SAFS: Essie's Shine of the Times!

Happy Sunday lovelies!

I have another edition of "Sunday's Are For Swatching!" for you and this one features an HTF (hard to find)/retired beauty...

This... is Essie's "Shine of the Times".  This has been a lemming of mine for a very very VERY long time.  And it's finally mine...

 

Essie - Shine of the Times (over black)

Shine of the Times is a flakie topper that Essie released in their Holiday 2011 Luxe Effects Collection.  It was a pretty big deal when it came out.  At the time both Sally Hansen and Nubar had had great success with flakie toppers that they had released and Essie was looking to step out of their "we only make cremes" comfort zone.  So they released a line of interesting glitter toppers which included this beauty.

 SOTT shifts between an array of colors depending on what color is is paired with.  When over black, it you get a lot of red-orange and green shifting (I used KBShimmer Eclipse as my black base color).

 

 Essie - Shine of the Times (over blue)

I decided to pull out another HTF polish to see how they paired (I know... I'm such a stinker!).  This is Revlon Royal, an unbelievably gorgeous cobalt crelly.  SOTT looks almost rose gold over blue.

 

 Essie - Shine of the Times (jelly sandwich)

Last I wanted to see what it would look like in a jelly sandwich.  So I layered it between Loaded Lacquer's Acai Berry (man oh man does that girls know how to make a good jelly!).  Paired with this maroon, SOTT showed a lot of yellow and fiery orange.

In all of these swatches I only used one coat of SOTT.  This polish really is jam packed with flakies and I didn't need very much on the brush to get the effect I wanted :)

 Flakie perfection!

Now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Since this polish is 3 years old a lot of ladies are "putting it out to pasture", which is a good thing if you're someone like me who missed the flakie boat!  I happened to find this one in a girls destash that I ran across on Instagram.  I've been seeing them pop up again on eBay and Amazon as well.  They ARE out there, it's just a matter of how much you're willing to pay.  Personally I purchased 3 polishes from this girls destash and offered her $15 and she gladly accepted (I got very lucky).  Keeps hunting lovies!

Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway I am hosting with my MUA bestie Operatic Makeup!  The giveaway closes at midnight tonight (PST)...

Until next time!

Guest Post at From Polish, with Love!

Hello dah-lings!

There is a guest post by yours truly up at From Polish, with Love!  My fellow blogger and new friend Dani graciously asked if I would be interested in doing a guest post for her and I decided it had to be all class...

Details on the colors/products used and how I achieved this look can be found in the post.  So... go... now... pretty please?  :P

Until next time!

Stef <3

Platonic Love & Popped Tarts

Hiya lovelies!

Today's post is actually a swatch post.  I know I usually reserve swatchings for Sunday's, but I thought these beauties needed a post all their own...

I'm so excited to share this indie brand with you!  Let's get to it...

Platonic Love

This polish it a black jelly base with holo flakies and glitters mixed in...

Definitely reminiscent of outerspace, this is 2 coats over a black base.  This polish was easy to apply/work with.  And I love the way it turned out!  I see a galaxy mani in my future ;)

Popped Tarts

This polish is described as "a creamy off white crelly polish loaded with glitters in several different shapes, colors and sizes."  I was drawn to this polish because of the neon glitter (I looooove neon glitters!!).  But I also really like the idea of an off-white crelly...

The affect is very subtle.  It's not a popping WOW kind of polish.  It's more of a, "Oh!  That's pretty cool..." kind of polish.  Does that make sense?  Haha 2 coats shown and while the formula on this one was thicker than I expected, it was still easy to work with.

I really love both of these polishes, I can't say that I love one more that the other.  At $6.00 a pop, this is a great indie brand to try out (especially if you haven't taken the plunge!).  Tonya is super sweet and I've enjoyed my correspondences with her :)  You can find Fickle Fairy Potions here.

Just to clarify, I did buy these polishes with my own moolah.  I try to be completely honest and transparent in my posts so that you all know exactly what's up :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

SAFS: Catherine & Oh Splat!

Hello, dolls!

It once again is Sunday (I feel like the last 7 days have just flown by!) and you know what that means...

The "normy" I wore to church today is...

 Julep - Catherine

Catherine is described as "the original classic, go-to red crème".  I'm almost positive that this is the first color Julep came out with.  While the formula was nice, I had to apply 3 thin coats for evenness of color.  Top coated with Color Club Clear (a new favorite of mine).  It definitely is a classic reminiscent of the 1950's :)

Retail: $14.00 ($11.20 Maven Price)

 

Now onto the fun polish...

KBShimmer - Oh Splat!

This is my first ever KBShimmer Polish.  I have loved this brand from afar for a while now and finally decided I had to have a bottle of my own.  Op Splat! is a white jelly base with rainbow glitter mixed in.  I love it!  It makes my little polishing heart happy to wear it hahaha.  This is 3 thin coats with Color Club Clear on top.

Retail:  $8.75

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blurb!  Check-in again tomorrow for some Autumn inspired nail artsy-ness ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

I Did It!!

Good morning, dolls!

Today's post is centered around a nail art tool that I have always struggled with... striping tape.

 Colors Used: Zoya - Morgan, Maybelline - Pretty In Polka, Rimmel - Black Satin

Striping tape been the bane of my nail experience for quite a long time.  I bought a whole pack of the stuff over a year ago and have never been able to manage the clean lines that they're supposed to create.  I'd utilized all of the tips and tricks that fellow blogger's have posted about, and yet no matter how hard I'd try it would end up a big ol' mess.  So I shoved the tapes in the back of my nail art drawer and gave up.  And then last week I read a post from Casey Lane Loves Polish where she talked about struggling with tape manis.  I was inspired to try again...

I started with my ring finger.  Once my base coat dried, I put down my 5 strips of tape and painted a thick coat of Black Satin.  I then very quickly removed the strips of tape and viola!  Clean-ish lines!  Haha :)  I then did 2 coats of Pretty in Polka (a newbie in my collection) on my middle finger and 2 coats of the lovely Morgan  on the rest of my nails.

While it's still not perfect, it's leaps and bounds better than how my tape manis used to be.  So I'm deeming this a nail success :D

Do any of you struggle with tape manis?  Have you thrown in the towel??  I highly suggest keeping at it.  You'll get there, I promise.

Until next time!

Stef <3

Step Into Summer - Ice Cream

Hello, hello my lovelies!

Quick post this evening.  I've been M.I.A. because it's been another busy week.  I swear this won't last forever lol.  Onto the mani!

I did another installment of the Step Into Summer Challenge...

 Colors Used: Love & Beauty - Pink Icing, Sinful Colors - Nirvana, Sally Hansen - Butter-fly Stroke and White On, Julep - Denver

It's ice cream!!  I looooove ice cream haha.  And drippy nails are always fun to do :)

 I started with 3 coats for Pink Icing as my base.  This polish is what I like to call an insta-jelly-sandwich.  Easy to apply and super cute without much effort at all.  On lazy days (or days when I'm limited on time), I reach for these kinds of polishes.  Anywhosy, I then applied the drips and sprinles with a combo of dotting tools and a striping brush.  I top coated and was done!

I'm wishing I had this kind of ice cream sundae in front of my face right now.  I'd annihilate it lol

Before I post the links to this challenge below, I thought I would let you all know about "Min Mani's for Talia Joy" happening tomorrow.  Talia was a beautiful 13 yr old girl who lost her battle with cancer this week.  She was a whiz with make-up/nails and in memory of her Nail Polish Wars is encouraging everyone to rock mint mani's tomorrow (Friday, July 19th).  I plan participating and showing the love, I hope you will too :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Che-Che-Chevron!

Hello, hello!

It's almost the weekend and I am ecstatic!!  I have been working hard this week preparing for summer camp.  I'm super sleepy and very achy, but it's definitely been a labor of love :)  This little blurb, however, has nothing to do with today's manicure lol...

 Colors Used: Julep - Tina, Sally Hansen - Petal Pusher, Love & Beauty - Disco Glitter, Jamberry - Summer Chevron

I wanted to try out another Jamberry Nail Shield (find more info here), but shockingly could not find any polishes in my collection that matched the wrap precisely :(  I tried to stay in the color palette's family...

 2 coats for Tina (lavendar) and then I layered Petal Pusher and Disco Glitter to create a jelly sandwich look.  I loved how the holo glitter peeked thru ;)

Overall, a mani success!

I just wanted to take a second to let you all know how amazingly wonderful all of your commenting is :)  It really does brighten my day when I get to read them all!  You all are an amazing support system and I adore you!!

 My next post will be a continuation of the Step Into Summer Challenge.  Definitely worth checkin' out...

Until next time!

Stef <3

Insta Jelly Sandwich

Hiya!

For today's post I want to share a polish that I picked up at Forever 21 last weekend.  Since they do not put the names of their polishes on the bottles, I had to go to their website and look it up (which is a real paint in the butt and I wish they would get it together!)

 Color Used: Love & Beauty - Glittering Dawn

I saw this bottle sitting on the shelf and I just couldn't past it by!

A baby blue jelly base with fuchsia, white, and holo chunky glitter along with fine specks of dark blue glitter... love it!!  It's very spring looking while following the indie polish trend of fun glitters is interesting bases :)

I'm calling it an insta jelly sandwich because it does all of the work for me. I don't have to layer jelly/glitter/jelly because it's all thrown into one bottle :)  It was beautiful at 2 coats but I did 3 to ensure that the jelly base came across in photos.

I've realized that I own over 30 Love & Beauty polishes and for good reason!  They have a wide selection and at $2.80/bottle it's hard to pass up haha.  If you don't have a Forever 21 near you or your store does not carry polishes (I know that some don't because customers were painting on display cases to test them, which is just wrong because that's vandalism) you can always order polishes from their website ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Think Pink... By Complete Accident!

Good Morning!  Happy Memorial Day to those of you in the states :) 

Today's mani is actually what inspired me to do a whole week of pink!  I wanted to do a jelly sandwich again because I think they're really fun.  I also wanted to use polishes that I hadn't opened up yet.  I did not expect it to become a pink-glittery-girly-thing.  Here's what happened...

 

Colors Used: O.P.I. - You Callin' Me A Lyre?, Love & Beauty - Faded Rose/Multi, Konad - Special White, Rimmel - Black Satin

 I layered 2 coats each of Lyre and Rose (jelly sandwich style), I was expecting the Rose to be a deeper magenta color :\  The reason I used Konad White (a stamping polish for those who are unaware) is because I'm fed up with the thin streaky polishes I currently have.  The Konad is almost the consistency of White-Out and I figured it would do the job a lot better and a lot faster than my other whites. I added white and black striping thinkng that it might help dress up the look...

 But it was still lacking something!  So I went back and added some white dots aaaaaaannnd... A matte top coat (excuse me while I get excited all over again :D:D:D:D:D:D)!

I liked them so much that I kept them on for a full 24 hours lol.

Ok... I should explain my excitement over this simple top coat.  I was late to the matte polish game and by the time I went out searching for a matte top coat, there were none to be found.  I was getting desperate and about ready to shell out the $8 + shipping on Amazon for Essie's matte.  Luckily my cravings for mint-chip ice cream got the best of me on Saturday, so I popped over to Rite Aid and while I was there I perused the polishes and I found one!  NYC's Matte Me Crazy for $2!  And I LOVE it!!  Hahahahaha  :D

This will lead us into my polish haul for the past 2 weeks... after the jump... tada! 

Glitter Sammy... Take Two!

Good morning lovies :)  I can't believe it's already May; this year is just whizzing by *zoom*!

The mani today is my second attempt at doing a glitter sammy.  The last one was pretty but a little too delicate for my taste.  So I decided to go for something bolder ;)

 Colors Used: City Color - Red, and Spoiled - Jewel Heist

 I did 3 layers of each color and topped it off with SV.  This is a very interesting red in that it seems really sheer when first applied but by the time I got to the third brushing, it seemed completely opaque.  I had to top it with more glitter or it would have been a terribly boring mani!   I like this attempt is better than my first one but it doesn't make me go "ooOOOooooo!".  What do you guys think?  Any feedback?

I also wanted to show you all the mani that I did on one of my sisters (FSIL)...

 I cannot remember the colors used at the moment, I'm sorry! And I apologize for the blur :\

She wanted a ladybug theme but it had to be something she could wear to work and this was the end result.  I've seen a lot of these mani's because of the "April Shower's Bring May Flowers" challenge and I wasn't planning on posting another / beat a dead horse, but what the lady wants she gets :P  She was pleased which, of course, is what I always strive for.  

My FMIL just got back from Stagecoach last night and is ready for a new mani, so I'll be posting her nails soon as well.

One last thing before I go!  I went with my honey to get his hair cut on Friday and while his stylist was cutting away I walked over to Rite-Aid to peruse their polish collection.  They had polishes that I'd never heard of before (the Color City I used on today's mani and Jessee's Girl) and most of their selection was on sale.  This is what I hauled home...

Sally Hansen - Mint Sorbet, Jesse's Girl - Spring Break and Wham Bam, City Color - Red, Sinful Colors Midnight Blue and Rimmel - Black Satin

I've swatched them on my color wheel and they're all lovely colors!  I can't wait to use them in future mani's!

A final word... Rhinoceros :P

Until next time!

Stef <3