Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter Manicure featuring "Nice is Nice" by Essie

Essie is one of my favorite nail polish brands. Possibly my absolute favorite, actually. I decided on their beautiful, light, spring-like lavender called "Nice is Nice" for Easter. (That first "Nice" is pronounced like "niece", as in the city in France.) It goes on smoothly but you'll need 2-3 coats for good, opaque coverage. As far as I can tell online, it's a discontinued color, which is a bummer. I'll definitely need to search ebay or amazon for a spare...

On to the photos. All pre-cleanup...

Indoors, natural light.

Outdoors, sun.

Outdoors, sun.

Outdoors, sun.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Nik's Easter Stripes

I really had the intention of doing a themed mani more in line with the real meaning of Easter, but I couldn't find a stamp that I liked enough. Next time.

I really had a million ideas (give or take) for an Easter mani and couldn't decide, so my friend Candace helped me pick this one.

Base: Sally Hansen - French Tip
Thumb: Zoya - Portia
Pointer: a mix of white and a Wet N Wild Orange that the label was worn down and I couldn't read the name
Middle: Sinful Colors - Unicorn
Ring: Finger Paints - Tiffany Imposter
Pinky: Revlon - Lily

I used three coats of the white and let it dry completely. Then I ripped ten pieces if scotch tape and cut ten pieces if striping tape. I de-stickified the scotch tape on my palms because I find it keeps it from yanking off layers of base coat.

I securely attached the scotch tape over the bottom half of each nail at a diagonal, and then the striping tape parallel just above it.

I painted each tip and peeled off the tape before moving to the next.

I photographed my nails, then, after deliberation with Candace, decided to give them all one coat of Wet N Wild - Hallucinate for added sparkle. Used my Ol Trusty too coat - Nutri Nail. Then more photos.

Thoughts?































Thursday, March 28, 2013

Bottle Pop!

Today's post I would call "partially sponsored" as this polish was a gift with a purchase I made.

It's "Bottle Pop!" By GG Couture Nail Lacquer.

http://ggcouturenaillacquer.etsy.com

When I opened the polish, I was initially unsure of it. It's a hit pink jelly with silver bar glitter. I'm an admitted anti-bar glitter lady, and pink isn't my favorite color.

And yet, as I swirled it in my hands, it grew on me. I own nothing like it because of the aforementioned, so I was excited to try it after all.

Since I decided to give this atypical-Nik polish a try, I figured I would go all put and skip the undies. Hahahaha.

So, I bring you three coats of "Bottle Pop!"

I ended up quite liking it. As yesterday's post mentioned about Gabrielle's scented polishes, they aren't make-you-sick-like-n-elevator-full-if-perfume-doused-women strong. Light, delicate, and wonderful.

The hot pink is actually a color I think looks fun on my nails. Go figure. And the silver bars gave me no issues whatsoever, no curling, disperse well, and with three layers, I don't think they look... awkward, like I usually do.

So, I'm sold. I apologize for ore-judging pink and bars. I will try to give them a fair chance in the future.

Haha.

















Winners of the 100 Likes Giveaway are...

Congrats, lucky ladies! We'll be contacting you via e-mail shortly! Thanks so much to all who entered. Your support of our blog/Facebook community means the world to us and we hope you'll stick around!

Desi & Nik

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Time to Pretend, Follow!

This post is... partially sponsored, I guess you could say? Both of these polishes were gifts with my purchase from other polishes. Polishes from these lines can be purchased at the following sites.

ggcouturenaillacquer.etsy.com

www.ddpolish.com

Sorry, again, I blog from an iPhone app that doesn't allow me to hot link.

Today's manicure is comprised of GG Couture Nail Lacquer's"Time to Pretend" and Daring Digits "Follow."

First off, "Time to Pretend," is a yummy shimmery pumpkin color. It really reminds me of pumpkin pie. When I first unwrapped it, I thought "Yum!" Haha. I have no polish this shade in my collection, which is a bonus.

It is amazing. I was unsure how it would look against my skin tone, but I really like it. It's got a brown undertone, I think.

This polish honestly was completely opaque with no streaking or thin spots in one coat.

ONE COAT.

You don't run into that often, in my experience. That means the bottle should last twice as long, right? It went on so beautifully. Luscious, I think. Ah! And it dried well.

Oh, and it smells like a dream! That's right, it's scented!

Now, I was not sure about the entire scented idea, because I have three Revlon scented nail colors that are fruity and bright and kind of nauseating so I only ever use them on my toes. But, after talking with Gabrielle, I wanted to try the scented polishes she makes. I'm glad I did. It's not overpowering at all. My eyes have yet to water. No headache. It's subtle, but lovely. This polish is plumeria scented. I believe it's an "as you wish" type situation.

Also, I love her labels. They're coated, which is superb, so light moisture doesn't blur then, and they're black and silver. Classy. Cute now and rhinestone on the cap! So fun!

After photographing it, I remembered I has "Follow" in my stash and hasn't used it. I decided they'd be a nice duo. "Follow" was a gift with purchase in February and I don't think she is putting it in her for sale line, but don't quote me on it.

I would describe it as a lightly coral hues glitter topper with various shape, size, and colored iridescent glitter. I took plenty of macro shots to try to show the variation. Of course, Spencer kept trying to get my phone so I gave up pretty quickly. This also went on fantastically, coverage was not an issue- glitter disperses well and lies flat! I probably didn't need a top coat to be honest, but put one on anyway.

And, I was delightfully surprised that you could smell the plumeria even after the glitter and topcoat! What?! Yeah. Lighter than before but still there!

Picture time!




























Monday, March 25, 2013

Little Foot - LynBDesigns

Just wanted to show off the manicure I ended up sporting today. It's a polish I purchased from LynB Designs.

Lynbdesigns.etsy.com

It's called Little Foot.

This morning, Spencer and I watched "The Land Before Time." The first one. It's the best one.

I am wearing two coats over NYC Sidewalkers.

It's magnificent.

My hands are so dry!