Essence Grey to be here with neon chevron

Sorry about the blurry photos - my lighting was way off.

Here I'm using Essence Grey to be here (what a name, eh?) and China Glaze Flip Flip Fantasy for the chevron.I used tape to isolate the area, then painted the neon on top of base color. After that, topcoat and you're good to go!

The grey polish applies awesome - Essence polishes seem to have a wide, flat brush and applying color with it is fantastically easy, it dries fast and doesn't chip on me.

Essence Grey to be here is actually a really pretty color - it's a light warm grey with faint pink shimmer! It's a bit hard to see, but you can notice it at some angles. This gives the polish a very soft finish, which makes me love it more. It's a perfectly unassuming worksafe polish, hiding a little secret... I like that.

Winter neons - Sexy Bomb s37 again~

It's winter time! What do we do in winter? Wear neons, that's what!

This is an old favorite, a hot-pink neon foil polish. Solid in 2 coats, wearing 3 in photos with topcoat. Again, a little watery but the texture of the polish is perfect for the large brush. This is interesting: the new camera actually captures the neon contast between environment and polish as opposed to my old photos of this polish (could be seen here or here) where I had to touch it up in Photoshop.

It's absolutely blinding and the foil finish really makes it glow. My favorite hot pink!

Neon strawberries

Strawberries - the failproof cute manicure for me. Base color is China Glaze - A Rose Among Thorns (neon) and the green was ORLY Green Apple. This time, I tried to do the seeds differently - instead of white dots, I did black lines with white on top, to look a little more like real strawberries. When I was done, it didn't look too different from white dots, but it helped make my nails look longer, due to the vertical lines. 

If anyone's interested, here's the process:

Paint base color, wait for it to dry (very important).

Start by applying black lines/dots, then white on top. However, you may skip the black and just start with white.

Cut out jagged edges on the tape strip and place it on the nail, so the nail tip is exposed. 

Paint the tips green, then remove tape immediately.

Wait for it to dry or use your favorite fast-dry topcoat!

Illamasqua Collide

Illamasqua Collide is what began my descent into neon pink madness this spring. It's a very creamy cool neon pink which seems very dupable in color, but the formula is absolutely fantastic. This polish doesn't need undies, doesn't chip; it does dry matte like any neon should, but I have not had any issues with staying power.

 Illamasqua polishes are a type of drug to me, they are high end polishes and the price reflects that; their formula is addictive and amazing (most of them, anyway...I'm looking at you, Load). They have a stock of common colors, even 5 shades of  bright red and I almost want to buy all of them! Why? Because I know it's going to be a breeze to apply and they won't chip for like a week. Every day I fight the urge to put on Illamasqua colors because I reach for them every time I want to do a manicure... that sounds a little weird, but they are seriously addicting to me. 

Have you tried Illamasqua polish yet? If you did, what was your favourite?

Nail art - Konad and neons!

It's been a dreary spring and an even colder, rainier summer. This sort of situation calls for a neon... but which one? Why not all of them? I used SH Xtreme wear Blue Me Away, Illamasqua Collide, Jo'Mina and Rare from index to pinky. I love the Illa neons, they are so creamy and opaque and don't need underwear! After that, Konad plates and topcoat. Funny enogh, I can never get the designs to go full length of the nail... I have issues stamping because my c curve is very pronounced, so they either end up covering a half of the nail or smudging. However, it does get better with practice, so that's always encouraging. 

Come on, summer! Show me the sun! I want to wear holographics~

What are some of your favorite rainy day polishes?

WARNING: Nails! - with Illamasqua Rare

I wanted to learn how to do the drippy looking nails with dotting tools and succeeded with this manicure!

I used WnW Black Creme for the tips and drippies, as well as an Art Deco Black nail art brush to smooth it out and for the lines. The base is Illamasqua Rare. I am honestly shocked and really, really happy with the way this came out. I wanted to make it look like a caution sign/tape and it worked! The neon yellow worked very well against the black, so the contrast was perfect. I might be recreating this again, so look forward to more drippy manicures!

What do you think of this one? Too goth/neon to wear everyday or would you still rock nails like these?

Illamasqua Rare

Illamasqua Rare is a super neon hi-lighter yellow! This polish dries slightly matte, but I always use a topcoat. This is 3 coats on its own, no undies! I was amazed with the coverage and consistency of this polish, it dries fast and wore fantastic on me. This is totally an office safe colour...there's hi-lighters in the office, are there not?

I got a lot of comments on this color actually, it's somehow even more radiant and glowing in person, I have a feeling I'll be going back to this one quite a bit. This winter I've told my dark and neutral colors to take a hike, I'm wearing brights! Glitter! NEONS! Nothing will stop me. With the spring coming, it's only the beginning to this dragon-tastic year (did I mention I am a dragon in the Chinese Zodiac?)

Is anyone else excited to have a dragon year? Since this happens every 12 years for me, I'd say it's a thrilling time...a  year with a lot of change (which is already happening in full swing) and new opportunities. Of course, you can say that for every year, but I'll still use it as a chance for inspiration.

 What are your thoughts on neons in the winter?

Red hot crackle gradient! and a failed mani

I was feeling very sassy and NOT feeling the fall color trends! So to break the bleakness, I did a yellow to neon orange gradient and black crackle. I used China Glaze Lemon fizz for the base and Flip Flop Fantasy for the orange. OPI Black Shatter. The alternating nails are ChG FFF to NYC Times square with no-name purple tips.

What say you? Beating the fall with a fiery mani or tacky?

Also, bonus feature:

A completely failed mani... can you tell what it's supposed to be?

It was supposed to be Guppy nails (like the little fish).
I think I overdid it, guys.

Sexy Bomb s37 - more Korean polish!

note: it's even brighter in real life!

I really want to know what the label says

This is the last Sexy bomb I have to review in full detail. 

S37 is my favorite of the bunch and it's FANTASTIC!

When I was browsing these, the SA told me I should get this color, even though I was hesitating. She had it on and for some reason I still didn't love it. S37 did not hit me until I put it on at home. This color is...get ready for this... a hot pink foil! It has metallic shimmer and the base is a neon pink that's blinding in the best of ways. When I wear s37, I feel like Barbie! The formula is fantastic and it dries very fast. Sexy Bomb uses a pretty wide brush, but it works very well for me and you just need 1-2 strokes to cover the nail entirely. Full opacity is at TWO coats. This polish lasts a while on me and slightly hard to remove (a true foil!)

Speaking of Korean hauls, I can't wait to visit the Face Shop in Vancouver again come this weekend. Get ready for more Korean and other asian goodies!

Gradient Leopard nails!

I got inspired when browsing tumblr and wanted to try my own breed of a colourful leopard manicure. It's just so psychedelic 80's neon and I needed some color in my life.

The gradient is China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy along with OPI - Feelin Hot Hot Hot. I used ORLY - Frisky for the rest of the nails along with OPI silver shatter.  I had the Konad leopard stamp and for once, it came in handy. I usually shy away from animal print but this was such a sassy idea, I simply could not resist. My only mistake is that I chose a pink that was too cold in its tone, so against ChG FFF's  neon orangeness' it looked almost...mauve? eww. Other than that little setback, this turned out great! I gotta try another leopard mani sometime.