may haul

Good evening all and welcome to my monthly haul post!

You'll be happy to know that I've been a very good girl this month. :)
Let's see what I accumulated:

I got some indie polishes:
Pahlish - Total Eclipse of the Heart
Nail-Venturous - Flying Blue Jay
Nail-Venturous - Evil Barbie
Lynnderella - Connect the Dots 

I got some OPI, as usual:
OPI - Shatter The Scales 
OPI - Red Shatter (free!)
OPI - Eiffel For This Color ($2.50)
OPI - Metallic 4 Life ($2.50) 
OPI - Heart of Gold (free!)

I got some Zoya!
Zoya - Zuza
Zoya - Wednesday
Zoya - Carly
Zoya - Rory
Zoya - Savita
Zoya - Lotus  

My dad bought me an Art Club striper set but they don't have names so here is a photo:

I got a polish for review from Topbox.ca:
Deborah Lippmann - Whatever Lola Want

I picked up two cool polishes from Icing:
Icing - Shredded
Icing - Pre Game

I won 6 polishes from the China Glaze Summer Neon Collection!
China Glaze - Love's A Beach
China Glaze - Pink Plumeria
China Glaze - Sun-Kissed
China Glaze - Orange You Hot?
China Glaze - Flirty Tankini
China Glaze - Ride The Waves  

And that's all!
24 polishes (out of which I only bought 14) plus the 8 striper set.
Not to mention, I sold a bunch too. I think I sold about 40 this month!
WOO! I was in the negative this month.
...Which is a good thing, 'cause I'm unemployed.

I'm not sure how I'll do next month. I don't have much on the way and I don't plan on buying too much besides some Orly glitters. We'll see!

OPI - Shatter The Scales

You know, the new Spiderman movie kinda bums me out. I liked the old ones! Don't change my Spidey!
And sadly, I've gotta say, the OPI Spiderman Collection is a bummer for me too.
Only one polish interested me enough to buy it - the shatter! It's a pretty awesome polish in a collection filled with "meh."

OPI - Shatter The Scales
This is a dark green shimmering shatter polish that worked pretty flawlessly for me. Sometimes shatters can be a total pain (I'm looking at you, Turquoise Shatter) but this one is easy to use.
It dries matte, but really comes alive with topcoat!

I layered this polish over OPI - Skull and Glossbones to show off its green hue the best.
I wish the other colors from this collection had been more fun! Frosty pink... streaky blue... off-white... goldy-green over-done dupe... Bleh! At least the shatter is fun.

And now for a comparison!
I had some requests for a comparison of Shatter The Scales and Teal Scales from Funky Fingers!
In the bottle, you'd think they might be pretty similar. But over white, the real difference shows!

OPI Shatter The Scales / Funky Fingers Teal Scales
As you can see, the true color of these polishes is totally different!
That being said, when you layer them over certain colors, they can look more similar.

It's hard to see them over black, but what you can see is hard to tell apart.
So, depending on the color you layer them over, they can look pretty similar, but truly they are really different! And you can totally justify having both.

Effie Trinket Nails

Hey guys!
I have some very pretty and very popular nails to show you today!

I'm a big fan of The Hunger Games book series so of course I had to see the movie. Effie Trinket was rockin' some seriously hot nails during some of the scenes, and I had to recreate some of them!
But I'm definitely not the first to do this look, I've seen it probably 10 times already. Haha!
Despite being all over the place, they're still pretty and I really enjoyed wearing them!

Tada!
I did mine with a more purple color while Effie's were more fuchsia.
I happened to be wearing China Glaze Gothic Lolita when I thought about doing this manicure so I just went for it!

The gold glitter gradient was done with China Glaze Blonde Bombshell and Essence Make It Golden. I did the gradient with a sponge.

Glitter gradients are so quick and easy, and really eye-catching! I dig them. A lot.

I wish I had liked the colors from China Glaze's Capitol Colors collection... But they were just a bummer. I didn't buy ANY! And that's rare for me. Not my colors.
I mean yes, the Hunger Games is pretty morose... But the colors didn't have to be!!

Do I have any more Hunger Games fans out there? Did you do some Effie nails?
I'm really interested to see how they do the next two movies in the series. The books are pretty intense so I bet the movies will be too! (And I wonder if we'll get to see more crazy nails!)

OPI - Nicki Minaj Collection - swatches and review

Yo!
Today I'll be showing you a collection that I have had since like, February, but kept forgetting to swatch.

Nicki Minaj has been one of the "it girls" this last year, and she's always so colorful and fun, it's no surprise that OPI did a Nicki Minaj collection.

There are three creme colors, two glitter shades, and a pretty shimmery shatter.

Originally I just bought the mini set and the shatter, and then a few weeks ago I found the last color for just $2.50 on clearance so I picked that up too.
Let's get to the swatches!

OPI - Pink Friday
This is a great pink creme that has a great 2-coat formula. Not a super original shade but I don't think I have anything else that is bang-on.  I like this, sweet and girly but still vibrant.

OPI - Super Bass Shatter
I wore this combo as a full mani and loved it! This swatch is shown with topcoat.
The first time I tried to use Super Bass it didn't work at all (seen here) but since then I have only had good results!
I love how it shimmers.

OPI - Did It On Em
Ah, what a gross shade on my skin tone. It doesn't look so bad in the pictures but in person I absolutely hated it! It's a pretty cool color but just doesn't look good on me. I would probably still use it in nail art but not alone. This needs 3 coats for full coverage and even then can sometimes have streaks.

Super Bass Shatter over Did It On Em
No topcoat in those photos to show that Super Bass Shatter dries matte, like most shatters, if not all of them. I really didn't like these colors together, but I'm pleased with how the shatter works.

OPI - Fly
Fly is a really nice teal blue with a semi-jelly finish. Shown here at 2 coats, there's still visible nail line, but I think a third coat would cover that. Really pretty color, I dig it, but I wish it was more opaque.

Super Bass Shatter over Fly
Love this combo! Super Bass looks more red or purple depending on what you layer it over. I wish I had added topcoat to this combo because I bet the shimmer would be gorgeous!

OPI - Metallic 4 Life
OMG, love this polish. Like I said at the beginning of the post, I didn't buy this originally because I didn't think I'd like it. But when I saw it on clearance for $2.50, I had to buy it. I'll buy pretty much any OPI for $2.50. I'm so glad I did!
It's a black jelly base that is jam packed with silver glitter. There are large hexes and small squares!
For something so glittery, it's actually easy to apply, and looks good at 2 coats. Love! I have an urge to put this on my toes for some reason... I might go do that!

Super Bass Shatter over Metallic 4 Life
Okay, at first I thought this was a fail, because it looks pretty bad matte. But then I added topcoat...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Just look at that shimmer! Holy cow. I love this combo. Love!

OPI - Save Me
Save me is a glitter polish that can really only be used as a topcoat because it is not very dense. It's got silver microglitter as well as holographic bar glitter! It spreads nicely and the glitter is super blingy.
Here I've shown one coat over the 4 other colors from the collection. I like it best over Pink Friday!
You could wear 3-4 coats for a semi-opaque look but since I only have the mini, I didn't wanna do that!

Overall, this is a really cool collection with fun polishes. The cremes aren't mega original or exciting but they are cute, especially if you don't have others like them in your collection. The glitters are unique and satisfying, and the shatter is just awesome!
Nicki Minaj fans would for sure love the collection, I know my Nicki-lovin' cousin did, because I had to buy her all six polishes!

My must-haves in this collection are Super Bass Shatter and Metallic 4 Life! Totally pick those up if you don't have them already.
Which one is your fave?

a very special engagement

Hey everyone!
I have a short and sweet post for you tonight to show off some special nails I did today!

My dear friend Vicki got engaged on Saturday night!
She came over today so I could hear all the sweet details, and of course do some pretty nails because you know she's gonna be showing off that hand a lot this week!

I came up with the cutest idea ever and we both loved it!

Bride and Groom! Adorable, right?
And check out that rock! Her fiancé did a good job picking it out!

For the white, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Whirlwind White.
The black is Essence - Black On Black.
On her other nails, I started with Nicole by OPI - Nothing Kim-pares to Blue and did a gradient on top with China Glaze - No Way Jose. 

Congratulations again to Vicki and Greg! I hope the nails last all week for all the showing off!

Well, Vicki's nails have made their first appearance here on RLN! I wonder if next year I'll be showing off wedding designs! ;)
Now everyone congratulate the happy couple!

Pahlish - Total Eclipse of the Heart

Good morning everyone!
Today I'm showing you a fantastic polish. Be warned, I think you're gonna want it when you see the photos.

I try not to buy a whole lot of "indie polish" from Etsy and similar sites. Because they're expensive, they're hard to get, and there are just so many nice ones, how can you choose?
A month or so ago I wound up looking at Pahlish on Etsy, and it was a mistake (a happy mistake) because a polish jumped into my cart and I accidentally bought it... Yeah, accidentally, that's it.

Pahlish - Total Eclipse of the Heart
Holy crap. Hoooooly crap. I don't even know how to begin to describe this. There's so much going on!

I dare you to enlarge those photos and not want to go buy this immediately.
I showed this to my friend Sarah from Chalkboard Nails and she said "this looks like a unicorn massacre (in a good way.)"
So many glitters... and shimmer... AH I can't handle it.

It was really hard to get a good macro of this polish because it was so darn reflective with all those glitters in there.

Total Eclipse of the Heart is a topcoat, so you'll want underwear. Here's what I used:

OPI - Honk If You Love OPI
This is a deep purple creme from the Touring America collection. I picked this up for $2 on clearance and I'm happy that I did because I love it on my little shortie nails! It's a great formula, 2 coats.

Mmmmmmmmmm. I could stare at it all day. I need to find more combos for this one! It's just stunning. I think I might put it on again right now...

Check out Pahlish on Etsy and Facebook. There are currently 6 of this polish in stock, run run run!! All gone! :( She should have more soon!

And DO NOT try to buy her polish called Dark Parades in the next restock because I need that one. Don't do it. It's mine.

go french with OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede

Good morning lovelies!
Today I'll be showing off another OPI Suede polish and the resulting mani that I wore with it!

OPI - We'll Always Have Paris Suede
I seriously dig these suedes. I never liked matte finishes until I tried these out! They apply so nicely, dry in seconds, and just look really cool!

I wore this polish for 2 days before it started to wear away at the tips, which is great for a matte finish polish with no topcoat.
I wasn't ready to take it off, so it was time for some art to cover the tipwear!
(You may remember I did the same thing with Russian Navy Suede in this post.)

I went for a cool french mani! And man, I seriously enjoyed it. My nails looked so... vampy. I don't know. They were badass but still elegant. If that's possible.

To add on the V-shaped french, I used Essence - Black Is Back and just used the polish brush to quickly paint it on. It's not perfect, but it's hard to see the imperfections.

Et voilà!  A sexy french mani in Paris. Suede.