If its pink and its got glitter...

...then I definitely have to own it! This is exactly how I felt about Essie's polish in Pink-a-Boo from the  Resort 2012 Collection. Its a sheer light pink with glass-fleck shimmer in it- both blue and hot pink. I decided to free-hand a french manicure with it today:

It's a little rough but hey- not bad for my first try, right? The application on this one was tricky- you definitely want to wait a bit between coats or you will get bald spots. Also, because there is so much shimmer and the formulas is so sheer, the finish is noticeably gritty. However, since the shimmer is so unusual and so pretty, while this would usually bother me, I don't mind it with this polish. It reminds me of the Nicole by OPI polish in "Kim-pletely in Love" from the Kardashian Kollection, except with that one there's just light blue shimmer and its much more subtle.

Here's a closeup of the polish so you can see how the shimmer translates on the nail:

And lastly, here's a macro shot of the bottle so you can see all the gorgeous shimmer:

I just love this one. Have you checked out the 2012 Resort Collection? Any colors catch your eye?

Black Lingerie

I was on one of my many trips to Rite Aid (its embarrassing sometimes!) on the hunt for a quick pick-me up after a long day. While in the Revlon section I noticed a nail polish I don't remember having seen before- Black Lingerie. From the bottle it looked like a sheer yet deep, almost black plum. While I do own similar colors (i.e. OPI Lincoln Park After Dark/Midnight) the sheer finish of this one intrigued me so I picked it up.
I was excited to do a manicure because a few days before I painted my nails a color that looked absolutely AWFUL on me- OPI Did It On Em from the Nicki Minaj collection. What a gorgeous chartreuse in the bottle- on my nails... not so much. Here is Did It On Em:

My camera freaked out and couldn't properly capture the color of Did It On Em. In real life, it is much less bright and much more yellow-based; the color reminds me of Shrek. This picture is purely to show you how awful it looked on my hands lol.
Anyway, I chopped down my nails into my beloved nubbins and applied the first coat of Black Lingerie. I was surprised to find that instead of a vampy plum, it was a true black! As you can see in the bottle from the picture below, the formula is extremely watery and sheer-ish. I had to be careful with application because the formula was so watery, it was too easy to get tons of cuticle flooding. Other than that, it took three coats to reach full opacity.

After three days, I am pleased to say I only have minimal tip wear. Even though it didn't translate to the color I thought I was purchasing (dark plum) on the nail, I still really like this color and don't have a black in my collection with a finish like this. Besides, for $4.79 (and the Rite Aid 20% discount!!) you can't really go wrong.

What are your favorite dark polish colors? Have you ever bought a polish in a store and found that it looked completely different on your nails?

Valentine's Day EOTD and NOTD

Hey all! I hope you had a great Valentine's Day ♥ !! I did a look yesterday incorporating pink (my favorite color) in honor of the holiday. Here is my EOTD (eye of the day!)

Valentine's Day EOTD

To get the look:
(1) I primed my lids with my favorite primer, Too Faced Shadow Insurance
(2) I then used a flat shader brush to apply MAC Vanilla eyeshadow, which is a satin-finish like cream color all over the lid and under the brow as a highlight.
(3) Next I used a medium brown shadow, MAC Wedge in the crease using windshield wiper motions to blend.
(4) I deepened the "outer-v" with a deeper brown, I used MAC Espresso, which I also used to softly line my bottom lash line.
(5) For the pink glitter liner, I used Urban Decay Heavy Metal Liner in Groupie. (I had to use several layers to get the full on glittery effect I was after)
(5) I then used 2 coats of a mascara I'm loving at the moment, Loreal Voluminous in Carbon Black.
...almost at the finish line!...
(6) The last step was to apply false lashes, I used Ardell Wispies.

I hope you enjoyed this look! I used basic colors that were already in my collection, but if you don't have these exact colors, use what you already have in your collection. There are also some great drug store options, such as the Neutrogena Nourishing Eye Quad in Tea Biscuit which will give you almost the same effect. There are also some great glitter liners by NYX.

Now for my NOTD (nail of the day):

I used OPI's Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj collection. I've seen watches of this color on other blogs and while I thought it was a pretty color, I felt like I probably had a billion similar colors in my stash, so I didn't feel a need to run out and get it. That was the case until I saw TheBubbleGumPrincess's Nail Polish Obsession Tag video. As soon as I saw it on her, I HAD to have it, so run out and get it I did. This is a beautiful warm pink that would look amazing on absolutely everyone. Application was smooth, but slightly streaky, so I used two thick coats. Dry time was quick thanks to my Seche Vite topcoat. Excuse the wonky application on the pinkie, that was due to an uneven base coat application underneath which I didn't notice because it dries clear and matte...

OPI Pink Friday

Did you do a special look for Valentine's Day? A special manicure? Let me know! ☺

Accent Nails

The other day, I decided to give myself a break from all the dark polishes I've been gravitating towards and decided on a clean, light color- Essie's Marshmallow. Marshmallow is a soft, white shade that leans toward a warmer off white. Its a sheer white which in my opinion is much more flattering and wearable than a whiteout white. The formula is on the watery side and is very sheer, so I used three coats for opacity and maximum evenness. Anything less will leave you with a bit of a streaky finish. I used CND Stickey Base under this, but probably would have gotten better results if I had used a ridge-filling basecoat instead. Beautiful color nevertheless, and definitely a go to.

Essie Marshmallow

After about 2 days of wear, I decided I wanted to refresh my mani and add accent nails. What better and more attention-grabbing then a new color I picked up? Save Me from OPI's Nicki Minaj collection. Save Me is a color that definitely packs a punch. It consists of very small silver glitters and larger holographic bar glitter. I normally despise bar glitter, but truth of the matter is, I can't say no to holographic anything! I had to layer this one up quite a bit. For the picture below, I used a whopping 5 coats for complete opacity.

OPI Save Me

Thumbs up for holographic goodness!

The picture above really shows off the amazing holographic bar glitter. I bet this polish would look amazing over a dense metallic silver, or over black.

Have you picked up any polishes from the Nicki Minaj collection? What do you think of Save Me?