Butter London Trustafarian

Are you ready to see an AMAZING polish? I am seriously IN LOVE with Trustafarian from Butter London’s fall collection. Before I forget, Butter London polish will be buy one, get one free at Ulta on September 10th as part of their 21 days of beauty promotion. Yay!

Trustafarian is a light green holographic polish. The application is perfect and this polish is REALLY strong. Even after a few days, no chips or tip wear whatsoever. This is definitely one of the best BL formulas I have.

Here’s a way close up shot of the holo; as you can see it is just lovely! I used three coats to get opacity, but I also found that this polish dries very quickly, especially with a fast dry top coat (I use Nubar Diamont). The Butter London fall line is SO fun and unique for fall, and I’m definitely going to get more when that Ulta sale hits. 🙂

Illamasqua Glory

Illamasqua Glory is a polish I would not have picked out on my own. It came with August’s Glossybox. I knew Glossybox was doing Illamasqua this month, so I was very excited! At first I thought, “How boring; silver”, then I decided to spice it up with some glitter and I REALLY like it!

This sparkles so much that it was impossible to get a good shot in the sunshine. I used Glory as the base and it went on perfectly; it is also a one-coater which is a great surprise! Then I put a light coat of OPI’s Crown Me Already (the best polish name ever), and one other coat of Sally Hansen Strobe Light. It is so pretty and sparkly and definitely gave me a mood lift, since I’m having MORE CAR PROBLEMS (oil leak).
Anyway, I can’t wait to play with Glory some more, especially with more glitter polishes!

Milani Bridesmaid and Sally Hansen Ring-a-Ding!

It seems like at the beginning of the week, I’m always blathering on about how hectic it has been. This week is no exception! My husband is gone for three days and it seems like all hell has broken loose, starting with my car battery croaking. My cousin moved in with us over the weekend (he goes to college nearby and this is his last year), and he really saved the day by changing my battery. Anyway, since I hate anything to do with fixing cars, enough of that!

Milani Bridesmaid is a pretty rose gold foil polish, similar to OPI Designer de Better from the Muppets collection last holiday season. I was in the mood for sparkle, so I paired it with a limited edition Sally Hansen glitter called Ring-a-Ding!. This is from the collection as White Veil.

Here it is in full sun. I used two coats of the glitter polish, so this REALLY popped and sparkled! This would be a fun manicure to wear for a wedding or a party.

Here it is in the shade, still very sparkly. I only used one coat of Bridesmaid. I do like Milani’s polish, but don’t find them very long lasting. The formula is great as they apply smoothly, but the ones I have do chip quickly.

If you haven’t gotten your hands on Ring-a-Ding! yet and love glitter, I highly recommend it. This polish is coppery with pale pink glitter as well, and it really goes with the whole rose gold thing that everyone is loving right now.

Revlon Popular

I just can’t help but post the video to this song by Nada Surf. Every time I look at Popular by Revlon, I think of this song with the same namesake! Obviously, I LOVED this song when I was in high school. “If you’ll just listen to my plan: the teenage guide to popularity!”

Popular is a lovely pale pink infused with fine silver glitter, as well as large silver glitter. I didn’t think this would apply well, but was pleasantly surprised by how opaque it is, and that the glitter doesn’t get in the way of the application whatsoever.

This is three coats; with two there was just the slightest hint of visible nail line, and that was with a good coverage ridge filler for the base coat. Another day of bad looking cuticles; I thought that this issue would go away once I stopped biting my nails, but sometimes my hands just get super dry and the skin cracks around my nails. Definitely need to remedy this with some pampering!

Anyway- This is probably the most random post ever here, but back to the original subject: Popular is  BEAUTIFUL polish and an absolute must have for people who love pink like I do!

Quilt Show Madness Week Haul

Holy cow, peeps! I am SO tired right now from going to the quilt show. There’s a statement I NEVER thought I would say, but it’s true! My mom is really into quilting and sewing, so we went to the AQS Quilt Show with my aunt. We had tickets for two days and like I said after the first day, I feel like I was staring into a kaleidoscope for hours. It was VERY fun, even though I can’t sew very well and definitely can’t quilt. Anyway, while with my mom I got a few nail goodies, so I decided to do a haul post and include a few other things I recently purchased!

1. – Zoya Blogger Collection from Birchbox- This set is only sold by Birchbox and I’m not sure how long it will be available, so I decided to get it while it was available. It has three colors; Coraline, Kate, and Belle. They are meant to be worn together in combinations. Kate is my favorite from the swatches I’ve seen.

2. Picture Polish Orbit- This is supposedly a decent dupe for Essie’s Starry Starry Night.

3. NCLA Hello, I Love You!- This was a steal from Little Black Bag, which is a subscription service where you can pay $50 a month and choose an item that is worth more than that retail, and then you get two “surprises” which you are free to trade for other products before deciding on the final bag. I have been intrigued by the concept for such a long time, and when they had a 50% off deal, I finally decided to bite. Since this polish retails for $16 or so, I definitely got a bargain with the entire bag.

4. Palladio Flexi-Strong Ridge Filler- This was at Sally’s and was 50% off the clearance price! Since I love ridge filler I picked this up while with my mom. I had to laugh because after all of that quilt show excitement she was on MY turf, the beauty store. 😉

5. Poshe Cuticle Care – Just a cuticle cream; so far, so good. It’s very soft and silky! Another amazing clearance find at Sally’s.

6. Cynthia Rowley Glitter Polish- These glitters are SO pretty. I got this from Marshall’s at the end of the day when we were all tired from the quilt show.

I’m obsessed with glitter right now after my last post/manicure, and can’t wait to play with these new polishes!

Butter London Big Smoke

If you’re reading this, I’m currently at a quilt show with my mother and aunt, and this is a scheduled post. We’ll see if I make it out of the quilt show ALIVE (just kidding, Mom!). Anyway, I had to decide what I wanted to wear on my nails and ended up with one of my most favorite manicures ever! Pink + navy blue…swoon! Big Smoke is described as “London’s finest. This mildly metallic navy blue nail lacquer is as naughty as a night in a smoky pub.” It really does have a smoky quality to it.

This is one coat in the sun, no top coat. It’s a very rich color with just one coat, so I imagine it would be even more beautiful with two, but I decided to layer it with some glitter, and used Essie’s A Cut Above.

Ta-da! I LOVE this combination!

It was a little difficult to capture; in the sun it is stunning. The application of Big Smoke was like my other Butter London polishes; flawless and smooth! I can’t wait to pair Big Smoke with some other glitters. 🙂

Megan Miller Collection Caribbean

This summer, Wet ‘n’ Wild had a limited edition collection for the Fourth of July called Sparks and Stripes  that consisted of several glitters. I picked up one called Light with Caution, which is a lovely pink mixed with gold. I paired it with Caribbean, a gorgeous teal jelly from the Megan Miller Collection. Caribbean is what I wanted Revlon’s Sheer Seafoam to be (more on that later).

There’s some tip wear in these shots, and the shots aren’t very good, but I wanted to show the ultimate outcome since it was a very pretty manicure despite poor photos! I thought these two were perfect together; I’ll definitely use this polish for some more jelly sandwiches, because it is PERFECT for it!

This glitter is really lovely and not annoying to put on. I did have trouble with layering Caribbean at the tips (clearly!). That definitely needs to be fixed next time! I have worn Caribbean on its own, and it’s a great jelly.

One more thing- I started a beauty blog too! You can check it out here. I’ve been into pretty much anything girly my entire life: dresses, makeup, shoes, purses….I would live in a pink castle decked out with ruffles if I could. 😀 Thanks in advance if you check it out!

OPI Don’t Talk Bach To Me

This polish has the best name ever! Don’t Talk Bach to me is from the new OPI Germany collection. This was the polish I wanted the most out of the collection; when I didn’t see it in my area, I ordered it online. THEN of course when it was in transit, I saw it in person! Oh well. It’s here, and it’s lovely!

As you can see, this is a bit of an ugly pretty color. When the original promo shots came out of the colors, I totally expected this to be yellow, but it is a bit of a green/yellow shape shifter depending on the light and skin tone! Application is flawless with this polish, and you could easily get away with one coat. I used two plus a top coat.

Sorry this shot is so blurry! I took a shot in the shade just on a last second whim. You can really see how it leans green here! One reason I wanted this polish is just for the name. I was a music minor in college and one of my first classes we heavily covered some Bach compositions! 🙂

Did you get anything from the Germany collection?

Review: CND Solar Oil

I have been using CND Solar Oil on my nails and cuticles, and really love the result. I actually purchased this oil in February and just now started using it on a regular basis (no idea why). At the time it was the dead of winter so I wanted something springy and summer; this smells like almonds and is incredibly soft and conditioning.

The bottle contains .25 fluid ounces and ranges in the $8-$10 range; I paid $9 for my bottle, and on Ulta’s website it is $7.50. The brush application makes it very easy to apply to the nails and cuticles, and you don’t need a lot to get the job done! Also, I really like how the oil sinks into the skin and doesn’t slide all over the place. I’ve used some oil products (leg oil and such) that slides everywhere, which I can’t stand because then oil gets all over clothes, fabric, and furniture.

The almond scent of the oil is very natural and slightly sweet, but not overpowering.

Ulta describes CND Solar Oil with this blurb: “Called a ”manicure in a bottle,” this blend of three natural oils and vitamin E serves double duty as both a nail strengthener and conditioner, as well as a cuticle softener.”

Even though the skin will absorb the oil, there will likely be some oil that needs to be cleaned up. This isn’t a problem for bedtime application, and it’s a good chance to condition the nails.

Overall, I really like this oil and am going to continue using it nightly in an effort to strengthen my nails and keep my cuticles in check. Hopefully this will lead to healthier hands and prettier fingers!

Are there any other cuticle oils out there that are must haves?

L’Oreal Tea and Crumpets

L’Oreal Tea and Crumpets is from the limited edition “London Fall” collection by L’Oreal. All of the color themes are London based of course, and have very cute names just like this one. Admittedly, I was a little reluctant to purchase another L’Oreal polish since I wasn’t thrilled with the formula on Now You Sea Me, but I just couldn’t resist the beautiful nude that is Tea and Crumpets!

Now this is my kind of nude. It is a cooler nude shade and has a touch of purple to it. The application is way better than my experience with Now You Sea Me. NYSM was runny and a bit difficult to apply because of it, while Tea and Crumpets went on with better consistency.

I really like this nude for fall. It would look great against any fall themed color palette, and would especially pop against darker outfits. This is the only polish I bought from the London Fall collection, but I am also leaning toward getting the yellow polish (I think it’s called The Perfect Trench) too; I need to pop Butter London Bumster in my purse to see how they compare first.

Here’s a not so great shot indoors; you can see how this polish is a little bit of a shape shifter here! 🙂 This is three coats plus a top coat.