China Glaze Strawberry Fields

            Good evening, everyone! Today, I'm wearing a color that I held out on buying for a really long time, China Glaze Strawberry Fields from last year's Summer Days Collection. I liked it and thought it was a pretty color, but I just did not get that omgigottahaveitnownownow feeling about it. So whenever I saw it on the internet or in the BSS, I'd put it in my basket, only to put it back right before checkout. I do the same thing with Watermelon Rind, Grape Juice, and Flying Dragon. But I finally got Strawberry Fields this summer, and at long long last, I'm wearing it. So here it is:

Strawberry Fields is a raspberry-pink (for lack of better description) polish packed with fine copper and gold shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I like Strawberry Fields. It's a bright, rich and warm color, and positively screams summer. The shimmer has to be my favorite part though, because instead of being the kind that reflects light, it actually sparkles and brings the whole polish to a higher level. Application-wise, it was also quite nice, going on smoothly and easily.  Strawberry Fields built to bottle color nicely, being opaque by my second coat. The pictures are with three coats though, because I applied this at night and was scared that in the morning, I'd find some VNL.  

    Overall, I'd definitely say that Strawberry Fields is a great polish. It's super pretty, and is a wonderful pink to have in the stash. And I actually kind of regret waiting so long to get it. 

    But of curiosity, are there any colors that you guys want but are just putting off buying? And how come you're waiting? I do that all the time with other stuff, and I've been told it's strange, but I don't think so. Like they forgot to give me a desk chair for my room, and I still have yet to request one. I think it's because I'm lazy. ;_;

Zoya Bebe

            So I totally did not change my nails....I just kind of forgot. But that's okay, because today is kind of cloudy and lame and not really good weather for taking pictures. So I'll be posting my final Zoya...I had this post written and done like two weeks ago, but I just never pressed the publish button.  

Bebe is a pale pearly pink base with tons of multi-colored microshimmer. The shimmer is mostly silver, but it does flash the occasional pink, green, and blue. The color in this picture is all wrong, but it was the only one that showed the shimmer clearly.

Sunlight, no flash. This picture is much truer to color.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

    Bebe is a really pretty, ladylike color. The pale pink in combination with the shimmer gives it a girly, airy look. It makes me think of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.  I miss my old nails. :(

   Formula-wise, Bebe is pretty good. Like the other Zoyas I have, it applied really smoothly and easily. My only complaint is that Bebe is really sheer, and I ended up struggling with it a bit, because I wanted it opaque. On the Zoya site, they give it a three in the intensity department, but I think that they were being a bit generous...two would be more accurate. After trying it in various ways, I ended up with what I have in the pictures, which is five coats of Bebe over one coat of Seche Ridge Filler. Five coats is alot of work....Bebe is cute, but she's not that cute. So going forward, I guess I'll just be using it as it was intended (as a sheer) or over a similarly colored base.

Orly Lola

            Today's post is going to be really fast. It's Get Your Ish Together Day at Chez Butterfly, and that means lots of cleaning and organizing. As a result, I haven't had time to change my nails and probably won't have any until this evening. So I'm gonna bust out a polish from my backlog, Orly Lola. 

Lola is a bright and saturated pink creme. The color here is a little too dark though. The others are more correct.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

      My bottle of Lola is only a baby, and I must say that I'm a little glad of that. It's a fun, basic and pretty summer shade, but not terribly exciting, unique or interesting. I can't see myself wearing this too often, and I'll probably wear it on my toes more than on my fingers, so I don't need a full size bottle of it. Like if I see a full size bottle on sale for a couple of dollars, I'd pick it up. But I wouldn't pay more than that for Lola. Let me be clear, there's nothing really wrong with the color. It just doesn't warm the little cockles of my heart.

    Lola's application was really nice though. There were no problems with dragging or streaking, and the polish was nicely pigmented. The pictures are with two coats of color and one layer of topcoat, and it was nice and smooth and showed no VNL. 

     And I meant to mention this at my last post, but I was a little in a rush and forgot. I have 51 followers!! Yayyy!!!!! *blows one of those horn thingies that people blow at birthday parties* lol, I know to some people that's nothing, but to me, that's really big news! It's like...100 more people than I expected to be interested in my blog. So thanks to all of you!! ^_^

 I'd love to have a nice little giveaway, but I don't trust myself to shop for nail polish. However, I've been stockpiling polish, and will have one pretty soon. Probably this fall, when I'm back in DC and can get to the stores in the area.

  Hokay back to cleaning. Someone needs to kindly inform my mother that slavery was supposed to be over like...200 years ago. And that children are not for free labor. =___=

Funky Fingers Screamin' Fucshia + New Girls on the Block!!

            I'm a little blue today. First, I accidentally leaned on my flat iron and now my arm vaguely resembles a ball park hot dog, complete with grill lines. Second, my mother's minivan attacked me, and now my right thumb looks like this:

I miss having a usable thumbnail on my dominant hand.

    And lastly, I'm pretty anxious about school. My grades this past semester were great, but I still need lots of credits to graduate on time. I'm not sure that I can complete them, while maintaining my GPA and fulfilling my work study requirements.

      I'm trying to stay positive and calm, because if I work really hard, give up some things, and do a summer semester, I think I can manage. But I want to have  a meltdown, because I'm scared. So to cheer myself up (it worked a little) I decided to wear Funky Fingers Screamin' Fucshia.

Screamin' Fucshia is a highlighter-pink, neon creme. 

Natural light, no flash. The weather is so gloomy today.

Natural light, no flash.

        I like Screamin' Fucshia. It's a pretty, basic,  and inexpensive pink neon.  It's also a little more wearable to me than other neons, because it just doesn't seem that bright. The formula on it was pretty good too...it applied evenly and smoothly, but I think I would have preferred something more opaque. I'm wearing three coats of Screamin' Fucshia over two coats of Essie Limo-Scene, and I think I can still see a hint of VNL. I'm not sure if I should blame Screamin' Fucshia though, because Limo-Scene is already pretty sheer, so next time, I'll use SH White-On instead. It dried matte, but I put some Poshe on it, and everything was all good. It shrunk a little bit at the tip, and clean-up was a half-hearted effort, but it's shiny, soo...it's all good. ^_^

   And there are new girls on the block!

Meet Bebe, Adina, and...Adina. Yes...I accidentally bought two Adinas. >_< I'm struggling with myself about whether I want to exchange it for something or not. I guess it depends on how I feel about Adina on me.

And here's Mimi, Ki, and Charla.

      Such lovely ladies, no? ^_^

      Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go out and hunt Hidden Treasure today, because my mom made me stay at home and wait for the TV guy. So yes...my no-buy begins today and ends on August 17.  But if I happen to see Hidden Treasure in the store, I openly admit that I cannot be held responsible for my actions. 

    And this is why I like blogging. Can you believe I feel more calm about school even though nothing has changed?  lol! 

NOTD: Revlon Bubble Gum + Fauxnad

       I'm not wearing Grape Icy today, like I originally planned. I had two finals scheduled for today, so I opted to jazz up Bubble Gum instead of trying to put on an entire new color. 

I used the necklace-like pattern on the M30 fauxnad plate. This one came from Hong Kong.

I stamped on the pattern with Brucci TJ's Blue Suede Shoes, and then I added a pale pink rhinestone to each nail, to hide the fact that some of the flowers looked more like little blobs. I really love the combination of navy blue and hot pink. It's a fun twist on the old pink and blue color pair.

 Sorry for the bubble and the busted spot near the gem. My Poshe is starting to thicken up and act a fool. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. This picture is truest to color, in regards to Bubble Gum.

      Lol, some of the patterns are crooked (especially the pinky, which is completely doing its own thing), but I've accepted the fact that I will probably never position a Konad pattern straight on my nail. And despite the crookedness, I've gotten a few compliments on this look already. I almost don't want to take it off, but due to my nail ADD, it'll be gone by tonight. 

     That's all for today, so I'm going to go study for my other final today. I can't wait for this week to be ovah. :(

Revlon Bubble Gum

           Even though there isn't a drop of sunlight outside, it's sweltering hot. So I suppose it's fitting that I'm wearing Bubble Gum, from the Scents of Summer Collection today. It's a perfect color for warm weather, and a great antidote to a gloomy day. And luckily for me, today is both. *rolls eyes*

Bubble Gum is a deep, saturated hot pink creme. I'd consider it a grown up Barbie pink.

Natural light, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

     Pictures are extra crap-tastic today, because of the light. or lack thereof. I'll probably be retaking these on a brighter, sunnier day, because none of these are quite as vibrant as Bubble Gum looks on the nail. As far as the color of the polish goes, I like it! It's cheery and bright. And it doesn't make me feel like I'm twelve. While I'll never be too old for glitter, I do feel like a little kid in certain shades of pink. Thankfully, this one manages to miss that mark.
  Also, I like the smell on this one.It reminds me of the summer when I was eight and had just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For some inexplicable reason, I wanted to be like Violet Beauregarde, so for the rest of the summer, I used up all my allowance on bubble gum flavored bubble gum. I lived in a bubble gum-scented cloud for three straight months, until I fell asleep on the couch with a huge ball of gum in my mouth. It fell out, and I'm a wild sleeper, so I rolled all over it. When I woke up from my nap, I had gum in my hair, on my face, on my clothes, on the couch....just everywhere. My mom had to use half a jar of Vaseline to get it off, and she was so pissed that she stopped giving me allowance. And I couldn't have any gum for the rest of the year. Not even a Chiclet or stick of Juicy Fruit. I was so sad, lmao! So basically, sniffing this polish makes me laugh right out loud.
   And the application of this is much easier than Peach Smoothie. I didn't have trouble with streaks or dragging. I wouldn't say that my nails painted themselves, but it wasn't bad. The pictures are all with three coats, and one layer of Poshe. 

NOTD: Milani Digital + Konad

           Technically, this should be NOTPFD (Nail of the Past Two Days) because that's how long I've been wearing this mani. It's Milani Digital, stamped with one of the designs from Konad plate M20, and then I put some rhinestone decals on it to finish up. I'm about to remove it, but before I do, I wanted to post some pictures to remember it by.

This is the plate and pattern (circled) that I used.

And this was my inspiration image. The end result wasn't like that, but it was what gave me the idea to do this particular design. 

This is how all my nails were supposed to look. I double-stamped the flowers onto the middle of my nail with Wet n Wild Black Creme. I tried to use Brucci Plain Black at first. It showed up, but was way too light. The Wet n Wild worked so much better. And please excuse the bald spot at the tip of my nail...it was the acetone. 

Sadly, the rest of my nails didn't come out as planned. I was trying to just get it done, so I ended up with more of a random floral pattern. And on my pinky, I got barely any pattern at all. Smh!

After I was done with that, I got bored. I had some rhinestone decals (I swear, I had them already!) so I decided to use those in the center of the flowers. There are some flowers that don't have rhinestone centers, but I needed to conserve, so I only put two stones on each finger.

I think this one shows the end result best. It's in sunlight, no flash.

This was just to show the holo effect.

     I sealed the whole thing over with two coats of Poshe, and that was the end of it! 

     Although I'm not fully happy with the stamping job that I did, it was nice enough to wear out. I figured that from a distance, no one would notice. And I was right! I actually got lots of compliments on this mani, especially when the holo-ness would come out. A girl in my class even accused me of wearing fake nails...she didn't believe that they were mine until she practically had her nose pressed against them. See boys and girls...that's what we call a certified hater. smh!

   Anywho, I'm probably going to keep this one in my back pocket to use again, once my konad skills are more honed and I can get the flowers on to my satisfaction. 

And that's all for today! ^_^

Milani Digital

           I don't have too much time today, so this one will be swift. I'm currently wearing Milani Digital, from the 3D Holographic Collection. I'm really proud of myself today because I applied my nail polish really neatly! All of these pictures were taken on the same day that I applied the polish, and before cleanup! ^____^

This is a close look at Digital. It's a holographic glitter in a slightly dusty rose-pink (although this picture looks more lilac-y) base. It has the same fish-scale thing going on that Hi-Res does. I think this picture shows more of the individual holographic scales/flakes, especially when it's enlarged.

Natural light, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash. I think this picture is truest to color. 

Sunlight, no flash. Holo goodness!! ^_^

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

    The formula for this was fine. It was just the same as Hi-Res. It dried smoothly, and matte, and I am anticipating an easy removal. Although I was putting off wearing this color because I didn't like it in the bottle, I'm glad that I finally tried it. In the bottle, it looks kind of blah. But on the nail, I found it really becoming and feminine. 

   And not related to this color, I'm really surprised at how much my nails have grown. I was just looking back at the post about Bling Dynasty, and I was really struck by the difference in length. I'm about halfway through my bottle of Barielle, so soon, I should be able to do an official comparison and then start on Duri. But I have noticed some staining on my nails. When I was pushing back my cuticles, I was horrified at how yellowed the exposed portion of my nail plate has become. I've started using peroxide so hopefully, that'll clear up. And in the future, I plan on putting another base coat on top of the Barielle, because it's obviously not protecting my nails so well. 

  And that's all for the moment!