Jade Vine

Hi guys!! Sorry for dropping out on ya'll like that...in the past two days, things have gotten incredibly real so I haven't had time to paint my nails at all. Been strolling around buck naked...not even any clear coat for protection...just enjoying the breeze.
But moving right along, today's post is going to feature a plant instead of an animal. Animals are cute (sometimes) and fine, but really, it's plants that allow us to live on Earth today. Without them, we would have no air...no air. So we have to pay attention to them too. This is the Jade Vine:

    Although this gorgeous plant can also be seen in botanical gardens and greenhouses and is cultivated in Hawaiian gardens for decorative purposes, it is native only to the tropical rainforests of the Philippines. Jade vines provide food and shelter to bees and butterflies, which are important organisms in the rainforest, as so many plants there rely on bees and butterflies as pollinators. Without pollinators, there can't be any seeds. And no seeds mean no new plants when the old ones die. Since the jade vines allow the bees and butterflies to live happily, that makes them an important part of the rainforest ecosystem too. Sadly for the jade vines (and the butterflies and bees), they are quickly disappearing in the wild due to deforestation. 

I really loved the colors of this plant, so I wanted to base my nail look on them:

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     To do this, I started with two layers of Diamond Cosmetics Tranquility and let that dry. Then I used a chunk of a kitchen sponge (didn't have a makeup sponge lol) to pat on some Zoya Breezy and let that dry a bit. Next, I patted on some Color Club Pucci-licious, and when that was still wet, I applied topcoat, to try to blend the colors in a little bit better. Obviously, the blending did not happen, but I still like how this turned out. 

I also think it would be cool to water marble with these, so when I can find the time (maybe after finals), I'll do that and show it to you guys.

But that's all from me today!

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Saturday!! (Mine will not be awesome...it will be filled with homework and misery. ;__;)

P.S. Earth Day is tomorrow!! :D

More Color Club Poptastics

    Hi guys!! First of all, Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a satisfying 2011, and that 2012 will be even better. To be honest, I'm really anxious about this year...this spring will be my very last semester as an undergrad and I don't know what to do next. I've been in school literally for as long as I can remember. So this will be...interesting, I guess.


Secondly, I have to say sorrrryyy again for being such a bad blogger lately. It's partially because I've been busy and partially because my heart isn't in polish and blogging so much anymore. I think I'm getting bored with it all...it just feels kind of futile, you know? I'm trying to get reinspired and fall in love with polish again, but idk...it's just not happening. And then it doesn't help that my nails are staging a rebellion. 


But anyway, I spent the holidays wearing mattes that I've worn already, so I don't really have anything nice to show you all. I did get a few other polishes from Color Club's Poptastic Collection swatched though, and can show you guys those. And all pictures are in sunlight, with no flash.


First up is the collection's namesake, Poptastic

   Poptastic is a pretty and bright neon pink. It's sweet and wearable, but not anything special and if it didn't come in the box set, I probably wouldn't have it. Formula-wise, it was okay. A little thin maybe, but not overly troublesome. Pictures are with three coats of polish and one layer of topcoat.

Next is Almost Famous.

      Almost Famous was a surprise for me because I really like it, despite my general aversion to yellows. I think it's just so bright and sunny that you can't help but like it lol. Formula was also surprise, in that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I used four coats of polish, but they went on pretty smoothly for a yellow. There was some streakiness and whatnot, but they covered up pretty nicely with more coats. 

Last is Wham! Pow! (their punctuation, not mine):

     Wham! Pow! is probably my favorite of these three. The shade of orange has a bit of extra red to it, which adds interest, and I love its level of brightness. It isn't a retina-searing polish, but it's still substantially bright, which makes it fun but still wearable. Application was also quite easy...three easy coats and I was all done. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading and listening to me whine, and I hope your holidays were all perfectly lovely!

(Lame) Halloween Mani

   For Halloween, I wanted to do something cool and interesting, but I didn't have any time. I hate how there aren't enough hours in the day. So I will just show you guys the nails that I slapped together, and we can just move on to more fun things. Like CHRISTMAS!! Eeeee. 
Also, all pictures are under an Ottlite with no flash.

This was three coats of Color Club Wham! Pow! (damn unnecessary punctuation), with one thin layer of China Glaze Black Mesh on top. 

      So yep...that was it. Orange creme with black crackle. Way unoriginal, but it came out well so there's that. And it was the first time that people have stopped me to try to guess my nail color! I embarrassed myself with the first person because I assumed she was also a nail fiend and started blabbing away until I realized that she was staring at me like I was some kind of sick freak. I played it cool with the other people though, so lesson learned.

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Thursday! ^_^

Color Club Twiggie

   Hi guys! It's been a really messed up week for me, but it's finally over and I am relieved. In celebration, I thought I'd show you all something cheerful and bright today, so I chose Color Club Twiggy from the Poptastic Collection. 

Twiggie is a super bright, bordering on neon green creme. The shade of green is kind of tough to describe..I guess I'd call it a cross between mint and lime. That also sounds like it would make a delicious cold beverage.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   I really like Twiggie. It's bright and fun, and I love how unique it is. However, I did find that it was a little bit stark and chalky against my skin. I would have preferred if it were just a smidgen softer so it could be more wearable for me, but I'm still going to keep it. 

   Formula-wise, Twiggy was tough but not impossible. It went on pretty smooth for the most part and the pigmentation was okay, but I found that I had trouble getting it to level out around the edges, which is always very frustrating for me. If you're a better polisher though, you may not have that problem. It also dried to a waxy finish, so you're gonna need topcoat on this one. Pictures are with three coats of polish and one layer of topcoat.

But that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Friday! 

Color Club Pucci-licious

   Hi guys! Not too long ago, I was puttering around Ross when I stumbled upon one of those Poptastic Collection sets. It seemed to be fully intact, so I scooped it up and brought it home. My plan is to work through the set over the next couple of weeks and I thought it would be fun to get the party started with Pucci-licious. 

Pucci-licious is a bright and saturated deep lavender creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

  For some weird reason, I have like no purple cremes, so Pucci-licious is definitely a welcome addition to my little family. It does dry a shade or two darker than it goes on, but the finished product is fabulous. It's so pretty, rich, and flattering, and it made me smile every time I looked at my hands.

   Pucci-licious was a little tough to apply, but not too bad. It was a little streaky, but after three coats, that goes away. It also dried with a waxy finish, so topcoat is necessary to make it look good. The pictures are with four coats and one layer of topcoat.

And unrelated to this color, Barielle is having a one-day promo with 30% off and free shipping! There's another code (FBFLASH30) that will stack with the promo and give you an additional 30% off. I placed an order, so maybe we will have another Barielle week soon?

If you get anything, I'd love to hear about it! Because I'm nosy in my soul. ^_^

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a fantastic day!!

Color Club Snakeskin

    Hey peeps! For today, I have Snakeskin from Color Club's Untamed Luxury Collection. 

Snakeskin is a slightly frosty green-toned pewter base studded with tons of gold microglitter

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Snakeskin is fab. I really like the slightly grungy quality of the base and the microglitter gives it a luxe feel that really makes it at home with the rest of the collection. I also love how Color Club managed to imbue the shade with a snakeskinness without making it too literal. Like, it doesn't have the visual texture of snakeskin, but you can see where the inspiration comes in. My only sadness is that these pictures definitely do not do Snakeskin justice, so at some point, I'll have to take another run at it. 

   But anywho, Snakeskin wasn't particularly tough to apply. I did have a bit of an issue with brushtrokes and bubbles, but I'm willing to chalk that up to user error because I rushed this swatch a bit. Next time, I'll just take more time and it'll probably turn out better. On the upside, Snakeskin was really opaque...I only needed two coats to get full coverage, and it dried quickly to boot. ^_^

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading and have a happy Friday!!

Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter

         So yesterday was my sister's birthday, and although the real celebration won't be until today, I still wanted to wear something sparkly and fun on my nails to celebrate the occasion. I also need to get through my Diamond Cosmetics stuff, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and wear Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter, layered over Color Club Pretty in Platinum. 

Chunky Red Glitter is made of large and small red hex glitter in a clear base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Chunky Red Glitter is a basic polish, but it has lots of impact. In lower light, the glitter is glowy and kind of takes on a two-toned look, where some glitter looks brighter and some looks darker. And in sunlight, there's no sparkle, but it's still pretty flashy and reflective. This particular combination kind of reminds me of chicken pox or peppermint, but I still like it, LOL. 

    Formula-wise, Chunky Red Glitter was a bit tough. The base was a little thicker than I would have liked, and to get the type of glitter payoff that I like, I needed to swirl the brush and sort of nudge the larger glitters into place. The good news is that it dries super quick and was surprisingly smooth. The pictures are with two layers of Chunky Red Glitter over two coats of Pretty in Platinum, and as always, a generous layer of topcoat to seal the deal.

And that's all for today! Thanks for reading, and have a gorgeous Friday!