A Graduated Purple Manicure With Floral Touch

Hello friends,
I haven't done a gradient is a while. Todays manicure would have been simple gradient stripes, but, I decided to add a stamped floral print over my pinky and ring fingers. 

I forgot how much I enjoyed gradients. I'll have to do another soon.
Till next time, Ciao Bellas!

MdU Velvet, Zoya Caitlin, Zoya Isa

Too Hot To Touch: Marble Stripe Mani

Hi Lovelies,
I wish the weather here was as hot as this manicure, but it isn't. It's down right chilly! And I'm sitting outside on a windy train platform with no gloves (because I'm typing). Train, please get here!  Ok, so this is gonna be short. For this manicure I used polishes from two of my favorite brands. On the higher end, there's Zoya, and on the lower end there's my favorite drugstore brand, Sinful Colors.  I made a few stripes of these down the length of my nails, then used a small striping brush to pull the polishes widthwise across the nail. This was a super simple design, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Ciao Bellas!

Zoyas Jolie and Arizona, Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe and GoGo Girl

Seche Vive Instant Gel Effect Top Coat: The New Seche Top Coat

Hi Friends,
Have I missed the boat here? Or is this really new? I came across this product by Seche Vive, maker of my beloved Seche Vite top coat (I swear by this stuff and buy in bulk!). The ad caught my eye because of the brilliant blue bottle, which I thought was a blue color polish. Upon closer review, I realized that this is a gel top coat. Is everyone jumping on the get top coat bandwagon?

This gel top coat is described as a "specially formulated fast drying top coat" that has the plumping effect of a "gel in a glossy, high shine finish without the use of a UV/LED light!" It removes easily with acetone or non acetone nail polish remover.  Yeah, I'd like to see that.


It promises...

 NO UV/LED lamp required
- Durable gel-like finish
- Fast drying
- Prolonged, intense shine
- Easy removal


On the beautyfactorynails.com website I saw it sold for 8.25 in British Pounds. The equivalent in dollars is $11.44.  The regular Seche Vite quick dry top coat sells for under $10 in most places.


It even comes in minis

I might have to give this one a try. Hmm, I wonder if I can get it in bulk too...


If you try out this top coat, please tell me what you think.  If you've already tried it, I'd love to hear your full review.
Ciao for now!

Sneak Peak: Morgan Taylors Botanical Awakenings - Spring 2016 Collection

Hi fashionably taloned friends,
Morgan Taylors new 2016 Spring Collection is here. The collection contains 6 all new floral inspired colors including six creme polishes.


Rose-Y-Cheeks, a dusty rose creme.
Warm Up The Car-nation, a hot magenta pearlescent creme.
What's Your Poinsettia?, a deep red shimmer creme.
Don't Pansy Around, a medium pink creme.
Prim-rose And Proper,  a pale neutral pink creme.
I Or-chid You Not,  a steely purple creme.


A mini set accompanies the spring collection.


Botanical Awakenings Minis is a collection of 4 minis including Rose-Y-Cheeks, Don't Pansy Around, Warm Up the Car-nation, and What's Your Poinsettia?

There are also 3 duo packs. Rose-Y-Cheeks/Warm Up The Car-nation, What's Your Poinsettia/I Or-chid You Not, and Prim-rose and Proper/Don't Pansy Around. Sorry, I could only find pics of 2 of the duo sets.

Like most new Morgan Taylor polishes, a collection of gellish doubles are also available.

The colors seem appealing. One in particular, I Or-chid You Not, seems a little unique. I'm surprised there were no green colors included in the collection, but nonetheless, the colors are well suited to the botanical theme.


Will you rush out to buy any? Which ones?
Ciao for now!

Sneak Peak: The Latest In China Glaze: Summer 2016 Lite Brites Collection

Hi lacqured lovelies,

Today I have the latest China Glaze collection that's scheduled for this summer.  This collection consists of 12 bright 80's inspired polishes. You guys know I'm a sucker for cutesy names and this collection doesn't disappoint. Most of the polishes were named after 80's songs.

Papa Don't Peach, described as "a Summer Splendor of neon orange coral" was obviously named after Madonna's hit Papa Don't Preach. 

Whip It Good, "a glistering Summer bright yellow Nail tone" was named after a super popular song by Devo of the same name. 

 

Lime After Lime, "a Summer splendor atomic light green" was named after Cyndi Laupers 1983 hit Time After Time.  I'm so loving this. 

My fave, I think, is We Got The Beet, "a Summer splendor strong vibrant shining awe purple" This name came from the Go Go's song We Got The Beat.

Let's Jam, I think, came from a song by the same name, by MC Fostee. I'm not so sure about that, I had to look it up. But it's the only song during that period that popped up with that name. Let's Jam is described as "a Summer splendor Light pop bubble purple". 

I Got A Blue Attitude came from Patty LaBelles 1984 song I Got A New Attitude.

Last for music, there's What I Like About Blue, which is probably from the 1980 song What I Like About You by the Romantics. This one is described as " a Summer splendor Turquoise sky blue". 

Ok, we covered the music, let's move on to movies. I think there was only one. None Of Your Risky Business came from the 1983 hit movie Risky Business starring the oh so famous Tom Cruise.  Remember the dance scene where Cruise lip sings to Old Time Rock And Roll and dances around in his undies? A memorable scene to say the least.  None Of Your Risky Business is described as "a Summer splendor satsuma dry orange tone". 

Names for the other colors didn't seem to recognizably relate to the 80's, but were nice just the same. 

Hot Flash (Maybe from Flash Dance?), is "a Summer Splendor of Luminous classic red".

Bite Me is "a Summer Splendor of tint of Orange and light Pink".

I'll Pink To That is described as "a Summer Splendor of classic barbie summer pink" Did they say Barbie? Gotta love all things Barbie.

Last, Lip Smackin' Good is "a Summer Splendor of faded pop Pink". 

So, the entire collection is rounded out with 3 pinks, 3 purples, a red, a peach, orange, yellow, green and blue. They've covered the entire rainbow. That's so 80's.

Wait, the Lite Brites collection doesn't stop there. In true China Glaze fashion, there are a number of sets and minis in the Lite Brites line up. 

The Love Shack Duo, named after the B-52's song of the same name has Lip Smackin' Good and Hot Flash.

The Silver Stripe Flash Dance Trio (ah, there's Flash Dance, I knew that movie had to be in there somewhere) contains  None of your risky Business, I Got A Blue Attitude, and a silver chrome Nail art.

Another trio, White Stripe Material Girl Trio, contains I’ll Pink To That & What I Like about Blue with a White Stripe Nail art. Completely Madonna. 

There's also a mini collection called Whip It Good 6 Piece Mini set. This set contains Whip It Good, Papa Don't Peach, Ill Pink To That, We Got The Beat, We Got The Beat,  What I Like About Blue, and I Got A Blue Attitude.

Lastly, there is the Lite Brites Kit, which is another 6 piece set containing: Lip Smackin good, Bite Me, Ill pink to that, We got the beat, Let's Jam, and what I Like about Blue.

I might not rush out and buy these because I'm sure I have dupes of most of them, but I am intrigued by the whole 80's theme thing they have going on there. Another winner for China Glaze, I think.

Will you pick up one or more of these? Which ones?

Ciao for now!



A Superhero Neon Manicure

Hi friends,
This bright superhero neon yellow polish called for some superhero action. So, I added a glitter lightening bolt, and stamped on a comic book "BAM!" I'm ready to hit the streets and rustle up the bad guys. On second thought, I don't want to break a nail, so I'll leave the bad guys for the real superheros.

Ciao Bellas!

Caviar Dreams...Or Rather Nightmares

Hi friends,
This is my first (and quite possibly my last) attempt at the caviar bead manicure. When I started out, I thought "This is kinda fun", then I thought "Ok, I guess this isn't so bad" later I thought "This is sooo tedious" and by the third finger I thought "Who the heck has time for this?!" I guess, I'm not the patient type. Maybe I should pack away the little microscopic nightmares and move on to something that I can handle. Like a simple gradient or my beloved glitters.  Next time, I'll stick to something I know.

As you can see, I'm having camera/lighting issues, but even in the best of situations, this baby is a big fat fail.  Now I can X off the cellophane broken glass fad from my list of manicures to try. After this caviar disaster, the cellophane deal isn't gonna happen. Not even on a good day.

If you're patient enough for caviar bead manicures, please send me some pointers and pics of your work. I could use some inspiration.

Ciao for now.