Red, Black and Gold Glitter Mani

Now that the summer is over and I've been spending less time in the garden, I managed to get some nail art done! 

The inspiration for this mani all started with me wanting really bright red nails.  After scouring my collection for the brightest reds, I finally settled on Essie's 'Fifth Avenue'.  I then came across Pure Ice 'Studette', a gold glitter polish with small amounts of red glitter mixed in.  I decided to pair the two by making a gold glitter decal in a fun shape, and applying it over the red polish on my ring finger to accent the nail... I really just wanted to do a simple look after not having done a lot of nail art for a couple months!

I decided to go with a thin gold glitter triangle that stretched from the tip to the base of the nail. I executed the design perfectly, and was in awe at the stunning accent! Unfortunately, I would only be able to enjoy the design for a few minutes - while it was drying, I accidentally smudged my nail while reaching for something!  I was so disappointed! I decided to try to salvage what I could, and to take the opportunity to push the design further. 

Luckily, the decal itself wasn't ruined, just the red portion on one side of the decal was smudged. I carefully removed the red polish from that side, and masked the (now dry) unblemished portion of the nail. Then I added a black polish, 'Never Have Too Mani Friends!' from the original OPI 'Hello Kitty' collection. It worked, and looked even better than the original design! I'm glad I didn't give up! Inspired by the new improved accent, I then went on to add more black and gold accents to the rest of the nails to tie everything together. In the end, I am so pleased with how the final look turned out!

The final look reminds me of the face cards in a deck of cards - it's all of the bold geometric shapes and the combination of red, black and gold. This mani would be a great look for a poker tournament! If I wanted to run with the playing card theme, a matte topcoat, and maybe a club, diamond, heart or spade nail stamp on the thumb instead of the gold and black circle would have been a nice touch... Wow, looks like once those creative juices start flowing, they never want to stop - here I am still designing the mani, after it's already complete! 😂  

Above, I have a collage of the polishes used, and below, I have a collage with some additional shots of the manicure.

Christmas Glitter Mani 2021

I fell behind with posting, but I really wanted to get this Christmas Mani up on the blog (even though there are a few older manis that I have yet to post! 😅), as it's becoming a bit of a tradition for me to do this same mani at Christmas-time:

I talked about the first two times that I did this manicure in this post from December 2018. I'm pretty sure that this is actually the fourth time I re-created this mani, as I distinctly remember wearing it during the holidays in 2019, however, it looks like I didn't take any pictures of it that year.

One change that I made from the original version, is that I am using a different gold base polish for my middle finger. In the first two versions I used Orly 'Luxe' as the base coat, which is a bit more of a true gold colour. This year (and I think last year too), I started using OPI 'Dazzling Dew Drop', which is a bit more of a brassy, yellow-toned gold. I think that this shade of gold works a little better with this bright, playful look. For both versions, I used Orly 'Halo' as the glitter topper over the gold polishes.

Once again, I love how it turned out! This manicure was so much fun to wear, as it instantly put me in a festive mood!  

Happy Holidays to all!

Revlon 'Elusive'

 Today I have a quick swatch to share:

Revlon #736 'Elusive' is a matte black crelly polish with Emerald green hexagonal glitter particles of various sizes. I'm pretty sure that this polish is discontinued.

I think that this is one of those polishes that looks a million times better in the bottle than on the nail. I find myself wishing that the black base was a bit more translucent, so that the glitter particles would be able to make more of an impact. I also think it would be better with a glossy finish instead of the matte formula that was chosen - of course that is an easy fix with a bit of glossy top coat. 

Overall, it's an OK polish. The formula applied and dried well. The final look is edgy, and somewhat unique. It's just not really my cup of tea... I could see myself maybe wearing it again around halloween, or as a base for nail art, or perhaps if it worked well with a particular outfit - but all in all, it is not one of my favourites.

Let Them Eat Cake Mani

For today's post, I have a manicure themed around an 'oldie but goodie' indie nail polish, NCLA's 'Let Them Eat Cake':

For this Manicure I used NCLA's 'Let Them Eat Cake', a gorgeous lavender glitter crelly polish from NCLA's 'Duchess of L.A.' collection, which I believe came out in 2014. I added two metallic glitter accent nails, one in lavender (Essie's 'Stroke of Brilliance'), and another in plum (L.A Girl's Glitter Addict 'Provocative'). These glitters closely match two of the colours in the metallic glitter mix used in 'Let Them Eat Cake'. 

'Let Them Eat Cake' would probably be one of my favourite polishes, If I really had to try and pick favourites! I've always loved the colour scheme, and even after all of these years, the formula is still impeccable! 

Zoya 'Mae'

For today's manicure, I did a swatch of Zoya's 'Mae':

Zoya's website describes the polish as a "warm magenta pink with a micronized metallic pearl finish, reminiscent of vibrant Mediterranian flowers". I love how fun and girly this polish is! This is a great 'Monday Morning' polish, that helps bring a little cheer to the start of the work-week! Now that many people are working from home, I guess every polish is now 'work-appropriate' - so why not go for colours that bring a smile to your face! 😄

 

Polish Cutout Decal Mani: Version 3

Today I have another polish cutout Decal manicure to share:

 

I still had some sheets of polish leftover from my decal making manicures that I shared on the blog a few posts ago: the 'Polish Cutout Decal Mani' version 1, and version 2. I didn't wan't to waste the sheets of polish, so I came up with a quick abstract mani using strips of polish I cut from the sheets using my pinking shears, and regular scissors. I topped the manicure with a matte glitter topper called 'Can I Get an Untz Untz' from China Glaze's iconic 'Summer Nights' collection that they released in Summer 2015.

The finished look isn't exactly as I had envisioned, but I kind of like the chaotic, random vibes that this manicure gives off! Cutting up the nail polish strips and applying them directly to the nail was a great way to use up more of the sheets of polish.  There still are more odds and ends left, so if I feel up to it, I may be able to do one more version of the 'Polish Cutout Decal Mani', but we'll see...

Revlon 'Girly'

 

Today I have a quick swatch to share of a Revlon polish that I purchased years ago. It's called 'Girly', and it is a pink crelly loaded with purple, pink, and fuchsia hexagonal glitters. At the time of it's release, Revlon had made a bunch of crelly glitters like 'Whimsical' and 'Facets of Fuchsia', some of which were dupes of popular Deborah Lippmann polishes at the time. 'Girly' was one of the original creations in the release. The swatch picture above is two coats of the polish.

L'Oréal Paris 'Spot Me'

Today I have a swatch of a L'Oréal Paris nail polish to share. This is 'Spot Me', colour number 151, from their Spring 2014 'Les Blancs' collection. The collection was a 6 piece offering themed around the colour white. There were four creme polishes (a white and 3 pale pastels), and 2 white based crelly glitter polishes. I picked up both of the crellies, one of which is today's swatch, 'Spot Me':

'Spot Me' is a pale blue-tinted white crelly polish loaded with matte black hexagonal glitters in a multitude of sizes. The finished look on the nails is very reminiscent of a quail or robin's egg, or perhaps even 'cookies and cream' ice cream! I absolutely adore this polish - it's such an elegant and sophisticated way of wearing glitter.

Below, I have both of the crellies from the 'Les Blancs' collection, side by side for comparison. When placed beside eachother, you can really see the differences.'Spot Me' on the left is cool-toned, with an ever-so-slight blue tint, while 'Le Pastille' on the right is a warm-toned, pale peach shade. I actually did a post featuring 'Le Pastille' five years ago. You can see that post here.

Overall, both of these polishes are absolutely amazing. They apply well, dry quickly, and look stunningly chic. What's not to love!

Swatch: KB Shimmer 'Laugh Myself Lily'

Today I have a swatch of KB Shimmer 'Laugh Myself Lily'. I believe that this polish was originally released as part of their Spring 2014 collection. It is a light blue crelly glitter polish with pink, blue, white, and holographic circle and hexagonal glitters of various sizes, as well as a fine holographic dust.

This summer I have been wearing mostly bright, warm colours, so it was a nice change for me to have a predominantly cool-toned manicure. This polish makes me think of water lilies floating on the surface of a reflective pond... It truly is quite beautiful! 

Swatch: KB Shimmer 'Precious Petals'

Today I have a swatch of KB Shimmer 'Precious Petals', over the polish featured in my last post, L'Oréal Paris Le Vernis à l'huile, colour number 663, 'Sable Tuileries'. You can link to that last post right here. 

'Precious Petals' was originally released as part of KB Shimmer's Summer 2015 collection. It is a glitter topper with matte hexagonal glitters of various sizes in lilac, pastel aqua, white, and hot pink, as well as a very fine holographic glitter.

I like how when paired with a neutral base, the glitter really stands out. I think this would also look nice topped over various shades of pink, purple, and blue/aqua.

China Glaze 'Cackle if you Want to'

'Cackle if You Want to' was released as part of China Glaze's Halloween 2015 'Ghoul's Night Out' collection. It is a glitter topper with matte purple and black glitters in a variety of sizes. The purple glitter particles are quite unique, in that they have a light purple and dark purple alternating 'pinstripe'. 

Even though this was part of a Halloween collection, it can work with a variety of nail looks, any time of year. For this manicure, I used 'Cackle...' over China Glaze's 'Ahoy', the polish that I wrote about in my last post, which you can see here. The combination creates a manicure that is edgy, fun, and artistic.

Even though I don't frequently wear glitter topper polishes, I'm really happy to have this one in my collection. The colourway is pretty versatile, since it is only one colour and a neutral, which allows it to be worn with a greater variety nail polish shades. Also, it is pretty unique (particulary for a mainstream polish). Overall, it's a really cool option for adding some visual interest to a simple manicure.

Grey Mani with Pink Splatter Glitter

Today I have a quick and easy glitter manicure to share:

This manicure uses Rimmel's 'Grey Matter' as a base, under a coat of Claire's Cosmetics's Splatter glitter polish in the colorway 'Paparazzi'. 'Paparazzi' was featured on the blog before as part of a manicure I did for my 'Project Polish', you can click here for that entry.

The whole impetus behind this manicure was actually to give 'Paparazzi' one more chance before deciding whether or not to declutter it. The polish is quite old, and it has gone a little gloopy. On top of that, the colorway is pretty limiting, in that it's hard to think of base colors that it would look good with. And finally, the polish isn't really my cup of tea anymore. Because of this, I've decided part with this polish. 

Revlon 'Whimsical'

Today, just in time for "Throwback Thursday", I have an oldie but goodie nail polish to share - Revlon's 'Whimsical'. There's quite an interesting history behind this polish. I think it came out sometime around late 2011 or early 2012.  It was a dupe for a really popular polish at the time by Deborah Lippman, called 'Glitter in the Air'. The Deborah Lippmann polish was named after and inspired by a song by the artist P!nk, which she famously performed at the 2010 Grammy Awards while doing aerial acrobatics. 

I remember being so excited to buy this polish back in the day. It looks so gorgeous in the bottle - the colours work so well together.  Also, there was a bit of a novelty factor, as crelly glitter polishes were not that common back then in mainstream brands. 

This particular bottle has held up well for how old it is (I'm not sure exactly when I bought it, and I think the polish was available for a few years after it was released). The base may have yellowed slightly, as I seem to recall it being more of a brighter sky blue, but it still looks essentially the same.

All in all, it was fun to pull this polish out of the collection and take a trip down memory lane!

Pastel Green Manicure with Splatter Effect Glitter

Today I have another mani photo pulled from my archives - the metadata advises that it was from October 2013. This is s simple glitter mani using 2 polishes: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 'Green Tea', and Claire's Cosmetics 'Splatter Paint'.

There's actually something really awesome about this combination of polishes. I really like how this look came out...  I would even repeat this look now, almost 7 years later!!!  

Swatch: Revlon 'Facets of Fuchsia'

Another day, and another post from the archives! This one also fit into the 'Revlon Swatch Series' on-going project that I am working on. This polish is Revlon 'Facets of Fuchsia' (However, I think that at some point over the years the name was changed to 'Scandalous'). It is a black crelly polish with purple suspended glitters, and is said to be a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's 'Bad Romance' - a Lady Gaga inspired nail polish. 

These archived photos are from October 2011! This polish really brings back a lot of fond memories, as this was when I was just starting to rediscover my enthusiasm for nail polish and nail art!

Zebra Print Nail Stamping Manicure

Today I have a nail stamping manicure to share from the archives I mentioned in an earlier post. This is a zebra-print nail, with a black ring finger accent nail topped in silver glitter. Again, I have no idea which polishes and plates were used, but I really like the way it turned out, so I figure that it was worth sharing!

Simple Stamping Accent Mani featuring KB Shimmer 'Funky Cold Patina'

Today I have another throwback post from the archives I mentioned in my last post. This is a simple nail stamping manicure with a gold design stamped on my ring finger as an accent, over KB shimmer's 'Funky Cold Patina'. Unfortunately, since the photo is from so long ago, I no longer remember which stamping plate, or which gold nail polish I used. The stamping image looks like it could possibly have been from a Moyou London Optical Illusion collection plate, however I can't say for sure.

Deep Emerald Green Glitter Mani

Today's manicure is a blinged-up version of yesterday's swatch of Nubar's 'Greener'. This look is truly serving up all kinds of pre-St Patrick's Day sparkly green greatness! 😉

This has been such a fun manicure to wear! There's just something about an in-your-face glitter mani that just instantly puts me in a great mood! And then combined with all of this gorgeous greenness... It's almost too much to handle! 

Above, is a shot of the polishes that I used to create this look. The base polish is Nubar 'Greener', and the glitter is L.A. Girl Glitter Addict 'Purge'. The L.A. Girl polish was from a glitter collection they released with about 14 different shades of metallic glitter polishes. I managed to get all but one or two shades from the glitter collection several years ago, and they are still going strong!  These are actually the only polishes that I own from this brand.

Below, I've included a few additional shots of the manicure.  Enjoy!

Mani Refresh: Holo-Glitter Topped Pink Shimmer Nails

I wanted to refresh my mani from the last post, so I decided to top them with a holographic bar glitter polish, to give a bit of a princessy-vibed mani!  The polishes I used were Nicole by OPI's 'You're an Angel', and Kleancolor's 'Starry Night'. For bottle shots, you can see 'You're an angel' here, and 'Starry Night' here.

This combination was certainly fun to wear and look at - even for such a simple manicure! Plus, it was a really great way to refresh a manicure that I had reached the point of boredom with. The pink polish that serves at the base polish in this manicure, had been my previous manicure. I wanted a bit of a change, but I wasn't keen on completely removing my nailpolish and starting over, either. I decided to just add a coat of the glitter to revitalize the mani without doing a lot of work!

Glitter Mani: 'Cherries in the Snow' and 'Flashing Lights'

Today I have a quick post to share. It's a simple glitter manicure using Revlon's 'Cherries in the Snow', and Claire's Cosmetics Splatter 'Flashing Lights'.  I've been struggling to find base polishes that would look good with this glitter topper from my 'Project Polish'.  I think that this red, white and blue combo worked out quite nicely! 

Truthfully, I am really over this glitter topper... I don't really enjoy glitter polishes as much as I used to, and this one in particular has a very limiting colourway, so there's not as many polishes that it can be used with. I'm really not sure if I'm going to be able to finish the entire bottle - this polish is most likely bound for the giveaway pile.