Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink

I had a very belated urge to do something Valentine's Day related. Since I didn't do anything special or themed for Valentine's Day I decided to pick go with Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink which I picked up from their new Xtreme Wear collection. When I picked it up this colour screamed Valentine's to me, add glitter to the mix and this was a no-brainer!

I applied OPI Natural Hardener for my base coat and then applied three coats of Rockstar Pink. The formula is thin but not runny. now that may sound contradictory so let me explain :) Since the formula is thin this allows the glitter to glide on smoothly and subsequent coats allows for total opacity without any clumping from the glitter. This polish was a breeze to apply and was almost perfectly opaque with two oats but I added a third to ensure total coverage. I applied a thick coat of Seche Vite top coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri drops to hasten the drying time. I would suggest you add another layer of top coat if you want it feeling perfectly smooth since it still had a grainy feel with just one coat.

I just wanted to note that the bottle contains 11.8ml and for this one manicure I used a significant portion of it to achieve complete opacity. I can't wait to try this over other nail polishes as a top coat :)

These photo's were taken a night later in artificial light after I had removed most of the excess glitter.

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Artificial Light

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Artificial Light

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Artificial Light -  blurry goodness!!!

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Artificial Light

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Artificial Light

Then two days later I took these photo's outside but unfortunately it was overcast so there's not much sunlight to work with.

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Natural Light

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Natural Light

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink in Natural Light - more blurry shots :)

GLITTER OVERLOAD!!! This colour is just stunning! It's so pretty and smoothly blends together for a glitter overload. Rockstar Pink had pink, purple, blue and silver glitter particles all through it in a clear base. I keep finding my attention drawn to my nail polish, especially with the sunlight sparkling off them. If you love pink and glitter I suggest you pick this colour up at once!

Weekly Giveaway Round Up

I decided that instead of doing individual posts about any giveaways I discover I would instead do a Weekly Round Up. I have discovered many amazing blogs from other bloggers posting about giveaways and I would like the opportunity to do the same. I always update my giveaway page when I find a new giveaway but it's often difficult to know which ones are new. Therefore, each time there is a giveaway I will post it in my Weekly Giveaway Round Up giving you a chance to enter and hopefully discover a fantastic new blog.

Lots of giveaways this week so I'll get on to it :)

First up over at Glitter Obsession there is a 300 Follower Giveaway!!

The prizes include:

• 1 brand new bottle of Seche Vite
• 1 brand new Sally Hansen Glass Slipper
• 1 brand new Hard Candy Beetle
• 1 brand new Hard Candy Matte Top Coat
• 1 Migi Art pen in metallic green and bronze
• 1 Migi Art pen with rhinestones and topcoat

One lucky winner will win all of the above! This giveaway is open internationally and ends on 19th March 2012. To enter click HERE .

Next over at Smashley Sparkles there is a 100 Follower Giveaway!!

The prize includes:

• A bottle of OPI DS Sapphire

Can you believe it???!!! One VERY LUCKY winner will get a bottle of the discontinued holographic OPI DS Sapphire. This giveaway is open internationally and ends 29th February 2012. To enter click HERE.

Over at NailZilla there is a 100 Follower Giveaway!

 

The prize is:

• A bottle of Essie Shine of the Times

One lucky winner will receive Shine of the Times and I am dying to get my hands on this gorgeous flakie! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 20th March 2012. To enter click HERE.

To celebrate hitting the 1 year mark at Lost Girl's Notes there is a 1 Year Blogiversary Nail Polish Giveaway!

 
Prize 1 includes:

• Revlon Popular
• Revlon Whimsical
• Lynnderella One Nutty Fruitcake
• China Glaze Prismatic Ray-Diant
• China Glaze Magnetic Pull Me Close
• China Glaze Magnet
• 5 Kleancolor Nail polishes of your choice

 Prize 2 includes:

• Revlon Whimsical
• China Glaze Prismatic Prism
• Sephora by OPI Havana Nights minis
• 5 Kleancolor Nail polishes of your choice

 Prize 3 includes:

• Revlon Popular
• Golden Rose Fantastic Color 151
• Golden Rose Super Shine 161
• Sephora by OPI I'm Wired
• Sephora by OPI Teal We Meet Again
• 5 Kleancolor Nail polishes of your choice

There are 3 prize packs and there will be 3 winners! This giveaway is open internationally and ends 30th March 2012. I don't know about you but I'm excited! To enter click HERE.

Over at Polishology due to a fortunate accident Jenny received three extra polishes from China glaze. So she's having a China Glaze Electro Pop Giveaway!!

The prizes are:

• China Glaze Sunshine Pop
• China Glaze Aquadelic
• China Glaze Dance Baby

One lucky winner will receive the above three polishes from the China Glaze Electro Pop collection. This giveaway is open internationally and ends 29th February 2012. To enter click HERE.

Lovely Little Things is having a Blog-versary Giveaway!!

The prizes includes:

• Lynnderella's Very Pretty Vampire
• Deborah Lippmann's Satin Doll

There will be two prizes and two winners. This giveaway is open internaitonally and ends 27th March 2012. To enter click HERE. 

Deuce Beauties is rapidly gaining followers and is having a 2,000 Followers Giveaway feat. Layla Cosmetics Magneffect Nail Polishes!!

The prizes include:

•  12 Piece Layla Cosmetics Magneffect Nail Polishes

There will be 6 winners!! This giveaway is  open internationally and ends 8th March 2012. To enter click HERE.

Orly Galaxy Girl (Pic Heavy!!)

I haven't yet tried Orly nail polish so I figured now was as good a time as any :) With that in mind I grabbed Orly Galaxy Girl from the Cosmic FX collection. Galaxy Girl is a gorgeous duochrome that shifts from a burgundy/mahogany colours to a rich teal blue. the colour is primarily a deep rich burgundy that has a teal blue shimmer. In certain lights thought it becomes a duochrome and it shifts to the teal blue colour.

I applied a coat of Revlon Calcium Gel Nail Hardener followed by three coats of Galaxy Girl. Galaxy Girl is very thin and I found it a bit difficult to work with since it was watery. It wasn't possible to use thick coats since the formula was so watery so I used three very thin coats. Since this was my first time using Orly I found the brush took some getting use to and it was also more difficult because it was watery.

These photo's were taken in artificial light that night.

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

 Galaxy Girl shifts between the reddish burgundy above and a teal blue that I couldn't photograph .

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

 The tips of my fingers kin of show the teal blue that it shifts to .

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

The following morning I took these photo's in natural light.

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Look at that gorgeous burgundy shiny goodness!

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

I did the best to capture the duochrome shift to the teal blue :(

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

The majority of the time Galaxy Girl was the mahogany/burgundy colour with a teal blue shimmer which was easy to capture. However, the colour would shift to this amazing teal blue that wouldn't be captured >.<. When I first put this on I wasn't a fan, the dark burgundy colour just didn't suit me but the gorgeous blue shimmer and duochrome saved this nail polish for me.

Essie Playa Del Platinum

I decided to wear a nice neutral colour so I chose Essie Playa Del Platinum from the Essie 2010 Resort Collection. Playa del Platinum is a grey beige - a greige - neutral creme.

I used  Revlon Calcium Gel Nail Hardener as my base coat and then applied two coats of Playa Del Platinum. The formula was a bit thin like most Essie nail polishes I have tried but it was still good to work with. I had actually finished applying two coats and thought "oh great I have to take it off!" because there were bald areas and then thick lumpy bits. However by the time I went to apply my top coat the nail polish had levelled out and it looked perfectly fine! So I would suggest that when you try this polish don't panic after applying it, wait and allow the nail polish to self level first. I used Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri drops.

These photo's were taken that night in artificial light.

 Essie Playa Del Platinum in Artificial Light

 Essie Playa Del Platinum in Artificial Light

There wasn't must sunlight the following day but I took these photo's anyway.

Essie Playa Del Platinum in Natural Light

Essie Playa Del Platinum in Natural Light

I love this gorgeous neutral shade. I was worried when I started applying the polish and it kept balding and lumping but when it self levelled I was crazy happy! This is a beautiful colour that I think of as one of those "work appropriate:" colours. I am definitely glad to have this colour in my stash!

Scotch Tape Nails: Half N Half Mani

I used Modelista On Location - Berlin as my base colour since I had a particular design in mind.

I didn't cut the scotch tape at all just applied it across my nails from one corner to the other. Then I used one coat of Revlon Silver Screen for the scotch tape section. Silver Screen worked well because it is opaque with just one coat. Once dry I added a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast top coat and viola.

I only have photo's of this design in artificial light taken after I finished.

 

This is a very simple and easy to do design and I love the contrast of the silver and black. I especially like this design in the sunlight because On Location - Berlin has blue/silver microglitter that looks gorgeous against the metallic silver. I'll definitely be doing this design again with other colours!

Step By Step: Nude Accent with Flowers

This is my Step By Step tutorial on the nail design I showed the other day.

What you will need:

• Base colour - French pink - Maybelline Sheer Ballet Pink
• Accent colour - red - Revlon Revlon Red
• Top Coat - Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
• Scotch Tape
• Konad Special Polish White
• Image Plate M31
• Stamper
• Scraper
• Cotton Pads
• Nail Polish Remover
• Pad of Paper/Paper towelling

 

Step 1: Apply a base coat and then a nude pink that you would use for a French manicure. Alternately, if you have unstained nails you can just buff your nails to a shine. I used Maybelline Sheer Ballet Pink.

Step 2: Ensure your base colour is completely dry. Cut ten pieces of scotch tape long enough to cover your nail.

Step 3: Stick the scotch tape to your palm repeatedly until you get rid of most of the stickiness. Then place the scotch tape at an angle across your nail.

 Step 4: Once taped down and the edge sealed, add a coat of your chosen nail polish for the accent. I am using Revlon Revlon Red.
***If you have very steady hands you can attempt to freehand

Step 5: Once you've painted the accent remove the scotch tape straight away.

Step 6:  Repeat Steps 3-5 for each of your remaining fingers.

Step 7: Next prepare the items you will need for your Konad stamping. I used Konad Special Polish White and Konad image plate M31. Apply the polish to the plate, scrape and stamp. Then align the image on the corner with the red accent down the nail. Repeat this for your other nails.

Highlighted is the design I used for this manicure

Image plate from ICNA

 
Step 8: Using plate M31 again pick one of the flowers from this design and stamp it along the bottom of your nail, below your previous stamp. Repeat this for your other nails.

Step 9: Clean up any mess then added a top coat. I used Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

And you're done!!!

Nude Accent with Flowers

It was getting late at night and my nails were still bare because I'd been swatching. I didn't want to leave my nails bare *GASP* so I decided to do a simple design .

I wanted to go with a bare nail look to save time but my nails are slightly stained so instead I applied Konad Regular Base Coat and then a thin layer of Maybelline Sheer Ballet Pink. Once that was dry I used scotch tape for one hand for a red accent across my nails in Revlon Revlon Red and then I freehanded the others. Once that was dry I used the flower image from Konad image Plate M31 and stamped it onto my nail. Then I stamped half the image again onto my nail. I cleaned up my manicure and added a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat and my trusty Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Quick Dry Drops.

These photo's were taken in artificial light once my design was dry. Sorry about the crappy lighting but the white flowers kept getting washed out.

The following day I took photo's of these before it started to chip. From previous experience I know that Maybelline Sheer Ballet Pink only lasts about a day before it starts to chip.

I love how simple this design is!! I think it looks amazing with the small splash of vibrant red against the delicate flower stamps. Although I keep wishing that I has added just one more flower across the edge of my nail along the red. I'll probably end up doing this design again when I need a quick manicure but add the flower across the top because it was really driving me nuts! That's not to say I don't love this design as it is because I do!