Friday, September 28, 2012

Falling Forward Nail Art Challenge - Day Six: Fall Ombre/Gradient!


Hi everyone! Today is day six of the Falling Forward Nail Art Challenge - Ombre/Gradient! Today is the last day of the challenge. I'm such a sad panda right now :( but want to give a HUGE thank you to Kim (College Polished) for putting this all together! I had a blast and can't wait to take part in more nail art challenges! 

Onto the challenge: For this challenge, we had a choice of doing an ombre or gradient. I've never tried a gradient so I figured I'd going with that one. There are thousands of tutorials all over the internet but I chose the sponging technique by Polish and Pearls. Love her!

Polishes used: China Glaze Riveting, China Glaze Agro and China Glaze Fast Track

Sorry for the glittery mess on my hands! I tried to clean up as best as I could. 

And apparently my pointer nail got smooshed? When the heck did that even happen? Oopsies.



Make sure to check out these lovely ladies:

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Serum No. 5 Pink Lantern, Stormy Weather, Rise and Grind and Girl's Gotta Eat


Hi everyone! Today I have Serum No. 5 Love Lacquer on the blog! First off, can I just say how much I love that name? I'm also lovin' the labels on these. Very simplistic and classy. High-five, Serum No. 5! Now let's check these babies out!

"All of Serum No. 5 lacquers are made with high quality pigments, micas, and glittery sparkling goodness. She takes the extra time to make each polish unique and special by hand mixing each in small batches, meaning that there may be some separation and slight variances between batches. This makes every lacquer is unique and special. Every lacquer is 3-free and do not contain toulene, formaldehyde or dibutyl phthalate.

Every month, a charitable donation will be made in an amount equal to 20% of the profits of all lacquers sold." - Serum No. 5 

How sweet is that!? This girl rocks!


Pink Lantern, Stormy Weather, Rise and Grind and Girl's Gotta Eat
 First up is Stormy Weather - a grey holographic (!!) base with micro white glitter, purple glitter, navy hexes and silver lightening bars.


This is two very smooth coats of Stormy Weather over China Glaze Platinum Silver. No fishing for glitter here!


I think I need a fullsize. How gorgeous is this? That holographic base is amazing!


Macro nail shot!

Next up is Pink Lantern - a bubblegum pink neon that GLOWS. IN. THE. DARK! 

Naturally, my camera laughs at neons so the picture doesn't show how super neon this is. Boo, camera!

I tried taking pictures in a darker setting to get the color to come out and play.

This is two coats of Pink Lantern over Andrea's Choice Reverso.

And a nighttime picture! How cool is that? I've never had a glow-in-the-dark polish before!

Girls Gotta Eat is a clear base filled with micro gold shimmer, gold prisms and platinum glitter.


I think I'm in love. I'm such a sucker for glittery gold polish.

This is two coats over China Glaze Kahlari Kiss!



BAM! In yo face macro nail shot!

And last, but certainly not least is Rise and Grind - micro gold and brass glitter, copper hexes and milky white squares in a busy espresso world. (I love her description!) She also notes that the large copper glitter does have some reflective curling but that they lay flat.


I do see the reflective curling in the pictures, but to be honest, I didn't notice it in person on my nail.

Two coats over China Glaze Fois Gras.



Macro nail shot! Again, the glitter looks like it's curling hardcore, but I can promise it was not noticeable on the nail. I think this is just a super weird angle.

Overall, I'm a huge fan of Serum No. 5! I love that she has a mix of glow-in-the-dark colors to glitter bomb top coats and everything in the middle. I can predict Serum No. 5 being one of those Etsy shops that sells out in five minutes! I had no problems fishing for glitter and all four polishes had great formulas.

Serum No. 5 - $12 for fullsize, $5 for mini. Pink Lantern will be released October 1st!


* Products in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for an honest review!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Falling Forward Nail Art Challenge - Day Five: Leaves!


Hi everyone! Today is day five of the Falling Forward Nail Art Challenge - leaves! I remember when I was younger and autumn came and the leaves changed and fell, my dad would rake them all into a big pile at the end of the hill in front of our house and my brother and I would roll down the hill into them. I'm 24 years old now but I can still do that, right? :)



Polishes used were: Essie Braziliant, China Glaze Kahlari Kiss, butterLONDON Cheeky Chops, China Glaze Prey Tell and China Glaze Concrete Catwalk. (Not pictured: Essie Shine of Times - I totally used that last minute!) I followed the awesome tutorial here!

I'm pleased with the way these came out. They look a little tribal, which  I'm bummed about but unfortunately, I haven't invested in some stripers yet. Definitely will be snagging some before I participate in another nail art challenge.





Eek! I'm so sad this is our second to last challenge! :( WAHHH.

As always, check out these lovely ladies for their leaves-inspired nails:


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Pomegranate Lacquer Midnight Satellite and Improv Show


What better way to celebrate the first week of fall than with some Pomegranate Lacquers from their new fall line!?
Pomegranate Midnight Satellite and Improv Show


Pomegranate Improv Show
Lights, stage, and laughter! This dark purple polish is flecked with silver sparkle to reflect the darkness of the theater and the bright spotlights.

Three smooth coats for full opacity.

Another "galaxy" polish. I think that's going to be a trend for fall and I'm lovin' it! :)


Love how the bottle looks in this picture!

Pomegranate Midnight Satellite
This deep midnight teal polish is flecked with silver sparkle and recalls a crisp, cool, starry autumn night.

Three coats for full opacity.

I love the description. It's exactly what I saw when I looked at this polish.



Pomegranate Lacquer - $9 each.


Pssst: Great news about Pomegranate Lacquer! They're offering free shipping on orders $27+ from now on! (Effective: Sept. 27, 2012).

* Products in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for an honest review!

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