Saturday 6 December 2014

Vertical Half Moons

Polishes Used:
Revlon Parfumerie Wintermint

I also used my Teisom half moon nail vinyls and my Elf contour brush and # gel brush from the Bornpretty store for clean up.


I started out with two coats of Tudor City Teal and topped of with a coat of HK girl to set everything and speed up the drying. This polish has an amazing formula for the price. I got it from CVS on a trip to NYC a year ago and it was only 99cents ($1.98BDS). Its got a nice jelly formula and I used two coats so there was no VNL. I've never seen this polish sold in Barbados so I was sure to pick up a few more in NYC this year.



After this I tape off a section of my nails with my nail vinyls. Be sure to top coat with quick drying top coat or wait for your base colour to completely dry before placing your vinyls. If the base colour isn't fully dried the vinyl will most likely pull off the base colour when you remove it and ruin your mani.

After placing my vinyls I painted the section of the half moon I wanted with Revlon Parfumerie polish in Wintermint. Revlon Parfumerie in Wintermint is a mint green frosty polish with gold shimmer and the teeniest ocean blue glitter and some bigger glitters of the same colour. It smells like mint and the smell's not so strong its overpowering...just a nice fresh scent when your hand passes your face.  I got mine from Cave Shepherd for $16.99 BDS and I intend to pick up a few more but I'm waiting for the price to drop. They're also sold at IMart. 



Everything was topped off with a coat of HK Girl Top Coat.

Until next time!


Wednesday 15 October 2014

Blue and Gold!

I've been trying to find a cute name for this nail art but nothing's clicking just yet. I've been wanting to try this look for a while after seeing it on Instagram and finally got the chance on Sunday.

Polishes Used:
Orly Bonder Basecoat
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Essie Beyond Cozy
Glisten and Glow HK Girl Topcoat

I started out with two coats of My Bikini So Teeny on all my fingers except my middle and ring finger. On my middle and ring finger I used two coats of Beyond Cozy and topped it off with one coat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl topcoat.




Once everything was dry I placed my straight nail vinyls from Teisom in the design I wanted on my ring finger and went over with another coat of Bikini So Teeny. I topped everything off with my new Glisten and Glow HK Girl Topcoat...its as good as they say it is. Will do a review soon and comparison with Seche Vite.

Have you guys tried vinyls before?

Sunday 12 October 2014

A Series of Unfortunate Events!

Hi Guys!

So I recently got back from NYC *cue the angelic singing*...there are few words to describe my love for that city and all it has to offer...and my nails took a beating. People always say travel is hard on your nails but good God man!

First I broke every nail but my thumb nail on my left hand trying to close a window. I cut them down to make all the same length only to realize two days later that there was a tear on my nail on my ring finger...pulls out nail clippers...only to realize a few days later that I had another tear on my pinkie...cue nail clippers again.

But it didn't end there, 

I broke the nail on my index finger on my right hand. World's biggest clutz!! So I cut down those nails too and now I'm down to nubs on both hands. I took off my polish and have been polish free for two days.

The accident prone hand.

My right hand. Yes I consider these nubs!

Here's the silver lining! I recently purchased Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil that most of the nail world has been raving about so hopefully this is my saving grace. I'm going to try it on my nails and toes and see how it works. Hope it works miracles for my toes cuz they been taking a beating from all the dancing and constant polish has them badly stained.


WARNING!! (lol)
Ugly toe pics below.


Just to let you know the above pics are all pre Bliss Kiss. I'll be back in about 5 days with an update and hopefully a mani as I'm expecting mail from Bornpretty Store this week.

Ps. I used the oil for the first time while writing this post. Its been on for about an hour now and my nails look better, especially my toes. It absorbs into the skin nicely and doesn't leave you feeling greasy at all. 


That's all I got for now.

Byee :))

Saturday 13 September 2014

Review: L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel Lacque Review



So this will be my first real post so please forgive me if it comes across a bit blunt and impersonal but I'm nervous.

I recently purchased the L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel Lacque Primer and Glaze set along with the L'Oreal Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque Lacqueriste. I'm a bit behind because, this was released a few months ago but I had to wait for the stores here in Barbados to get the primer and glaze.







For any Bajan girls reading I purchased it last week from Imart Sheraton and Collins also recently brought in the primer and glaze set. I know for sure that Imart in Lanterns doesn't have the colours or primer set in stock, not sure about the other location. I purchased the primer and glaze for $38.95 BDS ($19.48 USD) and the colour was around $16.95 BDS, however Collins has them for about $4 less a piece so definitely check their first. I'll also check Cave Shepherd to see if they carry them. So...onto the review!

Here's how L'Oreal describes it:

New L’OrĂ©al Paris Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque provides high-gloss, and resilient shine while protecting nail color from dings, dents and scratches. Get the high-shine of a UV-Gel and the perfect nail shape without harmful UV rays.

L'Oreal  released the primer and glaze along with 20 colours and they retail in the US for about $7.99. The brushes were good, mine had a few stray hairs but nothing to fuss about. The brush was just big enough that you could cover the nail in two strokes...did my pinky in one.

Step 1: The Primer
This applied easily. The formula was nice and thin and it dried quickly. It dries to a smooth finish like most base coats.

Step 2: Gel Lacque Colour
I purchased the colour Lacqueriste. Its a bright coral colour, leans more towards pink than orange. Its one of those "juicy" summer colours. It has a nice jelly formula which I assume is what L'Oreal was going for. The formula applied nicely, its a bit thicker than regular polish but again I think that's what they were going for and the package does say its supposed to give volumized nails. The first coat was almost opaque but there was a little VNL (visible nail line) peeking through. Two coats fixed that. The colour dried in about 3-4 minutes and with a nice glossy shine. Don't think you would ever need 3 coats. After I applied the second coat I did give it about 10 minutes just to make sure everything was completely dry.



Step 3: Gel Glaze
The glaze also applied well. I found that each time I put my brush back into the bottle there was some bubbles so beware of that. This also dried quickly. What I did notice was that as it dried, the tips of my nail dried matte while my nail bed dried glossy. It stayed that way for about an hour then went back to normal.

Results
Initially my manicure was really glossy, that kind of high shine you get with gel polish, but after a few days that shine wore off a bit. I started noticing some tip wear around day 3 which turned into a few chips around days 4 and 5. On day 3 I added some studs and polka dots on my middle finger and top coated with the gel glaze. I had some smearing and running of the colours so also be aware of this if you add designs to your manicures. I wore this for one week in total and it held up pretty good give or take the few chips.

Day 1. Excuse how dark and old my hands look. The eczema does that to you!!
See what I mean about the matte tips when it dried, It went away though.

Day 6.


Also, nowhere on the box does it promise that this will be long wearing. Just putting this out there because I've seen some reviews where people were disappointed that it didn't last as long as a gel mani.What it does promise is "perfectly shaped and volumized nails. Rich ultra glossy color", so I think they delivered what they promised. I'd repurchase again if a colour really catches my eye but the colours they're released so far I already have in regular polish.

Overall I'm not super excited about it but it was a nice product AND it does everything as promised.

If anyone ever reads this please give some feedback below.

Thanks!! xoxo



Saturday 30 August 2014

A Little About Me!

Hi, I'm Jodi, a 22 year old nail addict living in Barbados. This blog was mainly for me to record my manis and love for all things nails. Maybe when I get more comfortable I'll make it public, but for now it'll be my little secret.

My nail obsession started in university when I painted my nails just to pick off the polish during boring lectures then all of a sudden it turned into a thing. Now I've got about 126 polishes - nowhere near some people's collections - but my babies are multiplying fast and furious and my pocket's taking the hit. 

Oh well, its all for a good cause!! 

Happy Reading!!