Lemon Fizz with Orly's Velvet Rope

Today I did something a bit more creative than just a bunch of swatches.  Fimo art with glitter.  Tad dah.

What I used.

I used Orly's Velvet Rope as a base, then Wet N Wild's Show Me the Money (SMM) just on the tips of the middle, ring and pinky fingers, and one lemon fimo art piece for the ring finger.  I dabbed SMM starting at the tips and then dragging the glitter towards the cuticle, for a gradient effect.  Its like painting on regular nail polish, but with less polish, a little cuticle drag and instead in the opposite direction. You probably could use a sponge and sponge the tips, but this worked well for me.  Plus I didn't have to clean up any sponges afterwards. 

To add the lemon fimo: I just dabbed a small dot of top coat on the nail where I wanted to place the lemon. Then I dabbed some top coat on one side of the tweezers to pick up the one lemon slice, placed the slice on top of the dab.  I then used the tweezers to press down on the sides of the lemon slice to make sure the slice was resting as flat as possible. Finally, I painted on thick coat of top coat over the whole nail.

I bought my lemon fimo art at Sally's and they are pre-cut, they look about 1/2 mm thick.  Which is still a bit thick, I can still feel it on my nail.  I would imagine the fimo would break too easily if they were thinner.  Anyhow, they were $3.99 for the small vial.  I think it's a little pricey for what they are, but oh well they're really cute and I didn't have to cut them.  Plus, the small amount will last me a long time because I'm not the type of person who wants to pile 4-5 pieces of fimo fruit on each and every nail.  Have you see those manicures?

If not, just type in "fimo fruit" in youtube's search box and you'll see the monstrosities I'm referring to.

Revlon - 480 Chic - Swatch

I'm not too keen on green so I apologize if I'm offending anyone out there by not wearing green today.  I actually kind of forgot it is St. Patrick's Day.  Oh well... I'm not much of a drinker anyways and I hope you do have a happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Well, back to important business, nail polish.

Revlon's 480 Chic is a dusty medium slate blue creme.  From far away it looks more grey, either way, close or from a far, it is truly beautiful and I am such a sucker for grey anything....  I am debating whether or not to wear this to work.  No one at work wears polishes like this, everyone else wears reds, pinks, nudes or purples.  I've worn grey and brown polishes to work and have received compliments on it...and Chic is not a bright blue, it is really understated, I think, and it doesn't look childish.  I just don't want to get hauled into my supervisor's office for something dumb like inappropriate nail polish.  HMMMM....????  To risk or not to risk?

Sorry for the ruddy photos. I don't know why I was so red that day, and my pictures came out a bit green again, so I color corrected them, but now my skin looks a bit darker and not normal.  At least the nail polish color looks right.  I used the top coat bottle so my camera would adjust the exposure so that the last photo would turn out a bit brighter, which it did. 

Also, I referenced the number 480, because I swear Revlon has another polish called chic but its not blue.  Chic is nicely pigmented, evens itself out, and a breeze to apply.  Two coats with China Glaze's base, and Revlon's quick dry top coat.  About $5.  Ulta, is where I got mine.

Thoughts?

Sinful Colors - Neptune - Swatch

This will probably be the last polish I'll post from the Cast Away 2012 collection, Sinful Colors, Neptune.  A nice medium blue jelly with silver shimmer.  This is a beautiful blue and in dim light it looked like a shimmery navy and in incandescent lighting it looked kind of like denim. 

Below is the planet Neptune, the name suits the polish perfectly.  Neptune is also the Greek god of the sea, which is also appropriate as the polishes Cast Away collection, (all except for one polish, Be Happy) are named after Greek gods.


Source: Wikipedia, Neptune

 You gotta love Wikipedia for liberal image sharing policies.  The formula was great on this too, two smooth even coats, and easy to apply.  Love it!!!

Sinful Colors - Cinderella - Swatch

Cinderella is from Sinful Color's core line, and is a really nice icy pale blue with pink golden mini flakies.  Cinderella goes on sheer but builds up well.  I used two coats. I can still see my nail line slightly, which doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you, you may want to use three coats.



Up close.


I took these pictures in a hurry and my pictures came out a bit flat.  A few days later, when I had time to review them I realized I did not capture how the pink flakies really look like in person.  I wasn't wearing Cinderella anymore, so I decided to swatch it on a nail wheel to see if I could capture the pink shimmer... Below is the best I could get and is a one whole exposure value down.

See the pink flakes?

I think this would be a nice alternative to a pastel creme, as those are bit harder to apply and their formulas tend to be chalky and a bit tacky.  Cinderella was not chalky or tacky at all and was super easy to work with. 

Overall, really pretty, great formula, and a bargain.  $1.99 at Walgreens.  I am really loving Sinful Colors!

Sinful Colors - Zeus - Swatch

Today I am showing you another Sinful Colors polish from the Cast Away 2012 spring collection. Zeus is a slightly greyed out lilac with pink shimmer polish.  Great formula, easy to apply, two coats.

Up close and at a sharp angle you can see the pink shimmer.

Such a nice color for spring.

What's not to love about this polish?  Nice full sized bottle, good quality brush, great formula, unique color, okay to wear to work, and bargain price!  $1.99 at Walgreens. 

I used China Glaze's base coat, two coats of Zeus, one coat of Revlon's quick dry top coat.

Sinful Colors - Athens - Swatch

Athens from Sinful Colors, is from their Cast Away 2012 spring collection.  A medium, dusty, teal creme, this polish has a great formula. Smooth, nicely pigmented, not too thick and not too thin, this could have been a thick one coater.  Two other teals are in this collection, Greek Isles and Be Happy; Athens is the darkest of the three.  To give you an idea, Athens is a shade darker than China Glaze's For Audrey. 

I included various photos because the color seems a bit too green to me in photos, and not true to color.  In person its a little bit more grey and a bit more blue than in these photos.  Athens is really a pretty color and is definitely one of my favorites!  Below is two coats, because I'm a bit fastidious. 

In my dining room, against chocolate walls, this picture to me seems more color accurate.

A little less brighter than the first photo.

Up against China Glaze's For Audrey.

I used China Glaze's strong adhesion base coat, two coats of Athens, one coat of Revlon's quick dry top coat.  Athens was $1.99 at Walgreens.  Bargain!

Love this color, I can't stop staring at it!

CG Fireside Glow - Layered

So here's what I did to spice up Fireside Glow (FG).  I added Ulta's Pinata-yada-yada (PYY).  I've featured PYY before; its an awesome multicolored hexagon glitter polish with a clear base.  Super versatile. 

Left hand.

Right hand.

Up close.

Overall, from afar.

Left hand from afar.

I originally wanted to try this with Wet N Wild's Jewerly Heist, but PYY is a much better complement to Fireside Glow.  PYY is a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, and Milani makes a nice dupe too.

This mani is one coat of base, 2 coats of FG, one coat of CG's fastforward (FF) top coat, one coat of PYY, and one coat of CG FF top coat.  CGFF top coat is the best top coat I have for leveling glitters.  Six coats, now my nails are super thick and hard!

To see a swatch of FG click here.
Thoughts?