Go With the Flow-er

Man, I feel like I've lost my mojo. I hate 90% of the designs I've done lately, and that makes me SO sad. I'm not saying this to solicit sympathy, I'm saying it because I'm genuinely worried. lol  Designs that should be/usually are easy end up taking forever and looking like crapola. Anyway, today's nail art is simple, and was inspired by the cover of the journal/notebook that I write ideas and jot down my wish list, amongst other things.

I used Nubar Sexy Red as a base, with a mix of Orly Mirror, Mirror and American Apparel Hassid for the dark grey, and Orly Gumdrop for the flower's aqua center. For the white lines, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

American Apparel launches 12 new colors!! PREVIEW

I've made no secret of my love for American Apparel's polish line. I use some of their colors almost daily, and I love their consistency, colors, and opacity. Imagine my excitement to read my email today and see this:

Yep, seriously dying over here. I cannot wait to get my hands on these. 

From American Apparel:

LOS ANGELES -- American Apparel (Amex: APP), the vertically integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, is announcing the addition of twelve new colors to its successful line of nail polish.


The company's Made in the USA nail lacquer is now available in 48 colors. The 12 new shades take inspiration from simple and straightforward elements of both Angeleno and global culture, reflecting the ubiquitous nature of the T-shirt on which American Apparel built its brand. Echo Park, a new shade of concrete grey, and MacArthur Park, a muted mossy yellow, both reference neighborhoods where the company first opened stores and where many of its employees live. Others, like Trenchcoat and Army Jacket, are nods to iconic garments and their evocative, eponymous tones.


"Nail polish is our favorite category for exploring color. We planned on releasing only six new shades, but we felt so strongly about all of these that we decided to release a full dozen. Its difficult to pick a favorite--they all compliment wardrobes in different ways. We can't wait to see the looks people create with them," said Marsha Brady, a creative director for American Apparel.


American Apparel Nail Lacquer has become one of the company's fastest-moving products. The two previous launches of colors quickly sold out worldwide. The consistency and quality of the polish has been universally noted in the reviews of the product and the company diligently oversaw the production process to ensure this standard again.


American Apparel Nail Lacquer is priced at $6 per bottle and is available in a 3-pack for $15 and 7-pack for $32. It is sold at American Apparel stores worldwide as well as online. The nail polish is DBP, toluene and formaldehyde-free. For a full view of color range, ingredients, swatches and photographs, please visit our online store.

Just not feeling this mani....Oh well, Can't love them all.

I'm not sure why I don't like it, I kind of feel like it makes my nails look nubby. I used Wet n Wild's Nocturnal, OPI Catch Me In Your Net and 10's  #415, the pink base.
I started with the 415, than taped off my nail doing one side of the tip. After that dried, I did the other.

When it came time to do the OPI on my tips, I got kind of lazy and just cut the zig zag end of the tape off, and turned it, so the sides lined up with the Nocturnal tips.

Funky French with OPI's Fraternal Twins..........

This mani, I decided to use both of OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark finishes, Suede & Matte. Can you handle it?? lol. Okay, I'm feeling really anwry and dorky right now, so bare with me. Anyways, back to the mani...

I started with 2 coats of the Suede version.....oh and see the dang burn on my finger!! Ick!

Then I decided to add a coat of SV...muuuuuch better.

Then, using the Matte version, I taped off my nails, and added tips!

Then...just cause....I added SV to it all!!!

Blinged Out Bursts

As you make-up diehards may know, Nov 11-15, Sephora gave a 20% discount to their VIB customers. I went to the first night of the 'sale' for their shopping event. I'll be honest, since I'm broke, it was mostly to get the freebies, but when I saw this polish, I totally couldn't resist it, and at 20% off, what better time?! The color I'm talking about is part of their Holiday collection, and it's called 212 Sephora, which is a soft black with iridescent glitter, as well as gold glitter, and copper flakies!! It's seriously AMAZING. For today's design, I really wanted to use it, but I didn't want to cover it up, so I chose to do a simple burst in an olive color in the upper corner of the nail.

A different angle to show off the glitter better

I used OPI for Sephora 212 Sephora as a base, with Rescue Beauty No More War for the burst. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

New Manicure For a Week

Hello My Sweet Nail-Art Lovers
JUst a quick post to share manicure i amde today for next work week. I would give it a 4 out of 5, but i think it still looks nice.
I promiss to make more stamping manis, i know i didnt stamp in a long while, but just cold not quit playing with my new paint.
So anyway let me know whta do you think about this manicure and be prepared for big event - a nice holiday contest is comming up here- at my Nail Art world blog, as soon as i get the prizes in my mail. Have a great week. Your L.

Right Hand

Ulta Urban Jungle with Rococo Gold Leaf

Another Shredded mani......

Taking the idea from my past 2 Shredded Manis, I decided to try another, using different finishes. I chose OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark Matte, and just SV for the shiny parts.  I used the same techinque that can be seen here. I am seriously LOVING this!! It looks sooo bad a$$ to me!.

'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

No, this isn't a Christmas manicure... and if it were, it'd be a totally morbid holiday manicure! Oh, wait, I DID do a skully christmas manicure last year. Oops. :-D Today's nail art is in honor of Robert Louis Stevenson's 160th birthday, which is today! :) As you may know, one of his famous works of literature is 'Treasure Island', a tale of pirates and buried gold. In reference to that, I chose to do Jolly Roger nail art today! (as if I needed a reason to do pirate nails :-P)

I used American Apparel Hassid as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the skull and crossbones. Topped it off with my still-fresh and amazingly well applying Seche Vite top coat. lol

YARRRRR!

Zoya Flame Collection - Crystal - swatches & comparison

Zoya Flame Collection

Zoya's latest collection brings us six new metallic colors. You might have heard of the Zoya Fire & Ice collection, well, this is the same thing! They changed it into the Flame collection, rumor has it that it's because of Revlon, who trademarked the Fire & Ice phrase ages ago. Anyway, today I'll be showing you one of the prettiest polishes in this collection: Crystal, a frosty blue sparkling metallic.

Crystal

I'm not sure what to think of polishes who get named after women's names. I think it's lacking originality and it's a bit too easy as well. Thankfully, it's just a name. Crystal is a gorgeous cold, medium blue frosty polish with a bunch of golden flecks to spice it up.

As you can see the golden sparks in Crystal really compliment the icy, snowy blue color. For me this is the ultimate winter color. This may sound ridiculous to you, but this polish reminds me of winter fairies with golden locks. I know, right?

Application

Most Zoya polishes don't dry that well one me. Crystal does dry rather quickly, so yay for that. The formula was spot on, not too thick or thin, and completely opaque in three coats. Two coats would be quite okay already though.

Crystal versus Reflecting Pool

From the moment the first promoshots rolled in, I knew it had to be similar to OPI's Reflecting Pool. Reflecting Pool is quite hard to get since it was exclusively sold in certain European countries. Nowadays you'll usually find it on eBay for ridiculous prices.

Well, I did suspect both colors would be similar, but I was surprised to see they're dead on dupes! The formulas are very alike as well, so if you couldn't get your hands on Reflecting Pool, this is your chance!

Where to buy

You can get Zoya nail lacquers from their website: www.zoya.com and eBay. Zoya Crystal costs $7 for 15ml.