Claire's - Bedazzled

Despite the ever-growing pile of "untrieds" sitting on my nail polish shelf, this weekend I wanted to do something a bit more fun and pulled from my stash of "already useds" to create the look. I have for you today a cascading glitter tipped manicure!

For this manicure I used two coats of an unnamed pale pink by The Color Workshop, and for the glittery tips I used a favorite of mine by Claire's named Bedazzled which is a really fun polish filled with multicolored hex glitters and small blue glitter in a clear base. I wasn't sure exactly how it would turn out, but I actually really love it, and I can't stop peeking down at my nails!

After the pink base coat was on and dried, I started by painting Bedazzled along the tips of my nails and trying to keep the clear base minimal by scraping as much off as possible while still retaining the glitter. I then followed up with another coat along the tips, but this time drew the glitter up further along the nail so it wasn't such a rigid line. I like the look of it cascading up my nails. 

This is a fun alternative to the standard French Manicure! What do you think?

Essie - Trophy Wife

Happy 2013 everyone! Hope you had a very happy NYE celebration, and 2013 has been treating you well so far. Today I'm wearing a polish I received as a gift at my bachelorette party earlier this summer, and funny enough the friend who got this for me didn't even read the name when she bought it! Hilarious, considering the name!

This is two coats of Essie's Trophy Wife, a shimmery turquoise that is stunning! I'm not one to go crazy for blues and turquoise colors, but this one is so full of shimmer and vibrancy that I'm sure I'll wear it again! I'd like to see how good this looks for a pedicure in the summer.

At first I thought this was going to be streaky, as it appeared that way when I was painting my nails, but it dried really nicely and you can hardly see any streaks. I'm not quite sure what made someone associate such a shimmery blue with a trophy wife (a bright pink or red comes to my mind), but I feel extra fabulous while wearing this, so maybe that's why. ;)

L'Oreal - Gorgeous Gold

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas - I can't believe it's over already, but I am looking forward to New Year's Eve and the New Year celebration! I'll be ringing in 2013 with my husband and my uncle and his fiance, as well as some of their friends - most likely playing Cards Against Humanity (one of my new favorite games that my husband and I got for Christmas)! I tried to choose a polish that is festive enough for the holiday, and so I'm sporting two coats of L'Oreal's Gorgeous Gold. 

I absolutely love this color in the bottle, but I don't like it so much on my nails. This is a greenish gold foil with  gold hex glitter, and it is unfortunately a bit too green for my taste. 

The application was okay; one coat was thin and runny, but by coat #2 it is pretty much opaque. It's hard to get it completely even with all the hex glitters scattered all over the place. Overall, it's not my favorite, but it's not the worst I've ever worn either. You win some, you lose some!

Savvy - Deja Blue

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I hope you're enjoying this special time of year with your loved ones! My family and I are getting ready for our annual Christmas Eve hors d'oeuvre dinner, and I'm in charge of the popcorn balls, queso dip and some cheesy grilled peppers so I'll keep this post brief! :)

This is two coats of Deja Blue by Savvy. I've never used this brand before, but got it cheap at Sally's last year some time. This definitely needed two coats, it was very uneven with just one coat, but the formula was smooth and easy to work with.

In the bottle Deja Blue looks much more shimmery, but it's pretty solid once painted on. In my experience, dark polishes like this one lose their color and appear black except in sunlight or bright light - but the thing I like about this one is that it definitely looks blue in any light. I'm not the biggest fan of blues, but I can say I really like this one!

Have any of you ever used any Savvy polishes?

Zoya Lovely – Spring 2013 Nail Polish Collection

I can't believe it's already that time to start thinking about Spring, but alas, Zoya has released information on their 2013 "Lovely" spring collection and it's looking to be an assortment of pretty pastels! If you read my blog even semi-regularly, you'll know my love for Zoya spans far and wide, so even though I'm not crazy about pastels, I will still be anxiously awaiting this collection!

Straight from Zoya, here is the scoop about the new collection:

"Lovely, just LOVELY!

Spring is awash in six soft and lovely new Zoya shades including three dewy metallics and three fresh blooms of cream. Poetic in nature, this collection is sure to capture the beauty of the season like no other....

•     Piaf (ZP652) - Fresh Forsythia Yellow Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Fashion Designer Zang Toi)
•     GeiGei (ZP651) - Blushing Cherry Blossom Pink Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).
•     Julie (ZP650) - Soft Wisteria Purple Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).
•     Blu (ZP653) - Lucky Hyacinth Blue Cream - Full Coverage
•     Neely (ZP655) - Earliest Spring Green Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13).
•     Jacqueline (ZP654) - Perfect Magnolia Nude Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13)

Shipping January 01, 2013

Ultra long-wearing, nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Zoya Lovely $8 (US)"

Avon - Fuchsia Fun

I have only worn two holiday manicures yet this season (a minimal amount in the nail blog world). However, after two in a row I have already been craving a color completely different and this summery color hit the spot. This is two coats of Avon's Fuchsia Fun.

In the bottle it appears to have more pink shimmer than it shows once it is painted on, but this is still a really gorgeous polish. I'm definitely adding this to my (mental) list of favorite pinks so I can remember it again come spring and summer, when it will be more seasonally appropriate. 

Fuchsia Fun painted on smoothly, which was nice considering other Avon Nailwear Pro polishes I've used dried slower than this one and had a slightly more difficult formula to work with. After this nice bright mani, I think I just might be able to stomach one more holiday themed design before Christmas comes and goes. 

Zoya - Veruschka

My nails last week were more New Year's than Christmas, but this week I am going full force holiday! And it just so happens that I am sporting Pantone's Color of the Year (before it was even announced, might I add!) - so this week's mani is extra festive and fashionable. ;)

This holiday green is Zoya Veruschka, an older polish that I picked up during one of last year's flash promos. I've picked it up and put it back down a million times, but the time finally felt right to wear this gorgeous matte polish. I'm not the biggest fan of matte polishes, (I'm more of a glitter and shine kind of girl) but this is one I can get behind. Packed with shimmer, it would look great with a top coat, too. I totally forgot to use a base coat (what was I thinking?), so I've got my fingers crossed that it won't stain my nails completely.

I added a bit of white and glittery red flair to my ring finger and thumb with my L.A. Colors nail art polishes, and called this holiday manicure complete! Don't you love how the bottle is matte as well? Super cute.