Sparkles - Day 4 of the January Nail Art Challenge

Hi Guys,

I'm back again. I'm making an effort to post every Sunday...maybe more often but right now I can commit to every Sunday.

It's day 4 of January which means it's time for the 2nd mani of the January Nail Art Challenge. Today's theme was sparkles and I automatically knew which polish I wanted to use. I just did a simple mani really, contemplated adding a decal but decided to just let the polish be pretty on its own.

For this I used Essie's Lots of Lux. It's a textured polish which was released as part of the Encrusted Treasures Holiday Collection in 2013. Essie describes it as "shimmering lapis lazuli with a super matte finish" and the description is on point!! The fine shimmers definitely sparkle when they catch the light and it's gorgeous. I purchased mine from Collins for BDS$13.40 and I believe they may still have a few in stock. They also have others from this collection for anyone who is interested. Outside of Barbados it can be purchased online from Essie or other retailers 

For this mani I top-coated with my trusty HK Girl Top Coat. I used two coats for a smooth finish because textured polishes tend to be a bit top coat hungry.

without flash

without flash

with flash

with flash

These were taken under the artificial lighting in my room so tomorrow I'll take a few in natural light and post to my Instagram. I'm working on learning to take better pictures and will be making a light box sometime soon so hopefully that helps. I'm a complete ninny when it comes to editing images so I'm also on a hunt for an easy to use photo editor. Any suggestions?...even a Photo Editing for Dummies would help if its exists.

Have you tried any other polishes from this collection? Let me know below.

PS. the #nailartjan challenge is open to anyone to try so have fun with it.

Until next time...

Vertical Half Moons

Polishes Used:

CND Stickey Base Coat

NYC Tudor City Teal

Revlon Parfumerie Wintermint

HK Girl Top Coat

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!

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?