Layla Coral Glam

Good morning! I hope everyone had a good weekend. For all of you who work Monday-Friday I definitely feel your pain today. I dread heading back to work starting on Sunday morning lol. On a side note and completely unrelated to polish, does anyone watch The Real Housewives of NJ? So far it's really good this season. I'm not really a kid person but Theresa's kids are so wild they definitely make the show lol.

Today I have one of the Layla holos for you. This one is Coral Glam. The formulas on these are a little difficult to work with, they definitely have a learning curve. This is the third I've tried and so far the easiest formula. This did take three layers to get opaque but I've read they are much easier to work with when you have an aqua base. I did three coats over LA Girls Nail Hardener, which I read was a decent base coat for these holos on MUA. I've learned that once you lay the polish down you can't go over it a second time or it drags the polish off. I let these dry at least 10-15 minutes between coats. I also didn't purchase the buffer they suggest. My nails are thin and peel like crazy so I've learned that buffing is a no-no for sure.

All extra application work aside, these are my best holos. Hands down. Coral Glam is the nude holo of the bunch. I can't say enough about this polish, so I'm just going to spam you with photos.....

* * * Disclaimer - My photos do the holographic effect no justice. These are even more holographic in person! * * *

Indoors under daylight lamp



The above photo starts the outdoor photos......



Amazing! And dangerous, because as I was driving I think I was looking at my nails more than the road. Every angle you turn you get a different rainbow effect. I had about 30 photos and had such a hard time narrowing them down. I did not use a top coat in the photos above. I didn't want to even chance dulling the holo.

You can pick these up from www.AveYou.com and Zappos, plus I've read that Ulta will be getting them as well. They retail for $15.50 which I know isn't very wallet friendly. I purchased these from AveYou because they had a coupon for $25 off $100 with $1 shipping which made them $12.50 each. Still more than a regular polish but I love to hoard some holo polishes....let me tell you lol.

Ozotic 513

Good morning! I've finally decided I either have to post my old swatches or delete them, so I'm starting by posting the good ones lol. I purchased Ozotic 513 from Llarowe months back. For whatever reason, it never made it to a post.

Ozotic 513 is described as a purple linear holographic on Llarowe's website. I have a weakness for holographics and purples that lean magenta. When I first saw this I had to have it. The undertones in the purple are much more red than blue. Formula was smooth and easy to work with. I used two coats of Ozotic 513 and a coat of Seche Vite for the photos below.....

Ozotic 513 retails for $17.50 on Llarowe's website. While it's a little pricey, I don't own a dupe for this. I have yet to be disappointed by an Ozotic polish. Of course with this polish the real magic happens in the sun. I forgot to take photos of this polish out of direct lighting at the time  but if I ever get through my untrieds I'll swatch this again.  :)

Twinsie Tuesday - Skittles Mani

Hello! It's another Twinsie Tuesday post. This week's theme was a skittle mani, another mani that pushed me beyond my comfort zone lol. While I wouldn't typically wear a skittle mani on a regular basis, I would definitely rock this on my toes! I decided to go bright and summery with some of my Color Club polishes.

In person, these went together SO good. On camera, I had trouble getting them to photograph accurately. I'd like to blame it on the fact that some are creme and some have a bit of a jelly finish. I must have taken at least 30 photos, so here are the best of the bunch......

Thumb: The Lime Starts Here (3 coats)

Pointer: Jackie Oh! (3 coats, not 100% color accurate. This is HOT pink, no signs of coral)

Middle: Age of Aquarius (2 coats, a shade darker IRL)

Ring: Disco Dress (2 coats, just slightly more purple IRL)

Pinkie: Wham! Pow! (2 coats)

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie  Tuesday ladies:

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi
Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...
Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Lynnderella Cauldron Drippings

I'm back today with the layering mani I spoke about yesterday. I started with two coats of OPI A Roll in The Hague and topped it off with two coats of Lynnderella's Cauldron Drippings. I can't say enough about this mani, so I'm just going to get straight to the photos....

I'm in love. There's so much going on, but it all falls together just perfectly.

I know not everyone loves Lynnderella polishes or the drama surrounding them. While I don't enjoy the drama that was created (mainly through Facebook, IMO) I really do love these polishes. What is your opinion on Lynnderella polishes?

OPI A Roll in The Hague

Hiya! Super quick post today. I have a pretty cool layering combination using OPI A Roll in The Hague, but I wanted to give ARiTH it's own post due to the fact that once I threw something extra over this, I was unable to photograph it's true color.

OPI A Roll in The Hague is from the Holland Collection. The photos below show two coats of OPI A Roll in The Hague topped with a coat of Seche Vite. Formula was easy to work with and it was opaque in two coats.

Sorry for the dry cuticles. This NY weather is freaking out my skin and nothing seems to help! It was over 80 degrees yesterday and they are forecasting a high of 62 for today.  I caught a quick photo of the sun through my sunroof on my lunch break yesterday....

If April showers bring May flowers and we haven't had any showers....what the hell is May going to be like? I'm not a big fan of the heat. If I have to live somewhere where it's hot I rather be in Florida where the water is at least clear and blue!

I'll be back tomorrow :)



Twinsie Tuesday - Tape Mani

This week's theme made me shudder. Tape mani? Ugh! I'm artistic on paper but on my nails I have very little to no artistic abilities. I put this off for as long as possible. I googled numerous 'tape mani' photos and I knew I wouldn't be able to do 95% of them, so I decided to go as basic as possible. I finally decided I couldn't put it off anymore around 10pm last night, so I went right over my current mani because I figured it would be a fail and I would have to do it all over again. Surprisingly, it wasn't a complete fail. Sure....it was the simplest tape mani on the planet but I almost wanted to high five myself.

For a base I used three coats of Layla Mermaid Spell and I did one coat of China Glaze Calypso Blue and topped it all with a thick coat of Seche Vite. I could have used a second coat of Calypso Blue but in person it's deep and looks completely opaque.

Not the best....but I'm ok with it lol. You can see some areas where my line isn't crisp but it's a start. I actually decided to keep this as a mani and I did my right hand, which didn't come out as ok.

I'm excited to see what the other Twinsie Tuesday girls come up with. We have quite a few girls who are SO talented when it comes to nail art.

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi
Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...
Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Zoya Skylar

Good Morning! Since I put myself on a "low-buy" in January I've been really good about saying no to nail polish. I'm not sure whether my self control is finally kicking in or I'm just not feeling the new collections that are being released. Since January I've only bought a few polishes, but I was lemming a few from the Zoya True collection.

I waited for a promo code and bought the ones I wanted most. I picked up Skylar, Lotus and Tru. When I finally tried Skylar it definitely lived up to my expectations. Zoya's website described Skylar as a "medium steel blue with a softened, dusty look and speckled by visible gold and silver shimmer flecks. A soft blue that's bold without being too dark, bright or flashy."  Pure fabulousness. Need I say more? Formula was easy to work with and it was opaque in two coats.

So they aren't the best swatches but I'm sure you've seen this polish about 30 times by now. I've been really bad lately with taking photos in a timely manner. I think these photos were taken after 3-4 days, so this mani was a tad beat up. You can see the SV shrinkage pretty bad. I'm still looking for another top coat that I will love as much as SV for when I wear my Zoyas. I'm waiting for Zoya to release another promo code so I can pick up some of the new Beach & Surf collection.

Nail-Venturous Orange You Unique?

Happy Friday!! I have another indie polish for today's post. I purchased Nail-Venturous Orange You Unique when I bought Floam from Ninja Polish. I had seen a few swatches on this and I really liked just how unique it really is. Unfortunately, this didn't really work for my skin tone.

Orange You Unique has tiny matte yellow, white and blue glitter in a sheer orange base. I hesitate to call the base orange, because against my skin tone this came off as more peach than anything. I saw the clashing when I was putting down the first coat, so I stopped at the second. From a distance the orange/peach base blends into my skin. I am cool toned but I do have some red in my hands.

Thoughts and opinions? I know this isn't the absolute worst, but I feel I can't really pull it off. This would probably look great on someone with a tan.

What is everyone wearing for the weekend? I'm rocking Lynnderella Forget You Not. I have to remember to take photos before it chips lol.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!! :)

Twinsie Tuesday - Nude Polish (China Glaze FYI)

Good morning ladies! Today's Twinsie Tuesday post is all about a nude polish. I don't have a lot of nude polishes. I haven't found the perfect nude polish for my skin tone, but the one I own that I like most is a nude holographic. (I definitely have a thing for holos lol)

China Glaze FYI is the nude linear holographic from the OMG Collection. When I originally bought this polish I wasn't in love with it. It looked a little boring and plain, but I couldn't leave it behind because # 1 it's holographic, # 2 it's hard to find. When I first put this polish on a few months back I was really impressed.

Besides being nude this polish isn't boring. It's complimentary to my skin tone and the formula is like butter. My swatches show two easy coats of FYI. This is more holographic in person than shown in my photos. My camera had a hard time picking up the holo in this polish.

I apologize for the sea of cuticle oil in these swatches. I thought I massaged it in fully.....whoops!

What's your favorite nude polish?

I'm excited to see what the other Twinsie Tuesday ladies picked. Don't forget to check them out here:

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi
Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...
Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

China Glaze Visit Me in Prism

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a good Easter or a good start to Passover, whichever you celebrate! I don't have many family members left in New York anymore so I just had dinner with my immediate family at my house. Then....except for laundry, I literally did nothing for the rest of the night lol. I actually had naked nails for Easter  :0/

Today I have one of my long time lemmings for you, China Glaze's Visit Me in Prism from the Kaleidoscope collection. Besides the amazing fact that it is a holographic, how fun is the name? It gives this polish a bad girl vibe. Visit Me in Prism is a very pale lilac holo, but it leans pretty silver. If I wasn't familiar with the collection I would have thought this was just silver. Nonetheless, it's still very pretty. I actually scored a new bottle of this off of a blog sale for around $12 which is a steal considering what it's going for on Ebay. Formula was easy to work with. I wore this mani at least a month ago (that's how far behind I am) and I can't remember if this is two or three coats. Either way, it's topped off with a coat of Seche Vite.

The last two photos are outdoor sunlight photos! Sunlight photos haven't made it to my blog posts in so long....

These Kaleidoscopes don't disappoint!

Since I didn't have anything fun on my nails this Easter, I decided to wear a pastel to start off the week. I'm rocking OPI Gargantuan Green Grape for the next day or so. My nails still hate me and I had to nubbinize them again. :::sigh:::

What did everyone wear for their holiday mani?

Models Own Pinky Brown

Happy Friday! I normally don't post this late in the day but I had some time to catch up and figured what the heck? lol.

Today I have Models Own Pinky Brown from the Beetlejuice collection. I did a swap a few months back with an amazing girl from across the pond and she sent me the entire Beetlejuice collection. I had such a hard time deciding which to use first, so I grabbed this one and went for it. Pinky Brown is just that.....pink and brown. It's a duochrome with a very shimmery finish. For the most part the polish is a dark maroon/pink but the flash of golden brown gives it character. It was opaque with two coats (I keep my coats on the medium/thick side)

Does anyone else own the Beetlejuice collection? I'm not sure which to try next :)

Twinsie Tuesday: Go To Polish (In This Case....Nail Venturous Floam!!)

Well helloooo :)  Today's Twinsie Tuesday topic is our go to polish/mani. The first polish that came to mind was OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. I spent an entire winter a few years back wearing LPAD. I think I have about 5-6 bottles of LPAD, and about 3 bottles of Lincoln Park After Midnight in my stash. I then realized that I can't call it my go to mani, since I haven't worn it in about a year. I have so many untried that I am trying to get to, that I sometimes feel guilty going back to some of my older polishes.

I decided to pick a polish I'm currently obsessed with, since it's my current go to mani. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I recently got Nail Venturous Floam from NinjaPolish.com. Since I got this polish in the mail about two weeks ago, I have worn this three times! Everytime it chipped I would redo the nail. I finally changed my mani last night. Floam is pure amazing in a nail polish bottle. It's tiny tiny green, blue and yellow glitter particles in a clear base.  It dries pretty matte. Even with a coat of Seche Vite it didn't give off the normal shine and it would. Formula is a little thick but not difficult to work with, you just have to go a little slower. It was fully opaque in two coats.

You can get Floam from www.NinjaPolish.com. Nail Venturous also has an Etsy shop, but she is currently closed. From what I've read you have to do quite a bit of stalking to get your hands on a bottle too. (I'm dying to get my hands on a bottle of Humble Bee!!)

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie Tuesday ladies:

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Ashley at Art Evolve

Brandi at The Collegiate Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails

Rachel at Top Coat It

Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

March's Haul

Good Morning! I can't believe it's April already!!!  I've been really good with the "low-buy" that I put myself since January. I've come to understand that I don't need every single bottle of nail polish that I like. With that being said, March was the month of the indie polish haul lol. Indie polish seems to be the newest phenomenon and while I like most of what I see, I'm trying to refrain from buying. I've loved Lynnderella since before she even got hooked up with Llarowe, and I've recently been STALKING trying to get polishes from Amy at I'm Feeling Nail Venturous. Her polishes are hands down some of the best I've seen.

With that being said, it's photo time for the hauls.....

From NinjaPolish.com:

Jessica Iridescent Eye (dead on Chanel Peridot dupe), Nail Venturous Floam, Nail Venturous Orange You Unique?

I'm in LOVE with Floam. No joke, I've worn it three times since I've gotten it. I have photos and I plan to post super soon. Floam is so great that it's cutting the line in regards to backlogged swatches. I'm a little unsure about Orange You Unique, the base looks a little funky. My boyfriend saw the bottle and instantly hated it. I'm dying to get my hands on a bottle of Humble Bee. Humble Bee may be my biggest lemming right now.

And now time for my Llarowe/Lynn haul. My last name happens to fall at the end of the alphabet. All through school I had to wait for almost every single person in the classroom to be called for attendance before my name was called. At work, when handing out pay stubs they go in alphabetical order.  To this day I'm still waiting for things due to where my last name falls in the alphabet. When Llarowe announced how she would be handling the wish list filling for the Lynnderella polishes, I almost died. I had a feeling that I would be on the second rotation where she started at Z and worked her way forward.

I waited patiently as she filled the first rotation. I tried to keep it off my mind as much as possible. I expected to get a few polishes when she finally got to the second rotation. When I got my invoice I literally yelled "YES!" out loud in the middle of my house. While my wallet cringed, I rejoiced lol.

My Lynnderella haul.....
(three of these were bought for me by a friend, but I received them around the same time so I included them)

Gigantic! Only half fit in my mailbox, the other half was hanging out. The USPS guy was lucky this wasn't stolen or it didn't rain. I would have killed someone.

Not the best photos, but you get the idea. I've only worn Mercurial so far.  I'm having a hard time deciding what order to wear them, and what to layer them over. I have some ideas, but nothing set in stone. As much as I love my Lynns they are so difficult to remove. Even with the foil method it's about 10-15 minutes, so I leave these for weekend wear this way if I put them on Thursday night they are lifting by Sunday night lol.