Royal Under Fire

 

 

 



Good Friday to all!! Well, hope everyone had a good week. So, this is my first true hurricane season down in Louisiana, so it's been a crazy week with Issac! I live in the northern part, so we just got some wind and rain but nothing serious, unlike the south and Mississippi. I work at a bank that operates out of Hammond, which if anyone paid attention was hit hard (it's not far from New Orleans). So, we have worked but the lower part of the state hasn't been. It's been weird watching it all unfold just a few hours south of us.

Anyways, that hasn't changed anything in my life, so now I bring you all the famous Max Factor Fantasy Fire, which is called the dupe for the also famous VHTF and VE (very expensive!) Clarins 230, as you can see from Chalkboard Nails. So, this will work for now...however, this polish was one of my biggest lemmings! So, I was SOOOO excited when I found it on ebay for a decent price. I ordered 2 mini bottles (which is the only size made...hmmm) from the UK. I couldn't wait to get it on!!!

 



 



 

So, for my look I wanted to use an undie that would bring out the beauty in the most awesome color, which I think is purple...so I used blue. My fav blue- Revlon Royal. It only took 1 coat of this bright bold color and 2 coats of Fantasy Fire to create this most beautiful array of colors I've had on my nails so far! I LOVE this look!! I think I saw this combo. You get a different look with whatever undie color you wear. But, whatever you choose to mix this polish with, it's beautiful and defintely works well with any color! My camera sucks and doesn't even begin to show off the beauty of this look!  If you have Fantasy Fire or Clarins 230 what combinations have you tried? Show links if you have them! I am anxious to try something different since this combination isn't anything new, but this is definitely my favorite look.

Maybelline Color Show Denims

Good Sunday to all! I hope everyone is having a super weekend. So, I have quite a post to share, so let's get to it! Warning: pic heavy!
Today I wanted to show you a couple of new Maybelline polishes that I got a while back. I've never worn Maybelline before- maybe when I was a teen, but they release a new Color Show line that sales for only $2.99 a bottle. Couldn't pass that up! I got a bunch of them, nothing really special and unique. But, I did get a couple grouped as Denims, which are shimmery, flaky blues that I thought looked great and were blog-worthy.

First, is Denim Dash, which is the lighter of the two:

What impressed me about these polishes was that I only used one coat for both! It was a wonderful opaque shimmer and applied very smoothly.

Denim Dash closeup

Then I thought I'd get all fancy and add one coat of Sally Hansen HD DVD, which is a micro-flaky iridescent purple and blue- this is meant more as a layering or top polish as it is very sheer and doesn't look good on it's own.

Denim Dash                                                  Denim Dash with DVD

I just loved this combination and took like a million pictures...I still had to narrow it down and I could do any less than this! sorry!

Just a side note: I think it's' time to thin out my bottle of Seche Vite- it was so goopy it was stringy almost like a glue gun. Since I don't have any polish thinner, here's my system real quick:
I keep about 5 bottles of it on hand (available at Wal-Mart and Sally's for about $8 a bottle, but if you have a Sally's card, there are usually deals to get free top and basecoats) and use about 3 at a time. I have them listed on the bottom from thickest (oldest) to newest. When one becomes too thick I just add more from the second bottle...and so on. It works for me until I come up with something better! Ok, back to the polish...

Next, is the darker of the Denims, Styled Out:

Again, I used one coat of Styled Out and a thick coat of Seche Vite. I just loved this little polish and can see myself using it for stamping.

Styled Out closeup

Here is Styled Up with DVD on top:

I liked this one with no top coat. Gives it kind of a matte look. I love the iridescent shimmer of the different shades of purple and blue. Here they are compared side by side:

Honestly, I couldn't really tell the difference since the polish was dark to begin with. But, nevertheless, this was a fun swatch. Lastly, here are the Denim Dash and Styled Out together:



Denim Dash                                                                           Styled Out

I don't really wear these brands I guess because they're so well known and usually not unique. Most of the colors have been around for a while, but I really liked these and at such a great bargain they are great polishes and I was impressed enough to take a ton of pictures! Let me know what you think? Have you tried any of the new Maybelline Color Show line?

China Glaze/Essie Gradient

Good afternoon polish lovers! So, this week has been crazzzzy! I started my new job- well I started training for my new job:) I will be a "relationship banker" or formerly known as a CSR. I was a teller long years ago (like 7 yrs ago lol), and want to move up...so I am. I am super excited and really enjoyed this week! The weather hasn't been very nice to us though, plus I haven't had any time to swatch.  So, when I woke up today and it was soooo sunny and beautiful outside, well, I knew what I had to do!

I have been watching tutorials on YouTube, and saw this really cool one on gradient nails, so I thought I would give it a try! I wanted something kinda spring-y that would stand out. I thought I'd go with some blues. I really like the results I got!

First I started out by painting the tips of my nails with China Glaze For Audrey, which I LOVE! I love Tiffany's color blue and this is almost a perfect match to it! I kinda waited for that to dry and added a little extra to the very tips. Then, I used Essie Absolutely Shore, which is a light minty color.  I went down half way with one coat then went down a little further and lighter with a second coat. Then, one nail at a time right after Essie I used China Glaze White Cap, which I used last week.  It's an sheer, iridescent white and gold glittery...and one of my fav colors. I went almost all the way down to my cuticle with one coat and kinda swished with two colors together creating a more even gradient look. I topped it off with Seche Vite Top Coat and THAT'S IT! It was a lot easier than I thought, but know I can still do better.

Here's what I used in order from L to R: China Glaze For Audrey,
Essie Absolutely Shore, and CG White Cap

I took like a million pictures of this! I had so much fun playing with my camera in the sun lol. I was trying to get as far away but still use my macro, so I could get a good view of my whole look. This was so much fun and I can't wait to do another gradient! Please let me know what you think!!

Essie- Bobbing for Baubles

Hey there polish ladies! While I'm still working on my swatching I will grin and bear it...I wanted to share this look I created last week, but was afraid they would look bad, but I really liked the look, just didn't get great pictures since it was already dark, so I had to take pics inside, so I didn't capture the polish at its full potential.  But I will use the top coat again.

Inside light

 h

Had a bit more light here, but more fuzzy, so not much better :(

I used Essie Bobbing for Baubles 1 coat with 3 coats of China Glaze Wireless Holographic Top Coat. I really loved the look I got with the Holo on top of a dark color....looked very galactic and made me think of my favorite TV series, Fringe. The first pic had darker light which I wasn't liking, but I think it brought out the darker Essie color like a night sky while the other pictures showed the holographic colors. I could have added so many more coats, but three is enough. I don't think this color was meant to be too terribly holographic. (I can't wait to get my hands on GOSH Holographic 549!)
These aren't great swatches, the polish was messy and the pictures aren't very good, but I really wanted to share this swatch with you all. I really like it and want to try it again, hopefully when my nails have grown back.
I just bought Butter LONDON's Spring Collection- so excited to make swatches! More to come!
I am also in the midst of creating a Facebook page for my blog, but don't have much more up there than I do here, plus trying to figure out what to swatch, and how to get a great manicure, just busy, busy, busy. Plus I start a new job end of this week!