Inspired

Just finished this mani and thought I should post something, but I don't like it at all. It didn't turn out how I wanted, but oh well. I was inspired by this look by Katrina at Katrina's Nail Blog (check her out, she's great!). My beads were much much smaller than the ones she used, and they were very finicky, ugh. Nevertheless, I got them all lined up and stuck down.
The colours I used were Joe Faded Lilac for the purple base, China Glaze White on White for the tips and stripe, and OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?, China Glaze For Audrey, and Sally Hansen Black Out for the spots and outlines.
Taking this off my nails and doing them again tonight, so stay tuned!

Thanks for looking :)

I'm still here!

I know I haven't posted for a couple days, but I'm still alive! I am just about to do some hardcore nail care treatments because I've been working for the last 2 days.. Work and nails don't get along. I hope to get something else up later today, check back soon!

xo, Lauren

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Purple Gala

I have had this colour on my nails for a couple days now, but I am only just getting around to blogging about it. School has been taking over my life :( But enough about that, on to the review!

Sally Hansen's 'Purple Gala' is a dark purple jelly with gold and silver glitter (in my opinion). It is very multi-dimensional and looks different in every light. Sometimes it looks almost a taupe-y colour, and sometimes it looks very purple. Don't be deceived by my picture, the pink comes from the reflection of my camera (it's pink), so just try and ignore that, haha.

This took a good 3 coats to become opaque, and I ended up adding a little more on the tips because I could still see through them (a big pet peeve of mine). Anyways, this is a new favourite of mine, and a great colour for the fall/winter seasons. Very regal :)

On another topic, it has been raining here for 5 days straight. So many people are going crazy. It is not fun having to walk everywhere and get soaked :( This is a picture taken from my residence window - as you can see, everything is pretty soggy out there!

The weather says it is supposed to be sunny tomorrow, my fingers are crossed. How is the weather where you are??

Thanks for looking!

China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy

I know what you're thinking, it's November, why on Earth is she reviewing Flip Flop Fantasy? Well, maybe I'm crazy, but I hoped it would get rid of my "ugh-it's-November-and-winter-is-coming" blues. I'm not sure if it worked or not, but I sure do have some bright fingertips! :)

Flip Flop Fantasy is a bright coral neon from China Glaze's Poolside collection. As with creamy neons, it dries super quick. I also noticed that the lighting varies the colour greatly. In natural light (shown above), it looks coral-y, but can look very orange with artificial lighting.
Regardless of being a slight nightmare to apply (as most neon's are I understand), I love it. My camera doesn't quite pick up the whole effect, but does a decent job I would say. Most of my nails took 3-4 coats to become opaque and streak free (which I still didn't completely achieve). Adding a coat of Seche Vite, I find, helps this problem.
I also love the "insta-tan" you get from neons :) Just something about them makes you look a shade darker, it's nice! This is overall one of my favs in my collection and I'd definitely like to try out more China Glaze neons.

Thanks for looking!

OPI - Ski Teal We Drop

This is my most recent mani, and what is on my fingers right now. Don't judge from this picture, the lighting is off. Anyways! Let's get to it. This is Ski Teal We Drop by OPI. I bought it around a month ago, but this is the first time I actually used it - neglect much?? It is a blue/green cream polish - I used 2-3 coats to make it truly opaque (some fingers 2, some fingers 3). Although the name is not-so-original (Teal The Cows Come Home - OPI, you've already used this pun) I am really liking the colour. Even though it's a cream (no dimension) the colour looks very different in different lighting.

So, like I was saying, very different in different lighting (this is natural light). The blue/green colour is much more distinguishable here!

Thanks for looking :)

Sally's Polish Haul

On Sunday, my best friend and her boyfriend showed up at my university to surprise me! We had a great time, which included a necessary trip to Sally's Beauty Supply because of our mutual love for it. I was determined to leave with nothing (I don't need any more!) but of course, that's not how it worked out.
Anyways, I was done looking at the nail polish and decided that I didn't need any of the colours, although I was tempted by China Glaze Lemon Fizz (on my wishlist) and China Glaze Dorothy Who? which I had seen (and fallen in love with) on a nail blog the day before. This was until my friend called me over to another aisle, and there it was. The package of three China Glaze holiday colours. I was in love.

I apologize for the bad lighting, it was the best I could do - my room has terrible lighting. But here they are! I have to say Party Hearty (the red/green/gold topcoat) is my favourite. I can't wait for the holiday season to wear this! The set also comes with Phat Santa (a deep red jelly) and Jolly Holly (a dark, forest green with a tad of shimmer). Here are the colour drops (my first attempt, so bear with me):

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do! I hope to get some swatches up as the holiday season gets closer :)
Thanks for looking!