and smooth. I didn't even need to lotion them after my pedi bath because all the essential oils in these fizzys gave my feet everything they needed. The scent was amazing and it wasn't overpowering. Just strong enough to enjoy but not too strong that you were knocked over by it. I can't wait to use my other one but then again my Mom seen them when they arrived and has said that she would like to try the other one so I may have her try it and see what she thinks. If I know her as well as I do, she's gonna fall in love and I will probably have to purchase more very soon! 

Cost for the Bath Bombs are as follows: 4oz is $3.00, 6 oz is $4.50, 10oz is $7.50, and the Foot Fizzys are 1oz for $1.25

You should head on over to their shop on Etsy or their Website and pick up some amazing bath and body products. I know I'm gonna be getting more of their products to try real soon!

*photo credit to Pretty and Polished's site*

Pretty and Polished Pixy Chix

*****PRESS SAMPLE*****

Today I am going to show you one of Pretty & Polished's new glitter top coats. This one is called Pixy Chix, it is inspired by the delicious candy Pixy Stix. How cool is this?!!! There is blue, red, green, and purple micro glitter to make up this beautiful polish. I have to tell you that I was super excited when I received this one and tried it out right away. Then I decided to do a full mani with it cause I loved it so much. So now here's all the details....

Pretty and Polished polish is 3 free and cruelty free. The ingredients are: N-Butty Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Isoprpyl Alcohol, and glitter. They are free of Dibutyl Phthalate, Formaldehyde, and Toluene. A full size bottle is 15ml and has 2 stainless steel bb's and costs $8.50.

This picture shows you how you can wear it alone or over another polish. I wanted to show you how many coats it took me to get full coverage with this. 3 coats gave me full coverage and boy was I pleased! The application on this was superb, no clumping or fishing for glitter. It went on so smoothly that I truly loved working with this one. You know how with some lesser brands that you just have to fish for glitter and put on multiple coats to get full coverage, well, with this one you don't have this problem.

Then once I finished the demonstration photo for the coats I decided to try my first glitter gradient with this beauty. Boy did I love this. I didn't have to keep applying the glitter to the sponge to get my gradient, it only took like 1 dab of the sponge to get the coverage I wanted with my glitter gradient. I only had to go back to add more because I wasn't quite pleased with where my gradient was fading so I adjusted that.

Pretty & Polished lacquers can be purchased at either their Etsy Shop or their website.

Abstract Flower Nail Art

I was so excited when my new brushes arrived that I couldn't wait to use them. The only problem was that I was not real keen on how to use all of them. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do but I thought "what the hell" and just started messing around with them. This is the first design I did with my new brushes.

I started out with a base of Cult Nails Let's Get Dirty and once that was dry I started to do my flowers. I figured I'd keep it simple and only did one accent nail on each hand. I grabbed one of the flat slightly angled brushes and just started making strokes. I went from the outside in to the center trying to take advantage of the angled end of the brush to make angled tips of the flowers. Now I call them abstract because they aren't even and didn't turn out like I had pictured them in my mind but that's the fun of it, right?! I used Cult Nails Evil Queen for the flower petals and Cult Nails Nevermore for the flower centers.

Once everything was dry I applied a coat of Wicked Fast by Cult Nails to seal everything in. I ordered the brushes on Amazon and I think I only paid like $1.42 for them. They took about 3 weeks to arrive since they were coming from China but they were so worth the wait. I can't wait to use them again!

Mom's NOTD: Sally Hansen Striped mani

This is Mom's striped mani I did for her a little while ago. We started off with a base of Sally Hansen Kook-A-Mango and Zoya Purity for her accent nails. Once everything was dry I applied striping tape on the accent nails (the ones with Purity) in the pattern that I wanted.

Once I had the tape in the pattern I was pleased with I applied 2 coats of the Sally Hansen Kook-A-Mango over the top of the tape. As soon as I was finished applying the second coat I removed the striping tape carefully using a tweezers to grip the ends and peeled slowly. The removed tape revealed the Purity below in the pattern that I applied the tape. Very pretty! This is something Mom really liked and I can see that I am going to have to come up with new patterns to try for her cause she loves the outcome.

As Mom was waiting for things to dry before we applied the top coat she happened to see my wheel of rhinestones and decided that she wanted a teal rhinestone to accent her design. I wish the camera would have picked up the color of the rhinestone better so you could so how the contrast of the polish color and the rhinestone worked very well together but Mom's hands shake and so this is the easiest position for her so that I can get good pics. After things were dried enough I topped it all off with a good coat of Out The Door to protect and seal in the rhinestones. I'm quite happy with the way this turned out and Mom loved it!

Comparison: Maybelline vs. Hard Candy

So while I was shopping at my local WalMart the other day I always stop in the cosmetics department to see what's new. Now I know these aren't real new but I hadn't seen them before. I seen the Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots collection and this beauty caught my eye.

It is called Clearly Spotted and it's a black and white glitter topper. In this one it is micro, small, and medium black and white hex glitter. I'm a sucker for a black and white glitter! At first I thought "this looks so much similar to many other black and white glitters and I already have the Hard Candy Black Tie Optional, do I really need this one?" Then I looked closer, there was no bar glitter in there! I had to have this one!!

After I got home I figured I'd do a comparison between the Black Tie Optional (BTO) and Clearly Spotted, so I put on Clearly Spotted right away. They are somewhat similar but yet different at the same time. I was in love. Application was easier than the BTO and I was in love! Placement of the glitter was super easy and I didn't really have to "place" it, it just fell into place nicely.

The Hard Candy Black Tie Optional has micro, small, medium, and large black and white hex glitter as well as black bar glitter. Even though I love this look, I find the bar glitter difficult to work with and it never stays down. A few days after wear I will notice the ends of the bar glitter are starting to lift. I'm also not a huge fan of the large hex glitter but maybe that's because I have small nail beds so it looks huge on me.

I have to say, between the two the Clearly Spotted is my favorite just because I'm not a big fan of the bar glitter.

Skittlette for Summer

For something really fun I decided to do a "skittlette" manicure (wehre every nail is different). Here is the base I started out with, I used China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy ( I LOVE this color for summer!), Zoya Purity, and Zoya Raven. I also decided to try my new Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots in Clearly Spotted for one of the nails.

I gathered my tools I would be using and started on my way...

I left the pointer finger and ring finger plain since they were each a different color than the other. I put random Flip Flop Fantasy and Raven dots on my middle finger which had on the Zoya Purity. Then I decided that on my thumb over the Flip Flop Fantasy I was going to add a coat of the Clearly Spotted, love this one and will be doing a post on this topper shortly. For the pinky I at first wasn't sure what I wanted to put on top of the Purity but then I decided I was going to make a flower out of rhinestones. To start that flower I put a dot of Flip Flop Fantasy where I wanted the center of the flower to be and then preceeded to arrange 5 black rhinestones around it creating the "petals" of the flower.

I then let everything dry so I could top it all off with a nice coat of Out The Door to seal it all in. I am so loving this mani that I hate to take it off when the time comes. Hope you all enjoyed this one!!

Dipped In Lacquer's One Year Blogoversary Multi-Blogger/Indie Maker Giveaway!!!!!

I am excited to be part of a multi-blogger giveaway that Nicole over at Dipped in Lacquer is having for her one year blogoversary.

There are 11 prizes total, 3 INTERNATIONAL prizes and the other 8 prizes are US ONLY.  You must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Winners will have 48 hours after I have emailed you to respond or another winner will be chosen.  ALL entries will be verified!  Enter via Rafflecopter, below prize photos.

Prize from Dipped in Lacquer - US Only

Photo from www.walmart.com. $10 Walmart Giftcard Prize from Jilltastic Nail Design - US Only

Prize from 4Boys 1Mom Lacquer - US Only

 Prize from Galactic Lacquer - US Only

Color May Vary.  Prize from Beauty-Shoes-Nails-Fun - US Only

Prize from Midwest Lacquered Momma - US Only

$25 Gift Certificate for Llarowe.  Prize from drugsNmakeup - International Prize

 Prize from Perks n' Quirks - US Only

Prize from Sweet Heart Polish - US Only

Photo from www.ninjapolish.com. Prize from Sassy Shelly - International Prize

Prize from Philly Loves Lacquer - International Prize

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My First Watermarble and Gradient

I finally decided that I am going to attempt to do a watermarble manicure. I've seen so many of them and read a bunch of tutorials on how to do them and I thought to myself "that seems simple enough, I can do that". But boy was I wrong! I am going to call the first watermarble attempt an epic fail, lol.

I started out with my bowl of room temperature bottled/filtered water in a small bowl ( I'm now thinking that I should have used a small cup like a dixie cup) and my polishes I would be using. In retrospect the smaller cup or bowl would have worked better because it would have been less surface for the polishes to cover once they were dropped in the water.

I preceeded to place drops of the polishes into the water in the order I wanted them, making a bullseye pattern. After I was satisfied with the amount of polish in the water I used a toothpick to slowly drag the polish into the pattern I wanted to create. I moved from center out. Then once my finger was taped up pretty good to protect my skin I slowly placed my finger into the center of my pattern, held it there for 10 seconds but not touching the bottom and then slowly pulled it out. I used my toothpick to move the dried polish away from my finger allowing it to smoothly come out of the water.

Now, I'm going to be honest and tell you that the pattern that ended up on my nails was not the pattern I had in the bowl. I had made a star pattern in the bowl and was hoping for something a lot cleaner that what I ended up with. After seeing my fail I later on went online to read a few more tutorials and figured out what I had done wrong. First of all I should have allowed my first drop of polish to spread all the way across the water, anchoring it to the sides of the bowl. Second I should have also dragged all the way to the edge when creating my design.

But just because I failed this time will not stop me from trying again. In fact I plan on trying again real soon! I'm gonna keep trying until I feel I have perfected it!

Next I decided to attempt my first gradient. I lined up the polishes I was going to use and the make-up sponge. Then, because I felt this would be easier to do, I just painted the polish directly onto the sponge in the order I wanted them. I made sure they touched and slightly overlapped since my middle color was white I wanted the red and the blue to fade into the white.

Then once I was ready, I just "sponged" or pressed it onto my nail and repeated this one or two more times until I got the desired result.

The gradient wasn't an epic fail but it wasn't the result I wanted. I think next time I am going to use less color to get the "fade" that I want. Stay tuned to see how my next attempt turns out!! :)

Sinful Colors Endless Blue

I have to say, Sinful Colors is one of the best drug store brands that I have tried. I love their wide selection of colors and they are priced at $1.99, who can beat that! With a price like that you can purchase a whole load of colors and barely make a dent in your wallet! Plus if you are lucky enough Walgreens frequently has them on sale for $.99 each. That's less than $1 per bottle!!

I kept seeing this color pop up on various Facebook pages and kept hearing people rave about this color so I decided that I HAD to give it a try myself. This is called Endless Blue and it is an amazing bright blue cream.

The dry time is really great on these. They do not take forever to dry and the formula went on smoothly. No clumps or streaks! Please excuse the somewhat sloppiness, my hands were not very steady on this day and I was having troubles keeping my hands steady so that I could paint without making too much of a mess. I used 2 coats for these pictures and did not apply a topcoat. As you can see that on a couple of my nails there was visible nail line so I probably could have used a 3rd coat and it would have been even better. Never the less, I am happy with the results. I did not apply a topcoat for these pictures because I wanted you to see that after drying it is still somewhat shiny.


Sinful Colors can be purchased at your local Walgreens and some WalMarts.