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

St. Patrick Day Greens!!

Hi guys! So tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, and I have been wearing greens all week to celebrate. Like I've said in the past, the holiday doesn't mean anything to me personally, but I just like to indulge in it. So to get everyone in the spirit, I thought it would be fun to make some green spam.


First one is Diamond Cosmetics Never so Evergreen.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

    Never so Evergreen is a smoky, faded hunter green, with lots of golden shimmer in it. It's really beautiful and unique, and I love how it looks on my nails. The application was also super easy...two coats of color and a layer of topcoat was all I needed for it to look perfect. 

Next is Zoya Yara.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Artificial light, with flash.

    Yara was a weird one to capture. It's a dirty olive green with lots of grey in it, and my camera had a hard time balancing those. I guess the true color is right between the ottlite ones and the flash one. But anyway, I wasn't expecting to like Yara very much and really only bought it because it reminded me of one of my favorite queens from RuPaul's Drag Race, Yara Sofia. But when I put it on, I really did like it. The shimmer is really visible and looks great against the base, and the shade of olive itself is fairly flattering, because it doesn't have too much yellow. Formula was also really easy...I only needed two coats of color and one of topcoat. 

Next is Nina Ultra Pro Salsa!

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash

   Salsa is a bold and slightly deep kelly green semi-jelly. The shade of green is really fun and punchy but I think my favorite part of this polish is the finish. It has the opacity and ease of application of a creme, but the jiggly quality and shine of a jelly, and with the shade of green, it makes me happy lol. It just reminds me of springtime and makes me want to skip and dance. I used three coats of polish and a layer of topcoat for the pictures, and Salsa went on pretty smoothly and easily. 

Next is OPI Damone Roberts 1968.

Artificial light, with flash.

Artificial light, with flash.

    Damone Roberts 1968 is a really smooth and creamy mint green creme. It has a good bit of grey, some brown, and a hint of yellow in there too, all of which soften it up and make it much easier to wear with my skin tone. I love how it looks kind of vintage-y but still really modern, and am so glad that I snagged a bottle when it was still available. However, application was tough on this one...I needed four layers of color to get it even and streak-free, and I had to be really careful to apply with a light hand, or there were these annoying divots. So it wasn't fun, but definitely worth all the pain in the end. 

And last, but definitely not least, is Nfu-Oh 569. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Artificial light, with flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

    Nfu-Oh 569 is a blackened forest green jelly. It's known as being a dupe for NARS Zulu, which I guess is accurate, and as such, I lurvee it. It's so sexy and rich, and I love the way that it shines. Wearing it, I feel wicked, but in a good way lol. Application was also pretty easy. I used three layers of polish and a layer of topcoat, and although it kind of took a long time to dry, the polish itself went on fairly well. A little streaky on the first coat, but the next two fixed it. Incidentally, if you are in the market for Zulu, I would actually recommend picking up this one instead. You get more product for less, and Fabulous Street's shipping is much better than NARS'. 

And those are all the greens I have for ya'll today! 

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has an amazing St. Patrick's Day!! ^_^

Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm

    I've been having serious holo cravings lately. I don't even know why, but I want to see rainbows goddamnit. But anyway, I decided to take Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm out for a drive and see if it would satisfy my desire.

Spoiler alert: It didn't. 

Chainmail Charm is a charcoal black - brown with a mild holographic effect. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

This was the most holo I could get it. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Look at them lies. 

Sunlight, no flash.

      Oh Chainmail Charm. I bought it a while back from a blog sale, and it was one of those things that I wanted to save for a special occasion.  Thank God I didn't go through with that plan, because this polish is such a dud. You get some holo at random times, but most of the time, there wasn't really much of anything. There was some, which my camera removed mostly (you can get a glimpse of it on some fingers), but it wasn't much. It's really painful too, because it looks great in the bottle. And then the brownish-black color is kind of weird. Ugh...my desire is so not sated right now. 

    Formula was really agreeable though. It was opaque in two coats and dried pretty quickly, so I was pleased about that. I'll probably get rid of it though...can't have a holo that won't work for its keep.

If you have Chainmail Charm, do you like it? Or is it lame for you too? 

And that's all from me today!

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Strange Layering Stuff....

    Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday guys!! I hope you all had amazing Thanksgivings

, with lots of love, food and fun. I had a good one...I ended up doing a good chunk of the cooking, but it was fun and delicious in the end. And it's so nice to be away from school, I can't even explain. For today, I have that Facets of Fuchsia layering experiment that I mentioned at the end of that post. I put one layer of Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter on top, and here's how it came out!

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

    So, like I said, I think it came out a little strange. I don't dislike it, but it just looked funny to me. Especially up close...the red glitter is just sitting on top of the purple and it just looks...funny. Maybe I would get more of the look I expected by frankening the two of these. But I do think it looks kind of cool, especially in lower light,  because the red glitter really pops out. 

And with that, I am all done for today!! I hope everyone has an awesome and fun Black Friday!  I know that I need a coat, and some new hair products, and I'll probably get in on the e.l.f. sale going on today. What are you guys gonna buy? ^_^

Wet n Wild Correction Tape

      Hi guys! So it's getting to be Halloween time again, and while I'm not sure that I'll have time to do more hilariously ooglay Halloween nail art for you guys, I figured I could try to wear some of the Halloween-themed polishes that I have in my stash. So in the spirit of that, I have Wet n Wild Correction Tape from their On the Prowl Collection. Also, I've been wearing this for like a million years, so please excuse any signs of wear you see. 

Correction Tape is made of  medium-sized gold, fuchsia, and blue hex glitter in a clear base. There's also some black square glitter. Also, I've layered it over Diamond Cosmetics Concrete Jungle. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I love love love Correction Tape! The combination of colors is so fantastic, and I especially love the black bits of glitter. You can see the different colors better in regular light, but I still like Correction Tape better in the sunlight. The bits of glitter sparkle so nicely, and I can't keep my eyes off my nails. Apparently, neither could anyone else, because I got so many compliments everywhere I went. And that never happens, so yeah...Correction Tape is kind of a big deal.

    My only problem with this one was the pain-in-the-butt formula. The clear base is way too thick for the amount of glitter in it, so I couldn't just swipe on the glitter like a normal person. Instead, I had to painstakingly swirl the brush in the bottle and then dab it on the nail, which led to bubbles. On the upside, the polish dried fast and wore really well. It's not perfect, but for a rough five days, I think it looks pretty good!

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic hump day! Also, I'm curious...do you guys have any nail plans for Halloween? If you tell me, I promise not to copycat. ^_^

400 Follower Giveaway! (And Back to School Nails)

     Happy September everyone! I know it's been a while since my last post, but I'm hoping that once I get settled down, find a job, and can figure out when I get sunlight in my new room, I can go back to a more regular posting schedule. So please don't abandon me, lmao.


*Giveaway is now closed! Thanks for entering!*


In the meantime, I finally have that 400 follower giveaway that I've been talking about having for kind of a long time now. So without further ado, here's what's up for grabs:

Sinful Colors Adventure Island Collection (minus Rise and Shine)

And some polishes donated by the beautiful people at China Glaze!

R-L: Liquid Leather, Flip Flop Fantasy (which I'll be posting soon), White Cap, and Fairy Dust

Everything is brand new and has never been used, as far as I know. The Sinfuls are kind of a toss up because they come from the drugstore, and someone may have opened it. But if that did happen, rest assured, it was not moi. >_>

And that's it! Good luck to everyone, and thank you all for reading, commenting, participating, following, and basically not leaving me to blog....

.

*Giveaway is now closed! Thanks for entering!*

I also have a few pictures of the nail look I wore for the first day of school! 

I used two layers of Zoya Phoebe as a base and then put two layers of Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter on top of that. I wanted to matte-ify it, but I can't find my Matte About You, so I just used regular topcoat. I really liked it and got lots of compliments too! A guy in the student store said that it looked like a Smurf with chicken pox, which was pretty funny. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

And that's all from me!! Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic Thursday!