Black, Silver, & Matte Hello Kitty Nails

I have guest nails today.  These are black and silver Hello Kitty nails.  We started with a base coat then added Wet N Wild’s Black Crème nail polish.  When this was dry, we stamped on Hello Kitty using plate M71 from the Born Pretty Store and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes.  We gave this some time to dry then added a top coat of Hard Candy’s Matte-ly In Love to give the nails a matte finish.

I love how these nails turned out.  The black and silver go good together.  I think the matte finish really pulls everything together.      

Converse Nails

For today’s guest nails I have this cute Converse inspired design.  We used a different color for each nail and 2-3 coats of nail polish each.  From left to right the colors used are:

Sinful Colors Purple Diamond

Pure Ice Splash

Sinful Colors Rise and Shine

Sinful Colors Ciao Bella!

Pure Ice Strapless

Essence Nail Art Twins Bella

Rimmel Green with Envy

Sinful Colors Savage

Sinful Colors Mint Apple

and Avon Matte Violetta.  

We added a white french tip to look like the toe part of the shoe.  When that was dry we added curved black lines using N.Y.C. Black Lace Crème and a dotting tool.  I tried using a striping brush, but for some reason my brushes were frayed.  The dotting tool worked great.  We also used it to make the holes the laces go through and the white laces.   

I love the way these nails came out.  The colors looked great together.  This was an easy and fun look to create. 

Passion Flower

Today’s manicure is one I did a while back.  I used one coat of Milani’s Purple Gleam.  Purple Gleam is a very sparkly dark purple polish.  Like the bottle says, this is a one coat glitter polish.  

I stamped the flower design using Bundle Monster plate BM-224 and Pure Ice’s Silver Mercedes.  

I topped it off with N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  

I was expecting this look to be somewhat similar to my Prom Night nails.  The blue polish base I used for my Prom Night nails, Pure Ice Strapless, had a smooth finish to it.  Purple Gleam was a bit gritty.  I should have added a top coat before stamping.  This would have helped the image transfer better onto my nails.  I still like the way these nails came out.  I like the purple paired with the silver. 

Checkered Hallucinations

For today’s Pink Wednesday I have guest nails.  We have a cute pink and black manicure with a twist.  We used Wet N Wild’s Black Crème polish on all of the fingers expect the ring fingers.  We followed that with Wet N Wild’s Hallucinate.  

For the ring fingers, we used Sinful Colors’ Fusion Neon then stamped on a checkered design using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes and an Essence Stampy Designs plate.   

I like the way these nails came out.  Hallucinate added nice sparkles to the black.  I think the neon pink accent nail really stands out. 

Julep It Girl Intro Box Review with Bonus Giveaway

I recently received a Julep Intro Box to review.  Julep is a company that offers a monthly nail polish subscription service for a fee.  You can take a style quiz to see which box (American Beauty, Boho Glam, Bombshell, Classic with a Twist, and It Girl) matches your personality.  You can opt out of any month, switch boxes, and/or send your box to someone else as a gift.  These boxes are packaged so cute they would make a nice pre-wrapped gift.  My style was Bombshell; however I chose to receive the It Girl Intro Box.  This box came with three nail polish colors and a set of toe separators.

The first polish I used was Daisy.  Daisy is a yellow cream polish.  I started with L.A. Colors base coat-top coat, and then applied two coats of Daisy.  This is a nice bright polish that went on smoothly.  As I was painting my nails I could see little bubbles, and sure enough I ended up with little air bubbles on my nails.  This polish took a long time to dry.  When Daisy did dry, I added N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  The second coat of Daisy along with the top coat of Grand Central Station really helped reduce the appearance of the air bubbles. 

The second polish I tried was Lily.  Lily is a fuchsia cream polish.  Again I used L.A. Colors base coat-top coat to start.  I followed with two coats of Lily and a top coat of N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  As I started applying Lily, I could not believe how pretty the color was!  It reminds me of a glossy version of Dream On.  I did not have as many bubbles with Lily as I did with Daisy, and Lily dried a lot faster. 

My favorite of the three colors in the bottle was Sasha.  Sasha is a melon cream polish.  I started with L.A. Colors base coat-top coat followed by two coats of Sasha and a top coat of N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  There was minimal bubbling with Sasha that was not visible after applying a top coat.  Drying time for Sasha was average and about what I except from most nail polishes.

The one thing I did not care for with these polishes was the bubbling.  I did not handle or use these polishes any different than I do any other nail polishes as far as shaking the bottles, painting my nails, or drying my nails go.  These polishes were packaged very well and individually wrapped in plastic coverings, so I do not think any kind of polish thinner was added to them (which I hear can cause bubbling).  I do not know why these polishes bubbled up on me.  Again, a second coat of nail polish and a top coat helped reduce and/or eliminate these bubbles.

UPDATE: I was informed by Natasha from Julep that it is recommended to roll the Julep bottles to mix them instead of shaking them like you would other nail polishes.  This is because of the unique shape of Julep nail polishes.  Rolling the bottles helps with the bubbling.
  

Overall I really like these three colors.  They applied easily.  I think they are great for the warm weather.  I stamped over Lily using Pure Ice Outrageous and Mash-28 image plate.  I really like these two colors together.  I think all of the colors in the It Girl Intro Box go well together.  I added dots of Lily and slightly smaller dots of Daisy over Sasha to create a cute and easy doticure.   

You can sign up for Julep though my referral link.  If you enter promo code “MAVENINTRO” you will get your first Maven box for just a penny!  At that price, this is definitely a polish to try!  You can win a free Julep Intro box here.  Simply fill out the Rafflecopter fields below.  The giveaway will run until July 27th.  If anyone signs up, or you are the lucky winner here, let me what you think of Julep and send me a link if you do a review.  Good luck everyone! 

(Julep products sent for review)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fourth of July Nails

Happy Fourth of July!

Today I have a patriotic manicure inspired by the United States flag.  I started with L.A. Colors base coat-top coat.  I then applied two coats of Wet N Wild’s French White Crème on my pinky, ring, and middle fingers.  

I applied three coats of Pure Ice Strapless on my pointer and thumb fingers.  

I added Finger Paints Red Crackle horizontally over the white polish so the white and red crackle resembled the stripes on the flag.   

I also stamped stars over the sparkly blue polish with Wet N Wild’s French White Crème and my Mash-49 image plate.  I topped everything off with N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  

Pure Ice Vinyl Remix Recap

Overall I am very happy the Pure Ice Vinyl Remix collection.  There are nice colors to choose from.  It is fun to come up with different looks using these polishes.  They are great to wear alone or together. 

Shown is Pure Ice Vinyl Remix in Vintage Remix, DJ Spinner, Emcee Me, and Rave over Sinful Colors Basecoat and no top coat. 

What I like most about these polishes is that you save the step of adding various colors underneath your crackle polish, because these polishes crack and change colors as they dry.  It is very amusing to watch for the first time.  These polishes are easy to work with and will get your nails noticed.  

See Rave Review Here

See Emcee Me Review Here

See DJ Spinner Review Here

See Vintage Remix Review Here

These polishes add a new twist to crackle polish.  They make using crackle polish quick and easy.  Keep a look out for the Pure Ice Vinyl Remix collection at Wal-Mart.  They are available starting now in May. 

(Products sent for review)

Pure Ice Vinyl Remix Vintage Remix

Pure Ice Vinyl Remix Vintage Remix is another polish included in Pure Ice’s Vinyl Remix collection.  Vintage Remix is a purple polish.  Along with Vintage Remix, you get the Platinum Magic Base Coat, a vinyl record shaped nail file, and a free song download. 

I started with L.A. Colors base coat-top coat.  I then applied one coat of the Platinum Magic Base Coat. 

After the Platinum Magic Base Coat was dry, I used Vintage Remix to create several “V” shapes down each of my nails. 

When this was dry, I added a clear coat of N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station. 

I really love purple and black together.  I also like the effect created by brushing the “V” shapes onto my nails.  Since I did several “V” shapes, I got thinner cracks.  Fewer “V” shapes probably would have had larger cracks.  I like the versatility of the Vinyl Remix nail polishes.  I have gotten many compliments on my nails with these polishes. 

(Products sent for review)