#HePicksMyPolish September Challenge

I hope you've all been having a good weekend!

I know I'm very last minute with this, but the girl who runs the The Sparkle Queen blog started up a #HePicksMyPolish challenge for the month of September where you have any "he" in your life (brother, husband, boyfriend, neighbor) pick three colors from your nail polish stash with absolutely no guidance from you.

I had my brother choose the three polishes, and unfortunately he choose three very bright and eye-catching polishes. He choose: Nicole by OPI Hit The Lights, a grainy silver glitter by Charlotte Russe (no name), and China Glaze Pool Party (these polishes are pictured below).

With two very bright, neon polishes and a glitter polish, I had no clue what design I should do. So, I decided just to do polka dots so that it would be a little less "in your face." I mean, I love neons, but not neon on top of neon WITH glitter. It's just a little much to me. But hey, these are the polishes my brother choose.

So here's my mani:

It actually turned out okay, but I wish I would have done them all with the yellow base color instead of mixing it up, but oh well.

If anyone else wants to participate, you have one more day!

An InLinkz Link-up

-Colleen

Swatch Time: Sinful Colors Leather Luxe Collection (Part 2)

Hey, there!

Today I have part 2 of the Sinful Colors Leather Luxe Collection to show you! (If you didn't see Part 1, you can see it here)

Again, Sinful Colors describes the polishes in this collection on their display as "matte shades with patent leather accents." So yes, the polishes do dry with a matte finish. The idea of this collection is to use the top coat displayed with this collection to do things like paint lines of varying length or other designs to create a "leather accented" look.

Today I will be swatching the polishes My Turn, Cold Leather, and Whipped from this collction.

Let's start with My Turn. My Turn is a dark heather grey color. The formula for this polish was good and easy to apply. Below is My Turn with its matte finish. I used two coats.

 Below is a picture of My Turn with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Next up we have Cold Leather, a lovely navy blue color. Looking at the bottle, the polish looks like it's smack dab in between a royal blue and navy blue. However, on the actual nail, it definitely looks like a dark navy color. Anyway, the formula was nice and easy to apply. And good news: this was a ONE coater!! :) Shown below is Cold Leather with its matte finish.

The following picture is of Cold Leather with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Last but definitely not least is Whipped, a black-colored polish.The formula for this polish was good as well, and very easy to apply. This was also another ONE coater! Pictured below is Whipped with its signature matte finish.

The following picture is Whipped with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

There's a lot of nice fall colors in this collection! And, except for Strapped (the grassy green polish I swatched in Part 1), all the polishes seemed to have good formulas! I'm excited to start trying some "leather accented" designs! :)

Until next time,

-Colleen

Swatch Time: Sinful Colors Leather Luxe Collection (Part 1)

Hey amazing readers!

I'm really excited to show you some polishes from the Sinful Colors Leather Luxe Collection today! I won 5 of the polishes in this collection from Tabitha's giveaway over on her blog, Lacque Enthusiasm. So thanks again, Tabitha!

To brief you on this collection, Sinful Colors describes the polishes in this collection on their display as "matte shades with patent leather accents." So yes, the polishes do dry with a matte finish. The idea of this collection is to use the top coat displayed with this collection to do things like paint lines of varying length or other designs to create a "leather accented" look. There are a total of seven polishes in this collection, but I will only be showing you the five that I have.

Today I will be swatching two of my five polishes from this collection: Leather Loose and Strapped.

So first up is Leather Loose. Leather Loose is a rich chocolate brown with a copper micro glitter. The formula was good and easy too apply. This is probably my favorite polish of the collection because it's an amazing color for fall. Below is a picture of the polish by itself with its matte finish. I used two coats.

 The following picture is of Leather Loose with a top coat on top. I don't have the top coat that went with the collection, so I used one coat of Seche Vite dry-fast top coat instead. I like the way this polish looks with the matte finish, but I'm absolutely in love with the way this polish looks with a top coat on it! It's absolutely Gorgeous!

Next up is Strapped, a beautiful grassy green polish. It sort of looks like a teal color in the pictures, but it's more of a grassy green in real life. The formula for this polish was really thin and sort of runny, so I ended up having to use three coats. Although the formula wasn't the best, the grassy green color is really pretty and definitely worth it! Below is a picture of Strapped by itself, with its matte finish.

The following picture is of Strapped with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. I think both the matte and top-coated versions look really pretty! :)

So far, I'm really liking these colors! I should have part two of this collection up tomorrow.

Which of these two polishes do you guys like best? Would you want to see any of the "leather accented" designs with these polishes?

-Colleen

Golden Leopard Print

Hey nail enthusiasts!

I hope the beginning of your week has been off to a good start! Today I have for you a golden leopard print design, modeled off of Emily's manicure on her blog Very Emily.

Here it is:

I have to say, I really like the stunning gold behind the leopard print! Sorry the last picture looks like my hand is claw, lol. I just wanted to show you the thumb too, so you can see the whole mani.

The polishes I used were:
Sinful Colors Strapped (grassy green)
Sinful Colors Black on Black
& a shimmery gold polish by Charlotte Russe

The Sinful Colors Strapped polish is from the Sinful Colors Leather Luxe Collection, which I will be swatching by the end of the week. I won 5 of the polishes in the collection from Tabitha's giveaway over at her blog Lacque Enthusiasm, and I can't wait to show them to you!

-Colleen

Swatch Time: Orly Angel Rain

Hey everyone!

I am sooo glad it's Friday! However, I have a LOT to get done this weekend. Anyway, today I'm going to show you a polish from Orly's Surreal Collection, Angel Rain. This is my first ever Orly polish!

Angel Rain is an icy blue chrome that flashes a pinky/purple color. The formula was a little thin and had some minor brush stroke showing issues, but despite that, I just love the color and the mystical feel to this polish! The pictures below are shown with 2 coats and no top coat.

 Gorgeous isn't it? I've seen a bunch of chrome polish come out of the fall collections this season, but nothing as pretty as this one! I'm liking how Orly choose to go away from some of the more traditional fall colors and really do something different and original! What do you think?

-Colleen

Fishtail Braid Nails

Good morning everyone!

Today I'm showing you a Fishtail Braid design I did, based on Mo Diddie's tutorial here.

For this mani I used Essie Cashmere Bathrobe, Essie The More The Merrier, and Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!

Here it is:

 And here is a picture of the polishes I used (listed above):

This design was actually really easy to do, and it looks really cool! I've seen some awesome fishtail nail braids with metallics or glittery polishes, so maybe I'll try that some time too!

How do you like this design? I'm loving it!

Swatch Time: Essie Cashmere Bathrobe

Hey everybody!

I hope you've been having a great week so far! Today I'm going to swatch my pick from the Fall 2013 Essie For The Twill Of It Collection: Cashmere Bathrobe.

For the pictures below, I used 2 coats. The formula was nice and easy to apply.

Cashmere Bathrobe is a dark heather grey with a really pretty silver shimmer. The silver shimmer is kind of subtle, which I think makes it even better. The shimmer is a little hard to see in some of the pictures, but I promise it's there!

Anyway, I love this polish because it is very unique in my collection, and it is a great polish for the fall. It's definitely going to be one of my fall go-to polishes! :)

How are you guys liking Essie's fall collection? Any other favorites?

-Colleen

Purple Floral On Red-y & Willing

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Yesterday I did a swatch on the China Glaze polish Red-y & Willing (which you can see here), and since I usually like to do a design with a polish after I swatch it to give you ideas for using the polish, that's what I will be showing you today!

At first, I really didn't think that many polishes would go to well with this deep red shimmer (well, other than gold, silver, white, or black), but as I started going through my polish collection, I grabbed a lilac purple color and found that it looks great against the China Glaze polish I swatched yesterday!

Here it is:

The picture above is the one I did with my right hand (my good hand), and the one below is the one I did with my left hand (my non-dominant hand)

 

In the picture done with my left hand (the one directly above), I kind of struggled with controlling my left hand with the pollen in the center of the flowers so they ended up being clumps of pollen instead (Well, I tried my best). Hopefully with more practice, my left hand will get a little better lol.

The polishes I used for this mani  are:

-China Glaze Red-y & Willing (base color)

-Sinful Colors Tempest (purple)

-Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet (mint)

-Delia's Coral Cascade (coral)

I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend!!

-Colleen

Swatch Time: China Glaze Red-y & Willing (Autumn Nights Collection)

Hey all!

Sorry I haven't gotten too many posts in this week, I've been super busy!

I just picked up one of the new China Glaze polishes from the Autumn Nights Collection over at Sally's yesterday, and I thought I'd show you!

The polish I picked up was Red-y & Willing, a deep red polish with a subtle shimmer. This polish is such a deep red, it almost looks maroon. The formula was good, not to thick, not to thin; this polish also spread evenly in one coat (yes, I repeat: ONE coat) with no visible brush strokes (which is a good thing, because I've heard some of the other polishes in this collection have had this problem).

Here it is:

I don't usually buy red polishes since they normally don't go with my skin tone very well, but this one I HAD to buy! Even though this polish certainly goes well for fall, I personally think this polish would look even better for the winter holidays.

Hope your having a great weekend,

-Colleen

Argyle Nails (plus announcement)

Hey blog readers!

I came across some really cute Argyle Nails on the GirlKarma website (which you can see here), and decided that I would try and recreate it!

Here it is:

Aren't these colors gorgeous together?

The polishes I used for this mani are:
Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!
Sally Hansen Ruby Sequin
China Glaze Pool Party
and a dark blue polish by Charlotte Russe

I absolutely love that Sally Hansen Blue Me Away! (the turquoise polish pictured). I just picked it up at Walmart the other day, and even though it has been out for a while, I think I'll try to swatch it this coming week for those of you who don't have it yet or have forgotten about it!

Anyway, as for the announcement, I'm unfortunately not going to be able to finish out my challenge, the National Day Of...Challenge. When I decided to start it, it was the end of summer and I thought it would be a good idea, but now that school has started, I don't really have the time anymore. With senior year, I'm busy with everyday homework, AP classes, college apps, orchestra rehearsals, and trying to squeeze in a little bit of a social life, so I just don't have the time to commit to the challenge anymore. I'm so sorry. I should have thought about all of this before I started the challenge. Sooooooo big shout out to the girls who did take part in the challenge (here are their blogs): The Nail Polish Sleuth, A Girl And Her Chicken Named Betty, and The Nail Snail. Thank you guys so much for taking part, it means a lot! Sorry I have to end the challenge so soon :(

Thanks for reading,
Colleen

Easy, Free-handed Striped Nails

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend so far! The weekend felt like it couldn't come soon enough!

Today I decided to do a really easy, simple, free-handed srtiped manicure.

The polishes I used were:
Essie The More The Merrier
a dark blue polish by Charlotte Russe
and a sparkly gold polish by Sephora by OPI

I actually really like this mani! Its one where you don't need a lot of time to do it, yet it still looks really cute! I'll definitely be doing this one again...but maybe with some different colors!

So long for now,

-Colleen

National Day Of...Challenge: National Day of Skyscrapers (3/16)

Hey girls!

I have a short post today (because I'm SWARMED with homework :( mehhhh)

Today is National Skyscraper Day and the 3rd day of the National Day Of...Challenge, so I did a manicure attempting to do the Chicago Skyline! On my pointer finger, there is the Sears Tower (I know it's now the Willis Tower, but being a true Chicagoan, I still refuse to call it that), and the Crain Communications Building on my ring finger (that's the building that's shaped like a diamond).

So here it is:

Polishes I used:
Sinful Colors Tempest (purple background)
Sinful Colors Black On Black (Black)
Delia's Lemon Chiffon (stars)

Hope you all have a great rest of the day!! It is still not too late to join the challenge!!!

-Colleen