Snow themed mani with Essie's Bikini So Teeny

When nailpolishcanada.com first contacted me to participate in their Holiday Nail Art Challenge, I wasn't sure I'd be good enough for it. Me? Nail art? I can't say I know my way around that. But, I'm a pretty creative person, so I decided I'd give it a go anyway - worst that can happen is that I'll have fun with my nail polishes!

This week's theme was snow! So I put myself to the task and came up with this manicure!

I didn't want to create anything complicated (because I'm not that good!) but wanted something sparkly and layered.

For this manicure, I used the following products:

From left to right: Essie Bikini So Teeny, Orly Twilight, China Glaze White on White, Nicole by OPI It's All About the Glam, OPI Pirouette My Whistle, and Seche Vite Top Coat.

I started with two coats of Bikini So Teeny, which in itself is beautiful. Then I used Orly's Twilight just on the tip of my nails. I then dotted China Glaze's White on White as well as Nicole by OPI's It's All About Glam on my nails with a pencil (#klassy) as well as a mechanical pencil (#professional) to get the different sizes of "snowflakes". After this, I added OPI's Pirouette My Whistle on top of everything to create some dimension. A coat of Seche Vite to finish it off and VOILA!

I had so much fun doing this!

The Holiday Nail Art Challenge is live on nailpolishcanada.com and you can vote for your favorite snow manicure here. Of course, I'd really appreciate if you could vote for me!

For my all my American friends - Happy Thanksgiving! Our Canadian one has already passed, but yum, I could totally eat stuffing and sweet potatoes again! That's my kind of comfort food!

QUO by Orly Gels - New nail polish alert!

Hello all!

I must say, when I decided to go to Shoppers Drug Mart a few days ago, I didn't expect to walk out of there with $103 dollahs worth of stuff. One of my most awesome and surprising purchases was the QUO by Orly gel nail polishes. They must  have JUST come out because I can't find any information on them on the internet and Shoppers didn't have a display for them. Or a LED lamp for them yet. But they did have a good selection of colors, which, ahem, I found better than Sally's Gelish selection.

I had never seen or heard of these before and at $10 a bottle, I was very happy to purchase a couple colors. Now, it does seem like you're getting a deal with these since they are only $10 a bottle with their Gelish counterparts being $18 in Canada. However, the amount you get does end up being about the same price. The QUO by Orly polishes only get 4.4ml and the Gelish ones have 9ml. If you're like me and never finish a bottle of polish, this won't bother you too much.

Here's a comparison shot for size reference:

A mini Gelish bottle, my new fave: First Class QUO by Orly Gel polish, an Essence polish, and an OPI bottle.

The application of this was seamless. I find that most Gelish colors (well, the ones I have) need a good three coats of color before the nail is completely opaque. And after three coats, your nails feel a bit "thick". Orly for QUO Gels only took two coats before being opaque. What's really nice about the formula was that it wasn't too thick. The formula didn't run or pool around cuticles - it was excellent. I tried my luck using a Gelish base and top coat and it has worked fine.

What I like most about this gel polish system is the fact that the finish is so shiny! Every time I give myself a gel manicure, I am so happy with the durability of the polish and the intense shine. I must admit, First Class wasn't a polish I would normally pick. It's a very shimmery champagne shade. I believe if you want its non-gel counterpart, QUO by Orly has produced that shade in regular polish in the past (it has the same name). Also, I'm pretty sure it looks a lot like Orly Rage although I do not own it to compare.

On with the pictures yes?

Lame, the bottle is backwards. Sorry!

What's interesting about this polish, as you can see from the pictures, is that it changes colors with the light. Sometimes it's a very light champagne color, sometimes it's more taupe and others it looks gold. Very strange but awesome!

I'm not sure if you can catch how shiny the finish of the topcoat it - I'd compare it to 3 coats of a perma-Seche Vite hybrid. The nice thing is that this finish does not dull itself as fast as a regular manicure. I've written about Gelish here before, but these types of manicures are supposed to last 3 weeks. Since I've used a Gelish base and top coat, I'm not sure I can comment on the durability of this particular polish - it's sandwiched and not technically touching my nail!

All and all, I'd highly recommend this polish. And gel polishes in general. They are easy to use, they do not take too much time and they last an eternity. LED/UV lamp do not have to be expensive - I bought mine from a supplier in Hong Kong for $12. Word to the wise: only go with the Hong Kong option if you're willing to wait a month +. If you're not, I believe Sally's has some decently priced options. DO NOT pay $100 + for one of these - they all work the same.

I'll hopefully have another shade posted in the near future! Do you own any gel nail polish? What's your take on the gel nail system? 

Fowl Play

I had been putting off trying on this polish for months. I bought it before Christmas, encouraged by swatches and rave reviews I saw online. However, when I brought it home, I was uninspired by it. I told my self it's purple, and purple is blah to me, and ugh, it's got sparkles. Will it be too much to wear to work? Will it look good on me? I don't know why but I questioned its existence in my life.

Dude, once I put this baby on, there was no more questions. It. is. beautiful. 

 

Yes, it does require that many photos.  

The one problem I have encountered with this polish is that Seche Vite seems to cause some tip shrinkage. In fact, I felt like tip wear happened faster because of this. But this is the hazard of using Seche Vite as your top coat all the time. I don't have any patience to wait for my polish to dry so I'm faithful to that damn Seche Vite.

If you have this polish still around your local stores, pick it up quick before it's too late!

Androgynie by Orly

Let me just start off by saying that the difficulty in taking these pictures was EXTREME. For some reason, the camera was going all wonky. And it was the *good* camera too. So, I've done my very best to try to show you the awesomeness of this polish.

It looks like deep space to me. I loved wearing this polish. It's black but with a twist. Amazing! This polish wore really well through a weekend of partying. It required two thick coats for an even finish but the formula could handle thick coats and dry fast at the same time. I highly recommend this polish if you're looking for something unique to add to your collection.

Just a little shout out to my handsome boy's 27th birthday today. I love your little face more and more every day! 

I have some Gelish stuff coming in the mail! I cannot wait to review this UV polish system! Hopefully it's as awesome as it sounds!

I'm in love with a polish

Yes, I am in love with a polish. A beautiful vampy sexy nail polish by Orly called Naughty. This is my first try with this brand actually and I'm smitten. It is a gorgeous deep deep red - so deep that I originally though it was brown. It dries (quickly!) to a glossy finish and it completely opaque in two coats.

Just look at the shine!

My only small little complaint about this polish is the tiny brush. I'm not used to them but it honestly didn't give me much problems because the formula was excellent. Still though, I'd like to test that brush out with another Orly color see if it's decent.