Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Chalkboard

It’s probably not a surprise, but I was one of those kids who always volunteered to wash the chalkboard in elementary school. To this day I love the way chalk dust smells and cleaning erasers and the chalkboard was my pleasure! Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics has recreated the good old chalkboards of the past (do kids even have those now??) with this amazing green polish, aptly named “Chalkboard”.

This is a deep, dark green. It’s darker than hunter green, but not quite blackened either. The formula on this polish is incredible. I’ve noticed that of all the OCC polishes I have, the formula is incredibly consistent and smooth. This is two coats plus a top coat.

I also think that this polish would make a fantastic gift for a teacher! My only gripe with OCC is that I have to order them online. Sephora now carries their lip tars, so maybe they will carry polishes in the future. You can also order OCC from their website, or Beauty.com, which is what I prefer to do when they have coupon codes out, and then go through eBates as well.

Either way, these are amazing polishes, and Chalkboard is a must have for those who LOVE green like I do!

Plaid Nails!

During the summer, my husband and I went to the Highland Festival that is held in Alma. We both ended up getting scarves; each scarf had a clan associated with it and all of them were some sort of plaid (yes, Captain Obvious moment). I got the Macbeth clan scarf because I love Shakespeare and Macbeth is definitely a favorite of mine. These nails don’t look anything like my scarf, BUT I did use Butter London Macbeth as the base color!

I wanted to do blue and yellow with this, but the yellow bottle was stuck shut and my muscle man was still at work. 😉 Instead, I used blue and white from the Color Club Art Club line.

Macbeth is a reddish/pinky shade, and super pretty. I didn’t do the best job with the lines, but I liked the ultimate result and didn’t think it was too Fourth of July, despite the color combination. 🙂

Sparkly Manicure with Revlon Cloud and Color Club Blue Hologram Glitter!

Ever do your nails, and then you can’t stop staring at them constantly? That is what happened with this glittery manicure.

Revlon Cloud is a unique lavender blue shade. I saw this on one of my favorite beauty blogs, and since then I’ve always been curious about it. This color is truly a shape-shifter; sometimes it looks like a true lavender; sometimes it’s blue, and sometimes it’s gray! I always passed this up, but recently saw it marked down (on clearance at Meijer, of course!), so I’m wondering if it’s being discontinued.

The application of Cloud is slightly streaky; I needed three coats. It dries very quickly and evenly, so I was happy with the outcome once I added a top coat. I also used Color Club Art Club glitter in Blue Hologram at the base for a little sparkle!

Cloud is truly unlike the rest of my polish, and I am really happy with it!

Essie Yogaga

I have mentioned this polish in a haul post and while debating what to wear to my sister’s wedding, but I’m just now showing it to you! Essie’s Yogaga collection has been out for awhile, and this is the namesake polish within it. This polish is definitely one of my favorite neutrals! It’s one of those light taupe/sandy beige/gray colors that changes depending on the lighting, as you can see above.

I wore this polish for three days, and it still looked great when I removed it; there were a couple of chips on my right hand, but that was from my own doing. It literally goes with everything and every color, which is why I wanted to wear it during the holiday week. Maybe it’s just me, but I hate it when my polish doesn’t match what I’m wearing. This is just two coats plus a top coat.

What do you think of this shade? Love it? Leave it? It is a neutral but has a cooler toned vibe to it, which I adore! I don’t have any other neutrals quite like this one.

Studio M Stargazer

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I’m absolutely exhausted, as I’ve been out shopping all day with my mom and sister. We don’t do the big super early Black Friday shopping, but since they live in the boonies and visited me for the holiday, we went all over the place. Now that I spent far too much money today, I figure it’s a good time to show off a great budget glitter polish!

Studio M has some incredible glitters out right now and they were just on sale last week at Meijer. Regularly priced, these polishes are only $3, and they have a big holiday display on some of the side caps. Stargazer is a “hairy” black bar glitter with gold bar glitter laced throughout. It adds a bit of texture to the nails, which I really like! The glitter is actually pretty long, with small pieces throughout.

I layered it over Illamasqua Nomad earlier this week, and the colors just popped. Unfortunately it has been quite cloudy and I haven’t been able to get the best photos lately. I did pick up some other Studio M glitters during the sale at Meijer (pretty much my favorite place to buy polish), so expect some more soon! 🙂

Butter London Scallywag

Scallywag is one of the Butter London holiday polishes. I love this color, but honestly got this for partially sentimental reasons too. One of my favorite people in the world, my Uncle David, used to call my dad a “scallywag” every time they saw each other. Since the word is such a unique one and a bit silly, I just needed this amazing glitter in my life!

Another interesting tidbit about the word is another definition:

Scallywag: a White Southerner who supported the Republican Party and its policy of Black emancipation. Scallywags were viewed as traitors by their fellow Southerners

Since this is British lingo we’re talking about here, the word just means someone is a bit of a rascal or a brat; someone mischievous.

Scallyway is a very dense turquoise glitter suspended in a clear base. This glitter is full coverage; however, I used Essie’s Beach Bum Blu as a base. The application is perfect and it also dries quickly. The polish is VERY sparkly, which I love! It also dries to a sandy, matte type of finish without a top coat. With the top coat I used (Out the Door), it has a little bit of texture, but not where it is sticking out from the nail and getting all over the place.

 

Zoya Dove + Sally Hansen Glass Slipper

This manicure was my first attempt at recreating a coveted polish I will probably NEVER have: Illamasqua Raindrops. Raindrops is a jelly polish with iridescent flakies, and it is super amazing. You can see swatches of it on Temptalia and other blogs. Unfortunately, beautiful Raindrops is not available anymore. *SAD FACE*

I decided to recreate the look using Zoya Dove and Sally Hansen Glass Slipper. Dove is an okay polish, but nothing special. The color is beautiful, but I think I am totally done with creme polishes from Zoya. The majority of cremes I have from them are duds that don’t apply well. From now on, I’m sticking with their foils, metallics, and glitters. Anyway, Dove is a very pretty color and I like the result with Glass Slipper. I bought Glass Slipper in February, before this blog existed, when I was at home visiting my parents. I’ve used it many times and it is SO pretty! This is a polish that I should get a back up of, just in case; I love it as much as China Glaze White Cap (which I’ve talked about many times!).

I like how the finished result looks, but I’m going to try it with a few shades that I feel are similar, like Butter London Lady Muck and China Glaze Sea Spray. If I found a gray jelly, that would be even better!

Illamasqua Raindrops is currently available on eBay for a whopping $64 + shipping, and one of them has sold! I think I will stick to try to recreate it with Glass Slipper.

Sinful Colors Rich in Heart

I have a gorgeous polish that I just love to show off today, that being Sinful Colors Rich in Heart. “Rich” is definitely the description that is perfect for this polish! It is a lush burgundy color with a hint of sparkle that is visible in bright light.

This polish is also a dupe for Deborah Lippmann’s Mercury Rising from what I have read. I can’t compare since I don’t have them, but here’s a good post from Pointless Cafe that compares the two.

Rich in Heart looks great with one coat, but even better with two. The application is very smooth and it also dries quickly; however, I did notice that this chips quickly. That said, it’s pretty easy to touch up, which is nice. These berry and oxblood colors are really trendy this fall, and Sinful Colors is super affordable: $1.99 at many retailers (Walgreens, Target, Rite Aid, and more). They often go on sale for $1 as well; an affordable and easy way to get some glam!

 

OPI Don’t Pretzel My Buttons!

This polish is one of those polishes where I just adore the name of it! OPI Don’t Pretzel My Buttons is a honey-beige shade from the OPI Germany collection, included in the “Ger-Minis” mini nail polish set.

There isn’t much left to say about nudes, is there? Nude nails will probably always be popular. This is a great shade that looks a little pink in certain lighting. The formula was also very nice; opaque in two thin coats. While the shade itself is not that unique, in my humble opinion it is one of the better warm toned nudes, because it isn’t SO warm where it will look bad on cooler skin tones. Does it beat out my favorite nude, Kim Konfidential? No, of course not, but I still like it and think it will be good for traveling too!

Sephora by OPI It’s Real 18K Gold Top Coat

So the big nail trend right now is 18 karat gold top coats. There are several out there; Zoya released one in a boxed set with a black and white polish, OPI released “The Man with the Golden Gun” for the new Bond movie, and Sephora by OPI has “It’s Real: 18k Gold Top Coat.” While these top coats are gorgeous, they are also quite expensive.

I believe Zoya’s was the most affordable until it sold out. Both OPI versions were $30, until people started reported seeing the Sephora by OPI polish for $8 in stores and $15 online. I never would have paid $30 for this, but jumped at the half off price point after not seeing it in any stores near me.

On my first use, I paired It’s Real with Illamasqua Charisma. I like the result, but the application was tricky. I felt like it was very difficult to get the amount of gold out of the bottle that I wanted to put on the nail. I also wish that the gold flakes were not so fine, but instead larger pieces.

Before trying this out, I thought the gold would look like glitter, but it definitely doesn’t. The finished product is very unique and pretty, and perfect for the holidays. I can’t wait to see how this looks with different colors! I’ve seen a lot of blogs pairing this with cobalt blue, but I think my next pairing is going to be with a turquoise shade.

What do you think of these top coats? Mom, I can totally see you wearing this. 🙂