27 July 2012

Nfu-Oh Gelist 'Twinkle Gold Silver Black 08'

Nfu-Oh Gelist 'Twinkle Gold Silver Black 08' TGSB08

This is three coats of Nfu-Oh TGSB08 with Gelish base and top coat.

This stuff is really pretty. If you're into dark colors (obviously I am!) and you're into gel, I highly suggest this one. The only drawback is that it's a little goopy, and that makes the super-thin gel layers thing harder to do. I can't decide if the glitter is holo or just iridescent or what. It's one of those polishes that I end up just staring at my hands with, watching the colors change. (I swear, I'm not on drugs!)

And because there is large glitter, sometimes you get pieces of glitter hanging over the edge of your nails. One of these was the reason that my pink ended up "chipping" (i.e. lifting up and then being broken off), because it caused the edge to un-seal.

Nfu-Oh Gelist polishes are available in the US here: http://www.fabuloustreet.com/

18 July 2012

Where TartanHearts Jewelry has gone domestically.

Where TartanHearts Jewelry has gone within the US.
Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com
Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

I hope some day I can get all 50 states! (I think if I do, I'll have a 50% off sale!) That would be really freakin' cool. 

17 July 2012

Where TartanHearts has gone, worldwide!

Where TartanHearts has gone!
Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com
Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Pretty neat! I wish the Luxembourg showed up on the map because I thought it was pretty flippin' cool when I got that order.

http://tartanhearts.storenvy.com/
http://tartanhearts.etsy.com/

03 July 2012

Fourth of July mani!

my Fourth of July mani!

Fourth of July is my favorite holiday for manicures! I love the creativity that's involved; you can go a lot of different directions with it.

Okay, let's get into the nitty-gritty. This one used a lot of polish!

Two coats RCM 'Midnight Affair'
taped corner/diagonal French with Milani One Coat Glitters 'Red Sparkle'
ring finger accent nail with Pretty & Polished 'Freedom Calling'
touch-up on red with LA Colors red striper
white dots with dotting tool and LA Colors white striper

The blue is darker and more opaque in person. The red isn't see-through in person. (It's interesting what the camera picks up!) Overall, I love it! I'm considering doing an opposite thing on my toes, which currently have China Glaze 'Ruby Pumps' on them.

Happy (early) Fourth of July to any other Americans, and happy Tuesday to anyone who isn't.

This is last year's mani for July 4th:
America mani

01 July 2012

RCM 'Dress for Success'

RCM 'Dress for Success'

RCM 'Dress for Success'

This gorgeous polish is from RCM's new Shimmering Nights collection, which is amazing. I checked out all four at Ulta and settled on 'Dress for Success' initially. Filled a void in my small but growing gel collection, and is now my only green.

(photo from RCM's facebook)


RCM calls this color a yellow, which I completely disagree with. I'd call it chartreuse, sure. These colors were designed to wear over black, but I don't have a black gel (yet), so aren't super opaque. I wore this over two coats of ProGel 'Trophy Cup', which is an opaque gold glitter. It covered it quite well, and on a couple of edges where the green doesn't totally cover the gold, I get a real idea of the opacity of the green, which is much better than what I expected. I'm left wondering whether I could have just done 3-5 coats of 'Dress for Success' with no VNL.

The glitter almost looks like a holo, but isn't. The label is a holo, and you can see the difference in the second photo. There is a bit of a range in the glitter that almost verges on being a duochrome. (Maybe like a very light version of 'Zombie Zest'.)

Verdict: in a world where there aren't a lot of green gels available, this is a gem!