Thursday, June 13, 2013

Astronomy: The study of celestial bodies (AKA Galaxy Nails!)

Hello, lovelies! I am one day late with this post, but as of yesterday I will be participating in "The Science of..." Themed Nail Art Challenge"! I am going to college in the fall to study Marine Biology and Zoology, and am a former AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics student, so science has a very special place in my heart. The first challenge is astronomy, so the obvious choice is galaxy nails! This was my first attempt, and these were a lot harder than I thought they would be. They started off really well, and as I kept layering the colors got kind of muddled and no longer glowed. I think if I did these again I would layer a lot less, and stick to 2-3 colors per nail on top of the white, and maybe a darker outside color. But, here is the final result (all pictures were taken in the shade):
Left hand

Left hand

Left hand

Right hand
My favorite nail is my right thumb. The blues looked really celestial and that was the nail I layered the least. Sure, they're not the best, but now I know what to do next time! I had a lot of fun doing them, at least :) Maybe I'll pick up China Glaze Fairy Dust for my next attempt ;)

So, what do you think of galaxy nails? Have you tried them out? Do you have any tricks to make them turn out well? Thank you so much for reading, and I'm looking forward to our next fun, pretty, real girl polish look! :D

Monday, June 10, 2013

My first butter LONDON- Jack the Lad swatch and review!

Hello, hello! I am extremely excited to show all of you my first butter LONDON polish. I had a very long, difficult week, and I needed a little retail therapy. My collection is getting to a point where I'm looking for unique polishes, and this one did the trick. The polish is from their 2012 Holiday collection, which was full of fun glitters, including Fairy Cake which I may purchase soon and review for you. The polish today, however, is Jack the Lad. It is a dark green jelly base filled with mossy green, blue, and gold micro-flecks. Indoors it is a very shiny, glittery evergreen with a slight flash of blue in more direct light. In the sunlight, the glitter comes to life and the green and blue become very distinct and make a scaly, mermaid-y effect. The application was a dream- a little bit thick, but extremely easy to control. I used a slightly thick first coat and a thinner second coat to cover up and bald spots. My only complaint is how thin the brush is. It does not hold a lot of polish, so I had to keep re-loading the brush for my larger nails. But that's nitpicking. When dry, Jack the Lad has a very shiny, smooth finish and I only used topcoat to keep it from chipping. But enough talk- I'll let the pictures show you what a beautiful polish this is.
Note: Please excuse my jacked-up pointer finger. I had a nasty hangnail and my finger is still recovering :)
Shade

Shade

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight
I bought this polish at ULTA for $15. It can also be found online and at any retailer that sells butter LONDON, like Macy's.


So, what do you think of this polish? Are you planning on purchasing it? Do you have it? Are there any dupes? Thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to our next beautiful, simple, real girl polish look!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Quick post!

Hello, lovelies :) I just have a quick post today. My dad had surgery, so it has been pretty hectic for me recently. I should be back soon- I have some comparisons (and possible dupes!) lined up, and some fun science designs. I will be participating in the "The Science of..." Themed Nail Art Challenge starting on June 12! The first inspiration is astronomy, the study of space and stars...galaxy nails, anyone? ;) Well, on to the nails! These are sort of old, probably 2 weeks ago, from when the Couture de Minnie collection first came out.
Direct sunlight

Shade
The colors I used are OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts, OPI Minnie Style, and Wet n' Wild Ebony Hates Chris. Minnie Style is the shiny red and matte white glitter. The nails shown have 2 coats. I absolutely love this polish- I walked into Ulta with no intention to buy, and the instant I saw this polish I knew it had to be mine. There is no problem getting the glitter out of the bottle and it applied pretty well. I applied normally for the first coat and dabbed on the second coat, and it dried in a normal amount of time.

So, what do you think of this look? Do you have any of the new OPI Couture de Minnie polishes? What do you think of them? Thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to our next fun, easy, real girl polish look!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Fun twist on vintage roses

Hello, hello :) today I bring you my version of the super-popular vintage roses!
In shade
In shade
In sunlight
In sunlight

The colors I used: 
Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in White On
Pure Ice in Electric!
Orly in Fancy Fuchsia
Orly in Green Apple
Out The Door topcoat
I also used a dotting tool, clear scotch tape, and craft scissors. 

So, what do you think of this look? Have you tried your hand at vintage roses? What special twist did you put on your own? Would you like a tutorial for this look? Thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to our next simple, fun, real girl polish look!