Konad m85 & m84

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last night I realized I simply wasn't up for scrape-y edges of my failed Sweet Tart-an manicure poking me, so I changed it and called that one an expensive waste.

This week is a big one because it's the last week of the semester before finals.  Yes, semester and finals - after the professional ethics debacle last spring, I decided I needed to get some letters after my name to prevent that in the future and started grad school full time in August.  I have a nightmarish project to muscle through this week to keep my A in the only class where there's a question mark about an A, and a fun mani seemed like a much better choice than an annoying one that's constantly poking me for that.

My ultimate "I'm in no mood..." color is Essie Punchy Pink, and I applied three coats last night.  I was horrified to discover that the remaining polish in the bottle is right at the bottom "e," so maybe two manicures left.  Still, I recalled driving on the highway to face my ex's ridiculous lawsuit against me two years ago, with him being a lawyer represented by a lawyer and me showing up alone hoping for the best, having a truck driver playing aggression games on the highway at about 6:00 a.m., halfway through the drive, and just how truly satisfying it was to flip him off with an Punchy Pink and black Konad mani.  That sealed the deal no matter how precious the remaining drops are, and I stamped it in Konad Black Pearl this morning.

On my tips, I used the interconnected rings pattern from Konad plate m85, which is a full nail pattern, but being open it lends itself to use as a tip pattern.  That went on all nails, and on my my left ring finger I added the lips pattern from Konad plate m85, sort of a nice little póg mo thóin touch.  The result is a bright fun manicure that makes me giggle, so it fits the bill perfectly.  Protect your retinas, because here's Punchy Pink.

Konad m85 with m84 over Essie Punchy Pink Nail Polish

In person, it's brighter - Punchy Pink is the single most retina-searing neon pink I've ever used, and that's one of the reasons I love it.

I'm off to dig into my last nightmarish project for the semester, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Essie Super Bossa Nova

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today brings a bright polish, Essie Super Bossa Nova.  I think this one is from Summer 2011, but I'm not positive of that.  It's relatively recent, in any case.

Super Bossa Nova is a bright, kind of fuchsia pink shimmer, not anything terribly unique but it has a really pretty shimmer that I like.  I used two coats and finished it with Essie Good to Go, and although the application of the color was just fine, it's not too shiny once dry.  It's not matte or anything, it just lacks the really glossy finish of quite a few recent manicures, and I prefer shinier.

After giving the manicure a few minutes to dry, I took a picture in sunlight.

Essie Super Bossa Nova Nail Polish, Two Coats

A good vivid pink was overdue, so even though it's not the shiniest ever, I like it.

That's all I have for you today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Essie Trophy Wife

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's manicure is just a simple nail polish, Essie Trophy Wife.  When I started it out I'd planned to stamp over Trophy Wife, but I like it so much on its own that I decided to leave it alone for today.  I might add more to it tomorrow...

Trophy Wife is a teal shimmer, and it applied very easily and is opaque in two thin coats.  I have no complaints to speak of, so I'll just show you the picture, taken outside on a cloudy day.

Essie Trophy Wife Nail Polish, Two Coats

This one's definitely a keeper.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

A shattered rainbow

Hi~ :D I'm pretty happy with the way this mani turned out although it did wrinkle on me a bit. I was in the mood for a new mani and couldn't decide on a colour so I decided to combine them :). And of course I had to reach for my Black shatter to spice things up. I tried applying it with various strokes to make it crack differently and I love how it turned out! I freehanded the heart on my middle finger, that's why it looks a little lopsided. Overall though, I'm quite pleased with how the mani turned out.

Polishes used:
Ulta3 lily white for the base colour, spring blossom, black satin
Orly Fiesta
Essie Turquoise & Caicos
China Glaze First mate
OPI Black shatter

After layering with Black shatter I did find First mate to be a little too dark. Oh well, there's always next time :P.

~Sharon

Drag marbling take two!

Helloooo :D I'm extremely happy since my prac is almost over, although at the same time I'm going to miss the kids like crazy :(. Anyway, here's a drag marbling I did around a week ago when the kids went out on an excursion. I was seriously going crazy from only wearing work appropriate polishes :P.

This is two coats of Essie Sew psyched, I used Ulta3 black satin to do the marbling. I love how the black gives the mani a 'smoky' look to it :).

And my favourite nails: left pinky, fourth finger and thumb + right index finger.

~Sharon

Essie Smooth Sailing and XL B

Good morning, Dear Reader!

For today I tried out Essie Smooth Sailing, one of Essie's Summer 2011 releases.  It's a really pretty kind of slate blue with a great shimmer, and it applied very well and only took two coats.  I bought this bottle at a retail store, and it's weird to have an Essie without a label on the bottom (it's on the top of the bottle), but what's weirder is that there's not a capital letter to be found on it.  It's as if it comes from Essie's e.e. cummings Collection.

I used Smooth Sailing after a chop to even my nails out again, which it's no secret I hate doing.  As has become the custom, I used a full nail pattern I couldn't normally use to perk myself up a bit and take advantage of shorter nails.  I tried to get a picture of Smooth Sailing for you alone, but I had to use artificial light and the polish looks distinctly bright blue in every single one, so they're no good - the inclusion of any one of them would just make this post confusing as to what the polish really looks like.

The pattern I used to stamp them is from Chez Delaney's plate B from the XL series, one of the plates with great big tip patterns.  I'd decided to use Konad White Pearl Special Polish for the stamping, and the reason I first stopped at this pattern was that I thought it could look like waves in water if I used it sideways.  When I looked at it sideways to evaluate that idea, I realized it's a series of S's, which sealed the deal on that choice since it would give me heavily monogrammed nails.  The pattern is the one on XL B that looks like this, only sideways...

Essie Smooth Sailing with Chez Delaney XL B

The pretty shimmer shows in the bottle, and it's not hard to see in the plain polish on the nail, which was the failed set of pictures.  So now I have wavy, monogrammed nails while I adjust to them.  You know, the big thing that I just wait out after a chop is that since the actual tips of my fingers, on the very top of them, usually never touch anything since there's normally a great big talon in the way, they're uncomfortably sensitive after a chop.  If it were purely aesthetic, it wouldn't bother me that much - otherwise they get cut off, they grow back, and any chronological set of pictures of my nails looks like a flip book of nails growing as a result, but none of that's an especially big deal.

That's just about all I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Green layering success! ♥

Hello~ :D I am so happy with this mani I can probably wear it forever! It's nothing fancy, but it is soooooo beautiful I just keep staring at my nails. Like 3-4 times every two minutes, no joke. I love it that much ♥♥♥

I applied two coats of Essie Sew Psyched then layered on a coat of China Glaze White cap and voilà~! Look at this pretty! The photo definitely does not show the mani in its fullest glory, it looks soooooo much better in real life and I really recommend anyone who owns these polishes to try it out. You will be totally blown away by how gorgeous it looks.

I do apologise for the dry cuticles, it's time to stop being lazy and start moisturising daily again! :P

Yeah, look at that macro! I left it big this time - it's amazing isn't it? Ahhhh, I love White cap. This has got to be my favourite layering of all time <3.

~Sharon

Water marbling

Hello~^^  This is part 2 of the water marbling post. As you can see from my previous post, I had pretty high expectations of my nails turning out beautifully. Unfortunately, I forgot to take into account that my nails are in no way as long and well...my white polish decided to play up and do weird things :S.

I thought I'd share this water marble since I would have totally loved the outcome anyway - if only my white polish didn't hate me so much :(. Maybe I should have added a coat of glitter to hide the imperfection.

And the polishes used:

Sinful Colors Vela

Essie Sew psyched

Ulta3 lily white

I applied one coat of lily white as the base colour and then water marbled with all three polishes. The colour combination reminds me of Christmas - oops, I'm a bit late on that theme haha.

Ick, just look at the mess! :( I quite like the way my index finger came out though.

~Sharon

Water marbling when done correctly

Hey everyone~! This will be a quick post since I need to run soon - just some water marbling which came out really well when I was trialling on a fake nail. Too bad it didn't turn out so well on my actual nails :(.

Anyway, here it is. Colette over at My Simple Little Pleasures is such a great inspiration!

Please ignore the dings on the nail, I'm obviously quite clumsy when it comes to handling small objects like fake nails. I'll have a post later up today or tomorrow with the water marbling on my nails, I just need to get around to editing the photos!

~Sharon

A random nail art design

Hello~ Wow, the weekend has just flown by! I was super busy and didn't have much time for my nails but things have finally calmed down again.

I quite liked how the nail art turned out this time, but I'm sad that the polish wrinkled :(. I guess I didn't leave enough time for it to dry before going to shower.

And the polishes I used:

Essie Turquoise & Caicos
Glossyblossom Nail art two way striper in white
Misa Dirty, Sexy, Money
Ulta3 black satin
Eclipse #527

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

OPI Black Shatter & Mrs.Robinson

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's title seems ominous to me, like the nail polish equivalent of The Devil & Tom Walker.  Don't be scared, I promise it's not!

Today I have Black Shatter over Color Club Cub Mrs. Robinson, a neon purple creme.  I went to go get a neon purple, and for some reason I remembered Essie Perky Purple as the most neon purple, and also as kind of a PITA in that neon way.  Since I'd been sorting, Perky Purple was with Color Club Mrs. Robinson, which I recall being low maintenance, and I was surprised to see they're really close.  Not exactly the same, but close enough that I'll take the one that's less effort.  I grabbed the Essie bottle when I went out to take pictures so you could see them together.

Neon Purple Nail Polish Comparison: Color Club is my pick

I applied three coats of Mrs. Robinson (I really could have used two, but I hate even a hint of translucency to my tips) and let it dry before adding the Black Shatter.  I was pleased with my results evening it out with Gelous and then a coat of Poshe to dry everything, so I went that route again.  Here's the manicure.

OPI Black Shatter over Color Club Mrs. Robinson

This was one of the most physically painful rounds of pictures I've ever taken.  I have a weirdo chronic eye condition called scleritis that started in recent years (Google if you will, but the reason I didn't give you a definition link is that there are always absolutely awful pictures that'll give you the willies really badly), and I'm wrapping up a bout with it in one eye right now.  One of the major characteristics of scleritis is that it causes incredible pain in the affected eye when it acts up, and with that comes tremendous light sensitivity.  Well, the sun came out today and since my little town is pretty much shut down from the blizzard, there's undisturbed snow as far as the eye can see, so it was the glaring reflected light everywhere and I looked like half of my face was weeping the whole time I was out.  It's my own fault - I should have considered that before choosing the single most difficult color for me to photograph, the one I'm only able to get in direct sunlight.  I just thought I'd mention that so you know why today's pictures are some of my weaker ones - it could either be a more attractive picture or color accurate, so I went for color.

Enough about that!  It's time to show you who matches today's manicure.  

David Lee Roth

If you think about it, neon purple isn't a color a lot of people wear, but anyone who was a fan of good ol' Diamond Dave during the era when Van Halen became Van Hagar will remember this album cover.

David Lee Roth: Enamored with Bright Colors?

If I can't rely on the man on that album cover to appear in photos wearing neon purple and black together, I can't rely on anything!

In including DLR today, I certainly don't mean to classify him with hair bands of the '80's.  The fact is, he has a long track record of success that proves he's talented.  When his first solo album came out, I saw his live show to promote it, and he's a heck of a showman, and his success makes sense to me.  That being said, he really embraced the whole '80's over-the-top way of doing things wholeheartedly.  I know there are quite a few younger readers who probably don't have memory of this time, so I thought I'd show you a poster that was on my sister's bedroom wall then.  Here, you can see much of DLR's appeal was more in what he didn't wear.

Wow.

That was before the regrettable process of transformation...

I Don't Like Where This Is Going

Now Diamond Dave is everybody's Great Uncle Dave, and it's really, really not the same at all.  However, I think we can still take a few lessons away from these pictures: martial arts do a body good, everybody ages, and even if you're wearing spandex pants you can always find a place to stash your spare sweat socks.  It's all about learning.

So that's today's manicure and a corresponding picture from the '80's.  This work week's theme has evolved into an interpretation of the '80's through OPI Black Shatter, a far narrower and more specific theme than I ever would have consciously chosen, but it seems to be working out alright.  I think it would be fun to do another theme for next Monday through Friday, but I don't have any ideas that seem this silly.  If you have suggestions you think would be entertaining, please let me know!  If I get a few good ones, I'll put them to a vote over the weekend and go with the winner.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader,  until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Essie Ruby Slippers Giveaway

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I recently had the good fortune of running into Essie Ruby Slippers and Essie Glass Slippers, and I got them yesterday.  I was really thrilled to find them because I had and really loved Ruby Slippers, but it got lost, and since it's hard to find I figured I'd never see it again.  But then I came across it, and while I was at it, I got an extra to give to you.  I'll tell you more about that part at the end.

Essie Ruby Slippers is a red glitter in red polish, but it's an exceptionally good rendition of it. Definitely top two of red glitters for me, and only top two because I'm afraid to commit to a favorite.  In two coats, it's totally opaque, even, and loaded with varying shades of red and a bit of orange-ish glitter.  It does use up a lot of top coat though.  I applied it late yesterday, hoping to catch the last of the sunlight for a picture (no such luck), and I used two coats of Poshe on it.  Several hours later, it was bumpy again, so I added one coat of Konad top coat because it's the thickest thing I have, and another of Poshe.  Now it's smooth.

Essie Ruby Slippers Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer view of the glitter:

Essie Ruby Slippers Nail Polish, Close Up

See how nicely the different colors of glitter show through?  It seems like the base is the perfect opacity for coverage without hiding the glitter, which is a rarity.  This is one fabulous polish.

So, I was telling you I picked up an extra to give to you... I thought it would be a nice Valentine's Day thing to get.  I figured we'd just go the usual route, a random drawing open to everyone with the only restriction being one entry per person - no other rules.  In the entry form, you don't need to use your real name, and the names on the entries won't show up here.  The only reason your email address would ever be used is to notify you that you've won, and I'll be taking entries for two weeks.  I think that's everything - I'm not great at remembering the detail stuff.  Here's the entry form, so have at it and good luck!

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Essie Pink Parka & Konad m56

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I was in the mood for pink, and I'm desperately weary of Winter already, so I used Essie Pink Parka, a retina-searing pink creme (consider that your warning about the picture of it!).  It's a good neon pink, opaque in two coats and even in three for me (which means if I were more careful, two might be good).

I thought Pink Parka could use a little Konad, so I used my ol' favorite tip pattern from plate m56 with Konad White Pearl Special Polish.  The patterns a little shorter than I'd prefer, but I guess they all can't work out just right... Anyhow, now I have a nice pink Summer manicure.

Essie Pink Parka Nail Polish, Three Coats with Konad m56 in Konad White Pearl

I told you it was retina searing!  You should have seen me when I came in from taking pictures - it looked like I was weeping, my eyes were watering so much from looking at this in bright light.  One nice thing you can see here is that the White Pearl didn't smudge at all, and I didn't allow any wait time between stamping the last nail and applying top coat to the first.

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Sooooo psyched

I'm really sick of studying and worrying about my exam tomorrow, so I decided to take another break and blog :P. Today's post is another notd from the vault - I've been dabbling back into nail art the past couple of days and found my skills have deteriorated greatly. I got so annoyed at my failed attempts I just slapped some polish on, hated it, removed it, found my stained nails a sore to look at, and slapped another polish on. In summary, the past few days have not been good polish days. Hence a notd from the vault. Anyway, enough ranting ^^.

I found this polish quite appropriate since it reflects my mood. I am extremely excited for my exams to finally be over and so here is Essie's Sew Psyched. Ok, bad pun :P.

Shown is two coats of Sew Psyched. I love that this is yet another dusty, muted green shade. I'm not great at identifying greens, so I'll just take the description Essie provides, the polish is a "Cashmere-soft sage pewter". This polish if from their Fall Collection 2010 and I'm absolutely in love with it. I'm loving these muted shades and just can't get enough of them.

If you haven't already, check out my giveaway here!

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

Essie Smokin' Hot

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I tried out Essie Smokin' Hot from the Winter 2010 release, and I really like it a lot.  My first impression of it is that it's what I think Chanel Paradoxal would look like as a creme.  Smokin' Hot is a similar brown taupe with a little purple mixed in, and the color is really interesting.  It's really well pigmented, and two thin coats were all I needed.

Essie Smokin' Hot Nail Polish, Two Coats

That was short, but it's only 6:22 am so I have little else to tell you...  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Nail mail!

And who doesn't love them? :P

A little over a week ago, I went on an ebay shopping spree and the polishes finally arrived today. I'm exaggerating slightly though, shipping only took a week ^^;;. On the spree, I decided to kill a few of my Zoya lemmings and also got myself a hold of a flakey polish. Yes, flakey!!! I was super excited for this package to arrive :).

The first photo is taken in natural light indoors and the following two with flash - apparently the sun will not be hanging around much this week :(.

Essie - Sew Psyched
Nubar - Nubar 2010
OPI - Parlez-vous OPI? and  Lincoln Park after dark suede

Zoya - Harlow, Crystal, Valerie, Tiffany, Gloria, Edyta

I can't wait to try these polishes out, but I think I may wait for the sun to reappear so I can wear these in their fullest glory! :D

Thanks for dropping by~
Sharon

My first Essie polish :)

I very rarely do fall severely sick, but it seems the weather's ability to be decisive has affected me (either be hot OR cold, darn it!). I didn't get to enjoy my weekend nor catchup on my last couple of assignments and I apologise in advance for the lack of updates that'll probably take place in the next couple of weeks on this blog. Life and such, you know?

Anyway, I did manage to try out my first bottle of Essie polish before I fell sick. Behold, Essie's Turquoise & Caicos

Please ignore the huge gap between the polish and my cuticles, the photo was taken on the fourth day. I can't say I'm overly impressed with the formula of the polish, it was a bit too runny for me and goodness, it required three coats and there's still some VNL. For the $10+ I paid for this, I had expected better. Still, the polish is a lovely turquoise colour and I'd definitely wear this again in the future - such a delightful spring shade :).

Thanks for dropping by
~shazzii

Essie Going Incognito

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I just got some (most) of Essie's Winter 2010 Collection this week, and I have Going Incognito to show to you today.  It's the green creme in the collection.  It's a really nice polish - a well pigmented two coater that's easy to control. It's roughly the same tone as Pretty Edgy but Going Incognito is a bluer shade of green.

Essie Going Incognito Nail Polish for Winter 2010, Two Coats

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Konad Plate M44

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I've been Konading more in recent days, and have pictures of a couple of Konadicures for you today.  Both use Konad plate m44, a tip pattern, for the stamping.

First up is two coats of SpaRitual Shoot for the Stars stamped with woven tip pattern in Konad white.

Konad Plate M44 over SpaRitual Shoot for the Stars Nail Polish

The other I'm wearing today, and I had to use artificial light.  It's three coats of Essie Pretty Edgy with the inverse basket weave tip pattern from M44 in Konad Blue.  

Konad Plate M44 over Essie Pretty Edgy Nail Polish

Those are my recent Konadicures with plate M44.  I have a bunch of stuff to swatch for you, but lately I've just been so tickled by Konad that swatching waits...

That's all for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Yes, another haul :)

I was pleasantly surprised that the postman dropped by today, I hadn't expected this Transdesign order to arrive until Friday. Of course, I could hardly wait to start playing with the polishes, but unfortunately I have work due tomorrow which I need to get cracking on :(.

First up, my Color Club haul! Have I mentioned before that all my photos are clickable? Definitely click away to see enlarged photos!

Top row: Wild Orchid, Uptown Girl, Revvvolution
Bottom row: Wild at heart, Soft as Cashmere, Magic Attraction

Aaaaand my first Essie and Misa polishes, not forgetting my huge lemming by China Glaze :D!

From left to right: Turquoise & Caicos, Mummy may I, Dirty Sexy Money


I can't wait to try them all on! I'm really loving what I ordered this time round, and especially, especially eyeing Revvvolution. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze aside some time for a fresh mani later on today :).


Thanks for dropping by!
~shazzii