Blog love and awards!

I have been pretty busy lately but I want to give a GINORMOUS thank you to all the blog love and tags I have been given. I hate to stray from the rules, but I will be clumping all these awards together if you dont mind and just posting a few blogs that I love :)

Big thanks to Veronica for giving me these awards:

And another big thanks to Laura for giving me this:

I feel awfully special and quite a happy camper ! :)

Both these bloggers are worth the time to check out - so if you haven't already, get on it!!

And now for the blogs that I am loving :

http://accropolish.blogspot.com/

http://nikkisnailfiles.blogspot.com/

http://gothampolish.blogspot.com/

http://lifeandpolish.blogspot.com

http://polishpixelpig.blogspot.com

http://tassas.blogspot.com

EDIT: I forgot to add that the names of the bloggers that tagged me are linked to their site! So don't go crazy trying to figure out where their site is! =)

China Glaze Kaleidoscope Him Out

*PIC HEAVY!*

Sorry for being away for a bit, but I'm back =)

It seems to be getting sunnier these days and I haven't had holo nails in awhile. So today seemed the perfect day to get my holo on! I had bought China Glaze Kaleidoscope Him Out awhile back on EBay and haven't tried it on yet so that's the polish I decided on for today. I loved 'He's Going in Circles' and knew I had to buy more from the kaleidoscope collection.

This was three coats - and each layer came out watery and thin. Especially the first layer...it was practically non existent. After two layers, I put on Sally Hansen Insta -Dri top coat which is the one in the red bottle. Then I added a last layer of Kaleidoscope.

The results were holo-rific!! I love!!

Sinful Colors Innocent

Remember how I had been so excited to finally buy Sinful Colors in Innocent? Well the last try using it as a konad color didn't show up well so I decided this time to use it as a base color.

I love this color because it reminds me of Shrek. It is such a fun and bright color, perfect for summer. I got this perfect in two coats and then used Fresh Paints in Envied as the image color. I stamped with m74 image plate. I think this turned out quite fun looking. =)

OPI Hot & Spicy gradient

I've always wanted to try gradient nails. But I'd look into my stash and somehow not find coordinating colors. But at the end of last month, I wrapped up my epic failure on my low buy with buying Wet n Wild in Sunny Side Up. It is a tangerine orange that came along with one of the wonkiest brushes ever. Now don't get me wrong, I love bold colors, but plain orange just doesn't appeal to me. I think its because it reminds me of a pumpkin.

Anyways, so this is when I thought of trying a gradient mani. I picked the color that was next to Sunny Side Up which was OPI Hot & Spicy. It is a bright coral orange. Very preety on its own too! I painted my WnW in three coats, and used a small sponge to sponge on OPI. To top this off, I lightly brushed WnW in Kaleidoscope on the tips. It is a holo glitter. I loved the results!!

This is the wonky brush. Usually I don't mind WnW and their cheap brushes...I mean, you pay for what you get. But this was borderline dinky because I have seen equally cheap polishes with good brushes.

Top 10 Award!! Whoo hoo!!

YAY! I've been given my first award! Huge thanks to Cristina from Opinionated Little Finger for choosing me!

I am very excited about this :)

The Top 10 award rules:
1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.

My top 10 cosmetics:

1. Maybelline Falsies Waterproof Mascara - absolute must have in my makeup train case. It is amazing in giving volume and length.
2. Wet n Wild MegaLast Lipstick in Bare It All - Best nude matte lipstick for cheap .. $1.99!!
3. EcoTools Bronzer Brush - So soft and perfect for mineral makeup, blush, bronzer, powder, or buffing. This brush does it all.
4. Revlon eyelash curler - does it's job well and is fairly cheap
5. Milani Infinte Liquid Eye Liner - after tons of research and test tries, I have discovered this is the holy grail of waterproof eyeliner. It will not budge!
6. Estee Lauder Automatic Eye Pencil Duo in Black - I have used this eyeliner since I was in junior high. It is my go to liner. And it is refillable which is great.
7. Tweezerman pointy tweezer - No other tweezer works for me now.
8. Smashbox Photo Finish Oil-Free Primer - I use this before putting on my foundation and it does wonders. Well, maybe not wonders but I love it.
9. Revlon ColorStay Mineral Finishing Powder in Suntan Matte - I wish this wasn't discontinued. It is a sheer all over bronzer that just warms up my face.
10. Biore Pore Strips - I am obsessed with using these. I love ripping it off and looking at all the grossness it pulled out and feeling much cleaner. Haha, was that a little tmi?

And now here are the blogs I will pass this award on to:


Natalie @ http://nattyngeorge.blogspot.com/

Polished Perfectionist @ http://the-polished-perfectionist.blogspot.com/

Ash-Lilly @ http://ash-lillyslacquerlust.blogspot.com/

Ice Queen @ http://icynails.blogspot.com/

Glitta Gloves @ http://glittagloves.blogspot.com/

A Polished Touch @ http://apolishedtouch.blogspot.com/

Nicely Varnished @ http://www.nicelyvarnished.com/

Melissa & Amanda @ http://madmanis.blogspot.com/

Brooke @ http://www.caracita.com/

Nailasaurus @ http://nailasaurus.blogspot.com/

I love all their blogs - each one is special and worth checking out if you haven't already!

Funky Fingers Snakeskin

Today I have for you Funky Fingers "Snakeskin". It is a pretty oil slick olive with a shimmer foil look to it. It applied like a dream and would probably be okay with one coat, however I used two. It seemed a bit boring and I felt an urge to do something to it. I had wanted to do another acrylic nail art on it but I wasn't in the mood. Then I thought maybe a Konad image on it would be nice but I didn't want a cream polish to overpower this shimmer like foil. So I decided on tips in a dark green. I chose Sinful Colors in "Last Chance". I still can't manage doing French tips using tape so as usual, I freehanded this.

Have you tried "snakeskin"? Did you put any designs on it?

OPI Steady As She Rose with blingy 3D art

I was planning on doing holo nails today since its super hot and sunny. But at the last minute I changed my mind and went with 3D nail art. It always takes awhile for me and this was my second time using arcylic to make 3D art. I used a mold the last time and it had worked great but for some reason todays mold didnt bring me pretty art - I wanted to make bows. After a few tries, i ripped what i had already done off and started over without the mold. Freehanding my bows was a lot easier and faster.

I started with two coats of OPI Steady As She Rose. Followed by a coat of Seche Vite. Then using pink acrylic powder and liquid, I made bows on each nail. When I was done, I added a pink rhinestone to the middle of each bow and sealed with another coat of Seche Vite. Then because I love blingy nails..the blingier the better.. I added extra rhinestones to my ring finger. I used clear, yellow and gold stones for that and once again sealed with SV. Yes that's lots of top coat but hopefully no stones will fall off.

Has anyone tried acrylic art? How do you like it?

Revlon First Class

The other day while browsing at Target, I found Revlon Speed Dry in 'First Class'. This is a dusty blue. Its a mixture of royal blue without coming out as dark as 'Revlon Royal' and its a dusty sailor blue without being bright or light. It is the perfect blue in my opinion and I have been looking for a color like this for the longest.
When I got home,I was searching for swatches but couldn't find any which makes me wonder if this is a brand new shade. So if anyone has seen this, let me know!

I took a few pictures because I couldn't capture the greatness of this polish. However the second pic seems the closest. These are two coats but can be done in one if your carefull. I also gave my Mani accent nails with Sinful Colors in Hottie.

Indoors in low light:

Indoors under light: (this is the closest to color IRL)

Outdoors in shade:

Outdoors in slight sun:

OPI navy shatter

I never was into shatter or crack. Butttt, when OPI came out with their new shatter colors, I decided it was time to dip my nails into some crack : ) . I finally tried this today and honestly I'm not too excited about it. I got navy shatter and I wished it would appear as a brighter navy. Perhaps the Sally Hansen crackles might've been more what I was looking for.

I used Sally Hansen CSM in Yellow Kitty. This was three layers and it might've needed four if I wasn't going to layer something on top. Then I applied my shatter. The thicker the coat, the larger pieces in shatter. But it was hard to apply a thick layer without redipping into the bottle.

What are your thoughts on shatter and crackles?