Double Sally Hansen.

Back from my vacation! It's been hectic the past couple days - but I got some excellent shots of the polishes I wore! First up is this lilac polish from Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails line, #35 Applause.

Normally I hate the colour lilac. Pastels in general, usually (I like my colours bright and vivid, thanks) - but this colour... I'm really likin' it so far. It's a lilac that kinda goes darker in not-so-great lighting, and pink sometimes.

This is actually a one-coater, but I always put two for good measure. So, including base coat & my new Seche Vite top coat, that's only 4 coats. Cool beans!

 Next is the one I wore on my entire trip to Las Vegas [no chipping, just tip wear - 5 day trip!] on top of my base and under my Seche Vite top coat. It's from Sally Hansen's Salon Manicure line, #340 Black Platinum.

 This polish was a three-coater, and I absolutely fell in love with it! It's not quite black so it doesn't offend my mom, and it's like a gun-metal type dark grey that felt really chic on my nails. It's like instead of vampy black nails, it's a chic metallic look. Love, love, love!

Hopefully this double swatching makes up for the lack of posts during my vacation ~

-Melanie.

Big Big Kawaii Giveaway!

Thanks to Rachel, I became fully aware of this awesome giveaway over at Cute-Stuffs!

There's about $200 in prizes, with packs like Sanrio, San-X, Kawaii and Dark/Goth/Punk.

So again, click their name up there ^ or right below to go to their site and enter!

♥ CUTE-STUFFS

Go, enter!

Good luck!

-Melanie.

Two fakes!

I feel bad for not posting here for while - it's all been rain, rain, rain... I haven't been pleased with any of the pictures of my nails :/.

In lieu of that sad occurrence, and to make up for the last couple days, here's some fakes I designed for a couple friends...

They're simple (and the bottom one is a wee bit uneven... damn shaky hands) and practical. Seeing as we're all students, I didn't think 3D nail art would last very long.

The green is from Sinful Colours (I forgot which colour though) and it's a very, very deep green. I refuse to use it on my real nails, because that sucker needs more than 3 coats to be fully opaque.

The blue is from Wet & Wild and it's around a year old, haha. It's a beautiful frosty blue that I really adore. The white stripe was done with one of the Kiss nail art bottles I have, & the holo sparkly tips are with Twilight Nox: Disco Darling. So beautiful. It's really stunning in the sun.

Anyways, I leave on a quick trip to Vegas on Tuesday - that means sun! I'll see if I can get some pictures of the nails I'll have on (not sure what I'll use yet).

-Melanie.

Deathly Hallows NaiL

Sorry for my mini hiatus guys. I went to go see Harry Potter on the weekend (amazing!) and since I've been deemed Slytherin by many, many personality quizzes, I went as a Slytherin. For the event, I painted my nails with a beautiful frosty dark green from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear called Emerald City.

[It's a lot darker in person (and in better lighting!)]

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you'll notice the nifty Deathly Hallows symbol I used my striper to paint on :]. Actually, this mani was kinda rushed - and this picture was taken after about a week! My goodness. No major chipping at the tips, they chipped more along the back of the nail bed where stuff would get caught in it ( I should have better clean ups...)

Here's the Slytherin scarf I wore (along with my Hufflepuff one). This picture is about a year old... before I discovered the magic of concealer, haha.

Did you guys see Harry Potter opening week? Did it meet to your standards? Did you cry (like me)?

-Melanie

Witoxicity's Giveaway!

Over at Witoxicity's blog, she's giving away big nail polish prizes! Here's what they look like...

Aren't they pretty looking? Oh! Are those nail plates? I'm a total n00b when it comes to Konad and stamping. Anyways, personally, I'm hoping for the dark prize pack! Hurry, it ends November 26th, 2010. Enter, enter!

-Melanie.

Twilight Nox: Disco Darling

Today we miraculously had sun! Since I haven't changed my manicure yet, I managed to get a picture of Twilight's Nox Beauty in Disco Darling. It's a silver sparkly polish with holo glitters.

 (Click the picture to really see more holo-y goodness!)
Isn't she a stunner? It's sparkles are a whole lot more sparkly when it's really bright - but... Well, in my computer room it's not - and to be honest, I don't want to take pictures on my driveway, haha.

I should've used another coat to make it fully opaque, but it's pretty good right now. This is without topcoat (gasp!) so it's ...not rough enough to catch on pantyhose or leggings, but it's not exactly smooth.

I got mine for around $7.99 at London Drugs, but it's on sale over there for about $2.99.

-Melanie.

Twilight Nox: Debutante

Today I have from the... Slightly ashamed to say, Twilight Nox nail polish line. This one is called Debutante. Despite my concerns of it being sheer, this baby needed only two coats! Shabam!

Debutante's colour really reminds me of white champagne. It's kind of a metallic peach, but then in other lights it can look light pink and gold! I'm really diggin' this, even when it's very pale on my hands. I also happened to do that manicure type style where you paint the ring finger a different colour? Yeah, it's great for when you have those gritty glitters like I used, but it honestly... looks weird. It keeps me interested in my nails, but it's very strange. I used Twilight Nox's Disco Darling, but no pictures. The sun didn't really come out, and to be truthful, Disco Darling looks ugly in the shade. Ugh. Maybe pictures later?

I got this polish when it was on sale at London drugs for around $2.99!

-Melanie

Beauty Giveaway!

Over at Heli's Beauties, there is a BIG BIG BIG giveaway! Nail polish , masks, palettes... Love!

Go enter!

-Melanie

China Glaze 'Tis The Season Giveaway.

I am just a giveaway hunter :3.

You know those brand spankin' new Christmas polishes from China Glaze?

Well, at Nail Talez & More! there's a giveaway for someee. GO NOW!

-Melanie

One More Modes4u Giveaway!

Over at Paper*Cakes Finds, they're having a giveaway via Modes4u.

Go enter, right now, for a chance to win super cute stuff! Such as this bad boy!

Go, go, go! I just entered! Fingers crossed!

-Melanie.

Drugstore Beauty!

Sorry about my break from swatches - none of the pictures I took turned out very good because it's been raining all week! Roar!

Here's a drugstore polish - Pulsating from Rimmel (London?).

 Above in the sun (which didn't last long), and below in the shade (which was actually two minutes later).

This colour is a very "bam! right in your face!" kind of polish. It's actually got a fuchsia-y hint which is great since pink is not really my colour... I'm wearing it to distract from my nail band-aid :]. Anyways, these pictures were taken after two days of wear. As you can see, there's no chipping, just some natural nail growth (which makes me super happy!)

I purchased mine for around $4 at Walmart, although I think it might be $3. This is an oldie from my stash.

By the way, anyone enter those giveaways I posted? Fingers crossed!

-Melanie.

Another Giveaway That Isn't Mine! Woo!

Over here at TokyoBunnie, they are having a super cute give away via Modes4u! Alright, none of it's nail polish, but it's so cute! I want it! Let's hope I win - but if I don't why shouldn't you? Go over to their blogger and enter for a chance to win super cute stuff!

Go go, we must go! Hurry and enter! :]

-Melanie.

Not My Giveaway, But Her's!

Over at GildedNails, there's currently a follower giveaway! She's giving away two bottles of Deborah Lippmann, and we all know that brand is expensive ;].

 

Follow her & her instructions, and you can be entered to win those two bottles of nail polish - ooh, shiny!

Good luck!

-Melanie.

L.A. Girl + A Nail Emergency

I recently went through a major nail emergency.My pinky broke.

It wasn't the usual break on the tip - the break was on both side of my pinky, farther back than I would hope. The thought of ripping it off was horrid - so I slapped on a nail band-aid using a teabag & nail glue so that I wouldn't need to chop it off. Basically, all my nails are a lot shorter now (sadness!). I learned how to fix my broken nail: here.

Seriously, if you break a nail badly, use that ^.

Alright, now that that's over with, here is Groupie from L.A. Girl's Rockstar Collection after 4 days of wear with only a basecoat.

 I'm super pleased with the fact that this baby only needed two coats to get like this - and after four days I expect chips all along the top, but nope! I picked this to cover up my nail band-aid. Nearly everyone couldn't tell I had one on.

 Alright, so this colour applied so easily. It was smooth, only took two coats, and didn't take a long time to dry. It's like a metallic, foil-y frosted purple colour, and it's definitely my favorite purple.

I purchased mine at Garage for around $4.90 before taxes.

-Melanie

Sally Hansen HD: DVD.

Alright guys, I have a this bad boy for you today. From the HD collection, this is DVD from Sally Hansen.

 Now when I call this a bad boy, I'm being pretty serious. You know how many coats this took me? One base coat + 6 coats of polish + a top coat. Yeah. I'm insane.

This was one of the sheerest polishes I have ever used. I know I probably should have layered it over something else, but I was very curious to just do it on it's own - and look at it! Look at how beautiful it is! It's like a blurple-y colour with lots of shimmer and metallic-ness and it's just so shiny~. I'm so infatuated with the colour, but not the application. All the layers of polish made drying a $(!&@. See all the nicks? Okay, maybe not. But all over my right hand, the nails are just smudgy, smudgy, smudgy!

Would I recommend this to someone? Perhaps. Do YOU have a lot of patience? And nothing else to do? This is the colour for youu!

I purchased mine at London Drugs while it was for sale at around $3.50.

-Melanie

Fresh Squeezed from Nicole by OPI.

Here's the third from a birthday present my dear friend Tim gave me :]. It's called Fresh Squeezed from Nicole by OPI.

 I was bored of this colour, quick. It was very pretty and glossy originally. To rectify that, I applied one coat of my Joe Fresh Matte Top Coat.

This is three coats + a matte top coat.

Like always, polishes from the NBOPI line apply easily and that makes me happy - unfortunately this polish alone doesn't cut it. It's so sheer. See the difference with the base of my nail & the tip? I'm not into that. Maybe I should use a ridge filler basecoat, but I don't have any of those, haha.

After the matte top coat was applied, it had this nifty plastic effect to it. My matte top coat was only $3, so that might be why it turns satin-y after two days (though my pinky lasted three!)

If you don't have an orange, this might be the one. If you're from the States though, I'd recommend a shimmery orange from Pure Ice. I don't know the name, but it's one of my favorites. Maybe I'll show it to you later ;].

-Melanie

Happy Gray Thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving, Canadians!

Alright, so I was going to swatch the black matte from Icing, but the application was just SO thick... It was driving me crazy.

Instead, here's Steel-Her Heart by Revlon.

Application wise? This was a nightmare. It came with a teeny tiny brush and it was streaky. This was two (maybe three?) coats, and it still wasn't opaque at the base of my nail.

Here it is again, with one coat of the Matte Top Coat from Joe Fresh Style. When matte, you can see the transparency at the base of the nail, especially on my pointer finger, yes?

All in all, the color is great, the application ? Not so much. But I did feel very chic wearing this colour.

In case you're daring enough to purchase this, I bought mine at my local Zellers for under $5.

-Melanie.

Claire's Innocent & Daring Mood Polish

Sorry for the break, I had a cold and didn't feel up to much!

Anyways, here is Innocent/Daring by Claire's.

Three coats, no top coat.

This stuff is really cool if you have long tips! Since this "mood changing" polish is based off your body temperature, if your body is room temp. it looks like this. Otherwise, when I go to school they turn all grey, like cement (my school is freezing!).

In between transitions from the two colours, when they're switching, it does look very...Sickly. My mom said it reminded her of dead people and zombies coming back to life, but I liked it. It's definitely something to pick up for Halloween, if you wanna be a dead person...Or a dying person.

Application wise? I love these mood ones. When they dry, the nailbed changes colour, so I know when to put on another coat. I took three coats to get this look.

Next time? A two matte polishes from Icing!

-Melanie.

Sinful Colors + Nicole by OPI.

Here is Gorgeous from Sinful Colors, with a top coat of Honey-Dew You Love Me? from Nicole by OPI.

 The Sinful Colors collection is easy to apply. Streaky though, this required three coats.

I was really disappointed with the Honey-Dew You Love Me? top coat. The bottle has loads of tiny teal hearts, but it was rare for me to even pick up one! I do like how it looked over the Sinful Colors one. Just Gorgeous alone, it was a frosty finish, but add the OPI? It looks like jelly!

I most certainly suggest Gorgeous by Sinful Colors. I got mine for $2 a while ago at a Walgreens or CVS in the states :3

I'll swatch one of the Claire's "mood changing" polishes tomorrow!

-Melanie.

Star Of The Party - Nicole by OPI

This is next one is Star Of The Party from Nicole By OPI. It's another one my friend Tim gave me :].

This is like a dazzling violet! When it comes to purple, I usually gave things leaning to indigo, but this is refreshing and a truly dazzling colour. It's very 'Fall'-esque, without being gloomy and dark.

It took me three layers of this colour (though, you could get away with two), and I topped it off with 

Fairy Dust by China Glaze.

 ^This picture was blurred to show you the holo-y goodness of the sparkles! Woo, sparkles!^

This polish applied kinda streaky on the first layer, but see how pretty it looks when opaque? I love it ^_^

Nicole by OPI can be found at your local Walmart for $10, BUT - ! Hold on penny pinchers! Shoppers often has it on sale for $7.99!

I purchase my China Glaze from Sally's Beauty Supply.

Till next time! :]

-Melanie

Joe Fresh Style : Matte Top Coat

Hello! This is my first matte I've ever tried out (I've been hunting for Essie's Matte About You) and bonus! Their nail polish was a bottle for $4, and three bottles for $10! I bought an extra bottle of Joe's Matte Top Coat, as well as a grey, which I'll soon swatch.

Here is this matte top coat over I Stop For Nicole from Nicole by OPI on my thumb. See the difference? Glossy and flat! (Well, sort of satin-y. But flatter than the others!)

Down below, here's the bottle.

And here is the other fingers mattified, under a lamp :3

 

I'm still hunting for Essie's MAY, but for now (and with these prices), I'm content!

If you want to add some variety to your polishes & like to stay within budget, pick up a bottle of this at Superstore! It's cheap, easy to apply, and dries super fast. I love this.

Till next time!

-Melanie

The First Post!

Hello everyone! This is my first time making/posting a swatch on nailpolish, so I hope you'll grow to enjoy my little spot on the internet :]

Since this is a swatch place, here's my first. I Stop For Nicole from Nicole by OPI.

My friend Tim bought this for me for my birthday (along with two others I will swatch, soon!)

This one under shaded lighting is a red, but under natural-er light it's looking pretty pink. Sometimes (like in the photo), it looks like there's a thousand orange flecks on top of some insane red. It's so pretty :3 It took me three coats for this (though you might be able to get away with two, if you're lucky!) The application was pretty smooth, too. I have no complaints!

Hope to see you back here again!

-Melanie