Essence - Modern Romance

This is another nude! I've been into neutral shades lately and this is a beauty - a peachy pink with subtle pink to orange shimmer and a nice squishy texture. Wearing 3 coats, but it looks fantastic at 2, where it shows the nail line. It's slightly jellylike, but builds up in 3 coats. I love it!

So far, Essence polishes have been nothing but awesome - great duochromes, awesome price, unique colors - what's not to want? 

I like their other makeup, too (I'm looking at YOU, liquid eyeliner and lipglosses!) but this is a polish blog, so I digress.

I don't think I can ever get enough neutrals... I'm getting close to finding the perfect shade for my skin though. Thoughts on "nude with a flair" polishes?

Stripey french tips manicure

What's this? A french manicure? Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!

Nice and nude base, stripey tips - something I've been wanting to try for a while and my nails are the right length for it! Base it L'Oreal Sweet Nothings and white and black nail art polishes were used as well. They turned out surprisingly nice, I'll have to try this again. Wearing a french manicure for the first time made me feel so dainty, even though it wasn't a traditional version by any means. I think with my nails so long, it may have looked tacky if it wasn't for the stripes. When I cut them short, that might be another story.

What do you think of french manicures? 

These were my Halloween nails

I'm posting these a little late, but these were my Halloween nails! I really love the look of the drippy blood nail art and I've done it before, so I neeeeded to do it again. Base: Elf - Nude, blood drips in - Essie Jelly Apple and accent it WnW Black creme.

I wasn't really feeling too festive for Halloween this year for some reason, but I did like seeing all the related nail art. Of course, I got my fair share of candy and the chocolate eating done and because of that, it makes a great holiday in my book.

I'm going to say this: buying Halloween candy in an organic grocery this year has been a great idea - it was seriously amazing! I know I'm going back next year.

L'Oreal - Sweet Nothings

Finally, I've got my hands on this nude! It's a peachy nude jelly, warm toned and creamy. These pictures are 4 coats, this gives it this wonderful creamy jelly look. This polish is different from other nudes and jellies I own because of its tone - it's a lot less pink and more yellow/peach compared to other polishes. The finish is very shiny. but I'm wearing a topcoat nonetheless. I'm honestly in love with this polish - the texture, the color, the finish - everything about it is really nice. Another great find for me!

OPI Bubble Bath and Milani sandwich

Oh yes, I have finally gotten my hands on some OPI Bubble Bath - a polish I have wanted but have never had a push to purchase. Finding this for 5$ in a beauty supply store is what really did it for me - I wanted a pink-nude jelly and this is just what I got. Rather sheer, looking cloudy in about 3-4 coats, it's a very nice, neutral color. My only gripe is the formula is a little thin. It looked a little light on my hands, but I get it would look great when I'm paler in the winter. In this experiment, I used Milani Gold FX glitter to create a jelly sandwich (again, huh?) and it came out very differently then I expected! The milkiness turned the glitter opaque and it looks like bubbles... Very interesting.

What's your favourite nude?

Etude House - PK15 ♥

THIS POLISH. Oh my god, this polish!

I've not been excited about a colour for a long time and it's something amazing! A tiny, unassuming bottle of milky peach with a fine shimmer, I picked this up at an Asian mall and was looking forward to trying it. I wasn't expecting anything amazing, but maybe something to act as a sort-of-Orgasm dupe. 

I put it on... and was in love! This is a peachy-beige jelly with pink to golden duochrome shimmer which seems to come and go. The formula is great, I was wearing 3 coats, which gives a medium jelly coverage, while still showing the VNL. It dried fast and didn't chip for 4 days! I took it off after, but I could have kept going. My only problem is that my nails were more yellow than I expected, they offset the polish colour a little. 

I can say a million things, but let's have some photos do the talking:

You can see the shimmer better here

Flash shot!

 I feel like I've found a crazy nude jelly treasure... I think I need a backup.

Sure, it might sound weird to freak out over a nude polish when I'm into holos, duochromes and neons, but an amazing polish like that... I think it deserves all the praise it can get.

What are your thoughts on this polish?

Glassy Pink and laces

I've been eyeing Sinfuls for a while but was always a little apprehensive about purchasing them.

 I chose Glassy Pink for its glass fleck finish, it's very sheer and shimmery and the formula is easy to work with. Since it's a sheer polish, it took about 4 coats to get this opacity.  The nail line is still visible, but it isn't apparent. It didn't smell horrible, the texture was pleasing and this made my nails look really long, since it's a nude/light color. I'm really happy with this polish! It's not chunky, was pretty cheap, looks very airy and fresh. Only downside is it's less pink than I wanted, but the beautiful gold shimmer really makes this one stand out for me. Beautiful polish, I bet this would look smashing in sunlight!

Have you ever tried a glass fleck polish? Do you have a favourite one?

Cute and Simple - hearts and jelly nail art

A palate cleanser is something needed every once in a while for me, but I was not satisfied with just the jelly, so I decided to sandwich some glitter! I applied 1 coat of OPI Heart Throb and then stuck the glitters on the tacky polish. Waited for it to dry and applied 2 more coats and a fast dry topcoat (Seche Vite in this case) This allows the squishy jelly underneath to dry in a reasonable time. I think this turned out pretty good! I wish I had pink hearts, but blue seems to work well enough. It reminds me of spring and sunny skies!

What do you thin of glitter in the jelly like that? Would you have liked it better on top of the jelly, rather than inside?

faux-Claws

Claws! I've been meaning to try this look for a while and I am so happy with the way it turned out! I used ELF-Nude as a base and WnW Black creme for the claws. 

Process: base color first (ELF Nude) then wait for it to try, tape off edges of your nails so only an upside-down V shape is exposed. Paint the nail whatever claw colour you want (WnW Black Creme in this case) then peel off the tape right away. Voila, you've got claws!

I also placed some glitter on the ring finger for an accent. It's a little less clean than I'd like to see (slight smudging on the lines) but looks fantastic otherwise. It felt awesome to have a manicure like this, almost as if I really had claws. I'd recommend adventurous girls  to try it because the feeling is awesome!

No Time for Secrets - nail art

As for the nail art, this was my attempt at black outlining, as well as using glitter individually, as seen on my ring finger. 

I used OPI Heart Throb for the base, then drew the black outline using an Art Deco black nail polish (so messy! I need to practice so my hands stop shaking). After that, I picked up pieces of the gold chunky glitter from a Daiso polish with a dotting tool and placed them on the nail. Waited for 2-3 minutes for the glitter base to dry and then topcoat. I like the end result, milky pink jelly looks great with a stark black outline and gold glitters. I need to try doing more of those outlines! 

Chic Squares on Nude nail art

I attempted some nail art that's been floating in my head for a while. Used ELF Nude as base, taped off a square in the middle, then painted with WnW Black creme. This turned out so nice! I look forward to trying this with different colors...definitely an interesting nail art to attempt. The picture is taken with my cellphone. 

Any thoughts? :)

ELF Innocent vs Nude comparison

These have matte topcoat on, read on for glossy pics

I really wanted to try mannequin hands, so I ordered both Innocent and Nude from ELF to see which fits me better! It seems like Nude wins, but they are both very nice polishes, very cheap as well... Two dollars!

Both have great formula and apply very nicely.

Keep reading for individual reviews and glossy pics