Wet n Wild Nocturnal + Ooglayness

           Yesterday was such a bad day. My aunt and uncle wanted to go to a couple's night thing, and I had to watch their children while they were gone. I love my little cousins, and they are so cute and cuddly, but it was rough. I was with them for ten hours and they did such naughty things the whole time. ;_; I was sad. 
           When I woke up this morning, I was still feeling a little down and wanted to paint my nails something dark and somber. I chose Nocturnal, from Wet n Wild's Craze line. 

Sunlight, no flash.

I don't have an close picture (I forgot) but Nocturnal is basically a blackened midnight blue creme. In most lights, it will look black. Although you can tell that it's blue sometimes.

 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

    As a color, I do like Nocturnal. Even though it is a little pointless (you might as well wear black), I enjoy the deepness and richness of this shade. I think it looks sexy! 

    But I didn't like the formula or packaging at all. The formula was a little gloopy, and it bubbled and was kind of streaky. And the bottle and brush was horrible. The top was hard to hold onto, and it kept on banging against the table that I lean my hand against to paint. The brush was moppy, and I had to cut quite a bit of it, because it was all crazy. On the upside, Nocturnal is highly pigmented, and can be opaque in one coat, with a really careful application. I wasn't careful, so the pictures are with two coats. Even though I probably won't be wearing this again because I don't want to deal with putting it on, I think it will be good for konading. And if anyone knows of a dupe-y color, please let me know in the comments? Thanks!! ^_^

 Then, I was bored, so I did some ooglay decorations on top of Nocturnal. I wish I had left it alone. 

Shh, don't tell nobody. 

It looks like Beetlejuice. :(

Have a great evening, everyone!!

Happy Nails for a Sad Day

          Yes indeed...this is a sad day. It marks the one year anniversary of Michael Jackson's untimely death, which as far as I'm concerned, is a sad. It's true that he sometimes acted in bizarre ways and had some personal issues, but nobody can deny the incredible talent he possessed or his huge influence over music and dance. There are so many modern musicians who have built entire careers off of MJ's stuff. I'm looking at you, Usher. At you, Ciara. And at all of you, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Ne-Yo. And for decades to come, people will still be gathering inspiration from what he left behind in this world. 
      I personally owe MJ a debt of gratitude, because when I was a little kid visiting relatives in Nigeria, he saved me from going outside, laying in the main road, and waiting for a car to run me over. That's how damn bored I was. We had been there for two months. There was one more month to go, and I was getting to the end of my rope.  I had exhausted every book I brought with me. I colored in all my coloring books, traced the pictures on fresh paper, and then colored those too. I played Ludo and cards until I wanted to die. I chased my grandparents' goats and chickens until my mom made me stop. The only thing that still held my attention was a collection of Michael Jackson videos on VHS. I watched that tape over and over again, and I thankfully never got tired of it.  That tape legitimately saved my life,  and if not that, then it certainly saved my sanity.
       I don't have any nice Michael Jackson themed nails today, but it wasn't for lack of trying. The stuff I attempted came out ugly, and I didn't have the right materials to execute some of my other ideas. I do have errands to run today, so I had no time to keep on trying, and settled for a sucky konadicure. Here it is:

I started off with three coats of Milani Hi-Res. First, I used Color Club Groove Thang to stamp the floral full nail pattern (the one with the stems) from Bundlemonster plate BM16. Then I put on the white leaf flower things from Konad plate M20, using Wet n Wild French White Creme.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

     I don't really think this is sucky. It just wasn't what I wanted. But objectively, I like how this looks, especially because I've never tried any like...layered stamping before. I would have liked to go a little further with it too, but I didn't know what else to do, and was too scared to try any more experimenting. Maybe I'll try more later, when there's more time. 

    But at the moment, I've got to poof,  so I'm just going to finish this by posting my five favorite MJ videos. 

And of course,

Bow in the presence of greatness, ya'll.

RIP, Michael!

Brucci Swatches Part 2

           Good morning, everybody!! Happily, the weather cooperated with me yesterday and I was able to finish swatching my Brucci polishes. So for today, I have Amelia's Amethyst and Grape Galaxy. Three cheers for alliteration!

Amelia's Amethyst is a rich, deep, purple polish, with lots of violet and blue shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Amelia's Amethyst is so pretty. It's such a lively and royal purple, and I can imagine it looking good on pretty much any skin tone. It also went on very smoothly, was easily controlled, and is well-pigmented, only needing two coats to achieve full opacity.

   My only complaint about Amelia's Amethyst is that once more, it's not a unique color. As I was admiring it, I couldn't help but feel as if it were a dead-on dupe for China Glaze Let's Groove. So I did a little comparison.

L-R: Let's Groove, Amelia's Amethyst, Let's Groove, Amelia's Amethyst

It turns out that I was wrong, and that they are not exactly the same. Let's Groove is a teeny bit redder and deeper than Amelia's Amethyst. But the shimmer is identical, and even the difference in color is so negligible, that I don't think anyone really needs both. 

~♥~

Grape Galaxy is a blackened blue-based purple, with a ton of silver shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

    I love love love Grape Galaxy! It's like...Explosive Meteor's older, sexier brother, right down the pink and green shimmer that shows in the bottle and not on the nail. I love that Grape Galaxy is a deep purple, but never looks black, and the contrast of the shimmer against the base is lovely. And best of all, I don't own or even think I've seen any colors quite like this. The formula was really nice too...it gave no trouble, and was opaque in three coats. 

     Overall, I still feel kind of meh about Brucci.  Grape Galaxy is a thang of beauty, but it's not enough to overcome my slight disappointment with the other colors I have. But meh is better than blech, I guess. Have a great day, everyone! 

Parokeets Summer is Here Giveaway

          I just wanted to announce a really awesome giveaway going on right now at Parokeets!
In honor of gaining 300 followers, the lovely ladies who run that blog are giving away all of this to one lucky duck:

The rules are as follows:

1.  you have to be visible follower on our Google Friend Connect to enter this giveaway;

2. leave us a comment bellow this post saying you would like to be part of this giveaway with your email and nick in Google Friend Connect along with information for additional entries (link to the post/forum, FB nick);

3. if you publish link to our Summer is here! giveaway in new post on your blog along with the photo of the prize, you’ll earn additional 2 entries OR you can publish link to our giveaway on one of the cosmetic forums along with the photo of the prize and receive 1 additional  entry;

4. 1 additional entry can be earned if you click Like on our Facebook fan page (don’t forget to mention you FB name in comment along with your email address);

5. there will be only one winner (if we don’t get a response in 48 hours after we send you email, the second picked will be contacted and given opportunity to receive the prize …)

6. giveaway is International;

7. computer program will pick the winner.

They'll be taking entries until midnight on July 18th, so go enter!

Brucci Swatches Part 1

           With nothing much to do yesterday but sleep and watch the little delinquent who lives down the street get arrested (da-raah-ma!!), I got a chance to swatch a few of my Brucci polishes. The sun went home for the day before I could finish, so there'll be a second part tomorrow, weather willing. But for today, I have Explosive Meteorite, Christian Court, and Donna Mite.

Explosive Meteorite is a dark grey base, with lots of silver shimmer. In the bottle, the shimmer is more multi-colored...there's green and pink along with the silver. But only the silver stuff really makes it to the nail. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

     Explosive Meteorite is gorgeous, but I definitely do not see why they would call it Explosive Meteor. It is a....space-y color, true. It has that...cold, devoid of life look that makes one think of deep space. But it doesn't make me think of any kind of exploding meteor. Maybe more of an asteroid or moon rock? I also don't think it's a very unique color, but formula-wise, Explosive Meteor was pretty good. The polish was well pigmented, and was opaque in two coats, although I used three in the pictures. It was a tad runny, but nothing too horrible, and it applied very smoothly. 

More after the jump!!

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon + Konad and a Haul!

            Okay, so I lied. If anything, I'm wearing more purple today than I was yesterday. But yesterday, I was le tired. Far too tired to remove nail polish and reapply it and then let it cure. So I decided to do some nail art over it, to keep it fresh. I based the design off the name of one of OPI's new colors, Catch Me In Your Net.

Sunlight, no flash.

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon is the base color, and I used Wet n Wild French White Creme to stamp the fishnet pattern from Konad (yes, real konad!! o_o) plate M57.

Sunlight, no flash.

Then, on my ring finger, I applied a purple fimo butterfly. It's supposed to be caught in the net. lmao.

Natural light, no flash.

Lastly, because I couldn't help myself, I put on one coat of Finger Paints Floatin' on a Cloud, and finished the whole thing with two coats of Poshe. The Floatin' on a Cloud is ten times more obvious in person.

    I'm suprisingly happy with this design. I fear fimo, because in the wrong hands, it can look tacky and gaudy. And yes...my hands are so so wrong. But I like how subtle this is. I think the key for me will be to just use it in moderation, and to cut the stuff as thin as possible. When my nails get longer, I'll probably use more, but for now, this is enough. 

 And I bought the fimo from i_fact, a Hong Kong seller. I paid $6 USD for 100 canes, which I think is a pretty good deal.

   Muahaha, but that is not the haul that I mentioned in the title. I was talking about some stuff that I bought from maytheps-au.com. I don't really have plans for all this stuff, but I'm sure something will come up. 

I've been dying to have a set of these, for when I need to soak off some hardcore glitter. They even have a little scraper on the inside of the liquid receptacles to help with removal. 

I also got a 12 piece set of nail art brushes. ^_^

A set of rhinestone picker uppers. I've used toothpicks, but I hate how the splinter and have to be thrown away. I also have a silicone one from Sally's, but when I try to press in the gems, they like...slide around and mess up the design. I hope these will let me put them in neatly and securely. And they'd be good for decals, which toothpicks and the silicone picker upper does nothing for.

Clear rhinestones, in 10 shapes: round, square, rectangle, teardrop, crescent, heart, star, flower, triangle, and oval.

Oval Rhinestones in 12 Colors, Round Rhinestones in 12 colors.

Gold and Silver Beads.

These things are seriously tiny. And they move in the package by themselves, so I think mine are haunted.

    Demon infested beads aside, I'm really happy with the service I received from this company. The products appear to be of a good quality...the rhinestones aren't the nasty dull kind, the brushes feel sturdy and aren't shedding, and the soakers have good rubber seals. They have scary fast shipping too. I ordered on June 15th, my order shipped out on the 17th, and I received it this afternoon. Considering the weekend and the fact that this stuff came from Hong Kong, that's really amazing. And best of all, the prices are really great. This stuff came out to $20 USD, which is inexpensive to me, considering what I got. 

   They also have an ebay store where the shipping is just as fast, and it's free. I think the ebay store is better for individual or smaller purchases, like if you want a few rhinestone wheels or some acrylic powder or something. But for bigger purchases, I think the storefront is far more convenient, because there's a cart and if you register, they keep track of your purchases. 

   Well, that's enough shameless promotion for today. I hope everyone has a great and relaxing evening! 

Brucci Typhoon Lagoon

           Happy Father's Day!! I know I'm tardy for the party, but I thought I'd say it anyway. Today, I'm wearing Brucci Typhoon Lagoon. It does not have anything to do with my dad, but my sister wanted me to paint her nails with it, and I hadn't used it yet. But none shall use it before me! So I wore it today. ^_^

Typhoon Lagoon is a lovely and glowy pale purple base with a strong blue shimmer. I'm not sure whether or not to call it a duochrome...sometimes, it looks purple and sometimes it looks blue. So maybe it is? 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

         Typhoon Lagoon is a gorgeous and thoroughly engaging color. My pictures don't do it justice at all, but it really is intriguing. It looks a little metallic, but at the same time, looks dreamy. Nice and soft and nebulous. In different lights, it shifts between blue and purple, often appearing to be both at one time. I could really stare at Typhoon Lagoon for days. 

       But Typhoon Lagoon has some application issues. It's watery and on the sheer side, and the first coat was a horror to put on. It streaked and dragged and was just painful. It did get better with every coat, and by the fifth coat, it was very smooth and easy to apply. Even though it took five coats to achieve bottle color, dry time wasn't too bad. But in the future, I'll be trying to layer this over black, and when I want it to just look normal, I'll put it over a white.

    And even though I really enjoyed wearing this color today, for tomorrow, I'm going to try to find something not related to purple. I've been wearing a ton of purple, and I'm all purpled out.  x_x
Have a good night, everyone!!

Nubar Violet Sparkle

              Fwee it's Friday again!! Has this week been uber fast, or is it just me? The days seem to just be flying right by...I feel like tomorrow, I'm going to wake up, and it'll be time to pack back up for school. Or even worse, I'll be a little old lady in a house full of cats and nail polish and nothing more. Spending my days throwing rocks at kids, telling them to get off my lawn. Even though there are no kids and no lawn. :( 

       But I digress. In celebration of Friday and because the sun was shining like mad, I wore Nubar's Violet Sparkle.

Violet Sparkle is as simple as its name. It's a ton of small square and round violet glitter in a clear base. The shade of violet is pretty even... it doesn't lean towards either blue or red. Or at least not to my unprofessional eyes. lol!

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

     Violet Sparkle truly surprised me with how much I loved it. I'm the kind of person who likes more complicated nail polish....I like for a polish to be holographic and to have like ten different kinds of glitter and to be duochrome, with a secret shimmer, and maybe some flakies in there too, all at the same time. So I hemmed and hawed when it came time to put this in my cart, because I thought it would be boring. But I was wrong!! Violet Sparkle is so glittery, and the shade of purple is so saturated and rich that it's hard to keep my eyes off it. I found myself walking down the street moving my hands and watching the glitter dance in the light. I don't think I'd go as far as to call it one of my favorite purples, but it's not a purchase I regret in the least. 

    Application was easy and fuss-free. The polish slid right on, and was opaque in three, moderate thickness coats. It did have a matte-ish and rough finish, which took three coats of Poshe to get fully smooth and shiny. I have lots and lots of bubbles on my nails (I turned back on my fan too soon, I guess)....when I tilt my hand just right, I can see them. And I nicked the surfaces of some nails when I was cutting something. But Violet Sparkle really hides such imperfections, which is nice. 

   And that's all I've got for today! I hope everyone is having a lovely Friday evening!