NOTD: Springtime Silver!

Two NOTDs in the same week?! What is happening?!

 

My base is one coat of Zoya Purity, then I sponged on more Purity, Zoya Megan and China Glaze Too Yacht To Handle. The sponging created a soft, almost gradient effect for my background. After that was set, I topped it with Seche Vite and let it dry. Once dry, I applied thin coats of Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat to random parts of my nail (one nail at a time) and then added the silver leaf. I just used my finger to apply it and rub it in to create that distressed-ish effect.

I was very in the mood for it to be spring already, and this was very fitting for that. I love the color combo of that minty blue/green and metallic silver. What do you think?

 

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Deborah Lippmann New Gel Lab Pro Nail Color!

Deborah Lippmann has released gel lab pro nail color to go with the top and base coats! This is the Afternoon Delight collection for spring!

The colors are:

• Dirty Little Secret– sheer holographic greige (shimmer)
• Peaches & Cream– full coverage orange (creme)
• The Pleasure Principle– full coverage lilac (creme)
• Get Lucky– full coverage sage blue (creme)

They retail for $20 each or you can buy the whole set for $64 (regularly $80).

NOTD: Gilded Mint!

I didn’t want to do anything too Easter-y, but I’ve been really into pastels AND I got my awesome gold and silver leaf in the mail last week! So this happened!

natural light/ no flash

 natural light/ flash

My base is two coats of China Glaze At Vase Value. I LOVE this color… probably because it’s mint and I love mint, especially this time of year. I wanted to make it a little festive, so I added the gold leaf. I got it on Amazon, and I applied it like I would apply studs. First I put some clear polish on the spots that I wanted to leaf to stick to, then I added the leaf (with some new slanted tweezers that I got on Amazon too! ), and sealed it with Essie Good To Go.

I was originally going to do different colors on each nail, but I loved the mint too much lol What do you guys think?

NOTD: Tropical Florals!

More inspiration! I’m so tired of this not warm weather that I thought I’d take my nails right into summer… I’m about ready to skip spring altogether!

My base is two coats of Zoya Sailor. For the flowers, I used some new nail art brushes and Zoya Purity, Zoya Arizona and Essie Snap Happy. For the leaves, I used the nail art brushes again and Essie The More The Merrier and OPI Amazon Amazoff. Then I used a dotting tool and Zoya Raven for the black dots in the middle of the flowers. I felt that my pointer and pinky were unfinished, so I added gold studs! Topped everything off with a nice coat of Essie Good To Go.

I’m seriously obsessed with these. I can’t stop looking at them and they make me feel like it’s not 30 degrees in the morning haha what do you guys think?

NOTD: Colorful Blossoms!

It’s the first day of spring! And we’re expecting a snow storm -____-

So I decided to combat this ridiculous weather with bright colors and colorful blossoms!

My base is two coats of China Glaze At Vase Value (it’s a little mintier and brighter in real life). Then I used OPI You Don’t Know Jacques for the branches, just free handed those with a striping brush. Then I used dotting tools and Zoya Jem, Remy and Harlow for the blossoms, a smaller dotting tool with OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby for the middle of the blossoms, and a smaller brush and Essie The More The Merrier for the leaves. Topped everything off with Essie Good to Go.

I was kinda meh about this, but it grew on me once I added Love.Angel.Music.Baby! There are a lot of colors, but I love them together. This mani is definitely brightening this very grey first day of spring. What do you guys think?

ORLY Sugar High Collection Preview!

This is ORLY’s collection for spring 2015. I’ve gotta say.. it’s not what I expected but I’m really liking it!

Left to right: Sweet Dreams, Frosting, Key Lime Twist, Cake Pop, Candy Shop, Plum Sugar.

Definitely not your typical spring collection. Love the lack of Easter colored pastels that usually come out this time of year. It doesn’t scream spring, but does have hints with Key Lime Twist (my favorite) and Cake Pop. I’m pretty excited to see swatches of these and maybe pick up a few! What do you guys think?

Lilacs for #LLgarden!

For this month’s lacquer legion posts I got my inspiration from my grandma who loves lilacs!

My base is two coats of Essie First Timer, which is like a minty spring green. For the flowers themselves, I first used Zoya Purity and made the flowers in white, then filled some in with Paula Dorf Perfect Purple with Zoya Megan on top, and some with just Zoya Megan… to give them some dimension. Finally, I used Trind Mellow Yellow for the centers and Essie Good To Go on top.

I was pretty happy with how they turned out, and my grandma really liked it which makes it a success to me! What do you guys think?

Zoya Earth Day Polish Exchange 2014!

If you love Zoya, like I do, you know that every year they do a special polish exchange for Earth Day.

So the premise of this exchange is that you buy new Zoya polishes, and after you receive them, you send back some old (non-Zoya) bottles of polish that they will properly dispose of for you. There is a minimum of 6 bottles, maximum of 24, and you get 50% off! You still need to pay for shipping though.

Also, if you do decide to send back old bottles of polish (not required), you are responsible for the shipping.

And summer shades are excluded from the sale.

Overall, this is a good time to get your hands on some new polishes for 50% off and get rid of any old polishes properly. I never participate in the Earth Day exchange… it’s just a weird time when I have all the old Zoyas I want and don’t want any new colors. Happens every year.

Will you be participating?

Spring Nail Polish Picks!

It’s finally starting to feel like spring! I can actually walk outside without my ski jacket! Spring usually means a heck of a lot of pastels in the nail polish world, but I’m not really into most pastels. So I compiled my favorite nail polishes for spring!

1. Metallics: Metallics are great year round, but they shine (literally and figuratively) in the sunny spring days. Pictured: Nails Inc South Kensington and Butter London Jubilee.

2. Cool pastels: I’m not a big fan of pinks, so when I go for pastels I go for the cooler color spectrum. Mint is a spring staple. Pictured: MAC Mischievous Mint, Zoya Megan and Essie Lapis of Luxury.

3. Spring green: What’s better in spring than green? I like to go for a brighter green, instead of a lighter, pastel. Pictured: Essie the More the Merrier.

What are your favorite spring polish colors?

OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection Preview!

This is an eight piece, soft shades collection for the upcoming Muppets Most Wanted movie.

Chillin’ Like a Villain

My evil plan… to get away with this precious, sheer nude.

Int’l Crime Caper

To miss this opalescent pearl would be the crime of the century.

Gaining Mole-mentum

Make your beauty mark with this shredded gold and chunky pink glitter.

Kermit Me to Speak

Listen up… I’ve got lots to say about this rosy mauve.

Let’s Do Anything We Want!

There’s no holding back this rose gold glitter with white confetti.

I Love Applause

This sheer, sweet pink deserves a standing ovation.

Miss Piggy’s Big Number

Stand back… Miss Piggy’s on sapphire!

Muppets World Tour

This white quartz with colorful sparkle is a global sensation.

“OPI announces the launch of eight new limited edition nail lacquers inspired by Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted. With an all-star cast including Kermit the Frog, Constantine, Ricky Gervais, Miss Piggy, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey and the whole Muppet gang, this family comedy is directed by James Bobin and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller. Muppets Most Wanted opens in theaters on March 21, 2014.

“The Muppets are a fun-loving, colorful cast of characters. These eight new nail lacquers were inspired by their latest adventures in Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted, which include a glamorous international stage tour – and lots of surprises,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Co-Founder & Executive VP.  “Fashionable Miss Piggy is represented through soft pink, peach and pearlescent hues, as well as a frosty sapphire blue – Miss Piggy’s Big Number – to match her fabulous tour gown. The remaining four shades highlight the film’s unexpected elements and include a color-shifting mauve and three sparkle-packed lacquers – including my personal favorite Gaining Mole-mentum, a gold and rose chunky shredded glitter.””

What do you guys think of this collection? I can’t help buy compare it to the glitter-packed first Muppet collection OPI did. I do really like the variety of finished they put in here, there’s a duochrome and a few glitters (and that blue looks beautiful!) but I’m never too impressed with the sheer light pinks and peaches, they just aren’t my thing.

These will be available this Month! So start checking around!