Ulta, Julie, Avon and More...

I have not been blogging much. Most of my polish sharing is over on my Facebook page Polish20. Come join me over there :)

Anywho here are some of my latest polish swatches.

Julie in Dance in the Dark

Avon in Wicked. This is a red and black combo. Very wicked....

Some nail art. I copied the pattern from my shirt.

And finally some dotting tool marbling. I used this Ulta polish in Sun of a Gun and swirled it with a gold and brown polish.

Avon Boots, OPI and More..

Brrrr, adjusting to the change in weather here in NY is no fun. Saturday it was 78 degrees, today it's 58! Well I guess I can use this as my opportunity to break out my new boots.

I bought these boots from Avon. Yes, Avon!

They are comfortable and stylish. They are made from man made material and have a stretch fabric in the back to accommodate various calf sizes. My calf is about 15 inches and they fit fine. Right now they are on sale for $44.99.

Ok on to polish talk. This is a swatch of Zoya in Richelle. It covers nicely and I used two coats. As with any polish (especially metallic shades) roll the bottle instead of shaking. This will eliminate bubbles. Metallic colored polishes seem to be more bubble prone for some reason.

Next up is a bright pink OPI polish that I got for free as a promotion when I renewed my People Style Watch magazine subscription. This shade is Love That Passion Pink. Kudos to the customer service team who sent me another bottle after my first was delivered crushed to smithereens.

And now on to my Ulta polish. This one is The Jungle Look with a sprinkle of my green glitter that I bought from Claires.

 #OPI #Ulta #Avon #Zoya

Caviar Nails and Savina Nail Color

So this was my first attempt at doing the caviar nail art. All I can say is this was a one day art wear. Maybe if the beads are set in gel the style would have lasted. I did add a clear coat the first time but the color began to run off the beads. So the second attempt I decided not to "brush on" the clear polish. I pretty much started at the nail bed and let the polish run down the nail. If you ladies know what makes these beads set and last longer than a day let me know.

 

Now on to the Savina Nail color. I bought this at Nordstrom Rack for about $3 or so. I'm in love with this shade. This is definitely one of my favorites. Look at the sparkle in this polish. I used 3 coats to get a complete covered nail with no see through. The color is Fairy Dust. The wear on this polish is great as well.

E.L.F. Polish from the 2012 Python Collection @ Target

I was in Target last week and came upon E.LF.'s Python Collection exclusive to Target stores. The line includes cosmetic application tools, eyeshadows and polishes. The polishes go for $2 each.

There is some speculation out there that some items in the Python line may not be "new" per say but instead clever repackaging of shades that existed under their regular line. Either way the polishes come in nice fall shades and are worth the $2. However if this is true..wassup with the bamboozlement E.L.F.???

Unfortunately the polishes have NO NAMES!! The shade I bought is a deep green with some subtle sparkles to it (pretty pretty). The number on the bottle is 2F01AS (first line) 20417 (second line).

I added a bit of Sally Hansen's Golden Ticket to the tips and some nail decals too.

Skinny Jeans and Red Bottoms? Well almost..

So the NOTW is Boss Lady by Ginger and Liz paired with Sally Hansen's Nail Polish Strips in Skinny Jeans on the ring fingers. I'm liking this combination of denim and red.

The only issue I had with this mani were the strips. I had used these strips before some time ago and had some left over. When I went to use the left over strips strips I noticed that the adhesiveness was GONE. I don't know what may have caused this. I'm thinking maybe since the foil packaging it was in had been opened, the adhesive had dried out.?? I did keep them in the original box. I figured I would just use some basecoat and apply the strips while the nail was wet. It worked but I had to be quick about it making sure to get the sides tacked down. I finished it off with a clear topcoat to make sure it would not lift or peel off. So far so good.

Have any of you experienced the lack of tack with polish strips after opening and stored?

Here it is....

Nail Antiquing/Foiling Art

Some call this another form of marbling but to me it has that antiquing or foiling effect. So if you do not already know how to achieve this, here is what you have to do.

Ball up a square of plastic wrap and brush on some polish. Dab excess onto a paper towel and then stipple onto your dry painted nails. Do this about two to three times or until you achieve the desired effect.

I used two colors on the pinkie nails. For the two color effect repeat the steps above with the second color. When all is done clean up the nail and brush on your favorite top coat to seal that picture perfect mani.

 

Give it a try!

 

Colors used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gray on Gray. Plastic wrap colors: Jordana Pop Art #521 and Sinful Colors #217 Canary Yellow.

How to- Marble French Tips

Hello Polishnistas! So here is my how-to on creating a French tip marble look for your nails.

Step 1: Begin by placing drops of polish to the tip of your nail.

Step 2: Using an art brush (got this at Sally's Beauty Supply) begin making "S" like formations blending the polish on the nail tip. Do not blend too much but just enough to get a marble swirl effect.


Art Brush

 

 

 



 

 

Step 3: Final step here is to clean up the nail, add embellishments or accents to make this mani pop. Follow with a clear topcoat and that's all there is to it.

Give it a try...

China Glaze Purple Panic

I borrowed this polish from a co-worker and boy oh boy is it beautiful. It is a neon pink/purple polish by China Glaze that applies as a matte polish. I prefer some shine so I used a top coat. I took a walk on the wild side and did a cheetah print on the pinkies. This is my first attempt at doing this and I think it came out nice.

I used Nicka in yellow on the pinkies, dotted with the purple panic and outlined with a black nail art polish for the cheetah nails.

What do you think?

Ginger & Liz - Most Wanted with Mix "n" Mingle

This was my first time trying Ginger and Liz and I'm loving it so far. Most Wanted is an opaque creamy tannish orangey color...lol nice right. Mix and Mingle is a golden glitter polish. For full coverage you may need to apply 3 coats. Here I used MnM to add a little something something to my mani so only one coat did the trick.

Check it out.

Remember you can follow me on Instagram too @instachelle.  **colored kisses**

Zoya's Robyn and LEI Jeans

Here is another beauty by Zoya. This one is Robyn; named after the color of a robin's egg no doubt. It's even prettier in person.

BTW Look at these LEI Jeans I found at Walmart for $15.88. Almost the same color as my nails. These jeans are super cute, I kid you not. Walmart had them in hot pink, lake blue (as shown), purple, mint and red. I was reluctant at first since it was junior sizing + low rise + skinny which usually = weird fit, but these offer stretch and fit like POW!

Polish20 Whiskering Method™ with the Sephora Glee Collection

I used what I call my Polish20 Whiskering Method™ which is fool proof and guaranteed to produce nice results. Are you creatively challenged? Lack of a steady hand? Use complimenting colors and stroke the brush quickly across the nail. Don't worry about being neat. Top coat with a clear or glittery polish and done.

I used Miss Bossy Pants (fuchsia), Slushied (blue) from the Sephora Glee collection and Paper Maiche by Finger Paints.

What do you think?

Nail Appliques by Mystique

Nail appliques are a great alternative to nail lacquer. Recently I had nail appliques by Mystique sent to me to try out. Much like other nail decals, the application was quite similar. Clean nails, place applique as close to cuticle as possible and smooth from side to side.

The pattern that was sent to me was Linked Purple. The notes mention that a gel topcoat can be used if desired and to prepare the applique by gently buffing. Well I don't have any "gel" topcoats but a regular clear topcoat may have sufficed and perhaps prolonged the life of this mani. I'm skeptical about any buffing though. These appliques only lasted me a day. My usual hand routines included washing my hands, showering, lotioning and typing; the norm. Too bad on day two I had to remove them. They also don't remove easily with non-acetone remover. Non-acetone removed the design only so I had to resort to my 100% acetone remover. I would try again with a topcoat with what i have left before purchasing. They have really nice designs though so check them out and see what kind of results you get. Check them out at www.nailmystique.com.

Linked Purple

Day 1

Appliques are on a clear sheet which makes sizing up to your nail easy.

Day 2

Pure Ice in Kiss Me Here with Design

So here is a simple design jazzing up my Pure Ice in Kiss Me Here. To create this I used reinforcements cut in half to get the arch and some nail art polishes with thinner brushes to make some lines and dots. To keep things fun I'm going to name my polish posts. I call this one Gray Skies.


Gray Skies

Cos Bar at Target Nail Polish

Target Cos Bar polish..Love it! Cos Bar is one of 4 specialty shops that make up Target's "The Shops at Target". The Shops are comprised of products from small businesses around the country and for a limited time we have the opportunity to sample these items. Cos Bar hails from Aspen, Colorado. The Cos Bar beauty items include nail polish, body scrubs, soaps and other beauty implements.

The polishes are $3 and wear well. I used Cos Bar's polish in lime green and left my polish on for a week and touched up on day 3 to keep nails looking fresh and experienced a minor chip on one nail on day 6. The brush is standard and works fine. I used about 3 coats to get the eye popping lime color to really stand out. The polish along my cuticles is Kleancolor in Firework.

What do you think?

Nicka Nail Enamel in Cotton Candy with Salon Style Nail Strips

This week I tried a hot pink polish courtesy of Nicka Cosmetics. The color of this enamel is Cotton Candy (#022). Nicka polishes are fairly cheap and can be found at local beauty supply stores. My 99 cent store carries these too. The nail strips I bought from Mandee. These strips come from Salon Style (themancanllc.com) and include 12 strips, a mini nail file and nail stick for application. There isn't a name for this design but it is obviously zebra. These strips were a bit tricky to apply. They are very sticky and forget it if it folds onto itself..just get a new one.

I applied a clear top coat for shine. These have some really good adhesion and I don't think they will lift from my nail at all. The price says $4 but I got these at a discount. Like most of the nail strips I buy I have an issue of finding one that will cover my entire nail on all fingers which is why I have to polish some nails instead of using the strips. To avoid all that I thought this combo would be eye catching.

mark Nailed It Trend Mini Lacquer - Water Marble

I have used Avon polishes before but this was my first mark polish purchase. They applied easy and lasted the week. There was nothing unusual to report. The colors are violet daze and tickled pink which make for a pretty combo. I decided to do a water marble with them and wear wear them alone on the pinky and thumb.

Check it out. What do you think?

If you are interested in buying these it's item #555-617