China Glaze "Smoke and Ashes"

Hey everybody!  So last time I told you that I ordered some of the Hunger Games nail polishes from China Glaze online.  The polish I ordered arrived really quickly and were perfect!  With the new polishes in hand I obviously couldn't wait to wear them!  So I decided to wear "Smoke and Ashes" which is District 12's color.  If you haven't read to books, or seen the movie, District 12 is the area where the main character Katniss is from.  I decided to wear "Smoke and Ashes" this week because I had a wedding to go to and the dress I wore was a black floor length dress with a geometric pattern in yellow, purple, and white.  I thought "Smoke and Ashes" would look nice with it, and I was right.  The other reasons I decided to wear "Smoke and Ashes" this week was because the wedding was in Asheville, and a lot of The Hunger Games movie was filmed in and around Asheville and also because I went to see the movie this week for the first time!  (And I LOVED it!)  As a side note: I am originally from Asheville and I have taken to telling people I am from Panam.  :)

Anyway "Smoke and Ashes" is this black nail polish that has micro glitter bits in it.  The micro glitter colors are green, yellow, blues, violets and a hint of magenta/red.  I love the polish because it is not your basic black polish.  It is black polish with a kick!  In the bottle and on the nail "Smoke and Ashes" looks like the night sky, which I love!  As always I used a clear basecoat and the Orly "Sec'N'Dry" topcoat and it took two coats of "Smoke and Ashes" to get an opaque coat.  This is my first time trying China Glaze nail polish and I have to say I was not disappointed.  China Glaze holds up really well for me and it lasted about 4 or 5 days before starting to get minor chips.  I think that it would have lasted longer except that I am brutal on my nails!  Especially since I had to change the battery in my smoke detector and it ruined my nail polish!  Anyway that is besides the point.  I enjoyed "Smoke and Ashes" a ton because it feels super rebel but at the same time it also seems super glam.  I liked wearing it so much and got a ton of compliments that I decided to re-paint my nails in "Smoke and Ashes" this week.  It'll be perfect for conquering finals.

So overall China Glaze has great polish, The Hunger Games collection is AWESOME, and "Smoke and Ashes" lasts a good long time before getting chips and is just plain fabulous!

Thanks for reading my blog!

If you want to buy this polish I snagged mine on Amazon (affiliate link)

Piggy Polish "It's All About Blue"

Hey guys!  Okay so this week I am stepping it up and really going Spring!  I recently got some new polishes from ULTA because I had a coupon and some of ULTA's nail polish was buy two, get two free.  One of the colors I got is by a brand called Piggy Polish.  I had never heard of this brand before buying this polish and I am sad to say that as far as I can tell Piggy Polish is not a 3 free brand, which is a little disappointing.  I do really love the color I bought though!  So while I like this color I don't know if I will purchase from Piggy Polish again because there really is no reason to not be 3 free.

Anyway the Piggy Polish color I purchased is "It's All About Blue" and it is this fabulous sky blue color.  I have been wanting a sky blue for a while and I am thrilled to add one to my collection.  "It's All About Blue" is a good quality polish and I probably could have gotten away with just one coat, but I opted for two coats just to make the color more vibrant!  Since Piggy Polish is not 3 free they have the normal consistency you would expect of a typical nail polish, which I must say it was nice not to have a gloppy, thick polish.  Also because it is not 3 free it smells horrible and I would not recommend using Piggy Polish if you have asthma because it was hard to breathe while painting my nails!  (And I don't eve have asthma!)  Besides the smell the polish has it doesn't seem to hold up very well.  I have been wearing the polish for about three days and it already has a few tiny chips on the very tips of my nails.  I must say I am a little disappointed that the polish has started chipped so quickly.

So overall "It's All About Blue" is a really pretty color and, I will wear it again because of that, I am disappointed that the brand isn't 3 free and that the polish does not last.


Also I am so excited because I finally got around to ordering some of China Glaze's Hunger Games polish!  I know they have been out for a while but I wasn't into The Hunger Games until my bestie lent me the book and now I am obsessed!  Anyway the upside to waiting is that I found the polish on Amazon.com for half the price!  YAY!  I ordered "Smoke and Ashes" and "Dress Me Up."  I am waiting for the polish to arrive on my doorstep and hopefully all will be well.  Last time I ordered on Amazon I got exactly what I wanted and was thrilled.  I am hoping the same holds true this time.  The only difference is that I ordered from a different seller.

And a couple more exciting things:

First off OPI is releasing a Minnie Mouse inspired nail polish collection.  I am so excited about this collection!  All the previews I have found show lots of pinks and reds!  These limited edition polishes will be available starting in June!



Second OPI is also gearing up to release a Spiderman inspired nail polish collection.  I am not as excited about this one though because I am not really into Spiderman, but I still plan on checking the polish out.  These polishes are set to be released next month in May.  The new Spiderman movie however does not release until July of this year.

And last but certainly not least: butter LONDON is releasing a nail polish called "Lillibet's Jubilee" in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's jubilee celebration this summer!  I must have this sparkly silver color!  It appears you can already pre-order it on Butter London's website.



(All of the pictures about the new sets of nail polish are not mine and were taken from a Google search.)

Thanks for reading my blog!

Sally Hansen "Peachy Keen"

This past Sunday was Easter, so I broke out my first Lilly Pulitzer dress of the season, which means I needed to re-paint my nails!  I decided to try a nude nail polish to look all posh and sophisticated.  I discovered that A. I only own one nude nail polish and that B. It looks horrible on me!  I own Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure in “Peachy Keen” and the color is fabulous and the polish works nicely as well.  My problem with the color is that I am so pale that “Peachy Keen” makes me look like I have no finger nails.  Fortunately for me it did look nice with my dress for Easter.

So here is a summary of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure.  The color is quite pretty and I feel like on a darker skin tone it would look fabulous!  I definitely plan on trying it out again this summer when I have a tan.  The quality of the polish is nice.  The brush is nice and wide making it easy to cover the nail in fewer strokes.  The problem with “Peachy Keen” is it is such a light color it streaks easily.  I was able to get a fairly smooth polish in two coats, with a topcoat (Orly Sec’N’Dry) and a basecoat (Sally Hansen “Invisible.”)  I have been wearing the polish for about three days now and it hasn’t chipped at all which is practically a miracle since there was all the Easter festivities and a little DIY at my parent’s house.  I plan on repainting my nails soon, which means that I won’t be able to see how long this polish lasts.

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter and thanks for reading my blog! J

OPI "Mermaid's Tears"

So in the last couple of weeks it has really become Spring here in North Carolina and I have started to pick lots of fun Springtime nail polish to wear!  Spring and Summer are my favorite two seasons to wear nail polish because the colors are brighter and people can actually see you nail polish because it isn’t hidden underneath gloves and giant boots.

This week I decided to break out my favorite nail polish of all time OPI’s “Mermaid’s Tears.”  “Mermaid’s Tears” came out last Spring around the same time that Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides came out.  (OPI released a collection about the movie.)  I have to say I have loved the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so I was a little nervous about the fourth one since it didn’t have Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom in it, but it turned out to be a fantastic movie!  Anyway that is beside the point because we are talking about nail polish.  I won’t spoil the plot for you but mermaid’s tears are important to the movie and I LOVE this color!

OPI’s “Mermaid’s Tears” is this light aquamarine color that is really vibrant.  (The picture makes it look darker than it really is!  Sorry!)  It is my favorite color of all time!  The formula is a little thick and the first layer looks really streaky but after a second coat I can usually get it to look even.  As always I used Salon Hansen’s Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in “Invisible” as the base coat and I used Orly’s “Sec’N’Dry” as the quick dry top coat.  I find “Mermaid’s Tears” to last very well and it usually takes about a week or so before it starts to chip, which is really good for me.

Unfortunately I don’t think you can buy this polish in stores anymore.  You might be able to buy it on Amazon, just make sure you pick a reliable vender so you get what you paid for and it is a new bottle.  I recently bought a bottle from the vender: Nail Polish Supplies and my product came and was packaged really well so that the bottle didn’t break.  Also the reviews for the company from other people showed that lots of other customers also got what they ordered.

Thanks for reading my blog! J

Essie "Navigate Her"

Last weekend was St. Patrick’s Day and I decided to paint my nails green for it!  I picked Essie’s “Navigate Her” because I love the pistachio color!  It is fun, bright, vibrant, and perfect for spring.  “Navigate Her” is part of Essie’s Spring 2012 Collection, which happens to also be called “Navigate Her.”  I like the collection but I only bought one color because the CVS I went to was nearly sold out.

I really do like “Navigate Her.”  The color is gorgeous, but the formula, at least for the bottle I got, is very thick and it was hard to get an even coat.  I used two coats and my nails still have some streaks.  Other than that the polish seems to hold up well.  Unfortunately mine isn’t going to last as long because a pen exploded on my hand earlier and ruined most of my nails.  Next time I paint my nails in “Navigate Her” I’ll edit this post to let you know how long and well it holds up.

Thanks for reading my blog!

EDIT: Okay so I decided to re-paint my nails the same color, you know since there was a massive ink explosion that ruined them the first go round.  I have to say that even without the ink the Essie polish started to crack on all off in large chunks.  It only lasted 5 days and then I had to take it off because it looked so bad!  I still love this color though and Essie. 

If you decide you want to try "Navigate Her" it's available on Amazon (affiliate link)

Nicole by OPI "Wear Something Spar-Kylie"

It's official I LOVE the Kardashian Kollection!  I don't typically watch their shows but I do follow their fashion, which is why I wanted some of their nail polish.  I bought two because I liked most of the colors but not enough to own them all.  (I am in college after all!)  I initially bought “Wear Something Spar-Kylie” because I love a good pink glitter polish, and I must say it didn’t disappoint!

Anyway... Nicole by OPI has great polish because they use the same formula as regular OPI nail polish.  I was super impressed by "Wear Something Spar-Kylie" because I have never had a glitter polish that covered so well!  I used two coats but honestly I could have gotten away with just one.  "Wear Something Spar-Kylie" has a pink base in it with a TON of pink glitter.  It also has so silver glitter in it too!  For a glitter polish it went on really well, and has lasted well too.  Though I will say it probably would have lasted longer if I hadn't spent three days at Disney World in Florida with it on.  I am pretty clumsy and with all the excitement and fun at Disney my nail polish didn't last as long as it normally would.

Overall this nail polish is fabulous!  It has everything I look for in a good glitter polish!  It has a good consistency and was easy to put on.  It has a lot of glitter in it and has great coverage!  I cannot wait to wear this nail polish again!

Also I'll do my best to post more often.  School has taken over my life!  (Thankfully I graduate in May!!!)

EDIT:  Okay I still love this polish but I have to admit when I tried to take it off it took me a good 45 minutes.  Just be aware of that!

OPI "Gouda Gouda Two Shoes"

Hey everyone!  As you may know that in the past week or two OPI's newest collection came out!  The collection is called Holland and as you can probably guess the colors represent how gorgeous Holland is in the springtime.  I am so excited about this collection!  I decided to purchase only two colors from the collection because OPI is pretty expensive.  Both of the colors I picked are subtle and more toward the neutral side.  However just because they are neutrals doesn’t mean they aren’t gorgeous!  The colors I got are “Gouda Gouda Two Shoes” and “Wooden Shoe Like to Know.”

Okay so this week I decided to use one of my new nail polishes!  I decided to wear “Gouda Gouda Two Shoes” because it is this dusty rose pink color.  First off I LOVE this color!  It is a nice, classy, sophisticated color that makes me feel so grown up!  It also has a shimmer too it as well.  The shimmer is more noticeable in the bottle then on my nails but it is still pretty.  As always it took two coats to get complete coverage.  The only thing I tried differently this time was the topcoat.



I got a really great recommendation from a friend at school who uses Orly’s “Sec’N Dry” polish as a topcoat.  My usual complaint when I do my nails is how long they take to dry and it doesn’t seem to matter how long you wait your nails still get smudged and ruined.  But with the Orly “Sec’N Dry” my nails were completely dry in about fifteen minutes.  Now I have read a lot of reviews online and many people complain it didn’t work for them.  What I did to achieve the best result was:

1.       Apply my normal clear Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in “Invisible.”  I allowed it to dry for about ten minutes.

2.       Apply the first coat of color.  In this case OPI’s “Gouda Gouda Two Shoes.”  Then allow it to dry for about ten minutes.

3.       Repeat step two until you feel the polish is opaque.  Allow a ten minute wait between EACH coat.

4.       After letting the last coat of color sit for ten to fifteen minutes apply the “Sec’N Dry.”  Allow the “Sec’N Dry” to dry for about fifteen minutes.

Orly’s “Sec’ Dry” topcoat has worked so well for me!  I have been wearing the polish for about ten days now and I have had very minimal chipping and I had NO smudges at all.  After the product had been on for fifteen minutes I could get up and go and do whatever I needed to without having to worry about ruining the nail polish.

Thanks for reading my blog and sorry that I don't post very often!  Maybe one day I'll have enough time to post more often!